‘FLOWER’ Beauty By Drew Barrymore!

Hello Everyone,

Its been quite some time that I have written anything but today I have decided to post on some new products I have been using.

This was a new discovery at Superdrug. I spotted a new makeup line ‘Flower ‘ by Drew Barrymore, it was on offer but unfortunately they don’t stock anymore. I’m always unsure about celebrity products so I purchased a few items to try them.

I do like the colours in this palette ‘Gimme Gold’. Its ten flattering bronzy, earth shades. Seven shimmery and three matte shades. It comes with a nice blending brush. The warm brown, earthy colours are always handy shades ,no matter your complexation and skin colour as they suit everyone. I use them a lot myself! You do have to be aware that the quality in the past wasn’t always very good but nowadays the technology used is getting better and better even with the budget makers. This pallet pigmentation was very good. They were easy to apply and blended well. I always use eyeshadow primer for eye-makeup and the colours stayed in place.

The blush lush is a light soft pink shade with satin finish in the colour ‘Wild Rose’. Its pigmented and you only need a little bit on the apple of cheeks. I love that it gives you rosy cheeks and it stays all day long so you don’t need to touch it up. I also love the flower embossed print on the blush.

The final product is the lipstick. The lipstick is a matte dark pink in the shade ‘Rosey Garden’. It gives intense colour from one application and you can see it has excellent pigmentation. I’m not a big fan of matte lipsticks because I find that they can be too drying on the lips and give me some discomfort. On the lips it has good staying power, it didn’t slide or budge. I do like to apply some lip balm before I apply any matte lipstick to make sure it glides smoothly and have some hydration before. applying the lipstick. I do think this is a nice lipstick for the summer.

R xx

Dry Shampoos!

Hi Everyone,

Some people say dry shampoos are magic in bottle. Spray and go, your hair refreshed without the need to wash it or is it nothing more than a handy thing to have in your bathroom shelf for occasional refreshing of your hair.

It is important to remember that despite its name, dry shampoo does not actually clean your hair in the way that the shampoo and water does. Dry shampoo disguises the grease and the dirt, and when this is left in the hair for too long it can result in an itchy, dry scalp. Experts say dry shampoo is great once in a while, but it shouldn’t be a full-time substitute for washing your hair with water. You can consider dry shampoo to be more of a hair freshener than a hair cleaner. It does nothing to clean your scalp, which collects dirt. 

Here are my thoughts on three I have used this year.

SGX NYC Dry Touch Volumising Dry Shampoo – A nice big bottle. I do like the nozzle, its slightly pointed up when you spray up and the nozzle doesn’t get blocked after spraying. It refreshes the hair instantly, no white residue is left on the hair and it gives the hair a bit of volume plus its easy to brush the hair afterwards. The only thing I didn’t like is the scent. The jasmine and fig combination didn’t go together in my view, it smelt like mould to me. Product great, scent not good.

Lee Stafford CoCo LoCo with Agave Texturising Dry Shampoo – You have to shake it very good or you will see white residue on your hair. Scent is not very nice at all, they should keep it simple and use only the coconut scent. It seemed like hairspray and the hair felt crunchy and didn’t absorb oil into my hair. My opinion is that it didn’t anything for my hair. A disappointment for me.

L’Oreal Elvive Dream Length Air Volume Dry Shampoo – It refreshed the hair instantly. You can see slightly the white residue on your hairs when you spray it and you need to massage into the hair with your hands.The scent is nice, almost like a perfume and it held all day long. After constant usage I did find the nozzle was getting blocked and less product was coming out even though it was still fairly full. Apart from that my hair looked great and I was very impressed by it.

All three products are recyclable so all good for the environment. L’Oreal was the hit of the three but there is a lot of choice out on the market to find the right one for you. It’s great to have in the bathroom for occasional use when you’re in a rush but don’t use everyday!

Rxx

Body Products!

Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer season! Summer dresses, exposing our skin to get a sun-kiss tan and of course soft skin.

Body scrubs are a mainstay of everyone’s bathroom shelf and to be part of your shower routine. Scrubs are perfect for your body to keep it soft, smooth and hydrated perfect for getting your skin ready for the summer. Body moisturisers are essential to keep your skin dry, flak free.

Tropic Body Smooth refreshing polish– I think this is an amazing product. My friend bought me this as a present. Its a gentle mineral rich sea salt scrub with an uplifting zesty citrus scent. The scent is gorgeous you almost want to lick it off! My body felt amazing so soft, smooth and moisturised. You can feel a little oil left from the scrub on your body. After using this scrub I didn’t moisturise myself as its packed with lovely ingredients : Australian lemon myrtle, Golden Jojoba oil and Macadamia nut oil. The body scrub felt luxury on my body, I loved it. :*

Soap & Glory ‘Summer Scrubbin’– According to Soap & Glory, this is a cooling body scrub. I didn’t feel any cooling effect maybe its just the term they thought up! The scent is an exotic fruity, floral scent enriched with pink jojoba buffing balls and naturally exfoliating coconut shell. When you exfoliating you do feel the fine grittiness to it. Its nice enough and a reasonably priced everyday body scrub, but beware it does contains SLS.

Nivea Body Souffle ‘Cherry Blossom & Jojoba oil’– This has a gentle cherry blossom scent. The nourishing Jojoba Oil pearls melts into your skin and it hydrates, smooths your skin and afterwards there was no stickiness or greasy feel to the skin. A nice enough, perfectly acceptable everyday light cream for your body.

Garnier Body Sensitive 7days Soothing lotion – This is a light weight everyday lotion with a gentle subtle scent.It sank in pretty fast when you rub it in. The skin felt hydrated and smooth. Even though it is for people with sensitive skin I found it worked just fine on my skin. I have to say I liked the next day feeling of my skin when using it, still soft and less dryness especially around the legs.

The Tropic Body polish was the stand out for me and that has intrigued me to try more of their products. The others were all good everyday products so all winners for to me if looking for budget buys.

Rxx

TROPIC ‘Skincare Discovery’ Kit.

Hello everyone,

I was introduced this brand by a very lovely friend of mine. Tropics is inspired by using sustainably sourced products using the most nourishing natural ingredients and all of the latest innovations in green skincare science.

I bought this little starter kit to try plus she did gift me a couple of products to try.

The starter kit contains the following products:

Soothing Cleanser– Its a creamy cleanser. I used it to remove makeup and everyday grime. It was gentle on my skin and I saw no signs that it irritated my skin. My skin felt soft, clean and purified.

Vitamin Toner– This is a milky textured toner but you need to give it a good shake before use. I found pump mechanism didn’t spray very well so I pour on the cotton wool. My skin felt hydrated and my skin felt soothed and nourished.

Skin Feast – This is a nourishing cream. At first I didn’t like it as I found my skin didn’t want absorb the cream so I stopped using it. Maybe it was because my skin was dehydrated or I mixed it with a different serum. Later I started to use it again to see if it was going to work. I did learn this time I only needed a tiny amount and you need to work the cream into the skin longer and I found that my skin loved it and it became velvet like afterwards. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance with the great results I find it with it.

Rainforest Dew – It’s a hydrating serum which contains hyaluronic acid and my skin loves it. It does soothe any redness or breakouts I may have. This really plumped my skin too and gave it a glow afterwards. Ant hydrating serums are always handy in your skincare regime.

Glow Berry– This is a brightening serum. I was looking forward to trying this product as I do get breakouts when using products that contain Vitamin C which thankfully this didn’t. I only use this type of serum at night time and I could see it brightened the skin. The next morning I could see my skin still had a glow and it also helped to reduce spot pigmentation which I get occasionally.

Fruit Peel– This is a resurfacing serum using an exfoliating trio of alpha, beta and polyhydroxy acids from fresh fruit. The smell is delicious! After applying it it leaves a tingling sensation on the skin but that is normal because it contains natural AHAs, BHAs and PHAs. I only used it at night time and once a week and it found it helped come down my blemishes and blackheads.

It comes with a bamboo cloth which is so soft and gentle to skin, better than any muslin cloth I have used before. After washing in the washing machine it’s still soft!

I have to say I was mightily impressed by the overall quality of Tropic’s skincare. They are lovely products a bit pricey maybe but quality is never cheap. I did try some body stuff too and I was impressed so there are definitely more products on my list to try and I think the list will continue to grow. 🙂 😛

Rxx

Sleeping Creams!

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely, relaxing Christmas.

Night creams are not for everyone. Some people like some people don’t. I’m one of those who do and my skin ask for it every night! At the end of the day when I cleanse my skin and remove all the makeup and grime, my skin feels a bit tight and dehydrated so I know my skin is asking me to slap cream on my face quickly!

M&S Formula ‘Absolute Ultimate Sleep Cream’ – This cream is rich more greasier feel to it than the others. It does have a stronger scent but it didn’t bother me too much. Now they have different packaging and I do think that they may have slightly reformulated it and also they have a lighter formula of this cream. From beginning my skin didn’t like it so much so I stopped using it. I went back to it as I started to use retinol and I used them together and my skin loved it. It gave instant hydration and really boosted to my skin and it looked radiant. This cream is more anti-ageing as it helps to slow down the ageing process. A really nice cream in the end!

Beauty Pie ‘Jeju Daily AM/PM Moisture Superinfusion’ – When I opened the cream, I immediately realised its a bit different to other creams as it is a solid, thick consistency like butter. They do provide a spoon so you know you only need a small amount of it. It has a gentle subtle scent to it so no worries about it there. It melted nicely when I applied it and it gave the skin a lovely soft velvety feel. I didn’t feel greasy afterwards and my skin felt plump, hydrated and moisturised. I didn’t have any breakouts from using it and I only used it in the night time as it would be too much for me in the daytime because of its richness.

Lumene Nordic-C ‘Overnight Bright Sleeping Cream’ – This is another rich textured cream. When I applied it, it felt more of a matte texture on my skin. It has a gentle scent and not overbearing. it did work very well and I noticed that I had a little pigmentation from a spot and it did slowly helped to fade it. My skin in the morning looked brighter, hydrated and radiant and I do love creams that show an instant result! If you are prone to dull and tired skin I do recommend this product.

I’m always on the look out for new night creams for my night routine so I feel like a guinea pig to try new products out there and have already started new creams so I will post my thoughts in the near future!

Rxx

LANCOME ‘IDOLE’ EDP!

Hello Everybody,

Lancome ‘Idole’ was launched in 2019 to reflect sophistication, strength and empowerment in women. The bottle is also a sleek contemporary design which mirrors a slim iphone so it can slip inside a clutch or small handbag. It has a rose gold metal edging around the bottle which gives it a twist. It’s a very 21st century design which reflects the technology of the world we live in today. No art deco or fancy etched bottle design for this perfume!

The scent is a fresh, floral scent. The beginning though is the citrus of bergamot but immediately it changes to the floral notes of rose and jasmine with a flash of pear that gives it a touch of sweetness. The dry down has the warmth of the vanilla but musk is the dominant partner here. It has good longevity on me and it stayed on my clothes the next day.

This has been an all year round perfume for me. Its perfect for any time of the year, day or night. Its a feminine, romantic and refined perfume.

Rxx

Lisa Eldridge Lipstick collection!

Hello Everyone!

Lisa Eldridge is one of top make up artists and if you love make up you will know her YouTube tutorials. She has a written a book about the history of make up, she has made a TV series about make up and also has her own range of lipsticks and even jewellery collection. She loves vintage and has an impressive collection of vintage makeup. I was so pleased when I meet her at a Stylist event when she gave a talk which coincided with her book being published. She is such a lovely, talented and beautiful woman.

Lisa Eldridge released a lipstick collection which is a little different from the usual design and textures that other companies make. The design of the packaging is clearly vintage inspired and is of really good quality. The texture of the lipsticks is the most unusual part of the collection in that they look like velvet! I believe it was the first in the market with this type of texture. She has created lots of shades for everyone’s different taste and is suitable for any skin colour. The lipsticks come in both matte and creamy formulas so pleases everyone.

I have four different shades. Velvet Ribbon- in red: Velvet Muse- Brownie nude: Skyscraper Rose- fuchsia pink: Love Of My Life – rosy pink. Velvet Ribbon, Velvet Muse and Skyscraper Rose are a matte texture, they are very comfortable to wear and don’t dry out your lips like some can. As they are pigmented one swipe is enough. Love of my Life is a more creamy texture and is not heavy to wear and you can build up intensity.

Us girls always love variety in our lipsticks. Different colours and texture and you should have a big stash of them on our dressing table to cover all needs and occasions. The Lisa Eldridge lipsticks are amongst the best you can buy on the market and I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by them. You can go and explore here website.

Rxx

Marc Jacobs ‘Dot’ EDP!

Hello Everyone!

The days are getting better and weather is slowly getting warmer! I do love the spring, this time of the year is always beautiful.

I know this perfume has been out for nearly a decade ( it was released in 2012) but I had to review it just for the bottle! The design is eye-catching, the polka dot and petal design looks like the ladybird sitting on a flower. The design is fun and and looks beautiful. It really says spring and summer to me when ladybirds are out and about!

The perfume is somewhat underwhelming compared to the flamboyance of the bottle. The top notes are a floral fruity combination. The first spray you immediately notice the honeysuckle and cranberries. The dry down is when the orange blossom and jasmine come to the fore. Inevitably you have the musk and woodiness at the end which lingers gently on the skin. Unfortunately the scent doesn’t stay on my skin for very long considering it is Eau de Perfume.

This perfume seems to be a triumph of style over substance. The bottle design seems to have been more important than what goes in the bottle. The perfume itself is not memorable and it lacks a distinctive perfume note to remember it. ‘Daisy ‘ was memorable to me but this one lacks personality.

Rxx

L’Oreal ELVIVE ‘Dream Lengths 8 second Wonder Water’!

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is excited about beauty salons and hairdressers re-opening their doors and welcoming back the customers. I’m looking forward to getting my hair cut as my hair has grown so much! I have been cutting my husband’s and son’s hair but no one has cut mine!

This is before I used the product when I used shampoo and conditioner.

This is my hair after using the product

A new product has been launched recently by L’Oreal for hair and I was curious to try and see if it worked on my hair. My hair has never been coloured but the only damage I do is when I dry my hair with hairdryer and heat rollers.

It is a water based formula powered by Lamellar Water Technology . This liquid conditioner formula resurfaces hair fibres for hair which L’Oreal says is 10x smoother to use. You wash your hair as normal and then apply Wonder Water on your hair length, you massage it into your hair 8 seconds. On me it become slightly milky when you massaged it through and then you wash it off so nice to easy to use. It has a nice scent which stays on the hair all day long.

My hair seems more manageable, floaty and easy to brush and style. My hair tangled less and it looks much more shiny than before. I have used this product five times now and I like it very much so I think it will be a welcome addition to my haircare routine.

R xx

Peter Thomas Roth-Face Masks Set!

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is well! As we are spending so much time at home, we have plenty of time to pamper yourself! I do like to spend time a bit longer in my bathroom. Today the market is vast with so many products out there to make your skin look better and feel better. I received this little gift some time ago from my sister and I have managed to use it up.

Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Gel Mask, Blue Marine Algae Intensive Hydrating Mask, Cucumber Gel Mask Extreme Detoxifying Hydrator and 24K Gold Mask Lifts And Firms – All these masks has similar gel type texture. I found that when applied they gave a little tingling sensation when they are on your face. All of them set into the skin nicely. My skin felt hydrated, nourished, and refreshed. I didn’t have any reaction afterwards. For me they felt the same and the only difference was how they smelt!

Irish Moore Mud Purifying Black Mask – This one didn’t set hard like some masks I have tried as it sits wet onto the skin. It doesn’t dry the skin out either. I really liked this mask as its very good for my blemished prone skin plus it helped to draw out any impurities and hydrated the skin too.

Pumpkin Enzyme Mask – This mask smelt very sweet ( compared to the others, some did have a scent, some didn’t) but I will say it isn’t for those who have sensitive skin. I would recommend doing a patch test first before applying on the face. This has AHAs, aluminium oxide crystals and pumpkin enzymes, so is a little strong so I don’t use it very often. You can feel a warm sensation when applied so my face became pink! Its depends on what skin type you have as we can all react differently so use with a certain amount of caution. My skin become pink where mask was applied but later my skin calmed down afterwards. Despite all this my skin felt softer and brighter.

Rxx