New Discovery!

For work this week I had to review pore minimizing serums and I thought I would share the best one with you!

It's by Estee Lauder and it's called "Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher". It's quite expensive at £37 a bottle, so I shall be using it very sparingly but it's amazing! It smells so fresh and clean and the serum isn't too thick or too runny, so a little goes a long way.

The best thing about it is that it works straight away so you don't have to wait weeks to see results. Large pores are reduced in size almost immediately and it leaves the skin silky smooth with an even surface, making make-up application so much easier.

The bottle is rather pretty too :) x

Wonderful Westminster and The Royal Wedding

The weather was absolutely beautiful in London today and I was lucky enough to be able to spend the morning out in the sun. I was on the hunt for Will and Kate nail decals for work....

What do we reckon...a nice idea or are we becoming a bit memorabilia mad? With the wedding only a few weeks away, you can literally buy just about anything with Will and Kate's faces on...mugs, tea towels, pens... but the fake nails are by far the strangest thing I've come across...or not come across as the case may be. I am convinced that I visited every Souvenir shop in Westminster and asked whether they stocked the nails but unfortunately after two and a half hours (and a bit of a tan) later my search was fruitless :(

My little mission was absolutely worth it though, as I have never really walked round Westminster before. I'm very much smitten. A picnic in St James' Park if the weather holds up? Yes please. x

Karma has come round and bitten me on the...well on the foot actually.

Since bleating on about how important it is to take care of your feet...to make sure you buff them, moisturise them, give them a little pedicure etc I have committed the ultimate crime against my own poor little pair.

Taking full advantage of the beautiful weather we had down in the South of England yesterday, I decided to wear a pair of sandals to walk into town to meet The Resident's lovely Health and Lifestyle journalist Julia, but, as I was in a bit of a rush, I grabbed the closest pair to hand that would go with my outfit (a cheap pair I bought from Tesco when the strap on my old pair broke mid food-shop).

A word of warning:
NEVER WEAR CHEAP SHOES WHEN YOU HAVE TO WALK LONG DISTANCES.

I give you Exhibit 1: The Cheap Shoe.

This sandal and it's accomplice (the other sandal) are guilty of giving me THE WORST blisters (on the soles and heels of both feet) ever. The walk to town is about 40 minutes and by the time I had arrived I was in agony and had to dive straight into Boots to pick up a packet of blister plasters. Not being blessed with much money at the moment, I opted for the Boots own variety, which, although you don't get very many (5) for £3.99, are usually pretty good on the backs of your heels as they create a thin skin-like barrier between your feet and the shoe.

Unfortunately not even these old faithfuls were equipped to deal with the sheer friction created by sweaty feet and cheap shoes and they soon rubbed off causing the blisters to pop and me to hobble all the way home from town with open wounds. I'm sorry to harp on about this (as I appreciate that it's a pretty gross topic and a far cry from giving a review on beauty products) but it might save someone else from making the same mistake :S

WOW it was uncomfortable in the extreme, only made worse by the fact I had to travel all the way to Watford on various trains and tubes to go clubbing for a friend's leaving party before she heads off to Madagascar next week for a few months! I genuinely considered ringing her and explaining (through tears of self-pity) that I simply couldn't walk let alone commute and dance all evening...but I powered on...surely I get a huge amount of friend points for that ;) ?

I am back home now and bed-ridden with an open wound on each foot the size of a fifty pence piece. I was tempted to post a pic, but it's just naaaaaasty so I won't.

I shouldn't have been wearing gladiator sandals anyway... it's all about the dressy anklet-flat this season ;) so it serves me right. Plus I have now realised that you can be guilty of taking too much care of your feet, as the underneath becomes prone to blisters if you don't allow it to toughen up a little before wearing shoes without woolly socks or tights. My advice would be to ALWAYS carry around blisters plasters and maybe a pair of Scholl's Party Feet if you're going to whack out the sandals soon. Oh, that and, don't buy cheapy shoes from Tesco if you can possibly avoid it...!!

x

The Resident

I've just started writing for The Resident (the free local newspaper for my town that comes out every Friday)! My articles will be featured in the Health and Lifestyle section and the first one comes out this Friday! For the first couple of weeks I think I'm just going to be tweaking material from my blog, just until I get used to writing! I'm pretty nervous to be in print to be honest but, as it's local, only family members and old friends from the area will be reading it, so I suppose they have to give me a good review ;)

I am very privileged to have been given this opportunity, as a weekly article is a fantastic way to start a beauty journalism portfolio, so I am very grateful.

I'm just going to need some help coming up with material for it from time to time...so any suggestions anyone has, please send them my way! x

A little treat for my feet courtesy of Dr Spafish

In further preparation for spring/summer (can anyone sense how excited I am to be leaving winter behind?), I thought I should pay a little attention to the areas of my body that are somewhat neglected from October until February...particularly my feet, which have become just a little too cosy snuggled up in thick socks and my Uggs all winter. Plus, a very cute pair of summer wedges from Kurt Geiger caught my eye last week, so it's about time my feet saw some daylight...

I had every intention of keeping my feet as soft as possible this winter...I even gave them a going over with the Soap and Glory foot buffer I especially requested as a Christmas present a few times but I have to admit, I've been a bit lax with it of late.

 

It really is a very good buffer though and I would definitely recommend using it a few times before you give your feet their first outing of the year in flip flops or sandals. It has a sandpaper-like feel to it with one rough side (as pictured above) that you use for heavy duty hard skin removal and a smoother side that you use straight after to buff your newly filed skin. I also got the Soap and Glory Heel Genius foot cream for Christmas which I use post buff. I like it because it's more of a gel than a cream and, as I usually attempt my DIY pedicures before bedtime, it dries reasonably quickly so I don't have to get under the covers with slimy feet....always a bonus.

Anyway, before I could even think about purchasing aforementioned new wedges, I decided that my feet needed an extra bit of TLC..

When I was out shopping in a local mall a few weekends ago, I noticed a new shop with a queue of around 20 people waiting outside. On closer inspection I discovered that a Dr Spafish walk-in Spa had opened in the mall and, by the looks of things, had already become very popular! I'm sure by now everyone has heard of Fish Pedicures, where your feet are dipped into a small pool filled with tiny fish that nibble away at the dead skin around your heels and toes...well Dr Spafish is a Franchise with 8 existing Spas that offer fish pedicures at a very reasonable price (£10 for 15 minutes) on a walk-in basis. The fish are Garra Rufa fish and are found in abundance in the Turkish town of "Kangal". If you want any further information about the fish or the Dr Spafish experience in general, the website address is http://www.drspafish.com/.

To avoid the queue, my sister and I returned to Dr Spafish during the week and requested a 15 minute fish pedicure. A little word of advice to anyone thinking of giving one a go... make sure you aren't wearing any fake tan on your feet...otherwise you have to sit and scrub it off in a bucket of warm water in front of everyone before you're allowed a dunk. Unfortunately feet with verrucas, warts or athletes foot are unable to receive a pedicure as it could harm the poor fish....perfectly reasonable IMO, as there's no way I'd like to nibble on an infected foot...to be honest I'd rather not nibble any feet but a job's a job and who am I to judge a fish just trying to make a living...

When I first dipped my feet into the pool, all the fish seemed to swim up at once and start nibbling the underneath. I have very ticklish feet, which I stupidly didn't even take into account when I decided to try the Dr Spafish experience...If you don't think you can bare lots of pairs of tiny teeth tickling you for 15 minutes solidly, then this is probably not the pedicure for you. It's a very bizarre sensation, you can actually feel the fish biting you gently! Strangely enough, they didn't go for the areas of my feet that I thought they would...the heels, the skin around my big toe...all the areas you would expect to find dead skin. Instead, they seemed to set up camp around the bottom of my leg and the top of my foot.

15 minutes flew by and afterwards, whilst I was drying my feet with a towel and having them sanitised by the fish therapist, I did notice that my feet were quite a bit smoother and softer than they were before the pedicure. The fish therapist told me that there were also spas where you could have your whole body dunked into a pool and nibbled by the fish! I think I will stick to just the pedicure for now.... and, as I deemed my first one such a success, I reckon I'll be paying Dr Spafish another visit very soon. x

A Spring Clean...for the Make Up Bag

As March is just around the corner, I spent this afternoon sorting out my make up bag... throwing out old products that have been sitting in the bottom for far too long and just generally making room for a few new additions that will see me through S/S 11.

(It's so important not to hang on to old make up, as old compacts and their respective sponges and applicators can be a hot bed of nasty germs which can give you eye infections or spots.)

I also gave all my make up brushes a good old clean. I am dreadful at remembering to do this on a regular basis, which could very well be the reason I had a mass acne breakout around 6 months ago (incidentally I am still on antibiotics for it, which I suppose are my daily reminder to be a bit more hygienic with my beauty products...).

Lisa Eldridge, Make Up Artist to the stars (and my idol) recommends that you should wash your make up brushes once a week, so I think I might write a reminder in my diary to do it every Sunday night, that way I can start the week on a fresher note! It really doesn't take very long...Lisa suggests pouring a bit of shampoo in the palm of your hand and rubbing the brush gently and in circular movements into the shampoo until it lathers, then rinsing it in warm water and leaving it to dry over night!

Ahh so that's a good job jobbed! I was also nice enough to give my mum's a quick clean for her...hmm, I wonder if that means I deserve a few brightly coloured eye shadows à la S/S 11...her treat? ;)

x

New Blog...New Hair!

I quite frequently change the colour of my hair. I'm quite lucky in that I am naturally rather mousy so I can pull off blonde or brown hair as long as the shade suits pale skin. I used to change my colour with the change of season (so I would have blonde highlights for S/S and would become a brunette again for A/W) but last September I decided to mix it up a bit and go for, what my sister later described as, a "mingle" (as in the chocolate) look; brown underneath and blonde on top.    

I've been a mingle for about six months now, so yesterday I felt it was time for another change (plus the upkeep for a mingle is not cheap!). Naturally the logical thing to do was to try and dye my hair all one colour, so I have opted to be a brunette again for a while (before having a few cheeky highlights put back in in time for summer).

I'd seen the adverts for Clarol's new nice 'n easy Colour Blend Foam a few times on the TV and wondered if it lived up to its hype. I can honestly say that it isn't as messy as traditional dyes and the bottle and application process really is unique! After you have poured the Colour Activating Creme (the small bottle) into the Colour Blend Formula (the larger bottle) and put the lid on, hold the bottle very gently! Don't do what I did and squeeze it too tightly when you pick it up, otherwise you end up with a large amount of foam hair dye on your foot! I was originally a bit concerned that I wouldn't have enough foam, as I've got quite long hair, but I didn't even need to finish the bottle, which was a bonus. The odd thing about the mixture, though, is that when you are waiting for the colour to take to your hair, it dries crispy!

I must say, I was really impressed with how even the colour turned out. I fully expected for my hair to be a slightly lighter brown on top for a while (where I used to be blonde) until I had dyed it a couple of times to match the tone underneath but amazingly I can't tell where the blonde stopped and the brown started, so I am one happy customer :) x

Clarol's nice 'n easy Colour Blend Foam in Light Ash Brown (6A)