Category Archives: Beauty

Testing every scent in the Replica by Maison Margiela Discovery Set*

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So I am absolutely obsessed with perfumes. I could hang around the fragrance counters in a department store all day sniffing away at everything. I am fascinated by how they work, and the evocative power of scent. But of course, fragrance is best experienced on the skin, so I decided I would start buying fragrance discovery sets to try out as many new scents as I possibly can, without buying full sizes (my bank account is grateful!). And then, I thought I’d share my thoughts on each of the fragrances I try, because why not? I have a pretty sensitive nose so hopefully my insights will be helpful! The first discovery set I decided to try was the Replica by Maison Margiela Memory Box* – a collection of Eau de Toilettes inspired by beautiful memories. This set* contains 10 scents in 2ml bottles, and costs £33. So without any further chit chat, let me get into the reviews!

AD NOTE – Products contained in this post were entirely purchased by me, but affiliate links are used throughout and are marked with an asterisk.

Beach Walk*

Oh my. This scent. Not to sound dramatic but when I first sprayed this on I was stood there smelling it for at least five full minutes. It is utterly enchanting. I thought it would be a sort of standard fresh smelling fragrance, but it is nothing of the sort. A sparkling, bright warmth evokes the beauty of sand in the sunshine, light glittering and heat radiating from the grains, cut through by the fresh sea breeze. It is so delicate and elegant, with fresh notes of lemon and bergamot combined with dynamic pink pepper and rich, warm coconut. This is sunshine distilled into a perfume, and the beautiful balance between warm and fresh means it really does conjure the sense of a walk along a pristine beach.

Coffee Break*

This fragrance is one of the softest, creamiest and most comforting scents I have ever smelled. I was expecting it to have the somewhat unpleasantly acrid ‘fake coffee’ smell that coffee scented cosmetics and candles can sometimes have, but it’s absolutely nothing like that at all. It’s smooth, rich and warm, and has a spiciness that reminds me of the perfumes my granny used to wear – she was a woman of truly impeccable taste and style, so believe me when I say that’s honestly the highest compliment I can give to a perfume. The notes in this are so unusual compared to what I’m used to in fragrances – milk mousse, red apple, spearmint and lemon are combined with coffee, lavender, sandalwood and orange blossom to create a scent that is almost marshmallowy in it’s softness, yet somehow light and almost a little bit fresh.

Springtime in a Park*

This lovely fragrance conveys the joy of spring in such a beautifully balanced way. Spring flowers are powdery, sweet and sometimes musky, and this can be overpowering in my opinion, if the fragrance is formulated without subtlety. There’s no trace of that here though, this perfume is handled magnificently. Powdery sweet blooms of lily of the valley and Damask rose are tempered with crisp, slightly aromatic notes of sweet pear, bergamot and tart blackcurrant, creating an incredibly vivid sense of leaning over to inhale the fragrance of a spring flower, while the brisk spring air breezes all around. Musk and vanilla base notes ensure this fragrance stays with you long after the first spritz, like the memory of those delicate spring blossoms resting on your mind.

Bubble Bath*

Eeek I really don’t want to say what I have to say here. I hated it. To me it just smelled of toilet cleaner. I am SO curious to know what it smells like on other people, because there is simply no way that it smells like that on the people who tested it! I need to find someone else to spray it on. It is supposed to smell soapy and powdery, which it definitely does, but clearly something wasn’t working with my skin chemistry!

Autumn Vibes*

A beautiful, evocative scent, with crisply woody and subtly spicy notes. I adore autumn, and this perfume is the perfect encapsulation of a romantic autumn afternoon outdoors. Notes like aromatic carrot seed, nutmeg, cardamon and moss conjure the feeling of walking through an auburn toned woodland, red leaves rustling as they tumble down from the moss-covered trees on a fresh, crisp breeze. I wish I could say more about this one, but its rather straightforward in its autumnal loveliness.

Under the Lemon Trees*

This is a stunningly fresh, aromatic scent, beautifully capturing the sensorial delight of walking in a citrus grove. Kalamansi lime provides the intensely layered citrus scent, while cardamom, cedarwood, coriander and cistus emulate the heady fragrance of sun-warmed tree bark, and green tea evokes breeze-ruffled leaves. Unfortunately, this fragrance faded almost immediately on my skin, which was a real shame because I adored it! (Update; I recently bought Fresh Beauty’s absolutely gorgeous Sugar Lemon Body Wash and the combination of that with the fragrance seemed to help the fragrance to last longer! Results may vary, but if you end up loving the scent as much as I did but suffer with the same problem, it might help!)

By the Fireplace*

This is another fragrance that really surprised me. I’m not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it! You know when you’ve been sitting next to an open wood fire all evening, and when you leave, your clothes and hair are coated in that unmistakable smell of burning wood? This fragrance has taken that scent, removed the acrid, cloying, burnt part of it, and distilled it into this incredibly elegant, woody fragrance that instantly conjures images of a roaring wood fire. Gaiic wood oil is the hero here, its smouldering, tobaccoesque notes are responsible for that incredible fireside dimension, while spices like pink pepper, vanilla and clove round it out it by giving it a warm, rich heart. Orange flower petals provide an ethereally elegant top note, elevating and opening up the perfume, while chestnut provides a nutty sweetness. Honestly I think this is a masterpiece.

Sailing Day*

This fragrance has a strong sense of traditional aftershave to me, which is something I don’t like for myself, but I think I would really enjoy it on someone who suits aftershave. Aquatic notes, juniper and seaweed conjure the scent of the sea, while coriander, iris and ambergris provide balance with a warm richness. Even though I don’t think I’ll wear it, I think it’s brilliant, and the story of this one is really well formulated – sitting back a boat surrounded by the sparkling ocean, the warmth of the sun beating down on the deck, it’s a really pleasing, well executed concept.

Jazz Club*

Smooth, sweet and completely enchanting, I absolutely loved the rich spicy depth of this fragrance. It really does evoke the intimate atmosphere of a darkly lit jazz club, where time has no meaning and the air is electric yet relaxed at the same time. Capturing the senses with an opening of neroli and pink pepper, the fragrance warms into rum, sage, tobacco and vanilla. It is deeply aromatic and irresistibly alluring, definitely something to wear when you want to imbue yourself with a quiet sensuality, powerful, confident yet understated.

Lazy Sunday Morning*

It’s quite an esoteric concept to distil into a perfume, but Replica have succeeded amazingly in creating a scent that really does conjure the sense of a slow, relaxing start to a day. Gentle, delicate, airy notes like pear, ambrette and lily of the valley create a tranquil, calm feeling, while fresh sweet florals provide a warm, bright aspect – like soft sunlight and a gentle breeze wafting through an open window. It is such a perfectly peaceful scent, I absolutely adore this one and cannot get enough, it leaves me feeling optimistic, inspired and so wonderfully uplifted.

I hope I’ve piqued your curiosity about Replica’s fragrances, I am certainly beyond impressed with them, even the ones I didn’t like I can really appreciate the artistry behind them. I just need to decide which one I’m finally going to purchase! Each fragrance is linked above, but here* is a link to the Discovery Set, so you can experience them for yourself.

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The best product for very dry, irritated skin: Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion

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I suppose two years into a pandemic isn’t really the ideal time to share my holy grail moisturiser for very dry skin – but better late than never, right? The thing is, this product was first recommended to me by my dad, who had the driest hands of anyone I’ve ever known, and every time I thought about writing about writing this blog post, I would think of him, feel sad and then not want to write anything anymore. Not sure what it is about today, but I finally feel like I can get it done – so if you’re currently suffering from unbearably dry hands, whether pandemic related or not, today is your lucky day.

Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion has completely saved my skin on more occasions than I can count. In harsh winters my hands would previously get to the point of splitting from being so dry, and ever since I was young I’ve been plagued by rough red patches on my skin all year long. I genuinely think at this point that I’ve tried every product in existence – from steroid creams to natural oils and prescription emollients, but the only thing that consistently gives me relief is this miracle product. An unassuming, medium-thickness, fragrance-free cream, it sinks in after just a few seconds of massaging – which is really impressive for a product as nourishing and moisturising as this one. When used on dry skin, it sinks in wonderfully well, and when used on irritated skin, the soothing power is simply incredible. While on the surface it might just look like any other body lotion, this one really is different, and that’s for a few reasons…

OAT-BASED PROTECTION

Firstly, let’s talk about the oat ingredients in the formulation – oat flour, oat extract and oat oil combine to help protect, soothe and calm the skin. Irritation is an immune response – it’s your body noticing that the skin has been compromised in some way, and increasing blood-flow to the area to supply white blood cells to fight off potential threats. Protective skincare products are applied at this stage because once the skin realises it is protected, it will send a message to the body that the immune system can stand down because things are under control – and then the skin’s incredible healing processes can get to work repairing the area, beneath the protective umbrella of the skincare product. The reason that oats are so effective at soothing dry skin is surprisingly simple – oat binds to the skin, creating a natural protective barrier. No product actually ‘heals’ the skin – all they do is create that protective barrier on the skin so that it can heal itself, and oat is one of the most effective ingredients for doing that. There are many different compounds in oat that help the skin, such as beta-glucan, fatty acids and avenanthramides, which are anti-inflammatory agents, and Aveeno’s combination of three different types of oat ingredients ensures that those compounds are delivered as effectively and in as high concentrations as possible.

MICROBIOME SUPPORT

The formulation also has a pre-biotic effect, meaning it supports a healthy bacterial ecosystem on the skin’s surface. Pre-biotics have been shown to help soothe and calm the skin by increasing the population of ‘good’ bacteria. Many of the cosmetic products we use daily – shower gels, serums, lotions and so on, can destroy the microbiome because they contain powerful preservatives to keep them stable once opened – but those preservatives also kill bacteria when applied to your skin, thus affecting your microbiome, and inhibiting your skin’s ability to protect itself, leading to dryness and irritation. It’s a bit like how when you take antibiotics you’re supposed to introduce a probiotic into your diet, because the bacterial imbalance created by the medicine can wreak havoc on your body’s ability to digest food. Aveeno Skin Relief uses potassium sorbate to keep the product safe and useable, which is a totally different kettle of fish to the cheaper, more mainstream preservatives – it’s actually food safe, and is used in all kinds of food and drink as well as high-quality, skin friendly cosmetic products. Several years ago I started using facial skincare products with potassium sorbate, and the difference it made was extraordinary, so it made sense that a hand and body product preserved in the same way would be just as good.

TAKE MY WORD FOR IT

It’s all well and good me explaining the science behind the product, but let me give you some examples of a few specific times when Aveeno Skin Relief has saved my skin.

My dad was admitted to a palliative care ward for two months in the middle of the pandemic, and while I was in and out of the hospital visiting him, my hand washing habit (which was already a bit over the top before the pandemic) reached a new level of extreme. But my hands didn’t just get dry – it got a bit scary to be honest. They’d do this thing where they turned bright red, the skin was stretched, my fingers would swell up, and my palms would get hot and itch. Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion was the only thing I tried that actually helped. I was getting so scared because I started to think my hands were beyond repair – they were so uncomfortable that it hurt to use them, an added stress that I could have really done without at the time. No other product worked – I tried so many different ones. And then I picked up the bottle of this miracle lotion – the instant soothing effect was incredible, and so I kept using it. Before long, the reaction totally stopped happening.

When I first started taking my antidepressant, I broke out in a rash. This is apparently normal as long as it doesn’t become too severe, but it was uncomfortable. Teeny tiny red bumps from my neck down to my belly button – hot, itchy and very annoying. I slathered myself in Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion, and while it’s impossible to say whether it was my body adjusting to the medicine, or the product getting to work, the rash was immediately soothed and gone the next day.

Sometimes, I get dermatitis around my eyes. This can be from using unsuitable skincare products, but it also happens when I’ve been crying. Yes, my ridiculously sensitive skin is allergic to my own tears – causing bumpy redness and irritation. A thin layer of Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion takes care of this very nicely – which I’ll be forever grateful for because, to be blunt, the last thing you need when someone you love dies is an allergic reaction to your own grief.

My last example is about a different product from the same range – Aveeno Skin Relief Cica Balm. I hadn’t found much use for the Balm before this happened because every other problem I’d had was solved with the Lotion, but my god did it save me from a situation here. A few weeks ago, I woke up with an absolutely horrible irritation under one of my breasts – bright red, unbearably itchy and really distressing because it felt like the skin was ripping – and when I looked closer, I was horrified to see tiny little tear wounds along the area of irritation. It must have been some kind of contact dermatitis from the bra I had been wearing, because it was in a crescent shape on my chest, directly underneath the breast. Anyway, after I was done staring at it in horror in the mirror, I realised the Aveeno Skin Relief Cica Balm was on my bathroom shelf so I grabbed it and applied a thin layer. The effect was so wonderfully soothing – the painful itch started to abate immediately, and within a couple of days it was totally back to normal. I wish I could remember which bra I had been wearing so I can set it on fire, but at least I know if it happens again I’ll have a solution!

Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion comes in two different sizes – a 300ml pump bottle which costs £7.99, and a 200ml tube for £5.99 on Boots.com – they seem to be more expensive on other websites which is strange, but I suppose it’s each website’s choice. The Cica Balm is £6.99 for 50ml (remember that it’s a more concentrated formula), and when I was on Boots getting the links to share I realised they also have a Shampoo and a Body Wash in the Skin Relief line too! I’ll definitely be trying both of those soon. The Body Wash is £9.99 for 500ml, and the Shampoo is £9.99 for 300ml. You can also shop the full range of Skin Relief products here. This range is in my opinion extremely well priced – for the quality of the products and how little you need to use, I’m consistently impressed by the incredible value. I hope you have as much luck with it as I have!

Olaplex 3 Curly Hair Review

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If the first lockdown is anything to go by, I’m fairly certain that by now, half the population of the UK will have started eyeing up vibrant hair dyes on beauty websites, or googling ‘how to cut a fringe’. It’s irresistibly tempting to experiment with our hair when things get bad, and since no one will be seeing us for a good few weeks, what’s the harm?! Well, I have another suggestion. While I’m certainly not against dying your hair any number of vibrant, wild, brilliant colours or taking the plunge and giving yourself a chop (I did this myself in April!) I think it’s an even better idea to spend this lockdown giving our hair some love. Especially if, like me, your hair is naturally dry, and/or curly, or if it has heat or chemical damage. And there’s no better way than with the only home-treatment that actually repairs your hair. That’s right – the only one. I’m talking, of course, about Olaplex 3. In this review I’m going to talk about what Olaplex 3 is, how to use it, and share the results I got!

What is Olaplex 3?

Although there are all kinds of hair care products that claim to repair, restore, revive and even fix split ends, Olaplex 3 is the only product on the market that actually restores the bonds that hold a hair strand together. If you look at a single hair under the microscope, you’ll see that rather than a smooth strand, it’s made up of little scales, called keratinocytes. These are dead cells, and in a healthy hair strand, they sit more or less flat together. But for people with chemically treated, heat damaged, or naturally dry hair, the scales lift up, causing breakage, brittleness and split ends. Olaplex 3 works by rebonding these scales, so that they lie flat together again. No other product does this – other repairing products work by creating a layer over the hair strand. It’s the difference between plastering over a hole in a brick wall verses rebuilding the wall. And in fact they have similar benefits – plastering a hole in the wall is something you can do as often as you like, and will protect the wall from further damage. This is exactly what your everyday ‘repairing’, ‘restoring’ products like masques, serums and leave in conditioners will do. They protect your hair, help to prevent further damage. But Olaplex 3 requires more time investment, can’t be done as often, and is the only way to truly fix the damage.

How do you use Olaplex 3?

Olaplex 3 can be used up to three times a week, and can be left on for a very long time. I was really confused when I bought my bottle, because I couldn’t work out how long I was supposed to leave it on for. Olaplex simply say that the longer you leave it on, the better. I even read that it can be left on overnight, but I decided to go for 4 hours. I started by shampooing my hair, and detangling with my fingers. Olaplex 3 must be applied to wet hair or it won’t work, and if you have any leave-in products on, you should wash them out to make sure it can actually make contact with the hair. So, once my hair was clean, I took a palmful of the product and gently raked it through with my fingers. I decided to avoid my scalp, because I had read that some people had experienced scalp irritation from the product – and the hair at your scalp should be the healthiest part so it shouldn’t really be necessary anyway. I then took my Tangle Teezer and brushed my hair to ensure it was fully distributed. I have a lot of hair, so after I had brushed it through, I took another palmful and repeated this process to make sure my hair was well saturated. I used about a third of the bottle. After this, I took a spray bottle and sprayed water all over my hair, to the point where my hair was almost dripping. I wanted to make sure that my hair wouldn’t dry out during the treatment, because this would render the Olaplex 3 inactive. After that, I got some cling-film and wrapped my hair up in it, then took a microfibre towel, and wrapped that around the cling film. And then I waited! I stayed alert for any feelings of itchiness or irritation, but my scalp was absolutely fine the whole time.

How to rinse out Olaplex 3

After four hours, I unwrapped my hair and got into the shower. From the second I took the cling-film off I could see the difference, but it was when I started to rinse it out that I really saw what it had done to my hair. Usually, when I rinse a conditioner or masque out, my curls will start to fluff up immediately, but when I rinsed out the Olaplex 3, my hair looked like strands of seaweed. It was unbelievably silky and smooth. It’s very important that you use shampoo to get Olaplex 3 out of your hair and follow with conditioner, because it needs to be thoroughly removed and it isn’t a conditioning product. I did a good first rinse with water, then shampooed, rinsed, and followed with conditioner. I was kind of expecting my hair to look how it normally does once I’d finished shampooing and conditioning, but it didn’t. These perfectly soft, frizz-free, silky locks remained, and they felt strong. I was so excited to see what it would look like once it had dried. And I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Olaplex 3 results on curly hair

Because I have so much hair, and much of it is quite fine, I don’t like it to be frizzy (but to be clear, I don’t think frizz is automatically a bad thing, and isn’t necessarily a sign of unhealthy hair. The demonisation of frizz is actually a very Eurocentric beauty standard – personally I think it can be utterly beautiful on other people but I don’t like it for myself, because when my hair is frizzy it gets in my eyes and mouth and I can’t control it). Olaplex 3 completely eliminated the halo of frizz I used to struggle with, and every single curl lay perfectly in line. You can see from the pictures! It was mind-blowing! My hair feels so smooth and soft since I started using Olaplex 3, it doesn’t tangle as easily, my curls are more defined, and they stay hydrated for so much longer between washes.

Olaplex 3 also did something to my hair that I really didn’t expect. Because my hair is really heavy and thick, I don’t tend to get curls at the roots – the weight of the hair pulls them down. Olaplex 3, somehow, restored the curls all the way to the roots! And this has lasted for months between treatments. I think it must be because of the incredible strengthening effect – restoring the bonds has meant that my hair is strong enough to sit in its natural state, whereas before it was constantly undergoing a kind of gravity-based straightening!

I hope you found this useful and interesting, and maybe gave you some inspiration for a lockdown 2.0 activity! If you want to purchase your own bottle of Olaplex 3, you can get the 100ml here, and if you really wanna go for it, there’s also a supersize 250ml here! That’s definitely the size I’ll be getting next time.

Also, before I sign off, let me caution you against buying from Amazon – while it’s tempting because Look Fantastic and other retailers do sometimes sell out, the Amazon listing for Olaplex 3 is really dodgy. Sometimes people get the genuine product, but other times, because of the way that the warehouse system works, people end up with fakes that wreck their hair. Don’t risk it! Be safe, and buy from a certified seller like Look Fantastic.

Perricone MD’s new No Lipstick Lipsticks*

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I absolutely love Perricone’s lip products. A few years ago I received their No Lipgloss Lipgloss and Lipstick as part of a trial, and was completely besotted. And now, they’ve launched a full range of No Lipstick Lipsticks (that’s a UK link – if you’re in the USA click here!) featuring 6 colours, which they very kindly sent to me to try out!

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I was really impressed by the diversity of the shades. Despite going on feeling sheer like a lipbalm, they all had a really different look, and I can imagine that there will be at least one to suit every skin tone. I also loved how they melted into the lips, rather than sitting on top like a lipstick. It feels like a light balm, but the colour payoff is amazing.

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Perricone MD pride themselves on using really advanced, high tech ingredients in their formulas, and their makeup is no exception. Even these lipsticks have ingredients like neuropeptides, which help to reduce wrinkles and  smooth the skin, as well as hyaluronic acid to plump, and sunscreen, which I’d never thought of using on my lips, but makes perfect sense really.

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I’m really impressed with these – I think my favourite shade is the red, closely followed by the berry, as they are bright, but subtle enough to wear with not too much makeup. My lips feel ultra soft throughout the day too, which is ideal given that winter is coming up. And they smell gorgeous, which always helps!

Each lipstick costs £25/$30, and you can get them here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the USA or elsewhere. They’re also currently on offer in the USA, at $21 each!

* These lipsticks were sent to me for review with no obligation to post 

How to have a zero waste shower

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When the news came out about how lots of our ‘recycled’ plastic actually ends up in dumps on the other side of the world, I realised I had to start cutting down on unnecessary bottles. I’ve always been low-key worried about plastic consumption, and never really saw recycling as the answer, but I’d kind of repressed that worry for years because I didn’t know what to do about it. But after seeing those news reports, and learning about microplastic pollution, I decided that I was going to make changes. At the time, my bathroom was completely covered in tubes and bottles of shower gel (a byproduct of working in the beauty industry and being addicted to long hot showers) and so I decided that once they were all used up, I would try out bar soap in the shower instead. I was worried that bar soaps might dry my skin out – but if that happened, I decided I’d just apply body oil afterwards to counteract the effects.

What it did for my skin

It’s been almost a year since we started using bar soap full time again, and you’ll be amazed to lean that the skin on my body has barely needed moisturising at all in that time. Maybe once or twice a month, rather than after every shower. It turns out that apparently, soap and body skin (still not sure about the face) are perfectly suited, and I actually have SOFTER skin than before! There are lots of ways to use soap – if you rub it on a body puff you’ll be virtually drowning in bubbles before you know it (very fun), but obviously they aren’t ideal because they’re made out of plastic. Otherwise, you can just rub the soap directly all over your body, or rub it in your hands until it lathers, and then massage that all over. You can also buy a natural sponge, but they’re expensive as hell (and not vegan), or a loofah, but they’re pretty harsh and I can’t seem to get them to soften up.

How to shave with soap and a safety razor

Given the hundreds of shaving products lining up alongside all those plastic razors in the shops, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d need something from all those shelves to successfully shave your unwanted body hair. But as it turns out, that’s just not true. Bar soap is perfectly adequate for shaving your skin, and safety razors are brilliant! To get a thick lather for shaving, wet the soap ever so slightly, rub it between your palms to get them well covered, and then rub your hands fairly vigorously over your leg (or wherever) until you get a good layer of white over your skin. Then shave away! It is slightly different to shaving with a disposable, but this blog post is getting long so I’ll revisit that later. My safety razor is by Bambaw, and I like it because it has a bamboo handle, which lessens the amount of metal that went into making it.

What about guests?

I don’t know about you buy I’m not going to make my guests use the same bar of soap as me, or even make them use bar soap at all if they don’t want to. Instead, I keep a glass bottle of Bloomtown Botanicals’ divine Hedgerow Body Wash in the shower for guests to use.

Zero waste exfoliators

I exfoliate with this Body Shop hemp bag – you just put a bar of soap in it and rub all over yourself. But when I remember, I also like to use leftover coffee grounds – I just stir in a bit of coconut oil or tea tree to make sure they don’t go mouldy.

Which soap to choose?

There are sooooo many bars of soap out there that it can be hard to pick (and very easy to go totally wild and fill your bathroom up with them…) so I thought I’d share a list of the ones I’ve tried so far, to give you an idea of what to look for, and what to avoid!

Lush soaps

These were the first we tried, and I hated them. They don’t lather up at all when you rub them on your skin, and don’t leave you feeling particularly clean. I also got a UTI while using them, I don’t know if the two things were related, but I’ve only ever had one UTI in my life before, and haven’t had one since. Do not recommend. 3/10 (only for the scents)

Buy here

BECO Soap

I’ve tried the honey blossom and spring meadow scents and I think they’re both delicate and lovely. The soap itself cleans really well, and fits into my small hands perfectly. But the most amazing things about this soap are its eco and socially conscious credentials. They employ people with visual impairments, disabilities and financial disadvantages, and go the extra mile to accommodate their employees’ needs. That is tragically unusual, and absolutely brilliant in my opinion. In addition to that, their bar soaps are totally plastic free (including unlaminated boxes, which very few brands actually offer) and their ingredients are sustainably sourced. AND AND AND!!! You can get them in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and the Co-op. Effortless, eco friendly and the most socially conscious company I’ve come across. 11/10

Buy here

Aesop Cleansing Slab

I’m so frustrated that Aesop wrap this in shrinkwrap plastic! If they didn’t do that, this would be one of my favourite soaps. The scent is divine, it leaves my skin perfectly clean, and it creates a super rich lather. It’s certainly the most expensive soap I’ve tried, but at £17 it’s less than I would have expected from Aesop. If it didn’t have that plastic on it, it’d be a solid ten, but as it is, 8/10

Buy here

Faith in Nature Lavender Soap

For some reason I expected this to be rubbish, I’m not sure why, but all I can say is I was completely wrong! This is a great soap, really lovely lavender scent, and the best part is, this is one that can be bought completely packaging free in some health food shops! Plastic wrapped in others though. 8/10

Buy here

Oliva Soap

I like the simplicity and affordability of this soap, but it doesn’t smell good, and it isn’t the most ‘lather-ey’. My skin didn’t feel very clean when I was using it, so I did a second cleanse with the Aesop afterwards. I ended up throwing it away because I couldn’t stand the smell, but it is a very tightly packed soap so it’s good value for money. 2/10

Buy here

Dr Bronner’s Rose Geranium Soap

Love love love this soap. It’s a great shape, perfect for rubbing all over yourself, and it cleans just as well as their liquid soap. It’s a great option, not too expensive, and very solid so it lasts really well. Oh and, like with BECO, this comes in unlaminated card packaging. 9/10

Buy here

Suma Rose Geranium Glycerin Soap

I LOVE this soap! I find the way it goes clear when it’s wet to be really satisfying, and the circular shape is really easy to hold. It lathers really well and it also leaves my skin feeling very soft too. This is also another one that you can buy packaging free in health food shops, or in an unlaminated box. 10/10

Buy here

MOR Cyclamen Tuberose Soap

This is without a doubt the most heavily scented soap I’ve ever had in my possession. Luckily, the fragrance is absolutely divine, it’s like a Diptyque candle! It’s heady and floral but not at all sweet, I really love it. And you can get it from Waitrose. When I bought it I thought I was onto a winner – wrapped in brown card with a beautiful design, held together with a rubber band… but then I opened it and discovered it was wrapped in plastic. Eyeroll. 7/10

Buy now

Well, I hope you found that useful! I’m on a mission to zero-waste my entire bathroom, so keep an eye out for a follow-up blog post when/if I ever manage it…

What happened when I tried the ‘curly girl’ haircare method

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It’s been a good few months now since I first adopted the ‘Curly Girl’ method of haircare, so I thought it was about time I shared my experience with the world! The curly girl method, or CGM, is a set of rules for taking care of curly hair so as to best preserve curl, strength and shine, whilst keeping frizz and dryness at bay. It was created by hair stylist Lorraine Massey in her book ‘The Curly Girl Handbook’, and it has quite the following nowadays. If you already know about CGM and you’re just wondering about my experiences and routine, then skip this next part! But if you’re new to the method, I’ll start with a quick intro…

Of course I’m also going to pepper this blog post with plenty of photos of my hair, after all, you need to see the proof, right?!

The main rules of CGM

No sulphates or harsh cleansers – these strip the hair of its natural oils and cause dryness. They can be found in almost all shampoos, even ones for dry hair! Use conditioner to wash instead, or one of a select number of shampoos that contain only the most gentle cleansing ingredients.

No harsh alcohols – alcohols can be broken down into two main types; long chain and short chain. Long chain or ‘fatty’ alcohols like stearyl, and cetearyl alcohol are moisturising and nourishing to the skin and hair, whilst short chain, like ethanol, isopropyl and others are very harsh and must be avoided.

No silicones, mineral oil or waxes – these coat the hair, which stops moisture from penetrating it, and can weigh it down. These ingredients also need to be washed out with a sulphate, so are incompatible with CGM cleansing techniques. Luckily there are LOADS of suitable styling products out there, for all budgets. You just have to know which to buy.

No chemical processes, heat or straightening – these weaken the hair and cause breakage, frizz and dryness. You can use a diffuser on a low or medium setting, or a soft t-shirt to dry your hair.

No brushing – this can lead to breakage and split ends. Detangle with fingers instead, and distribute product with a wide tooth-comb.

It can be confusing at first because there are lots of different techniques you can try, and you’ll probably have to replace almost all of your products and start a completely new routine. You also need to start becoming aware of ingredients lists, but there is a website called curlsbot.com that you can use to help you. It might seem like an effort, but it’s so worth it. For me, I’ve always worn my hair curly, so I didn’t really need to change my styling techniques, but I was using a shampoo that was far too harsh, as well as some products that contained silicones and waxes. I was shocked to learn that my ‘dry remedy’ shampoo contained a harsh sulphate, and that my argan treatment oil contained more silicone than oil!

  • My hair five days after washing – yes, FIVE DAYS!!
  • My hair after a stylist raked it out and diffused – ultimate volume!!

My favourite Curly Girl Method approved products

So, here’s a quick rundown of my routine and the products I use…

Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Shampoo Review Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Treatment Masque Review Garnier Hair Food Review Tangle Teezer Curly Hair Review Shea Moisture Raw Shea Extra Moisture Detangler Review Twisted Sista Dream Curls Gel Review Curly Girl Method Products UK

Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Shampoo

This shampoo is what’s known as a ‘low poo’ – which means that it contains very gentle cleansing ingredients instead of sulphates. It removes product build-up and grime without stripping the hair of natural oils. I absolutely love this product, it’s amazing how it leaves my hair feeling super clean but not dry or stringy at all. I wash my hair about once a week, so I can get away with using this every time I wash. Lorraine Massey encourages you to try co-washing to begin with, but it doesn’t suit everyone, and it definitely doesn’t work for me. This shampoo is the perfect alternative. (Buy it from Boots – £12.99)

Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Treatment Masque

Because I only wash once a week, I use a really rich moisturising mask to make sure my hair is nourished and softened. This is a really thick mask, and it’s very, very hydrating. I love the smell, and it leaves my hair feeling silky smooth when I rinse it out. I apply a big glob of it to soaking wet hair, and then squish it into my hair (using a technique called ‘Squish to Condish’). When I rinse it out, I try to leave a little at the ends. I also find it to be surprisingly good for detangling! More on that below… (Buy it from Boots – £12.99)

Garnier Papaya Hair Food

This is a fairly new addition to my routine, but one that I am already in love with. The Hair Food masks (there’s also Banana, Aloe and Coconut versions) are ultra moisturising, and a LOT lighter than the Shea Moisture Masks. I like to use this if I’m going for a bouncier curl, knowing that my definition won’t last as long, but that my hair will have more body. I use it on washday in the same way I use the Shea Moisture Mask. I also use it as a leave-in when I want to refresh my hair – to do this I use a technique where I scoop a bit out, wet my hands, and then smooth it over the curls. It takes a while to dry, but it looks gorgeous afterwards! (Buy it from Boots – £3.49)

Tangle Teezer

Not CGM, so if you want to follow it to the letter, skip this part. But because of the amount of hair I have, I would be spending hours upon hours detangling by hand, and I don’t have time for that! I detangle my hair upside down in sections, and make sure to keep both my hair and the brush soaking wet – this makes the conditioner more ‘slippery’ and helps the tangles to come out without breakage. I find that the Tangle Teezer is the gentlest of the three ‘curl friendly’ brushes – the other two are the Denman Brush and the Wet Brush. I’ve used all three a lot, and I find the Wet Brush to be totally inept (the bristles bend) and the Denman to be almost impossible to get through my hair. If you’re going to brush, go for the Tangle Teezer. Another popular use for a brush when you have curly hair is to use it to define your curls – you’ll find loads of tutorials for this on YouTube, and they’re usually done with a Denman Brush, but I find that the Tangle Teezer works amazingly well for that, and I love it when I want to make my hair form big, luscious curls. (Buy one from Boots – £11)

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Extra Moisture Detangler

Whilst this has probably the worst product name in cosmetics history, it’s actually my FAVOURITE product EVER. This is a super super moisturising leave-in, which completely eliminates tangles and deeply hydrates the hair. It eliminates frizz without being heavy, leaving smooth, soft, really well defined, gorgeous curls. Seriously, I have so much love for this product it’s bordering on ridiculous, but it leaves my hair feeling SO GOOD. I apply it to soaking wet, freshly rinsed hair, and I do it in one of two ways. If I want smaller, bouncier curls I smooth this through all of my hair using a technique called ‘praying hands’, and then squish it in to get every hair coated. If I want sleeker, longer curls, then I flip my hair right side up, and smooth it over each curl individually, and again I squeeze it in to make sure it gets on all of the hairs. I was using Lush R&B for years before this, which was a sticky, heavy, waxy leave-in, and it’s such a joy to get all the benefits of that, without the gross residue. If you only buy one CG product in your whole life, make it this. (Buy it from Boots – £10.99)

Twisted Sista Dream Curls Gel

I use a small amount of this soft gel to seal in all the goodness from the rest of my products. It works brilliantly to maintain soft definition, but it’s also really good for getting a ‘cast’, which is basically where your curls are defined to the point of being crunchy. If you use enough to get a cast, you can scrunch it out once your hair is dry (apply some oil to your hands first), and by magic, you get defined, soft, bouncy, frizz free curls! (Buy it from Superdrug – £5.89)

blonde curly hair

My experience

Even though I didn’t make particularly huge changes compared to a lot of people who start doing CGM, I’ve still seen amazing results and I’m over the moon with how my hair looks now. I’ve never been so happy with it! One thing I used to struggle with a lot was how quickly my hair would tangle, and since switching up my styling products, I now no longer have that problem. I don’t have any breakage or split ends, and my hair itself is extremely strong and very healthy (I can say that because my hairdresser told me lol). My hair was doing okay before I started CGM, but I absolutely freaking LOVE IT now. I really recommend giving the Curly Girl Method a try – it will help you to truly understand and enjoy your hair!

a white woman with long curly hair wearing a green cardigan

My favourite nail polishes

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I feel like I haven’t written a pure beauty post in ages! Recently, my nails have become inexplicably stronger than they ever have before – and I decided to start growing them. I’ve actually quite enjoyed having long nails for the first time ever, and obviously, long nails deserve painting which means I’ve been painting my nails more than usual too. I decided to share all my favourite nail polishes, because, why not? 

I love Essie polishes. I know people like to find dupes and cheap versions, but I really feel like the quality makes them completely worth it. I can literally get a week and a half out of their gel couture range! I find that using their gel couture top coat on their regular range lasts for ages too, they’re such high quality. So anyway, here are my favourite shades!  

Angora Cardi 

A warm, deep, sophisticated shade that’s perfect for jut about every occasion, especially in the colder months! I still haven’t found anything this colour doesn’t go with. Buy it here

Eternal Optimist

Absolutely adore this shade – it’s a muted pink, so rather than that bright, neon pink that can look a bit childish, this pink is grown up and sophisticated, but still noticeable, unlike other muted pinks that can camouflage against skin like mine. Buy it here

In Stitches

I think this is probably my favourite nail colour of all time – it’s SO gorgeous. A rich red-brown, deep without being dark, I absolutely love it and it suits my skin colour perfect. Buy it here

Drop the Gown

A perfect red – not garish, but still bright enough to be recognisable as classic red. I’ve tried loads of the cult-red nail polishes and I always feel tacky wearing them (Dior Rouge was the most expensive let down ever) but there’s none of that with this stunning colour! Get it here

Top Coat

And of course, there’s no blog post without recommending Essie’s phenomenal Gel Couture Top Coat. Which I totally forgot to get a proper photo of, but it’s the all-white bottle in the first photo. It’s brilliant. It dries like a rock, with a super high shine finish and lasts foreverrrrrr. It isn’t UV sensitive like some gel-effect top coats, which means it doesn’t go stringy and weird when you try to use it, but it has all the same effects. It’s great, I can’t recommend it highly enough! Get it here

The best bath products ever

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I love a good bath. In fact, I need them. I suffer from severe anxiety, which gives me terrible muscle tightness. I find that a warm bath, with candles and some gentle music helps to relax my body and slow my racing mind better than almost anything. Sometimes, especially when I use particularly fragrant bath product, I’ll even sit in the pitch darkness whilst I soak, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it.

Unsurprisingly then, I get through a lot of bath products, and now that the weather is getting colder (and apparently will be getting VERY cold indeed this year) I thought you might like to read about some of my all-time favourite bath products!

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Homemade bath salts – £4.95 approx

The ones in this photo are a mixture of Himalayan pink salt and epsom salts, dried rose petals and lavender essential oil. Bath salts are particularly amazing for sore muscles from sport and exercise. It’s quite inexpensive if you do it yourself by buying your own essential oil and a giant bag of salts like these from Westlab which are the ones I use. However, it can be tricky to get intense or more complex scents by DIY-ing it, so if you want a bath that will be less practical and more sensual, keep reading…

Olverum Bath Oil – £32

This is hands down my favourite bath prodcut on the face of the earth. Nothing compares to this formula, unchanged since the 1930s. It’s all natural combination of pine, lavender, eucalyptus, lemon verbena, which creates the most relaxing, soothing vapours you could possibly imagine. I pour it on my skin when I’m in the bath and then let the water gently wash it around so that I can absolutely maximise my experience of the scent, because the thing about this is, it’s pretty expensive. If I could afford it, I would use this all the time, but for now it’s really just a ‘treat’.

Weleda Bath Soak – £14.95

This is the perfect affordable alternative to Olverum. I absolutely love the Pine scent, which is the one pictured here, but I also ADORE the Lavender, Rosemary and Arnica scents. And the great thing is, they are 100% natural, nourishing and really potently scented so they last for aaaages. I reckon you could mix them up and get a very similar scent to Olverum too – Lavender, Rosemary and Pine are the main ingredients in that too! All in all, these are a fantastic choice for lovely, relaxing baths. Get them here.

KINN Living Bath Oil – £28

This is a delightful, subtly scented bath oil that’s 99.5% organic. The scent is ylang ylang, lavender and tangerine and it’s so delicate and beautiful. The oil base is really nourishing on the skin too. I love this brand, founded by a mother-daughter duo who wanted to create a range of toxin-free home and bodycare products.

Geo Mitchell Relax, Naturally Bath Salts – £14.50

This is another amazing small brand, who have a gorgeous range of products that include natural home fragrances, essential oils and bath salts. These Relax, Naturally bath salts are amazing, combining lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint oils in a dead sea salt and epsom salt base. It’s super relaxing but somehow also invigorating?! You get out of the bath feeling like a new person! I love it. It’s great in the bath but also probably one of the best things I’ve ever used as a soak for tired feet. Geo Mitchell have also very kindly provided me with a discount code for you: enter LYB15 for 15% off your first order!

Caudalie Purifying Mask – £22

This is my all-time favourite mask, but that’s not the only reason I’m including it in this list – the other is that it’s a mask that you can leave on for pretty much as long as you like – it doesn’t dry out, which means you don’t have to get out of the bath when your skin starts feeling tight! This mask reduces inflammation and removes impurities to help fix blemishes and give you a smooth, clear complexion. It smells gorgeous and is super gentle on the skin too. Cannot recommend it highly enough! Get it on Look Fantastic, here.

The Best Body Oils For Summer

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HELLO! It’s me, with a blog post?! Yes I haven’t been blogging much lately, I have loads in my drafts I’m just focusing on other things at the moment. You know how it is. But I had to share my favourite recommendations for summery body oils because the wonderful weather we’ve been having has totally inspired me.

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For me, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is, I need to moisturise after I wash. I have dry skin on my body, which turns to eczema in winter but in summer I just get a bit of scaliness and roughness (nice). And of course when the inevitable post-burn ‘peeling’ happens, I need to exfoliate and moisturise even more! Hasn’t happened yet, but it’s early days yet, despite it feeling like we’ve already had our yearly allocation of sun about five times over! So anyway, onto my recommendations for body oils. I love body oils, and much prefer them to body creams. One thing to remember if you aren’t an oil convert yet, is that body oils are nearly always far more naturally derived than creams, and when you’re applying a product to such a large surface area, you should really be using something natural. These three are all light enough to be suitable for sticky summer days, but nourishing enough to leave your skin feeling gorgeously soft. Their fragrances are all very different, but each one is perfect for sunny days in its own unique way.

Aesop Geranium Lead Hydrating Body Treatment

This is the freshest smelling and most luxuriously textured of the three oils – the lightly floral fragrance of geranium leaf is combined with mandarin and bergamot for a really uplifting but intoxicating experience. It reminds me of extremely fragrant English country gardens, you know when the sun has been beating down all day and the flowers are just radiating their scents? It’s a wonderful massage oil as well, but I love to use it any time of the day – it absorbs very quickly when you apply a normal amount, but if you want to massage with it, just use more. It absorbs completely either way, you’re never left feeling sticky! I absolutely love the way this oil feels when you apply it – it truly is everything you could want in an oil. The scent lasts for a good while, as you’d expect from a luxury oil. The nourishing base is almond and macadamia oils which are both really rich in vitamin E, an essential antioxidant for preserving youthful skin. Get it from Beauty Expert, here.

Yves Rocher Orange Blossom, Lavender and Pettigrain Botanical Oil

First of all, I’m so sorry to have to direct you to Yves Rocher’s terrible website, but that’s the only way you can get their products in the UK! It’s worth it, I promise. This oil is glorious. It’s thick, but wastes no time absorbing. The scent of this one is primarily orange blossom or fleur d’oranger if you’re fancy, I can’t really get any lavender or pettigrain but that’s fine for me because orange blossom is my favourite fragrance IN THE WORLD. I absolutely cannot get enough of it. Orange blossom makes me feel so happy, it’s one of the most magically uplifting scents in the world. It’s rich and heady, like jasmine, but without being overwhelming, there’s a fresh element to is as well. I’ve had this oil for two summers and it’s still going strong, despite regular use, so it’s also fantastic value for money. The oils in it are very hardy – rapeseed, sunflower, coconut and macadamia, which makes it very effective at softening and nourishing the skin. The smell lasts at least half a day, which is incredible for a body oil if you ask me! Get it from their website here.

Lush Elbow Grease

I feel like I bang on about this oil at least once a week, whether online or in real life, but I just can’t get over how much I love the smell. It’s so tropical without being sweet or sickly, just makes me feel like I’m wandering through a flower garden in Tahiti or somewhere. It reminds me a lot of monoi oil although it doesn’t actually contain any – the scent is neroli, orange blossom, rosewood and ylang ylang. If you want to read more about this glorious slice of cosmetic heaven, you can read my full blog post on it here.

 

 

Spring Clean with KINN* – toxin free, natural products for body and home!

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Thinking about doing a bit of spring cleaning? Perhaps you’ve read the recent news stories about household cleaning products being an underestimated source of air pollution? Or maybe you heard about the new research, which has found that women are more likely to experience respiratory illnesses due to inhaling cleaning products over extended periods of time? Not long ago I tweeted about how looking after your home is a form of self care, but how can it be when the products required to clean a home are so dangerous? These news stories really left me feeling a bit despondent.  Luckily for me, when these stories were published, I had been invited to try a new, non-toxic and organic lifestyle brand called KINN… and trust me, you’ll want to learn all about this amazing brand too!

Four bottles. One is a body lotion bottle, one is a bath oil, one is a kitchen cleaner and one is washing up liquid. there are two plants behind them.

KINN products are non-toxic, vegan, and have fully traceable ingredients (which is something that very few brands actually have). The brand was created by mother-daughter duo Marie and Sophie, who set out with the aim of creating products for the body and home that would be enjoyable and effective to use, without doing damage to the consumer or the environment. I’ve tried four KINN products so far, two from their cleaning range and two from their body care range, and have been absolutely delighted with every single one of them!

Two bottles sit on top of three cookbooks. The bottles are washing up liquid and kitchen cleaner in modern, clean packaging. A plant is next to them.

Eco Friendly Kitchen Cleaner – £3.50

This is without a doubt the best cleaning spray I’ve ever used. It’s anti-bacterial but not in the same way that Dettol is anti-bacterial – instead of horrific chemicals, KINN use rosemary and lavender extracts to kill off unwanted germs sustainably. The scent is absolutely beautiful, a clean rosemary scent, and it cuts through dirt to leave surfaces absolutely sparkling clean. I actually really do not like cleaning, but the gorgeous scent of this stuff, and how satsfying it is to just absolutely blast through kitchen worktops, the hob, cubboard doors etc with this stuff makes it so much more enjoyable.

Eco Friendly Washing Up Liquid – £3.50

Easily the best washing up liquid I’ve ever used. Although in this country, everything that goes down the drain is heavily treated before being released back into the ecosystem, I do know that your water company’s job is made a lot harder when weird chemicals go into the mix. So when I put things down the drain, I prefer them to be as natural as possible. This is an absolutely brilliant washing up liquid, it’s so effective, it’s kind to my hands and smells wonderful; those lavender and rosemary extracts again.

Two white bottles sit on a white tile in front of two green plants. The bottles are of body lotion and bath oil.

Organic Body Lotion – £18

This body lotion is absolutely stunning, and is 90.9% organic, amazingly. The scent is ylang ylang and lavender, with orange in there too to lift it up. The base is sunflower seed, shea and cocoa butter which makes it rich, but absorbs really beautifully. And there’s aloe vera in there too which gives it a gorgeously soothing feel as you massage it in. A little goes a very long way too, and I find that when I use it after I shave my legs, it completely prevents any dryness from occurring, which is a recurring problem for me with shaving – so it’s clearly an amazing body lotion if it can treat that!

Organic Bath Oil – £28

This might actually be my favourite product of the four I’ve tried. It’s not like any other bath oil I own, which have very herbal scents like arnica, pine or rosemary. This is a delicate, uplifting scent that put me in a good mood as soon as I poured it in. The scent comes from tangerine oil, lavender and ylang ylang and it’s just so lovely. The oil blend is composed of sweet almond, grape seed, avocado and sunflower seed oils which are very good for nourishing the skin, but they are all very easily absorbed meaning it doesn’t make your bath or your skin oily. There’s added vitamin E for extra skin-loving nutrients. Every time I have a bath in this I just do not want to get out, ever! The oil is 100% natural and 99.5% organic too. It doesn’t get better than that.

I hope you enjoyed reading about KINN, this brand has been an absolute revelation to me and I can’t believe how much I enjoy using their home cleaning products! They have lots of other gorgeous sounding products too, including a body oil and body wash, a bathroom cleaner and a floor wash. I really want to try their body wash, it sounds divine!! You can buy KINN products on their website here, or they are also available in Waitrose.