A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Who knew that I’d been wasting all this time worrying about how my face looks, spending hundreds upon hundreds of pounds in an effort to soften my skin, zap my zits, and plump up my wrinkles when really… I should have focused on what was happening down below.

Fanny facials.

No, don’t laugh… this is serious business.  THIS is why you’re not sleeping properly at night, you have been neglecting your foof in the most heinous of ways.

Except, don’t be walking into the Ministry of Waxing and asking for a fanny facial, that term is just between you and me… heaven knows, you wouldn’t half look silly.  No, what you need to be demanding for your va-jay-jay is a Brazilian Facial.  Much classier don’t you think?

I am reliably informed that should you wish to pamper your poon, this can also be done immediately after a hair-removal session… a wax and polish if you will.  Convenient.

So, what the heck happens during a Brazilian Facial?  Well, the procedure delivers a full cleanse, exfoliation, and massage to your most delicate area, which will help treat any ingrown hairs, acne problems, moisturise dehydrated skin, and brighten dullness.  Because, let’s face it… who doesn’t want a flashy flange?  (you KNOW I’m loving writing this don’t you).

“Honey! I spent all afternoon in the salon… do you notice anything different about me?”

A Brazilian Facial costs £50 and is available from the Ministry of Waxing, Floral Street, Covent Garden.  To learn more, log on to ministryofwaxing.com

When it comes down to it, most body scrubs are pretty low-tech.  A DIY recipe generally involves little more than a simple pairing of an abrasive ingredient with a moisturising agent, et voila!  Body scrub.

It’s all about the exfoliation.

That unmistakable pleasure/pain(!) of scrubbing your skin and physically sloughing off the dead skin cells that clog the surface layer whilst removing grease and other impurities.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  And let’s not forget some of the other benefits of exfoliation which include prepping your skin to welcome moisturiser, self-tan, and masks whilst an increased blood circulation brings a healthy glow to some oft’ neglected areas.

While there are truly limitless moisturising agents available in which to suspend those wonderful exfoliating particles… it’s the hard-working scrubby bits that I’m talking about today.  In particular, the two most commonly found abrasives.

Salt and Sugar.

Salt vs. Sugar

Perhaps you’ve never even considered why you might choose one ingredient over the other.  What are the differences between them and why should you even care?

Read on, and I’ll tell you all you need to know for the next time you’re thinking of making a purchase…

Salt vs Sugar

The major difference between the two is simple; scrubbiness.

Salt is more abrasive and dissolves more slowly than sugar when it comes into contact with water.  Salt is usually the preffered ingredient in scrubs marketed toward a male consumer as it’s presumed that our menfolk prefer a more vigourous scrub!  And because of its slow-dissolving nature, it’s also the scrub ingredient of choice in many spas and other professional places that offer treatments involving manual exfoliation.

Some salts – such as Himalayan and Dead Sea Salt – are also revered for their “healing” properties thanks to a particularly high mineral content.  These are generally considered to have greater therapeutic properties than their sugar counterparts and as a result can be more expensive to incorporate into a finished product.

Salt scrubs should never be used on the face, or indeed any delicate part of the body.  However, feel free to go crazy with them on calloused feet and enjoy stepping out in sandals again with confidence.

Four lovely sugar and salt-based body scrubs to get your skin glowing!

SALT

Elemis Sp@ Home Frangipani Monoi Salt Glow* (£36.50, timetospa.co.uk)

Soap & Glory Flake Away (£7.50, boots.com)

SUGAR

Organic Surge Million Dollar Brown Sugar Body Polish* (£32 £8 on sale!, organicsurge.com)

Marshmallow Blends Lemon Sherbet Sugar Scrub Cubes* (£6, marshamallowblends.co.uk)

Sugar vs Salt

If like me, you’re a more sensitive soul… sugar scrubs will still give you a great manual exfoliation, sloughing away rough skin and leaving behind a smooth surface that begs to be stroked!  Not only is sugar less abrasive than its salty counterpart but it also reacts more kindly to any shaving cuts you may have accrued on your legs, salt stings!

You may also find that during application, sugar scrubs are a little easier to tame.  Salt-based scrubs tend to have less “stick” to the skin… particularly if the salt to base ratio is high.  Sugar, by its very nature, is a lot “stickier” and easier to work into the skin for some hardcore body-pampering.

When all is said and done, the difference between salt and sugar mostly comes down to personal choice and how sensitive your skin is to begin with.  Me?  I adore the therapeutic properties of a good old-fashioned bath salt but I prefer my scrubs to be a little sweeter!

Do you have a preference between sugar or salt-based crubs?

* press sample

There’s something quite exciting about purchasing from indie retailers, when a product isn’t mass-produced and picked from the supermarket shelves you can feel a greater connection with it somehow.

The owner of Marshmallow Blends, Nicoletta is also a beauty blogger… so if anyone knows what we want for our bathtime treats, she’d be pretty high up the list!

A few weeks ago, she sent me a few bits* from her store and today, I’m sharing my two favourites with you.  One in particular, is a knockout and will be a repurchase.  I’ll even let her hold me to that!

First up is Marshmallow Blend’s Lemon Biscotti Cupcake Soap (£4.50) which looks as much like a traditional bar of soap as I do, Kate Moss.  In it’s ridiculously cute, not-entirely-practical (but who cares) form of a cupcake, it would appeal to most everyone with a sweet tooth.  My daughter adores it and has claimed it as her own.  It has a slight dusting of glitter on-top which I thought might be a bit of a pain in the backside but thankfully disperses after the first use.

The lather is rich and the scent, divine.  It’s not a lively, lemony aroma but a warmed up, fresh from the oven scent with more than a passing nod to some rather-cakey almond smells, not unlike a quitened frangipane!

You can see that the packaging is perfect for gifting and I don’t know a single girl who wouldn’t consider this a lovely gift to receive.  Would be utterly perfect for end-of-year teacher’s presents actually.

The other product that I wanted to talk about today are the contents of this tin.  I’m crazy about it, let me tell you why…

I’m a bit funny about scrubs, a little bit squeamish if you will…  I don’t very much like the sensation of putting my hand into a pot of sugary/salty goo and scooping out a hand-full.  It’s a messy business as you try to juggle the contents of your palm under the shower as the “goo” slips between your fingers and down the plughole before you’ve even gotten it near your body.  Then you’re left digging out granules from under your nails while the water runs cold.  You get the picture.

Marshmallow Blend’s Lemon Sherbet Sugar Scrub Cubes (£6) is one of the best lemon-scented body-care products I’ve ever encountered.  If you like The Body Shop’s lemon range (which is also a nice interpretation of the scent), I implore you to try these.  As a body scrub, they’re pretty much perfect.  They hold their shape when you run a cube over your limbs, softening under the warmth of your touch without giving up completely!  The scent is super-uplifting and zingy without being artificial, it’s a true “happy” scent that goes a very long way to improving your mood on a Monday morning.  I would love to see Marshmallow Blends offer these cubes in more scents.

On the subject of scents, most of the “flavours” available on the website lean towards the gourmand… it would be good to see a little more diversity, less cream more earthiness please!

I expected Nicoletta’s creations to be nice-enough but I’m pleasantly surprised by just how good and (for want of a better word), robust these offerings are.

* press sample

I’m all for spending a little extra time in bed, I can clearly remember my early morning pleas of “just five more minutes Dad?” each morning before school.  How heavenly it is to know that you have full permission to hit the snooze button.

Well, heads up!  Nivea have recently released an in-shower body moisturiser that should definitely go some way to granting your wish.  It’s an allover body conditioner in cream form that you apply whilst in the shower (although not whilst stood under running water, that would be stoop) and rinse off before grabbing your towel.  It’s not a novel idea, LUSH have already done the whole in-shower body moisturising thang with their Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner (one of my fav bodycare products, ever) and let’s face it… there are numerous in-shower body oils on the market already… but… and it’s a big but…

The Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser is likely to be the most budget-friendly of any in-shower moisturising product you’ll come across this year.  They’ve taken a great idea and modified it for the masses.  And who doesn’t want a bit of that?

But the question is, is it any good?

Well… yes and no.

Yes, it’s convenient, saves a bit of time in the mornings and it smells comfortingly Nivea-ish.  At £2.56, it’s nice and cheap and comes in sensible packaging that doesn’t skimp on the quantity.  It’s a solid offering from a brand that regularly deliver good, no-nonsense bodycare products.

But, it’s just not moisturising enough on anything other than a superficial level (unlike the LUSH in-shower moisturiser).

When you apply the cream in the shower, it feels exactly like you’re rubbing in hair conditioner…. and you can feel it sitting on the surface of your skin, even after rinsing off.  I’m not saying the residue is a bad thing… it’s not.  It leaves skin feeling silky-smooth to the touch, even after drying.  You’ll likely purr to yourself as you stroke your legs.  But that’s as far as the moisturisation goes and as the day wears on, this superficial nourishment doesn’t hang around.

If you actually suffer from dry skin, in any way, shape or form… this is unlikely to be hydrating enough for your skin concerns.  In the winter, this simply wouldn’t last five-seconds on my scratchy shins.

But if you’re heading out for the evening, or simply want to feel all soft and silky for a limited time only… for the price-point, the Nivea option makes for a sound investment.

Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser is priced at around £2.56 for 250ml and is available instore and online at Boots.com and Superdrug.com

* press sample

You may or may not know this about me… but I suffer from Raynaud’s syndrome which basically means that you wouldn’t want to share a bed with me on a cold night.

I’ve always had “poor circulation”, I remember as a small child, my Nan used to wrap my feet up in the bottom of her long nightdress while we slept in an attempt to warm them up.  I’ve lived with cold feet all my life but things only started to get serious a couple of years ago when I noticed my fingers becoming numb in cold weather.

Numb fingers is no joke, it’s a really disconcerting feeling – not exactly painful (it’s when the feeling comes back that they hurt!) but you literally cannot concentrate on anything else while it’s happening.  A most unwelcome sensation.

I’ve learnt to combat the problem with my hands with some great avoidance tactics: gloves are an essential – lined leather or suede are unbeatable.  Warming my hands under the hot tap restores feeling quicker than anything and Mr. L retrieves things from the freezer for me.  As for the tootsies, well… being less accessible than your fingers presents a bit of a problem – also, continuous contact with the frosty ground is never an ideal situation.

If you suffer from cold feet and are feeling the big chill this winter, here are some products that might help thaw you out!

01: Body Essentials Warm Your Sole (£9.99) – A natural chilblain treatment with warming ginger to help improve circulation flow.  I massage a few drops of this into my feet after a bath and pull my bedsocks (#3) straight on for toasty night-time feet!

02: Carnation Pedi Roller (£5.49)* – While this curious device was designed to relieve the pain of Plantar Fasciitis, I use it to encourage sensation back into my feet when things get painful!  It seems to work well to encourage the blood flow… plus it’s kinda fun!

03: SockShop Heat Holders Thermal Socks (£6.00) – These simple-but-effective socks have made the biggest difference to my everyday dealings with Raynauds.  I buy mine at SportsDirect (2 pairs for £10) and although they’re bulkier than normal socks, they’re less cumbersome than welly socks and far, far warmer.  An amazing recommendation by the good people of Twitter!  I want a pair in every colour!

04: Gel Doctor Flosole (£14.95)* – These are great to have on standby if you know you’re going to be standing around in the cold for a considerable period of time.  Kid’s football matches, bonfire night parades, whatever the event – these gel-filled insoles can be pre-heated in warm water before slipping them inside your boots and allowing you to benefit from a long-lasting toasty sensation.  They also offer great cushioning between the soles of your feet and the hard ground below.

05: Microwaveable Slippers (£various) – Not the most practical things in the world (don’t try to walk in them!) but microwaveable slippers are great for slipping on when you’re sat at the computer or relaxing on the sofa.  Just don’t overheat them and burn your feet, ouch!

06: Carnation SilverSock (£9.54)* – Made with pure silver fibre, the Carnation SilverSocks are designed to let your feet breathe whilst keeping them warm in winter and cool in the summer, they work well for me when thicker socks just won’t do.  I also wear these when I’m out exercising… my lame attempts at running made slightly more bearable (and less stinky) by anti-bacterial beauties!

Do you suffer from super cold-feet in the Winter?  Have any tips?

* press sample

Who says you need to spend oodles of money to smell like a goddess in the shower?

Yves Rocher’s Voile d’Ambre Shower Gel defies its (current) sub-£10 price tag and smells more like one of the department store fragrance flankers.  At £7-odd, I don’t use this daily… but it’s perfect for layering under your favourite oriental, woody perfumes and is a great scent choice for ushering in the colder weather.

I’m not going to review it like it’s a perfume… it’s a shower gel after all, and I can only hold a certain amount of excitement for shower gels regardless of how nice they are, but still… the amber in Voile d’Ambre isn’t overpowering but lasts beautifully on my skin.  I’m keen to explore the other shower gels, and perhaps even the perfumes in the Yves Rocher line – I’m glad I added this one to my recent order, it’s so nice to find a new brand (to me) to get my teeth stuck into!

Yves Rocher Voile d’Ambre Shower Gel is currently priced at £7.80 and is available to buy online in the UK from the Yves Rocher website.

So, with the adult testing done and dusted… Lush’s new FUN bars had yet to inspire a huge amount of whooping, or any of the sort of revelry you’d expect from something billed as, well… so. much. FUN.

It was time to get serious and put these curious blobs to the ultimate test.

Leila is pretty hard to please: “But this is BORINGGGG!” being her most used expression this week.  I could practically see the little green bar sweating in its biodegradeable wrapper, readying itself for the ultimate small-child test.  We broke off about a quarter of the packet and Leila looked at it expectantly.

The wetter it gets, the squishier it gets… the squishier it gets, the more bubbles it releases… the more bubbles it releases, the greener the water gets… and so on…

Leila even washed her hair with it, but only after I’d reassured her that it wasn’t going to make her hair go green.  Much. (it didn’t really make her hair go green, the picture below is of me telling her that her hair is green – bad Mum!)

All in all, she had more fun with it than us adults but she’s a total Lushie anyway (favourites being: The Godmother soap, Mmmelting Marshmallow Moment, Karma Bath Melt, and The Comforter).  I was surprised to see that there was still almost half of what we’d broken off remaining, despite Leila having given it a total pummeling – I’d describe these as longer-lasting bubble bars although the scents aren’t quite as full-on (possibly a good thing?!)

Not that this appeared to bother my little bathing belle.  Or, demonic-looking diva as the photo below TOTALLY proves.  Talking of divas…she has already lined up the remaining bars in the order that she’s planning on using them over the coming weeks.

LUSH Fun?  Well… she thought so!

LUSH FUN is available to buy instore and online at lush.co.uk, priced at £5.00 per bar (you should be able to get around 4/5 baths per bar) and 10p from each sale of FUN goes to help children affected by the Fukushima disaster.

* press sample

In honour of the 1st anniversary of their not-so-new-anymore beauty hall – which by the way – is amazing, iconic London store Liberty have launched their own range of body-beautiful products in the form of: a hand wash, body wash, hand lotion, and a body lotion.  For a company where good design is so fundamental, you’d expect nothing less but for the range to look as great as it smells!

Liberty have chosen some quintessentially British garden-scents to infuse their new range, including: Geranium, Lavender, and Rose.  I personally love the tangy, slightly peppery scent of Geranium and think it’s a much under-used lead fragrance in body products, so I’m interested to discover which variety of the plant has made its way into the bottle.  I used to have a “lemon fizz” geranium that I’d purposefully brush past (a little roughly at times!) just to transfer some of the scent onto my clothes!

The range promises a long-lasting fragrance with non-greasy lotions that absorb easily.  As for the packaging?  The labels have been designed by the Liberty Graphics team and incorporate a reworked version of the classic Liberty print Claire-Aude, an abstract floral which was designed for Liberty in 1975.

Prices start from £18 and are available to buy online and instore now. 

I am such a sucker for a posh hand wash.

Just before our big move, I headed to London for a very good friend of mine’s nuptuals… well, that and a couple of sneaky press events while she wasn’t looking.  One of which was the (re)launch of Neal’s Yard Remedies Bee Lovely campaign which introduces an entire range of bee-inspired bodycare goodies to the brand’s lineup.  These treats all share the moisturising properties of organic honey and the energising uplift of orange and mandarin essential oils.

5% of the RRP of every Bee Lovely product will be donated to a charity or good cause and the brand encourage you to sign their petition to encourage the UK government to ban the use of neonicotinoids in an attempt to help save the bee population from further devastation.

I haven’t tried the new range myself, but I did get to have a big sniff whilst at the event and if you love your body products with a zingy, citrusy-honeymonster twist, you’ll never leave the bathroom again once you get a whiff of these.

Neals Yard Remedies Bee Lovely Collection is available to buy instore and online now, prices start at £6.50

Small portions at restaurants, a child that can’t complete a sentence without repeating the word “Mummy” over and over before getting to her point, and body lotion that slides ineffectually over my skin for all eternity without actually sinking in.  These are the kind of things that get on my tits daily.

E45 have released a trio of new body creams that dodge my irritation-o-meter, they’re light, pleasantly slippy, cooling on the skin and quick to absorb.

The three varieties are best suited to normal/dry skins as a daily moisturiser, if you’re looking for something more nourishing for brillo-pad elbows and shins, look elsewhere in the range for heavier formulas.  My favourite of the three and the one that I’m classing as my “inexpensive beauty find” is the E45 Silky Radiance Body Lotion* (the one on the far right in the above picture).

This is going to be a particularly good choice for the summer months as it contains a really subtle shimmer that makes you look all glowy and healthy.  I can’t even emphasise just how crucial it is to have shimmery limbs right now – I mean, I can’t turn on the telly without being blinded by some s’lebs shiny legs and this is a far more appealing version which doesn’t like you’ve rolled around in the butter dish.

E45 Silky Radiance Body Lotion is available to buy instore and online at Boots.com, priced at £3.99 (also available from Supermarkets and the usual places)

* press sample

I’m not a body lotion type person but I have about four bottles open, each at various stages of emptiness… I slather them on and wander aimlessly across the landing and back, waiting for the icky feeling to subside.  I have to use them because underneath my skin, I have scales.  After showering, the water seemingly dissolves the upper epidermis leaving me feeling more horny toad than supple and soft.

The worst bits are typically in those hard to reach areas, namely that horizontal line that connects both shoulder blades.  As the water evaporates, my skin tightens and I feel a familiar tingle that has me running for the body cremes.  When I say “me”, I actually mean Mr. L… I’ve already said that I can’t reach.  It’s a daily ritual… and one that I’m very grateful that I have a husband to help me with.  I’m so high maintenance.

Enter LUSH’s latest innovation, Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner*.

Taking the hair conditioner theory and applying it to the skin, it’s basically a tub of sweet-smelling, oil-infused skin conditioner that you smear over your body after washing, then rinse off prior to stepping out of the shower.  Towel dry your skin gently and you’ll feel as if you’ve just smothered yourself in a rich body creme.  And unlike last year’s innovation, Toothy Tabs… I’m a massive fan.

A). It smells completely delicious, like a mixture of cocoa butter and roses… truly edible.

B).  It really works.

It feels odd on the skin whilst you’re still in the shower, like you’ve just waterproofed your skin with a slather of grease to be honest.  Deliciously-scented but lardy nonetheless.   As I patted my skin dry with the towel, it felt simply amazing and still does, sitting here 5 hours later. *strokes arms*

A little goes a very long way and the trick is to increase its ‘spreadability’, work with a small amount and don’t be afraid to really eke it out over the skin’s surface.  It’s generously rich in oils and although some parts may feel like you have more product on than others, have faith that you’ve done a good job in spreading the conditioner.  It’s not the cheapest outlay but it will easily last twice as long as my regular body moisturisers PLUS, I don’t have to stand around shivering as I wait for it to sink in!

LUSH Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner is priced at £15.50 for 225g and I highly recommend it for post-shower lizard people.

* press sample

Elemis fans, gather round – I have a great gift-with-purchase to tell you about occurring during May and it’s worth upto £89, yes really!

From the 10th – 27th May, the British brand are running a national GWP which will be available through their Debenhams, John Lewis and Harvey Nichols counters, and it goes something like this…

Buy any 2 full-size Elemis products and choose FOUR complimentary travel-sized Elemis fan-favourites from a selection of EIGHT.  Elemis travel-sized products are generally pretty generous on the sizing and I’m peering at that picture above to see what’s on the list!

Elemis Soothing Apricot Toner (50ml)
Elemis Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash (50ml)
Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream (15ml)
Elemis Pro-Collagen Lifting Treatment (15ml)
Elemis Pr0-Collagen Quartz Lift Serum (10ml)
Elemis Tranquil Touch Creamy Body Wash (100ml)
Elemis Pro-Collagen Body Cream (50ml)
Elemis Quiet Mind Relaxing Bath Elixir (100ml)

You also get the grey cotton cosmetic bag to go with it.

If you’re not sure which products you should choose from the eight on offer, the therapists on counter have been briefed to offer some tailored guidance over which would suit your skin type.  If it were me?  I’d totes hit up the best bang for my buck ‘cos I’m mercenary like that and plump for the pro-collagen range.

To find your nearest participating Elemis counter, click here.

Which four products would you choose?