Posts Tagged ‘Babble’
The Beauty Bible!
The Beauty Bible!
Utter bliss and the best form of exercise!
I was doing just this the other day, when it started to rain. I sought shelter in a local charity shop and well, by the time the rain stopped, I had secured quite possibly the bargain of the year!!!
Sure, it is an old edition. 1997, but, it has taught me and inspired me probably more then any other ‘beauty’ book ever.
The Beauty Bible is illustrated beautifully and covers everything from make up, skincare and haircare to reflexlogy, facial workouts(!) and cosmetic surgery.
I love the fact that this book does not focus or endorse just one beauty philosophy. It covers so many different beauty ideas and all the pros and cons. There are many insights from different ‘experts’ such as Liz Earle, Eva Lom, Bobbi Brown and Mary Greenwell.
The Beauty Bible also gives an insight in to the beauty habits of the celebs (interestingly many of those featured still, now a decade later, possess a name in lights), namechecking perfumes and lipsticks in connection with certain personalities.
There are also recommendations and reviews of different products. True, this feature may now be a little out of date. However, it may also bring to light a classic. A miracle product that I have missed along the way, that was lost under all the hype of the latest ‘magical’ or ‘amazing’ release.
Natural beauty is also not forgotten in these pages and there are suggestions for face masks, hair treatments and such like, using items from the kitchen.
To be honest, I have had this book a couple of weeks and have probably spent about 4-6 hours on it and I still feel like there is lots left to digest. I think no matter what I learn, there will be something new to swot up on here and I imagine that this fantastic book is a handy reference for anyone.
So far, I have learnt
* That an annual three month course of probiotics could be beneficial for my skin particularly in combination with Evening Primrose Oil. Actimel, here I come.
*Apparently Madonna likes XS from Paco Rabonne while Helen Christensen is more of an Opium lady.
*How to spend my day off indulging with my very own home spa treatments.
I absolutely love this book and still think, despite its age, that this book is worth the original £12.99 price. More then six times the £1.50, I paid for it in the lovely little charity shop.
I will certainly be looking out for the release of the Anti-Aging Beauty Bible next year to see if it lives up to the original.
Do you have a copy of The Beauty Bible? Do you think such books are good beauty investments?
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Perfume of the moment!
Now the branding would suggest that this perfume is not very “me”!
Lady Million is a scent all about excess, gold and wealth. Even the actual perfume looks like liquid gold. It seems destined for those Femme Fatales who want and get everything.
Hmm, nice idea but realistically I’m probably a bit small town and goody two shoes for this scent and, despite the enticing bottle, I’m not sure if I would have tested this perfume amongst the tens in Boots et al. if it was not for the fact that I had heard/read such good things about Paco Rabanne’s latest release.
However like Muhsine, I absolutely love this perfume. I have worn it every day since purchase which is quite unusual for me. I have quite a few perfumes that I really like so tend to swap it up a little but no, since Lady Million came in to my world, my old friends, Gucci; Givenchy and Pricey (!) have not seen the light of day.
I love Lady Million. I find it hard to describe perfumes despite my passion for them but I would say that Lady Million seems to me to be what I originally imagined the classic Chanel fragrances to be (but never quite were).
Apparently Lady Million is quite heavy and yes, I agree it is, in regards to the initial spray where it all seems a bit busy, chaotic and excessive. However, the notes seem to settle within the first couple of minutes and within half an hour I become enveloped in this happy cloud of scent and I smell lovely.
Well, I think so!
Actually to be honest, I’m not sure what I smell like. I don’t think this scent is a floral but more of a woody concoction that makes me feel warm, safe, cosy and very happy. And it is in the evoking of all these good feelings that my inner femme fatale is in danger of been awakened. When I wear this perfume, I almost feel that I can do anything. This scent just makes me feel so happy and worthy and what is more, the confidence boost and scent lasts all day.
For me, the warmth of Lady Million just caps it and makes it an absolutely perfect scent for his time of year. For those of you who are a bit more scientific about your scent purchases, and better at deciphering this note and that, then apparently Lady Million has notes of Orange Blossom; Bigarade; Raspberry; Jasmine Sambac; Gardenia; Patchouli and Honey.
I know that the scent will probably smell very different to you (and that my description is more of an incoherent rave) but I really do like this perfume and I think with Christmas drawing ever closer, you may want to get a sample and see if it is worthy of a place on your list for Mr Claus!
Have you been seduced by Lady Million yet? What other fragrances are on your wishlist? I have to admit, that since my infatuation with Lady Million, the only other fragrance to really, really catch my curioisty is Gucci Guilty? Have you tried that one? Should I be making a formal request to Father Christmas for that one? I have yet to find a Gucci scent that I can’t “work” in one way or another!
X
Style snipping!
Style snipping!
Going back a few years, my wardrobe was higher on my list of priorities. Obviously my hair was always at the top of my list. I have a theory that every girl is either mainly a make up fiend, a hair one, a potions/lotion manic or a clothes horse. There is no doubt that I’m the hair one. However when it comes to fashion and cosmetics, they have sort of changed places back and forth as my life and circumstances have changed.
For example, when I was at uni with a whole lot of free time and a student loan (!) then fashion was more of a priority. I have never ever pounded any card like that Top Shop one. My style was never particularly sophisticated (always high street) but I would be in there every other day to grab what was new. Students can wear whatever they like whenever they like. Consequently it felt as if I never had anything to wear. Of course, I did. Tens more then I have now but I was young and knew no better.
Then I graduated, uni finished and it was out in to the real world where I was swamped by a new reality ie. a whole lot of bills, no money, little free ( ahem, shopping) time and a job where I was no longer free to wear what I want. Consequently I stopped thinking so much about clothes and my interest/pride in my wardrobe fell.
Interestingly this was a time when I became obsessed with growing my own nails. I wasn’t too worried about painting them but I desperately wanted long talons. They seemed so ladylike. I might not have been able to afford the clothes of a grown up but at least, I could have the nails of one. Honestly I got so obsessed, I would wear a plaster over a nail if it broke and it would remain under the cover of plaster until it was long again. Nice!!
Anyway this year and blog has been all about making more of myself and I was kind of drawn to the beauty side of this resolution particularly make up.
Beauty shopping tends to be more tranquil. Unless a new MAC collection is being released then quite often there is space to shop and usually an assistant to hand (ok I concede, sometimes they are more in the way then to hand) but at least, you can normally find somebody to pay without queueing for half an hour when you’ve selected your purchases. I also got in to beauty because transformations (especially some of those showcased on blogs and in videos) can be amazing and well to be honest, it is nice not have to stress about sizing (Sidenote: this is just another reason why I absolutely adore perfume!).
However over the last few months, I have built quite a make up collection and now I’m starting to realise that although cosmetic items avoid the sizing issue, one product still does not fit all. For example as lovely as Gosh Darling might be for you, it doesn’t matter how I work it, it will never become a go to for me. On the other hand, as little as I hear about Creme de la Femme in the cyber beauty world, I still know that I am more then likely to reach for it at least once a week until I hit pan (Nooooo, not pan! Not this lippie!).
I guess what I am saying is that now I have learnt a little more about what suits me and what does not. I am making more sensible choices and spending a little less (just a tiny bit less time though as it still takes up a large percentage of my brain space) time thinking about eyeshadows and lipsticks and I can’t help thinking that this is why I have suddenly become more interested in my wardrobe again.
I now have the brain space and time for such curioisity and pretty daydreams.
However, unfortaunately my budget does not quite match my interest so I have had to reach a compromise and consequently have spent a little time this last week, shopping virtually through magazines and things. If I want to basket something then I cut it out and add it to this pile. I will soon be purchasing a corkboard and will pink all my little beauties up.
I am quite excited about my new super duper style board (super duper because obviously I can not abandon beauty completely and a few beauty items have been cut out too).
The idea is remniscent of a style folder, polyvore or collage but putting it on a noticeboard means I can update it or change bits easily as and when I want. I saw something similar in one of Carolyn Baxters recent videos and thought it was such a positive and inspiring idea.
I think I have already realised that a lot of the colours I choose are neutral. Khakis, blacks, Camel. I also seem to like items which only have one or two colours in. Oh and I seem to find long hair inspiring!
Here is a peek at some of the items that have made the cut so far!
Who knows?
Just maybe, one day, some of these things will make it in to my life for real. In the meantime, not only can I see what I’m drawn to and what my own personal style might actually encompass, but I also have inspiration to seek similar items and even if I fail at all this and realise I have no conducive or attainable style then at the very least, I will have lots of pretty pictures to look at.
Are you a make up fiend, a hair one, a potions/lotions maniac or a clothes horse?
Do you scrap your style? How do you do it?
The Final Curtain!!!
The Final Curtain!!!
Often when it is stage exit for those bad boys also known as horrible, evil sodding blemishes, the original drama queens!
Yes, people, my skin is clearing at last.
Three cheers, please!!!
I will never know exactly why the blighters are moving on now (but er, yay! Go, go, go!!!). However, I suspect it is a combination of letting time take its course and some of the numerous products I have been using.
It would be impossible for me to pinpoint cause and effect exactly but if I may just summarise some of my thoughts for you.
So, The Doctor Brand. These products felt good to use. I loved the feel of the cleanser and even though the Pore Clearing Gel made my skin sting slightly. It felt as if it was doing something. However a few days after religious use, spots were still appearing although they did not seem as aggravated as earlier ones.
This regime did not clear my skin in two weeks (and the marketing does suggest clearer skin in two weeks) and I soon became disheartened with it and took a break of about a week from almost ALL facial products using water alone to cleanse and bio oil to moisturise.
But then after recieving a positive comment on my wordpress blog about The Doctor Brand, I decided to finish the products off and this was when I first really noticed an improvement in my skin.
About time!
Now, it may not have been the work of The Doctor Brand but at the very least, the regime did not break me out further although I have recieved some negative feedback about these products.
Personally, I believe that The Doctor Brand may help to clear the skin to some degree but would suggest that you give it time and not expect miracles.
I read somewhere that no skincare product will clear your skin if you or your body are not healthy in the first place. This makes sense. After all, your skin is the biggest organ that your body has and therefore is likely to reflect what is going on inside. I do wonder if my low water intake -I’ve bored you all before with how I never get thirsty- contributed to why I found it so difficult to clear my skin. It may be that I’m not the ‘perfect’ or ‘accurate’ lab test for skin regimes and those of you who drink more may find products that I have dissed slightly more effective or speedy. This would explain the blemish problems I have had and why when one area of my skin clears such as my back, another breaks out. This has never worried me too much before because firstly, the blemishes are never major but usually there are some quietly somewhere and secondly, because in a decade, my face (what everybody sees) has never ever broken out to any noticeable degree. Until this year!!! Now I suddenly really do realise why the water uptake needs to be upped.
Bio Oil (by the way, big wow to the bio oil and er, why wasn’t this on my shelf earlier?) and The Doctor Brand are the latest in a long line of products and regimes that I have employed since the new year to enhance what was actually relatively good facial skin. Since my skincare resolution at the beginning of the year, I have encountered more skincare problems on my face then I have since my early teens fifteen years ago. Hard lesson learnt, if it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it!!! When I think of all the money I have spent on cleansers, exfoliators and er, spinach which have barely brought my skin back to where it was a year ago before I first started messing with it . . , argh!
Now I have admitted before that my former skincare regime (pre blog and 2010) consisted of little more then the occasional exfoliation and a whole lot of moisture and this is what I am hoping to move back towards. I have no doubt that my skin reacts well to as much moisture as possible. However when it comes to the cleansing, it seems to make little difference to my skin. I do wonder if over the last few months, my relentless scrubbing scrubbed away not only all the horrible dirt and grime but also the poor innocent protective layer which had so angelically defended my skin until silly operation scrub. Now I will clean my face two or three times a day with pretty much standard products (I’m currently using a Neutrogena scrub) unless this too starts working against me. I will follow with moisturiser maybe a cheapie, maybe a splurge but basically just whatever I want. I think I have been over thinking the whole skin thing.
Finally, the spinach and the supplements. In certain lights, there has been almost a certain glow and softness in my skin over the last month or so. This may be the all the spinach and antioxidants from the green monsters. If so, nice payoff.
However, I would not go as far as to say that such nutrition alone was ever going to clear my skin even though I am now taking a daily skin tablet from Laboratoire Physcience (yes, the hair one as suggested by Lollipop26 impressed me that much) which I hope will help to protect and preserve my new clearer skin. I would suggest that nutrition is more preventative then reactive. Going back to the water though, I’m not sure anything will be reactive without it but like spinach, once the blighters are blemishing your skin, I am not sure if the water alone will be enough to take the baddies down.
Anyhow, that is enough of my ramble, my very senseless one. I am not a skincare expert and there is probably no science to back up much of what I have said here. However, these thoughts are just some that I have had over the last few months when I have been ever so slightly skin obsessed!
Like!
Like!
Oh yes, me!
In fact, I guess I should put up not only one hand but two.
For I have not only slathered my skin in olive oil several times, I have also been known to pour vast qauntities in to the bath where it sort of lingers in a lump before sticking stubbornly to all surfaces once the water has ran away.
Be warned, the olive oil may be economical but the cost of cleaning in time and money will accelerate.
Now, although I’m not going to suggest pouring olive oil in to the bath, slathering myself in olive oil after a bath or shower does seem to go a little way in to moisturising my skin and making it a little softer. The oil can also give you a little bit of that much sought after ‘healthy glow’. However, you do have to be careful as it is easy to go beyond the glow and in to grease territory. Unfortunately this is not the only negative with the kitchen remedy.
Used daily, Olive Oil can become a bit of a chore. I went through a phase this year of using olive oil daily to moisturise my body, more often then not I would also use it to soften bath water and even as a hair treatment. Usually, the olive oil delivered great results.
Still once the bottle was finished, I felt I had earnt the right to fork out on other body products to do the same work. Olive oil is great as a one off but to be honest, frequent use got a little bit tiresome.
Olive oil is very sticky. It is hard to dress afterwards without everything clinging. Seriously pulling on skinny jeans equals mission impossible. Then even if you decide to stay in and give the olive oil time to soak in overnight, it has the strangest smell and to be honest, it was one that after half an hour or so really put me on edge. So although it works, it is not the most sociable of body treatments and probably should be kept aside as an emergency remedy or something.
So I’ve used various gels, bubble baths and melts and body butters since but one of my more recent acquisations has really impressed me and that is the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Moisturising Body Oil.
This can be used in your bath water to moisturise your skin and also on damp skin after showering or bathing prior to patting yourself dry.
This oil is easy to use. It washes out of your bath tub easily and seems to be absorbed in to your skin relatively easily and with very little stickiness. Oh and the scent is slightly remniscent of the Body Butter one but a little lighter and a little prettier. As you are using it on damp skin, it will not only moisturise your skin but it will trap some of the water in your skin from your bath or shower mutiplying the moisturising function.
I have used Palmer Products before and have never been disappointed. I am a fan of their body butters although I hate the old style bottle and lid packaging. That is useless for thick body butter, I get so little out. Even after throwing the bottle across the room, I just get a dollop. Great!
Alas, similar packaging does work for the oil and I like the fact you can use the cap to measure it out. You can’t do this with the metal olive oil caps, I have caught my skin on those a few times. Ouch!
I have used the oil all over my body except my face and neck and gained near enough instant results especially on my legs and elbows. The skin feels so much softer then I am used to especially around the notorious dry knee and elbow areas.
I was a bit wary of using the oil around my decolletage as in the past, some lotions and oils seem to have broken me out there but that is not the case with this beautiful oil. My skin just looks happy and well looked after.
Yay and that is all for the small price of £4.79!
Now if only I could find such a product to work such wonders on my face and neck.
essjay23x 