The Day Cream v Night Cream Debate Continues

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Or is it, in fact, concluded? The lads at Human+Kind have developed an All-in-one Day+Night Cream, a super-hydrating, double-dipping, wear-it-all-day-and-night-long concoction that makes having a million and one products in your bathroom superfluous.

{I like having a million and one products in my bathroom.}

Back in February, I had gone on record, wondering if it was actually necessary to use both a day cream and a night cream. Two days later, I posted a response to my own query, thanks to a talk given by Sally Penford of the International Dermal Institute. Okay, thought I, I will carry on observing the day v night divide…

And then this landed on my desk. Now, I have been using, to excellent effect, this brand’s Anti-Ageing Cream, at night, and I’ve been pretty darn pleased. I’m willing to give this a go, though, and will let you know how my skin reacts to it. At €23.95, this is great value, but we’ll see how quickly I use it up, given that it’s going to be in service twice a day.

And on a graphic design-y note: the packaging! Gorgeous!

Also! Sneak preview of how at least one varnished nail survived horseriding!

Ooh, Let’s Try This, Too: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

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In Greige Gardens! This neutral purple-y grey is just lovely, and we’ll put it to the ‘horseriding glove test’, too.

<< In more evidence that I have A} freaky, awful nails and B} no dignity whatsoever, here’s a really creepy picture of me  trying to show you what this gorgeous colour looks like in the wild.

Well, that is hilariously awful, so here’s the actual bottle itself, so you can see how it is actually pretty.

What is going on with my palm? It’s looks so stretchy and gross! Half the pictures I take of my face don’t make it on here, which has nothing to do with dignity and everything to do with vanity. I don’t what is up with the iPhone camera lens, but it makes my nose look like I sup a bottle of whiskey every night, and then get into a fight: red and squashed.

I also received a bottle of Nude Now, which sounds like an order, and sorry but I’ve got stuff to do that requires clothing. I kid.

Anyway, we’ll see how I get on after this evening’s equine adventures. Fingers crossed for a good result, ha ha.

Both of these go for €8.95, and can be got at selected pharmacies, and department and grocery stores nationwide.

Let’s Try This: Catrice Cosmetics Ultimate Nail Lacquer

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I think we all know by now that I am not the best when it comes to nail care. I’ve been gazing longingly at the Catrice Cosmetics Nail Lacquer (pictured, from left: Sing: Oh Champs-Élysées and Karl Says Tres Chic) I received about a week ago, knowing that the beauty and promise that shines through the bottles will be all but wasted on my manky nails.

But did I do anything about said claws? Did I stroke my cuticles with oil? Did I dig out one of those nail buffers thingies and attend to the ridges? Did I even bother going a few rounds with a hand cream?

No, I did not. So, you know, unless I find a patron saint of manicures to whom I can pray, I really need to start participating in the rehabilitation of my fingernails.

I think I really do not have anything to work with, to be honest. I see other people’s blogs and am stricken with manicure-envy: everybody has beautiful nails except for meeeeeeeee —

Anyway, these little beauties are only two in a long line of striking colours, and at €2.49, you can treat yourself to many of them; see here for the extensive pallette.

See there for my left thumbnail, my fave nail varnish model. I received a Quick Dry & High Shine top coat as well, which helps with the ridgy-ness. I normally wouldn’t be a fan of the pale end of the spectrum, and frankly, if I’m going to take such lackadaisical care of my nails, I should become one: the lighter colours wear better in the long run, and look less bad when they start chipping, which for me is in, like, one minute.

Tonight is horseriding, and we’ll see how we go. It’s a stringent test, I know — the gloves are hell on the polish — but I am a tough, if lazy, customer. When I find the nail varnish that works for manky nails and my equine activities, you will be sure to hear about it. Might the Ultimate Nudes be the one? We shall see…

Haiku Review: L’Oréal Nude Magique BB Cream

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Gray, yet shiny cream
With an odd gritty texture?
Strange but true magique.

NO, SERIOUSLY. This BB cream stuff, how is this not merely tinted moisturiser*? I could google that, and I will, but for now, I would just like to say that this latest product from L’Oréal is actually magique.

Nude Magique BB Cream (€14/£9.99) doesn’t much look like it, though.

Yeesh. I don’t know, I thought it might look at least a little bit like a skin colour — a skin colour that was alive. The pearlescence gave me hope, though: it looked pretty, and I figured, well, some highlight-y primers have that kind of sheen. If worse came to worse, I could just put some foundation over top of it.

And it felt weird too, a little bit sandy, or something? The slightest bit of grit, not like a facial exfoliant, but there was definitely some sort of textural thing going on that I didn’t expect. These would be the Smart Pigment Capsules, which are the things that make the magic that occurs upon…

Application! I watched with wonder as the shiny, pearly cream turned into my skin tone, only better. I took some pictures, which I don’t know, are these at all helpful? I didn’t mess around in pshop {maybe I should have; brush your hair, Conley!}, so you can see how strangely unlike my skin the cream is, and then how well it blends to become a light and bright version of the colour of my face.

Eh, I don’t think this is as convincing as it should be, because this is a pretty incredible product. Please visit Lovely Girlie Bits for clearly superior photographic evidence of the efficacy of this jawn. This is perfect for those days when you absolutely cannot be bothered to do your full routine, but don’t want to go out there, well, nude.

I have gotten into the habit – a habit of a whole entire week — of lashing this on before horseriding, because of the SPF. It is great, because I get protection and perfection without looking like I some eejit putting on make up to go horseriding. I put some on yesterday, in fact, when I went showjumping and won my first rosette!

Was the Nude Magique my lucky charm?!?! Hmm, won’t go that far {and believe me, I could} but I will say that this will take up a permanent place in my notoriously fickle make up bag.

* Because, depending upon the brand, you get anti-aging, high SPF, even skin tone, moisturizing, sebum control from the BB, which you don’t get from the tinted moisturiser. So it’s like a treatment thing and a make up thing in one. Right, got it.

Origins Global ReLeaf: A Correction

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So that wee 50ml tube is actually not for sale, it was a promotional thing. But don’t let that stop you availing of this great thing, which again: a tree is planted in your name by Origins whenever you buy something from their A Perfect World franchise.

And remember, either a full-sized tub of A Perfect World Age-defense moisturiser with White Tea (worth €45.00/£32.00) or Starting Over Age-erasing Moisturiser with Mimosa (€50.00/£36.00) can be yours when you bring in an empty thingie of any other skin cream, from your local Origins counter, from 15-28 April! That is a genius treat!

I Fully Support This Initiative: Origins Global ReLeaf

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I think Earth Day is in April. Think? I can know that in a quick second — yes, that would be 22 April. Life without Google is simply not worth contemplating.

Origin are going one better, or 29 better, and have declared April 2012 to be Earth Month. I am digging this, and so will they: when you buy anything from their Perfect World™ line, the company will plant a tree on your behalf as part of their Global ReLeaf initiative.

That is excellent! I would very much like to have a dogwood planted on my behalf. One of the gardens in my new road has one, and it is gorgeous. Or maybe something majestic like an oak. Maybe I will just have to buy two products.

{I am quite sure that you can’t control the brand of tree they choose, so enough of that fanciful flight!}

I’ve been using the Antioxidant Moisturiser with White Tea* and have been liking it bunches. The thing with these lil’ tubes of Origin is that you think, Hmm, that tube is lil’, but you don’t need much to get excellently moisturising coverage. They sent me the new Origins A Perfect World™ BB SPF15 Age-defense Tinted Moisturizer with White Tea (€35.50/£27.00) which I am still in the process of forming an opinion about, and which is launching next week.

Opinion is fully formed re: planting trees. More of that, please.

Oh, also! Origin are holding a Trade-In Day in 21st April. If you bring in any empty skincare product (from any brand) you can trade it in for a complimentary full size of either Starting Over™ Age-erasing Moisturizer or A Perfect World™ SPF25 Age-Defense Moisturizer. Good deal!

*Will edit for prices when I get them. This may not have been launched yet, either.

In Which I Get Botox and Restalyne in My Face {VI}

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I realise that people are reading about my face, so it follows that it {my face} would be scrutinised like a map. Maps are things that make you frown, right? Frown in concentration, that is: you’re looking for where you are going, and your eyes get squinty, and your brow furrows, and your mouth turns down.

The people who are staring at my face are going to need Botox! And I am going to undo all the work if I don’t stop making faces at my face as well!

It’s getting on… two weeks since I got treated. There are bumpy bits that came up yesterday, near to my mouth, where the Restalyne was injected. Cue another meltdown, which didn’t last long because, really? I’ve had worse pimples in the centre of my forehead. After having exhausted myself emotionally in the first week or so, I realise that energy squandered in this direction is a waste of time.

Speaking of the centre of my forehead. Continue reading →

Speaking of God

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

No, really.

I’ve got all manner of things ranged across my desktop — the actual wooden surface of my desk, not the screen of my laptop — and one of the lot is Breath of God by Gorilla Perfume, which has been named one of the top 100 fragrances of all time.

No insult to the Deity, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.

It’s strong {not surprising, lol}, but when I first used it, I sprayed it alllll over myself, and had a headache by the end of the day. Right this second, I have sprayed the tiniest amount, half a pump {yes, it’s possible} on the pulse points at my wrist.

Simon Constantine, perfumer at Gorilla, devised this scent upon returning from a trip to Tibet. The main notes of the fragrance are neroli, lemon, melon, jasmine, rose, vetivert, sandalwood, cederwood, amber, and musk. {I am still on the lookout for those perfume lessons.} Anyway, to me, without having any fancy knowledge about this sort of thing, there seems to be a terrific elemental balance to this fragrance, and perfect balance of masculine and feminine. In fact, I would very much like to squirt a dude with this, I bet he would smell yum-my.

I am finding that the eeensy amount I’ve sprayed is just enough. Every time I scooch up my glasses or play with my ponytail — lost in thought — I get a whiff off my wrists and it’s lovely: fresh; a bit sharp; invigorating, but not in a pushy way. Or, as the crowd who wrote The Little Book of Perfumes: The 100 Classics put it:

Surreal combinations – lemon ham, grape leather, bubblegum tobacco, loquat vetiver – rise from its depths each time it comes to attention, hour after hour.

Whoa. Lemon ham? I wish I even knew how to smell like that. Wow.

This is very intense, and even now, some time post-spritz, this is making its presence felt in a different way, as mentioned above; rather than fading, it feels like it’s getting stronger. Which is weird. So, if you are looking for a scent that lasts for, well, an eternity, I can recommend this one without reservation.

€39/£32/$42.95 for 30g

Little Book of Perfumes: The 100 Classics (2011) by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez can be purchased at all usual online outlets. I’ve just wishlisted one myself…

A Confession

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I am really crap as regards SPF. Like, it’s probably in most of the stuff I use, but… if it’s not, it doesn’t even occur to me to supplement it.

Yesterday, on my way to horseriding, I met a lovey crowd of women from Image Skincare* who said, with confidence, that I must be swimming in SPF, because I am so often out of doors.

Uh, no, not really. Oops. Continue reading →