Category Archives: beauty look

I’ve just come back from the launch of Erborian skin care – a fusion of Korean and French beauty. Erborian belongs to L’Occitane, which is one of my favourite brands anyway, but what started as a niche brand is about to blossom into a fully blown one with the forthcoming launches of over 50 new products. If you’re interested in the ‘bigger picture’ Erborian is one to study because we will see it expand and develop in front of our very eyes. There are several products I am dying to try but the one that captured my beauty heart is the Erborian Pink Perfect Creme – an upscale blur product with a pink base. My skin is not pink toned and I think what this will do is warm up pink toned skin, but also add in a very light touch of pink to sallower skins. When I tried it on my skin, I was very impressed with the blur effect and the extreme lightness of the creme – no big dose of silicone. I’ll be looking at Erborian in more depth when I’ve given some of the other products the once over – it’s best known for its CC cream… Read More

Continue reading →

I’ve become quite the face mask fiend over the last six months, and my face mask collection has grown considerably in the process. The newest mask in my collection is the Superdrug Clearly Youthful Glycolic Peel £6.99, which I bought on a whim when it was on offer without reading any reviews prior to purchasing it which is something I never do. The Superdrug Clearly Youthful Glycolic Peel is described as being a retexturising mask which contains a blend of natural fruit acids to stimulate exfoliation of the skin. The mask’s formula consists of the maximum permitted level of salicylic acid, anti-shine Cimicifuga and a potent anti-ageing complex consisting of Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, Phytoprotein and a Polyglycan.

The mask’s claims are pretty extensive, with it promising to visibly reduce the appearance of blemishes, resurface the skin’s texture, refine the pores, even out the skin’s tone, control excess sebum and provide long term sebum regulation and protect against future breakouts with continued use. My skin has been particularly bad lately, and I’ve been pretty desperate to try and improve my skin so I thought this mask was definitely worth a shot, and I am a sucker for peel-off face masks – there’s just something so grossly satisfying about peeling a mask away from your skin.

The mask itself is a thick, clear gel with quite a pleasant fresh fragrance. To apply the peel, you simply smooth a thin layer of the gel over cleansed, dry skin and wait for around ten minutes for it to dry. It’s important to ensure you do apply a thin layer, as firstly it’ll dry quicker and I’ve found that areas that I’ve applied a thicker amount, don’t peel off so it’s a waste of product. Once on the skin, it does tingle very slightly as the mask begins to dry; but it’s not at all uncomfortable and I have super sensitive skin. After the mask has fully dried, I just peel it off slowly, and it peels off in large sections so it’s quick and easy to remove. Once I’ve removed the mask from my skin, it leaves my skin looking instantly better. I notice that any inflammation surrounding blemishes is reduced, my skin looks clearer and brighter, blackheads are a lot less noticeable and the texture of my skin is a lot smoother.

I can’t believe this little mask is just £6.99.. it’s brilliant, and I’ve used it at least six times so far and I have around half a tube left. I love that you can use the peel as an all over treatment, or you can use it on just your problem areas which would make it last even longer. Next time I see it on offer, I’m definitely going to grab a couple of back-up’s as the results it gives me are genuinely on par with my beloved, holy grail GLAMGLOWSupermud – except the Superdrug Clearly Youthful Glycolic Peel is £35 cheaper.

I was tinkering about with some gorgeous Tom Ford makeup over the weekend, experimenting with a few products that I want to include in upcoming videos. I loved the autumnal feel of the photograph above; warm, slightly tawny and beautifully glowing. The skin is less golden than the summery looks I’ve been wearing until now; there’s still a touch of bronze but it’s confined to the area under the cheekbones, as a contour, rather than being an all-over dusting. I used Tom Ford’s Shade and Illuminate contouring duo (Intensity One) to create the slightly contoured look – I’ll be doing a more in-depth review and “how to” soon – and the foundation is the Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Bisque. On my eyes, the cream shadow in Spice (coming out in November) and the Ultra Length Mascara in Ultra Raven. Nothing on the lips apart from a slick of Cicaplast Lips from La Roche-Posay to get rid of the dryness. Do you like this? I think that the glow from the skin is very impressive – it’s just natural daylight, as usual, from the window behind the camera.

I’ll be back soon with more detailed posts on some of the products shown here and others I haven’t had a chance to play with yet…there’s also an Autumn Makeup Look video in the pipeline, if you fancy it?  You can find the full Tom Ford range at Selfridges.com or House of Fraser.

The post An Indulgent Autumn Makeup Look appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Continue reading →

Makeup primers, I love to hate them. An annoying extra step but one that is often necessary to keep your face in place all day. I’ve tried a few natural ingredient-based primers over the years now and have never been too impressed with the formulas, often too greasy for my oily skin, or they just simply didn’t do their job well enough to bother using.

With my skin being all over the place these days from oily to dry, I’ve been reaching for a primer more often to help my makeup look it’s best. I’ve been testing out two that I’ve had for a few months and have compiled a little showdown to see which is best. Let battle commence!

Inika Pure Primer with Hyaluronic Acid, £25

Pros

• lightweight aloe based cream
• sinks in quickly
• super hydrating
• not greasy
• smells like orange sherbert

Cons

• Contains coconut oil
• not smoothing or perfecting
• not mattifying
• contains essential oils

Jane Iredale Smooth Affair Primer & Brightener, £36

Pros

• smooth water/gel texture
• sinks in quickly
• smoothing and perfecting
• longer lasting on oily skin
• brightening & anti-aging benefits

Cons

• very strong (zesty oranges) scent
• contains dimethicones
• expensive
• contains essential oils

What do you think after reading that? which would you choose? I like them both and choose the Inika for more every day use and when my skin is a little dry. I reach for Jane Iredale when I’m making more of an effort, my skin is oily or just not looking it’s best and needing some serious help in the makeup department.
I mentioned their scents as a pro for one and a con for another, and even though they do actually smell very similar the Jane Iredale is just so much stronger – I know some people are really put off scented products so wanted to mention it. It doesn’t hang about for too long though, maybe 5-10 minutes.
I have to say, I think these are two of the best natural primers available, though to be honest there aren’t many to choose from… have you tried a natural primer that you love? let me know!

Continue reading →

Oh hello August, you sizzling-hot little git! Where did you spring from? I’m still answering emails with “hope you had a good New Year”! I’m not going on holiday until September (too much to do, too much to do) and so for now, I am making do with scents that remind me of my summer holidays. Orange-blossom, coconut, fruity and woody and musky notes… I was supposed to film these products as part of a video with Lily Pebbles, but when I got all of the bits and bobs out of my bag, they were nowhere to be seen. So here they are, in written form, my “smells that remind me of summer”…

1) Roger & Gallet’s Creme Sublime Or. The scent is almost secondary here, because this is such a beautiful body cream. It outperforms loads of far more expensive ones – it’s blend of Argan, Camellia, Macadamia, Evening Primrose Sesame Seed and Almond oils is really moisturising and feels rich and nourishing on the skin, and the effects are long-lasting for such a non-greasy formula. It’s supposed to be shimmery, but fear not shimmer-haters; I have never been able to detect a proper shimmer. It’s more of a gentle sheen – unless I’ve always had duds! The scent is absolutely incredible; orange-blossom, yes, but with coconut flower and ylang-ylang and cedarwood and musk… It’s just an absolute dream. Exotic but without any kind of in-your-face coconut or synthetic-smelling fruitiness. It’s just a finely-tuned, skin-softening beauty winner. You can find it at Escentual.com – it’s usually £15 but (at time of writing) is on sale, £12.

2) NUXE’s Prodigieux le Parfum: beach in a bottle. Fruity tangerine and mandarin and orange blossom with the sexy warmth of vanilla and coconut and a fair whack of floral thrown in too. This is the kind of perfume that makes you dress for sunshine whatever the weather – you can’t help being optimistic! It only launched this year, but I can see it taking on Bronze Goddess status at some point… It’s usually £44 but is £35.19 with free delivery here.

3) l’Occitane’s Néroli & Orchidée; so heavy with orange blossom it almost makes me drowsy. (Obviously orange blossom must be one of my “trigger” scents when it comes to thinking about summer!) It starts off bold, but actually quietens down into something quite delicate, after a while. There’s a kind of sharpness there, too, so it doesn’t feel sweet and cloying, it’s more…sitting under the tree rather than chomping on the leaves. If that makes any sense. Does it make sense? My perfume descriptions are getting more and more abstract! Néroli & Orchidée is £49 here.

4) Caudalie’s Parfum Divine; based on the scent of the bestselling Divine Oil, this is a warm and woody number that isn’t at all overpowering. There’s something about it that just smells very clean, even though the notes are the opposite of “fresh” or “zingy”. It’s not your classic summer scent, but it reminds me of warm sand – probably because I usually take a mini Divine Oil away on holiday with me and put it on the ends of my hair! You can buy Parfum Divine here – it’s £39.

5) Phyto Plage Huile Sublimante: fruity fruity sugary fruity! This is the smell of overly sweet fruit cocktails that have been left out in the lunchtime sun. But without the wasp risk. And you wouldn’t want to wear it in the lunchtime sun, because it’s an oil, and you’d burn. But after you’ve finished on the beach? Brilliant for massaging into skin and hair, if you want to get that sheeny, sexy, glowy-skinned look. It’s a new addition to my summer oil collection, but already it’s a favourite. It claims to help with damage and prolong a tan; can’t vouch for these yet but it is Phyto and they know what they’re about… £26.50 at FeelUnique.com here.

5) A special summery mention goes to the Monoi Body Cream from Elemis, which launches this month. (You can find it already at Elemis TimetoSpa.) If anything is going to get you in the mood for a holiday it’s this. Exotic frangipani – same scent as the Monoi Body Oil, but with no bottle-warming required. It’s £24 here.

Continue reading →