The Review: Radical Skincare

You might remember that a few weeks ago I talked about about living a Radical Life in this Monday Motivation post. I had attended a vision board event with Radical Skincare and received a few samples of the products to try out.

Radical Skincare was created by Liz and Rachel Edlich, and it's a brand that focuses on delivering active ingredients and products that work to give you radical results

One of the key things about the products is their patented Trylacel Technology which is a suspension technology that works to keep the antioxidant and anti-aging ingredients active and potent within each product.  It focuses on delivering three main functions to your skin:

1. Antioxidant complex
2. Repair actives
3. Skin calming

You can read more about it here

The products I tried were the Advanced Peptide Antioxidant Serum, Multi Brightening Serum, Anti-Aging Restorative Moisture and Skin Perfecting Sunscreen SPF 30 

The Review: Sisley Eau Tropicale Perfume

I love the smell of rain on a hot summers day or rather the smell before it rains and/or just afterwards. It’s a strong combination of both sweet and fresh and always makes me want to take in big, huge breathes

So when I read about Sisleys Eau Tropicale perfume that launched earlier this year, I was intrigued.

Described as

“A fragrance reminiscent of the intriguing, sultry and perfumed atmosphere that prevails after a tropical rainstorm. 

A delightful escape to the heart of a far-flung, mysterious land filled with the song of colourful birds, delicious fruits and exotic flower accords.”

It has fast become my new signature summer scent.

The fragrance opens with exotic floral blends of hibiscus, passion flower and frangipani and spicy hints of ginger and bergamot. At its heart are tuberose, Turkish rose and violet. And the base notes include the sensual warm smell of cedar, patchouli and ambrette seed.

It’s quite a complex perfume to describe, the first notes that hit you are quite strong and peppery almost, I believe that is the Ginger and Bergamot and then it mellows into a warm, sweeter scent that seems to melt and wrap around your skin.

Beauty Review: Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser

Don’t you just hate it when you love an idea or concept of something but you are left feeling really disappointed when you finally get your hands on it?

Well that was what happened with the Nivea In Shower Body Moisturiser

Review of the Bespoke Facial with Antonia Burrell

Antonia Burrell

Something I’m trying to start doing more often is facials and todays post is about the most amazing bespoke facial I had with Antonia Burrell.

Antonia is a well renowned UK skincare expert, an accredited BABTAC practitioner and a firm favourite with many beauty editors. Her “Natural Face Lift Facial” is so advanced that it has been formally accredited by BABTAC one of the beauty industry’s top awarding bodies and is now taught as part of the London College of Fashion postgraduate curriculum. So it’s safe to say that I was uber excited to meet her as not only is she renowned as an expert facialist but she is also a woman of colour which means that although she is an expert with all skin types, she also has the inside knowledge of our skin type and concerns. This is reflected in her skincare line, which is formulated, to be gentle but effective and specifically works to treat pigmentation, uneven skin tone and loss of radiance, something that affects a number of women of colour.

Product Review: SkinCeuticals Sheer Mineral UV Defense SPF 50

Hey LPM Lovelies,

Those of you that have been following me for a while will know that in regards to my skin, one of my biggest issues is with scarring from previous acne breakouts. A big part of my fight against my scarring is with sunscreen. I cannot stress the importance of it enough, in that I find that using it helps to prevent further darkening of the scarring I have, by protecting my face from the suns rays. 

Needless to say I am on the hunt to find the perfect sunscreen and will be testing a few out until I do. So moving onto my first sunscreen review, I present you with SkinCeuticals Sheer Mineral UV Defense SPF 50

What they say

“Sheer Mineral UV Defense SPF 50 offers breakthrough formulation technology in mineral sunscreens: a first-to-market transparent, mattifying, paraben-free SPF 50 fluid. Employing all-mineral broad-spectrum filters, SkinCeuticals fills a void in the sunscreen market by providing high UVA and UVB protection in a lightweight, ultra-sheer texture for all skin types, even very sensitive. The photoprotection of trusted broad-spectrum mineral filters is enhanced by Artemia Salina, a plankton extract that increases the skin’s defenses to heat and UV stress. This silky sheer fluid spreads evenly and dries quickly, leaving skin bare and soothed.”

The good

I have been using this daily for the last 3 months and I think it has been fantastic for protecting my face from the sun and stopping my scars from getting any darker. It's very light and sits nicely with my moisturiser without that heavy sticky feeling you can sometimes get when you layer products in the summer. 

The bad

Sadly it’s just not transparent on my dark skin! which goes against the product blurb!! It leaves a white cast on face that unfortunately results in me looking like an extra from the twilight cast! – see a swatch of my hand below. It definitely improves when I put my makeup on, but I think the mix with my foundation gives me a slight grey tinge that is only wearable when I blend like mad..

My other problem (although this is an issue with my skin rather than the product) is that if you have any sort of dry skin on your face it seems to accentuate the dry skin making it more obvious. Like I said clearly an issue I need to solve - but still it's quite annoying as by the time you put your sunscreen on you are hardly likely to run back into the bathroom to have a scrubbing session.

All in all though I think it's a great sun protector and it seems to last for quite a while, I just wish it was actually transparent.The sunscreen retails for £31.00 and is available from a number of UK stockists, see the page for details http://www.skinceuticals.co.uk/stockists.php

Love Hair Online – Virgin Brazilian Hair Review 2 months

I am currently transitioning and haven’t relaxed my hair in about a year eeek!!! …more about that in a future natural hair post.,…. To be honest I haven’t quite figured out what to do with it yet, so for the last year I have mainly had my hair in a variation of extention type protective styles, be it braids, twists, weaves etc…So about two months ago I decided to install a weave using virgin brazilian hair and this is my personal experience and review.

I bought the brazilian hair from Love Hair Online and actually went into their office as I wanted to see the hair before I bought it, however you can also buy the hair directly from the website. I bought 4 packs of hair in three 18 inches, one 14 inch and a 12 inch top closure.

The Bad

When I went into their office, I was told that they had recently had a huge sale so unfortunately didn’t have too many options of hair for me to pick from. Additionally I noticed that some of the packs had quite a few of those annoying white strands of hair.

I bought a closure to use in the front as I really didn’t feel like leaving my hair out and for some reason whenever I curled my hair I found that the curls in the closure hair just didn’t last as long. Also I didn’t really like the texture of the closure hair after a few weeks as it felt a little rough.

The biggest negative for me is that the hair sheds quite a bit, it’s almost like it’s trying to get off the weft as quickly as possibly!!! especially when I comb/brush it or run my fingers through it…this is very annoying as two months into it you can see that it’s not as full as it used to be. If you are someone who likes a very full head of hair then you will definitely need more packs to balance out the shedding

The Good

Now onto the positives, I have to say that this brand is one of the most competitively priced virgin brazilian brands that I have found. They are actually a wholesale company but sell their hair to the public and regularly have a “mega sale day” where they offer the hair for even cheaper….be warned though the queue to buy the hair on those days is meant to be ridiculously long but as a friend mentioned “worth it”

I had originally planned to attend a mega sale day but they changed the date at the last minute. I still went down on that day as I was traveling shortly afterwards so couldn’t make it to the next date. To the brands credit they gave me a 10% discount as an apology which I thought was great customer service.

Finally aside from the shedding the hair had very minimal tangling and 2 months on it still looks great. Additionally the texture of the actual weave was quite nice

Maintenance and pictures

To maintain my hair at night I either put it into two bantu knots or a couple of plaits. Here are a few pictures of the hair, I simply took it out of a couple of plaits (I was going for a boho look) and bare in mind that its two months old so my regrowth in the front is quite shameful J - lol, don’t judge me guys J it’s coming out very soon.

The hair retails from £40 for a 12 inch to £110 for 32 inch and my top closure cost £60, check out their site for more information http://www.lovehaironline.com/

The hair before I used it - this is just some leftover hair so you can see what it looks like 

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Nail of the day (Notd) - Kiko Vermillion Red and Blueberry Glitter

Hey LPM lovelies, hope you've had a lovely weekend so far....

Mr LPM was away this weekend, so what did that mean?...it meant a girly weekend vegging out, walking around with scary white facemasks, watching catch up drop dead diva and eating haagen daz cookies and cream ice cream...yummm .....hmmm must get back onto those salads this week.

Continuing on from my last post about Kiko, I thought I would get painting so you guys could see what the colours look like . 

The first one is like a deep hot pink with A LOT of Glitter, which unfortunately is why I'm not so keen on it. It looked lovely in the bottle but just has way too much glitter for me. It's called Blueberry Glitter (I know, I know, it should have been a dead give away with the name) and is number 277. The second one is such a lovely red shade called Vermillion Red and is number 239. I love this shade, it's much brighter than it looks in the picture and is so pretty on.
The colours went on very easily and I got my desired look with just a couple of coats. Now wait for it, they retail for only £2.50!! talk about a bargain.....

p.s  this is my first attempt at taking pictures ....hope they are  ok :-) 
p.s.s does anyone know how I can get rid of these annoying spaces in my text on blogger?!!!

Blueberry Glitter

Vermillion Red

xoxo

#74 Inlight Organic Skin Care Review

I was recently sent some skincare products from Inlight Organic Skincare which I have been using for the last month or so to see how they work. The skincare line was developed by Dr Mariano Spiezia a medical doctor, homeopath and herbalist with over 30 years of scientific research to his name. The brand is certified by the Soil Association and is 100% organic and wholly plant based.

First up is the Inlight Organic Face Cleanser which they describe as a deep skin cleanser with a mild exfoliant action which removes the outer layer of dirt and dead cells.
I was quite keen to try it as I have discovered I have a new love for oil based cleansers especially at night time when I feel like I have some spare time and really want to remove all my makeup and give my based a good massage. It looks like a cross between a balm/oil and is packed full of highly nourishing oils such as Coconut, Jojoba, Evening Primrose, Shea Butter and Olive oil as well as a particular blend of essentially oils such as lemon, green tea, ginger and lavender. I found that it deeply cleansed my face but unlike some other deep cleansers I have used in the past it didn’t leave it feeling dry or irritated. A good thing to note with this cleanser is that unlike a lot of other oil cleansers it doesn’t emulsify with water so after you have massaged it into your skin you need to remove it either using a muslin cloth or damp cotton wool. I initially wasn’t too pleased that it didn’t emulsify but after a few days I found that my skin seemed to prefer this method, It might just be that it loves the extra layer of nourishment that it leaves behind. Another thing I found is that because of some of the essential oils that it contains, I think it’s slightly more astringent than other oil cleansers I have used in the past, but I really liked this about it, as it worked perfectly for my combination skin leaving it feeling moisturised but clean. It retails at £24

I also tried out the Floral Face Tonic which is a blend of fragrant floral waters such as rose, lavender, grapefruit and chamomile. It has a very interesting smell and to me it smells more herbal than floral but I love that it is alcohol free and it helped to freshen and tone my skin without drying it out. It retails at £18

For further information or to purchase any products check out their website at www.inlight-online.co.uk

#70 Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener

You might remember my recent post about Bobbi Brown's new collection called Makeup Facelift. The collection was designed to give women all the tools to look well-rested and bright eyed – in five minutes flat!

Well I was recently sent the Tinted Eye Brightener in Dark Bisque from the collection to try out and I am so in love with it! I tried it out yesterday morning after a late night out on Saturday and it instantly made me look well rested and more awake. I also have it on today and have been told I am looking “decidedly perky” It has also helped to brighten up any shadows and smoothed out the area under my eyes.

The colour of the Dark Bisque is a pink/peachy colour that works well with my skin tone. I love that it comes in a pen format rather than in a pot as this makes it easier to apply since the consistency is quite fluid. I also love that it instantly brightens without looking heavy or caked on and it dries really nicely and doesn’t settle into your lines afterwards like concealer can.

I don’t really have any circles or lines under my eyes just a few fine ones which are more dehydration lines than anything else so I can’t say how it would work on heavier lines, however on my fine lines it worked perfectly and really helped to smooth out the whole area. I would think though that if you have heavier lines or very dark circles you probably need something with more concealing power as this is meant to brighten rather than conceal

Word of warning though, you need to use it very sparingly and I would say just apply it around the inner corner, close to your lashes and lightly on any dark shadows under your eyes. Otherwise if you go in there all guns blazing with a heavy hand you could end up emphasising the areas you are actually trying to hide.

It retails at £22 so it’s not exactly cheap, however a little goes a long way so it should last you quite a while. It also comes in 8 different shades so you should be able to find a suitable colour for your skin tone. I will definitely be repurchasing this once I run out as I love how it brightens up my whole face.

Xoxo

#48 Rodial LA Facelift - An Update

So, you might remember I have been testing out Rodials LA Facelift for the last week? Just as a little reminder, the LA facelift is a starter kit that is offered as an alternative to surgery and the kit contains the following.

a-list cleanser 20ml
glamtox peel 10ml
SPF 15 glamtox eye light 5ml
SPF18 glamtox 10ml

glam balm 8ml

Well 7 days into using it and I am very impressed. I guess the big question is do I look like I have had surgery? The answer would be no, mainly because I don’t have any of the skincare concerns that someone with older skin might have, so I can’t really judge it on that.
What I did have though was skin that was misbehaving and needed a miracle to bring it back to order and did I get that? Yes I most definitely did! After using the products on a daily basis for the last seven days my skin is brighter, clearer, smoother, softer and more hydrated and those horrible flaky patches I had been getting have completely gone. If I was only allowed to select a few products from the kit I think I would choose the a list cleanser – I noticed that all the fine hairs on my face have actually turned lighter so over time this product could really help with pigmentation as suggested , it also leaves my face clean, soft and comfortable after use. I also love the glam balm which I have been using all over my face as an intensive treatment at night time – and it has definitely given my skin a much needed moisture boost. Finally I would pick the glamtox peel as after only one use this clay based mask really helped to refine, cleanse and brighten my skin. The kit retails at £78, so its not the cheapest range on the market, but seeing as the full sized products start from about £32, the LA facelift would be the perfect way to try out all the products for about two-three weeks (depending on how you use it) and see how you find them on your skin. As for me I am definitely adding those items to my Christmas wish list, maybe Mr Lotions & Potions will pick up the hint. http://www.rodial.co.uk/

Xoxo