Sunday Riley Tidal Cream: Instant Love

Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream Review

I’ve very quickly fallen for Sunday Riley’s Tidal Cream. It is, to summarise prematurely, a fresh-feeling moisturiser with superb brightening effects that seems to be highly effective without feeling as though it’s going to burn my entire face off. So many products are a no-no for me during pregnancy, especially acid exfoliants, that I approach anything with the words “exfoliating”, “brightening” or “enzyme” with an almost comedic level of caution, but this one feels very cool, comfortable and soothing.

Not many products will make me leave the house in the dead of night wearing only a pair of pants, a parka and some old slippers, but after I realised the other night (as I was doing my grooming faff) that I had left the Tidal Cream in the office I became rather frantic and – despite the fact I had about seventy billion night creams lined up on the windowsill to test – it became imperative that I fetch the Cream of Dreams.

My love for this cream is twofold: firstly, it’s incredibly hydrating. To the point where my skin – I think – actually looks more plumpsome* as well as feeling it. You know when you meet those people who look – quite literally – like a “picture of health”? And their skin is almost waterlogged, as though someone’s left a mini hose-pipe running just beneath the surface and you wonder whether, if you touched it, it might sort of wobble, like a waterbed? Sunday Riley’s Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream didn’t quite make my skin wobble with water, but it was just about as hydrated as it could possibly be.

The other thing I love is the brightening effect – and there really was one. I just looked…better. More refreshed. I’m putting that down to the “enzyme” part of the show – the cream contains papaya enzymes to “resurface” – which appears to be rather powerful despite the lack of tingle. Good Genes (same brand) is out for me, during pregnancy – mostly because it smells like old cat wee, but also because it requires an industrial strength fan to stop my face from combusting, such is the tingle – and I did wonder whether Tidal was doing much in comparison. But the results are inarguably good – fresher face, plumper in the cheek area and even where the eyes are usually slightly sunken-in around the socket area.

The cream also contains what is touted as being a relatively powerful skin-lightener and alternative to  hydroquinone – Alpha Arbutin. I’m not overly familiar with this area as I’ve never had any real skin pigmentation issues, but it adds up that the inclusion of this ingredient result in quite a noticeable brightening effect over time.

So there’s my two cents on the Tidal Cream: a comfortable, fresh gel-cream moisturiser that will delight those who want maximum hydration with minimum grease, who want instant exfoliating and resurfacing effects as well as a more long-term brightening of the skin. Though I’ve recently got back into using facial oils on a regular basis (and have been a serum devotee for years) this cream is a brilliant one-pot wonder. It works if I just slap it on quickly after cleansing, nothing else added, and that – for someone who quite often falls into an exhausted sleep-coma before they’ve managed to even get their feet under the duvet – is priceless.

Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream is £60 at SpaceNK here or Cult Beauty here.

*I’m moving away from the word plumptious for a short while, due to overuse. It needs a lie-down. Rather like me, really.

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How To Pair Your Eyeshadows Like a Pro

Today I am going to show you how to pair eyeshadows together to create tons of looks. For many of us, it can be confusing when we are looking at a palette of colors to try and figure out which ones work best together and which ones won’t. This tutorial will help you to learn which colors, finishes and combination work best together and hopefull help aid you in picking which shades to choose from.

Three Basic Rules of Pairing Eyeshadows Together

  1. Always include a neutral –  Using a neutral eyeshadow along any brighter shades you may use will keep the look more wearable and tone down the overall look.
  2. Always mix your finishes – Eyeshadows come in finishes, shimmer and matte. Using all shimmer on your eyes will make you look like a disco ball while using just matte finish eyeshadows will look to flat. Using a combination of both with give depth and detail to the look.
  3. Use a light, medium and dark color – A mixture of these three, regardless of the color scheme, will give you a well rounded look with a lot of dimension.

Skin Tone Shades

Now we can move on to blending shades. You always need to have a couple of shades that can be used for blending that are close to your skin color. One a matte finish and one with a shimmer finish. The matte one you will use under the browbone to blend out any harsh lines, the shimmer will be used to highlight under the browbone or in the inner corner to open the eye and make it appear lighter.

  • Fair Skin – Vanilla Bean (matte finish), Shimma Shimma (shimmer finish)
  • Medium Skin – Creme Brule (matte finish), Purely Naked (shimmer finish)
  • Dark Skin – Latte or Cocoa Bear for very dark skin (matte finishes), Glamorous (shimmer finish)

Below is a guide that gives you different kinds of color combinations that you all can put together. There are two ways of doing this Monochromatic Looks and Polychromatic Looks.

Monochromatic Looks

These are where you take one color in varying shades and do a look based on just that color.

This look incorporates a light, medium and dark pink. The dark goes on the outer part of the eye, the medium pink on the middle of the eye and the light pink goes in the inner portion of the eye. Blend together this gives you an overall pink look.

This is a traditional dark brown smokey eye. This is where you take a dark brown and place it on the lid, a medium brown in the crease, and a light brown or tan color right above the crease to blend the colors out.

September Favourites

Yesterday I brought you “September Empties”: today, September Favourites. Never say that I lack imagination. Tomorrow is October (I think?) so maybe there’ll be a change of theme. Ha!

Some corkers in this video, though, including the brilliant new mascara discovery from Diego Della Palma. It’s honestly one of the best mascaras I’ve used in ages – and it’s not bank-breakingly expensive, either. Very refreshing. There’s also a little preview demo of my new Luxe Shine hair fragrance spray from Colab. As always, products and links are below the video – you know the drill. Grab a cup of tea, etc etc…

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