I'm back!

It's been a very long time, hasn't it?

It's the usual excuses from me - busy, tired, slight illness etc...

We did go to Moscow in March which was fascinating and I am definitely going to write something about that.  In fact, I've had an unfinished post about it languishing on Blogger for months - my bad.

I'm also going to post more product reviews.  I like doing product reviews, primarily because it gives me an excuse to be a bit girly which is a complete antidote to the way I normally spend my days, (working with electricity, working at heights, carrying heavy stuff, rigging heavy stuff).

I've said it, so I have to do it now...

Beauty review - Yes to Cucumbers facial wipes? Just say no

I can safely say that these wipes are easily the worst beauty product I've ever tried.  Ever.

Within a couple of minutes of using them, my face started to feel like it was burning.  My skin very quickly became red, inflamed and slightly swollen.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it felt like a mild chemical burn.  It took about a day to fully subside.  I'm not the only person who's had this problem - about 80% of reviewers on Makeup Alley reported something similar.

They're advertised as hypoallergenic soothing facial wipes for sensitive skin but they're nothing of the sort.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they're potentially dangerous for sensitive skin.  Boots were very good about refunding me when I returned the wipes, (thanks guys) and the pharmacist was so concerned he encouraged me to call the Boots customer service to give my feedback (which I've done).

Any good things about this product?

Well, the packing was all cutesy and hippyish.

Hero Beauty product - E45 Lotion

Today's beauty product is effective, multi-tasking and very cheap.

Ladies, I'm talking about E45 lotion.  Regular readers of these beauty reviews will know that I have dehydrated, sensitive skin.  I struggle to find products that  work without irritating.  E45 lotion is, in my opinion, nothing short of miraculous.

Image via http://www.superdrug.com

I use it as a daily body lotion but during the winter months when my complexion becomes especially dry thanks to a combination of central heating & cold outdoor weather, I use it on my face.  I do use it during the summer but sometimes I find it a little rich then. 

It's unperfumed.  I love gorgeously scented body lotions but they can irritate my skin. 

Texture-wise, it's thick and rich but it does sink in quickly.  My skin is supple and hydrated all day when I use this.  It's especially good if I spend a lot of time outdoors because my skin retains moisture levels.

It's also useful for travelling because I just need to take one bottle with me instead of one for body and one for face.

And the best thing?

It's only £5.50 for 500ml!  Seriously, half a litre of really good product for the princely sum of £5.50.

You're welcome.

Beauty review - Origins Starting Over Age-erasing moisturiser with Mimosa

'Starting Over Age-erasing moisturiser' - the name immediately annoyed me.  I'm 47, I like being 47, why on earth would I want to 'start over'?  The implication is that there's something wrong with being older, you've somehow made a mistake and woo hoo, Origins has kindly given you a chance to make good your error for only £38.  Mmm...

Anyway, onto the product.  It has a gorgeous citrusy smell.  The texture is thick but easily absorbed which I did like.  It can be used morning and evening but I chose to use it as a day cream.  I found it relatively moisturising for my dehydrated complexion but towards the end of the day, my skin started to dry out a little.

Image via http://www.sephora.com

All in all, not a bad moisturiser but they really need to change the name.

Hero beauty product - Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (and a useful tip)

Apologies for the slightly late publication of this post.  I was working a long day yesterday and didn't have time to publish it.

**

I love Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, I really do.

Image via http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

If I've had a rough few days & my complexion's looking a bit crocodile like, it really sorts me out.  It's also brilliant for prepping the skin prior to using a face mask.

For those who are unfamiliar with the product, you apply it to the skin, then take the muslin cloth supplied, run it under hot water, squeeze it so there's no excess water left and use it to rub off the cleanser using circular movements.  This acts to exfoliate the skin.

Now here's my handy tip.  Once you've rubbed off the cleanser, run the cloth under the hottest water you can stand, squeeze out the excess water, open up the cloth to its fullest and hold it against the face for ten seconds.  Do this three times.  This has a mild steaming effect on the skin and really loosens blackheads and other assorted muck.  If you're going to use a face mask afterwards, your complexion will be extra receptive to the mask because the pores are open.  If you're not using a mask, run the cloth under cold water and hold it against the face for ten seconds.  This closes the pores and prepares the skin for make up, etc.

I can't use this every day because it does dry out my skin a little but two or three times a week keeps me looking radiant and the congestion at bay.  Just remember to wash the cloth once a week and don't use fabric conditioner.  You need it to be slightly rough to the feel to be able to exfoliate properly.

Hero beauty product - Batiste Dry Shampoo

I'm working all day tomorrow so won't have time to post this so here's an early Thursday beauty review.

**

I'm one of those people who need to wash their hair every day or at the very least, every second day. If I don't, my hair gets greasy very quickly and the scalp starts to smell.

Sometimes, for one reason or another, it isn't always possible to wash your hair so I've been looking round for other methods of keeping clean.  Batiste Dry Shampoo is the best substitute I've found.

Image via poundland.co.uk

It's very easy to use.  Just spray it on, massage into the roots and brush it out. Basically it converts into a powder when it's sprayed on, the powder absorbs the grease from the hair then you brush it out.  

Every dry shampoo works in the same way but Batiste seems to have got the formula right.  With other brands I've found that I've been left with a heavy helmet of unpleasant smelling powder that's quite hard to get rid of and dries out the hair but that's not the case here. The Batiste fragrance is light and pleasant, (I used Blush).  The powder is easy to brush out and doesn't dry out my hair.

Dry shampoo will never replace actual shampoo but Batiste provides an excellent alternative.

Beauty review - Melvita Eau Fraiche micellaire

I've read a lot about how micellar waters are the Next Big Thing in cleansers so when Melvita Eau Fraiche micellaire arrived in my Latest in Beauty box, I was rather excited.

I'm the ideal person to test cleansers.  I do a very technical job and I often come home from work looking like this...

Image via http://www.inspirationfalls.com

I need something that's gentle to my sensitive complexion but tough on dirt.  

You apply the micellar water by putting it on a cotton wool pad and wiping over the face - essentially, it's a wipe-off cleanser.  I found it quite strange - it was a bit like foamy, slightly oily toner.  I actually had to google the product to see if I was using it correctly, (I was).

Image via http://shopping.cherchons.com

It's quite gentle to use in that it doesn't irritate or dry the skin and has a gorgeous fresh, floral fragrance but I didn't find it to be particularly effective as a cleanser.  Although it removed all the visible dirt, the next morning when I used my usual wipe-off cleanser, I found that it lifted a lot more dirt than normal which suggests that the micellar water hadn't removed everything.

I'd imagine that if you had very sensitive skin & didn't do anything that made you get hot/sweaty/dirty, this would be the ideal cleanser but I'm not that person.  

The best use I found for it was this; if I'd spent all day at home make up free and I was going out in the evening & wanted to wear make up, I'd give my face a quick wipe over with micellar water so that I wasn't applying foundation to dirty skin.  However that's not enough of a reason to actually buy it. 

Musings on beauty and why I'm a cosmetics addict

I am a cosmetics and beauty junkie.  There!  I said it.

I'm fascinated by the process of transforming oneself from a plain jane to a gorgeous siren.

There is a school of thought that says an intelligent woman should be above such superficial things as appearance and looking good.  To a certain extent this is true because intellect will always trump looks but I can't see any reason why you can't be fiercely intelligent and look fierce at the same time.  Seriously, if all you were interested in was deep intellectual thinking and nothing else, you'd be kind of boring.

You don't believe me?

Let me present to you the case of Hedy Lamarr.

Image via http://cssu-bg.org/WomenInCS/hedy_lamarr.php

She was a movie star in the forties, famed for her beauty.  But she was also a mathematical genius and inventor.  Along with George Antheil she invented a technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping.  No, I don't really understand it either but apparently it served as the basis for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communications.  See?  Being beautiful didn't undermine her intelligence.  Her looks combined with her brain made her so much more fascinating than someone who was either just beautiful or just brainy.

There's something enormously tender about pampering yourself.  I have a rather long before-bed routine which involves showering, cleansing my face and applying a lot of lotions & potions. It drives my boyfriend to distraction but I need it.  After a long, hard day it's a way of relaxing and taking care of myself. (Also, if I don't clean my face properly every day, I end up looking like a raison - all withered!)

Which leads me on to my blog...  Reading back on my old posts, I realise that I've been doing a lot of beauty and cosmetic reviews.  I enjoy writing them because I'm constantly trying out new products & I like sharing my findings and people seem to want to read them because these posts constantly get the most hits.  

So here's what I'm going to do.  Once a week, work permitting I'm going to write a cosmetics review.  I'll try and make it every Thursday so that if people do want to buy anything I've blogged about, they'll be able to get it in time for the weekend.  As I said though, this will depend on work.  I freelance so I can't guarantee I'll be free every week.  

I'll start next Thursday.  I do hope you'll join me.  x

Summer glow

Summer has finally arrived here in Britain.  After such a long, cold winter it's a real relief waking up to blue sunny skies with the promise of a long lazy day in the park to look forward to.


The advent of summer does bring with it certain perils, not least of which is the thought of baring one's pasty white winter body in light summery clothes.  This year I decided to be clever and prepare and bought myself a bottle of Dove Summer Glow.

Image courtesy of lunch.com

The bottle promises moisturiser with a hint of self tanning agents gradually builds a light tan.  Naively I thought that this was just a matter of applying it like a regular moisturiser and within a week I'd have a Jennifer Aniston-esque natural looking tan. 

Ha! Wrong!

Somehow I've ended up looking like a cross between an inverse tiger, (orange and white as opposed to orange and black, geddit?) and well, frankly bizarre.   

Here's a picture to show you what I mean.

That 'shadow' between my fingers is no shadow...  The 'moisturiser/tanning agent' has ended up between my fingers and stained them a bright orange!  It really does make me look like I have webbed fingers.

There's also a very definite line up the back of my leg.  I have no idea how that happened because I certainly apply it evenly all over.

Before you ask, yes, I did all the things they advise before tanning - exfoliating, moisturising...

I'm now frantically scrubbing myself trying to get rid of my fetching mottled orange appearance.

If anyone has any hints or tips or how to use this damn stuff, I'd be interested to find out what they are.  I've had a lot of compliments on how 'healthy' I'm looking, ( I just try to hide my webbed hands and not stand in direct sunlight so as not to highlight my inverse tiger look, ha, ha) so I'd like to know how to use this properly.

If you know how to apply it and want to take the plunge, you can buy it in the UK here.  I couldn't seem to find anywhere that sold it in the US.

Cosmetics reviews

I have a love-hate relationship with cosmetics.  


I love them because of they promise so much - luxury, pampering, self-indulgence & the possibility of looking like a better version of yourself.  On the other hand, there's an awful lot of bulls**t, the promotion of only a very few 'acceptable' ways to look and the promise of looking like an eighteen year old, which any sensible person over the age of nineteen knows is rubbish.


On that note, I'd like to share with you some of the beauty products I've tried recently and my experiences with them. I have notoriously difficult skin - dry, extremely sensitive to environment influences like central heating and prone to rosacea. My hair is similar but without the rosacea - dry and prone to frizz at the drop of a hat.


I'd like to start with Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect.

Image courtesy of www.iloapp.queenpeach.com

  
This is an interesting one.  In 2007, BBC's Horizon programme, which is a very well respected science programme, claimed that the No. 7 Protect and Perfect Beauty Serum actually worked. This naturally sparked a buying frenzy and Protect and Perfect has been at the top of the best seller lists ever since.


So did it work for me?  


Unfortunately not.  The cleanser and the beauty serum felt harsh against my skin and both the day & night moisturizers made my face sting.  After a week, my cheeks were noticeably redder and felt inflamed.  I certainly didn't notice any reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.  
Rather worryingly, after about a month, I found that my skin was more sensitive to things like central heating.  I also don't like the fact that the range doesn't differentiate between skin types - ie. there's no special creams for oily skin, dry skin etc.  It's just one cream for all skin types and let's face it, dry skin needs are very different to oily skin needs.


However, I'm not going to dismiss Protect and Perfect out of hand though because my friend S swears by it and even I can see the difference in her complexion when she's not using it.  


After my (didn't) Protect and Perfect experience, I was looking for something to try and calm down my now inflamed looking complexion.  I don't have a lot of money at the moment to spend on cosmetics, so I was nosing round my local branch of Boots when I spotted this.

Image courtesy of kaboodle.com

Eau Thermale Avene's Gentle Milk Cleanser.  I bought the cleanser along with the Soothing Hydrating Serum. Immediately I noticed a difference, even after the first application.  The cleanser is very soothing and feels good on the skin.  My complexion looked far less ruddy and felt far less dehydrated.  After about a week, people were commenting on how healthy I looked and my skin felt far more supple and far less susceptible to environmental influences.  My rosacea has calmed down to the point where I just look like I have healthy, rosy cheeks.  Definitely a big yes from me.

I can't abide celebrity endorsed products so it's with a heavy heart that I have to tell you about this.

Image courtesy of eleven.se

It's James Brown's Richly Moisturizing Shampoo.  James Brown is Kate Moss's hairdresser and boy, does he let you know about it.  The shampoo is however (sadly!) excellent. In fact, I'd go as far as to say, it's the best shampoo I've ever used.  It's a little odd to use because you leave it on like a conditioner for three minutes and I keep forgetting that I then need to apply conditioner after that but no matter.  It leaves my hair soft, silky and most importantly of all, not frizzy!!  Absolute bonus in my books.  Just a shame he felt he had to go down the celebrity route because the product is good enough to stand on it's own merits.