Category Archives: beauty products

I mentioned this on the “affordable” stretch marks roundup, but I’ll repeat: I know that beauty people are divided in their opinion of stretch mark oils. Or just the use of body oils in general to prevent stretch marks. From my own personal viewpoint, I have no scientific evidence that they work but I kind of think, why would I risk NOT using one? It’s such an enjoyable thing to do anyway, a bit of massage and oiling, and you don’t have to spend the earth to get a suitable oil. (See previous oils post!) I moisturise my skin after a bath or shower anyway, so it’s not like it’s a total mission to add in a bit of a bump-boobs-bum massage to keep skin supple and hopefully reduce the chances of marking.

Anyway, here are some of the more expensive oils that I’ve been testing – not hideously dear, by any means, but a bit more spendy than your typical pharmacy or supermarket buy. Two of them are dedicated “stretch mark” oils, the rest are just perfect for keeping skin supple and soft. The main difference seems to be in ingredients (such as rosehip) that target regeneration and repair, but let’s take a closer look…

Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Oil: £24.50 online here. This doesn’t shout from the rooftops about being a stretch mark prevention oil, but it certainly says all of the right things when you do a bit of research. High in fatty acids to restore elasticity, rosehip to help repair and rejuvenate, and a high percentage of coconut oil which the brand claims “allows this body oil to naturally tackle, prevent and reduce stretch marks.” Bravo. It also feels great to massage in and it smells nice. Win-win.

Clarins Huile Tonic Body Treatment Oil: £35.20 here. Clarins’ best-selling body oil and the product name that popped up the most whenever I mentioned pregnancy oils in tweets or posts. This seems to be a firm favourite! Clarins claim on their website that this is “effective at removing stretch marks” which is a whopper of a claim, so I’d be interested to know how other people with existing marks have fared. My own thoughts are that it must be a million times easier to try and prevent them than remove them, which is why I have been so totally obsessed with my daily (and twice-daily!) oiling but yes. Let me know your success stories. This oil smells good – very herby – and has a great massage-able texture.

Read about the best affordable stretch mark oils…

Mama Mio Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Oil: £27 here. Excellent, this one, with the lovely signature Mama Mio scent (I think they must have a certain blend of oils and ingredients common to many of their body products because they all smell so invigorating and zesty!) and a good, firm texture for proper massaging-in ability. I went through this bottle like the clappers – I think it has new packaging, now, which might make it a bit easier to do restrained pouring!

Kiehl’s Superbly Restorative Argan Dry Oil: £37.50 here. Wah! Seems pricy, this one, but you get 200ml in comparison to the 100-ish from Mama Mio and Clarins. In fact Clarins is fully twice as expensive, so you have to keep things in perspective! I love a bit of Argan (see post on Simple Oils) and this one is a kind of “Argan Lite” dry-oil version that’s quick to apply and rub in. Good for a morning post-shower treatment, rather than a heavier oil that might feel claggy once you get dressed. Downside: loads of ingredients to make it light and dry. If you just want pure Argan, check this out.

Pai’s Pomegranate & Pumpkin Stretch Mark Cream and Stretch Mark Oil: £45 online here. Again, looks expensive, but this is actually the best value stretch mark treatment of the lot. You get 200ml of cream and 100ml of oil, both used the most impeccably sourced and chosen ingredients and are suitable for sensitive, allergy-prone skin. (Full ingredients list here.) A hydrating cream and a replenishing oil, the stretch mark system is essential oil free, so great for those who can’t handle them or who would prefer to avoid during pregnancy. Packed full of essential fatty acids to nourish the skin and formulated to help increase elasticity, this is one of my absolute must-buys. The oil drizzles out at an annoyingly slow rate and the cream dispenser needs some looking at (I have literally never had such bad hand and wrist fatigue trying to extract a body cream from the bottle!) but all is forgiven for the beautiful formulas and soft, supple skin they reveal.

The post Beautiful Oils for Supple Skin and Help with Stretch Marks… appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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The Cowl-Neck jumper hunt continues… I don’t know why I’m so obsessed – I actually really like my neck but I seem intent on finding sweaters to hide it away! The two on this page are both from Karen Millen. They are gorgeously soft, have good chunky roll-necks to hide away in and a slightly shorter, wider cut that makes them brilliant to wear with high-waisted jeans. The Chunky Textured Roll-Neck Jumper above is perfect for lazy weekend dressing – I love the contrasting knitted panels and the wintery feel of the colours.

The black Merino Cowlneck Jumper (above, but clearer pictures here) is the jumper of my dreams. It’s just enough “eighties” to make it glamorously cool, but without the addition of shoulder pads or weird embellishments! It looks absolutely amazing with a pencil skirt and is a good standby to thrown on with jeans if you want to feel smart but stay comfy and warm. The shape is just beautiful.

The contrast panel jumper is £115 here, the black Merino cowlneck is here. They should be £115 each, but Karen Millen have a Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount – 25% off everything.

Karen Millen

This post was originally going up later on this week but I thought it would be incredibly annoying to miss the discount! If you want to take a look at my previous cowlneck finds (it’s become something of an occupation for me, finding nice jumpers!) then click here. (By the way, my lipstick in the second picture is Old Hollywood by Bobbi Brown, a lovely classic red – see here for more details.)

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I promised a full review on this foundation and then promptly forgot about it. Not because I haven’t used it again – in fact, quite the opposite. It has become one of those bases that I feel I can rely on for a good, believable finish that has a nice glow and a comfortable feel. The Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation is one for the makeup traditionalists, really; there’s none of this “lighter than air” thing going on, there’s no demi-velvet-glow-from-within-diffuse-from-without sales-speak malarkey happening, it’s just a really lovely, slightly-dewy face base.

Bobbi Brown would disagree with this, I’m sure, because actually there’s a fair whack of sales-speak that goes with this foundation; there are skincare benefits (added antioxidants and certain algaes that are said to help reduce skin inflammation, to name just a couple) and there’s a whacking great SPF40 built in to the formula. Actually very impressive, but I’m the type of person who likes to keep my skincare and makeup benefits more or less separated and so added skincare perks in foundations tend to pass me by!

If, however, you like to know that your foundation has it all going on, then this is an excellent place to start – I’m not quite sure how it would work as a serum when you’re applying it last in your skin/makeup routine, but the hulking SPF40 is definitely a bonus, so long as you’re applying enough product. Either way, this is a smooth, silky, moisturising foundation that has a light, fresh feel.

Here I am sans Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation. Bits of redness here and there, very slight dark circles – nothing too hideous, but enough to test a light/medium coverage foundation on. Which is where I’d place the Skin Serum Foundation – it’s certainly not a heavy coverage, but it’s easily buildable and so you can take it from sheer (especially if you apply with a dampened blending sponge, which I did first of all) to a good medium.

Ta-dah! Here I am after one quick application. I use shade 3.25 “cool beige” which (ironically) warms my skin up a little and gives it the faintest touch of that wonderful, healthy-looking apricot tone. If you’re a fan of illuminating primers then I can safely say that you do not need one beneath this foundation, it has its own very comprehensive glow. If anything, I might be tempted to use a pore-filling primer beneath it, because a bit of glow does tend to accentuate open pores, and if you’re not keen on dewiness in the t-zone then you would possibly want to whisk over it with some very fine face powder. (I’m thinking that Hourglass Ambient Light could be a good one.)

I have one gripe with this foundation, and that’s the packaging. It’s borderline ridiculous, which is such a shame: a glass bottle (lovely, very chic) but then this weird dropper inside that simply doesn’t work. It deposits product all over the neck of the bottle and it’s difficult to get it to drop the right amount onto the back of your hand. (And you have to use the back of your hand – I don’t know how else you’d practically apply it.) This would be so, so much better in a little squeezy thing or a pump-action bottle – I hope that they change it, because with the packaging issue sorted this foundation would be perfection.

And, you know, I’ve still been using it loads, so the product inside is definitely brilliant enough to overcome my gripes! If you have normal-to-dryish skin and you want a buildable, blendable foundation with a gorgeous sheen, that comes in loads of different shades, give this one a try. You can find the Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation at John Lewis here – it’s £39.

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