My experience with Bravura Glycolic Peel (30%)

After hearing great things about Bravura and its home acid peel system I decided it was time to try it for myself.

As you know I have tried microdermabrasion before in an attempt to deal with acne and scarring. Peels are also meant to be great for acne, scarring and anti-ageing and in my experience salons typically suggest peels as an alternative to microdermabrasion for anyone whose skin is not suitable. 

Bravura is a British brand and that sell lactic and glycolic acid peels and other skincare products such as cleansers, masks and moisturisers. The peels work out significantly cheaper than salon treatments, which was the major appeal for me. 

Quick review: Estelle & Thild Organic Lip Balm

Remember the very first Selfridges beauty box that everyone went a little crazy trying to get? Well I’m embarrassed to say that I was one of those people and this is a product from the box that I have only just got round to trying.

Bumble & Bumble Curl Conscious Range

I've never noticed the benefits of using a hair care range together until I used Bumble & Bumble's Curl Conscious products.

Including a shampoo, conditioner, hair masque, curl reviver and two curl creams, together the products provide soft and beautifully defined curls. The entire curl range smells gorgeous. I can't pinpoint the scent exactly but it is sweet and fresh at the same time.

Simple Kind to Skin Plus

I must confess, before being invited to check out Simple’s newest selection of products I hadn’t used the brand for years. Not because they aren’t good, they are. I love the makeup remover and gentle cleansers, but as a skincare addict there is always another brand to try.

Simple have added a new range of products, Kind to Skin Plus, which includes Perfecting Beauty Balm, or BB Cream, and Illuminating Radiance Cream.

Birchbox October 2013 #BBXBUZZ

Birchbox really got it right with their Beauty Buzz box this month and this has now become my favourite box to date.

Beauty Buzz, or #BBXBUZZ, is the theme and is all about celebrating award-winning and celeb-favourite beauty samples. Everything in the box is new to me, which is exactly what I want but they are also products that I have heard raved about, as you would expect from a buzz box.

My experience of Gold Collagen

I purchased Gold Collagen at the Vitality Show earlier this year and shortly after was invited to attend a one-month trial looking at how the product affected my collagen levels and the overall condition of my skin.

The scientist in me was curious and so I agreed and visited the offices in central London. After answering some basic questions and having a reading of my skin thickness and collagen levels I was sent home with a 10 day supply and asked to return after that.

Collection Cream Puff in Cotton Candy

I spied Grace from All That Slap wearing this lip colour and I knew I had to have it. I’ve wanted an everyday shade that isn’t a nude for a while and this seemed like the perfect choice, plus at £2.99 there was nothing to lose trying it.

Collection’s Cream Puffs are described as a moisturising, velvety soft, matte finish lip cream. There are four shades in total and Cotton Candy is the pink of the selection. A medium toned colour, it is a pink I think would suit light and medium skin tones. 

As the cream dries it sets to a matte finish. The wear time is pretty good, about 3 hours, but since it smells so sweet I have no problem with reapplying it frequently.

There is one negative though, my lips are always borderline dry and at first the cream feels very moisturising, but as it "sets" and as time goes on it starts to feel a dry and can highlight dryness.

Other than that this cream puff is a winner for me and I hope that Collection expands the shade selection. 

Collection can be found in Boots stores and can also be ordered from Boots online, here. 

Benefit Christmas, all wrapped up in love!

I don't like to say the C-word so early in the year but needs must and I hope when you read this post you'll start to get excited about the season.

Benefit Cosmetics have launched what I think, and I know they think, are their best Christmas sets yet. Perfect for newbies and addicts alike there is a great range of products at a budget to suit everyone.

I had the pleasure of attending the launch of their Christmas sets in their new store in Carnaby Street, London. The store is amazing and is the flagship branch for their new blow-dry bar, it also offers waxing, tanning and shellac manicures. Added to that the salon and treatment area is tucked away from the rest of the store and there is access to a champagne bar and nibbles while you pamper.

I was lucky enough to be sent home with two of the 14 sets available this year, Primed for Lovin’ and Crescent Row.

Two of the gift sets this year are housed in storage tins that are also stackable. Primed for Lovin’ is the larger of the two tins and contains three full sized products, They're Real, High Beam and Porefessional as well as a mini ultra plush lip gloss in the shade Sugarbomb. The tin costs £44.50 and is great value considering that most of the items retail for around £23.

The Crescent Row Set contains four miniture fragrances, one of which is the newest addition to the collection, Noella. At £29.50, the price of one full size perfume, the set is great value for money.

Another set that caught my eye was Little Love Potions, which contains a selection of mini  bestsellers, ideal as an introduction to the brand or for anyone who likes to have minitures to keep in their handbag.

The set includes Porefessional,  It's Potent, High Beam, Posietint, Stay Don’t Stray, Watt’s Up, Bad Gal Lash, That Gal and Hoola lip gloss. This set retails at £29.50 and I’m sure I’ll be heading out to add this to my collection soon.

All the sets are available now and are limited edition. The most limited being the very exciting Countdown to Love Advent Calendar. There was a giant calendar displayed at the event, which I think every blogger stared at for a while thinking ‘I wish’.

Featuring 24 miniature Benefit goodies, the calendar will be available to buy on 2 November, no doubt only for that day, from Debenhams stores and select Benefit Boutiques. The Benefit ladies stressed that they were extremely limited edition and that some stores would only have 10 so I suggest if you want one to get that date in your diary for a trip to a store.

Finally if that wasn’t enough Benefit have two new products to showcase too, but for now I will leave you with an image to whet your appetite and I will be back with a full review soon.

Check out the website, here, and let me know, what is on your Benefit lust list?

Quick review: Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer

I finished my much loved Urban Decay Primer Potion but luckily was gifted the Smashbox primer at an event.

I'm going to jump straight into the thing I love most about this, and that's the colour. Rather than being translucent it has a nude/beige tone, which means I have been able to wear this alone as a way of evening out the colour of the skin around my eyes.