TREATMENTS

Catching Up as Regards Avon ANEW Clinical Resurfacing Expert Smoothing Fluid

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Okay! Posting like the wind, as I have a wedding {just the ceremony} and then a fancy ladies lunch {for a worthy cause: go here to read all about the Seachange Foundation’s microcredit scheme}, but I have not only been using the Avon ANEW Clinical Etc Etc {tired of typing that out!} but I have also been paying attention to what it is doing.

So, I used twice this week. Each time, I noticed two things:

A} I went into the loo to start the macquillage, and thought, Hmmm, my face is really red. Now, it could have been from the way I blow dry The Hair, which is, of course, upside down like a normal person. It could also be from the Avon Etc Etc. I’m going to use this once more time during the day, and if this ruddiness continues, I may switch to the night.

My face didn’t feel sore, or tingly, or like it was having a reaction that I could feel. It was just noticeable. But!

B} My face looks brighter. I found that I needed less foundation primer, because my skin was smoother, so what I was using was suddenly getting better coverage. Ditto the foundation itself. Since this is the way my face acts after its gotten a fancy facial, I am quite impressed.

I am finding the dropper to be awkward. It’s a sexy design, with the flat button on top, but it isn’t the best for drawing up the ever-so-slightly thick product.

Okay, gotta run! Have a great weekend! x

Four out of Five Senses: LUSH H’Suan Wen Hua

/ brightandbeautyfull / 4 Comments

Because I am not going to taste any class of beauty product, not even for you, beloved readers.

This is H’Suan Wen Hua Hair Treatment by LUSH.

It looks like this:

A bit like custard, only beige.

It’s got avocado in it, and balsamic vinegar, and watercress — a veritable salad for the hair. Apply it to dry locks before showering and let it do its intensive hydrating for twenty minutes.

It felt a bit light, which turned out to be a good thing, due to the amount of hair that sprouts out of my skull. There’s a lot to cover.

This is how much I used:

One third of the pot, not bad. Its lightness translated into excellent coverage, so that a little bit went all the way.

The smell? Slightly odd. Sort of like lapsang souchong tea — smoky, a little bacon-y, which I completely do not understand. There are eggs in this too, so maybe they are the culprit? Is it sulphur?

But, this is how my hair looked:

Shot in my favourite location, the back of the 46A.

Look, so shiiiiiny! And sleek, and the highlights, popping even more than they did the day I got them! Highly recommend, even with the odd fragrance.

And it felt crazy-soft, and still does, two days later.

I can hear you saying, Yeah, and the sense of hearing, Sue? I don’t know how to pronounce the name of this! So there. What’s it sound like to you?

Sounds like: if your hair needs a comprehensive conditioning, you better get some of this.

€11.50/£8.50/$19.95

Okay: Why I Have Fallen Behind as Regards Avon ANEW Clinical Resurfacing Expert Smoothing Fluid

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

{I’d like to be nominated in the category of World’s Longest Blog Post Title.}

So, what happened was, I got Botox*, and for weeks, many weeks that may have even added up to a month or so, I was afraid to put anything on my face. I was afraid to even touch it too much. Yeah, crazazay, I know, but even the gentlest exfoliant scared me to bits.

The last thing I was going to do was to finish trialing a thing that was purported to be 79% as effective as professional microdermabrasion, mainly because in my naivety, I wasn’t sure my entire face wouldn’t fall off, in case I put something on it that reacted badly with The B.

I am finally at one with the ‘work’, and understand that it would have been okay to attend to my face again, after 24 hours — make that a week? A week sounds safe…  Anyway, I can do stuff to my skin again.

Now, I am preparing to self-tan, for the big summer push in the Herald, and half the discolorations on my face are going to get all bronzed up, but hey, let’s prepare the canvas as best we can, right?

I’ve got this handily situated on the sink, next to the thing that holds my toothbrushes and paste, so I can see it every day, and will remember to use it.

Impressions so far:
> Its consistency is thick, and I find that the squeezy thing on the dropper isn’t that great. I am not getting a whole dropper-full of product.
> I am not meant to get a whole dropper-full of product! Little under half an inch/1.5 cms is enough, even for my roundy face.
> It tingled when I put it on for the first time {in the long time between the first first time and this, the second first time.}
> It didn’t tingle so much when I used it again.

The prescription is to use this morning and night, but I think night will be enough for me. Or not! as the case may be.

Right, so: officially paying attention to this now. Back to you in a week! {Promise!}

*I’ve just created a new category for the whole saga, so do click on it and read all about my intensely emotional reaction to the jabs.

The Newest Addition to the Hair Care Family: L’Oréal Paris Hair Expertise

/ brightandbeautyfull / 5 Comments

I’m not going to take another picture of my bath, because A) it is manky, and I can’t be bothered wiping it down for the internet, and B) I think there may be even more product in there? Let’s just say I could wash the hair of South County Dublin with the shampoo and conditioner I’ve got in there, and also give at least half the people intensive hair masks.

L’Oréal Paris Hair Expertise combines many of my favourite things, not the least of which is Paris and Hair. Their new Ever line offers three different programmes for the different situations in which we may put our hair: EverPure for those who colour-treat; EverSleek for those whose frizz is an issue; and EverStrong for hair that is brittle and fragile.

At the L’Oréal Studio, I was prescribed the EverPure Line:

Clockwise from left: Lasting Moisture Leave-in Créme; Moisture Shampoo; Moisture Conditioner; UV Filter Protective Mist; Reinforcing Intense Mask.

So the gig here is that this is a line you can buy in a chemists or a Tesco, and it fills the gap, price-wise, between the bargain stuff that can sometimes be perfectly fine, if not totally great {L’Oréal’s own Elvive springs to mind} and the salon stuff that costs a bomb but gives you gorgeous, shiny hair. The prices range from €8.49 for the S&C up to €10.49 for the Mist, so you’re not talking ‘break the bank’ here.

Plus, the shampoo and conditioner is highly concentrated, and despite being sulphate-free {sulphates are chemical compounds and they make all that lather}, you need very little to get a good going over.

I enjoyed a shampoo and deep condition, and the scent of the stuff really sent me. All the lines make great use of botanical oils, and mine features rosemary, juniper and mint.

I got a lovely blow dry as well, so will be reporting back when I do this myself. The shine was impressive, I must say, and The Hair felt as soft as it does when I use the really pricey S&Cs I’ve got to hand. Since I’m trying to get another day out of the styling, I’ll be availing of the Mist, which isn’t something that I would normally bother with, and see if it spruces up the ‘do.

There’s a serum that hasn’t been launched yet, and the only thing I would say is, whither the styling cream?

This Just In: L’Oréal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Oil Sublime Hair Enhancer

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Literally, just in the door, like. I opened the shiny padded envelope and went, ‘Yay!’

The field of hair care is littered with styling oils and serums, and I’ve tried many {many} of them — and I’m very much looking forward to giving this a go.

The notion of putting an oil on my fine hair is something I would have sneered at years ago, and indeed, any time I tried to use a hair wax— remember hair wax? — it looked like I’d been forcibly prevented from cleaning my hair for a year: lank, dull, and greasy. It was a massive risk, trying my first hair serum, but I haven’t looked back since.

L’Oréal have created a concoction that can be used at any stage: pre-shampoo, which I’m going to do as soon as I’m done here; as a 30 minute weekly treatment used on towel dried hair; overnight; as a styling product before blow-drying; and as a shine-enhancing finishing product.

My sample is suitable for all hair types, but you can get a blend that is tailored for colour treated hair. At €14.99/£9.99 for 100mls, it’s excellent value. Will it be excellent for my hair? We’ll see.

Haiku Review: VOYA Organic Marine Eye Treatment

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

Voya’s seaweed treat:
The eyes have it, and also?
Hydrotherm mattress!

I have been fairly blasé about eye creams, eye treatments, and the entire eye area in general. This view {ha, ha} has been altered somewhat since the great Botox/Restalyne adventure. Areas that have been plumped up are now highlighting, in an averse fashion, areas that are not so plump. Which is the first step down the slippery slope to pillow face.

In a bid to delay injections of stuff into the eye area, which just makes me go ‘Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’, it seems like a good idea to A} start using eye cream, and B} check out a treatment that targets the delicate area, and see what kind of improvements can be made organically.

Organic being the key word when it comes to VOYA. You can read all about their use of seaweed here, and as I’ve said in the past, I adore a good marine-based therapeutic experience. There is nothing like water for healing what ails you, from the physical to the emotional. I was delighted to avail of the leisure centre in the Rochestown Lodge Hotel before my Organic Marine Eye Treatment. Got some laps in, in the 15 metre pool, sat in the steam room, sat in the sauna, sat in the Jacuzzzzzz — ah, God, hot, bubbly water. Best. Thing. Ever.

Already completely relaxed, I entered the hotel spa, Thérèse R Wellbeing and Beauty. I chilled for a bit in the room on the left, and then in the room on the right:

Both proved to be excellent venues for putting up one’s feet and almost falling asleep.

The 45 minute treatment, like all good ones, involves more than the eyeball area. Whilst they were, of course, the focus {ahhhh}, I also got some decolleté action, and a scalp massage. A scalp massage!

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself.

>First: general cleansing, of the face and the chest area, followed a misting-by-toner, which was great. Christine, the beauty therapist, sprayed it like, four feet over my head, and the anticipation of it wafting down on to my skin was half the pleasure.

>Second: lymphatic massage. Still haven’t really satisified myself as to what the lymphs are, besides glands. I am sure I looked this up before, and probs even posted about it. It has not sunk in. Whatever it is, it felt great when Christine administered it, all around my eye socket and then down to my neck and shoulders.

>Third: Seaweed eye patches. Seaweed eye patches! Now these — I definitely want these for home. The patches are loaded with vitamins, and they were so cooling and soothing… just what I’d like to lay on my lids after a hard day’s blogging. They did their job during my scalp massage, which is just the next best thing ever, after hot bubbly water.

>>>Meanwhile, let us not forget the hydrotherm mattress, which gently supported me, warmly and whooshily, throughout the whole process.

>Finally, the application of VOYA’s Bright Eyes cream. Why does it feel so much more effective when someone else applies it? My eyes looked amazing after, and I never thought I’d ever recommend something like this, but this would be the perfect treatment to get on the day of a big event. I would never recommend doing anything after a treatment, apart from going home and napping, but this was relaxing without being completely … emptying, if you know what I mean? This would be an excellent bridal thing, on the Big Day.

I hope I get into the habit of this eye cream thing. I have, somewhat, since I am testing a bunch for the Herald, and I’m lining up a few that seem to make a difference. We’ll see. {Sorry.}

The VOYA Organic Marine Eye Treatment, €52, is available in spas nationwide, ring VOYA on 071 9168956 for more information.

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

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

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 →

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

/ brightandbeautyfull / Leave a comment

This is not the world’s best comparative photo, mainly because I took the ‘after’ with my computer, and am making the inevitable scrutiny-face at myself. And this was before the Botox kicked in. And — ah, feck it. Look: Continue reading →