Vitamin C – what does it do for your skin?

  (AndrĂ© Karwath/Aka) There are a lot of things that are supposed to be good for your skin. Today I’m looking at one that is in a lot of anti-ageing products, and has rave reviews on Makeupalley – vitamin C. Vitamin C (aka L-ascorbic acid) is essential in your diet – it has a lot of roles in the functioning …

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Review: Crabtree & Evelyn India Hicks Island Living Spider Lily Body Cream

SummaryMoisturising components – shea butter, avocado butter, mango seed oil, olive oil, grapeseed oilEffectiveness – a little goes a long way!Scent – “tropical green citrus”Packaging – lovely, heavy, durable containerPrice – $0.23/g This product has a mouthful of a name! It’s my favourite “indulgence” beauty product. And yes, it does great things for your cuticles too! I received this for …

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What the Hell Is pH?

Lab Muffin Guide: What the hell is pH?

One thing that a lot of cosmetic companies have recently been incorporating into their marketing talk is the concept of pH and pH balance. Yay science! But what does it all mean? Here’s a quick rundown on the science of pH, acids and bases, and what that means for your skincare products. What is pH? pH is a measure of …

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Interesting hair facts

10 facts about hair you mightn’t have known:1. Hair and nails are both mainly made of a type of protein called keratin, which contains a lot of an amino acid called cysteine. All this cysteine is one of the main reasons why keratin is so strong. There is also a lot of keratin in skin.2. Cysteine is also why you …

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Bridesmaid nail polish frankens

For my friend’s wedding the bridesmaids are wearing medium grey satin dresses with nude shoes and dusty pink roses. I’ve been frankening some possible nail colours for us – we have very different skin tones which makes it a bit difficult, but we’ve agreed on soft pink.  These were all made by combining ulta3 Sizzling Red (only a few drops, …

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DIY Skincare – Oatmeal Science

One of my interests is DIY skincare – I love cheap alternatives to expensive brands that work even better! My best friend is getting married next weekend and I’ve been trying to clear up my slightly neglected face with some SOS skincare, so I’ve revisited one of my favourites – oatmeal. Oatmeal is one of those rare traditional remedies your …

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Lab Muffin guide – how do holo nail polishes work?

How do holographic nail polishes work?   The main types of polishes with holographic effects that I know of are linear holo (e.g. Nubar Reclaim, China Glaze OMG collection, Nfu-Oh 61), scattered holo (China Glaze Kaleidoscope collection, Milani HD) and holo glitter (a lot of glitter polishes have holo bits in them – OPI Teenage Dream is one example). They …

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My top 8 of 2011

These are the 8 health/beauty things I couldn’t do without this year, in no particular order:     1. Seche Vite – quick dry, smudge-fixing, shiny goodness.     2. Shea butter – all-round awesome moisturiser. I use it straight out of the tub, but I’ll probably scent and whip it soon.     3. Eyeliner brush – I do …

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