New Favourite for Stronger Nails: Seche Rebuild

Apart from Seche Vite, I haven't explored anything else in the Seche range but a while back I read a post on KarlaSugar (here) where she mentioned Seche Rebuild as a great basecoat. Intrigued, I kept a note of it to purchase once I used up a few other base coats.

I change my polish about 2-3 times a week and this takes it's toll on my nails and I find that the tips are prone to peeling and I cannot grow them very long before they break. It is a bit of my own fault as if I see my polish starting to peel away, I cannot resist taking it off (terrible, I know!)

In the past I've had gels applied which I found made my nails feel thinner but I've long since stopped this and my nails are getting back to a more stronger state, although it wasn't until I started using the Seche Rebuild that I really felt a difference.

This has helped to make my nails feel much thicker, stronger and I can grow them longer then I've been able to in a while.

This has definitely opened my eyes up to the rest of Seche, and I would be interested to try the other products in the range.

I bought this from Beautybay.com

Pukka Ayurveda Gentle Cleanser Review

Pukka Ayurveda skincare launched recently and as I have used a few other Pukka Herb products and have a lot of respect for the brand, I hastily bought a couple of bits (this was before I started my no-buy!)

The range uses Ayurveda as a inspiration and contains a varied range of natural ingredients such as rose water, green tea, amla and neem to help refresh, replenish and balance the skin.

Being a cleanser nut, the first product I bought was the Gentle Cleanser. This is a light density cream and has a herbal, slight clay sort of scent, definitely reflective of the 92.9% organic ingredients. Even though I have used many natural ranges and don't mind at all earthy, herbal fragranced products, there was something about this scent I wasn't really keen on to begin with but I got used to it after a while. Looking at the box it says it is lightly fragranced with rosewater but my nose doesn't seem to pick this up!

In terms of performance it is great for massaging in and requires little effort to rinse clean with water. The cream texture makes for a very gentle feeling cleanser and doesn't dry the skin either. Several uses later I did notice a slight clarifying effect although I feel like I need a little bit extra to help with my acne-prone skin.

This is a 50ml size which is a bit smaller then other cleansers on the market, but I think it's quite reasonably priced at £11.

Ingredients:

Aqua, Cannabis sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil*, Rosa damascena (Rose) Flower Water*, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter)*, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter*, Glycerin*, Glyceryl Stearate‡, Sucrose Stearate‡, Coco-Glucoside‡, Ricinis communis (Castor) Seed Oil*, Olea europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Camellia sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract*, Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera) Leaf Juice Powder*, Quillaja saponaria (Soap Tree Bark)*, Emblica officinalis (Amla) Fruit 100:1 Extract*, Hydrocotyle asiatica (Gotu Kola) Leaf 120:1 Extract*, Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Root 20:1 Extract*, Rubia cordifolia (Manjishtha) Root 70:1 Extract*, Azadirachta indica (Neem) Leaf 50:1 Extract*, Coconut Alcohol‡, Tocopherol‡, Xanthan Gum‡, Lactic Acid‡, Dehydroacetic Acid() , Benzyl Alcohol() , Citric Acid‡

* Organic (Organic content: 92.9%)
† Naturally occurs in essential oils
‡ Derived from plants
() Nature identical preservative system approved by Organic Standards

The other item I purchased was the Nourishing Brightener which I haven't put through it's paces yet but looks to be an interesting product as it has ground powders such as almond and bilberry to exfoliate.   

I bought these online at www.pukkaherbs.com/skincare/ although I've spotted the range at Wholefoods and the Nutricentre.

Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion Lipstick in Impact

Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion lipstick in Impact (70)

A few weeks ago I was having a browse at the Dolce and Gabbana counter in Harrods and came across these incredible lipsticks. The Passion Duo Gloss Fusion lipsticks are like a lipstick/gloss hybrid as they have an intense hit of smooth and creamy colour with a glossy sheen.

I bought the colour Impact (70) which is a deep, slightly pink toned burgundy type shade.

Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion lipstick in Impact (70)

Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion lipstick in Impact (70)

This is the lipstick I'm wearing in my first smiley pic in my recent braces post (here) although it looks a little brighter in this pic as in reality it's a bit deeper like the tube and swatch pics.

I am really impressed with this formula and it matches the luxurious quality of the packaging. It's not particularly the most long-lasting because of the slight glossy quality, but the depth of colour achievable quickly is very good.

2 years later...

As a 'congratulations on your new smile' I was given a little gift of a box of cupcakes from the orthodontist.

...and my braces are off!

I felt a bit like Chandler in Friends attempting a decent smiley pic!

I was meant to have braces as a kid, and even went for an initial appointment but as I wasn't keen on the dentist and I sort of envisioned it being painful, I never followed it up. 

Now I am no longer nervous about the dentist after having a couple of wisdom teeth out, so I very much wanted to get my teeth sorted. It was a long (and expensive) journey, but very much worth it.

Before (this is about 5 yrs ago), didn't have anything more recent and my ortho pic is horrid! Boy, my eyebrows are thin here!

During - At an Edward Bess Zuneta event last year. Total hair envy here - EB is gorgeous!

I had the visible train track style Damon braces because the adjustments I needed couldn't be achieved with a system like Invisalign. There is an invisible option called Incognito that I could have chosen but that costs a lot more. Within the first month I saw a huge difference and the teeth straightened out fairly quickly. I have had a tooth on each side from the top taken out as I had an overbite of around 8 mm and this is the part which prolonged treatment as it took a long time to close the gap.

I was surprised with the whiteness of my teeth when the braces came off because I was thinking of getting a whitening treatment after, but I think I'll see what I can achieve at home with a whitening toothpaste and the polishing brush head on my Oral B Triumph 5000 toothbrush that I purchased earlier this year. I am looking forward to giving this a proper use as I've been using the orthocare brush heads.

Boy, does it feel good to have these off!

Smoky MAC Hyperviolet FOTD

Today I've gone for quite a simple eye look with MAC's Hyperviolet Paint Pot which is a gorgeous bruised plum type shade. I'm really enjoying these deep red-purple shades for autumn and this eye combination is one I rather liked and thought I'd share.

I've started off with a base of Bloom's Eye Paint in Chocolate which is a staple (review here) that I reach for almost everyday. These past few months I've noticed my eyelids are not as oily as before so I don't use my ELF eyeshadow primer so much underneath the Bloom eye paint.

On 3/4 of the lid and slightly on lower lash line I've applied MAC Paint Pot in Hyperviolet with a concealer brush then blended out the edges with a MAC 217. On the inner corner I've used Illamasqua's Fat Pencil in Fickle which is another favourite as the gold is on a slightly darker, duller side which seems to blend into my skintone and texture more nicely for a more softer golden look.

I've used MAC Feline pencil on the upper lash line and a little on the outer lower lash line then used a eye smudge brush to soften the line. The mascara is a sample of Chanel's Inimitable Intense which I got with a purchase a while back. I wasn't overly keen on the original Inimitable but I really like this Intense version as the formula is light and slightly creamy but not wet and really gives a dark lash look with good volume and separation.

Complete look:

Products used:

W3LL People Narcissist foundation stick No.5 (review here) all over face set with a little MUFE HD powder.
MAC Sculpt & Shape Powder in Accentuate/Sculpt - I've used the highlighter side on the tops of my cheeks.
Nouba Earth Powder 51 - As blush/bronzer. This deserves it's own post as it's another firm favourite of mine.
Chanel Glossimer in Giggle on lips
Chanel Crayon Sourcil in 60 Noir Cendre to fill in brows

L-R: Chanel Giggle Glossimer, Illamasqua Fat Pencil Fickle, Chanel Crayon Sourcil 60 Noir Cendre, MAC Feline pencil, MAC Hyperviolet Paint Pot