Tag Archives: beauty

The Hydration Dream Team.

  , ,
Comments Off on The Hydration Dream Team.

John Master’s is most well known for their killer haircare range. It’s certainly how I was introduced to the brand and it was quite awhile before I realised they also had a range of skincare! The range is fully established with several options for different skin issues and skin types, they use mostly all organic ingredients (70-100% of the formula), and also include no irritating preservatives such as phenoxyethanol (which I try to avoid).


I had wanted to try some of their skincare for quite a while, and when looking for some good hydrating products for my dehydrated skin a few months ago I liked the look of these two rose based hydrating products.

I’ve been using both serum and mist daily now in my routine since the very beginning of May and finally need to share the love!

The Rose & Aloe Hydrating Toning Mist was a no-brainer purchase, I do love a good toner, and as I wasn’t too impressed with the one I was using at the time I was relieved to find that this was everything I was hoping for.


The ingredients list is simple with aloe, rose and glycerin being the main trio. All great for dry, dehydrated, stressed, tired, hormonal and spotty skin. Yes, it turns out it’s possible to have that many things wrong with your face at once. The mist is great (always very important) it doesn’t shoot water at your face and spreads a fine mist evenly so that I need only 2-4 spritz per use. Used day and night since the beginning of May I’m now on my last 1cm of toner in the bottle, so I feel like it was pretty good value too, as I do tend to use toner up faster than the speed of light.

Ingredients:


Aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice*, rosa damascena (rose) flower water*, glycerin*, leuconotoc ferment filtrate, oryza sativa (rice) extract*, camellia sinensis (white tea) leaf extract*, centella asiatica (gotu kola) extract* 

*Certified Organic Ingredient

I was less sure about what I was getting into with the Green Tea & Rose Hydrating Face Serum as I didn’t read any reviews and just went off of the description and ingredients list. It sounded like a great match for the toner and something my skin would benefit from. Luckily my gamble paid off and this fit into my routine perfectly and has also been used daily ever since. 

The serum is a very light cream texture that sinks into skin very easily, I’ve been using 1-2 pumps of this mixed with some moisturiser and two drops of cacay oil for my morning skincare routine. I much prefer mixing everything I want to use together and applying in one layer rather than layering up my skincare. It seems to overwhelm my skin less and helps the oil sink in too, making the perfect base for my foundation that doesn’t develop into dry patches as the day goes on. 

I wouldn’t say this serum is the be all and end all of serums, I’ve used better, but I’ve also used worse! For £25 it’s an absolute gem and totally helped my skin rebalance itself over the past couple of months. I’ve used about half of the bottle now and will continue to use it as a hydrating little boost for my face. 

Key Ingredients:

  • green tea – rejuvenates skin
  • rose flower oil – nourishes skin
  • rice – softens and heals while helping to prevent wrinkles
  • sea algae – soothing and nourishing to skin
  • sunflower – retains moisture and protects skin
  • aloe vera gel – anti-inflammatory; soothing
  • radish root – new all-natural preservative; protects against harmful bacteria

Ingredients:

Aloe barbadensis (aloe) vera leaf juice,* helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,* glycerin,* coco glucoside, coconut alcohol, rosa damascena (rose) flower water,* leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, borago officinalis (borage) seed oil,* oryza sativa (rice) extract,* camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract,* spirulina platensis (algae) extract,* butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter,* rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract,* lecithin, cananga odorata (ylang ylang) flower oil,* rosa damascena (rose) flower oil,* anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower oil,* boswellia carterii (frankinscense) resin extract, sclerotium gum powder, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate

*Certified Organic

What do you think of John Masters Skincare, have you tried anything from their range? I’m definitely interested in trying more and really like the look of the Bearberry Oily Skin Rebalancing Face Serum and the Moroccan Clay Purifying Mask! Maybe you’ll see a review for those on the blog one day 😉 *hides purse*

Fake It Till You Make It; The Sleep Edition

  ,
Comments Off on Fake It Till You Make It; The Sleep Edition

When I choose an eye cream, I tend to skip the cream part altogether and look for a gel or serum formula. I just don’t like the feel of an extra layer of cream near my eyes, preferring a soothing gel near my peepers to keep them feeling fresh and actually awake, if only temporarily 😉

I had looked at the Trilogy Age Proof CoQ10 Eye Recovery Concentrate a couple of times in the past, (anyone else window shop online an unhealthy amount??) and finally a couple of months ago I decided to take the plunge and try it out after noticing some serious dark circles thanks to a new job (and, even though I didn’t know it at the time, early pregnancy!).

The Trilogy Eye Recovery Concentrate comes in a teeny little glass bottle (it is only 7.5ml’s of product) with cooling metal rollerball on the top. Trilogy describes this as a ‘small and mighty’ product, and I would have to agree! With regular use, I feel like my eye area perked up and the deep purple bruise-like shadows under my eyes look significantly better these days! I am *yet* to suffer from fine lines and puffiness under the eyes, so I can’t comment on the effectiveness of these claims, but I strongly feel prevention is better than cure when it comes to these sorts of things, so a little CoQ10 TLC for my eyes may keep any lines at bay for at-least a little bit longer? But I’ll get back to you on that theory once I’m a sleep-deprived mum 😉

I have only one niggle/minor complaint and that’s that the roller ball is sometimes tricky to get going, but I’ve found a really good shake and running it on the back of my hand helps the serum start to flow and I can then apply it to the eye area. Other than that, the serum is perfectly textured, it sinks in quickly without any tacky residue left behind and it cooperates well with makeup and any other skincare applied over the top.

The serum is priced at £26.50, which I think is very reasonable for a natural eye product with high-tech ingredients. Not everything in the Trilogy range is vegan, unfortunately, but what I have tried has always been fab. I’m currently also using their newest body oil to hopefully prevent stretch marks as much as possible, and I’m loving the gentle, fragrance-free formula! It’s really been helping with any tight, stretchy feelings and itchiness!





Have you tried anything from Trilogy? 


My Summer Base, Sorted.

  , ,
Comments Off on My Summer Base, Sorted.


Meet my latest face obsession: Tropic Skincare. 

I’ve been wearing the Tropic Pure Effects Beauty Booster paired with the Correcting Cream Concealer for a couple of months now, with the pair quickly becoming my go-to couple for work day makeup.

Since receiving my Beauty Booster, Tropic appear to have repackaged the serum foundation to come in a new squeezy tube, with more shades and a slightly tweaked formula. This makes it difficult for me to review, knowing you can’t go out and buy this exact product should my review win you over! Why do brands do this to us? 😉

I’ll keep my review of the Beauty Booster short and sweet, and if you haven’t tried anything from Tropic before, especially their makeup, I urge you to have a look at what they offer! I have quite a few things on my list after being so impressed with these. Everything is 100% vegan, too!

Swatched.. Top – Cream Concealer in Light. Bottom – Beauty Booster in Light.

(The colour is a little off here and my skin and the swatches are looking much more orange than they do in real life!)

The Beauty Booster is a serum foundation/BB cream that offered me a surprising amount of coverage. What really impressed me, however, was the lightweight feel and non-greasy finish. I’ve tried a lot of natural bases recently and have found it difficult to find a match that isn’t very heavily oil based, or thick and dry feeling. With aloe vera juice as the top ingredient, this acts more like a serum (as the name suggests) and sinks into the skin beautifully, covering redness and helping hide marks, spots and scars making them easier to conceal afterwards. Like I said above though, this exact formulation is no longer available, so maybe try and get a sample if you can!

Moving onto the Correcting Cream Concealer, which is actually my favourite! Long-time readers of the blog will know that once upon a time I used the RMS Un-Cover Up as my concealer of choice, and this reminds me of that. Except that it’s thicker, very creamy, has more coverage and is not based on coconut oil (!!!) so all around it’s better for me and my troublesome skin.


I have the shade light, which as you can see above is a very good match for me, it covers under eye circles like a dream and can be dabbed onto blemishes and blended in with a brush or your fingers to create a flawless finish. In this summer heat I do tend to set it with a quick dusting of powder, as it started to crease under my eyes in the heat – but that’s a small thing really. I would definitely buy this again when I run out (though I think it’s one of those products that might expire before I can use it all! it’s lasting really well even with daily use!).

What do you think of Tropic? Have you tried their products before?

(P.S. Sorry this review seems all over the place, I’m rusty!)

Hurray For Hurraw!

  , ,
Comments Off on Hurray For Hurraw!

Dearest Hurraw,

Thank you, for coming to my aid when I recently started working in an office with air con. One minute it’s hot air, the next it’s cold, and it’s always, always dry. In those first few days, my lips cracked and dried out unbelievably fast! And of course, I wasn’t prepared in the slightest! I had had the Hurraw Moon Balm on my bedside table for a few weeks, using it as and when I remembered as a last minute balm before bed, it was good stuff. But whilst having a browse of the ‘New In’ section on LoveLula I came across Hurraw’s latest balm – the Papaya Pineapple lip balm. It took all of 5.8 seconds for it to become mine, because, who doesn’t love Pineapple?! I was also sold on the idea of this balm being my knight in shining armour thanks to the papaya enzymes. I was convinced the enzymes would keep chapped lips at bay by always lightly exfoliating and melting the dry skin away.


Was I right? Yes! Within 48 hours of regular and generous applications in the office, my lips were back to being smooth and happy once more. This balm now has a permenant residence in my bag for on-the-go and office related balmy needs. It’s pretty much tasteless and has a slight fruity pineapple scent, no tint and it doesn’t really add any gloss or shine to your lips.

The Moon Balm continues to live on my bedside table, a sweet vanilla scented nightly treat that I also like to reach for when doing my makeup in the morning, especially if I’m going to be brave and rock some colour on my lips. The thick, almost waxy balm offers immediate hydration and lasts for quite a few hours if you’re not regularly snacking. After about 5 minutes of the balm on my lips, they feel squishy and soft, with any flaky, or dehydrated patches long gone.

At £4.99 a pop, the vegan balms are at the pricey end of affordable, but well worth it. They seem to be long lasting and I just love this style of packaging for a balm, easy to apply and stylish looking, too. If you’re off on holiday soon I would suggest picking up their Sun Protection SPF15 balm, or if you’re after a little colour, they have two delicious sounding tinted options – Black Cherry or Cinnamon (going to have to get myself one of these!).

Have you tried a Hurraw balm?


U.S. prestige eye makeup market grew 9 per cent in 2013

  , , , ,
Comments Off on U.S. prestige eye makeup market grew 9 per cent in 2013
Sales of prestige eye makeup products in the US grew 9 per cent, to US$ 1.1 billion in the twelve months ending December 2013, compared to the same time period last year, the The NPD Group reports.

While fragrance sales remained flat last year, skincare and makeup were the main contributors of the U.S. prestige beauty market growth, revealedThe NPD Group. Eye makeup products, in particular, benefited from consumers’ growing interest in less traditional items.

In a dynamic U.S. prestige beauty market [1] that grew by 5 per cent in 2013, makeup experienced healthy gains of 7 per cent, with sales of prestige eye products reaching US$ 1.1 billion (+9% compared to 2012).

Long wear claims drove sales

“US consumers are embracing the art of eye makeup with the addition of products that go beyond the usual staples to their beauty tool boxes,” said Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst, The NPD Group Inc. “Today, less traditional items are emerging in importance. Eye brow products are leading growth and, in the larger segments within eye, enhanced benefits are the aspects fuelling increases.”

For instance, multi-benefit (+9%), volumizing (+11%), and long wear (+18%) products helped to drive the 2013 dollar sales growth in prestige mascara. Primarily, eyeliner growth came from pencils (+7%), long wear (+11%), and waterproof options (+10%). “Long wear is a theme that carried throughout eye makeup, showing sales growth in the eye brow products (+21%), and shadow (+9%) as well,” highlighted the market research firm.

Price increases

In general, the average selling price of prestige eye makeup was 3 per cent higher in the 12 months ending December 2013 than it was in the prior year. Eye shadow (+6%), brow (+4%), and liner (+3%) products experienced the largest increases in average selling price. With the exception of mascara, long wear products are garnering higher average selling prices than their counterparts in all segments.

“Definition that lasts is important to today’s beauty consumer, looking to enhance their eyes with minimal repeat application, and they are willing to pay more to get it,” added Karen Grant. “It has long been said that ’our eyes have the ability to make a statement without saying a word’ – eye defining makeup just turns up the volume.”