Quick review: MUFE Full-coverage Concealer

You really need to take the name of this concealer seriously, when it says full-coverage it really means it.

I wanted something to target blemishes, without caking my whole face with a thick product. This concealer is thick but also creamy once you get it on the skin. It is easy to apply, but you do need to work quickly as it doesn't have that much slip and sets quickly.

Now when I say set, I also mean that too. It doesn't budge all day and seems to have held up to its water and humidity-proof claims. It is worth noting that I do set my makeup with a cheap translucent powder.

Because it is so thick you can't use it under the eyes without it settling into the fine lines. I have mixed it with creams and serums, but this has been a bit hit and miss, maybe it is just a case of blending really, really well, and most mornings I don't have time for that.

A little goes a long way and looking at my 15ml tube I expect it to last a long time. The colour selection is huge, but it does dry a shade darker so I would look out for that when making a selection. For reference, I'm shade 5.

You can buy Makeup Forever from Debenhams, here, and if you are in Oman there are dedicated Makeup Forever stores you can check out.

Life lately: Rediscovering beauty

Well, that was unexpected: I didn't realise that writing my last post would have quite the distancing effect it had on me. Then I returned to London and got completely side-tracked. But, on a positive note, it made wearing makeup fun again! The knowledge that it wouldn't melt off my face after five minutes made me more inclined to make an effort.

My first stop, literally hours off the plane, was Liberty. My sister had us both booked in for a makeover with Hourglass, and I quickly fell in love with their products (if you follow me on Twitter you will know some damage went down in my last week). I was assured by the sales staff that women in the Middle East love to wear their primer and Immaculate foundation (raising the question of why they don't sell the brand here?) because it is humidity-, heat-, and waterproof. I already put it to test while I was in London, now just to wear it, here in Oman and see if that is true.

I also had a chance to make it to a GOSH event. Honestly, I've been to a few of their events in the past and, although I think their polishes are great, none of their makeup has ever wowed me, but their latest launches are impressive. Firstly, they have the most wearable and well-formulated high-street range of matte lipsticks launching, they deserve a post of their own, and they'll get one. They have also released some liquid foundation drops, which feel incredibly light-weight, the only downside is the colour shade selection, I'm the second to darkest shade, and I consider myself fair/medium skin toned.

Briefly, I want to mention the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara from Tarte, I got this as part of the QVC TSV that came out back in June, and although the rest of the set was nice, this was the real star of the collection. You may have noticed I don't really do mascara reviews, and that is because I rarely notice them doing much. But I could use this mascara alone to lengthen and volumise my lashes, without feeling like I needed liner too. Bonus.

I should be back on track now with reviews and the like, although I realise I have said this many times before and failed, but the good intentions are there! Coming up later this week, the search of the perfect daily sunscreen continues...

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughs

I actually preordered this book and didn't intend on writing a review having seen so many over social media when it was published. But seven months after its release, and having already read it cover to cover, I find myself dipping in and out of it: sometimes to remind myself of something, and other times just because Sali is such an engaging writer.

Briefly, it is a beauty book, but not the picture book kind. Pictures are actually rare, and it is actually a series of mini-essays about various topics, some you would expect, like acne and makeup application, and others that aren't really touched upon, like pregnancy or beauty in illness.

Sali takes a refreshing approach, she is frank but humorous and, what I like most of all, never preachy. Before this book Sali always made the distinction between beauty and the beauty industry, that you could love beauty and at the same time be critical of the industry, oh and actually think about other things too. She maintains that stance and along with her personal anecdotes and advice you get the sense that you are having a conversation with a really good friend.

Oddly, I liked the chapter about teenage beauty the best. It is the type of thing I wish I had read as a
teenager and I made sure to make my younger cousin read it so that she would hopefully 1) know it's ok to enjoy makeup and experiment and 2) not cover her lovely skin with a thick foundation when she doesn't have to.

I don't think this is just a book for beauty fans, the beauty novice would enjoy it too, which makes it a fantastic gift for any woman. It covers everything from the basics (knowing your skin type and cleansing) and also covers more advanced makeup skills, like contouring and perfecting that eyeliner flick.

You can purchase the book from Amazon or WH Smith. The softback isn't available yet, but the hardback is beautiful so go for that.

Dubai beauty haul

For a bit of a change of pace, we visited Dubai last weekend. It's a five-hour drive from Muscat, and it feels like entering another planet; the contrast between the places is so huge. Having not purchased any beauty products for six months -- I'll pause and let you take that in for a moment --  I was keen to see what was new and treat myself for being so restrained for so long.

Make-up has a whole new meaning for me since moving to the Middle East; frankly, it's not so fun. The heat here means makeup just melts off your face no sooner you step out the door. After watching a video by Lisa Eldridge about pinpoint concealing, I decided that is the approach I need to take: a light base to even, and a thick, full-coverage concealer for the problem areas.

So with this in mind I picked up a few things.

The first stop was Makeup Forever, which is available in Muscat, but the staff are so unhelpful (to the extent that they don't even acknowledge you have entered the shop) that I haven't actually tried anything yet. I know the HD foundation is meant to be good, but I picked up the Full-coverage Concealer (shade 7) and Aqua Brow (shade 23). I 'm not sure if the Aqua Brow is something I can get used to, I expect it will need a lot of practice, but on the day the makeup artist did such a good job of making it look easy (and my brows amazing) that it had to be purchased.

Next was Sephora, and I picked up the Nars Tinted Moisturiser in the shade L3 Groenland, which I really hope I have matched myself to correctly. I had a rather useless sales assistant who thought it was appropriate to match me to my hand rather than my face.

I also picked up another shade of the Cream Lip Stain (shade 6). I discovered my love for these after my last trip, although I heard they have changed the formulation so we'll see if the love remains with this shade. The shade looks a little light in the image, but it is actually a mauve/brown colour.

Finally, I also threw into the basket, rather impulsively, the Sephora Airbrush Foundation brush (number 58). I have, and love, the concealer brush, and this feels exactly the same, but it is a rather odd pointed shape. Having used buffing style foundation brushes for so long, it will be interesting to see how this compares.

So that's it, a modest haul from Dubai. I really want to hone in on products that really work for me. I feel like I have a good collection when it comes to skincare, but not so much when it comes to base products.

I feel it was quite a modest haul considering how long it has been since I purchased anything new. Look out for full reviews soon.

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.

Marks and Spencer spring beauty 2013

I have to admit the Marks and Spencer beauty hall has largely gone unnoticed by me, I’ve always appreciated M&S for their food and designer clothing selections but have never spent too much time browsing beauty. After attending the M&S Spring Beauty event this week, I realised just how much more it has to offer.

 

 

What impressed me most was the quality and variety of brands that M&S are now stocking, including REN, Pur Minerals, Glam Glow, Nuxe, Diego Della Palma and Leighton Denny.

I'm going to point out just a few of the things that really caught my eye at the event. First of all for kids/young girls was the Hello Kitty range of products with a cute London theme.

They also had a young girls makeup range, which included bright, fun colours and these lipsticks with very cute heart shaped bullets.

Moving on to the “grown-up” selection, any one who has shopped at M&S for a while will be familiar with the Autograph range of products. The product that grabbed me the most was an eyeshadow palette, which looks very much inspired by the Urban Decay Naked palette. I did have an “ooooh” moment when I got home and saw that one was contained in the goody bag, so I will of course have a review up soon.

Pur Minerals are a new brand to me, but as someone that loves mineral foundation, I was excited to see mineral primers/colour correctors and pressed eyeshadows.

I also got to have a manicure at the event and chose shade Dusky Pink from the Autograph collection. It is peach toned pink and is a perfect spring shade. I have been wearing the polish for four days and am only just getting wear at the tips, a very impressive result.

Apart from the small selection I have showed, there are also new perfumes, a baby product range and lots of skin and body care as well as self tan to be found in the beauty hall. What do you think of the selection and will you be checking it out next time you are near a M&S?

When is a tree just a tree?

Last week, this was the view out of my window.

This is my view today.

On Thursday morning I was woken by the sound of chainsaws cutting down the big, beautiful tree, that by my estimation was at least 100 years old. The person who ordered this was a family member, so I called and asked why the tree, that for the last 22 years had formed my morning view, was being cut down. The response was ‘that’s life’. Does anyone else think that is ironic?

To add insult to injury, I will have to endure this view for an unspecified period of time since ‘it will cost a fortune to clear’.

I don’t want to go into the who, the what and the why. But I’ve been completely heartbroken, hence the lack of blog posts. It’s hard to write about beauty when you think that the world is so ugly.

I can get over not speaking to that particular family member again, families fall out all the time, but what I can't get over is knowing that, as long as I live, I can't replace what's been so cruelly destroyed. I wish that there was something I could do, turn the trunk into a bench perhaps, so that at least, in some way, the tree could still be enjoyed.

I hope that I am not the only one that thinks this incident is completely tragic?So I'm hoping that if you are never usually one for commenting or sharing my posts that you will do so with this one, I need my faith in humanity restored.

I’m back! Dubai haul

So after over three weeks in the Middle East I have returned! I had a lovely time, but it has taken me a while to get back into the swing of things here.

Dubai is full of huge malls with lots of well known brands for beauty, clothes and jewellery. Of course I was most interested to pick up beauty products that I can’t get here in the UK, so without further ado here’s what I got…

Bath and Body Works — I was actually picking up gifts but couldn’t resist treating myself too. I picked up a scrub, moisturiser and body spray all from the Aruba Coconut fragrance collection. I think coconut is one of those scents that divides people in terms of love-hate, but I love it! I like to use fragrance sprays on top of moisturisers to enhance the scent and make it last a little longer.  Because I had spent a set amount, I could buy travel bag filled with goodies for an additional £10.

Dubai seems to have pharmacies everywhere all stocking a huge collection of skin care products and I noticed that there are a lot of French brands available. I would have picked up a lot more if my luggage limit allowed but I limited myself to picking up a face mask, moisturiser and night oil from Alba and another face mask from Himalaya herbals. I have become very interested in Ayuverdic products (a traditional medicine native to India) but what I have tried in the past has been very harsh and more suited for oily, acne prone skin — so I was glad to see a product aimed at dry skin but that is still meant to help clean out clogged pores and minimise blemishes.

Finally the product I was most excited to find, Bioderma micelle solution! I have read so many positive reviews on this and even put it on my beauty wish list so I can’t wait to try this out.

I also picked up a few beauty purchases before I even reached Dubai! In Heathrow duty free I found a cosmetics store selling Victoria Secret. After swatching so many of the eyeshadows (and asking the opinion of my twitter followers!) I picked up the ultimate supermodels kit, which contains 64 eyeshdows, 16 lip sticks, 16 lip glosses, 2 bronzers, 4 blushes and 2 highlighters. I also picked up another set of body lotions and sprays in the Bombshell scent.

Finally I am not going to focus on these products too much but they are definitely worth a mention — I found a spa selling Nivea makeup, which I never knew existed! Unfortunately, I also found out that it is being discontinued but I did manage to pick up a selection of what was left for £2 each!

As usual I will be back will full reviews on these products as I try them. If you have tried these brands before I would love to know your thoughts.

Sunday Night Thoughts - Fake Beauty

I read this article on fake beauty this week and was surprised at the definition of ‘fake'. So I wanted to pose that question to anyone with an opinion on the topic and ask what do you consider to be fake?

I personally have always thought of cosmetic surgery as being the definition, something that is a permanent and drastic change to your appearance. Just to be clear I have no objections with people getting cosmetic surgery, I am very much of a live and let live attitude. But I was surprised in the article to read on the list of ‘bold treatments’ that things like nail art were considered to be fake beauty. I understand that I wasn’t born with bright red/orange/purple etc nails but surely that doesn’t put me a category of ‘faking it’?

I have always thought makeup enhances beauty, as well as gives confidence. The article suggests the new faking it, is going by what we individually think looks good rather than actually trying to convince others that is what we really look like all the time. But surely this isn’t a bad thing? Or have I just been completely taken in by advertising and media and not seen that we are all thinking that it is ok to enhance  our hair, lashes, and nails on a daily basis and not see anything wrong with this.

What do you consider faking-it in terms of beauty?

Richard Ward Hair Couture Blow-dry Masterclass

I feel very fortunate to have been invited to my first event this week due to my blog. In fact rather embarrassingly I didn’t realise that was why I had the invitation for until 3 emails in!

The event was to a ‘blow dry masterclass’ hosted by Richard Ward at his beautiful Chealsea salon in London. Richard Ward has in the last 6 months launched a hair care range which has done extremely well on QVC, and the invitation was in conjunction with them and coincides with QVC Beauty Month starting today.

After a drinks reception we were led into one of the styling rooms and Richard gave a presentation of his product range. I have to be honest and admit I had not heard of his products before, even though I am subscribed to QVC emails.

Couture

The event was for the promotion of the couture range. What struck me was its simplicity, containing a total of 12 products which all had clear thought process of development based on an understanding of his clients wants and needs.

The two sets break every one down into one of two hair types, fine to normal or normal to course. To know what type you are, take a small strand of hair using your finger and thumb, run your finger down the hair. Hair which feels like silk thread is fine to normal and hair which feels like cotton thread is normal to course. There is then a shampoo, conditioner and styling products for each hair set. He explained by understanding what hair type you really are, you can make the best use of your products and in turn not waste money.

All products contain 5 key components or ‘ingredients’ which are the basis of having good hair and make the products multitasking. These are
1. AQUARICH. For targeting damaged hair, described like swiss cheese, AQUARICH fills in the ‘holes’ of damage
2. Moisturising
3. Volumising
4. Colour lock technology
5. Heat protection

Richard also introduced another range of products called ’Seasons’ which as the name suggests are designed with the weather in mind, moisturising in the winter, deep cleansing in the spring and protecting in the summer. I would definitely like to pick up the summer collection for my upcoming holiday. The concept is really unique and the sets contain everything you need, and of course can be used depending on your hairs needs rather than the actual time of year!

I really appreciated the honesty of Richard Ward throughout the evening. He made no apologies for his products being aimed and adults and therefore falling into the more high end price range. A starter/tester kit retails at around £21 on QVC which contains trial sizes of 4 products. In my opinion by making the products so multifunctional and eliminating the need for multiple products, this makes them better value for money.

Richard made some very good general points which I had not considered before when it comes to hair care. Such as, as with skin care you need to give products time to work and show the best results. He also said that shampoo is the foundation of your style (60%) with the other 40% being made up by styling products. Typically I have always spent more money and focused on the styling products for my hair type than the shampoo, buying whatever is on promotion so this was a completely new concept for me. 

Blow dry masterclass

Onto the blow dry masterclass, here Richard had the chance to really demonstrate the products in action as well as share his top tips for the perfect blow-dry.

The styling products memoriser and gravitiser, are what really impressed me here with the model used to demonstrate normal to course hair. Memoriser to generate those curls on one half of the head and gravitiser for the sleek style. By using small amounts of the products and the tips below, these styles were made easily and looked beautiful. I apologise that my pictures don’t do the hair justice at all!

Again the products don’t do all the work but combined with a bit of know-how and practice of the technique, without sounding too much like an advert, I believe anyone can achieve this look too!

Richard Ward’s top tips:

• Use warm water when washing your hair (does not promote oil production) and rinse throughly (2 mins) to get rid of all residual products.
• Less is more when it comes to products - if you want that swish factor this is key. His work at the recent royal wedding is a perfect example of this.
• Blow-dry with your hair 70-80%, very important for curly girls like myself 
• Invest in a good hair-drier and use on the most powerful setting, again particularly important for curly hair
• Blow dry hair in small sections - between 1-2 inches thick, which fit in the width of the brush and that you can hold with your thumb to get your hair taunt
• Use a nozzle and direct at the most taunt part of the hair. You need the tension and blow dry the hair before the brush, moving along at a steady pace.
• For volume, apply the product near the root and dry it in with the drier, the heat acts to change the structure of the product and your hair. 

We all had the chance to put the tips into practice and try to blow-dry sections of hair of an unlucky partner, as well as have a go on ourselves. It is a technique which needs a lot of practice and even more patience in my case, but I am impressed at how smooth my hair came out with very little effort. My picture was actually taken a few hours later, after a tube journey home.

Finally we were kindly given a bag of customised products to try and I will review these in due course since I wanted to take Richards advice and give the products the time to work. I will also show you my attempt at blowdrying my own hair. I say this with caution as I know with the length and the fact it is curly this will take ages so I can’t guarantee that I won’t give up half way through!

TK Maxx Haul

Normally I am good at resisting the urge of retail therapy, but I am not even going to pretend I have felt guilty about this last spree!

Browsing TK Maxx, I usually find a lot of beauty goods, but most of the time they have been tampered with and I walk away. The prices are excellent, with some great savings to be made on branded goods, which is exactly what you would expect from the store. On this occasion, I walked away with all these goodies!

From left to right:

Sanctuary spa Kyphi nourishing shower oil. I am a sucker for anything with the words Egypt or Egyptian. I have used a shower oil in the past and really liked it, this contains lotus and argan oil so I am hoping it will smell lovely and feel very luxurious.

Biosen remineralizing cream and exfoliator. I haven’t heard of this brand before but the packaging drew me in. Each are meant to contain an active mineral complex, combining ingredients based on Japanese spa philosophy. The creme has a retail price of £25 so I having always been curious to test out an expensive cream it seemed like the ideal opportunity.

Bella Colore mineral eye colour collection. Another brand I have never heard of, the collection contains 5 eyeshadows in neutral tones, 2 brushes and a black and brown eyeliner. My brown eyeliner was missing so I got this for a bargain price of £13. Amazon is retailing this at nearly £40! I will do a review/eyelook soon.

Tigi Big Head Foxy curls shampoo and conditioner. This is a brand I have heard about for a while but never tried so I thought it was time. I never realised it is sulphate free so will be good to compare to the organic surge products I am using now.

EcoTan accelerator. I have used a similar product in the past which was from QVC, although I intend to cover up the majority of the time on my holiday later this year, a little bit of colour would be nice. Plus the big bottle size means that it will be enough for my mum and sister also, who I know will help themselves!

7 items for less than £50 is quite a bargain in my eyes, plus I know eventually I will get through all of these. If you have tried any of these products let me know what you thought of them.

Jewellery History (picture heavy)

I wanted to do something a bit special for my 100th blog post! Can’t believe it has been 100 already, I still feel new to the blogging world, but thank you to all those who have and still support me. Thank you for commenting and of course coming back to see more. 

Back in January I visited the Victoria and Albert museum last week. Originally I went to see the clothes section which was closed but in exploring the rest of the museum, found the jewellery section. It was dimly lit, with the jewellery behind glass so clear that it felt like at any point you could reach out and grab it! Unfortunately no photographs were allowed but if you are a jewellery lover it is a must see.

It was organised such that you could see jewellery through time, from ancient Egypt through to now. The material used, as well as the purpose or symbolism of each set of pieces was described. The opening quote which caught my eye was ‘ jewellery adorns and protects the wearer on the journey through life’. It was that which inspired me for this post, jewellery throughout time has served a purpose, ranging from purely decorative and extravagant to functional and even spiritual. I learnt a lot and I thought about the pieces of jewellery I own and the story they tell in my own life.

My first pairs of earrings, given to me as a new born, yes I still have all my baby jewellery. Although there are a lot of pieces I will never wear again, I cannot and will not ever get rid if them. The studs I wore up until my teenage years when I discovered hoops!

My first ever ring, I had the stone replaced since the original fell out. 

Various pendents I wore continuously!

18th Birthday gift from my two best friends at the time from school

18th birthday present from family, each piece was given to me by a different family member

Of course in between I have brought cheap bits of jewellery, however they also have their story. The necklaces I thought were so stunning throughout A-levels!

My personalised earrings

My ‘heart of the ocean’

The necklace brought for me on my most memorable of trips to Marrakech.

This is just a small collection of what I own. I have always loved jewellery, it is one of those things, that age, shape, size doesn’t discriminate and always has a way of making you feel beautiful.