Accessory Wednesday: Muji Storage

 

This might very well be preaching to the converted – Muji Storage is practically a blogging rule for the oodles of makeup we collect and love. If you’ve ever stared into your crowded makeup bag in despair, these are just the best way to be able to see what you actually have. This is a Muji lifestyle shot by the way – I’d hate to mislead anyone into thinking this state of tidyness is actually mine! I own at least four of these boxes – as a working blogger they’re so useful for new collections – so when Spring, for example, starts to roll in, I can see at a glance how the colours are shaping up as a whole, rather than individually, and can easily access items when I need to. Once the next season starts to arrive, they get emptied into a four drawer cabinet in my office and then given away (or hoarded!). I also use one for jewellery – I’m not especially tidy by nature, but it keeps it all in one place, at least. Anyway, all this is getting round to saying that if you’re up for a bit of beauty storage, there’s a Muji… Read More

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Gather Your Wing Women at ULTA!

ULTA & Benefit Cosmetics are your beauty besties when it comes to looking your best. Just like the wing women in your life—your sisters from another mister, your BFFs forevs—we’ve always got your back. Which is why we’ve partnered up to host Wing Women events at select ULTA locations on weekends from August 8-24, 2014!

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In addition to bestie freebies—like the real turn-ons set including deluxe samples of they’re real! mascara & watt’s up—with a $40 product or service purchase, we’ll be giving exclusive makeup lessons with they’re real! push-up liner. If you haven’t tried the lash-hugging gel liner everyone’s talking about, now’s your chance to try & learn from the pros—for free!

If you can’t make it (or just want extra goodies, you smartypants), we’re also giving away $500 of your fave Benefit products to 3 lucky Benebabes! Just visit here & RT the contest Tweet by 8/24 to be entered to win.

Hope to see you at ULTA with your wing women!

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Loving Lavera…

My love for Lavera Shampoo started with a hunt for a bargain. I don’t like paying a lot for shampoo, I mean I totally will if I’ve tried everything else and nothing is working for me, or I’m sold on the swishy ingredients list and marketing lingo, but I’ll always try something cheaper if I can.
We’ve gone through a lot of shampoo in this house, both myself and Michael have fussy scalps that get itchy and sore if we use anything harsh (usually if it’s not natural) and we’ve tried a lot of shampoo labelled specifically for a sensitive scalp that works for one or two bottles and then the pain returns and we need to move on. Hair does actually get used to products, so switching it up is no bad thing at all. We’ve been using Lavera (the blue bottle) for just over a year, and it’s just now that I’m starting to need something new.

The Lavera Basis Sensitiv Moisture & Care Shampoo, £6.95, is that perfect blend of cleansing with no build up or greasy residue, but leaves my hair so soft, shiny and conditioned that I rarely needed conditioner. Made with almond milk, aloe vera and avocado it sounds like a fancy green smoothie. It kept my scalp in perfect condition and my hair feeling healthy bottle after bottle (I think I’ve gone through 5 or 6!). What I also love about this shampoo and the other Lavera shampoos that I’ve been using, is that they foam up. I can’t be dealing with a shampoo that has no bubbles, I never feel like my hair is clean!

The green Freshness and Balance Shampoo, £6.95, was a purchase for Michael who’s hair gets oily quicker than mine, but I’ve been using this too if I’ve used a little too much dry shampoo or hair oil. It removes residue with ease and leaves hair feeling clean, a little squeaky perhaps but not super stripped or dry. I do always follow up with a little conditioner though.

Lastly, I purchased the Volume & Strength Shampoo, £6.95, most recently because postpartum hair loss is real, guys. I feel like I might be bald soon at this rate! 😉 I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference in hair loss slowing down yet, but I do like how it makes my hair feel. The formula contains Vitamin C and Green Tea to strengthen those all-important roots. Perhaps I need to use this exclusively to see a major difference because I still like to use the Moisture & Care most often.

I’m now on the lookout and ready to try a few new brands and products in the bathroom because I think my hair is used to these now. Michael is starting to complain about his hair too… maybe it’s the warmer weather!
I did just see that they have a new 2-in-1 Deep Care & Repair Shampoo and Conditioner which sounds diiiiivine! Perhaps I’ll pick up a bottle of that for testing purposes, of course 😉

Have you tried any Lavera haircare? See the full range here (Note that they are all vegan except for the pale pink Gloss & Bounce range)

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Bourjois Swimming Cool Collection

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I think you’d say about the Bourjois Swimming Cool Collection that it’s about colour nuance rather than blazing, full on shades. Putting that in context with Parisian Summer which focusses on a warm glow complexion it works so well for fresh, rather than intense spring and summer looks. The Sweet Kiss Glosses are colour whispers on the lips – light feeling, transluscent and shiny. If you’re afraid of red, this is the way to do it with Carton Rouge (above) because it gives you red in a low key way. The downside is that they’re not long lasting, so you need to be okay with topping up (I am – I don’t mind it at all).

Bourjois Swimming Cool Collection

Sweet Kiss has followed the trend for oil-based lip products – there’s a slick of vegetable oil in these that gives lips a soft, conditioned feel. They’re £7.99 each. The shades above from bottom to top are: Sandsation, Rose Qui Peut, Incognirose and As De Pink.

Bourjois Aqua Blush

The Aqua Blush from the Bourjois Swimming Cool Collection has stolen my heart – they’re exactly the kind of blush I love to use; super-light in pigment, extremely blendable and cool feeling on the skin. I’ve been using them with a kabuki to give a wash of colour that’s completely seamless on the complexion. I have found that you need to build the colour though – start with a small amount and keep brushing on a little more until you have that ‘flush’.

Bourjois Aqua Blush

The shades are: Berry Nice, Pink Twice, Inge-Nude and Cocoricorail. They’re all colours that sit naturally but give a pop of freshness. I’m obsessed with these – on my tone, which is light olive, I can wear all four colours. There’s a 12 hour last claim on these which on me didn’t work for that long, but they’re well worth £8.99 of anyone’s money! The collection is available from June.

Dove Self Warming Mask

Dove Self Warming Mask

Dove Self Warming Mask

Don’t ask me why, but I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the Dove Self Warming Mask – I chucked it in my holiday wash bag as a last minute thought and didn’t really think I’d bother to use it. However, it’s something of a phenomenon and a very happy surprise. You pop on the sachet of conditioner post wash and then open up the capsule to add that over the top – the capsule contains the warming element (or, as Dove likes to call it, the Heat Activating Serum – god knows what’s in it). Sure enough, it does make your hair go very temporarily hot but its such a brief moment that I really can’t think that it’s the heat alone that makes the difference.

It only takes three minutes to do its work, and then you rinse off in the shower. One of my dislikes about hair masks is the amount of time it takes to rinse properly but I was under a mega-shower thanks to the hotel and it rinsed away without difficulty. I don’t know if it’s because I was in a soft water area, but my hair was incredibly soft – maybe even a bit too soft – it was a little bit flyaway after I’d dried it. By day 2, it had calmed down! The Dove Self Warming Mask also gave mega shine  – quite amazing and a snip at £3.99 for a single go. It’s a brilliant thing to have in the beauty cupboard for days when glossy locks will make the difference to your day – shiny hair is always a confidence boost. Dove Self Warming Mask is sold out currently almost everywhere.. I haven’t managed to track it down (and it’s been going for nearly double the price on Ebay) so if you spot some, snap it up.

The post Dove Self Warming Mask appeared first on British Beauty Blogger.

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