Tag: beauty

Must have Winter Beauty Products
Stylemesisteradmin
October 22, 2018

 

Top Autumn/Winter Beauty products (that have been tried and tested by me)

Disclaimer: this article contains my own opinions and has not been sponsored by Superdrug or any other company mentioned.

The nights are getting milder, the evenings are drawing in and before we know it we will be singing Carols and waiting for the post Christmas sales. Yes it’s that time of the year again….Winter is coming (and no I’m not referring to Games of Thrones…but whilst we talk about it what will we all do when GoT ends?!).

I don’t go to Salons; I really don’t have the time for them. I’m a diehard DIY beauty treatment nut and during the colder months I need to boost my not-really-that-time-consuming-working-Mama-beauty-routine.

Here are my top rated budget friendly products available (easily!) on the British High Street (this blog was posted in Autumn 2018 so if you are accessing this in the archives these items may no longer be around).

1) Superdrug Vitamin E moisturiser
£2.99 for 50 ml.

I’m all for own brands. I love Superdrug. Loyalty points, bargains and you can their own brands are bloody awesome.
During the colder months my skin starts to look dull. This moisturiser has built in light reflecting pigments that give you literally a instant glow. I apply it on top of my usual moisturiser so only use a small amount to avoid overloading my face.

2) Superdrug Vitamin C Orange Peel Jam Mask
£4.99 for 50 ml

I discovered this earlier this year and have not looked back since. It smells so good. Sooooooo good it’s hard to not lick your own face if you love citrus.
It exfoliates and brightens the skin-both of which are truly welcomed in colder months. Simply apply to cleansed face, sit back and wash off. I noticed a huge difference after the first use.
A true unsung beauty hero.

3) Carmex Original Pot 2G
£2.69 for 2g (I picked up a tube for a quid from B&M)

A cult beauty product for years for the average Mama to the glamourous elite. The tingly feeling makes this product a best seller world wide. I use it daily however during the cooler months I get through more than usual.
The Carmex family has grown and I love the squeezy lip products (Oh my gosh have you tried the Mint one?!)
Tried chapped lip are not a good look on anyone ladies (and gents) and can be painful too so just keep your lips moisturised.

4) OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Extra Penetrating Oil
£6.99 for 100 ml

I’m Asian. Hair oil is nothing new to us. The magical properties of Argan oil are nothing new for the Moroccans (or Arabs) too. However we’re behind the time times in the West.
This oil is awesome at anytime of the year but believe me your winter mop will thank you loads for using this. It’s blended to revive, smooth and restore luster to damaged, dry and course hair.
Considering how dry hair can get in heated environments this product is fricking awesome.
Apply a small amount to hair, towel dry and away you go. Don’t be put off the price; the bottle will taste you ages.

5) Superdrug Hand Rescue Balm
£1.49 for 75 ml

Exposed skin will get damaged quicker-it’s a fact of life. Going from warm heated homes to the brittle cold outside means your hands dry out quicker.
I don’t know about you but cracked chapped hands don’t sound appealing and will be awfully painful when you have to pick up 101 shopping bags.
Superdrug Hand Rescue Balm is a budget saviour. It’s none greasy and bloody works a treat. Great to use throughout the year but especially awesome in Winter.

And there you have it. My top buys that have been tried and tested.

What are your colder much essentials?

 

Indian Gooseberry & Coconut oil Hair Mask
Stylemesisteradmin
October 10, 2017

Amla (Indian gooseberry) and Coconut oil hair mask

Life throws us many curve balls and losing hair seems to be a major one. Stress, genes, life…whatever the reason hair loss (or thinning of hair) is no joke for anyone. My hair thinned out so much post Heart Attack. But at the time with all that was going on in my life fixing it wasn’t my to do list.

Fast forward and now I’m a happy vitamin popping hijabi with a healthier outlook on life. Recently I was on Pinterest and had a look at DIY hair masks that could potentially encourage hair growth. I found a new masks made with Amla (Indian gooseberry) and coconut oil. After a bit of research I mixed up the following hair pack.

I recommend you use this TWICE a week to see a visible difference.

For an extra boost do the following:

Take one tablespoon of Amla oil with 4 drops of rosemary essential oil and massage it into the scalp. Leave for 6/8 hours (overnight). Massage it well into the scalp to stimulate hair growth. Now if you’ve massaged the oil well into the scalp you shouldn’t really need to wrap your hair to prevent the oil transferring onto your pillow. However it’s always best to be safe than sorry so either place an old towel on your pillow or use a shower hat or twisty turban hair towel on your hair.
The following morning apply the hair pack to your hair. Leave for 2 hours and wash.

This pack is enough for shoulder length hair. Remember that we are concentrating on the scalp because that’s where the magic happens.

I adjusted the basic ingredients I saw listed online and have explained why:

Coconut oil (a fantastic natural hair conditioner)
2 TBSP

Amla (Indian gooseberry powder). This is used to stimulate hair growth and encourage stronger hair. You can purchase this at most Indian supermarkets or at a stretch you can purchase it online via eBay.
2 TBSP

Rosemary essential oil: this oil is great for stimulating the scalp to kick in hair growth. Don’t overdo it.
5 drops

Kapoor Kachli Powder (also known as spiked ginger lily) is a type of root; similar to ginger. It smells nice, and also stimulates hair growth. I added this to boost the Amla powders power. This is also available at Indian Supermarkets or again online.
1 TSBP

Preparation:
1) Melt the coconut oil to help combine the ingredients. I zapped it in the microwave to save time. Always use a suitable container and be careful handling hot fats.
2) Add the Amla and Kapoor Kachli powders to the coconut oils and stir well. Add the rosemary oil. Stir further.
3) Now apply to your scalp. It may get messy so protect your clothes. Ensure to cover al the scalp as much as you can. Apply left over pack to your hair. Now leave on your hair for 2 hours.
4) After 2 hours give your scalp a quick massage and wash your hair as usual with your chosen shampoo and conditioner.

NOTE: It took me three lots of shampoo to remove this pack from my hair. It’s worth noting this so you know to give yourself extra time in the shower.
EXTRA NOTE: This pack will make your shower slippery! Be cautious!

Why do you need to condition as normal?
Post hair pack my hair didn’t feel conditioned at all. This hair pack in my opinion is about stimulating hair growth, and grow healthy strong hair. It’s not about instant, visible results.

What results have I seen so hair?
I’ve only used this mask a few times. However this is about hair growth and stimulation. You won’t be able to see results in a few uses. This is more of a long term investment of time and effort.

Cost of hair pack:
Amla powder (100 grams) : £1.99
Kalchi powder (50 grams) : £1.99
Coconut oil (125ml): £2.49
Rosemary essential oil (10ml): £1.64

These ingredients are enough to make at least 10-12 packs.

So if you make 10 that’s £0.81 pence per treatment
And if you manage 12 that’s £0.68 pence per treatment

I’ll be applying this pack to my hair twice a week.

I’ll be updating this article around:
End of December 2017 (three months of applying the pack)
End of March 2018 (six months of applying the pack)

Can this pack be used on children?
I wouldn’t recommend this for any child under 4. I’d also recommend you start off children with scalp massages using hair oils.

Any other info:
If you think you maybe allergic to any of the ingredients always do a test patch first.

If you cannot find Kalchi powder just replace it with another spoon of Amla powder.

You may need to shampoo a few times to remove this concoction off your hair; you have been warned!

Have you tried this treatment? How did you find it? Or maybe you have your own recipe you want to share with below? We would love to hear from you.

 

Love,

 

Alliyah

Autumnal Lipsticks on a budget (PART 1)
Alliyah Dawud
October 9, 2017

Autumn Lipsticks

This is part ONE of FOUR.
Each review contains 5 swatches & reviews

I love the change of seasons; and one of my favourite seasons is Autumn (Fall to my international readers). The palette Mother nature provides is mesmerizing. Gold’s, rust, reds, oranges….deep colours for a season that transitions us from the buzz or the summer to the season of family and love (winter) and the potential of new starts (New Year). For us in the UK it also signifies the new academic year which is full of anticipation for a new start. As someone that works with the academic calendar the new season also means:

  • Darker mornings before work
  • Knee high boots (Yes!)
  • Layering
  • Wardrobe re-jig to accommodate the colder months
  • New lipstick season!

So as we know I love nothing more than red lipsticks. RED is the new black. RED. I cannot get enough of red and even in autumn I manage to sneak in cooler reds (usually matte in finish). But I do like berry, deeper shades. Vampy shades. Yes that’s right those gothic inspired shades. Lipsticks is my ‘thing’ when it comes to cosmetics. And deeper shades are the ultimate Autumn complimentary cosmetic. I also change my skin care and foundation during cooler months.

So I have chosen twenty Autumnal shades that I have swatched and reviewed too.

NOTE: for those that were asking about my skin shade I’m classed as ‘WHEAT’ on the Boots colour match charts.

Cost point of the lipsticks:

I decided to not swatch and review any lipstick above £9.99 price band. This was a decision I took to explore the ‘budget’ brands available easily to us in the UK.
NOTE: I apologise to my international readers that may struggle to find certain shades or brands. EBay is a great place to find independent sellers that offer a lot of the lipsticks I’ve reviewed for this article.

For the purpose of swatching I lined by lips with a clear lip liner to avoid staining. This was done for all the swatches.

PLEASE NOTE: all photos were taken in natural light. The shade of lipstick will vary on you depending on the colour of your natural lips. I used a clear lip liner which is why my lips don’t look like the colour of the lipstick in the actual casing.

You can use a concealer or foundation to line your lips instead of a lip liner. This works if you want to achieve a more ‘real’ like for like look compared to the tone of the lipstick.

How they were tested:
I ate, drank and went about my daily day whilst wearing these lipsticks.

So without further ado let’s start reviewing these dark jewel like gems.

Make Up Revolution Diamond Life.

1) Make up Revolution: one of the best brands in my opinion to have surfaced in recent years in the beauty industry. The quality of their range is superb. Superdrug is one of their stockists which makes their range easy to come by. Prices start as little as £1.00 for a lipstick. There’s plenty of dupes to be found. They have a great range of palettes (from eyeshadows to highlighters) there’s something for everyone.
So the lipstick I tried was from the Rose Gold collection (that’s the rose gold bullet packaged lipsticks) costing £3.00. Diamond life is a deep purple/berry colour that is excellent for building up. One layer would be great for a lunch and applying more layers would build up a dramatic night time look.
The lipstick is light and easy to apply. It went on easily and stayed put very well needing a bit of a touch up post lunch. It’s beautiful colour that in my opinion is versatile (for both day and night). The packaging is beautiful.
This stands to be one of my favourite shades for Autumn and beyond it gets a 5/5 for me.

W7 Viva La Berry in BLACKBERRY

 

2) W7 Berry shades Viva La Berry in shade BLACKBERRY 

The W7 is a budget brain where you can find many dupes for the high end rivals. Affordable and readily available in discount stores across the UK you can also find this brand on Amazon and on eBay. Prices will vary but you can pick up this shade for just under £3.00 on eBay.
The Berry range was introduced approximately 2 years ago and features a range of berrylicious shades to suit most if not all skin tones. The packaging is nice, and won’t make your dressing table ugly.
A creamy, deep gothic berry shade that doesn’t dry out the lips (very moisturising with the right amount of sheen). It was easy to apply and colour was easy to build up. However the lipstick didn’t stay on very well. By lunchtime I needed to apply another layer.
Overall feel for this lipstick is it’s a lush colour and affordable as an addition to your lipstick itinerary.
3/5

Wet n Wild in Cherry Bomb

3) Wet n Wild; one of the best budget brands from the US of A. Wet n Wild offer a huge range of affordable products and often release limited edition shades (as well as celebrity collaboration ranges which are sadly not readily available in the UK).
So like many companies there are lots of dupes to be found in the Wet n Wild range. And the Cherry Bomb lipstick is a dead ringer for Rebel by Mac.
Now the lipstick is a very dark vampy shade. There’s not much berry hues going on here. The lipstick texture is quite thick, so if you are a fan of thinner consistencies that you find easy to build up this isn’t for you. Even as a thicker lipstick it was easy to apply. Saying that I don’t think you need to build this one up…but that’s my own opinion.
Considering I paid less than £3.00 I was shocked that I didn’t need to retouch the lipstick until around 3:30 PM (so from 8 AM). It lasted that long.
The packaging is pretty basic, with a clear lid so you can see the lipstick colour easier in your make up bag.
Based on my own experiences with this lipstick I give this 5/5

 

Make Up Academy Lipstick in Mulberry

4) MUA Lipstick in Mulberry.

I love MUA as they are a budget friendly brand that can be found on the UK High Street (Superdrug). Prices like MUR start at a quid making this a great starter brand for girls working with pocket money budgets. I originally bought this lipstick to make by 4 year old happy (she loves anything purple) as it is a very pretty berry shade with the right amount of gloss.
This lipstick was easy to apply and with two layers it offered maximum colour which is great. The texture is light, yet offers superb coverage. There’s no stickiness or drying out of the lips. It’s a fun shade that can easily used during the day or night.
Price point it was a pound (£1.00). It’s a perfect berrylike bubblegum shade. 5/5 for this beauty.

5) Medora Matte lipstick in Violet (212).
Medora is a Pakistani cosmetic brand that have been around for a long time. Made in the beautiful Swat Valley these lipsticks retail at 120 Rupees in their native land (that’s less than a quid!). Available in a range of colours and finishes you can pick them up for less than £3.50 on eBay UK. Sadly the demand for Medora in Pakistan is decreasing with the increasing interest in International or foreign brands.

Medora Lipstick in Violet (212)

 

So I selected what I would describe as a maximum coverage Violet colour lipstick. It’s thick in consistency (which I’m noticing is the norm with matte lipsticks). This lipstick has a strong but pleasant fragrance however I find it off putting.
The lipstick goes on smoothly. It’s quite thick, and I don’t recommend you build up colour with lots of layers as I felt the lipstick was heavy and drying after a while.
The colour is beautiful. The packaging is very retro (grey and gold) which I like (it reminds me of my childhood when my Mother had a few of their lipsticks).
As for staying power this lipstick seriously didn’t budge. The thick formula ensures the lipstick lasts on the lips. Worth the price if you want a violet/purple lipstick that is pretty and can withstand a couple of coffees, doughnuts and more….however the fragrance isn’t appealing so they lose a mark on that so this one gets 3/5

So that’s the first part of my reviews done.

What’s your favourite Autumn shade? What do you think of budget brands available in the UK? Do you have a favourite? Give us your opinions below or come along and share your opinions on our various social media handles.

Alliyah