Beauty Blog - Beauty Geek UK: December 2011

Marie Claire Blogger Awards

So! With the new year approaching, an arrival that's often perceived as a time for being proactive and making things happen, I've decided to shoot a million years above my worth and enter myself into the Marie Claire Blogger Awards, following the philosophy that if you don't ask, you don't get.

It's safe to assume that whilst the new year optimism is there, it has in no way replaced the old year cynicism (can't change the habit of a lifetime with seasonal good intentions) so I'm not holding out hope, but....you never know!

If, lovely, lovely, LOVELY readers, you happen to think of my blog as a worthy candidate for these awards, please let me point you in the direction of the award submission form which is here, and all you need to do is enter my URL which is www.beautygeekuk.com

If you enter me I will wuv you 4 eva and eva xx

Top Ten Beauty Finds of 2011

It's been an exciting year for me with regards to all things beauty as, due to the amazing blogs I've come across and the wonderful brands and PRs who have got in touch with me, I've found some incredible new beauty finds that have become firm favourites. Here's a rundown of all the beauty goodies I've loved this year:

1. Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation

It seems like ages ago I bought this but in reality it was only a few months. However, whilst I've tried some truly fantastic variants on foundations this year, this one is the one I always fall back on as regardless of what my skin is doing, it'll always make it look much better than it is underneath. There are foundations I need when I'm breaking out, ones I need when I'm having good skin days and ones I need when my skin is a little on the dry side from ReAuraing, but this one is multi-purpose, gives skin a great glow, covers just enough without looking heavy and doesn't exacerbate any skin issues making it my favourite foundation of 2011.

2. Skinceuticals Blemish and Age Defense Range

I think I've mentioned previously that I'm so happy that there are brands who are realising that just because someone's spot prone, doesn't mean they're a teenager with young skin. I've got all 3 products in the range and they're great as a maintenance routine if you're a little spot prone but no longer a spring chicken. I wouldn't say these will dramatically or drastically reduce heavy acne, but they will improve skin, tone down spots, put the breaks on any cystic spots coming through and achieve all this without drying you out; in fact, quite the opposite as when I use the serum paired with a good moisturiser, I wake up with refined and glowing skin. Joyfully, there are more brands cottoning on to this 'dual-issue' tackling skincare, so hopefully 2012 will be the year where more affordable brands get involved.

3. Reaura*

You don't even need to be a particularly regular follower of my blog to know that I am completely in love with this amazing device. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use this for a few weeks due to some persistent, hormonal breakouts, but I am obsessing about the day I get to start up with it again as during the short time I was using this, my skin was *amazing*. I'm not talking just less spot-prone or oily (although it was that too) I'm talking clear, dewy, glowy, firm, youthful and the kind of skin that gets compliments from strangers (that was a surreal experience for me) so I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if this makes an appearance on next year's list too.

4. Jamela Skincare*

This is a perfect example of a brand that I would probably never have come across if it weren't for my beloved blog. Jamela makes (among other things) a range of masks aimed at treating all sorts of skin complaints, but where they're a bit different is that the majority of their masks are either sheet masks (ones that you apply to the whole face as a sheet rather than a liquid that you spread over your face) or my current favourite which is their Lavender Sleeping Gel Face Mask. This is a mask you apply before bed and leave on overnight. It dries fairly quickly but you're still aware you're wearing a mask (if that makes sense) and it has made a big difference at calming down my spots and refining my skin without drying it out. It's so gentle and easy to work with and if you can't be bothered to go through a whole skincare regime before bed, then this works as both a treatment and a moisturiser making it a definite worthy member of my 2011 list. Expect a full review very soon.

5. Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Mascara*

I'm not going to bore you with yet another rave about this mascara, so I'll just suggest that if you're interested in my thoughts, have a look at the full review here and the updated pictures here. I've been using this everyday since I got it which is a very unusual occurrence for a beauty addict like me!

6. Illumasqua Make-Up

This year was my first introduction to Illamasqua and I think the reason that I'm so late on the bandwagon is due to the fact that I don't have an Illamsaqua counter near me and I'm usually too lazy to travel into central London with any real regularity. I attended the Look Good, Feel Better event at Selfridges (review can be found here) and whilst I was between appointments with Beauty Editors, I found myself seated at the Illamasqua counter. I had previously heard of the Katie blusher which is possibly the palest, matte pink I've come across and I'd tried to find it online, but it was always out of stock, so I managed to bag myself the last one in the entire store which I was thrilled about. It lived up to my expectations and is still a regular feature in my daily make-up sessions. I also got a few more Illamasqua goodies for Christmas including one of their cream blushers which has the most amazing texture and finish, so it's safe to say that my new love affair with Illamasqua has well and truly begun.

7. Shiseido Pureness Balancing Softener*

This is one of those products that you never think you'll need but as soon as it arrives it becomes an essential product. This is kind of like a toner, but it's focus is less about toning and more about softening and preparing skin for the next step, be that serum or moisturiser. What I love about this is that it really does soften my skin, but also makes it feel purified, yet it's still gentle enough for use on my eyes. It's fantastic for finishing off your cleansing routine, but also great if you're in a hurry in the mornings and need to prep your skin for make-up without doing a full cleanse and tone. I easily use this daily, if not twice a day, making it a firm favourite of mine for 2011. Full review of the Shiseido Pureness Cleansing Fluid and Softener can be found here.

8. Nail Wraps

This only just made the 2011 list due to the fact that I've only become familiar with the process of nail wrapping in the past few days, but as someone who is absolutely rubbish at applying any kind of nail varnish, these things are a total godsend. I've only tried a couple of brands so far, with mixed thoughts, but I am a total convert. I'm really happy that I've found a way to have funky nails without having to visit the nail salon on a regular basis, so nail wraps are one of my new essentials.

9. Neutrogena Hydrating Cleansing Wipes

I've mentioned these quite a few times in previous posts, and whilst not particularly exciting to write about, the amount I miss them when I run out proves how important they are to my skincare routine. I'm not a fan of quick skincare; I don't think using wipes can or will ever replace a proper cleansing routine, but I do think that wipes can be used to remove the bulk of make-up and daily build-up on the skin which will allow cleansers to work on actually cleansing the skin rather than just removing surface grime. The other thing that I think are noteworthy about cleansing wipes is the fact that you can remove mascara without rubbing the delicate and consequently wrinkle prone eye area. With wipes you can rub the lashes themselves which I struggle to do with eye make-up remover on a cotton pad. I've tried loads of different wipes, but these are the absolute best as they're well soaked, gentle, softening and don't irritate and I'm currently on my fifth pack.

10. Eucerin Q10 Active Anti-Wrinkle Cream Night Cream for Sensitive Skin

As I mentioned above when discussing the Skinceuticals range, it's tricky to tackle both spots and ageing. This is an incredibly rich cream that's almost butter like in texture, but it doesn't break me out at all. This means that it's ideal for people suffering from problem skin, especially those who are trying to tackle said skin issues with overly drying products as this negates all dryness, plumps skin and makes a huge difference to the overall moisture of my skin. I'm yet to find anything that comes close to this, so of course it deserves a place on my 2011 list.

Wildcard: Lemon Juice

This isn't technically a beauty product, but it made a huge difference to my spot prone skin earlier this year and I've just started using it for the past couple of days to deal with my hormonal breakout with the exact same outcome. Used as a toner at night on spot prone areas, this radically shrinks the size and angriness of spots and is an essential for me when I feel my skin is getting a bit out of control. I follow it up with lots of my Eucerin Q10 and of course I'm very careful with any other products I use as this is pretty hardcore stuff to be applying neat to your skin, but it's an amazing spot zapper and I'm really pleased I took the plunge and tried it out. More info on my thoughts on how you can use this for spots can be found here.

*An asterisk denotes that the product was a PR sample. This has not influenced my inclusion of the product in this review.

Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps

Since using the NCLA wraps (review of which can be found here) I've developed a bit of an infatuation with nail wraps in general and as a consequence, I'm on a mission to find the best. I don't like the idea of faffing about with heating them, so I'm only open to trying the ones where you can stick and go.

I got a few good days of use out of my NCLA ones and they were nice and easy to remove; I just peeled them off and went over the nail with a cotton pad soaked in varnish remover. The wraps could've comfortably lasted a few days longer, I was just keen to try another pattern.

I had a pack of Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps hanging around with a Black and White Stripes pattern. I liked the pattern, I felt it was quite 60's although my boyfriend pointed out that they'd prove equally complimentary to the hands of a Queens Park or Newcastle United football fan....so that's handy.

The application for these wraps was again easy, although the wrap felt a little bit thicker which was made it harder to file the edge off. The finished nails looked good, but the big difference between these ones and the NCLA ones is that the edges of these were very scratchy; I couldn't even apply eye cream properly as the ends of my fingers were so raggedy. They don't look raggedy (unless you look really close) but I wasn't too thrilled with the way they felt.

I applied these last night and they really haven't held well. Firstly, the edges keep catching on things and no amount of smoothing them down has made any difference, plus one of the wraps came almost completely off earlier which isn't ideal. I feel like I need to be more careful with these wraps whereas the NCLA ones I felt wouldn't budge until I wanted them to.

Lastly, little bubbles have started to appear under the nails. I don't know if this is a flaw in my application technique or a problem with the wraps themselves, but I don't think I'll try these wraps again as I don't feel they're as easy to work with as the NCLA wraps.

The NCLA ones involve slightly more effort as you need to apply a clear varnish before and after you apply the wrap, but if this is the difference between wraps that stay put and wraps that start peeling then I think it's worth the effort.

Today I bought a couple more wraps: Nailease and Myleene Klass. Both of these don't appear to involve faffing about with heat, so I'm hoping they'll be as good as the NCLA ones, otherwise I'm likely to stick with NCLA wraps instead.

Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps are available from Boots here or their main site here.

Anybody have any other nail wrap brands to recommend?

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream - Swatch Comparisons

For my review of this product, please click here.

I thought the shade of this BB Cream was quite pale, but along these swatches it actually looks darker than I thought. The swatches below are in this order from left to right and I've tried to take them in a few different lights:

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream

Mac Select Moisture Cover in NC20

Bobbi Brown Oil Free Even Finish Compact Foundation in Sand (2)

Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub

I've had this hanging around for ages but haven't had a chance to use it properly as I'm not supposed to use any kind of exfoliator whilst treating with a ReAura. However, as I'm not able to use the ReAura due to my skin breaking out (which I'm happy to report appears to be almost sorted and ready for treatment again....hope I'm not tempting fate with that statement...) I've been free to try this and I have to say, I really love using it.

I had a facial recently where they used a very gentle scrub as part of the treatment and I remember thinking at the time that I need to start avoiding such harsh scrubs and instead invest in something more gentle and kind to my skin. The big difference between this scrub and others I tend to use is the size and shape of the exfoliating beads. The beads I'm used to are quite scratchy, almost abrasion like, whereas the beads in this scrub are more circular with nothing hard or scratchy and slightly larger. When using this scrub, you feel them gently roll over the skin rather than scratch at it. It's a lovely way to exfoliate that leaves my skin feeling smoothed and clean rather than red and slightly attacked in appearance!

This is it smeared so you can get a proper look at the size and shape of the beads. Sorry it's a bit.....unpleasant looking.

I have no idea whether this unclogs my pores, it certainly hasn't had any impact on the blackheads on my nose, but then again even the hardcore scrubbers haven't and very little will remove these other than evil extracting or a good going at with a sonic brush. I think this scrub would work wonderfully with a sonic brush as it's so gentle, so that I'll be trying that out tonight. This is also gentle enough to use over breakout areas which makes it a good choice for problem skin types.

The best part about this scrub is the fact that it's so cheap in comparison to what I'm used to paying. My usual scrub is around £15, but this is £4.99, meaning it's earned a cost-effective and well-deserved place in my regular skincare routine.

You can buy this at Boots here.

*PR Sample

What I Got for Christmas - The Sequel featuring Illamasqua and Bobbi Brown

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was astonishingly spoilt this year and as if the goodies featured in my first post here weren't enough, I got an arrival of Illamasqua lovelies today from my fabulous mum.

Eagle eyed readers of this blog may have noticed that there was a Bobbi Brown box in the top image of the first Christmas present post, but no mention of it in the rest of the post. This is because my darling LSB (still long-suffering boyfriend) bought me a Bobbi Brown 'to-go' kit. The one he bought was the party kit and I would've preferred the day kit, so being the spoilt brat I am, I took it back and exchanged. I won't review any of the products as I'll save that for separate posts.

Here's what I got in the teeny, tiny, yet surprisingly full Bobbi Brown kit:

3 x Eyeshadows

2 x Lipsticks

1 x Lipgloss

Now onto the gorgeous Illamasqua goodies:

Skin Base Foundation (shade 3)

Cream Blusher in Promise

Looks weirdly sweaty, but I've swatched it and it is beee-utiful.

Cream Eyeshadow in Thief and Debauch

VERY annoyed with myself for accidentally jabbing the inside of the cream :(

Illuminator in Poised

I also got another sample of Illamasqua's Freak which I am *very* happy about as I really love their new scent.

For me, this is quite possibly the best year ever for Christmas presents so I have absolutely no excuse for looking rubbish from now on....

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream

In January, Boots No7 will be adding some fabulous products to both their skincare and make-up lines. I wrote about the items I'm most looking forward to the arrival of here and I luckily got the opportunity to try their new BB Cream in Fair. There are two colour options available: Fair and Medium.

Very lightly blended.

I have skin that is quite difficult to please as it's severely combination, so products for oily skin are usually too dry and products for dry skin are usually either too greasy, or lack staying power on my oily zones. No7 have broken away from the norm of BB Creams by introducing skin type specific variants and these include one for normal/oily skin, one for normal/dry skin and one for dry/very dry skin. The one I'm currently using is aimed at normal/dry skin which is a perfect fit for me as it doesn't exacerbate my oily zones, but it also keeps my dry zones from looking dry.

Fully blended.

The coverage is surprisingly good for a BB Cream and I'd put it at light coverage that's buildable to medium. It's a very blendable consistency so application is a breeze. I use this regularly and whilst it isn't enough coverage for the area on my chin that's currently being difficult with a couple of stubborn spots, it's great at evening out my skin tone, doesn't show up my pores, minimizes my spot scars and I find that I can apply this and add a bit of powder foundation in the areas that are prone to shine and my chin and I'm good to go.

I've tried quite a few BB Creams, including a couple I've imported from overseas and I'd definitely say this is a firm favourite. I'm using it on a daily basis and I've found applying it with a foundation brush gives a really decent, dewy finish. You can apply it with your fingers for a much sheerer finish and I've also applied this with a beauty blender which created a happy medium between the two finishes.

The last thing worth mentioning is that I don't find the need for a moisturiser when I use this (not even on my dry cheeks) which is really handy for when I'm in a hurry.

In conclusion, this is a great effort from No7 at BB Creams and I'm looking forward to reading about what other's think of the other variants. It'll be available at the end of January from Boots.

*PR Sample

NCLA Nail Couture LA Nail Wraps

As part of my NY resolutions, I decided to try and make more effort with my nails as I read so many amazing posts about the fantastically creative things people do with their nails that I thought it'd be fun to get in on that. However, the significant flaw in my plan is that I seriously cannot paint my own nails for love nor money.

I don't know why, but I'm just inept in the art of nail painting and this was proved in my first real attempt at an 'arty' manicure: I bought a couple of gorgeous Essie nail colours in pale pink and grey and I planned to start simply by doing a full nail of pale pink and then painting one side grey. Nothing too extreme, just a bit of a fun with a couple of nice colours. But no! I couldn't even get the first layer of pink right. So then, I decided to try a different pink (if in doubt, blame the varnish) but no! I couldn't get that right either so it's safe to say I'm just rubbish at nail painting. I've come to terms with it, it's time you did too.

I used some rose balm on my cuticles which you can still see in this picture.

So this brings me on to my first experience of nail wraps. I've got a couple of packets hanging around from various promotions and beauty boxes and I'd always looked upon them as things that I could only imagine I'd fail miserably at. However, after the miserably failed attempt at a manicure, I felt I had nothing to lose.

So I cracked on with the application and all you need to do is paint my nails with a clear varnish, let it dry, figure out the right size of each wrap so that it fits well with your own nail, remove it from the packet, stick it on, smooth it down and then file away the edge of it so there's no overhang left. Then you add another coat of clear varnish to set the wrap in place. When you smooth it down, if it wrinkles at all you can lift it and re-smooth it, so it's pretty foolproof. I was so surprised by how easy it was to do and the effect looks really fantastic. I've zoomed in with the pictures so you can see there are a couple of creases where I didn't bother to smooth them down properly. They're not that noticeable, but that's probably due to them merging in with the pattern.

I've had these on for about 3 days and they still look really neat. I can feel a couple of bumps under the wraps, but I think that's more due to my laziness (you have the option to lift and re-smooth as mentioned above, but I had hit my arty nail limit by this point) than the quality of the product.

There's definitely enough in the pack for another application, but I'm not sure I'd get more than two applications out of one pack as I have quite wide nails and ended up using the larger stickers, but I think someone with smaller nails could get more than two applications from one pack.

I'm a total nail wrap convert and will happily be purchasing more and giving up on nail painting for the time being.

The wraps I used in these pictures are Nail Couture LA in Secession Kicks which are available here. I'm not too sure on the availability of this particular brand, but I believe they are landing at Harvey Nichols (if they haven't already) soon.

Nars Super Orgasm Nail Varnish

As mentioned in my Christmas haul post here, I got some lovely goodies from Long-Suffering Boyfriend for Christmas. LSB decided to go rogue with his present choices, so rather thank sticking to the pinks that I usually buy myself, he instead bought the Super Orgasm kit which is mainly peach toned. These aren't normally colours I would go for, but I'm surprised to say that I really like this and I'm especially fond of the nail varnish.

I applied two coats to my toe nails and the colour is a very pretty peach with flecks of sparkling gold. Apologies for the zoom-in on my questionable feet, if you check out my lazy girl's pedicure here, you'll see that I tend not to put too much effort into pedicures during the winter, hence the presence of cuticles and dry skin!

In conclusion, I really like this colour and I'm probably going to try this on my fingers soon too. It's a gently, pretty shade that flatters my skin tone without looking too OTT so this has been a great introduction to Nars varnishes for me.

The set I have is available here and my understanding is that the varnish is only available within the set. The standard Orgasm polish is available here with the description reading "peachy pink with shimmer" which, to me, sounds a lot like Super Orgasm so I'm not too sure of the difference between the two, but if you know then please feel free to enlighten me!*

*The lovely Ria posted in the comments section that the difference between the two is that the original Orgasm polish is peach with shimmer, whereas the Super Orgasm is peach with full glitter; thanks Ria xx

Christmas BeautyGeekUK Giveaway Prizes

Thanks to everyone who entered the Christmas giveaway; it was so much fun and I'll definitely do another one soon!

Here's a picture of all the goodies together that will be sent out in early January. There's all sorts so some people will get things like a full sized lipgloss, others will get a couple of deluxe sized samples and a couple of lucky people will get the Boots 17 kit which include a mini mascara, eye liner and lipgloss. There's some really lovely stuff here so I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of what they get.

Congratulations to all the winners and what do you hope you'll get from the picture above?

What I Got for Christmas featuring Nars and Laura Mercier

I did some hardcore hinting over the past couple of months, and thankfully it paid off (excellent work, Long-Suffering Boyfriend) as I got some fabulous goodies for Christmas. I also managed to persuade my father to get me the Laura Mercier portfolio which is just so fantastic.

I'll go into much more detail about each product as and when I use them, but for now, here's some pics:

Laura Mercier Limited Edition Luxe Colour Portfolio

Contains:
3 x Tightline Cake Eye liners (Ground Expresso, Black Ebony and Burgundy Wine)
6 x Eyeshadows (Primrose, African Violet, Merlot, Truffle, Topaz and Stellar)
2 x Second Skin Cheek Colours (Rose Petal and City Pink)
3 x Brushes (Ponytail, Crease and Flat Eye Liner)