September Beauty Favourites

Review: Stila Convertible Color Trio in Cool

Stila's Convertible Colors (which are multi-purpose cream products for cheeks and lips) have been getting quite a lot of attention for a while now. At £16 a pop they seemed thoroughly out of my price range, especially as there was no way that I could settle on just one shade. However, when I spotted the Convertible Color Trios on FeelUnique, which offered three shades for £23, I gave in to temptation and splurged [although I'd like to make it clear that I bought this product before my spending ban started and have been trialing it for a couple of months]. I chose the 'Cool' palette which contains the shades Peony, Lillium and (a limited edition shade) Cherry Blossom (there is also a 'Warm' palette available which contains different shades). Although the amount of product you get of each shade is much less than if you were to buy each colour individually, I don't often finish make-up and I prefer to have a variety of colours so at £23 this palette seemed perfect for me.

left to right: Peony, Lillium, Cherry Blossom.

All three shades in this palette are gorgeous. I have found that they all work very well against my pale skin as it is easy to apply them lightly, however, I've also experimented with building the colour up for deeper, less subtle, shade and they also work very well when used like that. I think my favourite colour in the palette is actually Cherry Blossom (which you can't buy individually) although the colour that I bought the palette for was Lillium. Cherry Blossom and Lillium look relatively similar in my swatch (and in the pan) but Lillium is a lot pinker than Cherry Blossom. Cherry Blossom is great when used as a subtle bronzing or contouring shade as it is quite brown so can really help to shape my pale face without making me look dirty or orange. Lillium, however, has a lot more pink to it - and you can just about see that when you look at it for long enough. When you blend it out on the skin the colour is incredibly flattering for a subtle wash of colour and I think it is the easiest shade of the three to work with. It goes with a lot of make-up looks and unless it is built up a lot it looks incredibly natural. Peony is definitely not the normal sort of colour I'd wear, it looks incredibly Barbie-esque when swatched. However, when applied lightly and blended out it gives a really fresh glow to the face which is especially useful on days when you desperately want to look more awake without piling on make-up. I was incredibly surprised at how much I liked using it and I think that this colour works best in a high quality form., such as Stila's Convertible Colors. 

All three shades are very light feeling and blend amazingly well. I use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to first apply them to the high point of my cheek bones and then blend the colour down my cheek with my fingers. The result is seamless make-up and a glowing finish that lasts for about six hours. If I applied these in the morning I would like to reapply them after six hours to regain the full initial impact of their colour and dewy finish, however, the colour does linger for a bit longer than that. 

My overall opinion of the Stila Convertible Colors is that they are really fabulous products. The shades are all beautiful and the formula is incredible to work with. I think they are on par with Illamasqua's Cream Blushes (which I really love) and now that I've had the opportunity to really try them out I do think they are worth their hefty price tag. The Cool Palette is currently out of stock on FeelUnique but if you like the idea of trying out three colours for £23 then you might want to give the Warm Palette a once over.

Do you like wearing cream blushes? Have you tried/or wanted to try Stila's Convertible Colours?

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Life in Leeds #2

After a long day out and about I like to come home and change straight into my pyjamas. Replacing zips and buttons with elasticated cotton and jersey is an every day kind of bliss. But when the fire alarm unexpectedly starts trumpeting in its full glory, in a student hall where you don’t know anyone yet, a social nightmare begins to play out. No-one, especially not complete strangers, needs to know that I sport last year’s Primark fleece Christmas-themed pyjamas to bed in September. What’s more, strangers certainly don’t need to find themselves being introduced to me sans any form of tinted moisturizer. I’d go as far as saying that this sort of thing might top my list of worst possible social scenarios.

However, Leeds isn’t being too kind to me when it comes to social engagements. So this is exactly what happened to me last week. Hounded outside by an alarm that felt like a troll was hammering on my eardrums with a bone-club, I made it to the first floor landing before the raucous was replaced by a patronizing automated female voice that reminded me that “in cases of fire one should exit the building”. As if anyone but the demonically possessed could remain inside the building given the blaring siren.

Once outside it begins to dawn on me that it’s night-time, and that given it’s night-time it is cold. Not ‘nippy’ either. We’re talking full on, northern, galacial cold. And you know what I’ve gone and done (or more specifically, not done) I haven’t picked up a jacket and I’m not wearing shoes. I felt like some sot of cave woman who’s stumbled through time into polite, accessorized company. My immediate reaction is not humour, which in retrospect would have transformed my state from tragic to endearing, no. I was just quietly angry; I was angry at the incompetent cook or reckless smoker who had engendered this social disaster. And if you didn’t already know, anger isn’t much of a social lubricant among polite society. Thus, my first meeting with all my new neighbours was entirely wasted on me. When you don’t know more than three people in a city it pays to be chilled out, even if you’re freezing cold, braless and in snowman pyjamas.

....and since I finished writing this post the entire situation has happened AGAIN. Angry caps-lock. But at least I remembered shoes this time. I guess this is where I cut to the moral of the story- life is all about learning and growing, but mostly about remembering to wear shoes.

Discovering Biotherm: Purefect Skin Micro Exfoliating Purifying Toner and Targeted Solution

After getting my teeth into chemical exfoliating face masks I decided to try a couple of other skincare products that I thought might do my face some good. I stumbled across the Biotherm Pure.Fect Skin range in Boots and I picked up two products from the range, one is the Micro Exfoliating Purifying Toner and the other is the Imperfection Targeting Solution. I used both of these products over July and August and after more than eight weeks of use I feel ready to tell you how I found them.

With Pixi Glow Tonic and Alpha H's Liquid Gold getting a lot of attention back when I bought these Biotherm products I was really excited to try out an exfoliating toner. In the past, I've always chosen very gentle toners because my skin has a tendency to be quite sensitive. However, I've found that although Biotherm's Pure.Fect Micro Exfoliating Purifying Toner is very effective I could just about get away with using it (although it did occasionally leave my cheeks, which are sensitive, a little rosier than I would have liked). What I found was that cutting out manual exfoliation from my routine did my skin a lot of good, and with the help of an exfoliating toner (which I use every evening) and a weekly exfoliating treatment (such as Elemental Herbology's Facial Glow Radiance Peel) my skin was left in really good condition. This exfoliating toner has helped keep my skin from looking dull and I do think that it has helped reduce the size of the larger pores on my nose. I don't think it is a miracle in a bottle but when incorporated into a skincare routine that you are otherwise happy with, I think it is a very effective addition.

The Biotherm Pure.Fect Targeted Solution is essentially a very similar product but it is a little stronger and is meant to be applied topically to blemishes. It definitely helped reduce the size of spots when I used it, especially under the skin lurkers. However, the job it was best at was dealing with dark marks that spots can leave once they're treated. The exfoliating power of it is quite intense (so it is definitely not suitable for sensitive skin) and I only used this on the oilier parts of my skin, which is where I tend to get spots anyway. Despite the fact that it does a very good job, the packaging really puts me off using it. The little tube is very small and handy for travelling with and is quite hygienic to use. However, the product itself is very liquid in consistency, it is a very liquid gel formula. When applying the product it is incredibly difficult to only get a small amount of product (which is all you tend to need) to come out of it's very fine nozzle, meaning that more often than not a lot of product goes to waste. Considering that this small tube cost me around £15 the amount of wastage really upset me and put me off using it unless I really needed to. 

Overall, I think that the quality of both of these products is really good and on that basis I would definitely recommend them. However, the packaging of the Targeted Solution is ill thought out and I wouldn't personally repurchase it, despite liking the product. I am, however, entirely satisfied with the Micro Exfoliating Toner and would definitely use it again but I'd definitely advise a patch test before use if you have sensitive skin. You can find the Biotherm Pure.Fect range in Boots (there are a few other products in the range) and the Micro Exfoliating Toner is £15.50 as is the Targeted Imperfection Solution.

What do you use to exfoliate your skin? Do you use any chemical exfoliating products? 

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