Get your glow on

I know that most beauty enthusiasts are already familiar with Eyeko's cute little pots of wonder but since I do use them on a daily basis I thought that I'd just share how I incorporate them into my beauty routine.

Eyeko's 3 in 1 cream, which also comes in a tinted version, acts as a moisturiser, highlighter and eye cream in 1. It's a light reflecting moisturiser, infused with antioxidant Vitamins A and E, including a Vitamin C boost for a radiant complexion.

Eyeko's 3 in 1 cream - the original

The first time I tried it I ended up looking like a shiny mess and felt very disappointed. I would really refrain from using it like a normal moisturiser and applying all over the face - it's just not that sort of cream.

Here's how you can use it:

• Mix into foundation or moisturiser for a radiant glow
• Apply as a highlighter onto the brow bone, top of the cheek bone, bridge of the nose, etc...

You need to be quick in the application of this cream as it dries rather quickly. Use only a BIT of product for highlighting purposes and blend like mad:) It also helps to warm the cream up between your finger tips before applying.

Eyeko 3 in 1 cream - Tinted

This one is so much easier to work with as the consistency allows you to actually use it all over your face as a normal moisturiser. Although it looks dark in the container, it applies really sheer just adding a very subtle colour and glow.

I use it as-

• A base for make-up
• Mixed into foundation
• Mixed into facial moisturiser & body lotions
• Applied on its own as a facial moisturiser or for adding colour and glow to the arms, legs, decolette area
• On its own or mixed with a bit of cream and applied as a blush or bronzer

These adorable creams will not disappoint once you've mastered using them properly.

How do you use yours?

Get your pins out!

If you're still keeping your pins wrapped up beneath long trousers afraid to let them see the light of day, worried that their pale pastiness will blind those around you then fear not and read on.

A great product that I've recently discovered is Avon Skin so Soft Age-Defying + Flawless Legs which will set you back a fiver and is available in two shades to accommodate Fair/Medium and Medium/Dark skin tones.

It serves the same purpose as the ever popular Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs meaning that it acts as a foundation for the legs giving instant coverage and covering up imperfections.

Avon says: Instantly provides coverage and a smooth, even, flawless looking finish. Legs have a more toned, youthful and sensual appearance. Dermatologically tested.

So how does it compare to the cult beauty must-have product that is Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs?

Pretty well actually. It adds instant coverage, minimises the appearance of any skin imperfections, provides legs with more of a firmer appearance and does a great job of disguising shave rashed legs.

While Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs comes in an aerosol can and has a very thin and liquidy consistency, Avon's Skin so Soft Age-Defying + Flawless Legs comes in a 150ml tube and is more of a thick and creamy consistency. The application process for both products is the same:
You place some product onto the palm of your hand and massage into the legs until evenly applied. Wash hands after use, allow the product to dry before dressing. To remove you simply wash your legs with soap and water.

Avon Skin so Soft Age-Defying + Flawless Legs blends really well into the skin as the creaminess of the product allows for an easy fuss-free application and gives a lovely soft feel to the legs.

Which one do I prefer to use? They're both great products that give similar results but I'll have to say that I'll probably stick to Avon's version and that is largely due to the creamy nature of the product.

Will I be repurchasing? Oh hell yeah! It's a life saver that adds instant colour to your legs, covers up a multitude of sins and is especially fab for girls on the go who couldn't be bothered with sweating over the process of achieving a perfect tan - be it fake or real.

My first FOTD post!

I really enjoy looking at other bloggers 'face of the day' posts so I'm jumping in on the bandwagon and doing my own. This is my "I'm- feeling- lazy- lets- slap-on-some neutrals" make-up look and is great for the day time.
It mostly consists of nude and brown shades.

Make-up used:

FACE:

• Leichner Camera Clear Tinted Foundation in Beige

CHEEKS:

• Eyeko 3 in 1 Tinted Cream
•  Avon Arabian Glow Shimmer Brick in Sahara Shimmer

EYES:

• Smashbox Cream Liners in Thunder and Cameo blended together and applied all over mobile eyelid up to the crease and on the lower lash line
•  Smashbox eyeshadow in Creation applied over that
•  Smashbox eyeshadow in Flat Screen blended into the socket
• Jillian Dempsey for Avon lash-pro mascara

LIPS:

• No7 Perfect Lips Pencil in Nude
• GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling

There you go - quick & simple!

What are your favourite simple & neutral looks?

ghd IV salon stylers

I've been the proud owner of the ghd wide plate salon styler for over a month now. After much deliberation and reading up countless of reviews I knew that the time had come to give them a go. I did feel quite guilty as they come with a high price tag but I can now let out a sigh of relief and blissfully state that they really do live up to all the hype surrounding them.

I have long, thick hair that tends to be quite unruly and all my previous straighteners have never managed to get them straight even when straightening a section of hair a couple of times.
It's a whole different story with the ghd's - one stroke per section of hair is all it takes to get poker straight and very manageable locks. Basically you're getting salon results in the comfort of your own home - can't beat that. In addition to this, my hair still stays very straight, soft and manageable the following day.

Prior to ghd use:	After ghd use:

The salon wide plate stylers are perfect for thick, coarse and afro hair.

These stylers heat up very quickly and get extremely hot. They can also be used for creating loose curls however I haven't mastered this just yet and always seem to make a downright mess of my hair when attempting to create beautiful curls.

For those of you who're contemplating getting a pair of these I really cannot recommend them highly enough. Believe me when I tell you that you'll be hooked.

The official ghd website is www.ghdhair.com. They have a section on it called 'Beware of Fakes' and if buying online you can use their website checker to find out whether or not a particular online retailer sells genuine ghd's. Apparently there are a lot of fakes out there that are practically indistinguishable from the real thing. If an offer seems too good to be true then it probably is. When I was searching for mine I came across a couple of online retailers that were offering very good deals and discounts on stylers but whenever I checked them using the official website's checker it turned out that they were unknown retailers and warned me against buying from them.
Genuine stylers can also be purchased from Amazon: 


Last but not least - always remember to use a heat protecting product prior to using any sort of straighteners and stylers.

    
Here are some technical features of these stylers:

• Advanced Ceramic Heaters for a static free sheen
• New sleep mode safely turns the heaters off if left unattended for 30 minutes
• Universal voltage so you can take them along when travelling
• Internal condensation can damage stylers so when the room temperature is below 8deg.C the styler will shut down to protect itself until the temperature rises again
• Swivel cord attachment helps stop the cord from becoming twisted
• Floating plates in ghd ensures even pressure distribution
• You can be confident you have purchased a genuine ghd product by a hologram sticker - you can confirm authenticity of the hologram on ghd's website once the product has been delivered

Soap & Glory Flake Away Scrub

I'm quite picky when it comes to my scrubs as I really like to feel...well...properly scrubbed. I'm really disappointed with all those liquid type scrubs with just a couple of exfoliating granules here and there. So I've been on the lookout for something that smells nice, really polishes the skin, has a thicker consistency and doesn't cost an arm and a leg - after all scrubs can easily be made just by using a couple of ingredients that we usually happen to stock in our kitchens.

Luckily I stumbled upon Soap & Glory's Flake Away Scrub at Boots a couple of weeks ago,  retailing at £6.50 for a 300ml pot.

 
I was immediately drawn to the big, funky and retro looking pot - plus it's pink! Come on, admit it - us girls are just drawn to pink stuff.

This is a shea butter, sugar, and peach seed body polish with skin smoothing sea salt, grapeseed and almond oils - so pretty much the sort of thing that I was after as I really enjoy the combination of sea salt, oils and fruity bits in my scrubs.

 The scrub is actually a very thick, clay like paste with lots of grainy bits and a deliciously sweet, fruity and sugary scent. It applies really well with the granules melting away as you scrub.
The results: very smooth, polished skin with not a bumpy bit in sight. It's great to use prior to applying fake tan as it really does flake those dead skin cells away - sounds a bit gross:)
It's also not harsh or rough on the skin and what I really like is the thin layer of oil/moisture that it leaves on the skin (it's not sticky) - this just makes the application of a moisturising product so much easier and faster. You do have to rinse really well following use as the grains are tiny and the first time that I used it I still had plenty on me while towel drying and applying moisturiser - pretty irritating.

Overall it's a great scrub and makes exfoliating fun!

Olive Oil as a Facial Cleanser

I've already mentioned in a previous blog post how much I adore using oils on the skin. You've probably also heard about the fact that olive oil is good for the body whether it's applied to the skin or ingested through the foods we eat. Let's also not forget that it is an ancient beauty secret. This is probably the reason why more and more cosmetic companies are including olive oil as a basis for a wide range of personal care products.

I do love my olive oil. In fact it's the only kind of oil that I use for cooking.

Recently I've decided to take a very natural approach towards my skin care regime and have started using olive oil as a facial cleanser. I got myself a smaller bottle just to keep in the bathroom.

 I can say that it works a treat and after I finish using up all my other cleansers, I will probably just stick with good old olive oil - that's if I can refrain from the temptation of trying out other chemically based beauty goodies out there...But for the time being, I'm really loving the idea of using a product that gets the job done and is completely safe to use.

For the past two weeks I've been using olive oil as a night-time cleanser to remove my make-up and give my skin a bit of extra moisture. I pour a little bit onto the palms and spread it over my face and neck, massaging gently. It does feel very oily whenever you're working it into the skin but rinses off very well, meaning that once you pat your face dry there won't be an oily residue on your towel. What I like to do as well if I'm in the bath is to take a wash cloth or face towel, soak it in very warm water and then apply onto my face for a few minutes once the oil is on to really steam the skin, open up the pores and thus aid even deeper cleansing.

Olive oil does a great job of removing make-up and is also very gentle on the eyes. I can actually keep my eyes open while I cleanse my skin.

It leaves the skin feeling soft and clean. My skin doesn't feel tight or stripped of moisture following cleansing. It really hydrates the skin.
And no it doesn't leave the skin oily looking - just healthy and vibrant. In fact I still like to apply a moisturiser, serum or even almond oil after cleansing. And no worries - it doesn't leave you smelling like a greek salad either. I had a very dry patch just below my eye for a while and couldn't get rid of it but it disappeared once I started using the olive oil. The other great thing about it is that it makes for a very efficient yet very cheap cleanser.

I will now also be using olive oil for:

• moisturising dry areas such as knees and elbows
• use on nails and cuticles
• use as a scrub by mixing it with brown sugar
• use as a face mask by mixing it with honey
• as a hair conditioning treatment by rubbing it into the hair and scalp prior to shampooing

Batiste Tropical Dry Shampoo

I have in the past thought about giving dry shampoo a go but for some reason never really got around to getting it. I guess that the idea just never appealed to me and the words "dry" and "shampoo" didn't really seem like a good match. I have very long hair and tend to wash it on a daily basis as I feel that if I skip a day of washing, my hair just appears to go quite flat and lifeless around the crown. Now as all us girls know, washing the hair on a daily basis is probably not a good thing as it means that we're just stripping it of its natural oils, overloading it with products as well as putting it through various electrical appliances.

In addition to all this I have also become the proud owner of a pair of ghd salon stylers about three weeks ago (I will definitely be reviewing them) which means that I am now officially a hair straightening addict. This means that although frying my hair on a daily basis is proving to be a good hair day everyday, it is probably not all that great for the hair in the long run...and that is exactly why I did purchase that can of dry shampoo about two weeks ago.

I got the Batiste Tropical Dry Shampoo which claims to revitalise greasy, dull and lifeless hair between washes, leaving it feeling clean, full of body and smelling beautiful.

To use you need to shake the can well, hold it approximately 30cm from the hair and spray lightly giving even coverage. Then you need to massage the powdery spray into the roots and through the hair, leave for a few moments after which you brush your hair.

So I skipped a day of washing and my hair did turn all flat and dull looking at the crown and so I reached for my Batiste hoping for the best.

After giving this dry shampoo a go, I can now officially say that it probably has become my "can't do without" product as it does exactly what it says on the can. I was really surprised by how it brought my dull and lifeless looking hair back to life. It also gave it a bit of a volume boost and left it smelling deliciously fresh - the Tropical one smells of coconut.
I'm really happy to have given this a go as I can now skip a hair wash or if I'm naughty even two - and still get away with it. It will save me some time and I won't need to use my hair dryer and straighteners on a daily basis.

The dry shampoo is only to be used in between washes and by no means as an alternative to washing. I think it is great to use whenever you skip a day of washing or as a quick fix for when you want fresh looking hair in an instant and just don't have the time for shampooing and blow drying.

I have not tried any other dry shampoos apart from this one so I can't really compare it to any others out there on the market.
Please let me know which ones you've tried and how they worked?