Tag: product review

DO THIS BEFORE EVERY MANICURE FOR HEALTHY CUTICLES AND NAILS

Published on by Lee4 Comments

It’s time we put our burgundy polishes to rest (even though it was fun while it lasted) and start prepping our nails for summer. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with bright, poppy shades so I’ve rounded up some essentials to whip your nails into shape. So, before you splurge on the newest Essie collections, make sure your nail beds are ready for their close-up.

KEEP CUTICLE OIL HANDY

Happy cuticles make for happy nails. If you’re one to pick at or bite around your nails, keep a bottle of cuticle oil on your desk as a daily reminder to apply. Dab a little bit on each finger and gently massage it into your nail bed and around the cuticle area for a shot of moisture. Adopting this good habit will help take your nails from sad and dry to shiny and healthy. For easy travel and application, use Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil, which contains skin-conditioning oils that protects your cuticles.

APPLY A NAIL TREATMENT

I have strong, long and healthy nails but not everyone was born with long and strong nails beds. If your nails are constantly breaking, bending or chipping, add a nail strengthener like Essie Grow Stronger to your daily routine or try Essie Millionails every other day. Think of it as vitamins for your nails!

GIVE YOUR NAILS A GOOD BUFFING

To smooth away any ridges and prevent your nails from snagging and tearing, buff or file the edges at the first sight of chipping so that the damage doesn’t get worse! I love the Tweezerman Neon Hot 4-in-1 File, Buff, Smooth & Shine Block, perfect for giving nails a high shine finish.

APPLY HAND SALVE BEFORE BED

To keep your hands and nails healthy and moisturized, apply a thick layer of heavy-duty hand cream like Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve or the Intensive Treatment and Moisturizer for Dry or Callused Areas before bed. It may sound silly, but wearing gloves overnight will help the cream penetrate your skin, and smoother hands means less peeling and cracking around your nail beds.

This $4 Cleanser Will Make You Ditch Makeup Wipes… FOREVER

Published on by Lee22 Comments

While I totally understand the appeal of makeup wipes, your skin doesn’t benefit from using them… At all. In fact, a lot of people (derms included) say you should ditch them entirely as they’ll dehydrate your skin and do a poor job of actually cleansing. Here’s where the Garnier Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Water, $4, comes in to save the day! This uber-affordable cleanser will remove every last smidge of makeup while providing your skin with a surge of moisture. It’s basically a boujee micellar water, and I am obsessed with how it’s transformed my skin since. Here’s everything you need to know:

Why you’re going to love Garnier Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Water

Okay, so you guys have probably heard of micellar water – it’s the beauty junkie’s staple for a reason. If you haven’t, I’ll give you the 411: Micellar water is made of tiny balls of oil molecules called micelles, which are suspended in soft water. The micelles are made of surfactants, which act as a magnet to attract makeup, dirt, and sebum, lifting impurities from the skin without stripping away natural oils.

This cleanser combines micellar water (yay) with antioxidant-rich argan oil making it even more hydrating. If you have oily skin, dw, it’s not bad for your skin. The oil will combine with any excess sebum (the natural oil your skin produces) and surface impurities, so when it’s removed all of those nasties are removed along with it. Plus, argan oil’s packed with fatty acids and vitamin E, which will plump your skin and strengthen its natural barrier, preventing future moisture loss.

I love it because it leaves skin feeling silky smooth and you don’t have to spend ages rubbing at your eyes to get rid of those last traces of mascara. The gentle formula’s suitable for all skin types; in fact, it’s ideal for sensitive skin as you’ll avoid removing any natural oils. Also, the cotton pad literally glides over your skin, so there’s no need to tug and pull, as you do with wipes.

To put it bluntly, it’s not only a total badass at removing makeup – including waterproof mascara – it’ll give your skin a major hydrating hug as well.

How I use Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Water

Morning: Shake well before use to combine the oil and the micellar water. Soak a cotton pad in the cleansing oil and wipe away any makeup or dirt from your skin. You don’t need to rinse it off, as the formula draws out impurities and the oil locks in moisture.

Nighttime: I use this as the first and second step when I double cleanse. For the first step, we pour the cleansing water into our palm and rub our hands together until it lathers. Then massage it into my skin and rinse with water. After this, I cleanse again using the technique outlined above. This will ensure all of your makeup is removed, as well as any dirt, or pollution that’s sat on your skin throughout the day. Recommend following with toner and your usual routine – make sure you’re layering your products in the right order!!

Shop it here, $4.

Let me know if you’ve used the Garnier Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Water in the comments below.

This Is The Easiest Way To Get Glowing Skin

Published on by LeeLeave a comment

Who doesn’t want to get that glow? It’s basically the definition of having healthy skin. The thing is, it can be difficult to achieve with skincare alone, and it can be tricky to find the right balance between glowy, not shiny, with makeup. Highlighters are great, but if you want to look like you’ve just spent three weeks in the Maldives with an all-over-glow, you need to go further than the standard pressed highlighter on your cheekbones.

I recently came across the ultimate glow game-changer, and it’s really coming through for us. The L’Oréal  Shimmerista Highlighting Powder, $15, my new best friend. The formula comes in two blinding finishes: Moonlight and Sunlight. Moonlight is a stunning iridescent formula that’s great for fair to light complexions while Sunlight works beautifully for light to deep complexions.

But I’m not using this highlighter how the product page tells us to. Instead of using this like any other highlighter and applying it to the tops of our cheekbones and the high points of our face, I decided to do something different with this very finely milled shimmering powder!

By taking a tiny amount and combining it with a little loose setting powder in my setting powder lid, I’ve basically made the ultimate glow-giving setting powder. But seriously guys, this highlighting powder is so lit that a little goes a very long way, so the ratio should be two parts setting powder to one part Shimmerista highlighter! Dust your new formula across your face to set your foundation as you usually would, and be prepared for the glow-up! I’ve been doing this highlighter hack for weeks and have been getting compliments left, right and center!! It adds a subtle luminosity all-over, one that’s more popping than you’ll get with any ‘illuminating’ face powder but more subtle than using highlighter all over your face – so you won’t look shiny. It’s my new staple makeup must-have.

You don’t wear setting powder? Try mixing it in a tiny bit with your foundation and get instant glass-like skin. To up your glow game, you can add a little highlighter to your cheekbones – but honestly, just dip your brush into the excess powder that sits in the lid, because this really is so intense!

At $14.99, this is definitely on the more expensive side for a drugstore highlighter, but as it’s so powerful, you won’t be hitting pan on this for a very long time. Are you guys going to try this out? Let me know in the comments below.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

The Right Way to Use a Jade Roller

Published on by Lee7 Comments

Guys, it’s officially time to get on board with this incredible way of reviving and renewing your skin. I’ll admit, I had my doubt in jade rolling at first. I thought ,“what could this really do for my skin?”, turns out, more than I thought possible. 

The Benefits of Jade Rolling

Here’s a little background information for all those new to the world of jade rolling. Jade has been used for centuries for it’s healing properties and its association with protecting against negative energy. As for your skin, daily jade rolling is said to promote increased blood circulation, lymphatic drainage and reduce the look of fine lines. On top of that, it helps products and serums to penetrate easily into the skin and soothes inflammation.

It is a facial massage with a tool that is basically a knife- and needle-free stand in for plastic surgery. I know it sounds extreme, but devoted rollers can’t get enough of the tool and as a convert myself, I can vouch for the jade roller’s effectiveness at decreasing puffiness, minimizing lines and making sure your daily serums are penetrating deeply into your skin. By using a jade roller every day (sometimes twice a day if you’re feeling saucy), you’re actually giving yourself a gentle facial massage. That massaging motion not only increases circulation (hello, plump, firm, glowing skin), it also works to break up any stagnation in the lymphatic system that may be causing puffiness or blemishes and gives your neglected facial muscles some much-needed TLC. (Tense muscles = wrinkles, FYI.)

The Right Way to Jade Roll

It’s a simple process that anyone can do in 10 minutes a day. After applying your morning skincare, roll your jade roller against your skin in an upward motion over your face and neck. The cooling effect of the stone instantly calms the skin and starts to de-puff and deflate any puffiness.

Convinced? Here’s how to use your jade roller.

Cleanse + Treat

You should only be using your jade roller on clean skin. Like I said earlier, the massaging motion will help any product on your skin sink in deeper and the same is true for old makeup and dirt. So before you even think about picking up the jade roller, wash your face.

If you’re going to roll in the morning to decrease any I-barely-slept-last-night puffiness, consider popping your jade facial roller in the fridge overnight. The cool jade will lower swelling by shrinking blood vessels. It also just feels really amazing on tired skin.

Rolling at night? Go through your standard cleansing routine to remove all traces of the day and apply any serums and/or oils you like before bed. After giving them a minute to sink in, roll your heart out. The jade face roller will help skin drink them up before they have time to evaporate or rub off on your pillow.

Get Rolling

Now comes the fun part. There’s no right or wrong area of the face to start, but do make sure you’re rolling from the center, out. I also like to visually split my face in half using my nose as the divider and work on one side at a time to make sure I’m not missing anything.

Start at your chest and using gently pressure, perform outward and upward strokes with the jade roller along your skin. Pass over the same patch of skin three to four times, always moving to the outer edge of your face. When you need to return the roller to the starting point, pick it up and place it back at the start (don’t roll backwards).

From your chest, move up: neck, chin/jawline, cheeks (roll from your nose out toward your ear), undereye and eyelid (use the small end of the roller here and very gently move from the inner corner of your eye out to the temple), eyebrow (switch back to the larger side and roll out and down, following the contour of your brow bone), forehead (start in the middle and roll out).

Switch Sides

Now do the exact same thing on the other side.

Finish with a soothing upward roll from between your eyebrows, up to the hairline.

The whole process should take two to four minutes, depending on how many passes you’re doing and how many areas of the face you’re hitting. As you’re working the jade face roller, you’ll see your skin start to flush — this is a good thing! It means circulation is increasing.

Clean That Roller

If you want to apply additional serum or moisturizer, go for it. If not, your final step should always always ALWAYS be cleaning the jade roller thoroughly with warm, soapy water. This thing is touching your face every single day: keep it clean.

Thinking of adding this to your skincare routine? If you have already, let me know how you’re liking it and if you’ve already seen results in the comments! Thanks for reading xo

Looking for a new serum to take your skincare to the next level? Check out my SERUMS 101 post for the perfect options next week!

Your jade roller is just the beginning. Check out my other favorite beauty tools here next week!