Geometric Nails featuring Models Own, No7 and Seche Vite

By Emily

I’ve got a bit of thing for bare nails with a splash of colour; often I’ll do a French manicure but with bright coloured or multicolour tips. It’s really quick and high impact. This week I wanted to create something a bit more unusual, so got out my Models Own nail tape and created this Modern geometric design. Here’s how:

First up, make sure your nails are squeaky clean before applying the nail art tape. Using two strips of tape per nail, create a triangle shape at the top of each nail. Make sure you keep the tape a bit longer than your nail so it’s easier to pull off.

Then apply your chosen colour to the triangle area. I chose a No7’s Stay Perfect in Me! Me! Me! Your first coat should be light…try not to gloop too much on. Don’t wait too long before you apply the second coat and again try to keep it light while getting the colour depth you need.

Once your second coat is on, don’t wait long before carefully removing the nail tape, using tweezers. If you wait too long you’ll get a jagged edge to your triangle.

Once all the tape is removed you can tidy up any rough edges with remover on a fine brush before applying a good quality top coat. I use Seche Vite, for its speed-dry amazingness.

And there you have it, hipster nails worthy of a trip to Dalston. Undercut and Fixie bike optional.

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Makeup Revolution: Blushers in Now and All I Think About Is You

By Laurin

In 2007, against her better judgement, Her Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth II extended to me an offer of citizenship which I duly accepted. There was a ceremony at Lambeth Town Hall, and I came away with a souvenir photo of me looking like I’d accidentally joined the Hogwart’s branch of the BNP.

To receive this honour, I had to sit the “Life in the UK” exam, thus satisfying the British government that I did indeed know the date that women gained the right to divorce their husbands and what percentage of the population identify themselves as Muslims. There was a study guide! I made flashcards! But to get to the really useful stuff, you just have to learn by trial and error and the occasional raised eyebrow at the pub. Here’s a few of the things I wish someone had told me when I arrived at Gatwick fourteen years ago:

1. When your friend cancels your plans at the last minute, he hasn’t blown you off, he’s blown you OUT. The former means something completely different and is best not discussed in front of your mother-in-law.
2. Do not be tricked into ordering Pimms and lemonade simply because the sun is out. It is essentially a non-alcoholic beverage with added hedge trimmings, and you will need to build up your alcohol tolerance if you ever hope to truly fit in.
3. People will make assumptions about your social class based on the word you use to refer to your evening meal.
4. People will make assumptions about your social class based on the daily newspaper you read.
5. People will make assumptions about your social class based on the supermarket you most frequent.
6. Superdrug is the best chemist on the high street.

The last point eluded me until about six months ago. It only dawned just how much love there is for Superdrug when I realised that people were genuinely excited for their 50^th anniversary product editions. It seemed that every woman who spent her formative teenage years in this country had a happy memory of spending Saturday morning with a coven of girlfriends, happily wallowing in the cheap and cheerful nail varnishes and lipsticks at her local branch. I, on the other hand, had pretty much ignored them for the past 14 years, having been impressed by the fact that I could buy a lemon-flavoured yogurt from their main competitor on my first visit to these shores. So exotic! I now see the error of my ways.

Superdrug’s new cosmetics range Makeup Revolution definitely falls into the “cheap and cheerful” category, but that’s no reason for letting the teenaged girls have all the fun. I have, of late, been extremely impressed with the colour and longevity of both their powder blusher ranges.

I tested All I Think About Is You from the Vivid Baked Blusher range (£2.50, above right) and Now from the Powder Blusher range (£1, above left), and found that they performed as well as blushers at twenty times the price. The packaging is nothing to write home about, but for the price of a Diet Coke, I’m not complaining.

Now is a soft, rosy pink with an almost undetectable shimmer, while All I Think About Is You is a brighter candy pink with swirls of tawny gold. They both give a pretty, sheer wash of colour that looks beautiful on my ghostly skin, but without making me look so flushed that fellow Victoria Line commuters ask me if I’m okay. Despite the shimmer, Now actually goes on quite matte, giving it a low-key yet polished look that’s perfect for work or general daytime wear. All I Think About Is You is now my go-to blusher for a fast casual look. It makes my cheeks pop without looking too “done”, and the golden highlights mean I can skip the highlighter altogether. I get a good nine hours wear from both formulations.

I’ve not seen the range in store yet, but it’s available to order online. Get stuck in – cheap make-up is a great way of trying out a new look or colour without worrying about wasting your hard earned cash. Any other questions, give me a shout: I’ll be the girl on the houmous aisle at Waitrose with a copy of the Guardian tucked under my arm.

Makeup Revolution is available at www.superdrug.com.

The Fine Print: Purchases.

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La Roche Posay - Rosaliac CC Cream (Daily Unifying Complete Correction Cream)

By Get Lippie

So, after saying the BB Cream craze has largely passed me by recently, I now find myself reviewing a CC cream, finally.  And, I have to say, that I almost unqualifiedly love this one.

La Roche Posay has become something of a cult skincare brand in the UK. Almost ubiquitous in France, it's fairly difficult to come by in the UK, but it's well worth seeking out (even if they don't import my favourite product in the range: Serozinc to the UK at all), as there are very few skin conditions they don't treat, and La Roche Posay is a godsend for sensitive skin.

Redness is my major concern, and Rosaliac CC Cream is designed for redness prone sensitive skin, like what I have got.  It's a fairly thick texture:

But it spreads very easily, and gives good coverage:

On skin it blends easily, melding nicely with the texture of your skin:

And, it is virtually undetectable once blending is finished:

This gives a fairly light coverage, but it does cover redness well, and gives a lovely, glowing satin finish.  It reminds me a great deal of my beloved Chantecaille Just Skin, which is about the highest praise I can give it, to be honest.  There are a couple of caveats to that, which, as Rosaliac CC cream is only a third of the price, are only to be expected.  Wear time could be a bit longer, I do find I have to powder down in the mid-afternoons, but, for the price, this is very good indeed. Oh, and it only comes in one shade, which is frustrating if you're either very dark or very fair.  I'm fairly pale, and this is good for giving me a glow, but if I were any paler, I'd struggle with it, I must admit.

It comes with an SPF of 30, so if you apply enough you won't have to use a separate sunscreen, but as I always use a separate sunscreen regardless, I'd ignore this, tbh.  It's got a great texture, a lovely finish (provided you use powder), covers redness, feels soothing on inflamed skin, and best of all, it's currently on offer for £16.55 on Escentual.com I can't really recommend a tinted moisturiser more highly than this one, without you paying almost £60 for it, to be honest ...

The Fine Print: PR Sample.  Photos for this piece were taken with a Nokia Lumia 1020 lent to me by Microsoft.

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Colbert MD Skincare

By Luke

Whenever a leading member in the field of dermatology brings out a skincare range, more often than not it’s a good one. This is good news, because no self respecting member of the strict regulatory bodies that govern this particular field of expertise (such as Dr Colbert), is going to put their name to something that is a) bad for your skin, and b) rubbish.

Dr Colbert MD is a bit of a celebrity’s celeb too. He designed an advanced facial that had the Hollywood elite queuing at the door, the Tri-Facial. This gently and effectively uses light laser abrasion, and soothing botanicals to increase the amount of collagen in the skin, and as it has minimal down time it fast became dubbed as ‘The Red Carpet Facial’ with A-listers popping in to quickly get their fix before they donned a posh frock and strutted down the carpet in front the eyes of the world.

Dr Colbert then got asked to produce a serum for a celebrity whilst on a film set (where is often spending time making sure that his clients look incredible), which he pretty much knocked up athere and then, and has been using it ever since. Then he made a facial oil that gave the skin not just an extraordinary radiance that photographs beautifully, but also treats the skin too.

From that point on, the range expanded, there are currently nine products available in the UK, and is now a fully comprehensive range that will knock your socks off. It did mine.

I was asked to try the Colbert MD range about a month ago and have been mightily impressed with the simplicity of it. There are no complicated procedures, or multiple products to get confused with. I have even had the chance to put some of the products to the test when working on other human faces than my own, and with rather excellent results.

At the core of the range is the QuSome technology, which put simply is patented delivery system for the active ingredients that gets them where they need to be in a stable way and in the most effective manner possible. It does this by encapsulating the active ingredients within an oxygen-proof ‘shell’ that makes them more potent when applied. Daily nutrition for skin, in a pseudo ‘pill’ format? I’m in!

Without giving you a full description of the whole range, I am going to pick the highlights.

The Balance Purifying Cleanser, £38.

This was the first product I used.

I opened it up, and put a blob into my hand uh oh, a gel. Generally I don’t get on well with gel cleansers as they have a nasty tendency to be full of soap and foamy, which leaves my skin feeling dry and at worst flaky.

This, I noticed immediately when on my face, was a totally different texture.

It’s a soft gel that is so light you barely feel it on the skin at all! It doesn’t foam wildly, and certainly didn’t leave me feeling tight or dry afterwards. Difficult for me to say how good it is at removing makeup, as I don’t wear any, but skin was certainly squeaky clean afterwards. I have tried it with a foundation on the back of my hand though, and it seemed to get rid of that with no real effort.

The feeling is also slightly cooling. I am not sure which ingredient this is, and in the recent humidity was most welcome.

In it, there is also lactic acid (one of my favourites) that gently exfoliates, and it has Ginko Biloba which is a natural anti-bacterial. So it’s an all rounder this. And the smell is just gorgeous too. A lovely light citrus scent, naturally provided. Not artificially perfumed.

Do be sure not to hold this the wrong way up when you take the lid off though as it has a tendency to really pour out, when you only need a tiny little blobette. New word. Look it up.

Stimulate The Serum, £115

This was next (it was bedtime).

Claiming to stimulate the collagen production in your skin, this is a bit of an all rounder too.

What I love about this, as with most of the line, is that it is a once a day product. Either AM or PM. Under your moisturiser at night, or during the day, or just under your sunscreen. Wherever you can fit it in. The action of this is in the name also. Stimulate, it is designed to wake the skin up, revitalising the appearance of it, brightening and all the other things we want from healthy looking skin.

It has Caffeine, and glycolic in it, but is ever so gentle. Anyone who is worried about the acid content of this needn’t be as it is very gentle indeed.

The Illumino Face Oil, £100

This, for me, is the runaway favourite product.

For many reason, but mainly because it delivers INSTANT results, and the effect keeps getting better for about half an hour after you have put it on your face.

Again using the QuSome technology, compounded with retinol and vitamin C, this deep penetrating oil was designed to give an almost supernatural glow to the skin, giving the appearance of youth in al its dewiness. It has been used on red carpet attendees for many years, as it is so effective, and really photographs well. Makeup works superbly with it (but be careful, only a tiny drop is needed here) either underneath as a sort of primer, or dabbed over the top.

A nourishing treat too, it contains Argan Oil, Passion Fruit Oil, Marula Oil, Yangu Oil, Borage Seed oil all designed to feed and improve the quality of your skin, and boy does it.

I used this recently when working with some female body builders at the WBFF. The glow emanating from all them was superb, and they all looked fantastic on stage. I would say it would work on any skin except the very oil, spot prone types. But dry skin will absolutely LOVE this as mine does.

There is also an Illumino Body Oil, which is of a similar composition which Dr Colbert tells us is used on all those stunning Victoria’s Secret models for the shows to give them a super sheen.

Tone Control Facial Discs, £65

One of two of these sorts of affairs, they are little textured pads which contain the product on them. The ones I have are the Tone Control variety (as opposed to the others which are re texturising pads, and they're very good ones too). Gentle enough to be used morning or evening, these contain an ingredient called “SymWhite” which targets darker skin pigmentation from sun damage. Designed to give a more even tone to the skin, and diminish any visible irregularities it also has anti inflammatory ingredients that reduce redness.

I have used these for about three weeks, and although I don’t have any real signs of pigmentation on my skin, my redness (which I am very conscious of) is definitely reduced. What I like most about these is the skin conditioning that seems to go on. Skin is very smooth, and really overmoisturised. Although it does say to use a moisturiser afterwards, I found this is not always necessary.

The other thing that I love about these is the little flap that acts as a handle! You don’t get any of the product on your hands, and it is easily put over the face without losing your grip and dropping it on the floor! It happens!

Colbert MD is available at SpaceNK Stores nationwide. 

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Soap & Glory Sit Tight Super Intense 4-D

By Luke & Laurin

Luke says: 

Soap & Glory always approach beauty with an excellent sense of humour, and frankly I’m sucked in by it. I know that there are people who don’t like their packaging talking to them, but I rather enjoy it if it’s done well. So, when you have a cream that is essentially about spending a little bit of time rubbing something onto your bottom twice a day, you can imagine that S&G had a few funnies up their sleeve. Enter the new Sit Tight Super Intense 4-D. Revisited, and slightly re-formulated for 2014 this is the new Firming and Smoothing treatment gel.

Right off the mark here, I am very careful to not use the words ‘anti cellulite’ as nowhere does this claim to be that type of product. And let’s face it, none of us are really sucked into that hype now are we? The product is merely claiming a feeling of firmness after 14 days use, recommended application of twice a day. With lofty sounding ingredients like Pinkpepperslim-Lip-FB^TM derived from pink pepper berries (as if that wasn’t clear) and the Pressocapsular Firmplus^TM and Firmigen^TM Caffeine thrown in for good measure along with Sweet Orange Peel (the irony) Glycerin and Olive Oil. The Super Intense also claims, as did the previous version, to work when you’re actually sitting down as well by bursting the little nano sized capsules of all the goodness mentioned above.

In theory this is an excellent idea: that even by being sat on ones posterior the product will be working to firm up sagging or droopage. So, fast forward to me in the mornings post shower using the massager (handily included on the end of the tube) rubbing this vigorously into my backside, and love handles. All this in front of a full length mirror, although why I am not sure. It’s not like I am in any doubt as to where my butt is!

The sensation: How can I describe this? The box claims you can feel it working almost instantly, and this is no lie. The previous incarnation of this product was quite intense, so the now one being SUPER intense does to some extent live up to its name. How to describe it? Well, imagine if you will, squatting in a hot bath, standing up and then having a fan of cold air blowing rather forcefully on your slightly red skin. It’s not quite a menthol sort of coolness that occurs, but more a peppery sensation where you are unable to quite pin point whether it’s burning or just plain cold. Uncomfortable? No. Unnerving? Slightly. Fun? Most definitely. It never failed to bring a smile to my face. Also, having to go and mingle with housemates (once dressed) and grinning to yourself about the party that was going on on your rear end, for some reason pleased me. I can, however, understand that I find pleasure in other places where people might not, and for some this may be a little much. That said though, the next morning was less of a sensational overlaod. I think perhaps I had gotten used to it, or perhaps toughened up somewhat. Still some tingling, but not nearly as loud as the very first application. Perhaps this was for the best.

As for firmness, well. Let me be clear. There is nothing firm about the lower half of my body. I am blessed/cursed (depending on your cultural preference) with a very large rump, and frankly, have more than my fair share of wobbly bits around the middle. Yes ladies, my name is Luke Stephens and I too have cellulite. I like my Wine Gums and Curly Wurly’s too much. Did this make a difference to that? Well who knows? I’m not likely to get up in a pair of speedos anytime soon, much less a bikini so it really isn’t important to me so much that I get rid of it.

It did however feel rather nice, and the skin on my tummy and sides had a bit more snap to it. My backside, however, is beyond help. And If I was flexible enough to reach round to see it in the mirror, I probably wouldn’t need this cream in the first place.

And frankly, with that amount of overstimulation on that part of my body in the mornings, who cares?

My advice? Enjoy it!  RRP £18 From Boots.

Laurin says:

At the point on the Venn diagram where feminism and the beauty industry collide, you often hear women utter the phrase “I’m doing this for myself” when attempting to justify a cosmetic enhancement, whether it’s a fondness for £34 lipsticks or an actual boob job. I believe them when they say it, and I’ve been known to utter the words myself. You wouldn’t be reading this blog right now if at least a few of us didn’t take immense pleasure in painting strategic splotches of colour on our faces, even if the only errand on the agenda is a quick nip to Whole Foods for some coconut yogurt.

But listen: I haven’t spent the last fortnight rolling heated serum into my thighs for the pleasure of it. I’m single, I live in freezing London and I do not make my living in the adult film industry, so I’m the only one who regularly sees my thighs. In this case, I’ve been napalming my ass every morning because I’m vain and...actually, that’s it. Vanity is the only rational explanation for why I might be swayed by the promise of another anti-cellulite potion when I know good and well they aren’t permanent fixes.

I love Soap and Glory products. I truly do. The packaging is fun, they’re well-priced, and their “Make Yourself Youthful SPF 50” singlehandedly converted me to the cause of daily sunscreen. And to be fair to them, the packaging of their “Sit Tight Super Intense 4D” serum never once mentions the word cellulite on the packaging. Instead, it promises to “stimulate circulation” and “promote body smoothing”. Except that the only reason my thighs aren’t smooth in the first place is because of ALL THE LUMPY CELLULITE UNDERNEATH.

Since it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see my thighs, and the pictures I do have of them are in a password protected file on my laptop, you’ll just have to take my word that they do look and feel fractionally “smoother”. Maybe. I think. But I won’t be purchasing another tube when mine runs out, for three reasons:

1. THE BURNING, OH GOD, THE BURNING. About three minutes after you apply the quick-drying serum with the nifty rollerball applicator, it starts to heat. This is how you know it is working. It’s supposed to properly activate when you sit down, but it was so uncomfortable the first time I tried it that I spent ten minutes cooling my bum in front of an electric fan before I dared make it any worse. “I’d tell you why I’m late for work, but the resulting mental image has the potential to ruin our professional relationship” is not a sentence I ever care to utter on a Monday morning. Again. I gather that some people quite like the heating sensation, but I am not one of them. And now, my good friend Leo joins us from his caravan in Mantua Outfields to report on what happens when the applicator slips and goes a bit too far up. Leo, over to you:

Thanks, Leo. Don’t forget to swing by the pharmacy on your way back into town.

2. You’re supposed to apply this twice a day. I can just about remember to do it once. Also, see Reason 1.
3. The pseudo-scientific language on the box makes me wonder if an angry Aldous Huxley is actually alive and working in marketing. Pressocapsular Firm-Plus? Puffdrain 82?

If you already exercise, eat well, drink lots of water and still have a few stubborn spots, you might see a bit of difference using this product. Or you might not. I cannot responsibly suggest that you run out and spend £18 on it. But if you are still tempted, I won’t judge you. Just watch where you’re pointing that rollerball.

Soap & Glory™ Sit Tight™ Super-Intense 4-D is £18 and available at Boots

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

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Bare Mineral Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Hypnotic

Lipgloss isn't something I associate with Bare Minerals very much.  Lipstick, yes (their Marvelous Moxie range is very well, and aptly named), and of course, there is their iconic range of mineral foundations and powders, but ... lipgloss?

Look at it.  LOOK AT IT!  Oh, those prismatic pigments, this is so pretty!

And with flash, so you can see how the colour changes in different lights:

:sigh: so pretty.  So very, very pretty.

Here's how it swatches in different lights:

Hmn ... lets try again from a different angle:

Okay, once more?

It's definitely more of a layering gloss, this one, I think.  Here it is over Max Factor Lipfinity Just in Love from the other day:

Can you tell the difference from the original below?

So, Hypnotic it may be in the tube, it's rather ... subtle in the flesh.  Lovely to look at, but simply not that exciting to wear, I'm afraid!  It's a nice, non-sticky gloss, however, with a little hint of peppermint flavour,  just a shame it's a bit underwhelming out of the tube.  Some of the other BareMinerals colours are much, much better in the gloss formulation, I'll show you those soon.

Available from Debenhams costing £16.

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By Terry - Cheek to Cheek: Cherry Cruise and Tint to Lip: Pink Palace

I'm a sucker for a stain.  Well, some stains, anyway - tea, spag bol, toothpaste not so much (I'm a mucky pup) - gimme a cheek or a lip stain, and I'm happy.   Particularly a lip stain.  I love my bright lipsticks, as some of you might have noticed, but it drives me bananas when they don't last.

Enter By Terry, with a couple of stains perfect for the cack-handed muppets amongst us, and I'm happy to report that they're amongst the more affordable products in her range too, which is good news!

First, Cheek to Cheek in Cherry Cruise:

 Such a pretty, bright cherry red!  It comes with an innovative dropper applicator and a pop up lid:

 The formula is bi-phase, one layer is the red pigment (referred to as a syrup in the literature, but it's not as sticky as this might make it sound), and one layer is silver shimmer, you can shake to mix the two, and have a slightly more opaque and definitely more shimmery colour, or you can just leave the shimmer to settle to the bottom of the bottle and use the "syrup" alone.

Best thing about this formula is that it is blendable.  We have all seen cheek stains that stain from the very first instant it comes off the brush - STRIPES! - and have ended up with dolly-cheeks as a result, but with this one, you just drop a drop (two if you're braver than I am), rub it onto the fingers of both hands and blend into your cheeks.  You'll have around a minute to play, and you won't get those little tell-tale circles on your mush.

However, nothing budges this stuff.  It'll look the same when you come to take it off as it did when you first applied it, and that's fabulous. Just make sure you have kind lighting in your bathroom the first time you use it, as it can be easy to overapply when you're still getting used to it.  I warn you!

Now, the Tint to Lip in Pink Palace, in the same two-phase formulation as the Cheek to Cheek above, it's purely for your lips:

Here it is both without the shimmer, and shaken to show the more opaque shimmery formula.  A cooler-leaning raspberry pink, it is unusual for a lipstain in not going completely fuchsia as you might expect on the lips.

It is ... fairly ... long-lasting.  It won't survive a sandwich, but a couple of cups of tea won't scare it completely off.  Personally, I prefer the look of the tint without the shimmer on the lips, I think it looks a bit frosty with the shimmer and that isn't a good look on someone my age, whatever the shade, but the colour, for me is perfect.  One coat is just enough to give my lips a whisper of colour, but you can build up the pigment for a more intense look.

Here you can see the differences between the colours more clearly.  A bright cherry red, and a clear raspberry.  Here's how they apply on the skin:

OBVIOUSLY I've overapplied!  But you can see how the products stay runny when applied to the skin, which is what allows you some blending time.  I wiped half of this off, and blended them out:

Again you can see the (slight) differences between the colours, and the sheen you get from shaking the product up.  However for the cheeks, you really do only need a single drop, I probably applied enough for four cheeks here.  The lips you'll probably need about two dips with the doe-foot sponge, more if you want to layer up.  Both products have the classic By Terry rose scent, but it wears off quickly, and you don't have that nasty chemical after-taste with the lipstain.

Cheek to Cheek costs £29 and Tint to Lip is £22, which, in By Terry terms, is practically pocket change.

The Fine Print: PR Samples.  Pictures for this post were taken with a Nokia Lumia 1020 lent by Microsoft.

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