Radiance

Products For Getting That Glow

- Vicki 4 Comments
Glow Getting Products

Products For Radiant Skin

REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial

This comes out a really vibrant green shade which is cool and odd in equal measure! The product itself is so good and I have been through a few tubes of this over the past 2 years. Its amazing if you are pushed for time and want your skin to look fresh and bright as you only need to leave it on for 1 minute (so fast). You massage a small amount of warm water to activate the Vitamin C and let it get to work brightening your complexion. You leave the product on your skin for 1 minute then you rinse with warm water and that’s when the tiny exfoliating beads get to work by buffing and removing dead skin and help fight the signs of fatigue, boost skins radiance levels and reduce imperfections.

Soap & Glory Wonderbronze

This is a very pretty bronzing highlighter, it’s a great way of giving your skin that sun-kissed look without having been in the sunshine. I just swirl my brush round all the colours and apply it with my duo fibre brush, using this type of brush I find I don’t pick up too much product on my brush. I am all about a subtle glow. I really like Soap & Glory face powders and I also like the Solar Powder too for days I want an even more low-key look but still a nice subtle glow.

Liz Earle Eye Bright Soothing Eye Lotion

This is such a lovely part of my morning skincare routine, it’s so soothing and cooling. I keep it in the fridge so its nice and cold, I put a little liquid on each cotton pad then I hold them on my tired eyes for about a minute and it feels amazing. It contains naturally active ingredients including eyebright, witch hazel, aloe vera and cornflower to help tone, cool and refresh tired, puffy eyes. Nothing feels more soothing in the morning & I apply this whilst I’m waiting on the kettle to boil every morning. Does that count as multi tasking?!

Favourite Radiant Skincare Products

Glow Getting Products

Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Bountiful Beige

This is quite a new discovery for me but I like how bright and pretty this cream shadow is. It’s a champagne colour and helps make your eyes look bright and awake. It’s a really nice everyday colour and I have been wearing it alone all over the lid. These apply really smoothly and are easy to blend, they contain vitamin E for soothing and smoothing the delicate eye area. So it’s an eyeshadow with a little extra skincare benefit too.

Elemental Herbology Facial Glow Radiance Peel

This mask came in a beauty box a while ago and I rediscovered it when I moved house last year and Its become my go to mask this Winter. The Facial Glow peel contains natural actives derived from apples, papayas, and orange peels to gently exfoliate dead skin cells; there’s also Kombuchka and Lumiskin to help refine the skin and boost radiance. It’s a great product for getting rid of dead skin leaving your face looking bright and glowing. I only have a small travel size but I will be purchasing the larger tub because I can’t be without this in my routine.

  • Apply peel to clean, damp skin from neck to forehead. Do not scrub.
  • Leave for 4 minutes.
  • Remove with a face cloth soaked in warm water.

Estée Lauder Even Skintone Illuminator

I have been mixing this with my foundation to give my skin that extra radiance. It’s not glittery or shimmery it just reflects the light and adds a luminous glow to your skin & mixed in with my foundation it looks natural and really healthy. Its oil free so it’s not going to make your skin look greasy its a really great product for brightening tried looking skin and I have been using it daily over the Winter months.

What are your favourite products for achieving that fresh-faced glow?

The Body Shop Vitamin C Range

- Vicki 6 Comments
The Body Shop Vitamin C Skincare

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skincare

Over the years (many years) I have used almost all of the skincare ranges from The Body Shop but the Vitamin C Range for some reason I hadn’t ever tried and I am kicking myself for not giving it a go sooner. The Vitamin C range is formulated to give your skin a boost of hydration giving it a gorgeous energising glow. I have been putting it to the test over the past 2 months and I’m absolutely smitten with the range. Earlier this year The Body Shop added two new products to this range, the first being

Vitamin C Glow Boosting Moisturiser* £16.00

This is such a lightweight water based moisturiser – it feels like a gel and I was very surprised at how quickly it absorbed into my skin, it was almost instantly. I like to use this in the morning because it’s a great way to give your tired skin a boost of hydration making it look and feel plumped and the Vitamin C helps your skin look glowing, making you look healthy and more awake. The zesty citrus scent helps energise you too, it smells so fresh and uplifting!

The packaging feels and looks luxurious, it’s in a weighty orange glass jar with a black lid, its sturdy and really good quality too.

There is no SPF in this which I know a few people are disappointed with but I like to apply a separate SPF every day so it’s not a problem for me but just something to note if you’re looking to use this as your daytime moisturiser. After using it almost daily for 2 months my skin feels smooth and is looking radiant. Its a welcomed addition to my skincare routine.

The Body Shop Vitamin C Range

Being someone that has quite naturally dull skin I welcome any product that promises to give me a natural glow – most of the time the products end up being a little disappointing but The Body Shop seem to have hit the nail on the head with both these new releases. The second new addition to the Vitamin C Range is,

Vitamin C Instant Glow Enhancer* £14.00

I like to use this on top of my moisturiser, it has quite a creamy texture but it’s not heavy or greasy and to my surprise, it has a really flattering peachy tint to it. I apply this mostly to the centre of my face, focusing on my forehead, nose & chin as this is great at blurring pores and fine lines making my skin look smooth as well as giving it a slight peachy glow. You see instant results with this product, it really helps combat the signs of fatigue and is just the perfect base for your makeup.

Instant Glow Enhancer

It has a velvet finish and your makeup seems to glide on. It also helps keep my foundation in place and looking its best all day/night. There is no shimmer in this which I really like, it gives your skin more of a natural glow, the colour adjusts to your skin tone (like magic) evening out your skin tone and I love the blurring effect it gives the skin. I really like the tube packaging & the fact its bright orange and will be so handy to travel with or throw in your handbag for giving your skin a pick me up throughout the day. I also think its a great moisturiser too if you have oily skin, it adds another good layer of hydration to your skin which for me is always a good thing.

So this is a bit of a multi-tasker – a primer, lightweight moisturiser and tinted cream all in one. I really recommend trying this! Oh, & it also has the same zesty orange scent – smells good enough to eat.

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skincare

Vitamin C Energising Face Mist* £10.00

This isn’t new but its new to me, I love using face mists and always have one on my desk but if I remember I do like to keep a couple in the fridge that makes them so refreshing and cooling especially in this crazy heat.

This face mist is an instant pick me up, it smells like oranges and it instantly cools the skin. Like the other products in this range it contains Camu Camu which is rich in vitamin C and aloe vera, so its hydrating, calming and helps boost the skin’s radiance. Its so nice on a warm day & you can spray on top of your makeup throughout the day to keep skin feeling fresh and hydrated.

I feel like The Body Shop has really stepped up their game over the past 18 months & are releasing some really great products. Let me know what products you have recently discovered from The Body Shop.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

An Introduction To Lightstim

- Vicki 5 Comments

LightStim Review

LightStim* has recently been introduced to the UK & is now being sold in SpaceNK stores. LightStim is a US brand which has built up quite a celebrity following (including Kate Beckinsale). It is a handheld beauty device that uses LED light therapy to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and helps you achieve a more radiant healthy complexion.

In a nutshell – LED treatments work by exposing the skin to tiny light bulbs that emit non-thermal specific wavelengths of light from the visible spectrum. LED therapy uses these specific wavelengths to penetrate the skin which stimulates the cells to produce collagen, and stimulates blood and oxygen flow to the skin. This improves skin tone and clarity, and wrinkles and fine lines are softened by the increased production of collagen.

The device itself is very lightweight and easy to use, you just plug it in and you’re good to go. I would say its very travel friendly & in this kit you get a very handy travel bag and a serum.

LightStim Anti Wrinkle Device

LightStim For Wrinkles

This device can be used on a number of areas, I’ve been using it on my face, neck, chest and the backs of my hands, all the areas where I’d like the skin to look more radiant and even in tone. I’m hoping using this daily will help reduce the fine lines around my eyes too. I took a number of before photos which I will be sharing with you in a couple of weeks when I post my first results update.

I like to use this at night after I have cleansed my face, I spend 3 minutes using the LightStim on particular area before moving on. Its not evasive at all, you don’t need to press the device on the skin, just hold in place so its lightly touching your skin. I like to start on my face & move down on to my neck & chest. The device gets slightly warm (it feels quite soothing) but not at all hot or uncomfortable. Its very safe and doesn’t irritate or leave the skin flushed or hot.

To say I was skeptical of the results LightStim promises is an understatement. Often companies release gadgets which are used for a short space of time & then left in a drawer forgotten about because they’re complicated to use and you see very little in the way of improvement but the LightStim seems to be different. I am seeing improvement in my skin tone & I have been using it regularly and found it easy to take away with me on a recent trip.

LightStim LED Device Review

There is a lot of technical jargon & info surrounding the LightStim & I will spare you the pain of me trying to explain it. I would say if you want to learn more about the science behind the technology then their website explains everything much better than I ever could.

Just make sure you keep an eye out for my update in a couple of weeks – there will be some before & after photos. 

LightStim for wrinkles retails at £249 & is available in SpaceNK stores.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

Look On The Bright Side

- Vicki 2 Comments

I love using makeup which makes my skin look healthy and glowing and one product I always have in my makeup bag is an illuminating concealer. I have terribly dark under eye circles which I like to cover up and I also like to highlight my cheekbones and bridge of my nose so I like to have a liquid highlighter to do this & have tried quite a few over the years. Most brands have their version of the YSL Touche Clat & I have been using the Yves Rocher take on it.

Yves Rocher Makeup

The Yves Rocher Radiant Youth Corrector Pen* comes in three shades, I have the shade 1 which is a peachy pink colour and this works well to brighten and diffuse the darkness under my eyes. It is by no means a full coverage concealer and when my eyes look particularly dark I like to use my Bobbi Brown corrector as an extra step and use this on top for a little extra coverage.

This has a lovely light creamy formula and is very easy to blend, I apply it using the brush and I like to pat it in using my finger this seems to work well. Once blended your under eye looks smooth and bright. I like that the product is light and doesn’t sink in to my fine lines and lasts well throughout the day. I would say that when I wear it during very warm days I have had to reapply it but thats quite normal and my skin is quite oily and makeup tends to slip off in the heat.

Illuminating Concealer

Yves Rocher

Radiant Youth Corrector

This is also nice to use on the redness around my nose and I like to take it down my nose as the light reflects off & keeps me looking refreshed, it sits well on my skin. So if your skin needs a little help to look refreshed and healthy this offering from Yves Rocher is up to that job. The luxurious gold pen style packaging looks luxurious and the brush applicator is very soft too. To get the product out you just twist the base &  one twist dispenses the right amount of product for one eye. Its become a staple in my makeup bag and I’m not one for carrying makeup with me in my handbag (other than lipstick) but I have been throwing this in too & I like to reapply it when I’m looking tired. Its so easy to reapply on the go.

Let me know what you use for that little radiance boost.

Yves Rocher Radiant Youth Corrector Pen £22.00

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.