Winter dry skin skincare regimen

Since coming to Switzerland and experiencing my first European winter, my skin has simply freaked the fuck out. Lots of little bumps, dry patches, full on pimples that wouldn’t go away. Being super smart, I’d forgotten to bring my thickest winter creams, but I managed to work out a decent skincare routine with what I had and what I could …

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What’s in my handbag? Travel edition

I’m hoping it’s not just me and I’m not outing myself as an irredeemable weirdo – I LOVE looking at what beauty products other people use. I love going through other girls’ handbag stashes, and when I’m in someone’s bathroom I can’t resist taking a peek at what products they’ve got in there. (I can feel everyone revoking their dinner …

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Fact-check Friday: What does retinol do?

Retinol is one of the most highly hyped anti-aging skincare ingredients. But what is it, and what exactly does it do? That’s the focus of this Fact-check Friday! What does retinol do?   Retinol is a form of vitamin A. Other forms of vitamin A in skincare that you may be familiar with include isotretinoin (better known as Accutane) and …

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Essential beauty products for camping

So as you probably know, I recently went camping in the bush, with practically no amenities. And I came back in one piece. How does a girl survive out there? With the help of some well-chosen beauty products of course! I took a bag full of girly stuff, but these are the things I ended up using regularly… Dry shampoo …

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Current Favourites

I haven’t done a favourites post in ages (since New Years in fact!), so I thought I’d share some of my recent finds and classic beauty/shiny favourites: The Grove Perfumery Half Baked – Made by the same people who do Glasshouse, this line is sadly discontinued. Half Baked comes in a cute punk-themed glass with an air-tight lid and smells …

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Operation Freckle-Away feat. Neostrata Gel Plus

After researching AHAs and BHAs for my blog post here, I incorporated 8% glycolic acid and 2% salicylic acid into my nightly skincare routine and I’ve been very impressed with the smooth, glowy skin and reduced pores they gave me. I’ve recently embarked on Operation Freckle-Away, which is me trying to get rid of a few sun-induced freckles on my …

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Sun Protection Basics

You northern hemisphere girls are heading towards midsummer, and us southern hemisphere girls are missing summer, so I thought I’d remind everyone of the most important thing to remember when going into the sun… sunscreen! During my research I came across this brilliant infographic which presents all the research in a much more interesting and clearer format than I could, …

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How does UV light “cure” gel polish?

Shellac and other hybrid gel nails give long-lasting nail colour that can be soaked off with acetone. You simply paint your nails using special gel polishes, then “cure” each layer under UV light. What’s in those special polishes, and how does the UV light change that? Plastic – it’s fantastic To understand gel nails, first we need to understand plastic! …

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