Skincare Favourites 2018 (Empties Video)

Skincare Favourites Video

Videos are coming thick and fast as I try to get rid of all the old ones with my old background! This time I review my favourite skincare products from 2018 that I liked enough to finish using, along with one foundation. Click here to watch the video. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel here. …

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Gift Ideas for a Good Cause From The Body Shop

Gift Ideas for a Good Cause From The Body Shop

Christmas is always a stressful time of year, with so much event planning and food prep and running around before all the shops close for public holidays. That’s why I’m a big fan of gift sets, and The Body Shop always has a great selection at various price points. I’m not a huge fan of unbridled capitalism, but I also …

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Foundation Reviews: Shu Uemura, Designer Brands, The Body Shop

Foundation Reviews: Shu Uemura, Designer Brands, The Body Shop

I’ve tried out some more foundations since my last set of foundation reviews. The foundations I’m reviewing here are Shu Uemura Lightbulb Essence Foundation, Designer Brands Luminous Hydrating Foundation and The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation.

A quick recap of my key requirements:

  • Shade: I’m quite yellow – slightly yellower than NC25 in MAC – so most foundation ranges end up pinker than I’d like.
  • Application: I use a damp sponge, and because I’m not that skilled and pretty lazy, I like my foundations to apply nicely with minimal effort.
  • Longevity: My oily skin makes most foundations slide around over the course of the day, so anything that lasts decently well is amazing.

Shu Uemura The Lightbulb Essence Foundation

Shu Uemura The Lightbulb Essence Foundation ($85 for 30 mL) arrived just as I ran out of Face Architect, which I’ve reviewed before (I never use up foundations, so this is a massive testament to how much of a HG this was for me… also a testament to how much foundation my makeup sponge eats up!). Lightbulb Essence foundation (not to be confused with the older Lightbulb Foundation) is full of skincare oils (primarily camellia seed, ginger and rice nuka oils) and acts as a sort of highly tinted facial oil. I was initially skeptical since I’m oily asf, but it gave me a fantastic glow over winter, though it tended to move around a bit over the course of the day. I’m skeptical that it’ll work in summer. I’m also a big fan of the colour range: 764 Medium Light Beige is great on me.

Foundation Reviews: Shu Uemura, Designer Brands, The Body Shop

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Peeling Gel Reviews: It’s Skin, The Body Shop, Skinfood

Peeling Gel Reviews: It's Skin, The Body Shop, Skinfood

I love peeling gels. These awesome physical exfoliants use soft fibres instead of hard scrubbing grains for thorough but gentle exfoliation, much like using a washcloth but with less potential for germs. It’s a common misconception that the bunched up fibres are skin coming off and that the peeling gel is acting as a rapid chemical exfoliant, but the vast majority of what comes off is from the ingredients in the peeling gel itself (a small amount is skin though, since they’re grabbing some dead skin cells in the process!). I’ve found these particularly helpful after a bout of cold/flu or hayfever, when my nose is flaky – peeling gels do a great job of gently buffing off any flakes of dead skin so you don’t look dessicated.

Here are 3 peeling gels I’ve tried recently:

Peeling Gel Reviews: It's Skin, The Body Shop, Skinfood

It’s Skin Citron Peeling Gel

I bought It’s Skin Citron Peeling Gel and Nature Republic Cranberry Real Nature Peeling Gel in my last RoseRoseShop order when I ran out of The Face Shop White Jewel Peeling Gel, which has been my favourite for a while. I’ve since completely abandoned the Nature Republic one mostly because the cranberry scent smells like medicine, while the It’s Skin gel smells like refreshing citrus. The It’s Skin gel also works a bit better in the shower than the Nature Republic one, which is a bit too watery to bunch up properly so it feels like you’re just rubbing your face with your fingertips.

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New finds: The Body Shop, Urban Rituelle, DB Twist ‘n’ Go Polish Remover

urban-rituelle-body-shop

I’ve been trying out a whole bunch of things lately – here are the ones that’ve made it to the top of my “yes!” pile. Urban Rituelle have released the new Dreamweaver range, which includes 2 summery fragrance blends – Island Blossom, a mix of jasmine, frangipani and berries, and Coconut & Lotus, which is a sugary blend of coconut, …

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Dubai stopover and haul!

En route to Europe, I stopped over for a few days in Dubai, where as you might know, Ms Lather Rinse Repeat has recently relocated. As well as putting me up for a few nights, she pointed me in the direction of Dubai’s mega malls, which are conveniently accessible by metro. I tried hard not to haul too much, but …

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