Tried & Tested: Alteya Mists.
I don’t want to sound like a broken record but I really love toners and facial mists. Uplifting, refreshing, cooling, hydrating – there’s nothing they can’t do. I’ve tried so many, from homemade to high-end luxury and everything in between.
The Alteya brand was unknown to me before discovering them on LoveLula. I was particularly interested to learn that they have their own rose and lavender fields, distillery and skin care manufacturing facility in the heart of The Rose Valley in Bulgaria. Nearly everything is grown and made in-house by the brand, ensuring freshness and quality, and best of all, the prices are really affordable for products that are organic!
I have been using two mists; the Organic Bulgarian Rose Water Spray, £7.20 for 100ml, and the Organic Melissa Water Spray, £7.20 for 100ml.
I picked up the rosewater first as I really like the soothing one ingredient wonder that is Rose. I use this morning and night as a toner, after mineral makeup application to stop it looking powdery and I also mix it with powdered masks. Fun fact: Alteya rose water is food grade and you can add it to any recipes that use rose! It does all that it’s supposed to and smells beautiful, a true soft rose scent that isn’t overpowering or artificial. The 100ml bottle has also lasted me several months with regular use, winning!
Rose has so many wonderful benefits for our skin and also our overall wellbeing. It’s:
- Therapeutic
- Anti-inflammatory and acne-preventing
- Balancing
- Anti-ageing and moisturising
- Rejuvenating, stimulating and harmonizing
- Digestion-stimulating and antiseptic.
Now for the Melissa water (AKA Lemon Balm), according to Alteya this mist helps awaken and tone up dull skin. It is also useful for troublesome skin and helps against skin irritation and inflammation. Perfect! My skin is oily, troublesome and always irritated in some way or another, I blame my hormones and a lack of sleep.
This mist smells very strong, to me it smells like tomato juice, slightly acidic and, well, like tomatoes, not lemons. But does it work?
… Maybe? I use this on days when I think my skin is acting up a little more than usual, and by the end of a long day I have no idea if my skin is less oily than it would have been without the mist, I just cleanse my skin, mist again and slap on some moisturiser then fall into bed.
I actually got a compliment on how much my skin is improving from my boyfriend the other day, so I must be doing something right!
xo
Preview, Photos: L’Oréal Paris Féria Wild Ombré – How To Do Ombre Haircolor Highlights At Home
Take a walk on the wild side with Féria’s new Wild Ombré, the first at-home coloring system designed to create one of the hottest, most sought-after hair color trends: the Ombré effect.
Ombré haircolor is the new way to add light and contrast to your hair by lightening only the lengths and ends, creating a gradated dark to light effect. This is the first time the Ombré look will be achievable through at-home coloring. Best of all, results can be achieved in just 25 – 45 minutes, depending upon preferred intensity.
L’Oréal Paris’ innovation employs a three-part lightening system plus patented Expert Brush that work together to achieve this modern new take on highlights. This brush-on technique allows women to easily create ombré effects ranging from subtle and sexy to bold and edgy. The system contains a Lightening Powder, a Lightening Crème and a Crème Developer to provide an enhanced lightening experience for the perfect Ombré look.
Price: $12.99, Available in three shades at www.lorealparis.com and chain drug, food and mass market retailers beginning in January 2013.
What do you lovely ladies think of this easy-to-achieve, at-home Ombré-in-a-box look? Will you be changing up your hair for the new year? Let us know by commenting below, which will automatically be posted to our Community Forum (click here to check it out!) where you can find other beauty related discussions! Don’t forget to also submit a photo to our Photo Of The Day (click here!) feature, where a new photo will be picked daily. Your photo just might be selected, so get going!
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Related Posts:
- Photos: 2012 Spring/Summer HairStyle Trend: New Take On The Ombre Look: The Combre Haircolor
- Hairstyle Photos: Balayage Highlights Trend – Salon Haircolor Painting For Your Own Personal Look
- Hot Summer 2011 Hairstyle Trend: The Rainbow Ombre (aka Haircolor Dunking)
- Hairstyle Photos: NEW 2012 Summer Hair Color Trend – Singles & Illuminata – Strands Of Different Colors Create Glowing Hair
- Photos: Ombre HairStyle Color Trend, Color Streaming for Spring, Summer 2013
Beauty Stat
The Ultimate Guide to Natural + Vegan Deodorant.
Need some new deodorant in this heatwave??
Vegan deodorant is not that difficult to find and neither is deodorant that uses clean natural ingredients. But when you combine the two you narrow your search pool even further as a lot of natural deo’s are balms that use beeswax. I was worried there wouldn’t be too many options on the market, but to my surprise there are loads! So many in fact that I struggled to narrow this guide down to just 6. I easily could have bought 10 more to try and include, but with 6 deodorants on the go this past couple of months things were getting out of hand!
The Roll-On’s
Neal’s Yard Peppermint & Lime Roll-On Deodorant / £8
One of my most used simply because of the ease! It’s a roll on! No melting a solid stick or sticking your fingers into a pot. The scent I chose isn’t my favourite, the lime & mint combination smells a little like citronella. I would choose the rose & geranium if I could go back in time.
In terms of doing its job? It promises 24hr protection but I think it begins to falter before a full morning to evening’s wear time is up. And obviously, it’s not an antiperspirant so you will sweat (which is healthy and normal!), but it does contain some moisture absorbing ingredients, not that I’ve ever noted them working.. 6/10
Benecos Apricot & Elderflower Roll-On Deodorant / £5.95
The least expensive and my least favourite, unfortunately. The scent is delicious and so fruity and fresh, it’s a real shame that the scent doesn’t linger and the deodorant really doesn’t work that well, especially in this summer heat. Reapplication is needed, but even then, you just sort of feel tacky and body odor lingers. Lovely. 2/10
The Unusual One & The Plastic Free One
Pacifica Deodorant Wipes / £7.99
I bought these oh so many moons ago to take with me to the hospital when I had Oliver. My thoughts were if I ended up stuck in bed for some time, these could freshen me up! And I actually did use them, just once, but still. I’ve used them a couple of times since then, they’re just handy for sweaty moments that catch you off guard, but they’re not essential, and you can’t really keep them in your bag or anything because the pack is pretty large! 5/10
Ben & Anna Natural Soda Deodorant – Vanilla Orchid / £9.95
Deodorant in a card tube! I love that it means there’s no waste at all, the packaging does get grubby and greasy over time but it’s deodorant, it’s not a fancy bottle of perfume you keep on display. This is the most expensive but does work quite well to keep you dry for awhile thanks to the arrowroot and starch combo. My one dislike is that the stick isn’t the easiest to use – it doesn’t really melt into the skin, you have to rub it under your arms to deposit some of the cream and then rub it into the skin yourself as it’s so thick (winter application would be a pain I imagine!). I do love the vanilla scent and it lingers for quite a while, but there’s a whole host of other scents if you’re interested. 7/10
The Charcoal Ones
Native Unearthed Activated Charcoal Natural Deodorant Balm / £6.99
My new favourite! The balm is really creamy and easy to use, it melts between your fingers and under your arms really easily and I love the scent – it’s fresh and a little lavender-y. Like every other, it doesn’t really stop you sweating, but after walking to and from work, a day in the office and then cooking tea in a kitchen that gets the evening sun and quickly turns into a furnace in this mega heatwave, I was hot and bothered, sure, but not a hint of any stink could be detected. (Also worth noting that mine is a smaller size pot!). I don’t like deo’s in pots, but this is a good ‘un! Does charcoal make it better, though? I really couldn’t say… 8/10
Kaia Naturals The Takesumi Detox Charcoal Deodorant / $10
I really wanted to like this deodorant, and I tried really hard as I’ve used it for aaaaaages (this is a sample size that just won’t quit) but the scent is meh and it doesn’t last very long in terms of B.O. and sweat suppression. Luckily you can’t get this in the UK as there are better out there. It’s one redeeming quality? The solid stick melts quite easily into the skin so you don’t have to wait around holding it under your arms. Oh and, it’s baking soda free. 3/10
Got any recommendations for me once I finish all of these?
xo
Unclotting Vitamin K
We’re looking at some new multivitamin products at work, and since my last post on Vitamin D, I was wondering what other vitamins I’m missing from my daily diet. So everyone’s heard of Vitamin A, B, C, D, and E but what’s up with Vitamin K and why did we skip Vitamin F, G, H, and I? The answer: a German scientist who discovered this vitamin named it K because of its primary property in blood clotting (or “Koagulation” in German).
Where to Get Vitamin K
Naturally occurring Vitamin K (phylloquinone) comes from foods like green, leafy vegetables and green tea. Some of my favorite products that are high in Vitamin K are:
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Kale
- Romaine Lettuce
- Parsley
- Brussel Sprouts (New for me! I just discovered this while at a restaurant last Friday. I never thought I could like this vegetable.)
- Collard Greens (so good!)
- Cucumber
- Tomato
- Blueberry
The other form (menaquinones) comes from bacteria in the gut (yes, healthy bacteria lives in our intestines). Bacteria in the gut produce a range of vitamin K2 forms, each with side chains composed of a variable number of chemical compounds. Menaquinones can also be found in food that contains bacteria like cheese and natto, or in animals that also produce the vitamin via their gut bacteria. Continue reading