Happy Birthday to Me & Vogue!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I’ve just received a notification from WordPress saying ‘Happy One Year Anniversary’ which has shocked and quite frankly scared me! I really cannot believe where that year has gone….

Another big birthday I’m sure a lot of you will be aware of (and that possibly out does my blog’s first birthday) is the big 100 for Vogue which is extremely exciting. London is awash with past Vogue covers, with everyone from retailers to restaurants to arcades celebrating this momentous occasion with gorgeous displays. Amongst some of the celebrations there was the Vogue 100 exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery which was fantastic but has sadly closed now! And over this weekend, the Vogue Festival is taking place; which, I was lucky enough to attend yesterday!

When you imagine a tent in the middle of a park, scarring memories of a damp-ridden, cold Glastonbury tent come streaming back; but oh no, not at Vogue! Nestled within Kensington Gardens is the most beautifully white structured tent that is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. Upon entering, you’re welcomed by a hallway of past Vogue covers where it was selfies galore! The hall itself was a gorgeously bright, open plan room, where the clear roof gave a lovely natural quality to the space. Within it, there was a space where style and beauty talks took place; an extremely popular pop-up shop where exclusive items were being sold alongside a counter for book signings and t.shirt personalisations. I knew I was in a Vogue wonderland when the portaloos were constructed of a beautiful wood laden with Elemis products to cleanse and moisturise your hands before stepping out back into the madness!

Walking through, I then entered my heaven – the beauty hall. If you read my blog regularly you’ll have seen when I visited the Glamour Beauty Awards, and it was reminiscent of that. The stands you were able to pamper and preen yourself to perfection at were: Jo Malone, Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford alongside a Kerastase braid bar and a nails bar which sadly my shellac meant I couldn’t visit! I took full advantage of the offering visiting all (bar the nails bar) and had a great time! I even got to have a one to one with Bobbi Brown make up artist Hannah Martin which was so exciting where she shared some great tips and tricks of the trade!

I then signed up to a beauty masterclass of ‘How To Launch Your Beauty Idea’ with leading industry experts which was so much more interesting and useful than I had imagined! I scribbled note after note whilst listing to Annalise Fard, Director of Home & Beauty at Harrods. Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss & Soap & Glory amongst other things! Kathy Phillips, founder of This Works. Anna-Marie Solowij, founder of Beauty Mart and Vogue Beauty Director, Nicola Moulton. There were other talks throughout the day which involved the likes of Kim Kardashian (amazing!), Charlotte Tilbury, Lisa Eldridge, Alexa Chung and many more!

It really was a great day where not only did I get to pamper myself, but I really did learn a lot that I hope will stand my in good stead for where I hope to be in the beauty industry! If any of you lovely lot were there I’d love to know what you thought!

Thanks for reading! X

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Review

So I may be a little late to the party in using this product, but after testing for a month I wanted to share my findings with you! The reason I haven’t used this before is because I am so terrified of trying something new on my skin for it to then react and greet me with some new blemish-type friends.

However, if you follow my blog regularly you’ll have seen that I went to the Glamour Beauty Festival, and this product was one of those in the free goody bag! So, I thought I may as well give a try and if I didn’t like it… Well it was free!

 

Review 

This is so different to how I expected it would be! First of all, the consistency is that of light cream. I expected it would be a gel type wash, but in fact it’s more Philadelphia cheese-like (in the least weirdest way possible). You basically pump out a couple of squirts of the product and then apply all over dry skin like a face mask. You then take the muslin cloth and wet with warm water and then gently rub off the product in circular motions. I then like to take the cloth and run under even hotter water and hold over my skin to really open up my pores. I use both morning and night to really help clean my skin!

It does say you can take your make up off with this, but I use a separate cleanser beforehand firstly because I don’t want to dirty my muslin cloth really quickly, and I like the radiant effect that comes with cleansing my skin twice!

After the first couple of weeks using this, I have to say I wasn’t impressed because my skin decided to break out in spots in places I don’t usually suffer like my forehead. I however decided to persist based on various friends recommendations and I’m so glad I did! My skin has now settled down and feels super squeaky clean after using this. It’s also so gentle which I absolutely love and manages to rid my skin of any gathered dirt. I do still continue to remove my make up with a separate cleanser first but I have no doubt that it would be just as good at doing that!

Pros:

Price – At £14 I think this is good value for money compared with other products out there. Whilst it’s not cheap, I find it gives my skin a similar feeling effect after using more high end products.

Ingredients – It’s made from lovely, natural ‘stuff’ including rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus essential oil meaning it not only acts to soothe leaving you with smoother, clearer skin but it suits all skin types!

It cleanses and gently exfoliates in one – The cleanser evidently acts to really clean and brighten your skin, whilst the gently buffing using the muslin cloth means you are giving your skin a deep exfoliation. The two combined everyday can only lead to better, more radiant skin!

Cons:

Muslin cloths – One of my only negative points (and I’m trying hard to find any) is associated with the cleaning of the cleansing cloths. This is me being super lazy, but compared to just using my hands with other cleansers there is slightly more maintenance associated with keeping the cloths clean. You can definitely get away with using for more than one day if you make sure to thoroughly rinse after use, however to make sure your skin is getting the good clean it really needs it probably is best to use a cloth per day!

Initial effects – As I said before, I did come out in spots after using for a short time. It was only for a week or so, and it was obviously just my skin adjusting to the changes, but if you’re not willing to persist through then I wouldn’t recommend this.

Rating: 4/5

After some perseverance I have fallen in love with this product and it has crept into my daily cleansing routine, however the reason I haven’t marked it a 5 is that I still hold another cleanser in extremely high prestige (watch this space for a review)!

I am looking to try the skin tonic from this range so would love to hear your thoughts if you’ve used this!

Thanks for reading 🙂

The Power of Multi Masking

 
Have you guys tried multi masking before? I always feel like I’m giving my skin a mini facial by mixing my lotions and potions (not literally) to find a method that suits me. Multi masking really is such a great way to give your skin a deeply tailored treatment. It’s pretty simple – you use a treatment per area of your skin dependant on your needs (it’s difficult to tell but I’ve used a different product on my chin to the rest of my face on the picture above). It’s fantastic if you have combination skin as you can focus in on specific areas of concern with a particular product without the worry of irritating a more sensitive area.

In my case, my chin is definitely the more oily part of my skin, and is particularly hormonal at the moment, so I’ve used my favourite Kiehls clay masque (review here) to tackle that oiliness. The rest of my skin does not need such an intense masque, so I’ve used Biore pore strips on my nose to really help lift and remove any lurking residue; and then finally, I’ve used the Clarins Pure and Radiant Mask with pink clay as again I didn’t need something as heavy as the Kiehls masque, but I still wanted something to really help brighten my forehead and cheek areas. Plus I didn’t want them to feel left out!

I leave all on for the same time and then cleanse off using warm water (after peeling the nose strip off). I then finish with my moisturiser and eye cream and am left with super smooth skin that hasn’t been irritated in certain parts. I do still love slathering my face in the same treatment for a quick fix; however, if your skin is feeling particularly sensitive or you are looking for a great way to tackle lots of skin concerns at the same time, I would really recommend this technique!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Rodial Dragon’s Blood Eye Mask Review

 

 

As part of the goody bag I received from the Future Of Beauty event at Harvey Nichols I received this Rodial Dragon’s Blood Eye Mask which I have been lusting after for a while now!

It’s pretty straightforward to use… You simply peel the individual mask off its protective covering and apply under your eye. There’s a lot of product actually in the packaging so it’s important to make sure you get as much of that out as possible! You then leave on for around 20 minutes, peel off and then rub any remaining residue into your skin. Easy!

Pros:

– It’s so quick and easy to use. You could use this in the morning and then apply your make up over the top to give your eye area even more of a refreshing boost!

– It really does help improve the appearance and feel of the eye area. My skin felt tighter and more hydrated as well as being significantly brighter, where the appearance was that of looking refreshed and glowing

– It essentially acts as a second skin, where the hit of intense ingredients on the mask are there to soothe and repair the under eye area

– The hyaluronic acid helps to plump the area making eyes look younger and more hydrated

– It instantly reduces puffiness because of the arnica extract

Cons:

– It’s expensive. For £39 you receive 8 sets of under eye masks which does seem a lot; however that works out at nearly £5 per mask if you use one per week. So in that sense for the initial effect it had I would definitely pay that per week. Also I imagine after continued use the eye area would begin to look generally brighten overall.

As you can see my pros list is a lot longer than the cons, and even my point about them being expensive, I’ve managed to turn that into a positive. In short I think these are amazing! If you’re looking to invest in your eye care routine then I would completely recommend these as a starting point. There’s no strict regime to follow and they really are so so simple to use – what’s not to love!

Rodial have some amazing products so I an definitely looking to test some more out! Have you tried any of their other products? Would love to know!

Thanks for reading 🙂 X

Liebster Award & Beauty Blogger Tag

Happy Friday everyone!

 

I’ve been nominated for a couple of awards recently, and because of being so busy for various reasons I just haven’t got around to answering the questions set by the lovely bloggers who nominated me. These nominations are such a great way to firstly discover new bloggers, but also to connect with the great people that shape the blogging community. Rather than nominate 20 people at the end of this, I’ve decided to combine the two and choose ten bloggers to answer my questions. So I hope you enjoy!

 

Liebster Award

A massive thank you to RolasJournal for nominating me for this award!

The questions and my answers:

1.Why did you start blogging?

Because I’m passionate about beauty, whether that be products/tips and tricks. And I wanted a creative outlet to connect with other people. I also love the idea of owning my own space to talk all things beauty – it’s a great excuse to do shopping too!

2.How long have you been blogging for?

I started my blog about a year ago, although I’ve been properly maintaining it for around 3 months

3.Why did you choose this name for your blog?

I was original and stuck with my name. Nothing stood out so much that I wanted to use it, and I like my name so thought why not! Hopefully not many others will have it…

4.What are the top three things you want to do in 2016?

Progress in my career, attend more beauty-specific events, explore more of London

5.Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully developing my own skincare range

6.Are you a sweet/sour person?

Definitely sweet!

7.If you won the lottery what would be the first thing you’d do?

I’m currently trying to find a flat to live in, in London. So I would treat myself and my friends to a gorgeous flat with exposed brick (always wanted that)

8.Are you a morning person?

100% my friends used to make fun of me for it, but now it’s great. I can get so much done in a day! Although come 8pm and I’m ready for bed!

9.Describe yourself in one word.

Dedicated

10.Tell us something about yourself, absolutely anything….

I would rather walk 100 flights of stairs than take a lift

 

 

 

Beauty Blogger Tag

Thanks to H&L Aurora for tagging me in this award!

The questions and my answers:

 

1.What is your beauty routine?

My routine is fairly simple in the morning – I cleanse and moisturise. Having problem skin has meant I really limit what I use. Every few days I’ll exfoliate and I use a face mask once a week. I’ve started using an eye cream everyday.

2.How often do you exercise?

Not enough! I’ve just started getting back into exercise where my plan is do something 2-3 times a week. I’ll be doing a mixture of spin, yoga and dance classes.

3.Do you organise your makeup and nail varnish?

As much as I can, although I always like to have everything out where I can see it. I’d say it’s organised chaos!

4.Can you go without wearing makeup?

Yes and the older I get the more I do it. It’s lovely and freeing and really is amazing for your skin!

5.How long does it take you to put on your makeup?

Around 10 minutes in the morning before work – I love sleep too much to sacrifice it! On a night out though I can spend up to half an hour perfecting my look.

6.How often do you wash your make up brushes?

Once a month which I know is definitely not enough. I need to get into a better habit but it just always slips my mind! I clean my eyeliner and concealer brush every morning with a baby wipe however, so that must be something….

7.What is your favourite store to buy clothes at?

Zara

8.How do you keep soft skin?

Moisturising lots goes without saying. But drinking lots of water is my key to soft skin!

9.What motivates you?

Being successful.

10.What is your ‘smell good’ routine?

My favourite perfume to use is Coco Madmoseille by Chanel. Chanel never smells bad!

 

 

As I predominantly blog about beauty, I’ll continue this by tagging other bloggers with the Beauty Blogger Tag.

 

 

For this I will nominate:

BethalyLoveBeauty

Alice’s Wonderland

Rylie*style

The Rose Beauty Files

LavishlyLottie

Try Me Pretty

Beauty Geek

Loves and Loathes

Hannahhotcakes

The Elegant Anthology

 

 

 

 

My questions for you:

1. What’s your one must have product?
2. Red or nude lipstick?
3. What’s your favourite way to style your hair?
4. Do you ever use fake tan?
5. How do you pamper your skin?
6. How do you maintain your eyebrows?
7. What’s your favourite beauty brand?
8. What would be your one tip for healthier looking skin?
9. What colour nail varnish will you be wearing this summer?
10. What product is top of your wishlist?

 

To participate simply answer the questions, including a tag of my page for nominating you and then choose another ten bloggers to nominate. Looking forward to reading your answers 🙂

 

XX

The Future of Beauty Event

 

  
On Wednesday evening after work I made my way to Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge for a night filled with nibbles, bubbles and beauty – aka all of my dreams rolled into one! They were hosting ‘The Future of Beauty’ in association with Marie Claire, where there was the opportunity to attend a variety of talks as well as testing out various products and speaking to professionals at the make up counters. There was also an AMAZING goody bag, but I’ll talk about that later!

I sadly had to work during the day, otherwise I would have happily spent the whole day there. However I managed to see a demonstration of the new Nails Inc spray on nail polish, Giorgio Armarni foundation master class and a talk by make up and skin care industry experts.

 

The Nails Inc spray on nail varnish looked amazing! You basically spray on your fingers, wash under the tap and they’re ready! To then really tidy up the technician went around with a nail corrector pen. The effect was great and they looked really professionally done; apparently they only last a couple of days, but with how indecisive I am I would be ready to change my colour after two or three days anyway! I’ll definitely be buying this product so watch this space for a review!

 

 The class after that was by Vanessa D’Ambrossio Make Up Artist for Emporio Armani. She showed us how to create two looks; a natural and a more done up look using both new and older products from their collection. The foundations all looked great, and the reason I actually went was because I’m interested in investing in one. After payday I’m going to head down to a counter for some advice on the the best one for my skin! It was also great to get some of her top tips for make up application as well as skin care (as she is one of the top make up artists for the brand!).

 

The final talk was by Mary Greenwell, Fluer Deforce and two skin doctors. They offered some great personal and industry advice, which for a beauty fanatic and some one who simply wants to look after their skin, it was both interesting and extremely useful. It seems like natural skin care is the way forward, as well as all these amazing masques and peels that seem to be dominating the beauty sphere!

 

As part of the event I also received this fantastic beauty bag which I was giddy to open and look inside! I won’t go into every product as I’ll be doing reviews on these, but I was definitely most excited by the Rodial Dragons Blood under eye mask as I’ve been wanting to test this range for a while now. I cannot wait to use this so keep posted for my review!!

Were you there? Would love to hear how the other talks were!

Thanks for reading 🙂

X

Balance Me Samples

  
If you’ve read my last post you’ll have seen that I went to my absolute heaven over the weekend – The Glamour Beauty Festival. Whilst there, I had a skin consultation with Balance Me after which I was recommended a few products to try. There was a pick and mix set up (which was amazing), where I chose these three smaller sized products for £10.

The first I was immediately drawn to was this Wonder Eye Cream (as it did sound wonderful…!). I absolutely love my Kiehls eye cream (review here) but I was really interested to see the difference between the two products. What I love about this is that it absorbs straight into the eye area without leaving any kind of greasy residue. It’s also really light when applying which is lovely and refreshing on the eye area. I went a few days without using my Kiehls under eye cream to try and make sure that the area wasn’t affected by it when testing a new product. The first morning after using my eye area did seem a lot brighter, and it was definitely less puffy! After continued use the area does feel and look healthier, so I would be happy to buy this again.

The second product I went for was the Restore and Replenish Face Cream. Again, I’m really quite happy with my current moisturiser, but I was really intrigued to see how my skin would react to a different product. Compared to my usual everyday this is a lot thicker which I didn’t think my skin would take to, but it actually has! It takes more effort to work into my skin, but because of this it definitely feels more luxurious when it’s on. My skin feels so protected and nourished, which probably is a result of the ingredients, but the consistency also definitely helps this! It promotes natural collagen production where the hyaluronic acid helps to provide instant skin plumping and soothing benefits. The aloe vera and rosehip oil helps to soothe irritated skin, and there’s even blackberry leaf extract which protects skin again environmental damage and premature ageing. I’ve only been using this at night time as I think my skin suits a lighter moisturiser in the day to let it breathe, but for an evening treatment, this is amazing! I make sure to thoroughly cleanse my skin, and then use this as a sumptuous, nourishing product to really give my skin the TLC it needs after a long day at work. The best way to describe my skin in the morning after using this is plump! It’s so smooth and feels really hydrated. A massive thumbs up for me on this one!

The final product I decided to test is the Radiance face mask. This is so different to how I expected it would be. For some reason I imagined this to be similar to my clay-based mask I use (read review here), however it reminded me of a cleanser in its texture, where the exfoliating beads also add to the feeling. You only leave this on for around 5 minutes and then gently wash off. The exfoliating beads in this are so lovely to massage into the skin as you feel like you’re getting a really good deep clean. The lady at the counter said this was perfect to use in the morning whilst brushing your teeth, however my skin was quite red after using so I think I’ll only use at night time. I also only used on my t-zone as I didn’t want to upset my more sensitive areas. I had a couple of small blemishes appearing on my nose the evening I used this, but the morning after they were gone! Another great product by Balance Me!
I would definitely buy all of these products again, and would recommend to anyone with sensitive skin as the natural-based ingredients really act to soothe and protect.
If you’ve tried any other products from this range I’d love to hear! 
X

The Glamour Beauty Festival

 
Yesterday I headed to what can only be described as a paradise. The Glamour Beauty Festival. The event runs all weekend, with brands from Rimmel to Liz Earle there with their own section offering amazing free treatments as well as great advice (I particularly enjoyed seeing how to really conceal my black under eye bags that you may have heard me moan about before…)

 The festival was held at the Saatchi Gallery, which admittedly I’d never been to (but definitely will be going back), where the aroma of beauty obsessives filled the gallery. There were four main sections; hair, make up, skin care and nails, where brands were set up ready to pamper and preen to perfection! I tried to get around as many as possible, but there was so much choice I just couldn’t!

 

 

In the makeup section I first headed to Laura Mercier where an artist showed me how to conceal my under eyes as well as any other areas of concern. I bought this little pot of magic, which amazingly concealed my sins from my work drinks the night before.

 I then headed to the Nars counter where I was shown how to properly highlight, contour and apply blush…


They developed this exclusive colour called Goule for the event which I absolutely loved, and so felt it was rude not to buy it….

After that, I headed to the skincare section. Balance Me were offering an amazing skin assessment service. I put my head into this box with curtains where there was a blue UV-type light with a small mirror.

The specialist then looked in from the other side to assess my skin. I had this done years ago before I underwent treatment for blemishes, so it really was amazing to see the difference it had made to my skin! The only issue she could see, which she said everyone would have, is the dehydration on my under eyes *grabs for water*. They had a pick and mix type shop, where 3 sample sized products were £10, so I bought….

I then headed over to Elizabeth Arden, where I had this amazing treatment which I sadly can’t remember or find the name of (if you can help please let me know!). It essentially looked like a mini spray tan applicator, which she filled with vitamins and sprayed over my skin. She then went back over when there was purely air pressure to massage the product in. It was supposed to be a ‘Madonna effect’, which for the rest of the day, my skin really did glow. I have to also say that on a slight hangover, this was the most amazing treatment! It was so soothing and refreshing that I asked her to do it again! She said they offer a 15 minute treatment for £15, so I would definitely pay for another.

They were the only treatments I had as the queues were fairly long, but I loved spending time just mooching around looking at products.

 

 

As part of the ticket you could also choose a talk to attend. I went to one where Jo Malone, Liz Earle and Thea Green (founder of Nails Inc) were talking about how they started and grew their businesses. It was so interesting and actually really empowering to hear about their journeys. Also, Liz’s skin was literally glowing from around 5 metres away, so I am SO excited to try the hot cloth cleanse and polish. Yes I finally have it!

Now for the best part, another perk of your ticket was that you received a goody bag full of amazing products (a lot full sized!). These are the fab things I received….

So stay posted as I’ll be posting a few product reviews of the great products I discovered at the event!

Would love to hear if anyone else was there and what they tried!

Thanks for reading 🙂

My Lush Trip – Literally!

 

After reading great review after great review of Lush products, I somehow found myself in there the other night. I have bought from Lush before, but the fantastic feedback I’d been reading made me realise that I needed to take a long overdue trip asap! I work near to Oxford Circus, so I took a stroll to the one on Oxford Street, which, if you haven’t been is amazing!

  

The store itself is huge, with a whole section upstairs dedicated just to bath bombs – I was instantly sold! The staff in there were so lovely, and offered me help in a non-intrusive way which is very refreshing! As well as that the shop itself was so inviting, where I probably spent a good half hour just wondering around and smelling all of the delicious products.

 

How cute are these!

I set myself a budget of £10, which I went over by £1.85 oops!! But I couldn’t resist the gorgeous bath bombs I bought….

 

The first one i picked up was the intergalactic bath bomb. The sales assistant was dissolving it in the display sink, and it was actually the smell that drew me in first! It has such a lovely cooling menthol fragrance, which if you’re like me and love mint, you’ll love this! She also mentioned how the ingredients help those who suffer with headaches and muscle tension. So I was sold! I used this the same night I bought it, and I was not disappointed! First, I loved watching the water turn all shades of blue. There was also a lovely subtle glitter within the bath bomb, which left such a pretty effect on my skin. I was thinking this would be perfect for before a night out when you want to give your skin a glow! Also, I loved breathing in the menthol fragrance as I lay and relaxed in the lovely warm water. It was very soothing, and I could really feel the scent going into my lungs (in a good way – like olbas oil!).

   

The second I picked up was the Rose Bombshell, and the third the Tisty Toasty bath bomb.
I haven’t tried either of these two bath bombs yet, but I’m sure they won’t disappoint! My room smells amazing just from leaving them in there, so I can only imagine what the bath itself will be like! Keep a look out for my reviews of these coming soon 🙂

Thanks for reading! If you have any Lush bath bomb recommendations, I’d love to hear them!

The Bloggers Market

  

On Saturday I headed down to the Hoxton hotel in Holburn where a group of lovely bloggers were holding ‘The Bloggers Market’. They Invited fans along to go and shop some of their wardrobes alongside being fed up by the fab baker blogger Afternoon Crumbs, whose cakes and biscuits were delicious! There were lots of other exciting treats to tempt you, as well as a fab room put together by Oliver Bonus, where you could snap your purchases alongside home bits from Oliver Bonus. As part of a competition to win a hamper packed full of Oliver Bonus goodies, we were asked to tag a picture on Instagram of either our purchases on the day or the delicious treats on offer. The below pictures were taken in this particular area….

   
    

  
     
How pretty is the bag! 
I went along in the morning, so missed the mini beauty treatments and caligrahpy which was a shame, but I had a great time anyway when I went, and came away with two pairs of shoes (which I love!) I took a few pictures when I was there, so enjoy!