Monday, January 28, 2013

Beauty Resolution #3 - Learn to Love My Skin!

Can you believe I am still posting about my New Year resolutions?!  I had a bit of bad news so have taken a step back but I really wanted to post about this before the month of January was up.  I'm sure they say that by this date, most resolutions have been broken, but i'm happy to say i'm still going strong! Hurrah!

In the past few years my skincare regime has been scaled down and down until, at the end of last year, all I was doing was cleansing and not even applying moisturiser!  I can hear you all tutting in disapproval!  In return, my skin repaid me by either being super oily or flaky and dry.  It was clear it was time for a routine!  I've made a few new skincare purchases recently, let's have a look..


First up I am still using the very last drops of the Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil.  I previously reviewed this here and am happy to report that I am still loving this product.

I've been lusting after the entire Origins range since a concession appeared in my local Debenhams.  I am a little bit obsessed with applying oils to my face so decided I needed Origins Clean Energy Cleaning Oil in my life.  I actually bought the pump as it doesn't come with one, and I'm glad I did since you only need 2 pumps max.  It's really easy to use, just massage into dry skin, splash on some water to emulsify then I normally remove with my Emma Hardie Cleansing Cloth.  Not only does it smell divine, but it literally melts away make-up and doesn't strip the skin nor leave it oily.

I've been dipping my toe into face masks recently.  Well, not my actual toe, but my proverbial toe...!  During a recent jaunt round Asda I spied the nspa 5 Minute Magic Mask.  It has a bit of an odd texture, like a thick cream with little micro beads in it.  The idea is that as you apply the mask you rub in circular motions to burst these little beads, which releases more good stuff onto the skin.  This is a bit tricky to master if i'm honest, as I'm usually a fan of the smooth-and-go method when applying masks.  This requires a systematic smoothing and rubbing therefore takes a bit longer, but it's no biggie.  I did notice a fair bit of tingling with this mask, but nothing uncomfortable.  My face feels smooth when I rinse this off, but I need to trial it a bit longer to see if it does anything else.

Normally I wouldn't really pay much attention to Clinique as a skincare brand, their 3 step system just didn't do anything for me and I pretty much wrote them off in terms of suitable skincare.  However, they've really stepped up their game recently and I am now using the Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector and the Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Remover.  I wanted to incorporate an eye cream into my routine since i'm not getting any younger, plus my dark circles aint getting any lighter.  This light texture tinted cream is dispensed through this metal nozzle which is lovely to use.  Are my dark circles gone?  Well, not exactly, but i'll stick with it.  I'm using the Dark Spot Corrector as a primer before foundation and it feels lovely on the skin.  It does seem to fade those horrible spot scars more quickly too which is a bonus!

My most recent purchase was the Keihl's Over Night Biological Peel.  I can be a bit lazy therefore i'm a fan of anything that I can slather on before bed and requires minimal effort from me.  At the moment I am using this 3 times a week and I must say, my skin feels nice and polished in the morning when I rinse this off.

I have my beady eye on a few other products but I think I will hold off til we go to Florida (in 3 weeks!!!) since many of them are US brands which I suspect will be cheaper over the pond!

Do you have any skincare recommendations?  In particular masks/treatments...remember, i'm lazy! :)
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Sleek MakeUP Sparkle 2 Palette


I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone who has followed me for a while that this is yet another Sleek post.  I can't apologise for it, as they are such a fantastic brand who always mix it up and push the envelope with new products and colours.

The Sparkle 2 Palette is my latest purchase, and although this was launched in the run-up to the festive season, it is still available in-store so I thought i'd share it with you!

Surprisingly, I don't own the original Sparkle palette, I think it was sold out by the time I got round to buying it, so I can't compare it to this one.  As you may be able to see, or just guess by the name of the palette, the majority of shades have a glittery finish.  Now, normally, I steer well clear of such shadows..me no likey the glittery fall out!  However, in terms of fall out these shades don't have much!  I usually slick on some Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue beforehand and that seems to lock down any escapee glitter particles.  I'm also a bit more pat-pat than blend-blend when it comes to applying these shadows which also helps.

You can see from the swatches that, on the whole, the payoff with these shades is lovely.  There only shade which was sheer was Gold Ribbon, and to be fair that it wasn't really that bad..

I love this palette.  It may not get everyday use, but it's just so blimmin' pretty!

You can find this is Superdrug, or on the Sleek MakeUP website, priced at £7.99.  I believe the also ship internationally..so there's no excuse! ;)
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Saturday, January 19, 2013

My face today!

Hello!

I've decided to make some use of my BlogPress app because it's so convenient to blog from my phone sometimes when I have some spare time. Like now for example, I'm sitting watch Darren play darts...random, I know!

Anyway, I thought I'd share my make-up from today with you. I've been loving using my MAC Studio Sculpt foundation but it's a teeny bit light so I mixed some Dermablend Corrective foundation in shade 35 which gave a really nice natural finish!


Im sorry if the picture quality is a bit rubbish, it's the combination of me taking photos on my iPhone and then uploading via this app which seems to reduce the quality of the images even more!

On my eyes I used my Sleek Oh So Special palette, which has some lovely neutrals. I smudged on some black kohl liner and layered on mascara like there was no tomorrow! On my cheeks I used Canteloupe blush by MAC. This got hidden under my messy make-up stash and I only recently rediscovered it, so so pretty! Kept the lips simple as they are a dry, flaky mess and just slathered on my Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine in an attempt to hydrate them!


Take care x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Beauty Resolution #2 - Blog More!

Following on from my last post about my first beauty resolution, I thought I'd share another with you...

#2 - Blog More

I know, I know..every blogger and their cat has this resolution, but I figure there is room for that particular bandwagon for me too!

I've never been a regular blogger. I envy those who blog multiple times a day. I wish I was that organised, had posts all scheduled and ready to go...but I'm not. For me, blogging is quite an organic thing; sometimes I could blog for hours and at other times my blogging mojo disappears and my little corner of the internet becomes very quiet.

So, what are my plans then?

First up, I am going to make full use of times where I feel like blogging. Now, I realise this does seem like I am stating the obvious, but what I mean is that I will draft up posts while I'm in the blogging groove and that way I should have a pool of posts ready to put the finishing touches to and make live. Easy!

Next thing is to keep a notebook in my bag. I'm always thinking up ideas for posts and things to review, but I am so forgetful that writing these ideas down as they happen should help me focus. Plus, it'll help me to plan what I need to photograph, which brings me to my next point...

I'm not a fan of Winter for many reasons, one of which is the fact that from Monday - Friday I seem to go to work and come back from work in the dark! The natural daylight is long gone by the time I get in from work. This makes photographing things for my blog really difficult, as I want you to be able to see the true colours of things I'm talking about without it being all dark and shadowy. So, I am going to dedicate a hour or so over the weekend to photographing things for my blog. That way, I'll have all my photos ready for during the week when I have time to blog.

Lastly, I want to set some goals for my blog. I want to blog at least once a week. When you consider that I currently blog, at most, once a month I think that is manageable for me. I also want to increase the traffic to my blog through posting more and promoting myself more through social media. I do this sporadically at the moment, but I want to try and be more vocal during the #bbloggers twitter chats and such like.

Do any of you have any other tips for being more organised to blog more?

I have one more beauty resolution to share with you, so stay tuned for that very soon!

Take care x
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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Beauty Resolution #1 - Make Up Clear Out and Spend Less


Happy New Year girlies!!

It's that time of year again where we all make our resolutions for the coming year.  I've made a few beauty/blog related ones which I thought I'd share with you, starting with...

#1 - Make Up Clear Out and Spend Less

I have a lot of make-up.  That isn't a boasting statement, rather an addicts admission!  In the beginning of my obsession, I would splurge on high-end make up however, at some point this turned into buying copious lower end (or drug store) make-up.  We have some cracking cheaper brands of make up in the UK and I just can't help myself when I'm in Boots or Superdrug.  Hence I have reached breaking point (quite literally) in my make-up storage and am forever rooting around in piles of make-up to find what I want.  This also means that some much-loved-yet-forgotten items get hidden and therefore not used.  This makes me sad, and very ashamed that it's come to this.  So today I decided a good old New Year's clear out was in order!

To start, I sorted out my make-up into different categories; Keep, Bin, Back to MAC and Sell.

Keep - Anything I love and will use was kept.  I also kept some limited edition items, even although they don't get regular use.
Bin - Anything that smelled or looked funny, was separated, broken or just unloved (frosty pink lipstick anyone?) got chucked.  This included some random, scratchy brushes! Go me!
Back to MAC - MAC Cosmetics have a scheme where if you return empty packaging, with the exception of some items, you can swap them for a lipstick.  In the UK you need 6 separate items, however I believe this varies in other countries.  I save mine in a drawstring bag so they don't get lost or thrown away by mistake.
Sell - I have some bits and pieces of make-up that are in good condition, but that I just don't love any more   I plan to either do a blog sale, pop them on ebay or maybe take them along to a car boot sale.

I then re-organised everything into the drawer.  I had a damp cleaning cloth to hand to get rid of any dust or dirt.  I have the Malm Dressing Table from Ikea, which I use to store the majority of my make up.  I love the idea of the dividers that you can get for these however can't justify the money right now so instead I've used various different boxes and baskets that I had lying around.  It houses my make-up perfectly and I can pretty much see at a glance what I have.


At the end of it, I had a large plastic bag full of stuff to go in the bin, and a smaller basket of stuff to be sold.  And seeing all my make-up looking tidy and organised, well, that made my heart happy!

Spending Less...

I figure that now that my make-up is all visible  neat and tidy, perhaps I will be less inclined to spend.  Where I do buy make-up, I want to be able to justify the purchase to myself.  I'm going to cut out unnecessary spending in Boots/Superdrug because I'm bored/sad/happy/it's a day ending with a 'Y'.  Buying 345 drugstore foundations to find one as good as a £30 high end foundation is just crazy!  And I do that...a lot!

I'm not imposing a spending ban on myself, because I have zero willpower.  I am banning myself from regular browsing in Boots or Superdrug, unless I know what I am going in there for.

I'm hoping that by the end of the year this resolution will have become a habit.

Have you made any resolutions?
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