Review: New Liz Earle Haircare

For the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of trialling Liz Earle's new and improved haircare range*. While haircare has been part of Liz Earle's line for some time it has recently been reformulated and revamped (after one of the key ingredients yangu oil was no longer available due to drought and poor harvests). The new Botanical Shine range has been formulated using Kalahari melon oil, which promises a host of benefits including being light, super hydrating and protecting from heat damage.

 

As before the range has one Botanical Shine Shampoo for all hair types, three conditioners (fine/ oily, normal, dry/ damaged hair) and a nourishing hair oil.

The shampoo is definitely my favourite part of the range as it is super soft, feels lovely to use and smells wonderful. It doesn't strip the hair of moisture and leaves my scalp feeling comfortable. A little goes a long way and rather than adding more product you just need to keep adding water to create a lovely, rich lather, despite it being SLS free.

I have tried all the conditioners and I am a fan of the new formulation. It's not a major change, but they do feel a little more creamy than I remember. As well as the Kalahari melon oil these conditioners contain a blend of meadowfoam oil with extracts of apple and orange to boost shine.

I am usually drawn to the heaviest and richest conditioner I can find as my hair is long, colour treated and has a lot of texture, but I think that these are so hydrating that even the 'normal hair' formula is enough to keep my hair smooth. I love the fact that they are silicone free and rinse out well so my hair is left swishy and soft, but still feels clean with no product build up.

The new Botanical Shine Nourishing Hair Oil contains a beautiful blend of oils, while still feeling light and non greasy. Just one pump is enough to add some smoothness and shine to my hair. I have mainly used it on the mid lengths and ends of towel dried hair and have found that it reduces blow drying time, but it is also light enough to be used to tame frizz or flyaways or condition parched ends when the hair is dry. Unfortunately this oil does have some silicones, so I thought it would be fair to post the ingredients below...

I know I have raved about Liz Earle's skincare throughout the many years of this blog, but I am happy to say that her haircare also does not disappoint! Phew!

Have you tried the new Liz Earle Haircare range? Do you think the new formulations have made a big difference?

Review: Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base

I was recently sent the new Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base*, which is part of the Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer Make-up collection. I am not usually a huge fan of primers as I like a medium coverage foundation and use full coverage concealers to hide blemishes, or too many late nights, so often find adding a primer can be a little too much product on my skin. However, this one promised to be lightweight so I was excited to try it out.

This base is designed to give you a perfect complexion everyday by naturally illuminating and correcting your skin tone for a flawless finish. It also offers hydrating and soothing skin care benefits due to katafray bark extract. It is available in three shades - rose (brightens all complexions), champagne (corrects redness) and peach (restores lustre to medium and matte skin) - leaving a veil of light radiance that evens skin tone, boosts luminosity and restores skin's vitality. As part of the Summer collection two new shades have been added - 04 Apricot (which is what I tried) and 05 Golden Bronze.

Being super pale this shade was too dark for me, but it was great when mixed with my moisturiser to add a little extra colour, especially after I had used some gradual tanner on my body. Used alone on the skin it gave a lovely, luminescent finish. Even though it has a slight glow it sinks into the skin quickly and sets/ dries so it doesn't feel at all sticky. It definitely made my skin look smoother and more even toned while covering minor imperfections. For me this is perfect for the Summer months used alone instead of foundation or mixed in with moisturiser or sunscreen to give a little coverage and a healthy boost of glow!

The Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base is £26.50 here. Have you tried it? What are your thoughts on the formulation and how do you wear it?

Review: No7 Early Defence Eye Cream

I am sure that many women in our parents' generation would not even have thought about anti-ageing skincare in their 20's, but as we learn more about the science of the skin it becomes evident that prevention is even more important than targeting change that is already occurring! Though we are told it is never too early to start it can sometimes be difficult for those in our 20s to find the right skin care. We no longer want the drying anti-pimple products aimed at teens (though we may still be getting plenty of blemishes that we would love to zap), but intensive anti-ageing products aimed at the older generation maybe a little too rich. I was therefore excited to hear that No7 had launched a range specifically aimed for ladies from their 20s to mid 30s to keep young skin looking younger for longer!

No7 Early Defence Skincare (consisting of Day, Night and Eye Creams) works as a ‘stepping stone’ to help in the transition from everyday skincare to proactively delaying the signs of ageing. The range offers No7’s new and most effective patent pending daily protection technology, ‘Double Defence’ that, in combination with No7’s unbeatable 5* UVA technology, gives skin advanced daily protection from the sun and environmental stress to help it look younger for longer.

I was kindly sent the No7 Early Defence Eye Cream* to test out a few weeks ago. It  is especially designed for the delicate areas around your eyes, enriched with Vitamin C to help reduce puffiness and dark circles, for brighter more beautiful eyes. This cream has a very light texture so it doesn't feel too heavy around the eyes. It sinks in quickly and is perfect for use before makeup. It leaves my skin feeling hydrated and smooth.

No7 Early Defence Eye Cream (£13.50 for 15ml) is exclusively available at Boots stores across the UK and online here.

Review: Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer Bronzing Compact

Since the first rays of sunshine in 2015 have made London bloom I have started to add a little extra colour to my every day makeup routine. Being naturally super pale I have been having a love affair with the stunning Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer Bronzing Compact*.

With 4 colour quadrants ranging from light to deep this bronzer is absolutely perfect for this transitional period as I can pick and choose the intensity I need every time I use it! I use the darker shades when I have applied self tanner and stick to the lightest on days when I want to keep it more natural.

While being super pigmented this powder blends beautifully. As it is cool toned and on the matte side it works perfectly for both contouring and bronzing!

The Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer Bronzing Compact is currently retailing (at 10% off) for £27 here.

Wedding: Precious Petals - Preserving Your Bouquet!

Planning your wedding is a huge task that can feel totally overwhelming! However, I think that the more effort you put in the more amazing it feels to know that you have created a beautiful event that all your friends and family can enjoy. I would encourage everyone to make sure they pick the best photographers and videographers as the day goes by far too quickly and it is so important to be able to have those memories to look back on. Many brides can feel a little lost following their wedding, but I am super sentimental so I made sure I would still have a few wedding related projects to look forward to after the big day. One of them was my beautiful bouquet, which I had preserved and framed so it could have pride of place in our living room.

Personally, I loved organising my wedding as I am a complete perfectionist so I wanted to create all the unique aspects of our day to reflect us as a couple, as well as my personal style. Although our wedding was pretty traditional all the elements were unique as I made sure to research everything thoroughly and then very specifically design details to fit together. This may sound rather ‘Bridezilla’ to some, but as I worked with a lot of small, independent suppliers it was very much a collaborative creative process. I know lots of people wouldn’t want the stress and would rather pick a cake or set menu from a directory, but that just wasn’t for me. All our suppliers were amazing and as they were genuinely passionate about their art they were enthusiastic about creating new pieces for their portfolios. One of the aspects I loved learning about the most was the flowers! I had seen so many beautiful arrangements, but as we had a number of tricky spaces to fill (our church was very large and we had different rooms for our champagne reception, dinner/dancing and bar/ cake/ coffee areas) I had to design arrangements that would look impressive and fill the space, without being garish... and all within our budget. The flowers looked beautiful on the day and I was very sad to leave them behind at the venue so instead we gave away most of the smaller arrangements to our guests and donated the rest to a nearby children’s hospital. 

I was so happy to have arranged for my bouquet to be preserved so I could keep it as a memento! After doing some research about freeze drying flowers I came across Precious Petals. There were different options available on their website including keeping the bouquet in a cube, having the flowers pressed, or preserving a select few flowers in a paperweight. I chose a 3D method that would let my whole bouquet be preserved in a frame that I could hang on the wall. Precious Petals did an amazing job! After keeping my bouquet in water overnight I sent it to them on the Sunday following my wedding. The process does take 12-16 weeks as they have to disassemble the bouquet and preserve each flower individually before rearranging and framing it, but this just means you have something to look forward to long after all the photos are seen and the thank you cards sent!

If you are getting married I would highly recommend getting your bouquet preserved as a special memory from the day! I was so pleased with the service from Precious Petals and would definitely recommend check them out!