Author: brightandbeautyfull

Day Cream v Night Cream: Ah Ha!

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

Sometimes the stars align, and synchronicity engages, and you’ve just blogged about something, and then you go to a presentation that very evening, and the expert lady addresses the very issue that you had been pondering!

Or: the issue is a fairly common talking point, so NBD.

Either way, on the evening of the day that I had posted this, I went to the Dylan Hotel for a presentation hosted by Dermalogica, and given by Sally Penford of the International Dermal Institute. Sally is an independent skin professional, so wasn’t there to flog the brand {which hardly needs flogging, in fairness} but to address several common assumptions one makes about skin care and the use of product.

Imagine my surprise when we got to the question regarding whether or not everyone should use a night cream. And the answer is… Continue reading →

Update: Avon ANEW Clinical Resurfacing Expert Smoothing Fluid

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

I had two treatments after I began testing Avon‘s professional-style exfoliating, microdermabrasing fluid, so I felt like I couldn’t really tell what was going on with my skin.

Additionally, even though I have the hide of a rhino, I didn’t want to be piling on all manner of potions on, because who knew what was working and what was not?

Nevertheless, I do have a few things to say {shock! horror!}, and they are:

> That stopper, there in the cap? I think it has  mind of its own, which is all to the good. No matter how much product I tried to pump into the cap, it only dispensed like, a drop and a half. Which is really all you need. And the directions say as much. But who uses only what they need? Huh? Who? Not me, because if one drop is good, then six must be amazing! Uh, no. And since this really is pro-style, I don’t think using more of something this active is a good idea.

>How do I know it’s active? It makes my face itch. Not in a bad way! In a Hey! I think this is working! way. In the way your skin responds to treatments. That way. Frankly, this is why I stopped using it during the two weeks of many treatments, because it felt as intense {in a good way!} as the product used in the salons.

Hmm, I thought I had more to say. Guess not! Oh: you can use this day or night, and I’m not sure which is best. Use it on fresh, rejuvenated skin in the morning? Or slough off those dead skin cells in your sleep? Obviously I’ll have to give both a try. As ever, will let you know!

Feet are Gross

/ brightandbeautyfull / 6 Comments

That’s just my opinion. Or maybe it’s just mine that are. No, actually, I think your feet are gross, too — sorry!

I have whatever is the opposite of a foot fetish. A foot revulsion. Since I was waxing lyrical on NY manis, I feel I have to talk about the pedis, too. God bless those ladies, the ladies who work on feet. I would rather dig a ditch than scrape nasty old dead skin off of someone’s heel.

Last March, I got a fish pedicure, on a Groupon thingie, and I sweartagod, my feet are still in fairly good nick almost one year later. Or maybe they are not, and since I am so grossed out by them, I haven’t looked too closely.

Allowing dead skin to build up all over again is just the nasty cherry on top of the disgusting sundae, so I bit the bullet and fired up the Emjoi Micro-Pedi. I have had all manner of scrapers at my disposal, from diamond files to things that looked like cheese graters, and I have been pleased by none of them. The little machine runs on 2 AA batteries, which power the roller <— which comes in a coarse, and an extra coarse grade. You can’t hurt yourself with it as it stops itself if it is held too close against the skin, like, you’re not going to scrape done to bone. It also claims to be easy to clean — the files are never easy to clean, the skin just piles up and piles up on the surface, and again: gross.

If you hate feet too, don’t continue after the jump. Continue reading →

Day Cream v Night Cream: Eh… Hmmm?

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

A short time ago, I wondered: what is the point of using a day cream and a night cream? Musings may be found here.

And if you don’t feel like back-tracking, these are the three duos that I’ve been testing for the last while:

>Ziaja Rose Butter Anti-aging Moisturiser and Night Cream (€6.99 each)
>Renovage (for Aldi) Protective Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night Cream (€9.99 each)
>Clarins Extra-Firming Day and Extra-Firming Night (€67/€71)

Well, on the most simplistic level, texturally I simply couldn’t tell the difference between the any of the twos. Maybe I’m not supposed to feel a difference, but I think I should — I really do! I feel like maybe the night cream should be thicker and richer or something. If one is only for day, and one is only for night, there should be a marked difference, right? No? <— That only adds to the whole WTF of the whole situation.

I am, in part, tired of being ‘told’ that I need a million and one things to comprise my regime, even though I love my regime. So contradictory! But seriously, I have felt, in the past, that I get more action from a serum, say, than I do from even a daily moisturiser — EVEN THOUGH I am supposed to use both.

But having said all that…

Both the Ziaja and the Renovage were pretty good, considering the price. I am a great believer in getting what you pay for, and in general, high quality for low price is a pipe dream. The former wasn’t too too rosy, and the latter wasn’t as overly scented as many of Aldi’s offerings can be. There was not much of a difference between the two, nor between the creams within the pairs, but I would give the Renovage higher marks, mainly because the packaging is more substantial. The Ziaja tubs are plastic, and okay, for €6.99 you’re going to get diamond-encrusted crystal, but still.

Now. Okay, look, I know, know, if you buy both the Clarins products, that is €138. Holy smoke. I know! But remember what we learned at Skintime? The bittiest, littlest amount of product can go for miles, if you apply it correctly. According to Skintime, a mere pea-sized scoop massaged between the palms and then applied to the face does the job. I have been doing this since I had my session, and it works a treat. I use less product, so that what I have will last much longer.

So if you invest in the Clarins, you know you’ll get good mileage out of it. Because? I have to say, this is the one I felt was the most effective, and had the most convincing night cream {despite the texture issue.} On the mornings I awoke after having used this, I felt like my face was… well-rested? Refreshed. Yeah, that’s it: refreshed to a degree that I didn’t feel with the others.

I don’t know, I think routine, and the comfort therein, has a lot to do with this as well. As does aroma and, yes, dammit —> texture! I’m going to keep my eye on this topic, and the next duo I get is going to be put through its paces. Because even though I am kind of convinced, I am not wholly convinced.

Manky Nails: 2012…

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

…is looking much like 2011. And every year before that.

I rarely get homesick for Amerikay, but when I do, it’s for family, friends, and manicures. $10 manicures on my lunch hour. $30 mani-pedi Mon-Weds. I just heaved a massive sigh.

I used to get a manicure a week. Once. A. Week. I can’t even imagine. I certainly don’t bother here — and before you get all INP on me, I’ve gotten manis in Dublin, Paris and London and they have all sucked. NYC baybee — and Manhattan in particular, because even the Brooklyn manicures are rubbish.

I am still applying the Mavala Cuticle Oil, and it peels them off like a mofo. I can’t understand why it doesn’t even seem to end, though. I mean, I know that there will always be skin around my nails, but this seems ridic, like I get one day of smooth and then it’s all crap again.

I have been remiss as regards the OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener, and I know that’s on me. I’m even sitting here this very second, as I type, looking at it but not picking it up and using it. Hopeless.

One thing I have been procrastinating about is trying out the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I had taken a set out of the packaging and looked at them before Christmas, even held one up against a thumbnail, and then decided to bring them with on my hols… and then I figured, I’ll just get a real manicure, so they never even made it out of my case. And I didn’t get a real mani either.

I do believe I am entirely apathetic about the state of my fingernails.

Despite having come to this conclusion, I decided to give these a go.

At left, the carnage.

You get a wee nail file, an orange stick, and two packs of nail strips, all sized to fit the variety of your fingers. I took up a thumbnail strip, peeled off the protective plastic and stuck it to my nail… but it didn’t stay stuck… so I tried another… no joy. WTF?

Then I figured that using the strips that had been sitting around in the open air since before Christmas was a bust. I reckon this is like leaving the cap off your nail varnish bottle for almost two months and expecting everything to be a-ok?

Into the untouched pack, and eureka, it works! Well, it sticks to the nail, anyway. I Had a whole bunch of excess hanging over my nail bed, that I kind of poked at until it peeled off. You are directed to file away the extra bits at the top, which totally did not work, so I cut most of it off, and then wrapped some of said extra over the top of my nail.

Yeah? Okay. Less muss, a bit more fuss, but that looks pretty good, except you can’t see the raggedy edge on the right side of my nail. LOVE the pattern, and I’m keen to see if this makes it through horseriding tonight — hmm, this maybe why I have relegated nail care to the basement of my House of Beauty. The gloves make a mess of everything but shellac. Once, I tried to preserve a Verrrrry Expensive mani I got in Harrods, and rode without gloves one lesson, and the varnish still chipped anyway.

You know, I am such a lazy bones I may not even finish this hand? Because then I’d have to do the other hand. Like, one nail is kind of funky, but only five out of ten fingers? I don’t know if I can pull that off.

I’ve done a swing around the ‘net, and everybody is better at this nail thing than me. Go here for evidence of how someone who is not crap at their nails does a nice job with these. SAD FACE.

€8.95/£7.50/$9.99

From the Archives: Stylin’ Hair

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

I admit, I feel somewhat lost without another ♥Day post to write. And also: relieved. Sheesh, that was crazy, remind me not to do that next year.

I’m in the process of winnowing, and faced with my multitude of hair styling products, I thought the best thing to do would be to consult my own archive, and lo, here is a linkety link to an Evening Herald Tried & Tested column.

Hmmm. Only two of these are still in rotation, which makes me feel hopeful about my ability to streamline. After you read the reviews, can you guess which two? I was surprised, myself…

♥Day: If I was Your Boyfriend, Etc, Etc

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Oh holy niiiiiight, is this not over yet?

In my personal experience, a special nightie on the special night is always a gift For Him. LIDL are doing a line in Satin Negligees for €5.99. At that price, you can have a bodice-ripping good time. Just me?

Another option is the use of Friday’s Veuve Monsigny Premier Cru Champagne from Aldi, which is not gender specific. As far as I know? Dudes like the bubbles, too, right?

If your fella likes to look after his skin, Clarin’s are doing an excellent promotion, because you get a gift, too. If you buy a Beauty Flash Balm Gift Set (€35.58) you get a free Clarins Men’s gift for him (this offer is available at all good chemists.) Or! Buy two products from the Clarins Men’s skincare range, maybe the Super Moisture Gel and/or the Super Moisture Balm and get a bonus gift for yourself (this offer happens in all good departments stores.)

There’s a whole bunch of good stuff on hand in Debenham’s: Marc Jacobs, who is a personal fave of mine, has a new cologne by called Bang Bang (€52.14), which is mostly sandalwood-y and musky, and there’s a John Rocha Manicure Set (€31). All the necessary tools are contained in a brown leather kit; you may like for yourself, at the end of the day.

I don’t know… Dudes I knew were always happy enough to get a CD, or I would ask them what thing they wanted. Such things were rarely red, or heart-y. Or I’d swing by Ann Summers and get something dirty, but silly.

They all liked getting cards, though? Real ones, not the ones from the internet. I think dudes are pretty easy as far as this goes. I don’t know, I think I am being sexist in every single way possible: that gals are the only ones who care, and the guys just play along, thereby stomping all over the lads with the loving natures and making the ladies all gimme, gimme… And I think this is where the whole ♥Day thing gets such a bad rap, this manufacturing of ‘Romance’ and it has to be such a big deal, and everybody is grumpy.

Eh, who knows your fella better than you do? Not me, for sure… but the Marc Jacobs stuff is really delish.

What Have We Here, Jo Malone?

/ brightandbeautyfull / 2 Comments

Having only just rapturised about the Jo Malone Red Rose Home Candles, I have been presented with this:

Hmm, interesting! The elegant box, a signature of the brand, has had its colours swapped: black box instead of cream, with cream accents and cream-coloured ribbon… Is this a new thing?

Yup, sure is. The Jo Malone Home Collection launches in April of this year, and I should probably be waiting to write about it, but I simply can’t contain myself.

I love home stuff, and when I’m in the US, I could watch HGTV for hours and hours and hours {and do.} I already love JM candles, as I’ve said, so the addition of anything to this line is going to make me want to curl up on the sofa and breath in the scent-y goodness.

Okay, I’m looking at the list of new elements in the range, and may wait to revisit closer to the time, but look at these!

These are the Limited Edition Scent Surround™ Sachets (€25/£20), three to a gorgeously designed box, and are infused with the world famous Lime Basil & Mandarin scent. I used to do a line in lavender sachets, which was a bit matronly, but I don’t know, I read it in a book or something, and there weren’t any real alternatives. Now, though! I can lash one of these in the knickers drawer and just exult in my LB&M scented pants.

The Scent Surround™ line also includes Limited Edition Drawer Liners, Room Sprays, and the thing I am most dying to test, the Diffuser. It’s one of those things, with the sticks? Only in LB&M, Red Roses and Pomegranate Noir.

Since I’m moving house, I’ll be saving all this up for when I get settled in. I think they will go some way to helping me nest in even faster than usual.

 

♥Day: Eating and Drinking

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

If I liked to bake, these would be the best thing ever:

How cute? Seriously. And how delicious? Honestly, Aldi, could you be any cleverer? And at €4.99 each, could you be any better value?

The Valentine Bakeware could arguably used for many a holiday, but naturally it is perfect for next week’s ‘holiday’. You can whip up a bunch of tiny hearts with the Silicone Heart Muffin Tray, or go for it in a big way with the Silicone Heart Cake Mould. The former is perfect for treating friends and colleagues; the latter, of course, for your more private celebrations.

Too bad I hate to bake! It’s so dusty, what with all that flour getting all over the place! Even cake mixes, like Betty Crocker, give me pain and annoyance. The mixing, the eggs, ugh, hate it. Cakes are not as bad as cookies/biscuits, which are just an endless trial to the patience: so many batches, and then what if you have to frost them?

So, in lieu of baking, I’ll be drinking, ta very much. Also on offer at Aldi are bottles of Veuve Monsigny Premier Cru Champagne, €22.99. I love bubbles as deeply as I loathe baking, so it was no hardship for me to tuck this in the fridge and wait for the chilly time.

It’s delicious! Oh, and the thing where you put a teaspoon in the neck of the bottle, to keep it bubbly? Works every time. Not for, like ever, but who wants to hoard a bottle of champers? Not me!

Yes, You Do Need to Use a Foundation Brush

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Yesterday, at a launch for Benefit’s new Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation {more about this anon}, their Head Make Up and Trend Artist, the vivacious Lisa Potter-Dixon, demonstrated the need for the foundation brush.

I have only once or twice bothered with such, and I’m all like, what, are my fingers broken? All assembled were given a compelling demonstration as to why a brush is a good idea.

Fingers are dodgy, covered in germs, and also: absorbent. Using a mirror, Lisa swept some on its surface with her fingers, and hmmm, streaky.

Cosmetics sponges are not much better, as we were shown. Most of the foundation was sucked up by the sponge, and in fact, seemed to be taking it off the mirror as soon as it was spread on it. Okaaay…

The brush, however, created an opaque and, well, flawless finish. As Lisa smoothed the make up on the mirror, there was collective ‘Ahhh!’ and several other expostulations. For a roomful of well-educated, seen-it-all beauty journos, that’s saying something. But then, a direct, no-fuss, straightforward Demo of Truth is always gonna work.

So there she is, the latest addition to my grooming routine. I sigh. Why? Another thing to forget to clean? Another thing to fret about packing? Sure, we’ll see how we got on, but I suppose once I get used to it, I won’t even know the difference…

€27.50/£19.50/$24