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Sunday 30 October 2011

Branching Out–Cleansers Part Ein

Hallo!

To ease myself back into things for the 3746th time I thought I’d do a little review of a product I recently finished from a brand I’m new to. Firstly though, a small intro..

Cleansing to me is washing my face. My skin, as I’ve mentioned before, is normal to combination, it varies with the seasons and how my face feels when it wakes up. It is fairly well behaved in terms of spots, these are usually kept to my chin and products don’t break me out with the exception of one or two. All I ask of a cleanser is that it takes the crap off my face and doesn’t make my skin feel tight and nasty afterwards (looking at you Clinique facial soap..) over the years I have used many cleansers and rarely stick to one for long and I was curious about following a skin care ‘regime’ as such

Ages and AAAGGGGES ago on a blog I saw a post about Alpha-H’s Online Skin Consultation, where you answer questions about your skin type and a beauty therapist replies a few days later with some product suggestions. It’s an Australian brand that uses the AHA Glycolic Acid in their products (read more about that here), something I have been interested in. When the therapist replied to my form suggesting the Renew & Resurface Kit it amazingly coincided with the realisation that my Tesco vouchers were due to expire and they could be spent at Beautyexpert.co.uk! I spotted the kit and a few days later it was mine, all mine!

Well, if I was a normal, organised lady I’d be reviewing the entire kit right now. Me being me though, I lost some of it which has now been refound but I thought I’d get started regardless. Purely because I used it twice a day rather than the weekly/whenever I remember use of the masks etc in this kit, the first product I finished was the Triple Action Cleanser

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This was a 50ml bottle, at first I was a bit concerned about the number of applications I could get from this but you do only need a little blob so I managed to get over three weeks twice daily use out of this. I don’t have a picture of the product itself but there isn’t much point, it’s a clear gel without any scent. It’s ‘triple action’ from the website these seem to be the minimisation of excess oil and spread of bacteria as well as removing makeup.

I think it is purely because this is clear, scentless and looks pretty unremarkable that I was apprehensive about the cleansers ability to do all this. I was actually pleasantly surprised! The first time I used it I thought my skin felt a little tight afterwards which I hate, making me hesitant to use it again but I’m glad I did as it never happened again. I applied it to damp skin, rubbing over my eyes if need be (no stinging or cloudiness!) and removed it with the micro fibre face cloth provided in the kit (not pictured as my mum has snaffled it!) and it really did remove all makeup including stubborn mascara! The waterproof one I wore on holiday needed a little more work but everything else came off like a breeze.

I don’t know how this would be on dry skin as its for normal, oily and combination types but if you fit those categories and have the moolah I’d say it’s great, it’s like washing with an awesome water that takes everything off without any overpowering smells or tightness. When I use the other cleansers I have I am definitely going to buy the normal size though it is £23 for 200ml from Beauty Expert. It hasn’t quite taken the place of my beloved Liz Earle but it is up there with one of my faves :)

In other news, Friday was the fluffers first day outside in their new run..

Fluffs

Fluff is kind of sat on Brownie and you might notice that she has paint all over her. We have been painting the doors downstairs and despite putting up a board so she couldn’t get near them she managed to jump over and coat herself regardless. I’ve managed to get most of it off but it is everywhere. She is definitely the mischief of the two!

I hope you’ve all had a good weekend and don’t have a two day hangover like I clearly will!

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Inky Blue Sparkles!!

Bonjourno! I hope you are all well…. And I hope you are not as depressed as me facing six months of awful weather after last weeks sunshine : ( bad times. I might do a bird and fly south for the winter.

To ease myself pack into the swing of this posting lark I thought I’d begin with the polish I was wearing until about 20 minutes ago.

CameoBlueSkyscraper

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This is two layers of American Apparel’s Cameo Blue topped with one coat of China Glaze’s Skyscraper from their recent Metro collection.

Cameo Blue is a delight, two coater with a quick drying time. Skyscraper is beautiful in the bottle and is at times on the nail but sometimes I looked at it and felt a bit underwhelmed.

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This is it looking sparkly and beautiful, which it does the majority of the time. I will try it by itself and on top of a few others to see if I can make it look it’s best. Regardless, I really liked this mani, dark inky blue is my fave!

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Ahhhhhh *angels sing* beautiful Skyscraper in the bottle

I did a little comparison so you could also see just Cameo Blue and Skyscraper, this shows two coats of each..

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L – R Skyscraper, Cameo Blue (2 coats) & Skyscraper (1 coat), Cameo Blue

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L – R Cameo Blue, Cameo Blue & Skyscraper, Skyscraper, Cameo Blue & Skyscraper

Also note – Skyscraper is a total bitch to remove… I love glitters but times like these make me want to punch them all in the face. And I’m a lover not a fighter, that’s how bad it gets.

When bloggers were showing the collection, to me Skyscraper stood out. I’m glad I snapped it up when I saw it at Sally’s but I kind of feel it could look prettier than it did in this instance. I won’t give up! I need a quest while I am trying to find a ‘proper’ job, this could well be it.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any suggestions for more inky blue shades I could feast my eyes on?!