Review: Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint

Dearest readers, I'm so sorry that I've been away for so long and neglected my blog. My husband and I are planning to move to Melbourne, Australia and things have been pretty hectic. I must have been away a long time as Blogger now has a completely new look. I'm really not used to it! 

Here is a quick review I made on Liz Earle's Sheer Skin Tint. I am in love with their Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. They have recently come out with an exciting makeup range of which I have only tried the Sheer Skin Tint.

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint

Bare 01 Fair Skin Tones

According to Liz Earle:

The perfect way to enhance your skin. Our rich and creamy, yet lightweight formula leaves all skin types looking naturally dewy, even and radiant. With mineral UV SPF15, it’s enriched with our own blend of natural source vitamin E, borage and avocado, specially selected to work in harmony with our skincare range.

My review is based on some samples I received, hence I do not have my own picture of the actual product.

The tint on my hand. ingredients include Avocado Oil, Borage Oil, Vitamin E and Mineral UV SPF 15. It is available in 3 shades; Bare, Beige and Beach. I have the sample in the lightest shade Bare 01. Bare is a light beige which matches my NC15-20 skin.

Tint blended out:

My thoughts:

The texture of the tint is really thick and creamy. It's a very smooth cream which takes a bit longer to sink in due to its thickness. 

Liz Earle suggests you apply the tint onto the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, then blend with fingertips over your face. Coverage is good, better than most tinted moisturisers - somewhere in between a tinted moisturiser and a foundation. I found it to to be very long lasting, however my skin felt a little oily at the end of the day. 

The finish is superb. It's nice and glowy without feeling too greasy (until the end of the day). It makes the skin look lovely and radiant. 

The tint on my skin:

Pros:

Contains mineral UV SPF 15

Did not irritate my sensitive skin

Good Coverage

Glowy, radiant Finish

Cons:

My Skin started to feel a little greasy by the end of the day

This texture means it can feel a little heavy on the skin

Quick Review: RMK Creamy Polished Base

RMK Creamy Polished Base in 01

According to RMK:

Made with a blend of three powder particles in different sizes and shapes to cover all kinds of unevenness on the skin surface. Its creamy texture delivers an even and moisturizing veil, leaving your skin supple within and a polished half matt touch on the surface. Choose from 00 to filter for a perfect translucency, and 01 or 02 helps to brighten the complexion.

My Thoughts:

The packaging, like all RMK products is simple and fairly sleek. I chose the shade 01, which is said to give the skin a brightening effect. 01 is a very pale pinky beige with shimmer particles. When the base is applied and spread, it turns a little translucent. The texture is fairly thick for a base, and if I wear foundation on top, it can feel a little heavy and my face feels slightly overloaded with product. I did find the product to make foundation stay on a little longer.

The creamy polished base can be worn alone, on top of moisturiser (my preferred method of use). If does give the skin a brighter look. I also really like the finish which is radiant and dewy.

Sadly, this base did irritate my sensitive skin a little, so would be careful when using it in the future. Or I may return it. I bought it in Selfridges which allow for makeup returns if you have an allergic reaction to it.

Just the creamy polished base on my skin:

Pros:

Contains SPF10

Brightens the complexion

Can wear on its own or under foundation

Prolongs the wear of foundation

Cons:

Can feel a little thick for a base

Irritated my skin very slightly

Review: Blend Collective Truly Natural Bodycare

I recently received an invitation to a press launch of a new bodycare range called BLEND Collective. Sadly I could not attend the launch, but was kindly given a product of theirs to sample.

BLEND is a British natural body care range that combines luxury fragranced blends with high quality skincare ingredients and 100% pure essential oils. A team of aromatherapy and perfume experts from around the UK have come together to develop the BLEND range heavenly scented products.

For more information about the brand, here is a blog post written by one of the blenders, Alec Lawless.

I love uplifting and citrus fragrances so I was sent this hand & body lotion from the Enlivening Range. The range contains Sicilian Lemon, May Chang, Myrtle and Lime to invigorate, energise and uplift.

According to BLEND:

An ENLIVENING blend of SICILIAN LEMON, MAY CHANG, MYRTLE and LIME essential oils used for their particularly invigorating fresh notes with softening Kukui Oil, Grapeseed and Red Clover. Moisturises, Refreshes, Protects.

I love that the brand is silicone, paraben, sulphate, colour and fragrance free.

List of ingredients:

The bottle is a generous size of 200ml and comes with a pump. The design on the bottle is innovative yet fuss-free.

My Thoughts:

The texture is a medium to light creamy lotion. The scent is pretty strong. It's a lovely citrus and herb scent which gives me an overall feeling of well-being, like I have just been to the spa.

I love that 99% of the ingredients are natural and that the product contains 100% pure essential oils. I'm an advocate for natural beauty products - I just can't get enough of them! It's really nice to use a product all over my body without worrying about harmful chemicals I am putting on my skin.

This body lotion feels soft and smooth on my skin. It sinks into the skin beautifully and is quickly absorbed, leaving my skin hydrated. I fell in love with the product when my husband touched my skin and commented on how incredibly soft it felt.

Pros:

Made from 99% natural ingredients

Contains 100% pure essential oils

Does not contain silicons, parabens, sulphates, colouring and fragrances

Leaves skin feeling very hydrated and super soft

Cons:

The scent may be too strong for some

This product was sent to me for review, and my reviews are 100% honest.

Review: Nuxe Baume Prodigieux Lèvres

Nuxe Baume Prodigieux Lèvres in Légendaire Pink

Nourishing Protective Lip Care Gloss effect SPF15

Nuxe is a French brand which combines innovative research and development with natural active ingredients to offer high quality, natural-origin cosmetics. Their most famous product is their Prodigious Oil for face, body and hair (which I have yet to try).

I purchased the shade Légendaire Pink, a coral-peachy-pink. The lipgloss stand about 3.8" tall. The quality of the packaging is good with a cold coloured screw top and a spongy doe foot applicator.

According to Nuxe:

EFFECTIVE BY NATURE

This multi-purpose Protective Lip Balm performs miracles on the lips. In just one step, your lips are nourished, protected and enhanced. Mango taste.

PRECIOUS BENEFITS FOR MY SKIN

Your lips are replumped, smooth and luscious with a transparent gloss effect. This Protective Lip Balm is available in 4 colors: Natural Crystal for ultra-natural radiance, Légendaire® Pink for a subtle rosy shimmer, Shimmering Chocolate for a delicate pearly brown, and Rouge Charismatic® for a delicate glimmering poppy result.

STAR ACTIVE INGREDIENTS

Active Ingredients include: This multi-purpose balm nourishes (Mango and Shea Butters, Sunflower and Sweet Almond Oils), protects (Solar Filters SPF 15, Vitamin E) and enhances the lips (iridescent gloss effect). Plant Filling Spheres smooth and replump the lips.No preservatives.

A close up of the applicator. The lip gloss has a thick, creamy consistency and contains some shimmer particles. Pigmentation is fairly good for an item that is both a gloss and a nourishing balm.

Paper Swatch:

Lip Swatch:

The lip gloss looks a fresh light-to-medium peachy-pink on the lips. It it not very long wearing and due to its subtle shade, almost dissapears after eating or drinking. The gloss felt lovely and moustirising on my lips. I did not see a noticeable plumping effect, though the glossiness and shimmer gave the lips a full-look.

Pros:

Contains SPF 15
Moisturising
Results in glossy, full-looking lips
Lovely peachy-pink colour
Made with natural active ingredients

Cons:

Not long wearing/lasting

Neom Luxury Organics - Utter Relexation Collection

Neom Luxury Organics - Utter Relaxation Collection

Neom is a luxury organic brand from England, dedicated to reducing the amount of chemicals people put on their bodies. They specialise in luxurious beautifully scented beauty and home treatment products.

“Making organics modern, luxurious and highly effective in the most innovative way possible.”

NEOM Luxury Organics

The Neom Promise:

No Synthetics

No petrochemicals, parabens, SLS

Only pure essential oils & finest quality ingredients

100% vegetable was candles (no black soot)

I bought this Relaxation Collection for £20. It contains the following:

Organic Pillow Mist 5oml

Organic Body Lotion 5oml

Travel Candle 75g

Organic Bath Oil 5ml

The candle has a lovely Rose and Neroli scent. It's a calming fragrance, but I felt that the scent could be a little stronger. Though it is a travel sized candle, I found this to be quite a good size - not too small. The full sized candles from this brand are pretty big!

Image comparing the full sized candle with travel sized:

The pillow mist is made from 95%organic ingredients including English Lavender, Sweet Basil and Jasmine. The scent somehow is slightly reminiscent of men's cologne. I don't know why that is, perhaps an ingredient with a very slight masculine scent. The spray in this bottle is pretty good. It diffuses the contents well, transforming the liquid into a mist.

The bath oil contains English Lavender, Sweet Basil, Jasmine, Safflower and Jojoba. It's such a shame that this set contains such a teeny tiny bottle as this bath oil smells absolutely heavenly. The scent is really calming, making bath time such a great experience. The full-sized bottle has such great packaging that I'm truly tempted to purchase it after I've finished this set.

Image of a full-sized bottle:

The body lotion is a rich blend of vitamin A & E-packed Shea Butter, Macademia Nut Oil, Rosemary Leaf and Pomegranate. This body lotion is a real treat to use. The scent is gorgeous, and the lotion sinks into the skin beautifully.

Overall, a really nice collection of products. I do really wish the bath oil was a lot bigger, as together with the body lotion is my favourite of the set. I bought this collection for £20 at Victoria Health.

Adorable: Paul & Joe Blusher Stick in Minou

Having grown up with them as pets, I personally LOVE cats (and the sad thing is, I'm highly allergic to them). So when I say promotional pics of Paul & Joe's Spring Collection my heart melted. This collection celebrates Paul & Joe's 10th anniversary, and chennels the love founder Sophie Albou has for cats.

From this collection I bought the Blusher Stick in Minou from Asos (£21).

The outer packaging contained images of slightly cross-eyed fierce looking cats. The packaging of the blusher stick itself is classically gorgeous.

The blusher stick is in the shape of a cat in a top hat. Too adorable to use! I gleefully showed it to my husband who screamed when he saw the cat (and not in delight)!

Swatch of the blush. It's a dreamy soft pink shade.

Swatch of the blush partially blended. It's quite a subtle shade once blended so i think it would suit those with fairer skintones due to its light colour.

These Blusher Sticks are enriched with moisturising orange flower water and jojoba oil. Application is super easy, just apply directly onto the cheeks and blend. It has a sweet floral scent typical of most Paul & Joe products. Once blended, it has very subtle shimmer particles, so subtle that I was unable to pick it up on my camera. It did not feel particularly moisturising on my skin, but it was not drying either. It gave my cheeks a really pretty, natural looking pink flush. Colour can be intensified by further layering of product.

My Latest Obsession: Figs & Rouge 100% Organic Balm

These were actually introduced to me by my mum. She read an article which stated that Emma Watson was a big fan.

I adore the vintage inspired packaging which makes me want to collect them all. But I have to remind myself 'just how lip balm does one need?', and sadly the answer is 'one'.

These balms are rather hit and miss with people worried that they are not moisturising enough. I personally LOVE them. They are great for dry hands too, though due to their small packaging, I only use them on the lips.

They have quite a gritty texture which melts away into a moisturising balm once applied.

They make great gifts too as they are super pretty and are light to carry. I've stocked up on them for all my relatives (my mum is one of 7 siblings - so there are plenty of relatives) when I go back to Malaysia for Chinese New Year.

Peppermint and Tea Tree - Quite an elegant white packaging. Super fresh minty scent. Gives a minty tingle to the lips, really gives me a pick-me-up whenever I use it.

Pomegranate - Fun pink and spring green packaging. Has the most subtle scent of the three, an amazing fruity scent that is not too sweet. Hard to describe, slightly lemony. Love it!

Wild Cherry with Sweet Orange - Sweet gold with red cheery and little bird packaging. Has a deep sweet cherry scent that is unlike conventional lip balms are not sickly sweet. Slight cherry and citrus taste.

Why I Love Them:

100% Organic

Gorgeous packaging

Available in different varieties

Comes in 2 sizes, the little one even fits perfectly in pockets

Feels moisturising on lips and hands

Multi-purpose

Available from Boots and Amazon

~£4.75 (large) £3.99 (small) Amazon

£4.99 (large) Boots

Review: John Masters Organics Shine On

This review will be a very positive one as this product is one of my all time favourite hair care products.

John Masters Organics Shine On Leave-In Treatment for Supernatural Shine & Softness

I love organic products, but for some reason have never tried John Masters Organics before. When I saw this products in my local organic beauty store, I was instantly taken in my the name. Hair with supernatural shine and softness? Sounds perfect.

'Shine On is a natural, leave-in hair treatment that uses organic kelp in place of syntheticsilicone. It smoothes the hair shaft, resulting in supernatural shine and softness, all day long.'

The packaging really appealed to me. The glass packaging gave it somewhat of a luxurious appeal.

The product itself was in a very light gel/pomade form. Though essentially a gel, it did not feel heavy or greasy on the hair. It had a subtle scent that you would find in typical hair gels.

I use a small dollop of this on towel dried hair (in place or hair serum) and let hair dry naturally. Once dry I notice that my hair looks a lot healthier. It has great shine, though a healthy looking shine opposed to greasy looking shine. My hair doesn't feel weighed down at all, though it does feel incredibly soft.

This product can also be used on dried hair. Though I prefer using it on towel dried hair, it does work well on dried hair too. Hair instantly looks smoother and shiny. Though care must be taken not to overload the product on dry hair as in this case, too much product can result in greasy looking hair.

Pros

Great packaging

Lightweight and non-greasy

Gives hair great shine

Makes hair feel soft

Cons

Pricey at ~ £26/ 113g tub (though this product has lasted me ages)
Packaging makes it more difficult to take on travels

Korean Beauty: Peripera Review

Hi everyone, hope you're all having a brilliant start to the new year. Mine has been pretty good but extremely stressful. I've been so stressed and worried about things that my sleep is suffering, I'm not eating healthily and my skin isn't looking great. So part of my New Year's Resolution would be to not stress too much, get plenty of sleep and eat healthily.

I recently came across a Korean brand called Peripera. I'm terrible in that I judged this product by it's name and wasn't too impressed with it (it reminds me of Para Para, a plant in the Amazon that is used to cure erectile dysfuntion.) But then I read rave reviews on these products and decided to give them a try. I'm so glad I did as I have extremely happy with my purchase!

I bought the Peripera products from Prettyandcute. First up is the Peripera Wonder Talk Lip Balm in Wonder Red. The packaging is really fun and it comes with an interesting applicator (the pink think stuck onto the side). The applicator sticks to the lip balm tub magnetically, which is handy or else I would have lost it already. Applicator may look funny, but it applies the lip balm really well and prevents sticky fingers and badly applied balm on the lips. Although I did get entremely funny looks from my husband and in-laws with them actually asking 'What ARE you doing?'

The colour of this lip balm is a sweet cherry red. It applies sheer on the lips, though colour pigmentation is actually quite good for a lip balm. With heavy application lips can actually look a bit red.

The lip balm has a semi-sweet, light, fruity scent. It feels a tiny bit tingly on the lips, a bit the the sensation you get with fresh mint. It does not feel sticky at all, and the texture is definitely more of a balm than a gloss. It also gives the lips a slight shine. Here's the product on my lips with just one light layer. It looks nice and natural yet giving me slight rosy red lips which makes me look a little bit healthier (I look a bit ill with a nude lip).

Next up is the Peripera Smile Fit Blusher in Rose Pink (no.3)

I love the lace pattern on the packaging. Really cute. It comes with a portable brush in a separate compartment underneath the blush.

I'm impressed of the quality of the brush. I prefer it to a lot of brushes which comes in the palette of luxury brands (Chanel in particular). The brush is lovely and soft. The bristles are packed dense, and feels silky soft on the skin.

The blush itself looks a tad brighter pink than in the picture above. On the skin it's a bright, yet soft pink. I especially like this blush as it brightens up my whole complexion nicely.It gives the skin a nice 'soft focus' glow and gives the impression that my skin is a whole lot nicer than it actually is! This is the first blush I've come across that does this.

I'll end with a pic of a recent FOTD that featured both the blush and lip balm to give you an opportunity to see what it looks like in vivo.