It's A Summer Smoothie

I love the effect of summer on my skin - a natural tan looks healthy, and a good amount of sunlight makes skin glow. However, the sun can dry out skin too. As bad as pale legs are, flaky legs are that bit worse. The UK has harder water than the rest of Europe, which not only causes lime scale but dries out hair and skin too. That's why you may have noticed how much smoother and silkier your skin and hair are when abroad in other European countries, for example Spain, Holland, Germany and Italy. 

I'm sure most of you know that the best way to get smoother skin is to exfoliate and moisturise. However, I have quite sensitive skin on my legs therefore wanted to find a scrub that wouldn't irritate them. 

I love the different Body Shop ranges - I normally shop their cocoa butter, olive oil and tea tree lines. I'd heard good things about Body Shop scrubs, so thought I'd give one a go. I don't like scrubs too fragranced as I find they don't exfoliate as well as non fragranced ones. Also, added fragrance can irritate sensitive skin like mine.

I went for the Coconut scrub as it smells nice but not too strong, and the scrub itself has the right consistency - it's fairly milky and creamy but has plenty of exfoliating beads to scrub away dead skin cells seen in flaking skin. It's gentle enough to use all over the body, but I don't use it on my face as I have St Ives Apricot Scrub for that purpose.

I loved the results and immediately noticed softer and healthier looking skin. I use it once a week, or twice if I've been wearing skinny jeans that have been rubbing against my legs all day - oh how we suffer. Additionally, the coconut scent oozes a tropical summer vibe, so it's basically a holiday in my bathroom (...I said 'basically'....). 

This product is a must for those looking for smooth summer skin, and I would definitely continue to use it during the winter as it really nourishes skin in areas like my legs, which tend to be a problem all year round. 

It's time for that summer scrub y'all. 

G x

Get Lippy

So it's been a while since my last blog post (nearly a month, oh dear)......

I started a new job at the beginning of the month so between that, returning from my holiday, seeing friends and actual decent summer weather I haven't had time to blog. So then, it's about bloody time!

I haven't been wearing much make up recently because of the heat but more importantly, the humidity. When the air is really muggy and sticky I avoid foundation and most other face make up as I break out in a series of spots (or as my mum calls them, 'sweaty spots'). I went to the music festival Lovebox in east London last Friday, which also happened to be on the hottest day of the year so far at 32°C. Trust me, 32°C is hot for the city let alone a festival, it feels like Londoners are trapped together in a giant greenhouse.  It was the first day I had worn foundation and powder in three weeks and the next day my face erupted in pimples. 

As a general rule (especially from now on!), I tend to opt for tinted mists, serums and moisturisers in the summer as they don't clog my pores as much on hot summer days.

I tend to go for dewy, fresh faced looks during the summer and I find that the best way to brighten up your face without using highlighter is through your lips. A slick of the right lipstick or gloss enhances the most minimal amount of make up.

My favourite lip brand? While you cannot fault MAC for lipsticks, I have never been consistent in using their lip glosses except for Clear Lipglass. 

However, I felt to treat myself one day and stumbled upon the MAC make up counter in my local shopping centre (as you do) and tried their Cremesheen Glass in Just Superb. It's a slightly dirty pink that I knew would look amazing layered over a nude lipstick. I like mixing neutral/pinky lipsticks and glosses to create a magnified effect. Cremesheen is fairly thick but without being sticky (no hair stuck to lips incidents ladies). 

It's not too bright which means it can adapt nicely to the lipstick beneath it without making the look too Barbie-esque. Just Superb goes really well on top of Brave, a brown-pink Satin lipstick. Brave is on the darker side of the nude scale, so Just Superb softens it really well.  I had to top up the gloss quite a few times (Cremesheen is not known for its staying power), but it protected the lipstick which managed to stay put!

Below are swatches of Just Superb lipgloss (top) and Brave lipstick (bottom).

The Result:

Do you like to mix glosses and lipsticks? If so, what shades and brands? 

G x