Laura Geller Bakes Up a Flawless Complexion

I've been familiar with the Laura Geller line for quite some time, but never really had the chance to play with any of the products (other than on my Sephora missions). I finally took the plunge withBalance-n-Brighten, a baked powder created to even out your skin tone.

Balance-n-Brighten comes in two shades, Fair and Medium. Fair is swirled with soft tan, beige and ivory, while the Medium is deeper and has more peach and pink in it.

It's like a cross between Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil and Clear Radiance, but in solid form. Depending on your skin tone and how you apply it, it can be a sheer foundation, finishing powder, or an allover brightenener.

On me, the Fair is closer to my skintone and thus more foundation-like; the Medium works as a brightener/luminizer to add allover color, or just a touch on cheeks. I really like the texture of the baked powder and the very subtle glow it adds to your face (not quite shimmer, but there's mica in there, which gives it a pearly quality).

Overall, Balance-n-Brighten is a pretty versatile little compact, especially in the summer when the weather demands some lightweight foundation options

Two More Fab Compacts from Laura Mercier

Last week we looked at the lovely Eye Mosaic in Mediterranean Sea, and I just can't resist showing off two other LM compacts - check out these beauties!

First is the Illuminating Powder in Moroccan Bronze; I'm loving the four blocks of color and the gorgeous stamped design. Works as an illuminator on medium to dark skin tones, and a subtle allover bronzer for fair skin. It looks matte in the photo but does have some shimmer.

Next is the Mosaic Shimmer Bloc in Gilded Garden. When I saw this I just about ran to the register with it, it's so pretty! Had to force myself to put it back because I knew that if I took it home, I'd probably never use it for fear of ruining the design. This has been the fate of many multicolored/embossed compacts that now live in my unofficial Beauty Museum.

But if you can bring yourself to use it, it makes a gorgeous blush or highlighter, with tones of icy pink and champagne shimmer. It's like a Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick...butfunner. (Snaps to Elle Woods!)

10 LIP PRODUCTS TO TRY THIS SUMMER

Summertime is all about a sun-kissed glow and lips with a pop of color. Here are 10 lip products that you need to try!

1. Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten

This is a perfect for a nude shimmery summer look. It also has some staying power!

2. Clinique Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry

You’re going to need some extra moisture from all the sun and this is perfect for that plus some nice color!

3. NYX Matte Lipstick in Summer Breeze

This is a perfect summer pink.

4. Milani Lipstick in Flamingo Pose

Hello gorg bright coral pink!

5. Khroma Double Take Lipstick/Lip Gloss in Nectar

This is a great duo for an apricot/peachy color.

6. Tarte LipSurgence Skintuitive Lip Gloss

This goes on clear and turns your lips a pretty pink shade as it adjusts to your temperature and pH.

7. Sun Bum Sunscreen Lip Balm SPF 30 in Pomegranate

This is my new fav sunscreen lippie. It smells great and doesn’t taste like sunscreen.

8. CK One Shine Lipstick in High

This is a shimmery natural looking pink with high shine and moisture!

9. Nivea a Kiss of Strawberry SPF 10

I love a good Nivea lippie and love that this one has a little UV protection.

10. Baby Lips in Pink Punch SPF 20

Another one for great moisture, UV protection, and sheer color.

Three New Products From Zelens – Reviewed

You wait ages and then three come along at once. Not buses, of course, but three new launches from Zelens to try. I recently wrote about the launch event for these products where those attending quizzed Zelens’ founder, Dr Lens, on a host of skincare related issues. Now I’m ready to give my opinion on the products themselves.

Power D Treatment Drops

Zelens have launched a three product range of Treatment Drops – Power A (High Potency Vitamin A), Power C (High Potency Vitamin C) and Power D ( High Potency Vitamin D). I opted for Power D as I wasn’t so familiar with vitamin D as a skincare ingredient and was therefore intrigued. As you can see from the above image, I was so keen to try it out, I broke the beauty blogger’s cardinal rule of starting it before taking my images.

Power D doesn’t in fact contain Vitamin D but Provitamin D which is found in the epidermal layers of the skin and is a precursor to vitamin D. It converts to Vitamin D in the skin. I found lots of promising information while researching the benefits of using Provitamin D topically but, to surmise, it improves the skin’s barrier function and protects against UV damage. These are essential factors in keeping skin healthy.

Also in Power D are lots of other bio-identical skincare ingredients i.e. same or very similar substances found in the skin naturally. These include Phospholipids, Glycolipids, Soybean Sterols, Sterol Complex, Chondrotin Sulfate and Hyaluronic Acid.

The other active ingredients are:

Tripeptides – Stimulates collagen production.

Yeast – Anti-inflammatory, protective, helps with tissue repair, increases cell respiration and metabolism.

Vitamin E – A powerful anti-oxidant.

Corn Oil – Moisturising and conditioning.

Proprietary Botanical Complex – 3 different types of mushrooms, lichen and plankton which plays role as precurors of Vitamin D.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 – Restores and maintains lipid barrier function. Protects and revitalises skin.

Geranium Oil – Healing, anti-oxidant, anti-septic, oil balancing.

The product itself is a joy to use. A cross between an oil and serum, it’s extremely light in texture, absorbs very quickly and is suitable for all skin types. The geranium oil gives an aromatherapy-like scent. Only a few drops are needed and it can be used morning and evening before your normal serum. Or it can be mixed with your serum. It can even be added to foundation .

After application, skin feels more supple and hydrated. However, I noticed more significant benefits after about 7-10 days. My checks have become a lot less flushed when I’m going between weather extremes and when I feel stressed. Also, it’s helped calm down the irritation caused by prescription strength Vitamin A. Therefore, I think it more than lives up to it’s claims of making skin stronger and more resilient. Though Power D doesn’t bill itself as an anti-ageing product it works harder to treat and prevent skin-ageing than most products that explicitly make those promises.

Treatment Drops Power D is £110 for 30ml

Lip Treatment Oil

When it comes to looking after my lips I’ve always eschewed waxy lip balms (apart from spf ones) in favour of lip creams as I feel they do a better job of caring for lips. Now these creams have been matched and maybe superceded by this Lip Treatment Oil. It makes my lips feel and look soft, moisturised and nourished while the lines are visibly plumped out.

As much as it’s a pleasure to apply Lip Treatment Oil you don’t have that need to constantly re-reapply it. The benefits are felt for hours unlike most balms that provide faux-moisture so lips are prone to feeling dry again very quickly. Also, the sweet scent of Lip Treatment Oil is gorgeous.

The list of active ingredients is ridiculously long but here goes:

Plant Oils – Argan Oil, Squalane, Wild Musk Rose Oil, Jojoba Oil, Borage Oil, Cotton Seed Oil, Linseed Oil, Red Palm Oil, Shea Butter.

Botanical Extracts – Bidens Pilosa Extract, Portulaca Pilosa Extract, Shiso Leaf Extract

Vitamins – Vitamin A, Vitamin E

Other – Hyaluronic Acid, Phospholipids, Sphingolipids, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract, Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate

Lip Treatment Oil is £40 for 8ml

Z-Detox – Clarifying Foaming Cleanser

Dr Lens doesn’t believe in over cleansing and exfoliating the skin as this disrupts the natural and protective moisture balance. With that in mind, he’s formulated an exfoliating cleanser that removes pollutants, grime, oil and makeup but doesn’t strip the skin.

Z-Detox contains a mix of mild fruit acids and fermented fruit enzymes that promote skin renewal along with a Probiotic Complex to stimulate immunity, Anti-Oxidants and Glycerin for hydration.

This product is soap-free and it’s actually the action of the bottle’s dispenser that causes it to foam. I use half a pump in the morning and a full pump at the end of the day. I find it does a great job of cleaning my skin and leaves it looking bright and smooth. It easily cuts through makeup including mascara though I haven’t tried it on a waterproof version. There isn’t a hint of dryness or tightness either immediately after using or 15 minutes later. This is definitely suitable for all skin types.

Z-Detox is £48 for150ml

Marks & Spencer Make Up Bag Hidden Gem

Marks & Spencer Shiny Make Up Bag

Rather boringly, M&S call this ‘Make Up Bag – Multi’ when, hello, it’s all unicorn! This shifty, holographic look is totally a trend. I like M&S make up bags – they’re always pretty sturdy and reasonably priced – but this one is a hidden treasure.Marks & Spencer Make Up Bag

I thought this made a good partner to I Heart Makeup rainbow shade Unicorn’s Heart Highlighter (HERE) plus it’s got three neon hair ties as well. The bag has already been reduced from £10 to £7 and it’s also on a 3 for 2 – many teens to buy for? Sorted.

COLOURNATION OLAPLEX TREATMENT REVIEW

COLOURNATION OLAPLEX TREATMENT REVIEW

Although I spend a lot of time and money on my skincare and make up, my hair is a totally different story. I put off washing it for as long as possible (too much faff), do the bare minimum to keep it looking vaguely presentable and get it cut when I really can’t put it off for any longer. I always forget to use heat protector spray when straightening and it’s currently 3 different colours (my natural roots, a brassy blonde in the mid lengths and quite blonde at the ends). In short it is a mess. Or was…

Oh GOD just LOOK at it. Dull, frizzy, dry at the ends, definitely a bit wild-looking. (In my defence, the below photos were taken after a very swift stomp to Oxford Street on a miserably drizzle-filled Monday evening). I knew that it needed some TLC but I didn’t want to chop half of it off. I’ve also been dreaming about going back to a light blonde for a while but have worried that my hair wouldn’t survive it, as the ends were pretty damaged.

So an invite to try OLAPLEX at the ColourNation salon (just behind Topshop, Oxford Street) was like having my prayers answered! This revolutionary treatment is described as ‘insurance for your hair’ and is typically used while someone is colouring their hair, as a protective measure. However if – like me – you’re worried that your hair might need some help before you even go near it with colour, you can also have the treatment as a pre-emptive strike.

So what is OLAPLEX? To pinch the blurb from the website: “OLAPLEX™ is a single active ingredient, designed to reconnect the disulphide sulfur bonds broken by the process of permanent hair colouring and lightening.”

Yep, you read that correctly – it repairs the bonds in your hair. It promises stronger, healthier hair and longer lasting colour if you have it done at the same time as a colouring session.

I have been lucky enough to have some chemical straightening treatments in the past that have smoothed the hair, set it into a shape I wanted and banished frizz for months. Brilliant stuff. But when that wears off, you still have the hair you started with. I would say that chemical straightening treatments are wonderful if you want to reduce your blow dry time while making your hair look healthy and happy. I think OLAPLEX is designed more for people who want to hit the reset button on their hair. After the treatment, I still need to straighten my hair and blow dry it if I want to get rid of my waves and kinks, but it just LOOKS better. It’s not as frizzy, dull or processed-looking. And it’s definitely made me feel more confident about going lighter.

My OLAPLEX treatment at ColourNation was a simple process: they washed my hair, then when it was wet applied a solution (which doesn’t smell or feel any different to any other hair treatment). They left that on for 20 minutes, while I sat in A MASSAGE CHAIR. I was very excited by this – small things, small minds perhaps – I was in danger of falling asleep! Then they washed that out and put another treatment on and left that for 10-15 minutes. That was washed out and blow dried as normal. I noticed instantly that it wasn’t as tangly or fluffy when it was being blow dried so was very impressed. The images below show my hair in the salon: the first image is straight after my big bouncy blow dry and the second is when I got home when the curls had dropped a bit.

But, as with all hair treatments, I wanted to see what my hair looked like after I washed and styled it myself at home. Obviously my blow dry skills leave a lot to be desired but it was instantly clear that my hair was smoother, less dry and looked more ‘finished’. I roughly blow dried it upside down and then left the middle and ends to dry naturally, as I usually would. I went back to it expecting to need to straighten the ends and generally tidy it up… but nope. It looked surprisingly good. It felt thicker, healthier and stronger. The ends had shine – anyone who has been colouring their hair for a long time will know what I mean when I say the ends (even if they don’t have split ends or obvious damage) just look dead and dull. But my hair honestly looks healthy again.

ColourNation are offering OLAPLEX as a £25 top up in addition to a hair colour, or £50 by itself. I am shocked that it’s so well-priced considering this isn’t something that will fade, it’s a permanent solution. (Though obviously, the damage you do to your hair from then on will continue to affect your hair – do not take this as carte blanche to neglect your heat protection products and use hair straighteners every day!) Take a look at this site HERE.

So what do you think? Are you tempted?

Dying Your Red Hair

When I first went red I went into the salon to get it done professionally, but surprise surprise it was super expensive and faded like crazy! I had been blonde for a couple of years so doing a red colour over the bleached hair caused it to lighten drastically within only a few washes. I loved the colour but going to get it done by my hairdresser every few weeks just wasn’t realistic. From there, I started experimenting with doing it myself at home – I mean how hard can it be right?

Well despite my hours of experience from sitting in the salon chair taking matters into your own hands (especially with red hues) can be a challenge. First I needed to figure out which type of red I was going for. For me, I knew I wanted a warm colour with golden undertones since my skin is pretty fair and freckly. I stumbled upon this great post from the Beauty Department Blog which helped break down the different shades of red.

As much as I admire a girl who can pull off a bright cherry red, I decided to stick with a more ginger/copper light red so it didn’t look too severe and bright. After trying a few different box dyes throughout the summer (plus some great products which kept the colour alive) I settled on Garnier Belle’s Light Golden Red (646). For me, the colour turned out great! Lots of visible highlights and lowlights, however I quickly realized that figuring out which dye works best for you is only the beginning of your journey as a redhead!

Be sure to check back into see which products I’ve found work the best, how to keep your colour vibrant, at-home tips, and easy DIY tutorials!