Elemis Pro-Collagen Creams

Today I'm sharing what are two good moisturiser options for normal to dry skin from British skincare brand Elemis, their Pro-Collagen Marine Cream and Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream.

The Pro-Collagen Marine Cream is a lightweight, lightly scented moisturiser that sits well on top of serums and underneath an SPF. A little goes a long way, and because it is so lightweight it absorbs quickly. After using this my skin immediately feels soft and smooth, and the hydration lasts all day.

I'm not sure I believe the claims that Elemis make about the cream increasing collagen support, but it certainly seems to increase hydration. If this contained SPF it would be ideal, only because I don't like to layer products and because this is the first day cream that I have been happy to use in a long time. 

The Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream, as the name suggests, is a night cream and, surprisingly, is as lightweight as the marine cream. My skin always looks healthier and clear in the mornings after using this (I use it on my nights off from Alpha H liquid gold).

I have used both now for a few months, and I believe my skin looks more dewy, which I assume is down to the hydrating effects. Like the marine cream, I don't believe that this can oxygenate the skin, and I'm not sure you would want to, which is why I started by saying that these are both good moisturisers options rather than great ones. If you just need hydration and don't necessarily want much more from your skin care (or care that the claims of the creams are probably false) then these are a good option if you want to treat yourself as the creams are very expensive.

In both cases I am not a fan of the jar packaging, for hygiene reasons, and because products are likely to keep better when they have little contact with air.

The Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream costs £80 for 50ml and the Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night cream costs £95 for 50ml and can be purchased from most department stores. However, I would recommend grabbing a bundle from QVC as they are much better value, and you'll get to try other products too. The anti-ageing collection contains the marine cream as well as the creamy cleanser that I reviewed here. 

Alpha-H Anti-Ageing Cleanser

I have a love-hate relationship with this cleanser. I love how it makes my skin look but I hate how it feels to use.

The Liquid Gold Anti-Ageing Cleanser is the newest cleanser from Alpha-H. The cleanser contains gylcolic acid, lactic acid and shea butter and promises to kick starts the skin’s cell renewal process to help achieve poreless looking skin.

No! No! Hair removal system review

I thought it was about time I write my review the No!No! Hair removal system. Having attended an event recently that had nothing good to say about the device I thought it was worth blogging about my experience, because even though I am not now hair free, I did notice some difference.

I'm not going to go into the design and features of the device because I own an older model and I know that it has been updated since.

I purchased the No!No! in 2010, before I started my blog, for about £160 from QVC. I was already having IPL treatment under my arms and for the cost of three treatments I could, in theory, remove all my body hair with this device so it seemed like a good deal.

The device is known as hot-wire, and is meant to work by conducting heat through the hair, affecting the hair follicle and eventually stopping the hair growth cycle.

A huge advantage of the device in my eyes is that the process is completely pain free. The instructions state to move the device at a steady speed over the skin, in the opposite direction to the hairs, and then buff away the hairs.

As the wire passes over the hairs it burns it off at skin level. This means two things, it smells and hair grows back quickly.

I personally never found the smell of burning hair too offensive. In fact, it made me think the device was doing something. I would open a window or light a candle and the scent would disappear soon enough. I know having spoken to others that they hated the smell and it was off putting to using the device.

The reason hair grows back quickly is because, like shaving, it is only removing the hair at the skin level.

My use of the No!No! was always sporadic. I would use it every other day for a week on my lower legs, then once or twice a month, then fewer. It was easy to use but using it a few times a week was time consuming and you really need to commit to a routine.

After a few months I noticed that my legs were very patchy. I had some areas with no hair growth at all and others where the growth was slow.

No, I don’t usually treat my inside arm but I thought you might appreciate an image of the device in action!

And that is the point I am at today.

For me the No!No! seemed to be doing something and with regular use I would have expected the results to only get better.

The cost, compared to other hair removal devices, is reasonable but it does need you to repurchase the hot wires — not that it is obvious when you should do this — so it is not a one off payment.

At the event I attended they summarised some data that suggested the No!No! is no more effective than shaving when it comes to hair removal. Without seeing the paper I wouldn't want to comment on the results. But it is obvious from using the device that it does shave your hairs, but whether or not it is conducting heat down the hair I do not know — we were told that hair is not a very good conductor of heat.

However, because I have experienced results to an extent I remain undecided. If you already own it, try using it regularly and see what happens. If you are looking into buying a hair removal device I would suggest reading around and if your budget can make it going for one of the laser based devices, which have more positive reviews and research to them.

Have you used any permanent hair removal methods and if so, how have they worked out for you? Also if you would like to know more about my experience of IPL just let me know in the comments below.

Alpha-H skincare review

I posted a first impression of the Alpha-H liquid gold over three months ago. Having fully tested this and three other products in the Alpha-H range it is time for my final review.

Liquid gold 

I still love the liquid gold, the ease of working it into my routine every other evening means that I haven't skipped using it the way I might other more complicated treatments. I saw results immediately and I had hoped that with continued use my skin would improve further; however, after those initial two weeks use I can't say that the liquid gold has added anything. I did notice that with the change in the weather, using this every other night is too harsh and because my skin is already dry and this just adds to that.

Although it would have been nice for the liquid gold to show additional improvements to my skin. I am pleased with the result that it has produced. As an additional test, I stopped using the liquid gold for over two weeks and I found that my skin stayed clear, which is a great result. My plan now is to use liquid gold once or twice a week, or more frequently if I feel my skin is in need of TLC to maintain its condition.

Balancing Cleanser

The Alpha-H Balancing Cleanser is the best cleanser I have tried in a long time. It is non-greasy, gentle and barely scented. It cleanses without drying or irritating my skin and thoroughly removes both face and eye make-up, which has been my favourite feature. The cream is so gentle that I could rub it over my eyes and then wipe it all makeup away with a cotton pad before using a muslin cloth to cleanse the rest of my face. 

I have a few more cleansers that I need to try but as soon as they are done I will be turning back to this....it is THAT good. QVC offer a twin pack for £30, which is the best value I have found.

Eye complex

Using eye products is where I fall down in my routine but I have started to notice that I am getting fine lines, which I know is a sign that I am too late, but I want to slow that down as much as I can. 

The eye complex is designed to deal with puffiness and dark circles rather than lines, but I have enjoyed using it and I do feel that the skin around my eyes is smoother. It has a gel texture, which absorbs into the skin quickly.

Age delay intensive night treatment cream

I have a confession here, I didn't read the packaging on this properly and had been using this as a day and night cream for my first couple of weeks of use. It is a thick cream but it sinks into the skin easily and doesn't leave a residue, which is probably why I didn't notice that it was specifically intended for use at night.

I hope that I am a little too young for a heavy duty anti-wrinkle cream and apart from my eyes I don't have any concerns about lines so it is hard for me to comment on this for its anti wrinkle properties. That being said prevention is better than a cure and since my skin is dry and this helps to keep my skin moisturised it is still a suitable night cream for me.

I would like to try out more of the Alpha-H range, in particular the serums. If you are aged 25 plus this is definitely a range I would keep in mind if you are starting to think about anti-ageing products. The liquid gold on the other hand I would recommend to anyone who wants to deal with pigmentation or acne scarring.

If you are interested in purchasing anything I would recommend QVC since it offers the best value for money as well as a 30-day money back guarantee, which means if you really don’t like the products you can send them back for a refund.

Ciate mini mani month calendar

Having not had an advent calendar for years, this year I have treated myself to two!

First to arrive was the Ciate mini mani month calendar, which contains 24 mini bottles of Ciate polish, 4 of which are caviar beads!

The packaging on the box isn't particularly Christmas themed, which I would have expected, and makes the box suitable as a gift beyond the countdown to Christmas.

The back of the box lists all the colours contained, with the exception of 3 exclusive colours. Personally I would have preferred that all the colours were a surprise but I guess the there is still the surprise element in which colour you will get each day.

I purchased my box from QVC, for £31.20 plus postage. I think this is a great price, working out at less than £1.50 a bottle!

If you would like to see swatches of each of the polishes and discover what is behind each door I will be starting the mini mani month from 1st December!

Liz Earle and I – product series

I have been a user of Liz Earle since for about 10 years, my mother brought me a today’s special value from QVC and since then I have been hooked. To date I think I have tried almost everything she has to offer.

Two of her products really stand out for me in terms of how they helped me to deal with my skin, cleanse and polish and superskin concentrate. When I finally resolved to improve my skin, I switched from using acne-prone targeted products to using gentler, more natural products – one of which, was cleanse and polish — and I quickly noticed a huge difference in the condition of my skin, how much I would break out and a reduction in the scarring.

I wanted to start a series reviewing selections of her products. I have always brought the QVC special value sets, which has allowed me to restock on favourites as well as try out new products and I have a firm list of favourites.

Although I am big fan, two things stop me using her products exclusively. The first is the price, although I have heard Liz describe herself as "masstige" In my opinion her products hit the higher end of the scale, and this is partly the reason I always buy from QVC. The second is that I have tried to switch to more natural products but I am not sure how well Liz Earle products fit into this. I have read articles, which suggest that the products are marketed to appear natural but they are not actually so, but I need to do a bit more research into this before I make up my mind, or say any more on this blog for that matter!

Let me know if you are a fan of Liz Earle products, what your favourites are, and what are your misses. I am hoping that the series will help anyone who hasn’t tried her products yet or can’t decide what to try next.

Lori Greiner cosmetics organiser

I was lucky enough to receive a make-up organiser for Christmas, which was unexpected but very welcome since my make-up collection was always scattered in various bags. 

This was the extent of my organisation before, two small canvas boxes from Ikea for the makeup products currently in use, my ELF dump bag and a big black make-up travel bag for new items. I also then had another series of makeup cases carrying all sorts. 

This is my new storage, along with all the bags full of makeup to be fit inside. The organiser is quite small, and designed to be placed on a tabletop, it also rotates to allow access to all the items. There are six compartments in total, two that are tall and suit bottles and any other larger items, two that have dividers and the final two have shelves. The top of the organiser is designed for thinner items, lipsticks, eyeliners, brushes etc.

And this is my storage after being filled with all my makeup. I can’t decide if I think that I own a lot or not. All that is missing from this are my eyeshadow palettes and I also left out new and unused items, which I will add once something has been used up.

It was good to come across makeup I had forgotten about — it almost felt like coming home after a shopping spree. I also threw out some really old items and made a mental note of what I definitely don’t need to buy any more of.

I love my new organisation and I am hoping that by having the majority of things out for me to see it will encourage me to use some things I haven’t picked up in a while. The hexagonal shape of the organiser means that the compartments are all angled so not everything can fit easily, I am lucky that a lot of my items are the “right shape” for the organiser, but I can tell that I would have been a lot more limited in what I could have fit if this wasn’t the case. I’ve had a search around the internet and I think the organiser was purchased from QVC — link here!

This is my cupboard having organised it. One box is now for miscellany, tubes of skin care creams and product samples to try and review, and the other contains my eyeshadow palettes.

So apart from tidying up and finding a few lost treasures, I also leant a few things…
1. I do not need any more mascaras, eyeliners or lip balms — I seem to have accumulated lots of samples and full sized freebies, which will see me through for at least a year.
2. I need to make more of an effort to rotate the lipsticks and blushers I use, I might take inspiration from Eyelining Obsessions and do posts at the end of the weeks having worn a different lipstick each day.
3. That I do love a special offer and although it’s always great to get value for money as yet I haven’t even started using the majority of all the freebies and it might be worth in the future just buying the one thing I really want.

I am thinking of starting another project 10 pan to empty out my cupboards a bit more. I am really good about only buying skin care when I need it, but I am not the same with makeup, now I know what I definitely don’t need more of I can make attempt to use up what I have before trying something new. Would you be interested in reading about that again?

So, how do you like it? I would love to know how you all organise your makeup and any tips on how best to make use out of everything you own.

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!

Nails of the Week - Guy meets Gal-veston

I changed my nail colour earlier than I normally do to fit in with the brief sunshine we had. This shade is by OPI and was part of the bundle I purchased from QVC last month. It is called ‘guy meets gal-veston’ and was part of the Texas collection.

It is a beautiful coral colour but what is most unique about it, is the fact that the colour can look completely different in different lighting, taking on a more orange or red tone. It has a cream finish and a wonderful shine. I really like the brush which makes applying easy without also getting polish on your fingers. The only down side was that I had to apply 4 coats to get the opaque level I wanted, since the polish is very sheer but thankfully the drying time between each coat was quick.

Because of how different it can look this is another difficult polish to photograph. I love the colour and have had so many people comment on how striking it is.

QVC O.P.I Set

I mentioned in a previous post that I took advantage of a QVC today’s special value featuring O.P.I nails. The parcel arrived on Monday and I immediately tore it open and swatched everything!

A little disappointingly, the package arrived with very little in the way of pretty packaging. Just as well I was so excited about the contents. 

I’ll start with the less exciting stuff, O.P.I nail envy, which is just on time in terms of my nail condition, since they are peeling and breaking regularly. Also a cuticle gel, package for your handbag.

On to the colours, if you did read my last post, I primarily brought this set for the silver shatter polish (more about that later!). On air I was not too impressed with the colours. Having now seen them in the bottle and on my nails, I love them.

My favourite is the ‘houston we have a purple’ which is like no other shade I own, there is a strong pink to the shade, and in different lighting, the shade can look completely different, but always beautiful.

Surprisingly, I also loved the ‘guy meets gal-veston’ shade, which is a lovely coral, which I was expecting to be a lot more neon than it is. Also included was ‘you don’t know jacques’ a deep taupe colour, which is more of an autumn shade than a summer in my opinion, but will work great with neutral outfits. When I first saw the taupe polish on air, I thought it may be similar to ‘mushroom’ by Barry M, but as you can see from the image, mushroom is a lighter shade.



Finally, the star purchase in my eyes, the silver shatter. A beautiful, shimmery silver, which looks stunning on the nail. I love this more than the black shade and I think it will work perfectly in the summer and winter.

All of the polishes have a sheer finish, and need a minimum of two coats. Unfortunately, my base coat took an age to dry and in my impatience I applied the polishes anyway and found they took ages to dry too. I am assuming this is the base coat rather than the polish itself, otherwise this will be quite disappointing, but I  will comment on this again when I get round to a nails of the week post. 

Let me know what you think of the shades, and do you think the silver shatter will get everyone excited about shatter polishes again?

 N.B. Incase you were wondering, no it’s not my hands featured in all the pictures, I used my mum as a tester too! 

Bargain Alert! O.P.I

Today’s Special Value on QVC is the OPI Fashionista Collection. Six-pieces featuring, three nail polishes and my whole reason for purchase the brand new shatter coat!!

Contains:

• 1 x Original Nail Envy (15ml) - a high-gloss formula helps replace moisture lost in dry nail plates, and can help prevent peeling, cracking and splitting. Can also be used as a base coat and top coat
• 1 x Avoplex Cuticle Oil to Go Pen (7.5ml) - soften cuticles with this oil formula, rich in OPI's Advanced Avocado Lipid Complex, avocado oil and vitamin E
• 1 x Guy Meets Gal-veston Lacquer (15ml; coral)
• 1 x Houston We Have A Purple Lacquer (15ml; red-violet)
• 1 x You Don't Know Jacques Lacquer (15ml; taupe)
• 1 x Silver Shatter Coat (15ml) - crackles to leave a two-texture pattern on each nail

QVC always have great beauty bundle but this really struck me today. Not only have I brought this one, but I have gone for the auto-delivery option, so that every 90 days I get an additional nail envy and cuticle oil, 3 new shades and a new crackle coat. OPI polishes typically cost £10.50 each, so for just over £33 I have 4 as well as the nail treatments. 

Of course this is only available for just over 12 hours so take advantage!! 

Disney Couture, My new Obsession!

I have had my eye on a lot of the Disney Couture pieces for a really long time but held off from buying because of the price and the fact that I had never seen them to know what the quality was like.

Recently I decided to treat myself since for the longest time I wanted the Tinkerbell hoop earrings. I love hoops and I thought this would be such a nice addition since they would just give an outfit a special touch without being ott. Every picture I had seen online looked like they would be beautiful, so I opted for the silver colour, not entirely sure if the gold would be a more yellow shade than I like.

I was so pleased when they arrived, they were packaged beautifully within a pretty box and then with the Disney Couture bag. They feel so solid, so worth every penny and are a good size. I haven’t worn them yet but I will (I don’t like labelling something as best and then never pulling them out for an occasion!). I found these on eBay since the other online sellers didn’t have this style anymore (adding to the NEED to buy!).

QVC also did sell Disney Couture at one stage but everything they have is on clearance now, so I am not sure if they will get anything new. I picked up two pieces, the first is intended for my cousin, the Tinkerbell sitting on a pearl necklace, this was only available in gold, however it is a lovely gold and the piece again is really solid. She is only 8, so I know she will love this and it will be something she can keep for a long time. It was just over £20 with the postage, so a very good price compared to the full selling price of there things usually.

Finally, I picked up this gold bangle. ‘A dream is a Wish your heart makes’. The bangle is very dainty looking but solid. Like the other pieces it is something that can easily be worn any time. My only reservation with it is that there are small charms hanging off near the clasp, which although pretty, I am worried can potentially catch and snap off. This was dearer than the necklace but still good value since these bangles retail much higher on other websites.

I really want to add one of the necklaces to my collection, they have some with cinderella quotes which I like the most. I had ordered one from the sale in ASOS however the gold of that was more yellow than I liked to it did make it look cheap and I returned it. So when I do find the ideal one I’m going to go for the silver colour.

Please share your thoughts of any of the jewellery if you own it, or even better link/comment with photos!

‘Till next time xx

Favourite Online Beauty Sellers

Since I am always on the look out for a bargain I have managed to compose a list of different online retailers who I have found to have great product selection as well as good pricing.

This is in no particular order.

1. http://www.love-makeup.co.uk/

I discovered this site whilst desperately looking for a UK based seller of NYX products. The range of NYX and other brands such as Sigma, Michael Todd, Mac and other high-end brand products on offer is extensive and the pricing very reasonable. Whenever I have browsed the site there have always been products on offer and I emailed them recently since they are very close to where I live and they are opening to the public next month! Also in the same contacts section you can request products for them to get in stock, although not having tried this I am not sure how they do on that.

2. http://www.justbeautydirect.co.uk/

I found this website when I was searching for cheaper Smashbox products. They also have a whole range of other brands. The pricing is cheaper than buying directly or from a department store, but still falls in the more pricy of the websites I am naming. With regard to Smashbox, they offer foundation samples for £1, giving you a chance to test before you fork out for the whole thing. They were very prompt with delivery when I ordered, and they always seem to have offers for free gifts with purchase.

3. http://www.amazon.co.uk

Might be a surprise to some but I have always found great deals on hair styling tools on amazon (they even have the odd beauty products on there). Worth having a quick browse before deciding where to buy, and a lot of the time you can get free delivery or its very cheap.

4. http://www.qvc.co.uk

This is on the list purely for their 30 day money back guarantee. It is the only place I know of where you can buy something, use it and send it back without even having to explain yourself, great seen as you don’t have the opportunity for colour matching when it comes to cosmetics. They also have some great deals where you can get a whole selection of products for very good value. The range of brands is extensive and they also sell hair styling tools and products and nail polishes.

I hope this is helpful to someone. Let me know your thoughts and experiences if you do go ahead with any purchases. I’ll be sure to update this post with any other useful websites!