Category Archives: beauty look

Some summer beauty products for you. I’ve done loads of these posts as I got a bit carried away doing still life photographs! In this one there’s a brilliant body moisturiser, a couple of very lightweight face hydrators and some other bits and bobs that have grabbed my interest. Can you tell that I’ve become preoccupied with organising my products according to packaging colours? It’s a terrible habit – I have dozens of still life compositions waiting in my drafts folder, but some of the product combinations are just too random to publish!

So, from left to right: Kate Somerville’s Quench Oil Free Serum, which is a brilliant one if your skin is oily/combination but on the dehydrated side. It really does the trick and sits well underneath most moisturisers I’ve tried it with. You do need a moisturiser on top, though – I think it kind of works in tandem with whatever you apply over it, because it seems to supercharge your moisturiser but worn alone it feels a bit…weird.  I think you can only order Kate Somerville through Sephora, which is unfortunate, but here’s the link to take a look.

A bright pink gloss from Urban Decay – Scandal – which is from the High-Colour range. High colour indeed – this is punchy and not for the faint hearted! The pigment is intense, the formula is longwear… Perfect for long days in the sun and looks great with sunglasses. Find it for £15 here.

The Bio-Essence Sleeping Beauty Mask; not the most powerfully hydrating overnight mask I’ve tried (I reckon that this Kiehl’s one pips it to the post quite easily) but it’s fresh and cooling and lovely, and if you were post-beach and a little bit sun-beated, it would feel insanely nice. Find it here.

You can just about see La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar Baume peeking out – one of the best body lotions I’ve tried, and no other moisturiser seems to get rid of my itchy flaky shins like this one. I’s actually called “anti-scratch”, so there we go – soothing stuff for annoyed, dried-out skin. It’s £10.60 here.

Next batch: the very summery edition of the Clarisonic Mia, in Faded Rose. I’ve been working the Mia back into my routine during pregnancy – I’ve been avoiding most deep cleansing masks and so on, because they made my skin instantly sensitive, so going in gently with a nice cleansing balm and my brush has been a good alternative. You can find the Clarisonic Mia here.

What’s this little funny-looking gadget, you ask? It’s the new Gillette Venus “Snap”, a portable razor. Same razor heads, little handle. It’s actually very ergonomic –  I think that I almost prefer it to the traditional handle. You can find that online here.

And last, but most definitely not least (how very dare you!) my new Colab Dry Shampoo in Monaco. I can’t stop spraying it. Even when my hair is clean. If you want a) a bit of de-greasing, b) a spot of root-lifting and c) amazingly fragranced hair then look no further! You can find it online here.

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OK look, this is probably the last of these funny little “summer beauty products” posts now; I had fun doing my colour-coded still life pictures but it’s getting beyond a joke! I must stop! Though I have to say I’m particularly proud of this one – I can tell you that bright yellows and blues aren’t the easiest colours to match packaging to. And then it has to be products that you’re actually using and that bear some relevance to the summer months…

Read Summer Beauty Products: Part 1 of About 3,245!

Let’s get started. The bag, incidentally, is from the Laura Bailey collection at L.K.Bennett – there are similarly-printed sandals and heels and so on, very bold and slightly retro. (I’m avoiding L.K.Bennett at the moment due to the sheer number of things that I really-really-need-but-can’t-have. It’s too much temptation.) The things in front of the bag are as follows:

Pai Copaiba Deep Cleanse AHA Mask: full review here, find it online here. A brilliantly gentle mask that manages to still be effective – skin is left looking brighter and renewed and you really feel as though the proverbial cobwebs have been dusted away.

Moving to the right (I didn’t plan my close-ups very well and so everything is out of sync, sorry!) we have the Energy Bank Hand Makeover by This Works. I like the brand This Works – they have an amazing sleep spray and some brilliant face products. Their new Energy Bank range has an uplifting scent to kickstart your day and the Hand Makeover cream claims to do more than just moisturise – it’s supposed to reduce the appearance of skin imperfections, rather like a blurring veil. It didn’t do this a lot for me, but then I don’t have any dark spots on the backs of my hands (after using SPF on your face, always use the remnants for the backs of your hands, even if you just press them to your cheeks to absorb a bit of excess. Every little helps) and they are still quite smooth. My skin did look a little more happy and plumped-out, however, and I liked the fact that the texture was almost matte. You can find it online at ASOS here.

The number of raving reviews I’ve seen for Tom Ford’s Costa Azzurra fragrance: it seems to be quite the hit. I’m going to stick my neck out and say that this is more of a men’s fragrance than a unisex one – though I haven’t even checked to see if it’s supposed to be unisex! Packaging-wise, you couldn’t get much more “sexy summer”; scent-wise, this is a woody, musky number with a fresh-breeze seaside-y kind of edge. Give it a try on counter, or it’s online here.

L’Occitane Divine Cream – find it online here. This isn’t a new one, but it found its way into my holiday-let-travels stash and so I’ve been using it up. I’ve become rather addicted to the smell of it, but also love the rich texture and the fact that it does a sterling job of keeping my skin hydrated, but not greasy. Also: it’s bright yellow and looks good in my still life. Did I mention how difficult it is to find bright yellow beauty packaging?

Read Summer Beauty Products: Part 2 of About 3,245!

Weleda Foot Balm: read my full review here or find it online here. This is a great product to pick up before the summer really gets going. It’s instantly cooling and has a soothing effect on sore feet. It feels more than just a beauty product – it’s like the kind of thing you’d pick up in the medicine aisle of the supermarket if you were looking for something properly effective. Great for anyone who has to spend a lot of time stomping about, or who has a condition that causes swelling in the lower legs.

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Hello, Benebabes! As you’ve hopefully heard, we’re giving back 100% of all Benefit boutique & Macy’s BrowBar brow wax proceeds during month of May through our Bold is Beautiful Project. We’ve chosen four fabulous charities in the US that empower big dreams & bold moves in women, and we couldn’t be more excited about giving back to organizations that empower women & girls through education & mentorship. So, without any further ado, we want to introduce you to one of our amazing Bold is Beautiful partner: Girls Inc.

The mission of Girls Inc. is to inspire girls to dream big & see college attendance as an attainable goal, and it’s something that we at Benefit really believe in. We’re all about big-brained gals, and believe in every woman’s right to reach her full potential and achieve great things. Girls Inc. serves girls from 5-18 yrs old from underserved communities and is located in cities throughout the US—there may be one right in your own backyard!

Girls Inc.’s vision is to equip girls with the knowledge, information, & confidence that they need to grow up to be strong, smart, & bold. All true Benebabes know the value in being a strong, smart, & bold woman, and we’re proud to support an organization that’s dedicated to providing a new generation of gals with the skills & confidence necessary to achieve that. Benefit <3s Girls Inc.!

Don’t forget that 100% of the proceeds from your wax will go to charity, so get out there, Benebabes—wax a brow, make a change!

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Three juicy tinted lip balms for you – two rather posh and expensive ones and then a high street challenger with the most sumptuous and buttery texture. Tinted lip balm is a great way of wearing colour if you hate the maintenance of a true lipstick or want something more sheer and subtle. If you have thin lips, they can also help to make them look a little fuller, and if you have dry lips then the rich formulas are a bit more comfortable than your traditional lipstick.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine isn’t strictly a balm, but it certainly behaves like one. Moisturising, smoothing and incredibly pleasing to apply and wear, it has a bit of added shine in comparison to many of the tinted lip balms available out there. Reveuse (above) is a summer shade but I don’t think (as far as I can remember!) that it’s a limited edition and so hopefully it’ll be around for years to come. Because it’s something of a winner, with just the right amount of peachiness to lift the lips and make them look “done”. You can find it online here, it’s £25.

Max Factor’s Colour Intensifying Balms are a great option if you like to customise your colour. You can leave it at one coat, which has a sheer, plumping effect, or layer it up for a more intense (as the name suggests!) hit. My favourite is Charming Coral – pictured above – I’m already about half of the way through because I use it even when I’m not out and about! It’s very moisturising and has a good buttery sheen. Find it at Boots.com

Dior Baume is another plumptious number; I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this before but I can’t find the post for some reason. My favourite shade is Belle de Printemps, above, which I would have thought would be gone by now as it was part of a collection, but I’ve just found it on Selfridges.com for £26. It’s a beautiful peachy shade, the brightest of the three here, and really gorgeous with very natural, minimal makeup.

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