What Beauty Confidence Means To Me

THIS IS A SPONSORED POST IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIPIVIR

The beauty industry thrives on our insecurities, worries and concerns; it’s there to point out that we have spots that need covering, fine lines that need targeting or lashes that need lengthening. However, it’s also there to provide the tools we need to feel confident and fabulous when we need it most – whether that’s via a radiance boosting face cream, a bright red lipstick or a shampoo that keeps your colour vibrant. I adore everything about the industry and choose to take away the positives rather than the negatives, believing that those bods in white coats are busy trying to find solutions to our problems rather than forcing us to buy into something we don’t really need. Personally I’ve always looked at my huge stash of products as a tool kit to reveal who I think I am, rather than a way of concealing or creating a new identity; it’s empowering and confidence building to know I can cover up those early onset greys, dark circles and fine lines under my eyes, so I don’t have to worry about them interfering with my day. The benefit the beauty industry brings is choice: choice to address concerns or worries, choice to create who you want to be that day, choice to age at your own pace and choice to feel confident in your own skin. But what about beauty confidence?

Beauty confidence to me is about knowing I’m projecting my best image to those around me, without worrying about the little details. It’s about knowing my skin feels great, my nails are done, my grey hairs are covered and that I don’t have to worry about a breakout or cold sore appearing when it’s least convenient. Beauty confidence to me is about the little things that make a huge difference, but when they work you don’t even realise the impact they have; from cuticle oil to help my nails grow strong, to body scrubs that help reveal fresh glowing skin, to my favourite concealers that ensure focus is on my eyes – not what lies beneath. Beauty confidence to me is about knowing my body is changing as I age, but embracing it wholeheartedly and celebrating the fact that it works hard to keep me moving rather than putting it down for daring to be imperfect; it’s about understanding that there is beauty in all of us and in our differences, and that if we were all the same the world would be a very boring place to be. Beauty confidence is about doing whatever makes you feel good, and minimising the potential to make you feel bad.

Fortunately lipivir understand that the appearance of a cold sore can be confidence draining; they understand that it can make you want to hide away, that you may not want to look people in the eye and that the discomfort can interfere with your day. They understand that to have beauty confidence you have to be armed with the tools to ensure you feel your best, so they set about creating something to help: a lightweight gel that can be applied around the edge of lips to help prevent the appearance of cold sores. (The HSV1 virus that causes cold sores reactivates by sending signals between particles to ‘wake-up’ and start replicating so they can spread; lipivir has a special formulation that disrupts these signals so they don’t arrive. Its special formula is made of a biologically inactive substance which interferes with the signals, ‘jamming’ the viruses’ communications and preventing outbreaks.)

It’s these little steps in our regime that can have a huge impact, knowing that we have the tools at our disposal to stop those pesky inconveniences from appearing altogether. Beauty confidence is about stepping out the door with your head held high knowing you’re looking and feeling fabulous – and you’re going to kick some ass. I’ve been trying lipivir for a few weeks alongside one of my best friends who suffers from horrendous cold sores and it’s definitely helped us both to feel beauty confident. Although it’s hard to tell whether or not something has been effective when it’s a preventative measure, the fact there’s a simple way to stop those ‘oh no’ moments is a godsend in my book. Alongside my nail strengthener, retinol enriched night creams, semi-permenant brows and regular pedicure appointments, it proves that there are little ways to ensure you feel beauty confident 365 days of the year. Thank goodness for the beauty industry.

What does beauty confidence mean to you?

To find out more about lipivir, visit their website: www.lipivir.com
You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Read my previous post, How To Ensure Healthy Kissable Lips All Year Long, for some more top tips.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of lipivir; all opinions and recommendations are my own.

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Kat Von D “Spellbinding Eyeshadow Book” Review

Hi Makeup Geeks! As you all know, every year around the holidays I go on my search for the best makeup palettes. I review each of them individually, then at the end I pick my favorite one of the year. I love this time of year not only for the season and the feeling that comes with it but it gives me a good excuse to shop! 🙂

The palette we will be looking at today is the Kat Von D “Spellbinding Eyeshadow Book”

Kat von D 01_Spelling Binding

Packaging

The packaging is a thin, sleek cardboard palette that opens like a book. The front cover is a penciled design in black and white- very Kat Von D inspired! It opens to reveal 24 shades with 12 of them being new.  The left side of the inside palette has 3 eyeshadow ideas, “The Natural State”, “The After Hours”, “The Spellbinder”, each of which can be recreated with the shades in the palette. the palette is organized in pairs with each shade suppose to compliment each other. Each shade is 0.05 ounce which is the normal amount in a shadow. It does come with a plastic overlay to protect the shadows when you travel but I know for some this is more of an aggravation but it can be easily cut away. The price on this is great for the amount of shades you get.  I love how easy this is to take for travel as it’s super lightweight and sleek.

Kat von D 06_Spelling Binding

Eyeshadows

Included in this palette are 24 eyeshadows ranging in several colors and finishes.  There are 3 matte finish shadows, and 21 metallic/shimmer shadows. Overall this is very good quality with only a few of them being somewhat powdery. The majority of the shades were very creamy and easy to apply and adhered to the skin very well. They also blended well and had stunning pigmentation.  My only downside to this palette is there should have been a few more neutral shadows to balance out all the colors- this way you don’t have to bring extra shadows if you travel with this palette.

Going L to R

  • Dark Throne – Medium Matte Dark Grey
  • Precious – Shimmery Soft Warm Peach
  • Babe – Medium Cool Toned Purple with Iridescent Shimmer
  • Piaf – Dark Grey with a Silver Metallic Sheen
  • Sunset Blvd. – Gold with a Frost Finish
  • 8 Bit – Metallic Teal with Gold Shimmer
  • Geek – Medium Matte Peach
  • Fallen – Shimmery Warm Golden Copper
  • Holy Bible – Muted Metallic Silver
  • Oddfellow – Black with a Teal Shimmer (One of my Favorites)
  • Birdcage – Yellow Green with a Frosted Finish
  • Gunner – Dark Green with Green and Silver Sparkles
  • Instaglam – Light Pink with a Frosted/Metallic Finish
  • Stupid Autocorrect – Warm Frosted Copper Red
  • Galore – Warm Frosted Gold/Beige
  • Hexagram – Olive Green with a Frosted Finish
  • Smile Now – Medium Golden Peach with Pinky Sheen
  • Cry Later – Medium Brown with a Pearl Finish
  • Arcadia – Lilac Purple with a Frosted Sheen
  • Wonderland – Deep Burgundy Sparkle
  • Queen- Warm Brown with a Teal Sheen
  • Bukowski – Medium Cool Blue with a Frosted Finish
  • Countess – Matte Finish Light Beige
  • WTF – Orange/Red with a Satin Finish

Kat von D 'Spellbinding' Swatches 03 Kat von D 'Spellbinding' Swatches 01 Kat von D 'Spellbinding' Swatches 04_1Kat von D 'Spellbinding' Swatches 02

Price:   $46.00

Where to Buy:   (unfortunately Sephora already sold out, but you can find on Amazon)

I give this palette a big 2 thumbs up as the quality, packaging, and colors are amazing.  This is one of my favorite palettes for 2013 🙂

XOXO,

Marlena

Continued here Makeup G
See you soon

Sweet Dreams.

Hands up, who needs more sleep? Or better sleep? Or struggles to fall asleep? Can I put my hand up for all three?

Before Oliver I could sleep for 12 hours no problem, I’m a natural night owl who can sleep until noon, easy. But my baby has other ideas, he is still waking regularly all night, even more so because he’s teething at the moment, and even when I do put my head on the pillow I find it really hard to fall asleep. It’s like I perk up the moment I lie down, I’m suddenly awake! It can take 2 hours to fall asleep some nights, and just as I drift off… I’m up to feed the baby. Damn it.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to find ways to combat this and help make drifting off easier because I could really do with those two hours sleep, please.

Some things I have been trying include:

  • No sugary treats after tea/dinner (this is the most difficult for me as I’m a chocoholic!)
  • A warm bath instead of a shower in the evening
  • Not using my phone when I get into bed.
  • Going to bed when I’m tired instead of waiting for Michael to want to go to bed, too. 

Along with these simple things, I’ve been including the two beauty products pictured above into my routine.


The Tropic So Sleepy Pillow Mist has quickly grown to be a firm favourite of mine, helping me associate the divine, calming scent with sleep. I love lavender so it was obvious I would love this too, but it also includes a lush blend of Rosemary, Chamomile, Frankincense, Rosewood, Eucalyptus and Rose Geranium essential oils too. These oils come together to create something a little more complex than just your standard lavender pillow mist, it’s not overpowering but strong enough that I only need to spray my pillow once for a long-lasting scent that calms me down. If I focus on the scent and breathing slowly, then I’m often asleep before you know it.

For skincare, I have been including the Neal’s Yard Remedies Beauty Sleep Concentrate. A night time serum/light moisturiser that’s dreamy in all the right ways. The cream contains cocoa butter, grape seed oil and aloe vera, along with ylang-ylang for that dream-inducing scent and a host of other good skin ingredients, too. If my skin isn’t too dry I tend to use this alone, but it does also pair well with a facial oil or thicker night cream on top. Smooth over skin and breathe in deep for all those sweet aromatherapy benefits.

Do you have any tips for better sleep?