2011 August - Make Up to Make Out

Archive for August 2011

Olay Regenerist Night Renewal Elixir

By Lina on August 31, 2011

After my skin was left a little dry from trialling the Olay Professional Kit, the lovely people at Olay sent me over the newest edition to their Regenerist range, the Olay Regenerist Night Renewal Elixir, as they thought it would be much better suited for my skin.The Olay Regenerist Night Renewal Elixir is a ‘power-house’ of ingredients, including penta-peptides, glycolic acid and anti-oxidants. It claims to even out skin tone, boost hydration, boost surface skin cell turnover and reduce fine lines. Thanks to the glycolic acid, it gently exfoliates skin as you sleep resulting in smoother, firmer, more even skin in just seven nights!

That’s big talk. But can it deliver?

In one word, Yes.

I seldom do a skin care review so shortly after first using it, but considering this product is meant to deliver noticeable results in only seven nights I felt it was fair to report the results having now used it that amount of time. From the first night of use, I woke up and skin was beautifully hydrated and smooth. I honestly couldn’t believe how my OH SO dry skin was this hydrated (in a non greasy way!) with such a lightweight product, so much so I would touch my skin constantly throughout the night in disbelief. It literally overnight turned my dry, slightly irritated skin around into gorgeous, healthy, dewy perfection. Exactly how I wanted it to be.Having now used it the full seven nights my skin is still in great nick, admittedly I saw the most improvement in the first few days but it’s definitely smoother all over and I will without a doubt continue to keep using it. There were a few hard bumps on my skin caused by the last skin care I used, and since using this Elixir a couple of them have turned into spots – however I’m pretty sure this is just a case of them needing to come out in order for that area of skin to improve, so I don’t really count it as a bad thing against the Elixir and am looking forward for it all to heal.

Quite simply the most loveliest, lightweight skin care product I’ve ever used that delivers results to rival the richest of creams – and does it fast! What more could I ask for? I love this Elixir so much, I might even make a bold statement of saying that it is my favourite skin care product of at least the last six months…!!! Ooooooo!

Oh, yes, AND, it’s shimmery in the bottle.. Ahhhh..

The Olay Regenerist Night Renewal Elixir is out nationwide from the 15th September, but a few select Boots and Superdrug stores are currently stocking it now. I’ve just checked online and both places have it for £19.99 – that’s £10 off recommended retail price!

Are you tempted in trying this shimmery bottle of goodness?

DISCLAIMER: PR Samp

Chick Lit

By Lina on August 26, 2011

Has anyone tried that online store The Book Depository? Every time I google a book it is like the first listing there is of it, and usually for the cheapest price on the web (is it just me or is Ebay actual crap for books now?). Whilst I was sick, and bored, I decided to get a few books to cheer me up. I obviously didn’t account for that fact they probably wouldn’t arrive till I was all better but the act of buying something was enough to perk me up. I purchased them all, in three separate transactions (that’s how I roll, nah actually it was just cause I kept thinking of new books after I finished placing the order for the last) from The Book Depository. It took a while, five whole days to be exact, but they arrived neatly packaged with complimentary bookmarks!What I love about this selection of books is that they are all those so sickeningly chicky! Like, embarrassingly so. I couldn’t help but write this post as I think it’s hilarious that this is what I ordered. If any of my male friends read this I may just dieeee, although in all honestly I doubt they’d be that surprised.. The first book I purchased was Why Men Love Bitches, which my blogging twin Katie Snooks recommended to me. I love Katie Snooks, we are almost exactly the same height, and she inspires me to only be friends with people of that height as it’s sooo much fun! We say we’re twins but actually more like inverse twins as she’s blond and pale and I’m a brunette with dark skin, so very inverse! Except for the height. So Katie says I will love this, and I am looking forward to reading it.

About ten minutes later after placing an order for the first book I decided to buy Getting Into The Vortex, which is a meditation CD really. I’ve read a couple of books by its author Esther and Jerry Hicks and have enjoyed them aplenty (they specialise in Law of Attraction stuff), so this seemed like a good investment. I’m a big positive thinker and tend to think (possibly somewhat naively) that nothing is out of my grasp. One of my favourite quotes (alongside Dolly Partons’ ‘It costs a lot of money to look this cheap’) is ‘Whether you think you can do a thing, or you think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.’.. At the very least it may chill me out somewhat, being naturally highly strung!

Lastly, I bought Sweet Valley Confidential. Yes, Sweet Valley High but ten years on. I’ve been quite clever with my reasoning for buying this, or ‘allowing’ myself too I should say. I decided instead of buying my sister a birthday card this year, I’d get her this, and write a message on the inside, as a lil’ joke, like, ‘Hey sis, ha, remember when we used to read these! Happy birthday!’. But OBVIOUSLY I’m totes reading it before I give it to her!!! I’ve been waiting a long time to see what those Wakefield twins with oval faces and perfect size six figures have been up to (controversially they are now size 4!!). I can tell you now, I’m Team Jessica all the way. The reviews have been dismal for this and I will probably wish I could take back the hours of my life spent reading it but I really need to know what happens.To even out all the trash and stereotypical girly pukiness, here is another book I purchased fairly recently (although not from The Book Depository). It’s called Girls to the Front and is all about the Riot Grrl movement is the late 80′s/90′s (of which I’m kinda obsessed with). I think I’m gonna cover this book in a separate post as it really deserves it. But one thing I will say now – apparently I’m not a real Riot Grrrl because I slut shame. WHATEV, always have and always will (in the nicest, least bitter way possible, honest)..

Books covered:
Why Men Love Bitches – Sherry Argov
Getting into the Vortex – Esther and Jerry Hicks
Sweet Valley Confidential – Francine Pascal
Girls to the Front – Sara Marcus

What’s your literary guilty pleasure?

P.S. Just to clarify, I did not just buy my sister a crappy Sweet Valley High book as her 35th birthday present, it was in place of a card.. FYI, Me and the fam all grouped together and bought her some Gucci specs.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with The Book Depository or being paid for this post, blah blah blah…

This entry is filed under Books. | 5 Comments

Smooch Make-up!

By Lina on August 25, 2011

Have you heard about the new make-up range called Smooch? Cutely packaged ‘high street’ products that claim to be the imagined love child of Agent Provocateur and Mac. It launched two weeks ago and the first thing that caught my eye after browsing the website were the striking, bright lipsticks.. !

I got these four sent to me to try:

Rocking Red, Tangerine Dream, Popping Pink and Sweet Tooth

I’ve always been a big, big fan of bright, statement lips. Anything of the orange, pink and red variety – in stand out pigment – is my friend. So, whilst these lipsticks look really pigmented in the bullet, it’s worth mentioning that they aren’t matte lipsticks (or, at least the ones sent to me weren’t, there might be others in the collection that are), and they are actually very sheer. Innitally I was a little disappointed as I was hoping for some super bright, statement lippy, but once you get over the fact they’re not what you built up in your head, they are nice, glossy sheer lipsticks. Very creamy, possibly a little too much for my liking as I felt they didn’t adhere to the lip as much as I’d like, but nourishing once on which is good.Swatches: Popping Pink, Sweet Tooth, Tangerine Dream and Rocking Red.

On me, the pinks didn’t really work with my skin tone and barely showed up other than a bit of frosted sheen. The Tangerine Dream gave my lips a subtle orange glossy hue, and the Rocking Red came out the best pigment wise, although a little blotting and reapplying is needed if you want a strong red lip still – not forgetting lip liner!I was also sent an eye shadow duo in Twilight, bronzer duo in Glowing and blusher duo in Kookie Crumble, which I haven’t tried properly yet but will review once I have!

At the moment for the first month of their launch their website is having a staggering 50% off sale, so if anything takes your fancy, now is the time to get ordering! Visit www.smoochcosmeticsuk.com.

Anything caught your eye?

DISCLAIMER: PR Samp

This entry is filed under Smooch. | 4 Comments

Thursday Night Facial!

By Lina on August 23, 2011

Ha, quite funny that I had planned to write this post last Thursday but The Sickness had gotten hold of me and left me just one step ever so slightly below bedridden. Yes, I do get ill quite a bit, blame my goddam immune system – or its deficiency, to be precise.

Anyhoo, the Thursday Night Facial has been a regime I have practiced for about 10 years now – it is basically a weekly mini facial I give myself consisting of an exfoliation treatment, followed by an intensive moisturising mask. This all tends to happen on a Thursday (right before the weekend, you see), but sometimes I rebel and do it on a Wednesday or something (ooooo!), but it definitely happens once a week.

The products vary, if something is working I tend to use it till it finishes but understandeably since I’ve been blogging I luckily get a fair bit to try, so I try and to mix it up and try as much as possible instead of sticking to one thing. At the moment, I am on a winning streak with these two amazing products that I’ve been using well over a month now.

NuBo Diamond Peel and Reveal
This NuBo Diamond Peel and Reveal gives you as effective results as any microdermabrasion at home treatment (despite not being one), but your skin doesn’t fall apart if you switch to a lighter exfoliator the following week (has anyone else found this problem with microdermabrasion?). Plus, the results you get from first treatment are just as glowing and smooth as the last! I’ve been using this product a good few months now – possibly six? And it has so far lived up to expectation with every use.

The two step treatment consists of The Exfoliator that you massage onto clean skin for two minutes in circular motions, which is then followed with part two, The Activator, which you apply on top of The Exfoliator (part one) and massage further until a white paste forms. Once a minute pasts, you rinse off. A really quick and easy deep exfoliating treatment, but with the added refinement of crushed diamonds! Gush!

My only one complaint is that, considering it is fairly expensive, I was rather traumatised to discover quite early on that The Exfoliator part (the bit with the diamonds!) had leaked inside the lid resulting in half the product coming out! Unfortunately the tube is the type that keeps blurting product out until you jam the lid back on, and even then, once the lid is tightly put back on, the only way to stop further leaking is to stand the product upside down on the shelf (I discovered this way too late). Had I paid the full sixty five notes for this I would have been PISSED, alas it was a PR sample but I was still rather heartbroken over the product loss..

Worringly, I am getting more and more besotted with NuBo products as they days go on, and I’m even starting to rationalise that £65 is totally worth it for an exfoliator. It is expensive, but my goodness it is lovely.

Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment Mask
I know lots of people would probably go for a clarifying face mask if they were to go for a face mask, however as my skin is on the dry side I try to put nourishment and moisture back into it so the richest, loveliest, most radiant inducing masks are the ones I always go for.

Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment Mask may come in simple,very unglamourous packaging but don’t let that fool you. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now, once a week, and the next day after use my skin is GORGEOUS. Velvety soft and plump. Radiant. It is definitely one of those products that give your skin the much needed ‘bump’ before a big event, if you’re on the look out for something that does.

The texture of it is like a thick body cream, fragrance less, and very much no nonsense. You really have no idea whilst you’re wearing it that you’ll reap such lovely results the next day. For the older ladies amongst us, it’s one of those ‘ten years younger in a bottle’ products and definitely falls in the top three, if not first, of best hydrating face masks I’ve tried (I’ll have to really think about this and go through ten years worth of them to say for sure!). If your skin is feeling particularly parched on a non facial night you can even use this as a night cream, too.

But here’s the best bit, you get a very generous sized tube of the product, that will last you an age, and it only costs £14.95.. ! BARGAIN. I predict this tube is probably going to last me a good few months, well into the rest of this year and probably the first quarter of the next. Outstanding value for money. And such a good quality product!

So that’s what I’m currently rocking for Thursday Night Facials! What are your favourite at home facial products at the moment?

DISCLAIMER: PR Samp

This entry is filed under Nubo, Paula Begoun, Paula's Choice.

The best high street hair mask I’ve ever tried?

By Lina on August 14, 2011

Ever since I discovered that high street shampoos and conditioners weren’t in fact bad for your hair, and that the whole silicones building up threat was completely untrue for the new formulations out on today’s market, I’ve been busy trying a few out. For regular readers, you’ve probably noticed me mention more than once in previous posts how horribly dry and damaged my hair has been of late, ever since I’ve started colouring it really. Being naturally jet black (and we’re talking blackest or the black) even lightening it a few shades wreaked havoc for its condition, and I’ve seen been really struggling with trying to find a good shampoo and conditioner that nourishes it appropriately. Well, call off the search as I’ve found something that actually leaves it silky. Yes, not just vaguely less hay stacky – silky! And it’s from the high street?

Herbal Essences Smooth and SoftI was given the shampoo, conditioner and intensive hair mask from the Herbal Essences Smooth and Soft range to try. The first thing that will hit you about this product is the gorgeous fruity smell (we’ll touch on that later), the second thing is how instantly moisturising the mask is. However, as lovely as all that is what really makes this range so great is what happens after you wash it. After blow drying, hair is unbelievably silky. And it smells SO GOOD. Not just the first day of hair wash either, your hair smells gorgeous well into day 3 – until it’s due another wash, really. I’ve only used this range three times in total (I should mention here that I’ve still yet to try the conditioner; why bother when the mask is this good?), and so far my hair is still loving it. I genuinely can’t believe how silky it leaves my damaged hair, to the point that I was considering getting it all cut off as the condition was so awful but now realise I don’t have to anymore – a simple trim will suffice. I can keep my long hair, hooray! All thanks to this hair mask.

I’ve tried so many deep treatment masks, from cheap to high end, and this has without a doubt become my favourite. It might be too greasy for those whose hair isn’t that damaged, but it is a product for damaged/dry hair so if your hair isn’t that type then you shouldn’t be using it. However if you hair is in a bad state, over chemically treated, lost it’s vitality, I highly recommend giving this a try. It’s currently half off in Superdrug so what better time to test it out than now?

Have you tried it yet?

DISCLAIMER: PR Samp

This entry is filed under Hair, Herbal Essences and tagged Herbal Essences Smooth and Soft. | 6 Comments

Olay Professional Anti-Wrinkle Kit

By Lina on August 12, 2011

I’ve been using the three products in the Olay Professional Anti-Wrinkle Kit a full month now. This is actually less than I’d give a skin care regime normally before reviewing, but considering the studies given surrounding this range, a month (28 days, actually) is all that is needed to start seeing noticeable results.Image: Google

The Olay Professional range uses ingredients in strength often found in prescription only products, and is aimed at mature skin starting to see the first signs of deeper aging. Typically, this would be for someone in their thirties onwards, however if you’re in your twenties and are seriously considering botox, this would be suitable for you also.

I’ve just turned thirty, have small signs of ageing under my eyes and if I scowled you can see the onset of a frown line between my eyebrows (spots I’d definitely hit the botox with, if I was too). Other than prone to dryness, the texture of my skin is pretty good (still got a little bit of youth left in me!), however I am really concerned with ageing and am willing to use anything as a preventative measure that also tackles the parts already suffering.What you get in Olay Professional Anti-Wrinkle Kit:
Age Defying Moisturiser SPF30 – Day cream with SPF 30
Wrinkle Smoothing Cream – Night Cream
Deep Wrinkle Complex – A targeted treatment used directly on the wrinkles themselves, containing both Pro-Retinol and Niacinamide, for day and night use.

For a kit that costs £44, it’s not cheap for the high street, however it is boasting some pretty powerful ingredients. The day cream is light, spreads easily and make-up applies nicely over it. The night cream again is quite light and sinks in quite quickly (to my annoyance). The Deep Wrinkle Complex is easy to apply, thanks to its nozzle, and isn’t greasy nor drying. Forgettably so, in a good way.

I have to be honest, I haven’t really noticed any major results but I suspect that is because my skin was simply too dry for it. So whilst it may have been working in some way, the dehydration it felt was very much worsening it in another. I spoke to another blogger who had briefly trialled it and she interestingly said she found it too greasy for her oilier skin. Seeing as, at present, they only have one formula of each product for all skin types, this might be where the problem lies. I needed something that was richer for my dry skin, she needed something more lighter for her oilier skin.

I also found my skin broke out a little bit, and even had hard bumps similar to milia appear, but I suspect that has to do with the high SPF and I’d recommend perhaps using their everyday cleanser that exfoliates to remedy this. I do tend to have a problem in general with primers and such with SPF, I always break out a little, but many people are fine with them so this may not affect you.

I’ve stopped using the entire range now, simply as my skin started to feel really dry and looked it, and the bumps weren’t pretty either! However I do still use the Deep Wrinkle Complex, the targeted treatment, under my regular moisturiser day and night.

I’m going to pass the creams on to my mum and see how she fares with them; her skin is less dry than mine and she may even reap brilliant results – I’ll report back if she does! But for me, in one month of trialling (which arguably may not be near enough time for my skin to adapt) the results were regrettably less than spectacular.

DISCLAIMER: PR samp

This entry is filed under Olay, Skincare and tagged Olay Professional Anti-Wrinkle Kit.

#somethingniceforashraf

By Lina on August 10, 2011

There’s been lots of great posts from all types of UK bloggers giving their 2 cents on the Tottenham riots, which then turned into the London riots, which has now become the UK riots. Some of you may have seen this shocking video of what the rioting scum did to a poor boy who got injured.. They pretended to help him up, only as a ploy to (further) rob stuff from his back pack. It’s actually sickening.

The young lad has been identified as Ashraf Haziq, a Malaysian student who had only been here a month. He was on his way to a friend’s house whilst fasting for Ramadan until he got accosted. Of the things stolen were his bike, his playstation and his phone. His jaw was also broken and teeth were knocked out.

Now, I can’t vouch for the legitimacy of this site, but I am hoping, from what I’ve read about it so far, that it is legit and is simply a good guy doing a good deed. Let’s Do Something Nice for Ashraf Haziq is a tumblr site created by Jamie Cowen (twitter: @jamiecowen, although be warned, he doesn’t respond to many tweets which is a bit unnerving). It hopes to raise enough money through donations to replace Ashraf’s belongings, pay for what will no doubt be hefty (and costly) dental treatment and fly his family, or at least mother, from Malaysia over to visit him whilst he’s in hospital.

The twitter hashtag for this is #somethingniceforashraf.

I’ll be following this cause closely, and again can’t say for sure if it is legit but I have a feeling it is. I’ve donated and am staying positive that it is a decent, honest site. Whether you do so or not is your call, but I just thought I should help put the word out there.