Cheating Perfect Skin

If someone complements me on my skin, I always do a little snigger internally. Not that I can't take a complement, (I can't, but we'll leave that for another day) it's more that it takes me forever and a year using skincare products and various makeup products to cheat something not even close to "perfect" skin. These two products are the ones that are currently acting as real-life Photoshop for my face...

Given tinted moisturisers were my first venture into make-up (and that's something we usually wish to forget) I somewhat surprised myself with how much I liked this Chanel Les Beiges fluid when I tried a sample. So I took myself down to the closest Chanel counter and the rest was history. It offers a very light coverage, but covers everything you want it to. I'm looking at you, hormonal redness and spots. And being someone that prefers an unfragranced base product, the white rose scent of this is heavenly, and helps to protect skin from environmental damage, whilst offering boosts of hyaluronic acid to up the moisture levels of your skin.

And once again, I find myself revisiting the This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle on ze blog, and I realise how big of a cliche this is now becoming, but I just cannot get enough of this literal miracle product. This "tinted skin perfector" is highly rated by Lisa Eldridge, and for good reason; it's sheer, hydrating, and has the good variety of natural ingredients, that collectively help to make us all beautiful. With the caramel and mica ingredients offering the colour, this is suitable for all skin tones, and will adapt to your natural skin colour.

These two products work amazingly together, and just as well on their own. The This Works perfector is ideal for light coverage, but won't cover any spots, at which point the Chanel offering will come in handy. Layering both of these products or using them singularly will perfect skin, depending on whether you want a sheer or heavier coverage depending on time of day and skin concerns. With each of them having no nasty ingredients, the only other thing you'll be needing is your SPF, then you're good to go.

Have you tried either of these products? And what products do you use to fake perfect skin?

Current Summer Favourites

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm totally repping shiny skin right now. I don't know how it happened but my nose is occasionally glossier than a mirror. Unrelated to this post, but there you have it. I'm shiny.

I've been obsessed with these products lately. Naturally I had to share them...

The always lovely Dave Lackie surprised me with this little wonder a couple weeks ago, all the way from Canada. This Chanel parfum is utterly beautiful, so feminine and something which really reminds you of the classic floral fragrances. Despite feeling a tad wary of whether or not I want to use it (just so this bottle never ends) I'm finding myself reaching for this more and more. Sorry, Jo Malone, you've got competition.

When something gains the Lisa Eldridge deal of approval you know it's a good 'un. This Works' Perfect Look Skin Miracle is no exception, with a very sheer and buildable texture, this tinted (dubbed moisturiser, I think it's a lot more like a primer!) cream perfects and brightens skin tone within seconds. It takes a lot for some people to fore-go the foundation, and this product is the one that helps you do so. This is the most incredible product, has zero faults and I recommend you buy it, now. (Sorry!) On the topic of beautiful skin, RMS Living Luminizer also helps the This Works product to perform miracles. It's an all-natural coconut oil based luminizer, with zero shimmer, just a beautiful dewy, glossy skinned finish. Completely incredible.

Dior Addict Lipstick in 571 Exotique was a limited edition from about a year ago, and given I managed to get the last one in the store, it was destiny (or so I tell everybody to warrant the purchase). This is the best lipstick for versatility, its sheer formula means you can have a light, rosy glow to your lips, or a full on hot pink pout. Charlotte Tilbury's Five Star Lashes meanwhile, gives you the most fluttery natural lashes, with added length volume and curl. Despite the fact it's somewhat of a pain to get hold of, it's completely worth it, and I'm also infatuated by the Wonderglow primer, but we'll leave that for another day...

For good reason, Homeoplasmine is one of those things I refuse to stop talking about. I dedicated a full post to this beauty, here. Sticking to the French theme, I've found myself reaching for Klorane's natural dry shampoo more than normal. I'm trying to introduce my hair to co-washing, and well, it's currently turning to the grease-side. Yuck! Klorane's dry shampoo is amazing for getting rid of minimal grease at the roots, has very little scent, and is so much kinder than the likes of Batiste.

As some of you may know if you follow me on Twitter I will be turning 20 tomorrow! I'm completely in denial that I'm no longer a teenager, so I will be henceforth calling myself "twen-teen." Of course the benefits of a birthday are that I'll be getting presents, and naturally, I've been treating myself more than normal, so expect a haul in the next few days.

See y'all when I'm filled with champagne!

Lets Be Frank

The social media presence of this pouch of body scrub is enormous, with the brilliant people behind the pages writing everything in first person as if Frank body scrub is, well, just that... A person. With the large amount of the Internet now raving about this little, somewhat dirty guy, I thought it'd only be fair to share my thoughts of the guy that's now showered with women all over the world.  

With an all natural ingredients list, including coffee, almond oil, coconut oil and grapeseed oil, this body scrub promises to help reduce the appearance of cellulite, stretch marks and skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema and acne. The premise of this scrub is quite the new one to me, which involves jumping in the shower to dampen the skin, then using the scrub in circular motions, and then getting out of the shower (I'm not going crazy) to let the scrub dry and let the caffeine get to work on evening skintone and helping any problem areas.

Honestly, I've not had any spectacular results from using Frank, and I still have pesky stretch marks on my inner thigh that refuse to budge. I have found that my skin has been really smooth, a couple scars on my legs and foot have slightly faded, but nothing compared to the results of some people. Maybe I was just expecting too much? I go through a lot of body scrubs too, to remove any old fake tan marks and to prep my skin for a new layer, but Frank just doesn't cut it for this purpose, I find it doesn't remove enough, and leaves me occasionally patchy. (My attractive level is exceptionally high right now, honest.) 

The smell of the original Frank (there's coconut and cacao variants at the moment) is heavenly, like the most amazing freshly-brewed coffee, and truly does make you lust after a trip to Starbucks.

I do find this quite fun to use however, and probably would repurchase when I run out, as I kind of enjoy the ten minutes spent drying off in a room smelling like coffee - is that weird?! But just a quick FYI, do take some music into the bathroom with you, and possibly a book. Also, be prepared for mess, EVERYWHERE.

And for those worrying that you still have to get Frank body scrubs shipped from Australia, worry no more... Frank is now available in the UK and with free shipping! You can find all three variants, here.

Another French Pharmacy Cult Product - Homeoplasmine Review

With every Escentual 1/3 off French pharmacy promotion you can almost see bank accounts across the country just straining with how much we seem to end up buying, yet not necessarily needing. This time I swore I didn't need anything, but when my family insisted I order them some Bioderma, it would have been wrong to not bump my order price up to meet the standards for free delivery price, right?

So with a basket filled with micellar water in excess and a bottle of Klorane dry shampoo, I got excessively excited to see that Escentual are now stocking Homeoplasmine. As far as I know, this is the first time Homeoplasmine has been available in this country (don't hold me to it) so after hearing so much about this cult product I just had to see what all the fuss was about.

According to Escentual's site, Homeoplasmine is a homeopathic blend of plant extracts and active ingredients to help minor irritations like cuts, grazes and abrasions and to smooth and intensely hydrate the skin. As of now, I've used Homeoplasmine mostly as a lip balm, and have found it to help speed up the healing process of any small cuts. When used on my lips, I can happily say  it is the best lip balm I've ever used, with no over-exaggeration, this keeps my lips hydrated for a while, without feeling too heavy or sticky on my lips. Using this overnight gets rid of any chapped areas on your lips, doesn't rub off onto your pillow, and keeps your lips from getting dry whilst you sleep. 

As you can see in the above picture, that little blob of clear jelly does boast a similar thickness and consistency to the other cult/multi-purpose moisturiser, Eight Hour Cream. This one however, is clear in colour, slightly thicker and a tad less glossy than the EH offering, not to mention the fact that Homeoplasmine (HALLELUJAH) doesn't have a scent. Despite Elizabeth Arden's claims of an un-fragranced version of EH cream, there's still an unpleasant lingering scent which is off-putting when using as a lip balm.

Honestly? This product is amazing despite the fact it's packaging makes it look like nappy rash cream. So if you can manage to ignore your superficial need for Chanel packaging, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Hope you guys are having a good week! What are you getting up to? I'm still in denial that I'm going to no longer be a teenager after next week, so you can find me on the swings, while it's still *ahem* acceptable.

Taming the Curly Beast - Holy Grail Shampoo and Conditioner

It's a very rare occasion when I'll refer to something as being a holy grail product, I want good results, from short term and long term use of the product, and I want to have never had a bad experience with it. I Don't want much do I? But after a few good months of use, I can happily say that I've finally found a shampoo and conditioner duo that makes my mane more manageable, less greasy and all-round bloody brilliant.

Having naturally curly and thick hair, it tends to run quite dry on the ends and somewhat frizzy, so trying to find products that work wonders for my hair can be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. And did I mention I HATE shampoo shopping? There's so many, each claiming to do something different and each more daunting than the last. At which point steps in Paul Mitchell's Awapuhi Wild Ginger products... 

 Moisturizing shampoo is quite a different concept, huh? Being someone that sees the shampoo step as the "cleanse" and the conditioner as the "moisturise" having two products which have cleansing and moisturising properties I was reasonably apprehensive. Both of these are free of sulfates, and packed full with Keratin proteins to help rebuild hair structure. After using the Awapuhi range, and styling with my usual products, (Moroccanoil and Neal and Wolf Heat Protectant) I found my hair to be less oily, much more manageable, and far less damaged than when using regular simple shampoo and conditioner duos.

And an extra added perk? Much unlike other shampoos and conditioners the bottles have the same amount of product, meaning the conditioner is less likely to run out a few months before the shampoo. This is a god-send to us curly haired gals, but I've still found myself running the conditioner down before the shampoo. At least it took longer than normal...

I'm not going to lie, this is quite a damn pain to get your hands on, and I usually have it send directly from Paul Mitchell, but their UK site does have a salon locator, where you can find either your nearest Paul Mitchell stockists, by the product range you're looking for in particular.

With my hair now much more manageable, dosed with Keratin and Protein I can have that extra hour in bed my hair never used to let me have...

Monday Moodboard

Cause Monday's make us all lazy...

(credit : tumblr/pinterest/intothegloss)