Feet First

Feet First

We're not getting our feet out to put in Christmas party shoes, and we're not getting them ready for the beach, so why are we talking about pedicures in January? Well at Beautyu we think beauty should be about how you feel, and nothing makes you feel more beautiful than pampered feet! So here is out step by step guide to the at home pedicure.

1. Soak your feet in lukewarm water for twenty minutes. I tend to add my fave bath milk to the water. At the moment I just love Elemis skin nourishing milk bath.

2. Next use a foot scrub to massage away rough skin. Liz Earle foot scrub is perfect for this and leaves a lovely peppermint smell.

3. Towel dry the feet and use a foot file to smooth away any dead skin.

4. Cut the toe nails and file the nails straight across to get rid of any jagged edges.

5. Using toe separators, paint the colour of your choice in strokes away from your body over your toe nails, careful not to apply too much. Leave to dry and repeat. For my manicure I have chosen to use OPI Bogota Blackberry. Pick your favourite colour on the OPI website.

6. Final step once the nails are dry is to smother your feet in foot cream and place a special pair of moisturising socks on to ensure feet are soft and smooth. Two of my favourite creams are OPI callus softener and Liz Earle foot repair cream.

Your feet are now gorgeous and ready to go...no where! It makes us feel beautiful by pampering our feet and having lovely colours neatly painted on our toe nails. Try it, it's guaranteed to put a smile on your face this January!

Remember, you can view all our old posts by going to Seasons, and selecting the season for the post you want to see.

Stay Beautiful!

Stace & Mags x

New Year's Resolutions...

New Year’s Resolutions…

As the New Year begins and we are all looking forward to the year ahead and making resolutions we thought we would bring you our beauty New Year’s Resolutions for 2010.

Stace

I have started 2010 with a detox diet, which has inspired me to start every day with hot water and lemon as it really adds a zing to my morning. I am getting married this year so it’s important for me to find a good skincare routine and really stick to it. My New Year’s resolutions for 2010 are:

• Try out new make-up looks. I often get stuck in the same routine, and once a week I am going to try one of the many products I have in my make-up bag that normally gathers dust, or try out a new look. My Bobbi Brown make-up manual has already helped me to take a new approach to applying eye liner.
• Look after my feet. After Christmas presents included many pedicure products, I plan to at least once a week spend time on my feet so they are perfect for the Summer!
• Lipstick! Since the cold weather I have been using lip glosses, Vaseline and other lip moisturising products and I really miss my lipstick so I plan to buy a new colour and start wearing colour on my lips again.

Mags

My three New Year's resolutions, even though I try not to make any, since usually I fail to make them last longer than a couple of months, are:

• Have 'me' time once a week. I try to make Thursday evenings just for myself. Run a nice bath, put a mask on and celebrate the hour of being relaxed and unwind after almost full week of work.
• That follows exfoliate! And I mean full body and face. Exfoliation keeps your body/face looking younger and helps the moisturiser to sink in quicker.
• Last but not least is moisturising. Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise! I already have a very good facial regime where I cleanse, tone and moisturise twice daily; however, especially in that cold weather it's good to keep moisturising even more. It’s a treat for the face, body and mind!

Let us know your beauty resolutions for 2010 and remember, Stay Beautiful!

Stace & Mags x

12th Jan 2010

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year! We saw in the New Year in the mountains of Poland, and now have come back armed with ideas for the new year, and in particular how to care for our skin in the cold temperatures we are experiencing.

We thought we would spend a few moments looking forward to 2010 and giving you our top three make up and skin care predictions for the year ahead.

Make-up

• Natural eye colour - Next year we think that eye colours are going to be taken from nature, with browns and greens being the popular colours. These earthy colours cross through all seasons and can be used for everyday or going for more golden browns for parties. Nars stock a great range of different earthy tones. As always, layering to acheive the best look to suit the occasion.


• Nude lips - Last year it was bright reds, but this year we think that nude lipsticks, pales pinks etc will be big.


• Highlighted cheeks - This year we think making the most out of your cheek bones will be what we are all doing. Whether it's to get that 'Just got in from the cold' look, or the 'just came back from a really hot holiday' 2010 is going to be about working those cheek bones. Check out some of Bobbi Brown's new colours which are perfect for giving the cheeks a lift.

Skincare

• Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser by Elemis - This year Elemis is celebrating its 20th anniversary of excellence. Being the UK skincare leader for two decades, Elemis is introducing a new way to remove make-up and grime, revealing a more radiant-looking complexion with its new Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser. This luxurious rich cream formula, fragranced with sweet Brazilian orange, lavender, ylang ylang and patchouli, purifies and richly moisturises dehydrated skin. It's also enriched with plant extracts and high levels of anti-oxidants. This product is not available until February this year; however, it has already received some excellent reviews since it’s been sold out in the early December on QVC.
  
• Regenerating Aroma Night Cream by Decléor - Another new product from the French range is getting rave reviews. This new Regenerating Aroma Night Cream works while you sleep. When the skin is stressed during the day it needs replenishing during the night. Containing the exceptional power of nocturnal flowers such as black orchid, evening primrose and Euglena, this cream restores vitality and energy to the skin whilst working on the appearance of lines and wrinkles. For greater results I use three drops of Aromessence Neroli before applying the night cream. I wake up to a smooth and less stressed skin.
  
• Beauty Sleep... - Hours of partying over Christmas season and New Year’s means that we were getting to bed later than usual, however beauty sleep is an irreplaceable part of skincare. After a good night’s rest, wrinkles and furrows are ironed out and skin absorbs moisture and nutrients, so now after all that partying try to make sure you get as much sleep as possible.

Happy New Year and Stay Beautiful!

Stace & Mags x