New Years Resolutions
25 books in 12 months! I could do that? It was 2 days before New Years and along with getting the apartment in a clean tidy order for our New Years eve party I was also trying to think of my resolutions. As I brushed, mopped and polished I made a mental note for 2012.
- to read 25 books in 12 months (all mostly chick lit)
- to keep up with a night time beauty regime I had been trying for the past few weeks – cleanse, tone, and moisturise - trust me it seems easy but when its 11pm and all’s you want to do is sleep beauty takes a turn to lazy town!
- to get my own cup of tea and biscuit and not to ask others (mainly my boyfriend) to get them for me, along with anything else I want that I don’t really want to move to get!
As I hovered I checked over my mental list and stuck with those 3, I mean how hard could that be?
So we are now 2 months into the New Year and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s pretty hard! 2 books down and I’ve realised I’m a much slower reader than thought as I should be 4 books down by now. My beauty regime is more of a dictatorship and well as for number 3 well I did try!?
The good news is my New Years resolutions have introduced me to some really great products.
The first being Bio Oil:
I read about this on a website after googling good moisturisers and as this had some great feedback I went with it. A word of warning is that like all great things it’s comes at a cost to your bank account! Bio Oil offers three sizes, small, medium and large and ranges in price from £8.99 – £19.99 but it is worth it. Less is more with this product and 2 months in I’ve only used a ¼ of the large bottle so it’s not as costly as I expected. My skin is soft and I found putting a small amount on my face evened out my skin tone.
My second find was Clarins Eye contour Gel:
I’ve tried everything to reduce dark circles under my eyes and with this being my number one reason for very rarely going make up free for fear of scaring small children, I was slightly sceptical that Clarins could do the trick but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was the gel cooling and non-sticky it worked! I used it after my skin regime before bed and woke up feeling much fresher and looking less tired. The down side as always is cost at £26.50 it does seem pricy but I always buy it from Boots to boost up my Advantage Card points.
Lady Gaga MACs up
It seems any cosmetic brand that wants to be noticed has to have a celebrity endorse their products. With the market booming it is tough to get noticed and celebrity names can get you that! Chanel had Keira, Gucci got Rhianna and now MAC has landed the biggest star there is…… GAGA! Lady Gaga is promoting a new lipstick and lip gloss range inspired by her Bad Romance alter ego. At £13.50 it isn’t cheep but is attractively packaged, and if the advertising campaign is anything to go by its definately dripping with style!
Launched under the marque Viva Glam with all proceeds going to Lady Gaga’s Viva Glam HIV/AIDs campaign. For more info on the cause visit the site http://www.vivaglam.com/
(Lady Gaga Mac Make Up Endorsement)
Cyndi Lauper has also been involved in the campaign!
Best Foundation Finds (and worst)
Foundation is like a good pair of jeans, perfect once you find the right match but a nightmare finding it! Every girl has different taste and we know this from the hundreds of brands and shades out there on the market. So how is a girl to trawl and rummage through the mountain of testers and search through brand upon brand for the best foundation that will be the ONE! Every girl will depend upon her foundation to stick with her, though sleet, hale, and those first dates that require no faint hearted cover up!
Each time I sense that it is time to change foundation I get the inevitable dread of knowing a long search is ahead of me. But that dread is worse when it comes with the news that your favourite foundation has been discontinued!! This is exactly what happened last year when I went into John Lewis to buy my Clinique Gentle Light Makeup.
I used Clinique for 3 years and loved it so much that I didn’t even lose sleep at the £23 price tag. With no warning of it being discontinued I didn’t have a chance to stock buy or savour my last drop! Instead I was left wondering round John Lewis make up department looking for something to fill its super sleek shoes! To me Gentle Light was the Jimmy Choo of make up and I was now metaphorically speaking left shoeless! So after months of searching and pounds wasted I finally found the perfect foundation. It comes in the form of Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation! This has to be the best foundation I have come across yet.
From the months of trail and errors and countless wasted pounds I can tell you the best foundationsI found on the market today were:
1. Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation
3. Clinique Super Balance Foundation
And the worst:
1. Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse
2. Clinique Almost Make up (discontinued)
3. Benefit Some Kind of Gorgeous Make Up (this is with great sadness beacuse I love Benefit too!)
Although I read endless blogs and articles just like this for tips and tricks in the end its what you think looks best on you, no one can make the decision the for you when it comes to something as personal as foundation. When you dont have the luxury of a make up artist you have to become your own and that means doing the leg work, so I hope this article gets you there a little quicker.
Yves Saint Laurent – Oh me, Oh my
My first experience of YSL was a Christmas present from my best friend in the form of their renowned Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radient 
Touch Highlighting Pen.
From the moment I took it out the expensive gold box I was hooked! The heavy, sleek casing ooze YSL chic and I passed the point of no return in the land of concealers. The smooth finish left my dark circles banished to sleepless night town and my skin glowed. Don’t ask me where I had been all this time that I never knew about this gift from the beauty gods but I’d found it now. 4 years later and Touche Éclat is a constant resident in my make up bag. The only draw back is its cost…. at £25 it is a bank breaker when you hear the last click of life but worth every penny.
A recent addition to my beauty regime (and a continuation of my love affair with YSL) is a product I received as a sample with the latest Touche Éclat purchase. It comes in the form of Flash Radiance Skincare Brush.
I used it after my moisturizer and immediately felt my skin smooth out. The next day my make up looked fresh and light. I suffer from the 3pm make up shift and expected no different so was really surprised when checking my reflection in the lift mirror at 5pm to find my make up in check and my mascara in place. So you could say I found new levels of appreciation for this product. Appreciation that even lasted as I handed over my bank card at the product counter to pay the £35 for a replacement! It lasts for 3 months so in my view a total of 40p a day, bargain!
For expensive beauty treats Boots has to be your first stop. With my advantage card in hand I watch my points rack up with the help of these beauties! There are 144 points for the Flash Radiance and 96 points for Touche Éclat to collect. See the Boots website to get your hands on an advantage card! http://www.boots.com/en/Advantage-Card/ You will wonder how you got by with out one x