Fashion Fair Carnival Collection: Review and Swatches

Staring out my window with the sun shining brightly, and despite the rain we have been experiencing recently - I feel inspired to believe that Summer is finally around the corner!

One of the things I love most about Summer is the sunshine which always encourages me to shed the dark colours of autumn/winter and move into more vibrant hues, whilst also allowing my skin to get a beautiful bronzy glow from the sun (with protection of course) 

So when Fashion Fair offered to send me a few samples from their Carnival Collection, It sounded like it would be perfect for summer. Inspired by the sun kissed Caribbean and festivities of the Carnival, the collection is a mix of oranges, metallic gold, bronzes, vibrant pinks and purples.

L - R ( Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

I was sent a selection of metallic golds and bronzes and starting with the eyeshadows - I just have one word. Gorgeous! Highly pigmented, they are beautiful shades that are highly wearable even during the day and they show up beautifully on darker skin tones.

My favourite is Safari Brown, which is a perfect brown skin nude on my skin tone and I can actually wear it on it's own.

The shadows go on extremely soft and are so easy to blend with other colours. Below is a swatch of the lipsticks and shadows.

L - R (Sepia, Confidence, Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

The lipsticks I will admit, made me extremely nervous when I first saw them in all their bronze and gold glory, all I could think was circa 90's! But I was pleasantly surprised. 

L - R (Confidence, Sepia)

Confidence is more on the golden side and on its own doesn't work for me, but it can be combined with a darker lip colour to create a nice ombre effect and also worn over a nude lipstick. 

The star of the show however is Sepia lipstick, which completely wowed me - It has a brown/ bronze tone to it which also works as a nice nude colour. It's such a pretty shade and is long wearing and soft on the lips. 

The Carnival Collection is available from selected Debenhams and Boots.

Hair Health and Growth with Phyto Specific

I have always had tiny, baby type curls along my front hairline, but looking at my hairline recently I noticed that it definitely looked a lot finer than I remembered.

Cue panic and much staring into the mirror whilst interrogating Mr LPM on if he had noticed it, and if so why he hadn’t said anything! In typical male fashion his response was a calm no you look great! Admittedly any other response was liable to get him into trouble…  however it did manage to calm me down.

I realised that no I am not suddenly turning into a middle aged balding man, and on much reflection I remembered that it started when I was going through the stressful period I mentioned I had a few months ago. This meant I didn’t have as much time to take care of my hair, so had worn it in a few too many tightly scraped buns and had also generally neglected my hair in regards to treatments and deep conditioning. (Always a bad idea with fragile Afro hair)

Anyhu, I’m now armed with a good hair trim and two new products that I’m testing out in the hope that they will provide my hairline with a bit of a boost.

I’m also working on a new hair regime, but I’m currently in the early phases, so once I’m sure that it works I will post it up.

The two products I’m about to trial are from the new Phyto Specific Range for Curly Coiled Relaxed Hair.

You all know that I’m a big believer of the phrase beauty starts from within, so the first is Cap’Energy, a dietary supplement for the hair and nails.

The key ingredients are the B Vitamins, which have a well-known track record of being beneficial for hair health and growth.  They are said to provide essential nutrients to increase vitality and to strengthen your hair. Vitamin B6 helps to synthesise cysteine, the natural amino constituent of keratin. While Vitamin B8, also known as biotin is essential for hair and nail growth and for preventing hair loss and premature gray hairs.

The second is Phytotraxil – an anti thinning treatment for traction alopecia. Its meant to boost hair growth in traumatised areas caused by pulling and is said to be perfect for post weaving, braiding and relaxing.

I’ve literally only just started using the products and will come back with an update in the next couple of months on how effective they have been on my hair.

Have you tried any of these products? Or have you experienced similar hair problems before? What did you do? Would love to know in the comments below

The Review: Clayspray Chococlay Face Mask

 

Face masks are one of my favourite items in my beauty routine, and I tend to use them once or twice a week, picking and choosing a mask according to my skins concerns to either deep cleanse, exfoliate or hydrate my skin.

I was recently sent Clayspray, a Spanish skincare brand to try out and upon seeing the packaging and product, I was intrigued.

The science bit

Clayspray is described as the first emulsified clay in a spray can (first time I have ever seen a face mask spray out of a can), which helps the clay mask last a lot longer than say clays that come in a jar, tube or powder, simply  because once opened they are exposed to air so tend to become hard and dried out.

It is said to "incorporate up to 60-65% of pure clay mineral, spring water and hydrogel in a luxurious texture". Which is extremely high in comparison to normal clay masks, that are said to "only contain 10-15%" in their formulations, so this is one of the highest concentrations I have seen.

The macromolecular hydrogels are meant to retain up to 800 times their weight in water, which in turn is  meant to infuse your skin with moisture as opposed to drying it out, whilst also removing excess oils and impurities.

I tried out the Chococlay - Red Clay and Cacao Mask which aims to nourish, balance, smooth and brighten.

How to use

Like most clay masks, you need to start of with a clean face, then lightly mist your face with the H20 water spray and apply a thin layer of spray to your face.

I have to admit that it applies beautifully - it has a slight liquid type consistency, which makes the application of it so much smoother and easier than any other clay mask I've used previously. If you are a fan of clay masks, you will know what I mean here, they tend to be quite thick and hard to apply.

You then leave the mask on for 15-20 mins, and can spray your face again halfway through with the H20 water to prevent it from becoming too hard and drying. This avoids that tight and horrible I can't speak or move my face experience you sometimes get with a clay mask. (I loved this tip and will be using it for some of my other masks)

Finally, rinse off the mask once the time has elapsed and follow up with another spray of the H20 water and the rest of your usual skincare.

So what did I think?

Motivational Monday: Beautiful Or Average?

Given the option between “Average” and “Beautiful” which description would you choose for yourself?

According to a new worldwide survey conducted by Dove, it revealed that a whooping 96% of women consider themselves to be average, leaving only 4% who believe that they are beautiful.

For their new Choose Beautiful campaign, Dove decided to illustrate the survey results with a video. Across five cities - Shanghai, San Francisco, London, Sao Paulo and Delhi, women were filmed in local shopping areas as they walked up to one of two doors marked with a sign that read “Average” or “Beautiful”. The camera followed the women to see which door they would choose to walk through and then to find out their thought process behind going through their chosen door.

Lets pause here for a moment as I put out a little disclaimer. I am well aware of the controversy behind Unilever and Dove in regards to some of the other products and brands they produce that is in complete contradiction to their message of “building women’s self esteem” and I am not in any way trying to promote Dove.

What I want to focus on is the video itself and the thought process of the women on what “average” and “beautiful” means, as I think it’s a belief that many of us also share.

Watching the video, it was incredible to see how many of the women choose to walk through the average door. It was also interesting to hear them reveal what made them choose that door. Some of the responses included:

1) ‘Am I choosing because of what's constantly bombarded at me and what I'm being told that I  

     should accept? "Or, am I choosing because that's what I really believe?’

2) 'It was confronting to see these signs, and to have to choose, and be self conscious of how you 

    perceive yourself and if it lines up with how the rest of the world perceives you.'

3) 'I regretted my choice because it was different to what I live for and what I live'

4) 'I had rated myself as average and nobody else.'

5) 'Beautiful, to me, is too far out of reach.'

Here is the video

A Hair Treatment with Errol Douglas

Ever since I decided to go back to my natural hair, I think I’ve only been to the hairdressers once. Mind you, it wasn’t out of choice, but simply because when I tried, most hairdressers would stare at my natural afro hair, and you would see literal expressions of panic fly across their faces as they tried to figure out how they would handle it. It was either that or they would try to convince me to relax my hair.

Fed up with the whole process, I have mainly managed and treated my hair myself for the last couple of years.

However, I recently attended an event with Phytospecific at Errol Douglas, and was invited to try out a complimentary hair treatment at the salon. When I quizzed them and was informed that yes they do offer treatments for natural afro hair, I was intrigued.

Now Errol Douglas as a salon is not new to me, I have heard many people rave their professional service and treatments for a mixture of hair types, and some of my friends go there to get their hair both relaxed and treated. But I just assumed it was restricted to relaxed hair. I love it when I stand corrected!

I arrived for my appointment a couple of weeks ago and hidden behind the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge, is Errol Douglas. A beautiful salon, located on Motcomb Street. With a chic and spacious space, the décor is stylish and warm, inviting you to settle into one of their comfy chairs and get your hair done.

Errol Douglas himself is a legend in the industry and has won an MBE for his services to the hair industry.

On arrival I was offered a drink and a food menu, which has a selection of actual meals and juices to choose from.  Do note that there is a charge for these as they work with a private chef.

I was then led downstairs to the dedicated afro hair area. Enter in Eve, the miracle worker who is the Artistic Director and Head of the Afro hair team at Errol Douglas.

Eve is extremely experienced and knowledgeable about all things hair, having worked as a hair stylist for the last 20 years, with 11 years specifically at Errol Douglas. Sporting a very stylish natural fro hawk style herself, I knew I was in safe hands.

Review: Joliette Caribbean Radiance Range

Brands that have a story and heart behind them always tug at my heart and Afrodeity is one of those brands.

Afrodeity was founded by mother and daughter team Alicia and Joliette around the knowledge of healing herbs, oils and butters passed down through the generations.

It’s an online store that retails natural Caribbean Inspired hair and skin products. Their ultimate goal is to help small farmers in the Caribbean reinvigorate the declining agricultural industry and to stop a dependence on importation of essential foodstuff.”

I love supporting small business owners who are doing fantastic things and have met Alicia the founder a number of times and each time have been inspired by her story and journey.

So when Alicia asked if I would like to try their newly launched skincare line named Joliette – the Caribbean Radiance range, I couldn’t wait.

In Alicia’s words "I created Joliette in honour of my mother, for whom the brand is named and for my daughter and her growing head of gorgeous curls"

The whole range is a natural based line that incorporates natural fruit extracts such as papaya, strawberry, lemon and cranberry, alongside a number of oils and butters. Namely olive, coconut, apricot, sunflower, shea and vitamin e. The line is designed to help to even out your skin tone and promote a radiant complexion.

If you are not a fan of scented products though, then you might struggle with these as they are heavily scented. However it’s a gorgeous coconut scent. Think real natural coconuts and the face moisturizer also has a strong scent of the different fruit extracts. I’m usually wary of anything that is heavily scented, particularly for my face but I haven’t had any sort of reaction, which I think is largely due to Alicia’s background as a chemist.

Joliette Caribbean Radiance Facial Cream Wash

Described as a “unique 2-in-1 blend of a cream cleanser and a foaming face wash. It nourishes and protects the skin whilst actively illuminating the skin with natural fruit extracts”.

I am really enjoying using this cleanser either in the morning or as the second part of my double cleanse in the evening. It is smooth and creamy and feels more like a moisturiser than a face wash, and it doesn’t leave my face with a squeaky overly clean feeling, instead its soft and lightly moisturised.

Ingredients include: liquorice extract, papaya, cranberry, strawberry, lemon and mango fruit extracts.

£14.00 for 150ml

Joliette Caribbean Radiance Facial Scrub  

Described as a “2-in-1 blend of cream cleanser and moisturising face wash with exfoliating volcanic pumice to leave skin feeling clean, clear and ready for action.”

For regular readers you will know that I am not a fan of grainy face scrubs, I instead prefer chemical exfoliators or if I’m going to use a grainy scrub, I much prefer finely milled textures such as crystals, powders or rounded jojoba beads. That’s because I find these are much gentler and effective on my skin. I find that the grainy ones tend to scratch and aggravate my sometimes-sensitive skin.

So unfortunately the grains in these were way too harsh for my skin. I do however enjoy using it on my body.

Ingredients include: Apricot kernel oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, papaya fruit extract, cranberry extract, strawberry extract, lemon extract, mango fruit extract.

£12.00 for 150ml

Joliette Caribbean Radiance Facial Moisturiser

The Caribbean Radiance Moisturiser has been designed to” illuminate and tone skin whilst creating a smoothed out, even skin tone.”

One of the beautiful things about this moisturiser is that it has an SPF 25, a great sun protection with the addition of zinc oxide, which thankfully dries to a completely sheer finish that will not look ashy or white on darker skin tones.

It does have quite a number of oils in it, which I initially thought would make my face look shiny, however although the oils do come through after some time, my face just looked the same as it normally does with no extra shine. I found it be lightweight but with the perfect amount of moisturising properties.

I can’t attest to it’s evening out of my skin tone, I think I would need to use it for longer to really asses that. You are meant to be able to use it both during the day and at night, but I personally would only use it during the day due to the SPF properties.

Ingredients include: liquorice extract, papaya, cranberry, strawberry, lemon and mango fruit extracts.

£14.99 for 60ml

You can find out more about the brand and purchase the Joliette products on their site here 

Have you tried anything from either the Joliette range? What did you think?

3 Products To Help Improve Your Beauty Sleep

We've all heard the term beauty sleep bandied about but what does it really mean and is there any real substance to it?

Beauty sleep is defined as:

"A period of regular restful sleep, especially when attained by going to bed early. Also called beauty rest."
“(It comes from the belief that such sleep helps preserve an attractive and youthful appearance)”

Sleeping earlier which is the first stage of your sleep cycle, is said to be crucial to beauty sleep as it's during that time that the body typically produces a surge in the growth hormone, which helps cell regeneration and works to repair and rebuild your body tissues.

Chronic lack of sleep or poor quality sleep has an incredibly negative effect on the way we look and feel.

And what's the recommended number of hours of sleep that we need? Well experts recommend between 7-9 hours of sleep, if you are aged between 26-64.

I came across a quote in the daily mail that talked about study of the body clock – chronobiology, which suggests that there are set times when our body clock dictates that various processes take place in the skin and hair

" From 8pm to 11pm is the time for hydration and stimulation, while 11pm to 3am is the time for nutrition and regeneration and 3am to 5am is the time for resting"

But what do you do when you can't get enough sleep, find it hard to shut down or even struggle to sleep at all?

Over the last few months, I have been incredibly busy, have been pulling a lot of very late nights and as  result have definitely seen the negative effects across my skin and health. 

I generally feel more stressed, never feel very rested and have put on a bit of weight. Deep sleep  (of which I haven’t been getting) helps to negate the bad effects of the hormone cortisol, a stress hormone which has been known to increase your body fat percentage - thus fighting against you gaining weight around your stomach.

So I decided to get a handle on it as part of my moving into a healthier state this year.

Some of the things I have been doing include:

1. Forcing myself to go to sleep earlier (not easy but it has to be done),
2. Not going on my iPad or phone whilst in bed (yes Instagram I'm side eyeing you on this!)
3. Avoiding drinks like tea, coffee and hot chocolate (they all contain caffeine which is too stimulating at nightime) 
4. Ensuring that my room is a cool/neutral temperature. Being too hot or cold keeps me awake.

Let's Get Tarted Up: Review of Tarte Cosmetics Fearless Amazonian Blush and Lights Camera Lashes Mascara

Ok can we just pause … and talk about the beautiful packaging of these Tarte products for a minute

The Fearless Amazonian Clay Blush is housed in pretty packaging that is colour coded to the same shade inside. It also includes an intricate pressed tree pattern that has stayed put even after I’ve used the blush a number of times

The Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara outside shell is just so unique in all its dark purple snake print gorgeousness.

On opening the blush, my initial thought was I don’t think this shade is going to work on my darker skin tone or even show up, but I stand corrected. 

It’s really buildable and applies easily, leaving you with a wash of colour. If you are a lighter skin tone that I am, then you probably won’t have to build up as much as I did to get the colour payoff.

It’s really long lasting with a matte finish, which is perfect if you have any flaws on your cheeks from pigmentation; to open pores and breakouts as a matte shade will avoid drawing attention to the area.

Overall I really like this blush and am keen to investigate more of their shades.

When I first saw the mascara wand, I wasn’t too sure. It just looked a bit blah but again I stand corrected. The wand completely coats every single lash when you run it through.

It’s a much wetter formula than I usually use, but it sets beautifully with no smearing or flaking. It also helped to lengthen and curl my lashes upwards

One coat gave me a nice full and open look. Layered on with 2-3 coats, the final effect was a dramatic, I have lashes and I’m not afraid to flutter them effect.

Have you tried the Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian blushers or the Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara?

Did you love it or hate it? And are there other products you would recommend?

Let me know in the comments below

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