National Wedding Show

I’m so looking forward to next weekend! I’m working with the lovely Mariam Jensen at London’s National Wedding Show at Kensington Olympia. We’re going to have so much fun! If you’re thinking about your own wedding and you’re in London come along! Mariam and I will be using Airbase and Jemma Kidd to make our models catwalk-tastic.

If you’re not in London, never fear. We’ll be at the Birmingham show in March as well! We’d love you to come see our work and let us know what you think!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Dr Lewinn’s RenuNail Challenge

I’m still going strong with my RenuNail project. This is a big deal for me. I HATE not having nail varnish on! So how is it going?

I’m being really good about putting it on every morning. I put a coat on every day and start again from scratch once a week. Drawbacks: it’s a little tricky to get the right amount on the brush and I end up with too much on. It takes a while to dry so I’m walking around with smudgy nails with bits of dust and fluff stuck in them. I just hide my hands as much as possible for the moment. That’s it, though. If I was more organised and left a few minutes for them to dry each day it would be a total non-issue.

Is there any change in my nails since I’ve been doing it for about two weeks now? Yes! Yes, there is! It took nearly a week but they’ve stopped peeling and flaking and breaking off. They’re feeling nice and strong, growing nicely and looking a lot smoother. I can’t wait to see how they look at the end of the six weeks.

Funnily, another makeup artist I know that also has a blog started a similar challenge at the very same time as I did. Jodie is trying out the Nailtiques system. You can see her progress here.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

PS, my Dr Lewinn’s products are PR samples.

Laura Mercier Lingerie Eye and Cheek Palette

 

I’ve been using this palette a lot lately! It’s gorgeous. On everyone from ladies looking for a day time look to smoky eyes for parties. My favourite has been for a tv presenter interviewing celebs on the red carpet at last weekend’s BAFTAS. She looked totally red carpet-tastic using this as the basis for her look.

I love grey/taupe/mauve combinations and this has it in spades. For day time looks I like to sweep the mauve and pink across the lids and line with a grey liner for a sophisticated but day-appropriate look. For the red carpet look I put the brown through the crease, mixed the mauve and pink to blend across the lids then lined with brown pencil liner and smudged the brown shadow over the top. With fluttery lashes and a glowing complexion it was just perfect for the evening.

You can get yours from Liberty for £41.50. A bargain for six shadows and two blushers!!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Zelens – Magical Skincare

A little while back I received a set of Zelens skin care. I didn’t know a lot about it other than it was developed by a dermatologist that specialises in skin cancer. I was intrigued and started using all three products. I don’t usually switch so abruptly as my skin doesn’t like sudden change. However, this seems to be the exception that is proving the rule.

The Zelens range includes three key products. A radiance cleanser, an anti-ageing cream and an eye cream. I’m using all three. In addition to this, I use a day cream geared towards hydration and keeping breakouts at bay and a serum both day and night. I’ve not had so many compliments on my skin since I was 19!! It’s looking smooth, young and radiant! All the things you want from skin in your mid thirties!! Heck, at any age!!

So what are these products and how do they work? It’s a range that keeps eco-responsibility as its base line and includes Japanese herbal elements, plant extracts and active ingredients to keep skin alive and vibrant. These are all things that pique my interest and make me want to try a product out.

The cleanser is a creamy consistency that comes in a pump bottle. I use two pumps and always double cleanse in the evenings if I’ve been wearing makeup. It feels really gentle, doesn’t sting, tingle or leave my skin feeling dry and tight. With ingredients like camellia oil, pearl extract and vitamin E it’s very calming and brightening.

The cream comes in a pot and seems to last forever. You don’t need a lot to feel moisturised and it has a gel/cream consistency that means it’s nice to wear under makeup during the day. It really does hydrate, plump and firm skin beautifully. The main ingredient here is ursolic acid. This is an ingredient that does a whole bunch of stuff including; anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, collagen boosting.

Finally, there is an eye cream. I LOVE this product! I wear it day and night. It’s another gel/cream consistency that comes in a pot and goes beautifully under makeup. It’s helping my puffiness and my dark circles have started to look less scary. Those dark circles have plagued me all my adult life so it’s great to see them fading! This is definitely a product I’d repurchase. (So unlike me!) It is full of patented ingredients developed by Dr Lens full of sciency stuff. I’m usually a real ingredient-geek that would go through them but this would become a very long post indeed! These are serious and potent goodies!!!

Obviously, miracle products like this come with a price tag. However, they’re worth every penny. The cleanser is £40, the cream £95 and the eye cream £75. I worked this weekend with just concealer, some cream blush and mascara on and everyone kept telling me how radiant I looked. That makes it work the price tag, if you ask me!

If you click on this link, you’ll be able to see all the retailers of Zelens near you. I can’t recommend it enough!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Tresemme Heat Defence Serum

Oh how I love a double duty product. Especially one that surprises me and gives me a good hair day. I was recently introduced to the Tresemme Heat Defence Serum. My initial thoughts were, "Sounds great but not a product for my hair". I was so wrong! Again. I thought I'd give it a go today just for the heck of it and ended up having a really good hair day. Surprising seeing as serums really aren't my thing.

Don't get me wrong, I frequently use a serum on someone else's hair. Mine is so fine and easily weighed down that I haven't used a serum in years. However, it was the heat defence double action and the light weight feel of it that drew me in. I did my usual and prepped my hair with my Structure prep spray and my Tresemme Naturals mousse. After it had air dried for a little while I put a small amount of serum through before blow drying my hair straight with a ceramic round brush. Result: good hair day! It had loads of movement and was really soft without being flat or drab or greasy. I should add here that I had been careful not to put any through the roots. Just the mid lengths and ends. I did end up putting a little Tresemme 24 Hour Body spray to give it some extra oomph and a little texture (to hide the hat head later).

This serum will protect your hair up to 230 degrees so it's fine to use with GHD's. It's also a handy size to keep in your bag so you can smooth a small amount through static hat hair or control random flyaways.

It's £4.38 for 30ml and you'll be able to find it from most Boots, Superdrugs and supermarkets.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

PS, I was given my serum free of charge.