Spots - A How To Guide

We all get zits. Occasionally, we all get those hormonal enormozits that take ages to come to a head and then take what feels like months to disappear. Here's my patented guide to dealing with zits.

Required:
Salicylic acid-based spot treatment
Clay-based face mask
Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream or similar

Notes:
The vast majority of topical spot treatments contain salicylic acid, but I can personally recommend Clinique, and Origins as good ones.

If an emergency zit treatment is required, smush an aspirin (the active ingredient in aspirin is salicylic acid!), dilute with a little water, and dab the paste on your zit as required.

Method:
Dab the affected area with salicylic acid treatment of choice every few hours. Then put a dab of clay based mask on for overnight, to draw the spot out quicker.

Use something greasy - I'm going to recommend 8Hr cream here for traditions sake, but you can use vaseline, or bio oil, as you wish, but it must be something highly emollient - to clear up the inevitable redness and dryness caused by salicylic acid zit-zapper.

If squeezing proves irresistible:

If you end up popping your enormozit, first make sure your hands are clean! Pop, then use the clay mask to draw out all the impurities - leave it in place as long as you possibly can - then cover with grease of your choice (bio oil, 8hr cream etc) to ease resultant redness/flakiness/soreness.

This should help your zit leave quicker and not leave you wanting to tear your hair out waiting for it to go.

Any other spot tips out there?

Multipurpose Products

So, we all have them, those little products that do double duty.  Blushers that double as eyeshadows, lipsticks that act as blushers, the lipbalm that also works as a moisturiser or cuticle cream and so on.

However, I think this one takes the biscuit it's the, er ... "personal product" that also works as a hair serum, and heat-styling protector.  Would you?  Could you?

Warning:  while the link is safe for work (it's from HQ Hair) the product itself might not be something you want on your work internet history ... Many thanks to @muddlinleigh for the link!

What are some of your favourite double-duty products?

Makeover: Helen H

I love Sundays at Lippie Towers, every week there's a different person here for a makeover, and it's always fun figuring out how a person wants to look, and seeing if I can recreate that look for them.  Please meet Helen:

Two Helens in two weeks!  Helen is a very pretty girl, who wanted to learn more about applying foundation, and using colour.  As you'll see, we discovered that Helen's favourite colour is in fact, black, so we mainly used that ...

As always, we start with the base, for this makeover, we used Max Factor Seamless foundation in porcelain, and used a touch of Bare Escentuals in bisque as a concealer on those areas that needed it:

This has evened her skintone beautifully. We were inspired by a  picture of Julia Roberts wearing a smokey eye designed by Kevyn Aucoin:

 

 

And so we went on to define Helen's eyes with a mixture of 2 True number 9 shadow, and Rimmel Jet Black eyeshadow.  First we used 2 True as a colour-was over the whole eyelid area:

The we defined the crease with Rimmel Jet Black, and went on to use that as an eyeliner too:

 

 

Because Helen's brows are a little sparse, I then went on and filled them in with a little Smashbox brow fix in brunette, and added a little Bourjois mascara:

 

 

Then, to finish, I defined those gorgeous cheekbones with a little Ilamasqua blush in Rumour, and covered her lips with Chanel Rouge Allure in No.1: Delight:

Here's the before'n'after:

 

 

A slightly more wearble version of the Julia Roberts look, but achieved with a minimum of products and fuss.  Thanks for taking part, Helen!

Mystery FotD

Trying out some makeup I'll be featuring in my makeovers soon, can anyone guess the brand?  Tiny prize for anyone who does ...

(Almost) Organic Wednesday Liz Earle + Giveaway!

Giveaway is now closed, thank you lovelies!

When I'm asked about handcream, I very rarely have to stop and think, I simply say "Liz Earle Hand Repair", because I truly believe it's one of the best handcreams I've ever tried.  It smells divine, sinks in easily, doesn't leave a greasy residue (it leaves them matte, the first handcream I ever tried that did that!), and it leaves your hands soft and moisturised for hours on end.  I may flirt with other creams whose scent I admire, but it's safe to say that in the handcream race Liz Earle has won my gold medal.

I'm a big fan of the Liz Earle brand, and have been ever since it debuted on QVC back in the mid-90s.  In fact, I think my second ever purchase from QVC was a Liz Earle tester set, and I've liked the brand ever since! Their commitment to  natural ingredients (though they don't claim to be certified organic), alongside a female-friendly profile - Liz is a wonderful spokesperson for the brand -  and a desire to keep luxury affordable, are things I always admire. 

After I wrote a little feature the other day about my dry skin tips (in response to a reader request) the company got in touch and offered to give one of my readers a set of their Superskin goodies!  Perfect for treating  dry, and flaky skin in winter time, the kit includes:

• Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 30ml
  
• Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer 30ml
  
• Superskin Moisturiser 15ml
  
• Superskin Concentrate 2ml
  
• Sample size of new Superskin Eye & Lip Treatment
  
• 1 pure muslin cloth
  
• Zip-up kit bag

OR, if you're not suffering from dry skin at the moment, don't worry, Liz Earle is offering a bottle of her brand new fragrance instead: Botanical Essence No.1 which is 98% natural, and contains (amongst other things) lavender, patchouli, rose and bergamot which sounds perfectly divine!

Now, because I'm hosting this giveaway, and because I'm a helpless over-sharer, I'll be adding a couple of prizes too, plus I will personally be providing the second prize.  I'm off to IMATS the weekend of 30th/31st January, and I'll pick up some mystery gifts for the lucky winners while I'm there.  They'll have to remain a mystery for now, as, well ... I haven't bought them yet!  Companies exhibiting at IMATS include Ilamasqua, OCC, Crown Brush ... who knows what'll be in the bags?

To enter, all you have to do is be a follower of the blog - click the link on the right there, if you haven't already! - and add a comment to this post telling me what your particular skin-care concern is (doesn't have to be dry skin, it could be something like open pores, or dark circles for example), please leave me a valid email address and say whether you'd prefer the skincare or the fragrance. If you're not a follower of the blog, don't worry, I'll be holding a giveaway which is open to all entrants in the near future. 

This giveaway is open internationally, and will the draw will be held on Sunday 7th February.  We'll do our best to ensure you get your goodies in time for Valentines Day!

Face of the Week - Ellis Faas

This was a very simple, and exceedingly quick look I created in about three minutes flat this morning.  After applying foundation (Rimmel Stay Matte in 200 Soft Beige), I used E105 on the eyes, darker on the mobile lid, and sheered out with the fingers towards the brow-bone. Eyes were finished with Clarins Wonder Perfect.  Then I used S302 on the cheekbones - I love the subtle flush of sheerly shimmering colour you get with this! - and finished with L307 on the lips, which is a lovely, and surprisingly wearable, coral shade.

I won't lie, there is a learning curve to using the Ellis Faas products, the applicators can be temperamental until you get used to them (not helped by the fact that I think the nozzles on my blush are all blocked bar one) but they're worth it as the eye and cheek products barely budge during the day.  The hard part is actually not applying too much!  This look was a lot brighter and more glow-y in the flesh.  I loved it, as it was natural and not too much for a day in the office.

Do you have any Ellis Faas?  Is it a brand you'll be checking out when it arrives in Liberty next month?

Reader Request - Dry Skin Tips

 I get a couple of requests from readers now and again (Whoo! People actually read this!)  and I thought I would start answering the questions here if they're beauty-related enough.

I think everybody is suffering from dry skin to a greater or lesser degree at the moment, thanks to the dreadful weather, here's how I deal with mine.

Firstly:

Exfoliate! 

I've found, over the years, that the key to dealing with dry and flaky patches is to ensure you have an exfoliation routine.  There's no need to go overboard, but when you're cleaning your face in the morning, you'll find the addition of a muslin cloth, and some hot water (as detailed here) to your normal cleanser and using that to remove it will help you get rid of your flaky patches, and keep on top of them on a daily basis.  I get my muslin cloths from Mothercare and find that a dozen cut into quarters is more or less a year's supply!  Not bad for about £6.

then

Moisturise!

Please, try not to leave the house without moisurising the skin that's exposed to the elements, hands, lips, face and neck.  You can use a heavy moisturiser if you've found one that suits, or you can supplement your normal one with either a facial oil or serum underneath.  Currently I'm using Neal's Yard Frankincense cream, with Elemental Herbology cell food underneath, which I find have helped my skin not to dry out so much at all this winter, a result I'm happy with!  Also, it's not caused zits, which can happen if your moisturiser is too oily for your skin.


Don't Overcleanse!

Now, I know I said exfoliation was the key to getting rid of dry patches, but that doesn't mean that you should be using harsh cleansers as well!  Check the ingredients list of your cleanser and if it contains "foaming agents" such as sodium laureth (or lauryl) sulfate, then it could well be the product that you're using that's making your skin feel dry.  I find using a cleansing oil helps me avoid most foaming nasties, and also means I can avoid preservatives too.  I'm using Nude Cleansing oil at the moment, which, after a period of adjustment I now really love!

Use a balm!

And not just on your lips.  I find the more natural balms are great for using as night-creams, (Badger Balm in particular is great for this, and if Sisley weren't so expensive, I'd be splashing that around my face with a lot more abandon too), after cleansing.  During the day I also use them around my nose, on my lips, around my cuticles, anywhere where the skin is dry and/or exposed to the elements, particularly if it's cold and windy.

That's basically it - to be honest, my routine doesn't vary that much year round, I might swap to a lighter moisturiser (Organic Surge is pretty good) and cleansing oil (I swap to Origins minty and lovely Liquid Crystal, now sadly discontinued, but I have a stash that I'm eking out), in warmer times but it's essentially the same winter or summer - and this is just what I've found that works for me. If you have any other tips that might help, I'd love to hear them.