Serums – Silver & Blonde

For my recent birthday a friend gave me a pretty new make up bag from one of my favourite shops, Oliver Bonas. It has taken pride of place on my dressing table and replaced the Clarins freebie that I have been using for years. It also provided a good opportunity for me to go through my cosmetics and throw away some of the embarrassingly ancient, and probably horribly unhygienic, items. I have used the same Nars blusher everyday for about six years and it pained me to throw it away but even the case was falling apart. My optician told me that, in an ideal world, mascara should be replaced every six weeks because of the bacteria that accumulate with each use, definitely time to bin my antique Estee Lauder. I also got rid of my Clinique eyeliners, most of which had lost their caps, and replaced them with one from Lancome in a shade called Bronze. The Lancome is very creamy, easy to blend and the shade is flattering.

I also received a Clarins bronzer as a gift in the lightest shade they sell. I have never used bronzer before. I am very pale and have always thought it would just look too orange on me. I’m also not really sure how to apply it, I had to watch a YouTube video by Ali Andreea, a stunningly beautiful make up artist, to find out. Her tutorials make everything look easy and it is tempting to buy all of the high-end products she uses. The Clarins bronzer is comprised of two shades and the darker colour is definitely too deep for me so half of the product will go to waste. The lighter shade is pretty though when sparingly applied and I like the matte finish. I did buy another Nars blusher though so I am good for six more years!

I have also been trying out This Works Perfect Cleavage & Neck Serum I am not a fan of the fragrance but the product is lovely to use and easily absorbed. My neck feels well moisturised but not sticky after use. Like the rest of the planet, I spend too much time looking at a screen and am keen to avoid the dreaded “tech neck” and hopefully this may help. I have a This Works Stress Check Mood Manager spray in my home office for days when my work email inbox is filling up faster than I can empty it, it’s actually surprisingly effective and the fragrance is beautiful. I will be trying more products from this brand.

So, some successful and much appreciated gifts. Pretty things may not be important but they do make life that little bit nicer.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

I had a big family lunch here on Sunday and, as I had made an effort with my hair and make up, I thought it would be a good time to take a new photo for my “About-Me” page on this blog. It seemed to me that I looked nice enough when I looked in the mirror but, when I took a selfie, I got quite a shock. I could not press delete fast enough. There was a big, vertical line running next to my left eye from the eyebrow to the bottom of my eye. Yikes! I sleep on my left side on a cotton pillowcase. Yes, I have read all the advice about using silk pillowcases to prevent wrinkles but I have never taken it seriously. I remember watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills” (don’t judge me) and Lisa Rinna, clearly pumped full of fillers and Botox, said she only slept on her back because “this face can’t be smooshed”. Well I smoosh my face every night.

Sunday night I tried sleeping on my back to avoid unnecessary smooshing but I felt like I was lying in a coffin. I couldn’t figure out what to do with my arms and ended up crossing them over my chest just to enhance the corpse effect. Clearly this isn’t going to be something I can commit to in the long run.

My usual bed-time skin care routine is cleanse, apply serum and moisturise. I use an eye cream during the day because, if I apply one at night time, I always wake up with stinging eyes, no matter how hypoallergenic the brand. For the past year I have been using a pricey Judith Williams serum but have just run out and have been looking for a replacement. December being such an expensive month, I bought myself a budget option from Simple, their 10% Vitamin C + E + F Booster Serum. This product has a plethora of five star reviews on Amazon and costs only £5.33 for 30mls. I buy a lot of Simple products for my teenagers but usually spend a bit more on my own skincare. The product comes in a very basic white plastic bottle with a dropper to suck up the liquid. To be honest, I have seen more glamorous looking bottles of eye drops but of course it is the quality of the product that really matters. The serum is a white liquid with a slightly unpleasant smell which I can’t really describe. The liquid is very watery and ran down my face until I massaged it in. I have to say, once smoothed on, my skin felt soft and velvety. I followed by applying the moisturiser that I’m currently using, CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream. Because the serum is so inexpensive I have also been using it on my hands which take a lot of battering. It’s too early to report back on any real results but at £5.33 it is worth a try.

The other new product that I have tried this week is a sheet mask by Korean beauty brand Seoulista which I bought from Oliver Bonas for £11.99 Quite pricey for a single-use beauty product but the mask is drenched in 30mls of serum, the same amount as in the entire bottle by Simple. The product’s full, rather grandiose, title is Beauty Advanced Clinic Formulation Diamond Radiance Instant Facial. I ran a hot bath and arranged the mask over my face, it felt gorgeously cool and smooth. Twenty minutes later my skin looked plumper, smoother and glowing. Being a bit thrifty, I wrapped the mask in clingfilm and used it on my neck following evening with similar results. I will definitely be buying more from this brand.

Obviously my big, vertical eye wrinkle isn’t going anywhere but I did notice it is less visible as the day progresses. I suppose, as we age, our skin takes longer to spring back into shape. Something to do with collagen no doubt, maybe I will investigate some supplements. I expect the only real solution would be Botox. As having injections next to my eyes isn’t something that appeals to me and is probably very expensive, I will be ordering the aforementioned silk pillowcase to see if this makes any difference.