Beauty: Benefit They're Real!

I was always loyal to Benefit Bad Gal Mascara. It treated me so well for many years and always had the desired affect on my lashes, making them longer and thicker and more voluminous. I always swore my mascara allegiance would lie with Bad Gal. So when I received a Benefit gift set with a tiny tube of They're Real, it was put to the bottom of my make up basket, to be forgotten about forever.

And then came the day when my make up supplies ran dry and I needed a teeny tiny mascara to throw in my handbag. That's when the glistening top of Benefit They're Real caught my eye and my allegiance quickly faded away. Pride swallowed, this mascara is amazing!

Another reason, aside from my loyalty, that I didn't want to leave Bad Gal is because of the brush. I love the soft bristle, full and fat brush for the wonders it does to my lashes. And I had only ever had bad experiences with the plastic bristle brushes that seem to everywhere now.

But They're Real surprised me. The brush worked wonders through my lashes and the formula added amazing length and volume. While Benefit's price point is a little higher than your average high street brand, you can feel the quality and see the effects of each product.

I'm a They're Real convert.

Beauty: Garnier Oil Beauty Collection

I fell in love with the Garnier Oil Beauty collection at first smell. It's rich nutty scent, a mix of macadamia and almond oil, is softened somewhat by a touch of rose oil, which combined, exudes luxury and turns my little bathroom into an at-home spa for a few minutes every day. 

Gifted to me by a wonderful friend who raided her beauty cupboard at work, the nourishing lotion and nourishing scrub are perfect partners in crime. My skin has been battered over the last few months what with some severe climate changes, a lot of sun and a bit of stress and these two have worked wonders are reviving my moisture levels. 

The Oil-Infused nourishing scrub has a great texture; it has the perfect balance of scrubbing particles and thick creamy wash which means my skin feels like new without being irritated. I think the oil really adds that much needed moisture that other scrubs sometimes miss.

The nourishing lotion is thick and creamy and glides onto your skin effortlessly. The best bit is it soaks in rather fast and doesn't leave a heavy residue on your skin like other rich lotions do, and because of the creamy consistency, a little goes a long way. I also love that handy pump action bottle which makes application a breeze. 

I have never really been a fan of Garnier body moisturisers; I often found their consistency to be gelish and a little sticky and the smells were never that appealing to me. But this collection has won a place on my bathroom shelf. If your looking for a rich, intense moisturising lotion this is definitely worth a try. 

Beauty: NYX Bronzer in Medium

I am a girl who loves a bronzer. A blush is fine, but those pinky shades don't do much for my complexion and I struggle to find an affordable, shimmer free, peach blush. If it is one thing I hate in my make up bag, it is a shimmer blush or bronzer. Shimmer was reserved for my teens when sparkles in eyeliner and nail varnish were used in abundance.

Now I am all grown up and less experimental with my make up (code for safe), a sparkle free bronzer is what does it for me. And even they are hard to come by. My holy grail of bronzing is Benefit Hoola box; the mere thought of that little maroon box, with it's soft bristled, turquoise handled brush warms my face. When the bank balance didn't stretch to Benefit I found Rimmel Sunshimmer Bronzing Compact in Medium Matte worked a treat. 

Now there is a newbie in my make up bag; gifted to me by a lovely friend who raided her beauty cupboard at work, the NYX Bronzer in Medium is my new best friend. It's deep tones mean a liberal swish gives the perfect golden glow. And it's strong pigment means a little goes a long way. 

Plus it is a matte bronzer, with zero shimmer and as we discovered shimmer is my enemy. It's £8 price tag puts it in the middle of Rimmel Sunshimmer and the Benefit Hoola and is definitely worth the modest cost. An item I will certainly be purchasing once mine has run out, if I could only find a stockist in Dubai!

Nivea Purifying Facemask

Sometimes I feel like my face holds a weeks worth of make-up leftovers, stress and pollution. I remove my make-up every night. I cleanse and clean and moisturise. But by the end of the week my skin sometimes needs a little deep clean action to prepare it for a new one. 

This is where the Nivea Purifying Facemask comes in pretty handy. Just ten minutes and a thin layer of this mask really makes a difference to my skin. 

The formula is great for my oily skin. Recently I have noticed my skins sensitivity level racking up a few notches (probably due to three years worth of sun, air conditioning and other damaging bits and bobs) and while the formula deals with my oily skin, it doesn't irritate the new found sensitive spots. It's not too heavy and after ten minutes I can still move my face; you know what I mean if you do at home facemasks which dry super quick and become heavy and cakey. 

I use a muslin cloth with warm water to remove the mask and every time, I emerge with a fresh feeling face and squeaky clean skin. This little pouch contains two applications and cost around €2. Not bad if your looking for an effective and affordable, at-home cleanse. 

Red Nails

I have a funny thing about red nails; I know it is a classic but I always thought it never suited my hands. I know I sound a little bit crazy but I really feel like some colours just dont suit my skin tone. And when your wearing a colour and your looking at your hands all day, as you tap away at the keyboard, well it kind of drives me crazy.

But this almost pink/kind of berry red is currently my favourite. 

Inglot is available in the UK, but I was actually introduced to it by my Polish friend here in Cyprus. Inglot have a great range of colours, the consistency, in my opinion is the perfect balance not-too-thick/not-too-thin and the formulas have a great shine. I almost don't need to put a top coat on except to keep my nails  from chipping. 

Budget Beauty

I am not a beauty blogger, but I know what products I like and what works for my skin/hair. I also know what products one needs when one is living in a hot climate. So today I am over at Touch of Belle, talking about budget beauty items that I cannot live without.

The Body Shop BB Cream - Revisited

I talked about this BB cream way back in June when I first got my hands on it. Now that I have squeezed out every drop from the tube, I thought it was a good time to revisit it and see how this little product held up throughout the fierce summer months of Cyprus. 

In the summer skin is a delicate balance between oily mess and dry, thanks to the sun and the air con. I started off using this after my moisturiser but soon realised it was a bit much for my oily/dry skin to handle, so I skipped the moisturiser; making my morning routine quicker which is always a good thing. 

The other thing I am always a bit dubious about is the one shade thing. Usually I have a foundation one shade darker, on hand for the summer months when my face gets a golden glow. But this adapted to my changing face pretty nicely. I am sad to see the end of the tube. 

Coral Neon

It's been a while since I talked about my nails, though don't be fooled into thinking my addiction to nail varnish has subsided. I think I should start looking for support groups, nail painters anonymous or something. 

I change the colour of my nails more than I care to admit; I am not sure if it's because I get bored of a colour quickly, or because I find the act of nail painting somewhat therapeutic. 

Todays pick is Coral Neon by Leciel. The Leciel stand is like a rainbow with every colour imaginable which makes it a little hard to actually pick one. 

But this colour (originally found on the feet of a friend) is the perfect, I-have-a-nice-golden-glow-tan shade that epitomizes summer. It is a lot brighter than in the bottle too. 

I think I am running out of colours to experiment with so any suggestions for great tan enhancing shades would be greatly appreciated. 

honey bronze

This is another little product that the lovely ladies at The Body Shop introduced me too. Honey Bronze Shimmering Dry Body Oil* is a dry oil which aims to give you a golden glow with just a hint of shimmer. 

I have to admit I was dubious about this product for one reason and one reason only - I hate anything with shimmer! But this dry oil has a less is more approach to the shimmer thing that I can more than get on board with. 

While it looks kind of  dark in the bottle, a little rubbing reveals skin with a warm golden tone instead of a heavy-I-had-way-too-much-sun shade. And it feels really moisturising without being greasy. 

And the smell, don't get me started on the smell. 

It has that great holiday product smell, you know the one. A mixture of sun, sea and creamy cocktail paradise, all rolled into a little bottle. 

I would reserve this product for evenings or holidays; it is definitely not something I would wear everyday, but it did accentuate my tan well enough to make me want to add it to my holiday product wish-list. 

And if you like this, check out all the other great bronzing products The Body Shop has this summer, here. 

It's all in the smell: Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom

Perfume has never been a big lust of mine; I would much rather have a new mascara than switch up my smell. And throughout my life I have flirted with only a few scents. 

In my early teenage years it was some sort of impulse body spray, until I was welcomed to the world of  "grown-up" fragrance. Even then I have been somewhat picky about perfume. My favourite for a long time was Ghost (the one in the classic curvy blue bottle) and then I discovered Marc Jacobs Daisy. 

This past winter I picked up a deeper scent - Hugo Boss Deep Red. But now summer is here I feel lotions and potions are so heavy on skin. But the lovely ladies at Body Shop gifted me with one of their fantastic fragrances, Japanese Cherry Blossom and I have fallen for it. 

It has this fresh and feminine smell and feels super light on my skin, perfect for summer. So I have one more bottle to add to the not so cluttered perfume shelf!

well travelled beauty products.

Every time I go to London, I say I am not going to spend a ridiculous amount of money on beauty products and every time I return with a suitcase filled to the brim. 

The thing is, beauty products in Cyprus are kinda pricey and they don't have the selection that I am used to. So it seems like the practical thing to do; to spend a months wages in Boots once a year ( I am exaggerating about a months wages by the way).

One of the brands I recently fell in love with is Simple. Their products are designed for people with sensitive skin and have no fussy smells and are super gentle. Recently my skin has been behaving a bit erratically, something to do with the hotter weather I think and I noticed more breakouts than usual. So I picked up these two. Oil Balancing Face Scrub and Moisturiser.

They are working wonders; the scrub is gentle enough to use everyday, but really makes my combination skin feel squeaky clean while the moisturizer is the perfect balancing base for make up, especially when its summer in Cyprus. No oily messy face thank you very much!

Now Soap & Glory is a brand I have been loyal to for a while, mainly because their packaging is so cute. But they do put out fantastic products also! I have been using the hand food since I discovered the yummy smell and the smooch operator balm seems to be the only thing that sorts my dry lips out. 

The Sexy Mother Pucker lipgloss is a gorgeous natural colour and a great gloss thats not too gloopy, while the Thick & Fast Mascara is the only mascara I have found to rival my love for Benefit's Bad Gal. I love the product names too, always amusing in Boots picking products like Off Your Face! 

And then there is Dove. A classic I have know for years. The smell of their beauty bar soap brings back memories of my childhood, watching my mum wash her face with it every morning (a trick I have recently picked up since she had great skin!). And their moisturisers are so nourishing for my skin; in the summer months, the sun, sand, salt water and sheer amount of times I shower a day (when it is this hot and humid even 2 showers is just the start) all mean my skin dries out a lot more. 

These two are helping me right out and they both have great smells. The beauty blossom is fresh and invigorating, perfect for the morning while the purely pampering is great for evening, the aroma seriously lasts! 

And this was just the start of my beauty haul from London. Well technically I was saving money. At least thats my story and I am sticking to it!

beauty: turquoise nails

Do you ever find that sometimes the contents of a nail varnish bottle look a lot different in the bottle than out of it. 

I kinda hate that. Especially since I have a weird thing about painting my nails almost as many times a week as there are days. You spend ages picking a great colour. Get it home and bam. It looks totally different on your nails after 2 layers!

Such a disappointing situation. That happened with this one. But nevertheless I was headed for turquoise toes. 

Its a brand called LECIEL and their display in store is like a rainbow; literally every colour under the sun in a bottle. 

It is fast becoming my favourite brand for many reasons. It has a great consistency, not too thick but still fantastic coverage and it dries quickly. Plus I find that with a good top coat, it lasts all week. Or at least until I get bored and change my colour. 

Hair Attachment

I have never really been that attached to my hair. 

The last time I had long hair was when I was about 7 and for me, my hair has always been somewhat of a hassle to maintain and therefore my theory is the less of it the better! 

I am also kinda lucky that I have a face shape that benefits more from short hair; s for the past 6/7 years I have flitted between super short to long bob and back to short bob. The only common feature has been a hide-my-big-forehead kind of fringe. 

And while I go through phases of craving long, wavy beach style locks, I know the reality is far from glamourous. 

I have always wanted to go short short, but never quite worked up the courage to let the hairdresser practically shave half my head. And then Jessie J went and shave her head for Comic Relief and my whole idea of hair flipped around. 

She went from this. 

To this. 

And I think she looks amazing. Plus she did it for a fantastic cause and raised tons of money, but she even said it's the best thing she has ever done. I can only imagine how weird yet liberating it must feel to shave your head and it would certainly eliminate a lot of bathroom hours thats for sure! 

But short hair in Cyprus is somewhat of rarity. It was pretty early on, that I realised girls in general have a big attachment to their hair. And men find women with short hair somewhat of a tourist attraction (the looks I have had go to prove it). 

It got me thinking about how different cultures place importance on different aspects of a women's beauty. In London every other girl has half her head shave, or a super short bob. But in Cyprus the majority of women have long hair. Maybe it's more feminine for them, or maybe practically, the heat of the summer means you need to have long hair to tie it up and have it as far away from you as possible. 

Who knows. 

I think I will slowly work my way shorter and shorter, but I full shaved head....I think that's a step too far for me.

beauty: Body Shop Cool BB cream & Vitamin C Moisturiser

So a few weeks back, the lovely ladies at Body Shop Cyprus invited me along to learn about some of their products, perfect for summer. 

The Vitamin E Cool BB Cream* was one that I was most excited to get my hands on mainly because my face has been doing the rounds of many other BB creams of late. And as Cyprus is starting to get pretty HOT, I wanted to see what this cool thing was all about. 

I think I was expecting more of a menthol hit like other "cooling" products and instead I got a soft and fresh feeling which is probably a much gentler way to incorporate such a thing into a make-up product.

Now let's talk about coverage, a big sticking point for me with any product. I found it's super light texture really stood up for itself and covered my uneven, oily skin and even did a decent job of covering the blemishes on my cheeks. 

And for only one shade, it has a great blending ability, something which is perfect as my face starts to change colour with the sunshine. It eliminates my need to buy 5 different shades of foundation for the summer!

One thing I learnt early on as an expat in Cyprus is that SPF is your new best friend. The Vitamin C Moisturiser with SPF 30* is one of those products that will become invaluable in my summer beauty routine as it's packed with protection including UVA/UVB.

So yeh, your face will pretty much thank you for it 40 years down the line when your [almost] wrinkle free. 

Sometimes sun-care products are a bit heavy and oily for my combination skin to handle. Not this one. The texture is rich but not greasy and it sinks into my skin like a dream. And then there's the smell. The scent of a product is really important to me, especially when it's on my face and so close to my nose. 

I have to say the first sniff of this stuff and I was a bit dubious but the vitamin c element of this moisturiser really brought a fresh, citrusy aroma that grew on my as the mornings went on. 

I started testing just over a week ago. It worked perfectly as a daily moisturiser and still stood up the harshness of the beach with no pink, sore skin in sight. There was one negative about this product. By the end of the day, my make-up had started sliding, but I don't know if this is down to the product or the heat in Cyprus! 

beauty: sun-care essentials

It's that time of year again in Cyprus... Summer! It is a bit hotter than usual for May and as such I have already had my first sunburn experience of the season *read: my own stupidity took over due to increased temperatures*.

So some summer essential items are already sitting pretty in my bathroom, ready for use. 

The ROC Soleil Protexion 30 is a great sunscreen. It has a super gentle smell (which is a big plus for me because sun-care always has that can't-quite-put-your-finger-on-it smell) great texture that's not greasy and the spray bottle is so convenient. Because when you hit the beach, it's to relax. Not spend 20 minute fiddling with sun cream bottles and applying to every inch of your pale skin.

Now the Vitamin C Daily Moisturiser SPF 30* was given to me by the great ladies at Body Shop Cyprus and is now on my testing list. I used it at the beach on Saturday and came back with a nice glow, not a red nose, so it stood up to that adventure. But as the bottle says, it's a daily moisturiser. But sometimes, the sun-care moisturisers are a bit greasy and since my skin is oily anyway, I usually find my make up half way down my neck in no time. So I will be putting it to the test over the course of the week and I will let you know how I get on.

beauty: the battle of the make-up removers

Recently me and my skin have had a rather turbulent relationship. For some reason my skin is violently swaying between sensitive and oily; I keep getting sensitive skin round my eyes, but suffer from breakouts on my cheeks while my nose seems to be a base camp for blackheads! 

Im putting this whole situation down to a change in weather. Its warming up here and the air is filled with dust and pollens and I think a combination of this, allergies and an itsy bitsy bit of stress may be contributing factors for my difficult skin. 

So it seemed like the perfect time to start using something a bit more gentle on my face, especially when it comes to removing make up, a task I dislike at the best of times. 

Simple eye make up remover + Nuxe micellar cleansing water

The Simple range is not one I had really used before and I actually picked this up in the airport last time I was leaving England; you know what it's like, you have hours to wait for your plane and out of the corner of your eye you can hear Boots calling your name. 

I have always heard and read really good things about Simple and I am starting to believe them. For a hight street product, the eye make up remover is a great buy. It is super gentle yet removes every scrap of mascara with one cotton pad. Plus it's a totally affordable option if the Nuxe or Bioderma are a bit out of your price range. 

[purchase here]

The Nuxe Micellar Cleansing Water is a little more luxurious in terms of make up removers. It is also for sensitive skin, but has a soft rose fragrance, which is not too overpowering or irritating. It gets your make up off super quickly, however it was a little harsher on my skin than the Simple brand. 

Im not sure why but my eyes reacted a little to the Nuxe cleanser and while it was efficient at removing my make up, this point brings it down a notch, especially since its definitely at the higher end in terms of price point. 

[purchase here]

I would have to say, the Simple eye make up remover wins for me; the price is affordable and its perfect for sensitive or combination skin like mine, there was no irritation and it did its job as it said it would.

cleanse and polish

Aside from my love of food, I love beauty products. And its a love that grows on a daily basis -I blame the whole host of beauty blogs filling up my blog lovin news feed.

I picked up the limited edition Liz Earle cleanse and polish a few months ago and have been hooked on this beautiful creamy lotion ever since. I was introduced to Liz Earle via a number of wonderful beauty blogs, and the cleanse and polish being my first ever purchase. I opted for the limited edition one becuase I was lured in by the promise of rose and lavender smells every time I cleansed my face. 

The cleanse and polish hot cloth cleanser (available here) is a one stop cleansing shop thrown in a bottle. It's designed for every age, every skin type, providing a sensative by effect approach to a fresh face. 

"Our plant-based cleanser has a two-phase action. Phase one is the cleansing. Free from mineral oil, it has a rich and creamy texture and swiftly removes all traces of face and eye make up, even stubborn mascara.

Phase two is the polishing. Polish off the cream using the pure muslin cloth to gently dislodge dead skin cells and help reveal clean, soft and radiant skin."

After about 1 month, I am totally won over by this cult product and with the Liz Earle brand. The cleanser is soft and creamy, removes my makeup effortlessly and leaves my skin feeling clean, healthy and soft. I think it is one of those products that once you start, you will never stop using.

The other great thing about this product is the variety of options available; if you want to try it out you can opt for the starter kit, hooked already and need a supply? Take the large tube or pump bottle depending on your bottle preference and they have travelling covered too with their small tube and muslin cloth kit.

Im no beauty expert and while I like to pamper, I need simple, easy and effortless skincare. If thats your style, definitely check out Liz Earle.

American Apparel's nailed it

American Apparel, not content with cladding us all in technicolour cotton clothing has broken out into cosmetics. With a range of nail lacquers inspired by the brand itself, there are 18 shades on offer, bottled in New York and inspired by the beautifully basic brand itself.

"Cotton" a creamy natural shade named after the brands classic undyed material, "Factory Grey" a pale grey reminiscent of the walls in the American Apparel factory and "Office" a a zingy mint green inspired by a notepad.

At £4 for a basic bottle of Nail Lacquer is a bit of a bargain, a perfect stocking filler, or a pre pay day indulgence for anyone strapped for cash this festive period.