Author Archives: marc

Baum und Pferdgarten. A brand that I was previously unaware of until a whole load of my friends started chirruping away about the B&P summer sale and, in particular, their gorgeous, comfortable dresses. Look at those prints! They make a casual-fitting summery piece into something rather more special; these are dresses you can simply throw on with a pair of strappy sandals, or flipflops, or even some battered Converse, and still look nicely put-together. Baum und Pferdgarten are the more relaxed, more functional equivalent of your always-ready Diane von Furstenberg or Issa dress; beautiful prints, wearable lengths and a cut that’s designed to flatter. B&P’s are definitely looser where the others cling, and the fabrics (for the summer collection at least) are on the lighter and cooler side, but they are easily as worthy of the “wardrobe staple” status.

The dresses shown above might still be available in the sale if you hurry, but I have my eye on a few other things including the “Hudson” dress and the “Etsu”. You can find sale dresses here.

Baum und Pferdgarten

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I don’t mind telling you that this blush and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. I applied it all over my face like a maniac, thinking that I’d given myself a “healthy glow” when in fact I’d turned myself orange. (Cue Mr AMR “what have you done to your face? It’s completely orange!) Had I been a professional, I would have started off gently-gently to see what kind of tone this powder imparted – it is, after all, labelled a “Tan Glow Enhancer” and is supposed to “impart a sunny glow”. And a sunny glow over the whole face is perhaps not wise.

When I got to grips with the Dior Tie Dye Edition Tan Glow Enhancing Powder (and breathe) I realised that I liked it best when worn as a blush. Perhaps on more tanned skin it would look great whacked on all over as a complexion enhancer but it’s possibly just a little bit too bright for me to use in that way! Here’s my skin before using the Tie Dye Powder:

I like this glow! It’s certainly very summery and yes, I can see how it would enhance a tan. Possibly the Pink Sunrise version would work better with my complexion, but the Coral Sunrise, demonstrated, does have a very pleasing apricot hue. It does something clever to the skin, but I can’t quite pinpoint what. Revives it? Stops a “sunkissed” tone from looking too flat and brownish? What do you think?

You can find the Dior Tie Dye Blush / Tan Enhancing Powder at Escentual.com here – it’s £36.

The post Dior Tie Dye: Tan Glow Enhancing Powder appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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Oh, this little mask is all kinds of wonderful. I haven’t been getting much sleep recently (have I mentioned that? Oh, at least fifteen thousand times. Sorry) and my skin has been a bit dry and crappy and – I don’t know – kind of baggy feeling. As though there’s no plumpness or volume to it. A bit like a dusty, half-shrunken balloon.

The Pixi Nourishing Sleep Mask has been properly stepping up to the plate in terms of boosting moisture and re-inflating my face – a quick application last thing at night and in the morning my skin looks dewy and a hell of a lot fresher than it would do otherwise.

The idea behind the Nourishing Sleep Mask is that it “seals” in the products that you apply first – so serum and moisturiser, or serum and oil, or serum, oil, moisturiser if you’re going bat-sh*t-crazy with all of your skincare that night. Personally, I think that this works really well over serum, but it doesn’t feel too much at all if you want to do serum and moisturiser. That’s the lovely thing about it – it’s very hydrating, but nice and lightweight. It’s not like sleeping in lard. Neither is it so light and “fresh” that it simply disappears; it definitely forms a nice, non-sticky, non-greasy topcoat.

You can also use the Nourishing Sleep Mask alone, over cleansed skin, if you’re feeling lazy – it’s very hydrating even without layering it on top of other stuff – but I really feel that it sort of supercharges my other products when I take the time to whack it on last. (It works well over the Olay Regenerist 3 Point Serum (currently half price here) and my Time Bomb Powerball Moisturiser (here). Very plumptious!)

This Pixi mask is definitely a winner in the Overnight Masks category – more than just a “moisturiser you leave on”, it feels as though it has a specific function and one that it does very well. It’s a bit like when you stick on a disposable shower cap over your hair masque (try it, it’s excellent for fixing dry ends); it locks everything in and gets it all working that bit harder. As an in-flight mask, this would be brilliant; for anyone who is tired, going to too many parties or simply seeing the effects of the central-heating-inside-cold-air-outside situation it’s a beauty lifesaver.

And not one that will break the bank, either – £18 at Cult Beauty.

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Have you ever seen any balm as beautiful as Rare Indigo? The answer is probably no.

The May Beauty Heroes Box (which is now SOLD OUT! … but stay tuned until the end of the post for more info on how and where to get this balm with money off) arrived very early this month, which was a lovely surprise! Inside the box was the beautiful full-size Mahalo Skincare Rare Indigo worth $110/£88 and a deluxe 15ml sample of the newest launch The Petal Mask worth about $17. So that’s a $127 of product for $39, amazing!

The Rare Indigo balm is perhaps one of the loveliest moisturising beauty balms I’ve ever used, it’s early days into our relationship, but I think we might be in it for the long run, guys. What makes this balm so different is its hemp seed oil base – my skin loves hemp oil, and it gives the balm a beautifully light and silky texture that sinks into skin instead of sitting on the top feeling greasy. Also, I have to admit my skin twin Lisa totally made me crave this balm, anything she uses on her face I want to use on my face too, simple.
The balm is also free of ingredients that are too rich and can clog pores/cause breakouts such as shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax! But the balm is still very, very moisturising and is perfectly suitable for dry skin types as well as oily. Oils and butters like murumuru, babassu and marula can be found, a little exotic and luxurious, no? plus that all so important indigo infusion that give the balm it’s incredible purple hue.

The Petal is deceptively small and cute but seriously mighty, 28 active ingredients come together to create this jelly-like pink mask that smells like roses, honey, and vanilla. I have only used this once so haven’t much of an opinion yet, but it feels lovely and calming on the skin – even if seeing yourself with a pink face is quite strange! The texture is really unique, creamy but not runny, it’s very thick and I found I needed a few drops of water to make it spreadable across skin. Honey, rose petals, clay, silver hydrosol, hibiscus and jasmine are just a few of those 28 ingredients here. I can’t way to try it a few more times and will report back with a verdict.

Beauty Heroes is currently sold out of the May Mahalo box, and if you would like to be put on to the waitlist ready to subscribe for next month’s box you can do so here. Subscriptions are no longer month-to-month which is quite a drawback, as you do have to pay for 3 months upfront to subscribe. I asked Beauty Heroes if you have to pay shipping on top of this when you subsribe as an international customer but they didn’t respond so I can’t let you know, sorry!
The value is still incredible (the 3 month subscription cost is still cheaper than the value of this one box!) but I know for a lot of people that initial cost, without knowing the contents of the boxes will be a big turn off, but just know I have never once seen a box that wasn’t absolutely amazing 😉

If you really want to try the Mahalo Rare Indigo balm, or The Petal mask in the UK/Europe I would recommend Alyaka as they have a fabulous Mahalo sample kit which includes the whole product range for £22, the cost of that can then be deducted from a full size purchase! OR you can skip the sample and use the code “ANNABEL15” to receive 15% off of your order across the whole site (not including sample kits or May Lindstrom)

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