Maybelline Superstay 10 Hour Tint Gloss

Gloss / tint hybrids have been around for a while now, so I finally decided to jump on the band-wagon and tried the slightly less well known Maybelline super stay 10 hour tint. It’s a lovely gloss, and since buying it around four months ago I have got a lot of use out of it. 

The unique heart shaped applicator makes applying the product really easy and also makes topping up the product simple. Also, the smell of this product is amazing; it’s a real fruity scent which fades away quickly.

Maybelline claims this gloss lasts 10 hours; I would disagree with this. I think as a gloss, this lasts about 2-3 hours and as a tint, maybe up to 6 hours. However the tint it does produce is a really pretty plum hue. The gloss I bought is in “timeless plum” and I think it’s a gorgeous, true plum, colour. I have very naturally dark lips and with one slick there is 100% colour pay off. If I’m wearing this during the day I will mix a little into my lip balm and if I’m wearing this on a night out I will build it up to a darker plum colour. 

 I do find the product tends to settle into the cracks of my  lips as it dries, so what I tend to do is apply lip balm before and after application of the gloss which stops it from settling into cracks and makes it last longer. Overall, I really like the Maybelline superstay 10 hour tint gloss however the fact it is quite drying is a little annoying but for £5.99, you really can’t complain.

What lip tints can you recommend to me?  

Fighting Acne

I am a long time sufferer of acne; I started to get them at around fourteen years old and I’m still suffering from them at twenty years old. I do have to say my acne isn’t as bad as what it was like during my young teens however I still get spots frequently. 

Acne is caused by, an increase in the hormone testosterone – boys and girls both have the sex hormone testosterone, along with estrogen – an increase in testosterone will usually occur during puberty however, with me and many other spot sufferers the levels of testosterone may not decrease once puberty is over. The testosterone causes an increase in the oily substance sebum to be released from sebaceous glands in skin cells. The sebum along with dead skin cells will then block hair follicles/pores on the skin, resulting in the formation of a spot. 

Over my five-ish years I’ve been in a long war to get rid of my spots, and I haven’t really found any weapons which I’ve thought “this is it! This is the ONE!” …until now! I’ve found an unbeatable duo that has left my skin the clearest it has been for years and provided I use it every day and night I won’t get any spots (ok, I may get the odd one spot every few weeks).

The duo I’m praising is the VISIBLY CLEAR® Spot StressControl Daily Scrub and the VISIBLY CLEAR® Spot Stress Control 3in1 Cleansing Lotion both from the brand Neutrogena. I’ve been using the two products religiously, every morning and night, for the past seven months and my skin hasn’t looked this good in years! It’s looked so good that even my boyfriend has bought the two products.

The VISIBLY CLEAR® Spot Stress Control Daily Scrub has green tea and cucumber extract which gives it a nice scent and fresh feeling. The exfoliating beads are tiny, which means the scrub isn’t too harsh to be used daily, and the beads really work, my skin feels so clean after use!

 The scrub contains glycolic acid along with two other chemical versions of glycolic acid which are absorbed into the skin and work as a chemical exfoliate by breaking down the uppermost layers of skin. The scrub also contains salicylic acid which kills the bacteria in the clogged pores. So it’s safe to say, this product definitely contains the correct ingredients to fight acne! However, I would add, I wouldn’t recommend this product to people with sensitive skin because I think the amount of acid in this product would actually have adverse effects on your delicate skin!  

 The CLEAR® Spot Stress Control 3in1 Cleansing Lotion claims to:

“1. Cleanses deep into pores and eliminates impurities
2. Helps clear spots using powerful MICROCLEAR^® technology to break through oil and dirt enabling the salicylic acid to penetrate deep into the pores
3. Dissolves excess oil and reduces shine” 

And I would say it does all three of the claims. I apply a small amount of the product onto a cotton pad and rub it all over my face and neck and the amount of dirt I get on my cotton pad is actually disgusting! Keeping in mind I will have washed my face with the scrub beforehand, it still picks up so much dirt you can’t see – leaving your skin squeaky clean! The cleanser has a similar smell to the scrub, a clean fresh cucumber and green tea scent. The cleanser is extremely high in salicylic acid , which once you’ve exfoliated away all your dead skin cells  , can penetrate deep into your pores and release its anti-bacterial affects which in the long term will prevent acne reoccurring. 

Out of the two products I would recommend the cleanser more so, because when you see all the dirt on the cotton pad, you know for a fact its wiping away all the dirt on your face, even the dirt you aren’t aware of. However, once again, due to its highly acidic ingredients I wouldn’t suggest this product for sensitive skin.

I would also like to add I suffer from oily/combination skin, with the majority of the oil focussed on my forehead. These products have worked wonders for me, and I hope they work for you too but everyone’s different, everyone’s skin different so it may not work for you. 

Both the products are available in Boots and Superdrug and more than often at least one of the stores will have “2 for £5” on Neutrogena products so it if it doesn’t work, you haven’t broken the bank trying it! 

Ciates Mini Mani Month

As a woman coming to the grand old age of twenty one and a forever need to "loose weight" a standard chocolate advent calender really wasn't doing it for me this year. Whilst I was trawling through instagram I came across this! The Ciate mini Mani advent calender and with a few subtle tweets explaining my need for this advent calender the wonderful boyfriend purchased it for me :) However, I really would have bought this for myself if he hadn't - its absolutely amazing!

The Ciate advent calender comes with seventeen of their best selling nail polishes along with four caviar blends (which I am so excited to try out!) and three exclusive glitter polishes which will only be available through the advent calender! Considering one of Ciates mini nail polishes retails for £3 I'm making an impressive saving of £37!

The advent calender has been a massive success and has completely sold out in Selfridges and is going for around £75 on Ebay! however, you can still buy it directly from the Ciate website for £38 plus shipping. 

FOTD

I'm not absolutely crazy about make up, I tend to stick to what I know works for me. However as I'm getting older I seem to be collecting more and more of it so I thought I would do my first ever FOTD!

Face // Bare minerals concealer  // Bare minerals foundation in medium tan // Bare minerals warmth all over face // Collection 2000 shimmer shades blushalicious blusher

Eyes // Benefit BADgal mascara // Loreal infallible eyeliner // Avon Arabian glow

DIY Face Mask

I'm a firm believer in DIY clothing and beauty products! A really easy and cheap DIY are face masks! I've tried soo many and I think a really good one is a honey, oatmeal and banana face mask. There are thousands of companies which sell masks, cleansers and exfoliants which contain all three of these ingredients but why buy them when you can make it for a fraction of the price?

 you can also tailor the mask around yourself, knowing the problem areas of your skin you can decide to add less or more of a particular ingredient ensuring your face mask works for you.

Anyway, the reason I love this mask is because it contains ingredients which target the problems my skin suffers from. 

You will need...

- 2 table spoons of blended/grinded oats- Oats are a great exfoliater and will gently rub away dead skin cells, they will also absorb any excess oils on the skin which is brilliant for me as i suffer from an oily T zone. 

- 1 table spoon on honey - honey is one of many of mother naturals antibacterials and will help tackle acne. its also a brilliant moisturiser so will leave you skin silky smooth. Now for a bit of science (hello biochemistry degree!) honey also contains an enzyme called glucose oxidase which will break down the glucose within the honey and release hydrogen peroxide, now its the hydrogen peroxide that is key for honeys antibacterial properties and will also prevent ageing!

- half a mashed banana - bananas are well known for helping skin, especially to help moisturising and brighten the skin leaving a super healthy glow. 

- dash of milk - milk contains lactic acid and this is really good for the skin as the acid will help break down dead skin cells - just like a natural acid peel -  exposing the new skin cells to the other amazing ingredients in the mask. 

mix all the super ingredients together and place it on your face for about half an hour - if the mixture is too runny or too thick add more oats or milk respectively.  I'd recommend doing this twice a week - if you do decide to try it please comment/email/tweet me letting me know how you got on with it and if I should do more of these DIY beauty tips! 

All About NAILS

All about Nails is a nail polish brand exclusive to the super giant Tesco which I discovered whilst doing my weekly shops at university. I saw the extensive array of colours and I was hooked, at closer inspection I found they were only 99p each! And the addiction began.....

 L - R: Plum Rasin, Blueberry Pie, Praline, Mint Snow

I'm currently wearing Praline - but I've tried and tested all the colours and they have to be my favourite nail polish brand ever! I've tried Barry M, Models Own, Rimmel the list goes on and I have to say Tescos' All about Nails comes top every time!

- The pigmentation of the polishes are extremely good meaning really only one coat is needed - however I insist on doing two regardless (old habits die hard) 

-  How many times have you seen a gorgeous colour in a bottle and once your purchased it and tried it on it just doesn't look the same? Not with these, the colours in the bottle exactly match what you put on your nails! 

- The consistency of these polishes I find are perfect, not too thick, like your applying already half dried/gloopy polish onto your nails (I'm talking to you Barry M) and not too thin meaning your having to put coat upon coat to get the desired colour. It really is perfect!

- Drying time I would say is the same as any other nail polish to be honest - however once it is dry I can safely say the polish wont chip, provided a good top coat is applied - for approximately a week!

I would definitely recommend these, and at only 99p they're worth trying!