Eye Eye - Double-Ended

You may have read my previous post regarding my eyelashes, which have recently been the bain of my life. They went through a time of falling out, refusing to grow back, and leaving big gaps in between the two strands of lashes still on my eyes. Thankfully, it seems to have been a phase, perhaps it was stress, bad diet, the fact that they kind of ached and I had to pluck some of them out to ease the discomfort. The whole situation was stressing me out, which was probably making it worse.

One of the reasons I think they may have begun to grow back was the use of Ojon’s SWA Double-Ended Treatment Mascara. A few months back my mum and I were watching a beauty show on QVC and came across the Ojon SWA Double-Ended Treatment Mascara, offering promises of full, strong, and conditioned eyelashes. Now, my mum and I are not suckers for promises that sound rather fanciful and at first, we were quite sceptical. However, we decided to give it a go. The beauty of QVC is that you can try it and return it if you do feel it is quite for you. In addition, what would I loose, surely not more lashes!

Therefore, when the mascara arrived I pounced on it immediately. I have been using it every day for the past 3 months and felt that I had seen an improvement in my eyelashes. They certainly have grown back, however I cannot confirm that it is because of Ojon. One thing I can say is that they do feel stronger and more conditioned.

The double-ended wand consists of a white conditioning treatment, which you apply first to the lashes, followed by the black conditioning mascara. I applied a thick coat of the treatment then two coats of the black mascara. The overall effect offered think, long lashes like many other mascara brands, so you would not be swapping treatment for daily performance.

Unfortunately, mu mum did not like the black mascara as she felt it smudged on her lower lashes. Thankfully, she gave me hers so now I have double!

Ojon SWA Double-Ended Treatment Mascara

What Ojon say…

Ojon SWA double-ended Treatment Mascara -
Treatment: applies easily and prepares the lash for an enhanced and even mascara application.

Mascara: this rich and luxurious fluid formula glides easily onto lashes while allowing for a quick dry to avoid smudges. Gives lashes an intense and deep black colour

Nourishing treatment mascara from Ojon. Contains Ojon and SWA oils that penetrate the lashes deep within the shaft to help volumise delicate, fragile lashes. Mascara glides on easily and drys quickly giving you intense, smudge-free colour.

I would recommend this product if you have found yourself with similar eyelash issues, as there is nothing worse than feeling naked, especially in the eyelash department and you never know it might help!

Ax

Correcting Eye Make-up

Over the months, we have blogged about achieving fabulous eye make up.  But what happens when you make a mistake?  And there is nothing more infuriating than having to start all over again!  But fear not Beauty School Tryouts as I have discovered the product that should be in every girl’s make up bag.  Simple Kind to Eyes Make-up Corrector pen.

The Kind To Eyes Eye Make-Up Corrector Pen is the perfect tool to easily remove eye make-up mistakes including waterproof mascara. The precision tip allows you to correct mistakes leaving the rest of your make-up untouched. Perfect for even sensitive skin.  It is so compact, you can also pop it into your handbag on a night out to ensure your eye make-up stays perfect all evening.

Simple’s special blend of Simple cleansing goodness containing Pro-Vitamin B5, helps to gently cleanse and remove eye make-up mistakes.

The skin around your eyes is extremely delicate, so it needs to be treated with care. It's also one of the first places to show the signs of ageing, so it's never too early to start paying special attention to this sensitive area.

So enjoy the party season with perfect eye make up!

K x

Beauty For The Boys

Stuck on what to by the men in your life this year? I have a nightmare every birthday and Christmas as to what to buy my fiancée and this year; I think I have found the perfect present! Many men are still to embrace the grooming stuff, such as cleansing with more than just soap and actually moisturizing at all. However, Liz Earle has made it easy for the least interested man to take care of his skin without out having to have a bathroom cabinet full of lotions and potions. Liz Earle’s Cleanse& Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser for Men is a godsend! And here’ why…

The powerful yet gentle cleanser quickly and easily cleans away dirt and excess oils that can block pores, helping to reduce impurities that lead to spot-causing bacteria. It is suitable for all skin types, so even the most sensitive gentlemen can use this formula.

The plant-based cleanser is easy and simple, two steps is all it takes.

Step 1: Massage 1 or 2 pumps gently onto dry skin over face and neck. Free from mineral oil, its rich and creamy texture swiftly removes all traces of daily grime.

Step 2: Rinse the pure muslin cloth in hand-hot water and wring out before gently polishing off the cream to gently remove dead skin cells and help reveal clean, soft and radiant skin.

Splash face with cool clean water and follow with After-Shaving Moisturiser. To be honest if their skin isn’t particularly dry, then they don’t really need to bother with the moisturizer at all, if it’s not up their street. The cleanser itself is moisturizing enough!

The ingredient make this cleanser smell amazing, not at all perfumed to smell like one of the girlie cleansers. It has a masculine, spicy scent and is quite earthy. The naturally active formula includes the following ingredients.

Cocoa Butter - This rich, creamy butter which has moisturising effects on the skin is made from the roasted seeds of the cocoa tree, the same seeds that give us chocolate and cocoa.

Hops Extract - This herbal extract comes from the pinecone-like fruit of the hop plant and has astringent and toning properties.

Rosemary Essential Oil/Extract - This renowned and once sacred herb has been used for centuries in beauty preparations. Rosemary essential oil has a fresh pungent aroma and is very invigorating and stimulating. The extract has beneficial antioxidant properties.

Chamomile Essential Oil/Extract - This herb takes its name from the Greek kamai (ground) and melon (apple) because of the sweet apple-like fragrance it releases when trodden on. The essential oil is considered a gentle oil by aromatherapists and medical herbalists have used chamomile for soothing the skin for centuries.

Eucalyptus Essential Oil - Native to Australia, eucalyptus shoots are a favourite food of the koala. The cooling essential oil produced from the leaves and twigs has decongestant properties and is used by aromatherapists to ease muscular aches and pains.

D-panthenol - Otherwise known as pro-vitamin B5, this B vitamin is necessary for the normal functioning of the skin and has a moisturising effect. It also helps stimulate cellular renewal.

Glycerin - The glycerin we use is always vegetable derived. It is a humectant (attracts water), drawing atmospheric water onto the skin to aid hydration.

Beeswax - The beeswax used in Naturally Active Skincare comes from the honeycombs in which bees store their pollen. It has skin protecting properties and helps to relieve chapped skin.

I have asked my fiancée to give his opinion on the Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and he noted the following, ‘my skin felt very hydrated after the first use, I do suffer from quite dry skin and it really has helped enormously. In addition I have a beard and this cleanser is great to use then trimming and shaping it and stops any irritation from the razor’

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

So treat the boys you know with this, the Starter Kit includes a wonderful muslin cloth so he has no excuse not to use it!

Ax

Apologies again...

Apologies again, this is now my third post in a row on nails. I am going through a bit of a nail obsession at the moment. There are a few reasons for this. One is that during the winter, there is one thing that always works for me and that is my nails. It can be raining outside and my hair will turn into a ball of frizz, the freezing wind can blow in my face all it wants and my skin can dry and my lips crack, but my nails will usually always stay ok, if not get better. During the winter we eat better, more wholesome foods and more often to keep warm and our energy levels up. Therefore, this is why I am in love with polish, as the efforts of shaping; manicuring and polishing are rarely in vain. Unlike the 45 minutes or so it takes to blow dry, straighten and ‘set’ my hair simply to go outside for 5 minutes and whoosh – frizz ball! The other reason is that I am engagement ring shopping so am conscious that my hands and fingers are being looked at, moreover, if and when I/we find the ring, I want it to be worn on perfectly manicure nails.

Therefore, what better way to continue my nail obsession than a little look at the new launch from God himself, Tom Ford. It is almost like everything this man touches turns to gold and this new launch is no exception.

Tom’s Scarlet Chinois, it my favorite of the range. The key according to colour choice is according to the experts 50 per cent what you like and 50 per cent what suits you. I’ve never been a big fan of the greige look, my hands end up looking dead and pale. Red all the way!

This colour is the perfect American red. It is extremely versatile and looks brilliant with this seasons camel, black and navy. The bottle oozes glamour and screams FABULOUS! I am dying to try it and as I have been informed by a reliable source that it glides on with no glooping or bubbling, dries efficiently and stays put. However, at £25 a pop I'm don't think I'll get the chance to test it out anytime soon!

Ax

The strip lash in a flash!

With the party season upon us, I wanted to share with you a new find of mine…the fabulous eyelash range, Blink+Go.

With kitcsh packaging and luscious lashes inside they are the perfect range that every girl should have on their dressing table to help them achieve the ultimate party look. With ranges called Flirt, Tease, Temptress and Heartbreaker it is no wonder that Blink+Go can transform us in seconds from girl next door to devastatingly sexy siren.

As it’s Christmas, I went for the ‘Tease’ range with little diamantes along the edge to add some sparkle.  Blink+Go says;

Seductive, intensive and ruthless.  Transform your eyes into gorgeous, smouldering man-magnets (they wont stand a chance!)…wear at your own risk!

So be warned Beauty School Tryouts!!

                                                                                                              

Blink+Go lashes are hardwearing and durable it is no surprise that they are a favourite with celebrities and makeup artists alike.  They also offer unique styles including auburn lashes for the fairer girls out there to gorgeous embellished designs for the festive and party season.   

So if you want to flutter and flirt with your eyelashes under the mistletoe this Christmas, make sure you pick up a pair of Blink+Go lashes!

K x

Fabulous Friday Nails

Ok so it is my second nail post of the week sorry, but I could not help myself. Sitting in my office I look at my nails and think – how dare I leave the house without out polish on. So I rummaged through my handbag (thinking there must be something in here) Ah ha! Mavala I love you! Onyx, a deep luxurious dark red almost black/brown. Two coats and bam! I am ready, as well as for my appointment on Monday with the jeweller. While on holiday a few weeks ago, my darling boyfriend, or should I say, fiancée proposed and I said yes. Monday we are ring shopping, so my nails must look their best – obviously!

Therefore, amid this excitement I am literally typing this post while my nails dry! Multi-tasking at its best!

Mavala – little pots of love like dim sum - £4.10 – Debenhams, John Lewis and Online

Ax

Wrap It Up!

I subscribe to a monthly box of goodies called GlossyBox, where you pay £10 plus p+p every month and receive a selection of up to five products to try. I will discuss GlossyBox further in a future post as I have mixed thoughts on the service, but for the moment, I want to discuss one of this month’s products. Nail Rocks, these are a relatively ‘new’ trend to the beauty market. The theme of transferable beauty has been around since I can remember, I recall using transfers on my nails as a child but now they have had resurgence, with other brands such as Violent Lips offering extreme patterns and allowing you to temporary ‘go crazy’ with your beauty look. Nail Rocks do not involve nail varnish and cut out the annoying waiting game of drying nails. Nail Rocks are strips of adhesive patterned / coloured wraps that you apply to the nail bed.

I received a pack of the ‘Furry Cheetha’ so this is how they are applied:

1. Push back cuticle.

2. Shape and file the nail edge.

3. Gently remove surface shine using a nail buffer or a smooth nail file.

4. Clean the nail using an acetone based remover.

5. Select the Nail Rock wrap nearest to your cuticle size. These can be trimmed to fit if needed.

6. Do not touch the adhesive side of the wrap that will be used on your nail.

7. Place at the cuticle edge and press FIRMLY on to the nail. Work from the cuticle edge applying pressure and smoothing the wrap from the middle to the outside edges of the nail.

8. If you have any creases, lift wrap slightly and stretch back over the nail. Apply pressure and smooth again.

9. Stretch firmly over the free edge of your nail and use your nail or a wooden hoof stick to tuck under the free edge.

10. Taking a smooth nail file, remove excess wrap by running file under the nail

They should last for up to 7 days on your fingers and 3 weeks on your toes. So far I’m 3 dyas in and one is peeling off already, however, this can be easily fixed by putting a coat of top coat on top to seal in down again.

I think they look great for fun parties, but not they’re not exactly my cup of tea.

Ax

Top Christmas Shopping Tip

Mum if you are reading this stop now! (well until after Christmas day)

So yesterday, I decided to go for a spot of self-torture and do a bit of Christmas shopping on my lunch break. Not such a bad Idea I hear you say? Well it is, I work just off Oxford Circus and it is a nightmare at the best of times, so venturing outside from November until January is pretty much suicide.

This year my mum gave me a Christmas gift wish list and on it was Molton Browns Suma Ginseng shower gel. Not such a toughie! Therefore, I was quite prepared as I had research, which shops to head to in advance to make sure they stocked what I was after.  

Starting from Oxford Circus tube station I first pop into John Lewis. Two steps in and the sheer number of people in this store already overwhelms me. I literally cannot move there are people everywhere; I cannot even see the brands to find what I am looking for. I have to leave. Next stop Debenhams…

So in Debenhams – looking for NICE make up brushes – forget it! Out I go… come on HoF must be able to help.

In House of Fraser, pretty much the same situation as John Lewis. Panic, I’m now running out of time, I now have sales assistants calling me ‘Madame…what foundation do you use?’….’Excuse me Madame…Have you heard about our new…’ NOT INTERESTED!!!! Then from the corner of my eye I spot the Molton Brown stand, in my way is the Nil Inc. nail station – I am in half a mind to climb across the tables while people are having their manicures – I refrain that is just rude! So I whip round, dodging more sales assistants spritzing some overly sweet fragrance in my face. Ah ha Molton Brown, how I have longed to get this far without tears.

So I am looking for the scent I need…looking…. still looking…. literally by heart is dropping by the second…YES there you are! Suma Ginseng Shower Gel AND Body Lotion…oh hello lovely sales assistant YES you can help ME! Do you gift-wrap? FAB! I was in and out within 5 minutes! The sales assistant and I joked at how busy it was and she assured me that her rushing to serve me was simply to make my life easier! It worked!

Molton Brown Suma Ginseng Bath & Shower

Molton Brown Suma Ginseng Body Lotion

 To make this even better Motlon Brown has a 10% off every product, this offer ends today so hurry!!!

So get in there now and get something delightful for someone special this year!

Ax

P.S – sorry for my lack of posts recently – I have been on holiday! Back to usual now!