Nostalgic products

We have been discussing in the office all of our nostalgic products of the late 90’s, early 2000’s. I’m sure you can relate to our list!

Bronzing balls

Image:www.superdrug.co.uk

Little drops of carpet spoiling dynamite. One pearl can ruin any fabric within 5 feet and no amount of scrubbing to avoid a week of grounding from your parents could remove this dusty destroyer.

Sun In

Image:www.walmart.com

One spritz just never seemed enough did it? A second spritz should just about lighten it enough but before you know it you’ve attempted subtle highlights and covered your whole head and have to wait 6 months for your hair to return from a brittle straw textured mop.

Dewberry or White Musk Fragrance from The Body Shop

Inage:www.bodyshop.co.uk

Sickly sweet and quite unforgettable. I believe Dewberry has been discontinued for quite a few years but one sniff of this will transport you back to your school disco. It even came in a greasy oil if you wanted to attract the bees also.

St Ives Scrub

www.superdrug.co.uk

Like rubbing a pumice stone over your face that removes the top layers of your face. Why were we so keen to scrub our beautiful, fresh plump skin away?

Shockwaves Mousse

Image:www.boots.co.uk

Scrunch in the mousse and always dry with a massive diffuser. Hair will be left crispy and defined and if you’ve been using the Sun In then volume is guaranteed.

CK One

Image:www.amazon.com

 

Actually a really lovey fresh fragrance that I still get wafts of walking down the street. I felt like Kate moss in the 90’s as I slung this in my school bag.

Rimmel Heather Shimmer/ Avon Ginger Freeze

Image:www.superdrug.co.uk

Two must have lipsticks of the 90’s. I don’t know if it actually suited anyone but it was the trend so we had to have it!

Barry M Dazzle Dust

www.barrym.com

Similar effect to the Bronzing balls all over the carpet. Also did anyone ever finish a pot?

What were your favourite products from your youth? I’m sure there are loads we have forgotten about.

 

Lara Quin Luxury candles

We are always on the look out for new candles and home fragrance and when a brand has a sweet back-story it encourages you to love it even more.

 Lara Quin is a luxury candle, room fragrance and reed diffuser brand which was created after the founder Jess, was touched by an act of kindness by a complete stranger.

 Whilst upset at a train station after some terrible news a lady approached her, gave a huge hug, a cup of hot chocolate and told her tomorrow would look a little brighter. The ladies name was Lara Quin and from that moment was the inspiration behind the collection.

Each candle is presented in a white frosted weighty glass holder and rose gold accents. The candles are all soy wax with cotton wicks and are blended with eco-friendly bases of essential oils and essence of gemstones.

The fragrance from these candles is phenomenal. As soon as you walk into the room you can detect the scent, even when it hasn’t been burning.

 Fragrance options include Smoky Quartz and Coco fig, Rose Quartz and Jasmine Orchid, Smoky Quartz and Himalayan Cedar  (my favourite) and Sonora Sunrise which, literally smells like you just stepped into a five star spa.

 Lara Quin also has a set of miniatures and reed diffusers, which are all packaged in a beautiful, dove grey box with satin ribbon.

Definitely a brand to watch out for and a little reminder of the kindness in the world, which quite often is easy to forget.

These are available from https://laraquin.com/ and are priced at £30 each for the large candles and £34.00 each for the reed diffusers.

bareMinerals Gen Nude Blush

Now that the days are getting a little brighter (Hurrah) we need to make sure our makeup still looks well blended in the daylight. Excellent blending and layering sheer washed of different products on the skin helps to achieve this but it also helps if you have softly buildable products (the cool people call it draping).

 BareMinerals have recently launched their range of nude blushers and in true Bare Minerals style they are composed of naturally derived pigments, which are fine textured, talc free and contain blurring properties, which give a soft focus finish.

On first touch these feel creamy but are a silky powder that blends easily and lasts well throughout the day. The colours are obviously nude but are still in a good array of tones. Don’t expect a bold blush, especially if you have a darker skin tone, they don’t really produce a strong pay off but lovely for a sheer springtime touch of colour.

Available in 12 shades, which we have 10 of shown above.

These are available here and are £22.00 each.

Red Carpet Makeup Tutorial

Laura Mercier Velour Extreme Matte Lipstick

Well these are just lovely! Velour extreme matte lipstick that looks like velvet, doesn’t feel like a standard matte lipstick whatsoever and applies in a creamy coating of deeply pigmented colour. It’s like laying a sheer veil of sumptuous fabric over the lip.

 It’s the sort of lipstick you can apply and forget about. It’s longwearing and completely comfortable. Didn’t cling to my awfully dry lips and didn’t bleed or transfer. It’s literally the dream.

 The liquid thin mesh ensures the pigments stay true and feel weightless. No colour change or fade.  It contains fine silica powders, which absorb excess oils in the lips but without sucking out the moisture.

 Available in 24 shades to flatter all skin tones. We have half of the shads to share with you.

These are available now here and are £22.00 each

Clarins 4-Colour Pen

When I was at school, a thousand years ago, these pens were the epitome of cool.

 Being able to switch from a black pen to a red pen with the flick of a switch meant I could cram twice as many rubbers and pieces of paper with potential test question answers on them into my pencil case.

I think it’s genius that Clarins have used this method to present a variety of eye liners and lip liner. It’s neat, space saving, encourages us to stray away from our routine colours and is actually functional with a quality product.

 The 4- Colour Pen is available in two choices; Clarins call them Harmony 1 & 2.

Harmony 1 includes a jet-black, navy and forest green pencil style liner with nude pink/brown lip liner.
 Harmony 2 includes Jet black, Gunmetal grey and rich chocolate brown with flame red lip liner.

 Often products that are in danger of being a bit gimmicky always fail or never really work how you expect. The functionality of these however is brilliant. Each individual shade pops down with an easy flick of the button and the centre of the product twists round to allow the pencil to slowly twist down to the desired amount.

Once you have selected your shade, do make sure you twist out the colour and don’t attempt to draw on the eye beforehand; otherwise you will literally scratch our eyelid off with the plastic nib.

When the product arrives from the nib it’s completely flat so you need to twist a little extra out so you may use the sides to apply to the skin. It moulds to a point quickly so you can use precisely.

Texture wise it is waxy, well pigmented and blends nicely. The formula is not that creamy but this does mean longevity is good.

I like the colour options. Nothing too outlandish but something for everyone. This is a winner for travelling with or for slinging in your handbag.

Each pen is £28, which, I thought was reasonable considering you are getting 3 eyeliners and a lip liner.

Available 15^th April from http://www.clarins.co.uk/

Ultra Violet Makeup

Makeup for Dark Skin