Rimmel London Scandaleyes | Rose Gold

I bought this pencil a few days ago mostly because I adore rosy gold shades as eye shadows and liners. I have the most perfect rose gold eyeliner from Dior that was limited edition, and will absolutely break my heart when it finally dies on me. There were no testers in the shop so I just decided to go for it.

When I opened it up, I have to say I was a little disappointed; it's very bronze and the colour payoff on skin, whilst very pigmented, is almost orange. I was expecting pink/gold, as the name would suggest, but sadly no such thing. It would seem, the pencil was named 'on trend'...

I would definitely buy the Scandaleyes pencils in another colour; the formula is gorgeous and creamy, but stays put forever! Easy to smudge out, but then it's immovable! As I just mentioned, the colour payoff is great, and creates a lovely gradient if you smudge with your fingers. The pencil is pretty handy too - no brushes required, although I fear sharpening my be a bit of a pain. The point means that you can easily draw into the crease of your eyelid to define it, and underneath the eyes too.

The only thing I dislike about this is the colour, which sadly is the only real important factor. It just doesn't suit me, I've tried a few different ways and combining it with other colours but I just don't think it will work for me. My boyfriend hates it too, and he's fairly ambivalent about most things, so it must be bad!

Not for me, but that beige colour on the other hand...

Xxxx

Bioderma

I've been happily plodding along with my Garnier Micellar Water for the last four months or so now and I'm rather a fan of the 'If it ain't broke' mantra. Then Escentual had it's 1/3 off French pharmacy event again and I saw a 100ml bottle of the Bioderma Micellar Water for £3. I've thought about trying it for a while, so this was my opportune moment.

I bought the 100ml because I'm backpacking around Europe in 3 weeks, starting with a flight to Amsterdam. I'm taking no hold luggage so everything has to go with me in my bag; hence backpacking... But that means no liquids over 100ml.

Adorable or what?

I figured 100ml was more than enough for a months usage, but we'll see! The route ends up in France anyway so I could always stock up there...

And of course I had to give it a little try. It's certainly better than the Garnier water in that you need less of it to have the same results. It feels slightly oilier but in a good way, in that it's smoother to apply and the cotton wool doesn't tug and your skin as much when your moving it around.

Xxxx

Topshop Glow Highlighter in Gleam

I'm not healthy enough to have that lovely natural glow to my face, so smearing things on my cheekbones is the best I can do. One of the nicest things I've been smearing lately is this Topshop Highlighter in the shade "Polish" which is a sort of pearly white. They had a gold and a rose gold version too, which I really wish I'd picked up, since a golden glow is so much more summery. Even so, this is lovely!

The little pot is sweet, but heavy so it's not really great to carry around. Even so, you get a hell of a lot since a little goes a long way. It catches the light really well and is creamy and easy to apply. It doesn't disturb your makeup if you apply it over the top, however it does crease something chronic, so anybody hoping to double it up as a cream eyeshadow will be disappointed. 

It looks good on the inner corners of the eye too. I'm not really deft enough to prod at my eye with my fingers so this is the job for a smudging brush. 

It goes for £9 in Topshop, and I really would recommend it as a fuss-free highlighter.

Xxxx

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream

I just want to say before I get into this; I love almost everything Clinique have ever made, their anti-blemish solutions foundation is still one of my favourites. I think that fact is what made me buy this CC cream without really doing my research into a product first. Usually it takes me a good two weeks to decide to buy something because I'm tight like that... Anyway!

I tried so hard to like this, I swear! I tried everything! Primers, brushes, sponges, fingertips, wet sponges,everything I could think of, and God I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it!

It's just bloody awful! It feels sticky on the skin, very heavy and you can always feel that you're wearing it. It never sets so it just slides about and settles into fine lines, you can't touch your face without leaving a fingerprint. Trying to get an even finish is like pulling teeth, it just ends up streaky and goopy. It feels like glue, and all the setting powder in the world couldn't make it stay put. It makes a minuscule amount of difference to the complexion once applied and woe betide anyone who'd dare to apply more than one layer.

I have literally nothing good to say about this, I wouldn't even give it away.

Sorry Clinique; you made a stinker.

Xxxx

*Just to say; I'm only one person, and I have seen good reviews for this product elsewhere. I'm spitting so much venom because it was £28, and like I said, I'm tight like that. 

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...May Favourites!

I have been going very fuss-free this month - exam season and all that! Here are a couple of things that have been on my head almost daily...

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo - £15.50
When I'm stressed I get spots - humongous, juicy ones - blehh. And because I'm just so damned white they always leave red marks. I'm not going to say this is a wonder product, but I have definitely noticed a big difference in the size and quantity of blemishes and also how quickly they disappear.

Bumble and Bumble Pret-A-Powder - £21.50
Once again, exam season has meant all day library shifts, late nights and a serious reduction in giving a crap about my appearance. This lasts a million times longer than dry shampoo in a spray can and also gives a nice little bit of volume/texture, allowing me to look a little less homeless.

Benefit Gimme Brow - £17.50
I'm sure you're noticing a trend emerging here... Speed and laziness. This isn't that great by way of adding shape, but it defines brows well and makes them a bit more groomed.

E45 Cream - £2.39
A bit of a standard here, but I have been using it all over the place recently; especially to soothe the horrible flaky skin that some blemishes leave behind. I've been using it after shaving my legs and sometimes even in the place of my normal moisturiser. It soaks in quickly, is fragrance free and is such a hard worker that I think it deserves a little recognition.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer - £23.50
Every woman and her mother knows about this so I'll spare you. I've just been using it around the edges of my face to make it look as though I've been outside recently (N.B. I haven't.)

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Hibiscus - £19
I can honestly say, I think I'll still have this exact pot usable when I'm 80 years old. You need only to touch your finger to the cream to have enough for halloween makeup. I'm also a recent embarker on the cream blusher bandwagon too, and I'm very, very happy to be so! This is a lovely colour, albeit tough to blend sometimes. It's hard to tell if the red on your cheeks is from the blusher or the increase in blood flow from the fierce dabbing. Still a big fan.

Bourjois Cream Blush in Healthy Glow - £7.99
I love this since it's far more powdery and less of a task than Bobbi's. It's a really pretty colour and is very aptly named.

Topshop Lipstick in Infrared - £8
Despite my best efforts with the pictures (in natural light, I promise) this lipstick has ended up looking far more coral than orange. However, it IS orange, and that's what I adore about it. It's very bright if you layer it on thick, but becomes quite natural if you just dab a bit on and spread it with your finger.

And that's that.

Xxxx

Why Antioxidants Don't Work

Antioxidants are everywhere these days! You just can't get away from the damn things. Every smoothie, face cream, body lotion, packet of anything, all have claims of being "packed full of antioxidants" on the side. Why?

It all begins with one of the leading theories for why we age, and that is the presence of some nasty little things called reactive oxygen species (ROS). These are molecules that are highly reactive with the cells in our bodies - although they are naturally produced. In times of stress, or in response to something like radiation, lots more of these molecules are produced and they release free electrons (also known as free radicals). Free radicals are the devil, and they end up bouncing around our cells, damaging the DNA and disrupting the cells' normal function, slowing down our responses and causing us to age.

Antioxidants were toted as a possible saviour for this. Normal antioxidants are able to absorb these free radicals and stop them from becoming a real problem. Once this was learned it seems everyone shouted "hallelujah!", and decided they were going to be the key to aging and curing disease (a big part of cancer is problems caused by ROS).

But since then there have been many clinical trials, and sadly, the news is not good. It was found that not only do the antioxidants appear to do nothing, in some cases it was found that they are actually harmful. Vitamins E, C and Beta Carotene are well-known antioxidants, and they have been tried and tested for their effects against all manner of diseases; heart disease, altitude sickness, gastrointestinal cancers, colon cancer, etc. In all the studies I have read (links below) there was no evidence supporting the theory that antioxidants may reduce mortality - in fact, in colon cancer the supplements were found to increase mortality.

Now it must be said, there is criticism of these findings by those that say the doses of antioxidants used in the trials were high, and that there are still many wonderful benefits that are thought to come from the naturally occurring antioxidants in fruit and vegetables- I do not doubt this for one minute. It is only when levels of antioxidants reach the levels found in supplements that there are possible adverse effects, of course there are hopefully journals out there that say otherwise. However, using antioxidants to treat/prevent chronic disease has now widely been ruled as a no.

It was, as my lecturer put it; "a big disappointment for the scientific community". And yet, I feel the presence of antioxidants everywhere! Vitamin E supplements were found to increase risk of all-cause mortality, especially in elderly patients, and yet they're all over the shelves of health shops and supermarkets. Although research is always ongoing and it is unfair to rule them out completely, it seems that word just hasn't gotten out yet, that antioxidants, whether in face cream, supplement or health drink form don't seem to be doing anything.

Xxxx


Bjelakovic,et al. 2007  Randomised antioxidant trials
Baillie, et al. 2009 Acute mountain sickness
Jha, et al.1995 Cardiovascular disease
Miller, et al. 2005 Vitamin E all-cause mortality
Stanner, et al. 2004 British Nutrition Foundation review
Bjelakovic, et al. 2012 A systematic review (suggests supplements be considered medical products)