Showing all posts in February 2021

Hi Beautiful Diamonds,

As you know I love lipstick, it is just the best! You can tailor it to your outfit, it can make you smile and feel pretty when your sad and its normally with you for all those special moments.

So, I have been trying Natalie Grace cosmetics and I am not disappointed.

What Natalie says-

I created this brand not just because I love makeup, but I love how it makes woman feel. Knowing on your wedding day your wearing “I do” or “Every After”, Every day you are wearing my products and they make you feel pretty and ready for the day ahead. Do not let anyone stop you from being the best version of you.

                      Love Natalie

How inspiring is that! Natalie is a successful Bridal Make up Artist who has been helping woman celebrate the special day for over 6 years. Your wedding day is especially important, and you want to look and feel your most beautiful self, and this range will certainly help you do that.

I purchase the trio and saved 10% (£35.10) it arrived beautifully packaged , with a handwritten note inside, such attention to detail was a beautiful touch. The product packaging is a beautiful pearl white box with gold writing, a touch of luxury at an affordable price.

The lipstick “KISS THE BRIDE” (£16) 4g

It is a medium toned matte, but creamy lipstick, it is a perfect blend of warm pink with a hint of peach, it is a great colour for most skin tones. It is infused with Shea butter which keeps your lips soft and hydrated, it is also enriched with mineral oil to protect against dehydration. It glides on effortlessly and your lips instantly feel soothed and nourished. The colour looks so good on, I will definitely be trying out more colours in the range. I love that it has a little mirror on the top so if you are like me and you sometimes you keep lipstick in your bra, you can re-apply anywhere. It also has a perfect magnetic click back into place, so you will not lose the lid.

 The pencil “PASSION” (£11) 1g

Passion lip liner is a lovely mauve tone, which will pair with most pink/Mauve tone lipstick or gloss, it is enriched with Vitamin E and is so easy to apply, there is no dragging or pulling of your lips and the colour is impactful straight away, I hate when your excited with a purchase of a lip liner and it either drags/pulls or you wonder where is the colour! This one gives you quality and value.

The Gloss “ROMANCE” (£12) 8g

Romance gloss is a high shine shimmery warm pink with a hint of peach, enriched with Shea butter and beautiful scent of vanilla, gives the smoothest application with no streaking and is not sticky. Love that! The gloss also has the cuties little gold mirror on the lid, a lovely finishing touch to an already beautifully packaged product.

Colour swatches-

Natalie has done an amazing job in creating this range, you can tell it has been designed with love, passion, and the desire to help you look and feel wonderful. So, if you’re a bride looking for that perfect colour for your big day or you’re looking for a new luxurious lipstick range at a great price, then give Natalie Grace Cosmetics a try.

Shine like a Diamond,

Love Helena XxX

Natalie Grace Cosmetics. Inspired by Real Brides.

Hi Beautiful Diamonds,

The NYX Honey Dew Me Up primer retails at £15, which is a little more expensive than other drugstore options; but affordable. Its 22ml glass jar and comes with a spatula for application, which is useful, but I would prefer a pump action. The primer consistency is like a sticky gel formula, it has a lovely golden colour with little light-reflective flakes; enriched with honey and collagen. It has a sweet but fresh scent.

  What NYX have to say about this primer:

“Perfect as a primer, the formula also neutralises the appearance of discolouration and redness. Thanks to collagen, tiny, suspended gold flakes and honey extract, the sublimely textured primer imparts much-needed moisture and helps to firm skin, fighting unwanted signs of ageing.”

I have mature combination skin and it left my skin smooth, hydrated but slightly tacky, not a feeling I used to on my skin, but I understand their reasoning behind it.

The Honey Dew Me Up primer did create a smooth cooling base for my foundation. It does keep my makeup in place, but I was disappointed the gold speckles did not show up at all when applied, I was so excited to try it based on the gold fleck, I thought it would give my skin a glass effect but sadly no. My skin did not glow or have a sheen to it and there was not a reduction in redness, but I am not highly coloured anyway. but my skin did feel hydrated and smooth and comfortable so I would say it is a good, effective primer, and worth a try.

I do like how hydrating this primer is, and I would recommend it for both dry and combination skin types – although dry skin will would like this more. To sum up, Honey Dew Me Up gets a 7/10 Whilst it does not live up to all its claims of ‘glowing, discolouration-free skin’, it is still a reliable primer that makes your skin feel smooth and hydrated.

Happy Priming Diamonds

Love Helena XxX

Link to product                             

NYX Professional Makeup| Honey Dew Me Up Primer | Cult Beauty

Victorians did not like the sun. I can’t understand that! They were not the only ones in Greek and Roman times, women whitened their skin with lead paint and chalk to a literally deathly pallor and Elizabethan ladies painted on blue veins to affect translucent skin. WHY!

It wasn’t until Ms Coco Chanel skipped off a yacht, sporting a beautiful, bronzed skin in early 1920’s, It definitely wasn’t intentional, but then being tanned was suddenly ‘the ‘in’ thing’.

By the mid-1920s, Factory and mine workers did not have the money to sun themselves on a fancy holiday, so it was only the wealthy who had a suntan.

 Aside from being fashionable, the notice realised how incredibly sliming and flattering it was to be beautiful golden caramel colour.

From the thirties onwards, tanning entered the mainstream, then with the arrival of the first bikinis in the fifties, came the first (near) all-over tan.

The first self-tanning products appeared in the 1960’sand gained popularity because Government health authorities confirmed the links to UV exposure and skin cancer.

At the time it was just a brown dye, nowhere near the sophisticated formulas we use today. A consistent tan became a possibility for those who could not afford to winter in the Caribbean. Some women even used tea bags to tint the skin, the first fake tan product hit the market as “Man Tan”. During World war II.

The early spray and rub on tanners had an off colour which made you look tangoed and the smell was ridiculous, and they did not have conditioners and used an unnatural form of DHA, so you ended up looking like a well-done piece of streaky bacon and smelled like old biscuits!

But theses day that has been resolved, a good job as the market is worth over a billion globally. Today they profile you with a natural glow to a deep chocolate tan and the DHA is derived from plant sources.

Just having a great self-tan is not enough on its own, you must take care of your skin, making sure its hydrated and exfoliated so you get an even long-lasting colour, this will also help your colour fade evenly. Avoid products with heavy oils in them as it can loosen the tan leading to patchiness.

To exfoliate I have been using Clarins body scrub (£30), it contains natural bamboo powders and a hint of ginger, so your skin is smooth and fresh, and to moisturiser I have been using is Bondi sands comes in 500mls bottle with a pump (£9). It has a beautiful coconut scent enriched with Jojoba and vitamin E, it also has antioxidant protection which shields the skin from environmental assaults and leaves my skin hydrated and radiant.

Once my skin is prepared, I put on my gloves and use a GAIYAH self-Tanning mitt (£6), it has an Anti-slip wrist which I love because your glove does not fly off halfway through!!Also remember to shave the day before, this will help your tan last longer.

I normally start at my ankles with my Bondi sand liquid gold (£15) I find this tanner gives me a lovely natural colour, I have tried many over the years and find the colour just was not right on my skin, when I used fake bake, I felt I looked a tinge green, not a good look! Anyway, I work my way up making sure it is even, I get Peter to do my back but if he is not around, I use a back applicator from GAIYAH (£8), missing out my feet, hands and face as I use a Kabuki brush (£7) for those areas. The brush gives a nice even look.

On my face I did use Lancôme Flash gel bronzer (£27.50) which has a lovely texture, leaving my skin golden but sadly Its discontinued. But over the past month I have moved on to Bondi Pure face mist, its lightweight mist is enriched with hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and E and is 100% recyclable. I just close my eyes and spray evenly over my face, then blend with my brush. Leave overnight and shower off in the morning. I normally top up my face, neck and hands after 3 days to keep it looking fresh.

Happy Tanning

Helena

Links to products – Asterisks are affiliated links, these help with running costs of the Blog

https://amzn.to/3oYmXDq *

https://amzn.to/3oRifXO *

https://amzn.to/39RHwgw *

https://amzn.to/3jjhuFZ *

https://amzn.to/2O93PFY *

https://www.clarins.co.uk/exfoliating-body-scrub/80027223.ht

https://amzn.to/3tv0v8g *