Beauty Blog - Beauty Geek UK: November 2012

Five Things I Love (October 2012)

It's almost December so I'm seriously late with this post, but it was kind of interesting to do a review of last months favourites so late in the day. October was a bit of a 'meh' month for beauty (for me anyway) but November couldn't have been more different with the lead-up to all the exciting Christmas releases and the first previews of the new season trends and products.

For this post, I went over my October posts and found the products that I was definitely loving at the time. If I'm honest, I'm still loving them now which heavily influenced my choices, but this is still an October list....the November list will be along shortly and will of course have a whole new set of products!

L'Oreal Inoa Colour Care Masque*

I'm still loving this and using it every other wash as it's such a lovely product to use that has really done well at keeping my colour in good nick; I've had my colour for quite some time now and I still don't think I need to get it redone, although that's partly thanks to the skill of Billy at The Chapel. It's safe to say that this is the one mask I'll keep using as it's incredibly nourishing, yet doesn't turn my fine hair lank. Check out my review of the full range here.

Nails Inc Victoria*

There is something oh so sexy about having really vampy nails, and in my humble opinion there is no easier way to achieve these than with Nails Inc Victoria; at the SS13 event last week I was so close to requesting this under one of the textures, or just having a texture as an accent nail, but I thought it would be better if I got one of the new textures so my readers could have a good nose at them. This is a hero shade and with good reason, check out my review and pictures here.

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File*

Turns out absolutely everyone uses this and I was rather late to the party. I reviewed this so you can read more about it in the review here, but it's such a fantastic file that I can't see myself ever cheating with another brand of file. I was so impressed with this file that I picked up a Leighton Denny Kit on one of my recent trips to Boots, and I'm happy to report that it's fantastic and I'll definitely be reviewing it soon.

17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle*

This is a lipstick that has travelled through three different handbags with me; by that I mean, when I change my handbag, I always use it as a chance to add new lip colours to play around with but this is an absolute essential colour for me as it's such a flattering and wearable nude. Have a look at my post about the rest of the new shades here if you fancy seeing this shade on the lips.

NYX Powder Blusher in Peach

I've actually only just started using something else (Pixi Early Bird Palette) as a blush, but as this is a post about the October favourites I thought it'd be a good idea to mention this as it definitely got a lot of use and abuse in October. It's pretty, easy to wear and even easier to use; it blends well with my pale complexion and isn't too in your face. If you haven't had a chance to check out NYX then I strongly recommend you do as their colour range is astoundingly good. My review of this and two other shades can be found here.

That's all of October covered! I can't wait to write up November as there were so many great products to work through; it's going to be great fun narrowing it down and working out my favourites.

Dying For Clear Skin?

Whenever there's a show regarding acne on TV I get e-mails from readers and reminders from friends and family to watch or record it. Recently, BBC3 aired a show called "Dying For Clear Skin" which was a fairly balanced research focussed on the acne drug, Roaccutane. The show was dominated with the story of Jesse Jones who went missing in 2011. He suffered from - from what I could tell - fairly mild acne and was prescribed Roaccutane, which resulted in severe side-effects from the drug including depression and suicidal thoughts, and was eventually found dead near his home, believed to have committed suicide.

The show was interesting as it raised some valid points and got me thinking about the impact that acne has on our lives. Certainly for me - a 28 year old long-term sufferer - it's had a drastic impact on the way I feel about myself and my overall confidence. If I'm having a good skin day then my confidence sky rockets, yet if I'm having a bad skin day (or we could just call it a normal day) then I'm constantly aware of it. I have to suck it up and get on with it, but that alone takes a level of confidence that I would imagine most people would struggle to find, especially those who are younger and haven't fully developed their maturity and self-esteem.

The first noteworthy thing about Roaccutane is the numbers in relation to severe side-effects. From what I can gather, most people who use it will experience some kind of side-effect such as dry lips or dry skin, but there are the occasional sufferers who will completely change once taking the pill and become consumed with depression. The worst part is, it seems a lot of these people who do unfortunately find themselves suffering from severe side-effects will obviously and sensibly stop taking the pill, yet the side-effects will remain. This is believed to be the case with Jesse and there were a couple more examples used in the show.

However, in the same way that a very small percentage of babies will allegedly develop autism from the MMR vaccine, yet millions of babies will be fine and protected from the diseases that the vaccination prevents, could the same argument be made for Roaccutane? This is a drug that has apparently revolutionised the treatment of acne, curing thousands of sufferers and giving them normal skin that no longer hurts, bleeds and cracks every time a spot becomes infected. Out of all these thousands, one or two of them might develop suicidal tendencies. Is it worth it? Without turning this into a giant essay, of course the argument could be made for the fact that vanity should never become more important than life itself, but many acne sufferers will acknowledge that life with severe, painful, spirit-crushing acne that stops you socialising and progressing with your plans isn't much of a life at all.

Dying for Clear Skin can be seen here.

Christmas Gift Guide: Mac

Back to make-up with the super pretty offerings from Mac. I honestly have no recollection of Mac doing Christmas collections previously (I'm sure they did, I just didn't notice them) so these ridiculously pretty, cute and covetable gift sets will please any beauty junkie. The kits are also quite reasonably priced and the packaging is beautiful too.

Guilty Passions: 4 Cocktail Coral Lip Gloss

This is a cute little kit containing four different shades of coral themed colours in four different lipgloss finishes. The beautiful packaging makes this an ideal Christmas gift, priced at £25.50.

Guilty Passions: 4 Tenderly Warm Crushed Metallic Pigments

If lips and glosses aren't your thing, then this kit of four very wearable shades of metallic pigments might work. I love these shades, they're pretty without being too OTT and fairly neutral without being too boring. This kit is also £25.50.

Divine Desire: Paramour Pink

This is a beaut of a kit containing some lovely treats such as a blush, a lipstick, a lipgloss/glass, a kohl liner and a brush, but the case is just. too. pretty. This is such a lovely and girly number that panders to my love for all things pink. Priced at £45 but currently sold out online, so hopefully it's available in store still.

Primped Out Lip Look Bag: Luxurious Pink

This kit contains everything you need to achieve the perfect pink lip including a liner, a lipgloss and a lipstick, all of which are contained in a purse-style, pink, leopard print case. This costs £32.

Primped Out Eye Look Bag: Drama Taupe

There are quite a few variants of the Eye Look Bag, but I immediately zoned in on the Taupe version as everyone loves a bit of taupe, right? In this kit you get a liner, a mascara, a brush and a twin eyeshadow set for £37.

My Pick?

All of them please? I love the fact that the Divine Desire contains a little bit of everything and I also love the packaging, so even though it's a little more expensive than the rest of the bunch, I think I'd have to ask Santa for that one.

Yankee Candles: Cherries on Snow Tealights

My candle obsession continues so it was only a matter of time before I got involved with something from Yankee.

Ever since I started burning the Popup Paris WizzNadine candle which is quite a fruity little number, I've become a lot more into fruit scents (although I still have lots of love for Jasmine and Vanilla) which is why I opted for Cherries on Snow from the Yankee range.

Cherries on Snow is probably ideal for those who like fruity scents but want them with a bit of a kick. It's a very seasonal scent that works well for the build-up to Christmas.

It definitely has a strong cherry flavour, but it isn't all about the fruit and there's something a little extra behind the cherries that stop it being too "sweet shop".

The scent release is quite gradual which I'm in mixed minds about as I quite like to enjoy the scent from the moment the candle is lit. However, there's a lot to be said for an aroma that gradually penetrates the room too.

I'm loving tea lights at the moment as they allow me to spread the light and scent around the room, rather than concentrating it in one place. These tea lights were quite cost-effective too; unfortunately I've managed to lose the receipt but I believe they were around £6 for a set of 12.

I bought these from Clinton Cards who appear to have a weekly promotion, where the "scent of the week" is reduced in all the various formats and sizes. I really like this idea because I think it will encourage people to try new scents and maybe even start a collection.

So this has proven a great introduction to the Yankee brand (I think I have another Yankee candle sitting around waiting to be used but I can't seem to find it) who in my mind are purse-friendly with a great variety of both sizes and scents. They appear to be available everywhere but here's a link to Yankee Direct who appear to have Cherries on Snow in stock.

Christmas Gift Guide: Murad

Here's another skincare based Christmas Gift Guide to reset the balance of the mostly make-up gift guides I've already written about. I've posted about Murad kits on previous occasions as they really do put a nice kit together and there's usually something to suit all price brackets. They've got five Christmas kits available in time for the holiday season, as well as their usual all year round kits.

Sun Undone Starter Kit

Here we have the perfect sun-worshippers kit that will hopefully help to reduce signs of sun damage. The kit contains cleanser, serum, moisturiser and eye cream and has a value of ££81, yet is priced at £29.95.

Hydration Sensation

This is one of the Christmas kits and contains everything you need to boost moisture levels and fight winter dryness. In the kit you get a toner, Ultimate Moisture and Ultimate Moisture for eyes. This is £73.50 with a value of £123.30.

Perfect Balance

This is a gorgeous kit that contains some great products, including a full-sized Pore Refining Gel and Treatment Concealer, as well as trial-sized mattifier and eye cream. The value of this set is £89.70 but the kit costs £42.50.

Hybrids

This is the kit if you're buying for those who don't fancy updating their skincare, as it contains a face primer and an eye perfector. The primer is matte and tinted, and the eye perfector is also tinted and temporarily increases firmness. The kit is £36 and with a value of £56.

Sparkling Eyes Regime

Lastly we have the eye kit, which is rather luxuriously priced at £143, but you get some great products for your buck. Included in the kit is the wrinkle reducer, eye cream and eye perfector (treatment concealer as mentioned in Hybrids above).

My Pick?

It's another tricky one for me as if I was able to try new skincare then it would probably be the Perfect Balance, but I also love the Sparkling Eyes Regime (what can I say? I have expensive tastes!) so I think I'll probably go with that.

ghd Style & Protect Gift Set Review

I've been meaning to review the ghd Style & Protect Gift* set for a while, but I haven't been able to get the right light for any decent pictures that I thought adequately showed off the finish you can achieve with the products included. Finally last week I styled my hair and found the lighting was good enough to take some snaps.

Anyway! This is a kit that makes smooth, styled hair much easier to achieve and includes a prep spray (Straight & Smooth Spray), a finishing spray (Final Shine Spray), a large paddle brush and two styling clips. This is a pretty foolproof kit that can be used to compliment whatever styler you use to finish your hair. I would assume it was designed to be used alongside ghd straighteners, but I use this with my Babyliss Big Hair and it works brilliantly.

You use the prep spray before you start your styling and use around six sprays all over your hair. I then use the paddle brush to make sure the product is evenly distributed. I always clip my fringe before I start styling (I use two clips; one going in from each direction so it firmly keeps my fringe in place) so the inclusion of two clips is perfect for this. I then rough dry my hair to get the majority of the moisture out before smoothing it down with a dryer and the paddle brush. I finish with a quick work over with the Big Hair brush, before again smoothing it all down the paddle brush and finally finishing with a quick coat of the finishing spray.

This approach has saved me a lot of time as whilst I love the Big Hair brush, it is very time consuming to work through my hair, section by section, until all hair is smooth. I really like both products as they don't make my hair feel sticky or greasy and instead leave a really shiny and tangle-free finish. The paddle brush is absolutely amazing, possibly even the star of the kit, as it's such a great size and works through hair without pulling or feeling uncomfortable. I use the paddle brush daily for keeping my hair smooth and thankfully I have no problems with static which is something I always seem to get with hairbrushes.

All-in-all this is a great, hair-pampering kit that would make a gorgeous Christmas present. It's a touch expensive at £39, but if I were to guess the price of the paddle brush alone based on it's quality I'd put it at around £20, so whilst it isn't a cheap kit, I think it's a case of you get what you pay for. Available now from the ghd site.

Pixi Early Bird Palette Review

Earlier this week (in fact a couple of days ago!) I got my hands on the Pixi Early Bird Palette which is part of the Autumn Pixi collection that I'll discuss further in another post. I'll also be uploading some swatches and a FOTD, but for now I just couldn't wait to get this palette up on the blog as it is such a stunner!

This is a gorgeous palette if you're like me and a fan of the "no-make-up-make-up" look, or if you're looking for a way to wear this seasons berry lips and want to tone down the rest of your make-up whilst still enhancing your eyes and face.

This is called Early Bird due to the fact that it consists of face and eye products designed to make you look like you've had a lot more sleep than you may have achieved. It's lots of pretty nudes, shimmers, enhancers and highlighters in fresh, easy to wear shades.

In the palette you get 3 blushers, 2 bronzes, 1 highlighter, 4 eye bases and 16 eye shadows in a fold-out case. The palette includes shades that I think most people would comfortably find flattering, and I'm pleased to see the inclusion of some greens and greys as well as pinker bronze shades, as with these sorts of palettes is very easy for the creator to go the easy route of "any shade as long as it's brown" which is very common in day wear palettes.

First of all focusing on the face colours: the 3 blush shades are all quite warm so I think most people could work at least one of these shades, other than maybe those who are very pale; it's worth noting at this point that I'm between a N10 and N15 but these work great for me. The bronzers contain gentle shimmer, as does the highlighter, but one major noteworthy thing about the inclusion of all these shades is how fantastic they are for contouring. I found it so easy to add shade and light as the lightest bronze shade is perfect for my skin tone, so the result was a really perked up complexion. So much so, that I included a snap of me midway through my make-up routine with just my base on.

Only used cheek/face products here, full FOTD coming soon!

I know what you're thinking, "how does she manage to make that oversized headband/hairnet look so chic and flattering?" I honestly can't tell you, it's just a gift I've been blessed with...

I've only tried 4 of the eye shades so far, but they're sheer yet buildable, shimmery without a hint of glitter, and they really do what the kit promises, which is wake-up the eye area and give it plenty of flattering light with a hint of colour. There are sooo many combinations to work with here, and as they're all pretty harmoniously matched, I don't think there would be any issue with clashing shades.

I would say that the only problem I have with this palette is the fact that it closes in on itself, so there's a chance of merging of colours and it all getting a bit messy. The palette arrives with plastic tacked on to each side which I'm going to try and keep on for as long as possible and I'm also blowing away any loose powder once I'm finished with each shade.

Regular readers will know that I favour natural, daytime nudes and neutrals, so I'm absolutely in love with this palette and expect to get some serious use out of it! The best part is this is a steal at £16 which in my mind is one hell of a bargain as the format, texture and shades available are easily comparable to much more expensive brands that I have in my collection. Available now from the Pixi Online shop.

Disclosure: PR sample.

Mac Glamour Daze Evening Grey: On the Eyes

Trying something new on the blog today!

I reviewed Mac's Glamour Daze eye shadows in A Natural Flirt and Evening Grey recently, but as I've been using Evening Grey pretty much every day since I wore it, I thought it'd be a good idea to upload some pictures of it on my eyes, so here they are!

Mac Glamour Daze Evening Grey: On the Eyes

NOTD: Nails Inc Feathers in York and Brighton

As mentioned in my Nails Inc SS13 post yesterday, I had the chance to have my nails painted at the Nails Inc preview event, and I went for a couple of shades from the Feathers collection.

Feathers is exactly as it sounds; it gives a 3D effect by using small pieces of confetti like colour in a couple of contrasting shades.

Having studied my nails quite carefully since last night, it appears the 3D effect is achieved by having a dominant colour, a slightly lighter version of the dominant colour and a contrast colour and this works really well as you can hopefully see in the pictures.

Before the cuticle brigade pipe-up, yes I know they're in a shocking state, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance to tidy them up before I visited Nails Inc yesterday. I will aim to improve them drastically by the time I do my next NOTD.

If my understanding of Couture fashion is correct, it's fashion that is beautiful to look at but not essentially easy to wear (among many other defining factors) and therefore I would call these textural finishes "Couture Nails", as they're really lovely to look at but not the easiest things to wear.

Because the effect is so textural, the finish is a little on the scratchy side and therefore I doubt this will last for more than a few days. That hasn't put me off though as they really are so different and interesting to look at, so consequently I'll be purchasing Cornwall as soon as they land in March 2013. The scratchiness does settle down after 24 hours: I think it's a the fact that as there's a lot going on within the varnish, there'll inevitably be a level of overhang from the little bits of confetti, so once you've used your hands a bit you end up knocking these bits off and smoothing down the nail edge. I suppose a quicker solution would be to wait until your manicure is dry and then give your nail edges a quick file.

All-in-all I am bowled over by the many exciting textures coming from Nails Inc next year and definitely feel that Feathers is one of my favourite finishes. They'll launch in March 2013 for £11 each.

Disclosure: paint application provided free of a charge as part of the Nails Inc event.

Nails Inc Spring/Summer 2013

It feels very strange typing 2013 already! I've just returned from the Nails Inc S/S 2013 showcase and my head is swimming with info as there are sooo many new releases. SS13 is all about textures, so just in case you thought everything that could be achieved with nail textures has been done already, you were very, very wrong! Expect this to be a long and picture heavy post...

Concrete

First up we have the Concrete collection of four shades that dry to a matte, "concrete" finish. Just to be clear, the name Concrete is a reference to the finish and not the weight of the polish! The four shades are Marble Arch (red), Stonehenge (blue), London Wall (nude) and Monument (lime). I picked up London Wall and Stonehenge so expect NOTDs with those two soon. The finish is really interesting as it's a little grainy and very, very matte. It's definitely different to the standard matte and I absolutely love the colour range. These will launch in December for £12.

Denim and Stars

I loooove this polish! It's not only denim in colour but denim in finish too. It's a denim blue (obvs) with a swirl of a lighter blue that accurately captures an indigo denim finish. This comes as part of a kit that contains star embellishments, but we'll have to wait a while for its arrival as it doesn't land until June 2013 priced at £19.

Leather Effect

The finish of this collection, as the name suggests, is leather, and the shades are all leather-like shades to stay in theme, so you have Shoreditch Lane (mulberry), Soho Mews (tan) and Noho (black). The finish of these is fantastic and these were apparently the most popular choice for manicures among bloggers at the event. These will launch in March 2013 for £12.

Crystaltastic

£45

£30

£20

£25

It was about time Nails Inc did their take on fake nails and here they are! Obviously, they're not just any old fake nails and instead they all feature beautiful, crystal designs and come with nail stickers rather than glue so you can easily reuse them. The crystals are genuine Swarovski crystals, so the price of each set varies depending on how many crystals are used. They'll be launching in March 2012 and the price range is from £20 - £45. Sadly, my favourites are the multi-coloured ones which annoyingly come in at the top price range of £45.

Bling It On

There are a couple of new additions to the line of Bling It On Kits including Rebel, which contains a Leather Effect varnish in Shoreditch Lane as well as a selection of studs and Swarovski crystals and Romance, which focuses on bow and crystal embellishment and contains a mini of Porchester Square and Electric Avenue. Both will be launching in March 2012 and will cost £25. There's also be a Neon kit that'll contain a couple of neon shades of glitter (in pink and blue) plus a mini Floral Street varnish and a Kensington Caviar top coat. This will launch just in time for summer in May 2013 and cost £20.

Feathers

Do you see what I mean about there still being plenty more textural takes on nails? During my last visit to Nails Inc I thought they'd covered them all, but, as you can see, they've thought up plenty more! These Feather polishes had bloggers all a'flutter (pun intended) and come in four shades: Edinburgh (pale blue and peach), Brighton (teal and yellow), Cornwall (blue and white) and York (peach and white). One of the PRs had Cornwall on and it looked amazing, so I decided to get my manicure done using York for most of my nails, but having Brighton as an accent on each hand. I'll upload pictures tomorrow as a NOTD. The effect of these is very feather-like and incredibly textural. My manicure was finished with a top coat, but I actually really liked the finish without the top coat as it allowed the texture to show through more. These will be £11 each and launch in March 2013.

SS13 Trend Shades

Now *these* are gorgeous!! The SS13 shades are beautifully summery; bright, fun and I want them all. There's nothing textural here and instead the focus is on the colours themselves, which is fine by me as they really are little treasures. The four shades are St James Park (coral/red), Royal Botanical Gardens (mint green), Chelsea Physic Garden (baby blue) and Kensington Palace Garden (peach). I honestly can't decide on a favourite and I went from Kensington Palace Gardens to Royal Botanical Gardens before deciding on Chelsea Physic Gardens as my favourite...but now I'm back to Kensington Palace Gardens again. These arrive in March 2013 and will cost £11 each but there's also a mini kit launching at the same time which will cost £22 and will include 3 of the shades mentioned above plus three more garden-themed shades.

Extras

There's a new base coat and top coat being added to the Kensington Caviar collection in January 2013 for £12 each. The base coat promises a primer like base with a fast dry finish and the top coat is a Gel Effect, meaning that it'll give that plumped-up, ultra-glossy finish you get with gel manicures but without the commitment. There's also a corrector pen available now for £10.

So that's it (I think...) and there we have all the amazing new Nails Inc launches for SS13. There are so many amazing things arriving and Nails Inc continue to revolutionise the nail art industry so I can't wait to see what's next.

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