Perfect Skin Courtesy Of Jemma Kidd

Jemma Kidd has taken the beauty industry by a storm since releasing her highly anticipated make-up range.

Jemma Kidd has created a range of products that has taken into account all of her professional skills, beauty industry experience and product expertise. However, rather than producing products that you need to be trained to use, she has created a range that is easy yet still remains a must-have.

Jemma Kidd has produced what I believe is a revolutionary product, as I have not seen anything remotely similar on the market.

Many of us have a make-up bag full of various products; Jemma Kidd has created a product that comprises all these products into one handy compact.

This adored product I am talking about is the Jemma Kidd Pro Skin Perfection Kit.

The palette contains four shades to conceal, enhance and shade to a flawless complexion.

Citrus Colour Corrector:

This unique citrus shade has a green undertone. The yellow tone corrects blue and purple undertones around the eye area while green neutralises any unwanted red tones in the complexion.

Apricot Colour Corrector:

Brightening apricot shade to neutralise & even skin tone around the eye area with added collagen for firming effect

All Over Radiance Crème:

This is a mini version of the award winning Dewy Glow Radiance Crème, which gives the skin a dewy glow without looking shiny and unnatural.

Lip & Cheek Flush:

Berry blush concentrate to create subtle definition & a healthy flush; with added antioxidants and vitamins A & E

All of the above correctors are fairly sheer, a consistency that I like as it allows you to build the amount of coverage you wish to get from the product. I have scarring from spots, which is purple, and the citrus corrector completely covered this. The apricot corrector fully covered by dark circles and also had an illuminating and brightening effect.

The lip and cheek flush look very bright in the packaging, however on the skin look very natural. It gives you a healthy glow to your cheeks. The rose colour is very subtle; it is not obvious to others that you are wearing a blusher, for instance. On the lips, this leaves a glossy finish and the slight shimmer is more noticeable than on the cheeks. It is also a very good lip primer, as it helps to keep your lipstick on all day.

The packaging is simplistic yet stylish, to me it screams 'professional product'. The idea of having four products in one handy compact, complete with a mirror, appeals to me. This is because it cuts down on space but is easier as it saves you having to search around for all your separate products, plus it is fantastic for travelling. Surprisingly, the compact does contain a fair amount of product and a little does go a long way. I've been using this for four weeks, every day, and have only slightly dented each of the sections.  

Perhaps the downfall of this product, similarly to the Light As Air Liquid Foundation is the lack of availability of the Jemma Kidd products, but this is due to the popularity. You can purchase this Skin Perfection Kit from the Jemma Kidd website, QVC UK and Feel Unique. This product retails at £18, which is on the expensive side. However, this product is a professional product that make-up artists use daily on photo-shoots, so shows how well this product works. I believe this is a small price to pay for a brilliant product that creates flawless looking skin.

Did this palette give you the perfect skin you were after? Or, have you found a better product?

xox



The Big Fatty Mascara From Urban Decay

If you love big, bold and long lashes then I have found the product for you!

Mascara that once took the beauty world by storm was that from Urban Decay, the Big Fatty. As other products were released the Big Fatty soon became forgotten about... until now!

The Urban Decay Big Fatty Mascara has undergone a transformation, with not just new packaging but also a new formula and a bigger and better brush.

This jet-black thickening formula plumps out your eyelashes while curling and lengthening them. You are left with eyelashes that will leave people wondering if they are false. The rubber tipped brush helps to create this look by coating every lash with the mascara.

The brush, which happens to be one of the biggest brushes I have ever seen, distributes the product evenly onto the eyelashes leaving you without any clumping. This clever brush also has tiny bristles on the tip which allows you to coat your inner and outer eyelashes which are trickier to get to.

The new formula is weightless and buildable, which means that while you may look like you are wearing fake lashes, you don't feel like you are! Plus, in this summer heat you don't want your make-up to feel heavy. Formulated with Hemp Seed Oil for moisture, Purisilk SPB for curl retention and Jojoba Oil for hydration this helps to keep those eyelashes conditioned.

This product keeps getting better and better, as it's also smudge-proof, flake-proof and extremely long wearing too.

Luckily for us, this product doesn't break the bank either! The mascara retails at just £15, available from many department stores, including Debenhams which is where I purchased mine. This is a small price to pay for a product which is so long-lasting and beneficial and will last many months.

Are we happy to be out with the old and in with the new as far as this mascara is concerned?

xox



Lee Stafford's Hair Miracle

I'm sure many of you have looked in to the mirror and been horrified at the results of your latest haircut. This happened to me a few weeks ago, I asked for a good tidy to get rid of my dead ends. I wasn't expecting so much hair to be cut off in fairness, so I started searching the internet for products to help me get the much loved long locks back.

I stumbled across the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment. I'd tried a few other products from the brand a while back and was impressed with them so thought I'd give this a go.

Luckily I got the last pot on the shelf, which just reinforced the idea to me that this product must work - that's what I was desperately hoping for anyway! I purchased the treatment from Boots for £6.99, it's a 200ml tub. I thought this was an affordable price for a treatment. When I read the instructions I was a little worried that this product wouldn't last very long as it advises you to use an egg-sized scoop each time you use it. A few weeks in and I'm still using mine so there's no need to be put off.

The treatment is described as a "gorgeous, thick intensive treatment with Pro-Growth™ complex gives your hair strength from within by fertilising your follicles, creating a healthy environment on your scalp to help hair grow faster and reach its maximum potential length. Its soothing formulation reduces irritation and moisturises the scalp, helping to keep it healthy and improving the volume and feel of your hair". It is recommended that the product is used between shampoo and conditioner (there is also a hair growth shampoo and conditioner available in the range).

The product is very easy to use, you scoop and egg sized amount out of the pot and then massage into your hair and scalp. Once complete, you leave it to work its magic on your hair for 5 minutes before rinsing out. It is as simple as that, the only tip I would give it that because this product is quite thick you might want to use it every other wash instead of every wash. Also, if not rinsed out properly this product can leave a residue, I find washing it out with cold(ish) water helps to remove it better, and leaves your hair shiny.

This cream like treatment smells absolutely divine, and something which I'd never experienced before, is that the smell lingers on your hair - even when straightened! First time ever I actually received comments about the smell of my hair.

After the first use I noticed an improvement in my hair. Now, three weeks on, I am very happy with the condition of my hair, it is shiny, bouncy and soft. My hair looks as nice as when I had it cut, it's helped to stop split ends developing.

The question I'm sure you're all dying to know is has it helped make my hair grow faster? Yes, obviously it's not grown three inches over night, however it is growing faster than it usually does as my fringe now keeps falling into my eyes, before it didn't. This product works on the basis of improving your hair condition so it's healthier which in turn makes it grow more.

For optimum results you need to use this product regularly, which can sometimes seem like a bit of a chore, however if you're willing to do so the results will be worth it. To me without the hair growth aspect, it is a very good hair treatment.

Project healthy hair is well and truly underway!

What are your thoughts?

xox



Foundation As Light As Air

I am on a quest to find the perfect foundation for my skin. It's a challenge, as I'm quite fussy about foundations. I want good coverage, longevity and the one that I struggle with the most, a shade pale enough to match my skin tone.

I decided to give the much raved about Jemma Kidd Light As Air Foundation a try.

Let's start with the facts! This foundation retails around the £25 mark, admittedly this is an investment but it's not as expensive as many of the foundations on the market. The Jemma Kidd brand is being expanded throughout the UK; however there are still problems with availability. Obviously people like to try out foundations before they buy them, however with this product you need to make a guess and take the plunge. If you want to see a list of stockists then check the Jemma Kidd website, hopefully you'll find somewhere close to you. However if not, there are many online retailers - I purchased mine from FeelUnique.

Many will love the packaging, however many of you will hate it. Personally, I like its simplicity. It's not very stylish but is instead very practical. The squeezy tube allows you to control the amount of product you wish to disperse, that said, you do need to be careful incase it decides to overflow!

The foundation is described as being “highly blendable and lightweight in texture, with silicone coated pigments for a velvet feel and soft-focus finish, it also has balancing properties to keep the skin matte for a shine-free, even complexion and contains long-wear technology for all day staying power.” I mostly agree with everything they say!

I found this product was best applied with my fingers, as it allows you to build the coverage easily. With a brush I found I couldn't get the coverage. For reference, my skin type is Oily/Combination, on my skin this foundation left a silky finish, not quite matte but not dewy either - which I liked. It isn't obvious your wearing foundation as it has a natural, skin like finish. When I saw how runny this liquid foundation was, I was a little sceptical about the coverage that it promised to give. Much to my surprise it has a very good coverage, it managed to cover my spots and scars and even my dark circles! I would put it in the medium to full coverage category.

Now, when it comes to longevity I am happy with it but perhaps would prefer a little longer. This product lasts around 6 hours before I start getting a shiny T-Zone. Therefore, if you have dry skin this product would probably last a lot longer, vice versa, if you have oily skin this product will probably not last more than a few hours. When I do start to get shinier I simply pat some powder on, the foundation doesn't go all cakey looking.

Even though I am young I do like to look after my skin and prevent it from ageing. The thought of wrinkly skin horrifies me. If like me you believe prevention is better than cure, you will love the fact that this foundation contains an SPF 18. Perfect now were actually seeing a bit of sunshine! Also, there is no fragrance at all.

However, nothing is quite perfect in the beauty world and the one fault that I do have with this product is the fairly limited colour range. There are only 7 shades! I bought the shade Ultra Light (01), which is the palest shade. However for me this was still too dark, however did blend in very well so was able to disguise it a little. That said my skin tone resembles that of Casper the Ghost!

This is one of the best foundations I have ever tried, I'm just hoping Jemma Kidd expands her shade range, especially for us pale one's!

So, have you tried this impressive product?

xox

Perfect Eyebrows In A Box

Urban Decay know everything there is to know about eye make-up, therefore I was pretty sure they would have the answer to perfect eyebrows.

Eyebrows are the frames for your eyes. Get them right and they can improve your appearance. Get them wrong and leave you not looking your finest.

The Urban Decay Brow Box, which I purchased in the darkest shade called Brown Sugar, is now my ultimate brow powder product.

It comes with two shades of eyebrow powder, clear wax, tiny tweezers and a teeny angled brush.

The way this product is packaged is gorgeous; it's a very girly looking. I was sold just by this!

You may be deceived in to thinking that this product will not last long as there isn't much there, however it last ages! I've been using mine for a few months and have only made a dent in the products.  

The eyebrow powders are extremely pigmented, even more so with the wax on top. This fills in gaps perfectly, and it's not obvious that I'm wearing a powder, it looks very natural. You can mix the two powders to create your perfect shade. The wax, which looks a little frightening as it's beige, is not too sticky or gooey and holds the hair in place without a crusty finish.

This box is portable, it allows you to have all your eyebrow essentials in one tidy place, there's even a mirror! So, as far as your eyebrows are concerned you don't need to take anything else with you.

I purchased my box from Debenhams for about £15, which isn't too bad but if you look around you will be able to find it much cheaper, especially on eBay.

I don't think there is much to say about this product in all honesty. It does what it sets out to do very well. It will leave you with groomed and defined looking eyebrows.

If you're interested in buying the brow box, here are the shades:

Brown Sugar - Dark

Beige Betty - Medium

Gingersnap - Auburn

Honey Pot - Blonde

Are any of you fanatics of the Urban Decay range?

xox

Cath Kidston Luxuries

Cath Kidston is one of those brands that you recognise as being a luxury, the price tag can often hold you back from buying the products. Therefore, when my parents arrived back from their 'romantic' weekend away with a present for me in the fancy packaging I was a very happy girl!

I wasn't really aware that Cath Kidston did toiletries, so it was a pleasant surprise. Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from the products. I just thought it was another brand trying to widen their range but not really specialising in it and therefore producing pretty average products.

The Bluebell Shower Kit that I was given as a gift actually surprised me, not only did it smell nice but it left my skin silky smooth.

The shower gel and body cream are described as having a 'delightful, fresh floral fragrance with notes of freesia, fruity geranium, muguet, violet and jasmine, resting on a base of patchouli, musk, cedarwood and amber'. Putting it simply, it has a floral smell that isn't too strong. I can be quite fussy when it comes to floral fragrances as I find many give me a headache, but this one doesn't it.

Both products left my skin very smooth and hydrated, the shower gel alone left my skin very soft. I usually hate the feel of body creams on my skin as they can leave my skin feeling quite greasy; however, this product sunk in to my skin very quickly and didn't leave any residue.

If you're looking for a reasonably priced shower kit then I would recommend it, especially as it's only £7.00. Plus, there's nothing wrong with being a sucker for cute packaging is there?

Have you tried any of the other Cath Kidston toiletry products? What did you make of them?

xox

The wonders of Peptalash!

As promised, although a little late (sorry!), is the review of Peptalash.

I've used this little wonder serum for two weeks, twice a day - morning and evening. The aim was to see if it made a difference to my eyelashes either by lengthening them or increasing the thickness and fullness.

Honestly, I was expecting very little from this product, but, much to my amazement my eyelashes are now longer and also a little thicker. I can definitely tell it's had an effect on my lashes.

Here are the pictures just to prove it's worked:

BEFORE

AFTER

One thing that surprised me about this product was that fewer lashes were falling out when I was removing my eye make-up. Just touching my lashes I can feel a difference, they feel stronger but without being brittle.

Considering I was sceptical about this product, I am very impressed with it. I will be continuing to use it to see if the effects of the serum become more obvious, as after just two weeks I am very happy with the results.

Have you tried it? What did you think?

xox

Priming the Canvas

It's fair to say that the majority of us want flawless looking skin. The one thing that I've realised is that, this is never going to happen to me without using a primer.

I've been quite reluctant to use primers in the past just because I hate using too many products on my already very blemished skin. However, I've decided to give a primer a go.

After spending a lot of time searching for products and reading reviews I decided to purchase... Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I admit it is a bit of a mouthful.

I decided on this primer because it is a celebrity in the beauty world, so to speak. It's won various awards for InStyle, Marie Claire and Sephora, just to name a few.

Does it live up to the hype?

Photo Finish Primer comes in a variety of forms, including, clear, colour correcting, light version and anti-shine.

The aspect that I like about this primer is that it includes Vitamin A and E, as well as Grape Seed Extract and Green Tea Extract.

I'm very fussy when it comes to the texture of products, however I liked this one. It comes out of the tube gel-like, but once applied to the skin it mattes and becomes velvet-like. It glides on to the skin very easily and does not feel greasy.

Similarly to other primers on the market it helps reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles, helps conceal pores and makes the application of foundation easier. It also helps the foundation to look more flawless.

This little wonder product costs £30 and can be bought from a number of places, I got mine from Debenhams. Although this product isn't cheap, it will last an incredibly long time as a little really does go a long way.

This is one of my favourite products as I really can't fault it.

Do you use a primer and if so, which one?

xox