Good Things...?

'Good Things' is a brand I have seen in my local Boots for quite a while now, yet this is the first product I have purchased from their extensive offerings.
The range was set up by skincare guru Alice Hart-Davis when she realised that there was a gap in the market for gentle, yet effective skincare for young skin. Many cleansers and moisturisers these days are chock-a-block with chemicals (such as sodium laurel sulfate), parabens, petrochemicals and mineral oils and all of these ingredients can strip away the skin's natural protective barrier and cause further irritation. Not good news for the sensitive skinned among us. With this in mind, Alice ensured that all Good Things products are free from all that chemical gunk and instead her products harness the power of Superfruits (blueberries, goji berries, papaya, mango etc), to provide effective yet gentle skincare.
The range consists of an anti blemish section (which this particular product is from) and a more sort of general section, for non-problem skin.

I settled on this exfoliator as it sounded gentle yet effective for scrubbing away any lingering blackheads on my nose and any bits of dead, flaky skin. My plan is to use this face wash around 2 times per week, and carry on using my other daily cleanser the rest of the week. My reasoning for this is that although this product can be used daily, I don't think my skin would appreciate being exfoliated every single day!

This product uses extracts from Licorice and Papaya which promise to:

- boost skin radiance (papaya)
- soothe skin and reduce bacteria levels (licorice)

I have been using this for several weeks now and I must admit that I do enjoy it. While I'm not certain if it has made any difference to my blackheads (I wasn't overly plagued with them anyway, I just have a few on my nose), it definitely made my skin feel much smoother and brighter.
The consistency of this exfoliater is great, and the exfoliating particles aren't too big and irritating - nothing worse than feeling like you are washing your face with grit!

As this product is free from sodium laurel sulfate (SLS), don't expect to get a really good lather. I personally don't mind this as I know that SLS can be an irritant to skin, so if a product doesn't foam up well then I have peace of mind that I'm not overloading my skin with chemicals. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend this product and I look forward to trying out other products from this line, perhaps a cream cleanser or a moisturiser.

Ohh and lastly, for all the licorice haters out there (myself included), this does not smell like Licorice allsorts!! Pheeeew!!

Have you ever tried anything from this range before?

Fresh Cheeks!

 One make up item I LOVE is blusher - a girl can never have too many shades in my opinion! Due to the fact I can suffer from dry skin, I do tend to favour cream blushers over their powder counterparts (don't get me wrong though, I still enjoy a powder blush, especially on a night out when I need more staying power). 
Searching for a perfect cream blusher can be tricky though - some have a poor colour payoff, some slide off your face moments after application, some just go patchy and don't apply smoothly and evenly. 
This cream blusher though, has easily made its way into my top 5 all time favourites! I have a few items from the Look Beauty Collection, and I must say, their blushers are totally impressing me! Especially this little gem..... This is Fresh Cheeks, in the shade Guava. 

The colour of this blusher is just right, its neither too coral nor too pink - it sits nicely in the middle, therefore I think this is a colour for all skintones. 
The consistency of this blusher is smooth and creamy and it dries with the perfect dewy finish - it's not too matte, yet it doesn't make your face look greasy and oily. It's just right....(I am making this blush sound like baby bear's porridge aren't I?!) It truly does provide your cheeks with the most natural finish possible.
The colour intensity starts off quite light but can be easily layered up to create a bolder look. Thats what I love about cream blush - the intensity of the look is totally in your hands! And even if you do choose to amp it up, I think cream blushers buff and blend more seamlessly into the skin than powders. 
I choose to apply this with my real techniques stippling brush. I ensure I apply the most colour to the apples of my cheeks and then I buff out up towards my hairline ensuring there are no harsh lines (however, I think its quite hard to get a harsh line with a cream formulation though...) If you aren't keen at apply cream blushers with a blush, do not fret, I think the consistency of this product is smooth enough to apply with your fingertips and still get a beautiful result.

in natural light with no flash

with flash

I would 100% recommend this blush to everyone and anyone. There are 2 other Fresh Cheeks shades to try (Lychee and Melon) and I am most definitely a keen bean to add them to my ever expanding blush collection.

Has anyone else tried the Look cream blushers? What formulation do you prefer ; cream or powder? 

The Look beauty range is available from Superdrug and online via the Look beauty website here

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish

I love highlighter! I love the way it adds subtle radiance and a dewy finish to an otherwise matte face and the way it catches and reflects light. Finding your perfect highlighter can be a tricky business, depending on your skin tone, pore size, blemishes, fine lines etc...
I have a few highlighters that I love, and I don't seem to have a personal preference for cream or powder products. Being fair skinned, the highlighters I favour tend to be cool-toned, e.g. pink or silvery, however  my MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in the shade Soft & Gentle, breaks this rule. I would class this as being a warm-toned highlighter due to the shades of gold and  bronze yet it looks lovely on fair skin. The colour pay-off is sheer and light, and the shimmer is fine (no chunks of glitter here!!) and so this lack of intensity means it looks great on all skin tones.

I like to use a real techniques setting brush available here to apply this product. I swirl the brush around and dust it down the centre of my nose, underneath my brow bone and at the tops of my cheeks.
I use this product a lot, and haven't even began to dent its beautiful surface. This product might honestly last me a lifetime!
I really enjoy using this product, and it will definitely be joining me on my summer holidays this year, because although it looks great with my fair skin, I think it will look amazing will a tan!

subtle radiance and shimmer!

Find MAC Mineralize Skin Finish here - you won't regret your purchase! 

Sugar Sweet

I'm not going to lie, I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Benefit products! I love their ideas, the colours, the quirky packaging however I hate the price. I find Benefit to be very overpriced and since I'm forking out for the product, I have high expectations of them and quite a lot of Benefit products fall short, in my opinion. It's not that they're bad products or anything, its just that sometimes they aren't exceptional - which is what you want when you hand over £20-30 for 1 item.
With that in mind, I decided I would try out a Benefit box, where you get a range of complimentary products for £23. (find it here)
I opted for Sugarlicious which is the nude kit, as I wanted something I would get plenty use of. 
Within my kit, I recieved a mini Sugarbomb blush + brush, mini Benetint and Highbeam and a tube of Sugarbomb lipgloss. The box also has a handy mirror on the lid, plus a little fold out booklet of tips and tricks - very nice touch!

Now.... How did I feel about the actual products themselves?

Sugarbomb - I'm not going to mince my words here, I was very let down by this blush. The sheer lack of pigmentation in this blusher is horrdenous...it barely shows up on skin (and I am very pale), it basically just provides shimmer and sheen. I think I have used this once since purchasing the box - all I can say is I am grateful I didn't fork out £23.50 for the blusher alone, at least there are other products for me to try. 

Benetint - Benetint was a tricky one for me to figure out as its not a cream or powder formulation - its a stain. The consistency of the liquid is quite runny so you need to be quite quick at blending it out but once you get used to it, this is a nice product to use. It provides a nice, natural flush to the cheeks and is nowhere near as dark as it appears in the bottle! 

High Beam - High Beam is another funny product for me. I know its a total cult product and everyone raves about it, but I just don't get the hype. Don't get me wrong,  I don't dislike this in any way and its a good highlighter, but thats all it is...good. Perhaps I am using it wrong? I like the colouring of this highlighter though, its pearly and irridescent and suits pale skin very well. 

Sugarbomb lip gloss - Another product in the box I don't use! As this is a nude kit, I expected the gloss to be nude - its not! It is a kind of plummy, brown colour which just doesn't flatter my skin tone at all. The consistency of the gloss is lovely, it goes on smooth and doesn't dry out the lips, its just the colour I dislike. I probably would purchase this lipgloss but in another shade - perhaps Dandelion or Coralicious? 

from top to bottom - sugarbomb blusher, benetint, high beam, lip gloss in natural light with no flash.

from top to bottom, suagrbomb blush, benetint, high beam, lip gloss with flash

All in all - the box wasn't all that. I use 2 of the products quite often (Benetint + High Beam) and the other 2 remain untouched. 
I am glad I got the box though as it means I didn't splash out on the expensive full size versions!

Have you tried any products from this Benefit kit? 

Korres Mango Butter Lipstick

I love a lipstick but can sometimes find certain brands to be to drying and unforgiving on my lips and so I feel I need a product with added moisturising benefits - enter Korres. 

The word butter in the title screams moisture and with a high shine finish (another favourite of mine - if you have dry lips, matte finishes are not your friends!) I knew I had to get my hands on this product. 

They have a few shades available, however I selected shade 12 frost pink -  which is a gorgeous satin light pink. 

 

The consistency of the lipstick is smooth and creamy which means it applies like a dream. It glides onto lips, providing a slick of sheer colour and gloss. 

The formula feels moisturising upon application and remains like this - it doesn't dry out as the day goes on. 

The shade of this lipstick on the lips is subtle and sheer, but I like it this way. Its muted, understated and delicate which is perfect for your daytime look, yet it wouldn't look out of place on a night out with smokey eye make up. 

I find myself reaching for this product regularly on days when I want to add a splash of light colour to the lips yet also when I need to pamper them and provide much needed moisture.

 swatch in natural light with no flash.

 swatch with the flash on.

have you ever tried any Korres lip products?

Three Day Weekend....

 

This is a  product  (and brand) you may/not have heard of - I certainly hadn't, and only stumbled upon this product whilst flicking through the duty free magazine onboard a flight! I was intrigued by its description in the mag, and pondered for ages whether to buy it or not. Eventually I decided to take the plunge and ordered a bottle from feelunique . 

The product itself is a moisurising gel which promises intense hydration for 24 hours and also to add a healthy glow to your face without the need for self-tan, and let me tell you, it was definitely the latter aspect of this product which intrigued me. 

While I do try to embrace my paleness (mostly because I can't be bothered with the upkeep of maintaining a fake tan 24/7), I can't deny that it really would be nice to have a healthy glow to my face - just to take the corpsey edge off!

The product works by stimulating your skins melanin production (the natural pigment found within your skin which causes tanning), which in turn causes your face to get a sunkisseed glow, without sunshine and false tan. Application of this moisturiser should be daily, and results should be expected with 1 week, although the website does state that results vary by skintone and your skins natural ability to produce melanin, therefore I think people with olive skintones would really benefit from this product.

So, what did I think of this product? I actually found this product rather pleasant to use. The texture is a gel which is light and refreshing on the skin and so I enjoy using this product in the hotter, summer months (or on holiday since hot, summer months don't really exist in the UK!) when I feel my usual moisturiser is too heavy. 
I wouldn't say the moisturisation abilities of this product are intense enough to last 24hours, I applied morning and night and found my skin to be comfortable. I think if I had applied it less, my skin may have felt tight and dry. 
But the big question is, did I notice a colour change?! Well...yes and no. I wouldn't say the colour change was so noticeable that people would comment, yet it was noticeable to me. My face just looked healthier, more glowy and fresher - like I went for daily morning walks! 
Like I mentioned earlier, the results are based on your skins own ability to produce melanin, therefore people who take tans well would probably experience a greater colour change. 

I'm happy to continue using this product throughout the summer months due to its refreshing texture and I will definitely take it on my summer holidays. I think when I take it abroad I will notice more of a colour change, as my daily sun exposure will be higher. More sunshine = more melanin.

I probably would recommend this product to people, as darker skinned people will get quite noticeable results, and as for us pale girls, it takes the edge off your whiteness, and just makes you look healthier. And healthy can never be a bad thing!! 

have you ever tried any tan activators/extenders like this?

Frizzy Lizzy

 

Today I'm going to be discussing a product which aims to eradicate the dreaded enemy of us curly haired ladies.....The frizz! The product in question is the Lee Stafford Dehumidifier Spray from the Poker Straight collection. 

The product packaging is typical of the Lee Stafford range, a bright pink can with the distinctive barcode and text. I like the branding of this range as I think it stands out when on the shelves and grabs my attention. 

I decided to invest in this product when I made a pact to myself to try and stop using as many heated styling tools on my hair in an attempt to strengthen my hair, as I feel it to be quite damaged/dry and brittle sometimes. I also want to cut down on the amount of time I spend taming my hair, I feel I should try and embrace my curls rather than fight them...(its a battle I am losing anyway so I may aswell hold up my little white flag..). However, just because I want to love and accept my curls, doesn't mean I need to welcome the frizz that comes with them, and so thats where this product steps in!! 
After I let my hair dry naturally (eeeeeeeek!!) I spray this liberally all over my head and I find that it helps to smooth any static or flyaway strands, and somehow, miraculously , removes the frizz! I don't know how it does it, but you can literally see the frizz fading as you spray. Once I've sprayed this all over my head, and ruffled my hair, I am good to go. It's not hard or crunchy like a hairspray/mousse or gel and it adds a  glossy finish to my hair which is a bonus as I sometimes find curly hair can look a bit lacklustre. 
Don't be thinking though that this is just for curly hair, oh no sir! This is for anyone who suffers from attacks of the frizz! If I ever do straighten my hair, a skoosh of this over my finished style acts like a barrier from the elements and stops me fretting about my hair! 
This spray is perfect for use in the UK with our unpredictable weather, and also perfect for use abroad when the hot, humid weather mucks up your hair and your regular hair routine! I honestly couldn't be without this now. 

have you ever tried this product before? Do you like Lee Stafford products?