Liz Earle, Neal's Yard and Elemis - high end shower gels

Evening all!

Sometimes we all deserve a real good pamper. And what better way to treat yourself than with a high end shower gel. If you like me all to easily throw a £1 bottle of whatever is on offer when you're doing the food shop, then I guarantee spending a bit more on shower gel sometimes will make you feel utterly pampered.

Tonight I'm going to show you three high end shower gels I have been using this month.

Elemis tranquil touch, creamy body wash

You barely need any of this rich, luxurious cream to smother over your body. It has hints of almond oil, patchouli, cedarwood and vetivert, it smells like a spa day! A real touch of high end luxury.


I have found this on lookfantastic.com for £18.40 for 300ml.

Liz Earle orange flower botanical body wash

This is a lovely body wash, that boasts ingredients like yarrow and gerenium. The smell of orange instantly wakes me up in the morning, again you don't need much of this to cover your body, and it leaves skin feeling silky smooth and thoroughly clean. I love the smell of oranges and get nuances of the scent throughout the day when I have used this product.

You can buy this body wash on the Liz Earle website, and it retails for £11.50 for 200ml.


Last but not least is an offering from Neal's Yard.

Rosemary and Elderflower shower gel from Neal's Yard

It was my Mum who got me on to Neal's Yard shower gel after telling me how silky they left her skin with no need to moisturise after showering - I like a multi tasking product! I actually went in to buy the orange and geranium, but came out with Rosemary and Elderflower, I absolutely love the rosemary scent, and when I smelt it in the shop I had to go for this one!

The smell is divine, and it really does leave skin feeling silky smooth.

This shower gel retails for £9.30 for 200ml, and can be found on the Neal's Yard website.

These shower gels are one luxury I like to spoil myself with now and again, and I think they are worth every penny!

What do you do when you really want to pamper yourself? Do you have any high end shower gel brands you think are really worth the money and checking out? Let us know by commenting below or tweet us @beautyu

Have a beautiful weekend!

Stace x

Liz Earle brightening treatment mask - brightening my day!

Good evening!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter, and hopefully some time off work.

If, like me, you over indulged over the weekend on chocolate eggs, large dinners and wine, then this is just the post for you! The weekend played havoc with my skin, and so I wanted to share with you a product I have just started using to help revive my skin.

The product is by one of our favourite brands, Liz Earle, and is the brightening treatment mask.

This starter kit comes in a
 little wash bag and it retails for £14.25

The 50ml bottle comes with a muslin cloth

Now what really appeals to me about this treatment is the the fact that you only have to leave it on between 30 seconds to 2 minutes, so it is excellent if you are in a rush but still want to treat your skin.

The pump action bottle is another reason I like this product, much easier to use than squeezy bottles I have used in the past.

Pump action bottle, only two pumps needed!

The product boasts ingredients such as witch hazel, camphor oil and almond oil.

The consistency is clay based, however once on your skin it does not go hard like some clay masks I have used in the past.

The mask has a clay like consistency

I use two pumps of this product and massage on to my face, leave it for about 1 minute, and then wash off with the muslin cloth.

The first time I used it after a breakout of spots, I really noticed they had gone down the next day. It leaves my skin feeling clean and noticeably softer.

The blurb on the back of the bottle specifies that ' you will experience a slight tingling sensation'. I did feel a slight tingle, but I think this is what makes my face feel so clean!

It also advises that this product is not suitable for sensitive skin.

I was really impressed with this product, I will be using it once a week as part of my skin routine, and this handy 50ml bottle, and the fact that you only need to leave it on for such a short time, mean I will be packing it on my next holidays!

I would really like to try some more of Liz Earle's face masks now. Have you tried any others and what did you think of the results? Let us know by commenting or tweet us @beautyu

Stay beautiful!

Stace x

Daily eye repair from Liz Earle

Happy Monday!

Hope the first day of the week has gone well for you all.

You may remember last month I started my quest to find the perfect eye cream by reviewing Clinique all about eyes This was a good eye cream, scoring 7/10, but I was sure I could find better!

So this month taking to the stage it is Liz Earle, Daily Eye Repair.

Daily eye repair eye cream from Liz Earle

Liz Earle is one of our favourite brands, so my expectations were already high when I tried this. This product is very multi functioning which I love. Claiming to be 'triple action' it contains SPF10, getting to the root cause of those under eye  wrinkles, helps reduce the appearance of fine lines, and light reflective particles are supposed to conceal those pesky under eye bags.

The product retails from the Liz Earle website for £7.25 for a 5ml tube as pictured. It's not the cheapest product for the amount you get, however only a really small amount is needed.

Rather than a night eye cream, this eye cream is applied in the morning, around the eye area, before applying any under eye concealer. The consistency is quite thick, and a white colour, which soaks into the skin quickly.

So what did I think of this product? Well I was really impressed. I love applying this in the morning as the effect is immediate. I can actually see my fine lines disappearing which is a miracle! Deeper more ingrained lines won't disappear, but then you can't have everything! I was dubious about the light reflective particles, but the appearance around the eye is lighter, and it was also really easy to apply my normal concealer under the eyes on top of this cream.

This is a brilliant quick fix eye repair. I still like the idea of a cream working over night, but for a quick fix in the morning, this little pot helps me to appear revived and well rested, even if this is not the case!

In terms of scores? I give this cream 8/10. It really does tick all my boxes for a day eye cream, but I would like to find something I can put on at night time as well. I will definitely be purchasing this again!

Well done Liz, delivering results yet again!

Please let me know if there are any eye creams you would recommend so I can try them on my quest to find the perfect one!

Stay beautiful!

Stace x

Christmas Wish List!

Dear Santa, Lapland, North Pole,

For Christmas this year I would really like some of the following beauty products please:

• OPI Muppets nail collection. My friend has bought this recently and it is out of stock every where I look!

• A bath bomb from Lush, I particularly like the little Christmas pudding one, so cute.

• Collection 2000 concealer, I keep reading fab reviews about this product, and it's so cheap!

• Soap and Glory make-up, have not tried this brands make-up collection and am desperate to!
• Elemis bath time treats, I love anything Elemis to indulge myself in the bath, so some of their bath range would be fab!

•  Liz Earle face pampering treats. The exfoliator and mask especially are currently missing from my bathroom and I could do with these being stocked up!

• No 7 Poppy King limited edition lipstick, beautiful and the perfect stocking filler!
• L'occitane hand cream, in this cold weather I can never have enough tubes of this miracle cream!
• A Nails Inc collection, I found this great one in TK Maxx earlier:

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude perfume, a great smell for the Winter and coming into the Spring.

And finally, Philip Kingsley elasticizer, seeing the reviews when this was in GlossyBox this year reminded me how much I love this hair treatment, but the price is too high to buy every month.

Thanks Santa!
I will be sure to leave a mince pie, sherry and some carrots out for you on Christmas Eve, so please stop by, and I would be delighted to find any of the above items under my Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas!

Love Stace x


14th December 2011

My first ever Face of the Day!

My first ever Face of the Day!

Ok so I have finally braved it and done my first FOTD!!

I love reading all your FOTD's so thought it was time I did one. We have been trying out lots of products over the last few weeks and we thought it was about time to show you them put into practice!

So firstly here are the tools for the job!!

• Liz Earle Superskin moisturiser as base before foundation application.
• Bare Minerals Foundation and bisque concealer.
• Vivo Cosmetics baked blusher.
• Lumiere cosmetics amethyst eye pigment.
• Bare Minerals volumizing mascara.
• Make Up Academy lipstick.
• All the brushes are from my own collection of Bare Minerals and Body Shop.

And here is my finished face:

A close up for you of the eyes:

And a closer look at the lips:

I have really enjoyed using all these products, and most are now part of my everyday routine!

I am hoping to do some more of these now I have done the first one, and will hopefully bringing you some Christmas party FOTD's!! I am getting excited about Christmas already and will be getting the decs down from the lost this week!

Stay Beautiful!

Stace x

p.s. Mags has just returned from holiday, all tanned and relaxed, and will be back blogging soon!

28th November 2011

Skin secrets from Liz Earle

Skin secrets from Liz Earle

It's Black Friday today in the USA, and I expect many people are out shopping, battling with the crowds to bag that Christmas bargain. I have started to think about Christmas presents, making lists, scouring the shops to try and find that perfect present. Last week when I was out shopping I spotted this book. Liz Earle, Skin secrets is absolutely the perfect present for anyone into beauty and reading. It combines the two passions. It has also been reduced in many of the online book stores as it is a few years old now, but it is still completely relevant, making it a perfect choice for your best friend, Mum, Sister, Aunt etc.

Lets take a closer look...

A lovely quality hard back book, that would look lovely on any beauty lovers bookcase.

Chapters of the book cover:

What influences skin, Plants that love your skin, How to have lovely skin, Caring for your skin, The sun and your skin, Skin problems and solutions, Feed your skin, Everyday fitness, Relax, unwind, sleep.

So you can see it covers a wide range of subjects.

A  few of my favourite parts of the book:

A section on different ages, what your skin needs at the different ages and how we can look after our skin.

You can see how lovely the photos are from the above picture.

How to get the best from your products looks at the daily beauty regime an some great tips and techniques to get the most from the investment we make in our beauty products.

As a foody I loved this section! Covering the food we eat and the affect they may have on our skin, as well as some recipes for beautiful skin.

And a beautiful final word from Liz herself, full of sentiment and reinforces why I believe in Liz and her brand.

A real treasure of a book, and great Christmas present. Or a great pre-Christmas treat for yourself!

Are there any great beauty books you own? We'd love to hear about them!

Have a beautiful Friday.

Stace x

25th November 2011



Holiday essentials

 

No matter if you’re off for a short city break or a long beach holiday, it’s essential to keep a beauty routine up even on the go! Recently, Stace got back from her holidays and we were chatting about the different things we take away with us. This year, I’ve travelled quite a lot and I established my ‘must have’ list of items that I take with me when travelling.

When away:

• Cleanse your skin morning and evening! It doesn’t matter if you’ve put  make-up on or not, there’s lots of pollution in the air so clean the skin to remove the dirt. It’s hard to get all the cleansers in a small bottles (flight restrictions don’t allow taking anything bigger than 100ml in the carry-on luggage) so I always hold on to small containers or buy a travel sized bottles from Boots and use for my trips.

Instant Boost Skin Tonic by Liz Earle

• Toner – if you don’t always cleanse in the morning, at least use a bit of a tonic to clean and wake up your skin! I’ve got a little 30ml bottle of Instant Boost Skin Tonic from Liz Earle that I religiously use and re-fill for every trip I take! It’s fab on the plane, to freshen up the skin, and great on the beach as an instant refresher, or in the city to revive after a long, tiring day! For additional coolness, in particularly hot weather, place tonic in the fridge overnight!

• Hydration – apart from drinking plenty of water during the day, I always use a day and night cream! It helps the skin rejuvenate and makes it more plumped and fresh looking! I don’t wear too much make up on holidays so a bit of moisturiser on the face prepares me to face the world. When it comes to storage I have a secret! For my day and night cream I use a dual container for contact lenses storage, where in one part I put my day cream, and in the other, my night cream (see photo below). This way I don’t carry two big pots but a small container with both creams in it.

Contact lense storage container that I use for day and night cream

• Clean hands – I always carry with me a little pot of sanitising gel. This time I carry the L’Occitane lavender Clean Hands Gel. It purifies and sanitises hands without water or soap! It’s perfect for any situation but particularly if you’re stopping for a bite to eat on the way! 

L'Occitane Lavender Clean Hands Gel

• Lips – I can’t leave the house knowing that I don’t have any lip product with me! Call it an addiction or purely a habit but I simply like my lips nourished at all time. Any lip product will do for me as long as it moisturises my lips for long enough not to re-apply too often.

• Soft hands are also important to me, so whenever I have a chance to purchase, or get a smaller size of hand cream (Check out November issue of Marie Claire magazine – you can purchase it with a choice of L’Occitane limited edition 30ml hand cream!) I put it aside for future trips! There is nothing more soothing than application of your favourite hand cream on a long-haul flight, long car journey or after a long day in the sun!

• Dress up the eyes! I’d lie to you if I said that all of the above are the only items I take on a trip! I do take a packet of paracetamol (just in case) and eye mask if I want to sleep on the plane, a few of ear buds for obvious reasons… however, I would not leave the hotel room without my mascara on. I’m not sure what is your view on that but if I don’t dress my eyes in mascara, I look like I haven’t woken up properly! I feel naked and blah. Once it’s on, I’m ready to conquer any continent! 

I’ve travelled a lot and learnt by mistakes when travelling heavy (too heavy, at times), which cost me lots in overweight luggage. Now I stick to my essentials and there is no problem! 

What are your beauty essentials that you can’t leave the house without? Do you struggle to pack for any journey? Let us know on twitter @beautyu. We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Stay beautiful!

Mags xx

The wait is nearly over for Liz Earle colour!

The wait is nearly over for Liz Earle colour!

It was only a matter of time before skincare genius Liz Earle launched a make- up range, and from the 15th September, her first make up product 'Sheer skin tint' will be launched.

So, is this new product any good?
Well, firstly I am so happy they decided to launch this product with a box. Many of their products don't come boxed, and I know it is more environmentally friendly, but when competing in the make-up market, all high end brands are boxed, and the point of make-up is to make a lady feel extra special - right! And I was very excited when I first opened up the little black box. Doing their bit for the environment, Liz Earle have said that when the product is ordered by mail they will provide samples of all three shades for the customer to try before opening their order to ensure the right shade has been selected and cut down on wastage. This is a nice touch, well done Liz!

The tint comes in a black squeezy bottle. It is a handy size for travelling and similar to brands like Laura Geller. I like the tube, and it is easy to squeeze the product out. It also means you can cut the top of when you get down to the dregs, not like those glass foundation bottles where you always waste at least a months worth of product! The product itself is very lightweight, and feels quite silky on the skin, the application is easy, and only a little is needed, I think I put a bit too much on! It does not feel like there is a lot of product on the skin, or cloggy in the way some foundations do. I love that this product has SPF 15, and it is a mineral sunscreen, much more natural and kind to the skin.

The actual product looks really natural on my skin, it is definitely a no make-up look make-up. I would probably want more coverage for a going out look, but for an everyday to the office look this product is perfect. Ladies who are afraid of heavy foundations will love this product. The dewy look is very fresh and radiant, although I would often go for something more matte looking, I like this look, it feels very effortless, where as with matte it is very clear make up has been applied. I like this product, quick and easy to use, and I love the effect.

My one complaint would be there are only a choice of 3 colours - Bare, beige and beach. I have tried the bare, which for my fair skin is probably fine in the depths of the winter, but I would need a tiny hint of colour in the Summer. Having said that, I am happy with the finished result, as you can see in the picture below.

The product which will be available from Liz Earle from the 15th September 2011, and will be £21.00 for 40ml, a good price when you consider similar product retailing for nearly £30.

And what's really exciting about this is there will hopefully be more make-up to come from Liz Earle! Finally a make up brand that is made to look after our skin, and looks great!

This is guaranteed to be a big seller, so get in the queue!


Stay beautiful!

Stace x


24th August 2011


PS - Mags is on holiday this week, and I can't wait to hear what she thinks of this product!

Pssst want to hear a secret...?

Pssst want to hear a secret...?

It's not often something this exciting arrives in our inbox...but this could very well be the event of the year.

Liz Earle have announced they will be launching a new make-up product - the skin tint!

When a company so dedicated to skin care launches a make-up product it really is something to get excited about. They know our skin inside out, and therefore this product is going to be a treat for all make-up and skincare fans out there.
Don't miss out on updates from Liz Earle on when this product will be available:

lizearle.com/makeup and register to find out more!

In the meantime, have you tried some of our fave Liz Earle products:
Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Mask, perfect for post holiday skin and Liz Earle Instant boost skin tonic ideal for hot climates



Stay Beautiful!


Stace & Mags x

12th July 2011