Hold the phone, for I have found something that makes my hair SMOOTH – note the use of capitals, it’s required. Smoother than smooth. Like polished. So glossy I felt the need to swing it around in a ‘I Whip My Hair Back and Forth’-like fashion just for celebration. A little stalk round Health & Glow the other day ended with the L’Oreal Paris Professionnel Air Fix Extra Strong Fixing Spray – a bit of a hairspray, shine imparter and wave teaser-outer three-in-one, more on that at a later date – and the BBlunt Back to Life Dry Shampoo entering the basket, the latter of which was spritzed into my hair after the fastest hair wash in the history of showers immediately as I walked through the door. And well…
I think it’s fair to say that I pull the contents of my whole beauty wishlist and wishlist-turned-purchases from the Internet. From other bloggers, from the comments under my posts, a copious amount of YouTube viewing, enabling tweets alerting me that I need something/a product I’ve wishlisted has come back into stock/sale items that it would be rude to not take advantage off, etc etc. I love ’em. And take your recommendations in like a super absorbent sponge that likes to go shopping, so I thought I’d tap into them a little further and see what gems you would suggest for some slots that are currently unfilled in my stash…
There are a few rituals I partake in each time I take a visit to Phoenix. I smell The Body Shop Cocoa Lotion, groan, then remember that I’ve too many lotions at home negating the need for it. I then attempt to colour match myself to L’Oreal’s True Match Le Crayon Correcteur, promptly give up and turn to swatching every single shade of the Faces Glam On Colour Perfect Lipsticks up my arm. More often than not I can’t decide between the shades with about five of them hovering on the edge purchase. Before something silly happens I walk away and turn my attention to something else. But with a bit of encouragement on Twitter, one was pushed into the basket, along with an old Faces favourite and out I walked from my most recent Phoenix jaunt with a bounce in my step and a bag of F.C goodness.
As much as I love the luxury of an extended skincare routine, which often turns into a bit of a pamper; incorporating treatments, masks, enough lotions and potions to open a small apothecary and takes around 30 minutes – it’s not the most convenient for travel. I spent last week in Thailand chilling out, gulping down some fresh air and being dragged up mountains by my parents. It was an annual holiday I swore I’d never do again once I turned 16, but by 26 I’ve softened and actually enjoyed an international jaunt. It was low-key and the glamest it got was a nightly trip to the local market so my beauty stuff was kept to a minimum and after much consideration I plumped for a streamlined, stripped-back skincare stash:
Every now and again at the beginning of a product love-affair, I have one of those light bulb moments. Ta-dah! Maybe it’s because it’s true to its word, performs its function like no other or the formula is just so time/space/product saving – whatever the reason behind my beauty epiphany something that gives me a eureka moment is sure to go to the top of my cosmetic charts. The following four picks all monopolise their respective categories, have got me stroking my non-existent beard and exerting a knowing ‘ah-ha’…
Sometimes I come across a product that I’m just itching to write a post about. Case in point: the L’Oreal Paris Color Riche Vernis. Hot shades, a hell of a wide-brush and the hardiest varnishes I’ve tried. In fact I went six whole days (including a lot of washing up and housework) before things started to look a little raggedy and I required a repaint. The formula’s sorta gel-like, high-shine and some of the shades do need a third coat to reach an opacity level I’m happy with but they last, oh gawd do they last.
It is an all too frequent occurrence that beauty gems get bundled to the back of a drawer. Collecting dust and not seeing the light of day, it’s not until I get down to having a good ol’ clear up that I polish them off and vow to enlist them back into my daily rotation. That’s exactly what happened to the following oft-neglected products; beauts that I’ve welcomed back into the bag with open arms…
