Sunday 31 March 2013

Henata Bath Ballistic Easter Bath Bomb!









 The surprise explosion of the green ballistic egg inside the chicken...


 Inside the egg there is glitter. pink paper soap and pretty flower petals!




Hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday Morning!! I know I did, getting up before dawn, doing Elements of Yoga: Air & Water with Tara Lee [ordered her DVD on Amazon] - really great for toning your muscles and getting your body in a great shape for the summer! And then the sunshine came out and it was a very pretty morning so I decided to take a lovely bath to relax the muscles after the work-out... 


There couldn't have been a better bath choice today than the cute Lush Henata Bath Bomb chick... The yellow/orange explosion of colours and aromas in the bathtub created a really refreshing and energizing atmosphere, which is the perfect way to start a springy day! I read somewhere that you should crack the chick in two by smashing it against the bathtub - please don't do that! I almost made a dent in my steel bathtub....... It's hard as a brick, so just put it in as it is... 

Henata was inspired by the Mexican Pinata, so inside there's a surprise to be revealed - a mini ballistic green egg that explodes with a bunch of glitter, pink paper soap and pretty flower petals [Cornflowers, Marigold Petals, and Red Rose Petals]... And of course it's that invigorating and cheerful citrus aroma of Sicilian Mandarin Oil, Tangerine Oil, Bergamot Oil that really picks you up and puts a smile on your face!



LOVE

Garnier Moisture Match - Tailor-Made Moisturisers for Every Skin Type!







Some Easter Bunnies bring you chocolate eggs, my Easter Bunny brings me Garnier! Garnier Moisture Match 24H was launched in January but the packaging is so springy and fresh that I can't think of a better time to review them than over the Easter weekend! Garnier has sent me the entire Moisture Match range to try, so I am very excited to share my thoughts with you... First of all I think it's a brilliant idea to have a moisturiser matching every skin type! Although all of us have a different skin type we all still need a moisturiser, a moisturiser texture that perfectly suits your skin... This year especially I have noticed that my combo/oily skin has become extremely dehydrated in places, simply because the weather has been so cold for so long...

For my skin type I found I can use all of the moisturisers except the one for dry to very dry skin, it's the only one that feels too rich for me... Also remember that it is important to correctly identify your skin type, quite often we have a mix, for instance you can have a combination of oily T zone and the rest may be dry... So if you say use a rich moisturiser all over the face you will just keep clogging up the pores feeding the bacteria in the oily skin, equally if you use a lightweight mattifying moisturiser all over you will help to balance the oil but the dry skin will look flaky and still be dehydrated... 

Garnier Moisture Match locks the moisture in and hydrates the skin for 24H... Also every moisturiser has a lovely scent, smelling different depending on the ingredients... Here is some info on each of the Moisture Match creams to help you choose the right one for your skin type:
  • Normal Skin [yellow tube] Illuminating Light Lotion - helps to make the skin appear more radiant and it has SPF 20 filters... A light and illuminating texture but leaves no residue. Vitamin B3, Lemon extract and light reflecting pears give a healthy looking glow.
  • Normal to Dry Skin [blue] Light Softening Cream - a lightweight moisturiser making the skin look softer. A light melting cream for a fresh feeling skin. A bespoke mix of ultra-light smoothing dry oils and Blue Lotus extract help the skin to look softer.
  • Dry to Very Dry Skin [pink] Ultra-Hydrating Rich Cream - a mousse like rich texture helps to instantly sooth and comfort very dehydrated skin, quickly absorbed. Camellia oil, Omega 3 & 6 and Shea butter leave the skin feeling intensively nourished.
  • Dull Skin [peach] Revitalising Hydrating Gel - jelly containing water-encapsulated gel particles which burst upon contact with the skin. This texture was inspired by the best-selling moisturisers in Asia. These are great for highly hydrating the skin without clogging up the pores. Exfoliating Citrus extract help to get rid of dull skin and boost complexion giving the skin a brighter appearance.
  • Combination to Oily Skin [green] Mattifying Fresh Cream - Garnier's first ever whipped formula for a cooling sorbet-like texture. Aquakeep technology is combined with super-absorbent micro-spheres that help to balance the oil levels and keep the skin looking fresh and matte. Green Tea extract is an antioxidant with detoxifying properties, which helps to protect the skin from bacteria.

LOVE

Saturday 30 March 2013

Revlon ColorStay Nail Enamel from the SS13 Collection!

Revlon ColorStay in Jungle and Sunburst
















When you are in mid spring but it's freezing winter weather outside all is left to do is to think about summer! The bright sunshine, hot weather, delicious ice-cream and bold colours... Speaking of which, Revlon's 2013 Spring/Summer Collection is bursting with sensual and exotic colours of the Caribbean... Inspired by Tahitian glamour - the flirty and fresh colours of the tropical island are infused in this collection's Eyeshadow Quads, brand new Baby Sticks, Lip Butters and of course ColorStay Nail Enamel!

The limited edition four new shades of the Revlon ColorStay nailpolish are: Trade Winds [nude], Seashell [pale pink], Jungle [dark green], and Sunburst [sheer red]... In the pictures above I'm wearing Sunburst, which is a really fun summer colour, it's super bold and almost to the point of glowing, the texture is like a gel nailpolish so it's a sheer red, a lollipop colour! And Jungle is a dark muddy green, really opaque, almost looks black in certain lighting, and it's a on-trend shade... It looks really chic on long or short nails! This collection will be available in April 2013, almost there now!!

LOVE

Friday 29 March 2013

Cosmetics a la Carte Plump & Prime Lip Primer!






Another great product by A La Carte Cosmetics! It does what it says on the tin... Vitamin E helps to moisturise and plump up the lips... It's not one of those stinging and burning lip plumpers we all are not that fond of... It doesn't give you any of those weird sensations, but it does make the lips appear smoother and plumper... It also smooths the lip contour and prevents feathering, making the lipstick last longer... When applying it make sure you smooth it over the lip edges before using a lip pencil, lipstick or lipgloss...  The nude colour is also really pretty, on my complexion it's a perfect Brigitte Bardot nude lip shade! So I love wearing it on its own as well!

LOVE

SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel and Solution Review!





Hey beauties hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend! I have had a super busy week and really looking forward to unwind and enjoy some lazy time... I should also have a bit more time to write quite a few blogposts... Without a further ado here is the fantastic skincare I have mentioned a while ago! This is what I have been using to get my acne under control, which got out of hand again in January... SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age range is great for my type of skin, which is combo/oily, acne prone, and as I am turning 30 [gasp] this summer the anti-ageing aspect of this skincare range is also vital! 

I have been using the Cleansing Gel and the Solution [tonic] for a few months now... My skin started reacting to these two products roughly after about a month... You are meant to use the cleanser and tonic on your face and neck twice a day... I have however noticed after about 2-3 weeks that was too much for my skin, although my skin type is combo/oily it tends to get dehydrated during the winter, especially this year when the weather has been so cold for so long here in London... And so it was too much for my neck, which started to feel slightly irritated and extremely dehydrated... So I just continued using the cleanser in the morning on the face and neck and tonic morning and evening just on the face not taking it down my neck... A few days later after intensely hydrating my sensitive neck skin with moisturisers it got back to normal... 

The results are incredible, my acne break out was mostly concentrated on the lower cheeks and on the chin... After about two months the texture of my skin visibly became smoother and a lot more clear all over the face... And the areas where the acne used to be concentrated also cleared up completely, I haven't had a spot there for a couple of months now, all you can see is just a few tiny scars which are starting to fade slowly... I still get an odd spot here and there but they are not grouped, and generally it is a reaction to some of the skincare products I try, especially if I try a bunch in a short period of time - my skin is guaranteed to misbehave... Now if I get a spot it's mostly on the chin or on the temples, not sure why there but hopefully with time these areas will also completely clear up!

SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Cleansing Gel and Solution are great for problematic, congested and photodamaged skin - it exfoliates decongested pores, removes impurities, and softens the skin... Both of the products have Glycolic Acid and Salicylic Acid, which are great for unclogging pores and removing dead skin cells leaving a smoother skin... I find SkinCeuticals to be a very serious skincare brand, the active ingredients visibly improve your skin, generally in quite a dramatic way... For me it's been a miracle to have the lower cheeks clear of acne, an area that has been affected for a few years...


LOVE

Wednesday 27 March 2013

How To Make Your Nails Grow Healthy!

On the nails I'm wearing Jessica in 560 Just Married...






Quite a few people asked recently what I did to my nails to make them grow healthy... If you look at some of my older nailpolish blogposts you will see that only a couple of months ago my nails were pretty short... I wore short nails for years, and literally couldn't get them to grow at all, they were too brittle and would start breaking as soon as I'd try to get them a little longer... I used to wear long nails all the time, but then something happened and they became too weak for me to wear them in any other shape or form other than very short... I kind of got used to short nails and gave up on the idea that one day I might be able to wear long nails again... But with the rounded long nail trend all over the runways I started to really crave long nails... 


This is what I did and I am still doing, and it helped me over time: I begun noticing that suddenly my nails would not be as brittle any more and start growing slowly... At that point I started taking vitamins - Centrum [for women] is a multivitamin specifically designed for women supporting balanced women's nutritional needs... It has Calcium, Iron, Folic acid, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, Copper, Zinc, Biotin [great for hair], and Selenium [great for nails]... I have taken it for a month and now I moved onto Centrum Advanced... Apart from that I also started drinking a lot more milk, as well as adding lots of different seeds and nuts to my salads... One of my favourite snacks right now is a small bowl of almonds soaked in water overnight, they get plum and crunchy, I just peel off the skins and munch on them when watching a movie in the evening...

Another point that seems to be crucial for my nails is the shape... I love the square nail shape on short nails, and realised when trying to grow my nails, the first things that would snap off were the edges, I never was fond of round nail shape until this year's nail trends... By reshaping my nails and giving them a rounder edge a lot of the breakage was cut down... Eventually I'd shape them into a sharper round edge which I love, I find long nails with an absolute straight square shape rather old fashioned and tacky looking, it should have at lease a slight accent of a rounded edge... The rounded shape, looks fresh, modern and actually made a lot of my nailpolishes look a lot more beautiful than they looked on the short nails...

In terms of nail care all I use is Essie Protein Base Coat [for full review click here!] - and you can see there how short my nails used to be just two months ago... It's a lovely base and although I prefer matte bases I just love how my nails look and don't want to change anything in my nailcare routine just because I don't know what exactly helped to make my nails grow, though I have a feeling it's the combination of food, vitamins, and nailcare altogether... Also I find that looking after cuticles is a very important step to get your nails to look healthier... I use the Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover [for full review click here!]... 

So far my nails have been growing and growing and I only cracked two nails when I was putting the wheels on the new wheelie bins that were delivered few days ago, but other than that they have done extremely well... So I hope some of these tips I have shared will also help you! If I managed to grow my nails after they were brittle for  about 3-4 years before, so can you!

LOVE

Monday 25 March 2013

Bronzy Eye Make-up Look with Eylure Naturalites Super Full 070 Lashes!







Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Busy Signal; Topshop Lip Cream in Daze
Estee Lauder Quick-Thick Eyeliner in 01 Pinker Black; Eylure Naturalites Super Full 070 Lashes








A gal needs her lashes! These Eylure Naturalites Super Full 070 lashes are really cute and great for a lash-beginner as well, they are super easy to apply because of the thin strip... The thinner and finer the eyelash strip is the easier they are to apply... These are also lightweight and once I put them on I don't feel them... Super Full 070 are not too long or too extreme, they are great for adding extra fullness and keeping the look quite natural, they have a mix of brown and black lashes to make the look even softer... The only thing is I am allergic to the Eylure adhesive lash glue which is included... It can happen, so don't get put off by wearing fake lashes in general... In case you ever feel any type of discomfort when putting on any type of lashes such as burning take them off immediately and remove all of the glue traces, the  next time just use the glue that you are ok with...

For the eye make up, I'm wearing the Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Busy Signal, which is a bronzy warm shade with MAC Eyeshadow in Texture all over and a bit of Mulch just in the crease... Estee Lauder Quick-Thick Eyeliner in Punker Black, great eyeliner for when you are in a rush and want an easy and intense black eyeline... This eyelook I have been wearing a lot in the past week actually... And on the lips I went for the Topshop Lip Cream in Daze, a pretty lilac pink with a bit of sheen... It's actually the first time I have tried their Lip Cream, and I really like it... It's in between a lipgloss and a lipstick, nicely pigmented, and not sticky at all, very pleasant to wear and smells like a really yummy dessert! 

LOVE

Saturday 23 March 2013

Essie Maximillian Strasse Her - Spring 2013 Collection!

 Essie Maximillian Strasse Her - Spring 2013 Collection




OPI Which Is Witch? - Oz The Great and Powerful Collection 



Maximillian Strasse Her is an awesome pastel grey shade, I'd describe it as a shark grey! It's from the Essie Spring 2013 Collection, and although I absolutely adore most of the colours from this collection this shade is my favourite, it's different and super flattering! Maximillian Strasse Her represents Berlin as one of the greatest shopping destinations chosen by Essie herself... For more info about the collection and all the swatches click here! And on the accent nails I'm wearing OPI Which Is Witch? holographic glitter nailpolish with a clear base, which I also absolutely adore! Which Is Witch? is from the Disney Oz The Great and Powerful Collection, for more info about this collection click here!


LOVE

Friday 22 March 2013

Bumble and Bumble Thickening Range!



In London we are suffering the worst weather in history, in the past few months you can literally count how many sunny days we had... This is so depressing... Anyways with dehydrated just about every single part of the body now also my hair started looking totally dull and flat... The windy weather just makes the roots go greasy very quickly and hair ends up looking terrible... So I realised my hair needs a nice boost! I tried a few products from the Bumble and Bumble Thickening range and really like the texture and volume it creates! 

The Shampoo and Conditioner made my hair look voluminous and shiny... It didn't weight the hair down, leaving it looking fresh and bouncy... Also for extra bit of texture and volume the Thickening Serum is great for thicker and stronger strands - it works over time just like skincare... It's a nightly leave-in treatment, you only need a few pumps - massaging the serum into the roots and through damp or dry hair... Thumbs up!


LOVE

Thursday 21 March 2013

OPI Glints of Glinda + Which Is Witch? - Oz The Great and Powerful!





OPI Glints of Glinda


OPI Which Is Witch?


OPI collaborated with the release of OZ The Great & Powerful movie exclusively using the OPI 2013 Soft Shades Collection... To reflect the three witches: Glinda [the good witch of North]; Evanora [the wicked witch of the East]; Theodora [the wicked witch of the west] - OPI has created seven soft shades including glitters and the new textured Liquid Sand technology... If you are someone who likes neutral nailpolish shades or someone who loves a bit of a glitter-bling you will love this collection! I particularly like the unique glitter nailpolishes! One that stood out most to me is the Which Is Witch? - a holographic large glitter particles and tiny stick glitters with a clear base, really beautiful over any nailpolish! And Glints Of Glinda is a really lovely sheer milky cream nude colour, looks very pretty and neat with two coats...

LOVE

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Dior Healthy Glow Awakening Blush in Rosy Glow!





Dior Backstage Makeup Eyeliner Brush


This was a bit of an unexpected treat! My aunt who is very much into fashion is now getting a few  beauty tips from me, and for an afternoon I became her personal beauty shopper! It was big fun, we went to Harrods and dug through the entire beauty floor, and also the Spa at the 5th floor... As a little thank-you my aunt treated me to a couple of things at the Dior counter... I was super excited as I really wanted this blush for ages just somehow never got it! This blush had a lot of attention from so many beauty gurus and bloggers... And omg I love it dearly!!  No rhyme intended... 

Basically what this blush is famous for is that it was designed with special technology, which enables it to adjust to every skin-tone individually! At first it looks quite bright in the pan, when you swatch it it looks very light almost like a highlighter... But when you apply it then you begin to see the beauty about it! Dior suggests to gently apply one coat and then go over with a second to emphasise the flush of colour... Though bare in mind - it will develop gradually adjusting perfectly to your own skin-tone, so don't apply too much thinking it's looking a touch pale at the beginning! 

Rosy Glow is a super enhancing blush, it illuminates your skin and makes you look a thousand times fresher and prettier!! Especially after it settles it makes my eyes glow as if you just had two days of sleep, the white is highlighted, and blue eyes just pop: it's absolutely incredible! It has become my most favourite blush of all times... Rosy Glow is beautifully scented with a rose fragrance, very mild and chic! And since I was at the Dior counter I also decided to get the Eyeliner Brush, which I had on my wish-list too... It's great for that kind of smudging of an eyeliner or a smokey effect...



LOVE

Essie Avenue Maintain - Spring 2013 Collection!





 Sally Hansen Gem Crush Nail Color in 04 Blingtastic [1 coat]
over Essie Avenue Maintain [2 coats]




Avenue Maintain was the only colour from the Essie Spring 2013 collection [for all the swatches and info click here!] I was a little scared to ware on my now my pretty long nails, it would look better on short nails... Nevertheless I like this blue, it looks quite bright with flash or in bright sunshine, but equally it turns to a much darker grey-toned blue with the absence of bright day-light... I think this shade would look lovely on toes as well, with a cute pair of sandals in the summer! And on the accent nails I'm wearing Sally Hansen Gem Crush Nail Color in 04 Blingtastic, which is a glitter nailpolish packed with blue tiny glitters and a few bigger silver glitter particles on a clear base...


LOVE

Tuesday 19 March 2013

A La Carte Skin Veil Skin Perfector & Primer!









Every time I try a new A La Carte product I realise I'm falling in love with this brand... A brand I knew nothing about until recently is rather impressing with the variety of products I haven't seen in other brands... First time I saw this product was on Ruth's [amodelrecommends] YouTube chanel, I think in one of her old videos she recorded while she was in New York for a shoot... It's a primer for all skin types, so I decided to give it a go... The first time I used it with my RealTechniques Buffing Brush I didn't get great results, but that's because I applied more than I should have... 

Today I decided to give it another go and this time use a lot less product and apply it with the sponge that came with it...That made all the difference!! Sometimes you think brushes are the way to go with everything, but really you just need to find a better way of applying a product if it doesn't work with a brush before you give up on it! So now I really like the Skin Veil, the texture glides beautifully over the skin giving you a perfect base! But like I said I found that on my combo/oily skin the tiniest amount was enough... 

If you have a great skin than you can just leave it at that as it has a tint to it... Skin Veil comes in different shades, this one is Vanilla, which is great for medium skin-tone... Before I apply my foundation I generally wait a few minutes to make sure the base settles well... It is suitable for most skin types, it may not last very well on very oily skin but I'd definitely recommend it for dehydrated, normal, combo, and combo/oily skin type...


LOVE