Rimmel Caramel Cupcake & Silver Lines NOTD

Rimmel Caramel Cupcake

Today's nail look I've created using Rimmel's Caramel Cupcake and Nail Art - Nail Striping Tape that I received when I bought Selfridges (not-so-lucky) Lucky Bag.

Caramel Cupcake is a lovely nude which is a touch pinky-beige in tone and I think makes a good nude for those with darker skintones. Pic shows two coats and as usual with Rimmel's polishes applies well and dries quite quickly.

With the nail striping tape you get five little rolls in the box - gold, silver, black, red and white, which are each 20 metres long.

The tape is self-adhesive and you need to obviously cut it and I found that applying it first onto the nail then cutting it off the roll with a small pair of eyebrow scissors worked better then if I was trying to hold it next to the nail or guessing how much to cut off first.

It is fine tape so it is a bit tricky to apply at first, I used my craft scalpel to help lift and move the tape into position. Once it's all applied you seal it with a clear topcoat.

It's a nice idea and the effect is lovely even if takes a bit of time and I should imagine that 20 metres should last quite a while.

The nail striping tape can be purchased in Selfridges Beauty Workshop, which is a great addition to their beauty department but was poorly reflected in their recent lucky bag, I'm hoping their next offering is a bit more considered!

Pai Lotus & Orange Blossom BioAffinity Toner

I've slowly been working my way through the Pai range and finally got round to using their toner mists. Pai have two types - the Rice Plant & Rosemary (for combination/sensitive) and the Lotus & Orange Blossom (for dry/sensitive).

My favourite of the two is the Lotus & Orange Blossom, as for me the Rice Plant & Rosemary, while lovely, I couldn't tell if it had done anything and it doesn't smell as beautiful as the LOB.

I do have acne-prone skin that is a bit combination and a bit dehydrated, but I often tend to ignore labels that say it's for such and such skintype, and go more with the texture and feel on the skin. So with this one I was sold on the orange blossom scent!

Even though this is pricey at £30 for 50ml, I find that it is quite a hydrating formula and makes the skin feel calm, nourished and soft so even if I don't slap on a moisturiser immediately afterwards - (like on a weekend if I'm home all day) my skin still feels comfortable. Also I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems to give a tiny hydrated radiance/glow to the skin (which may be from the orange blossom as it's supposed to stimulate circulation and give a brightening effect).

Oh and another thing - the mist action is beautifully fine and even - no horrible squirt as I hate it when brands plonk a lovely product into horrible packaging!

Ingredients:

nelumbo nucifera (lotus) root water**, aloe barbadensis leaf juice*, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange blossom) flower water*, glycerin*, populous tremuloides bark extract, leuconostoc root extract

DeVita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+ Review

I finished up my last sunscreen which was the Dermaquest ZinClear SPF30 about a month ago, and being a skincare junkie I naturally had another product waiting in the wings which was DeVita's Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+.

I heard raves about this through Skincare Talk and noticed the brand is stocked on iHerb so placed an order along with some supplement bits.

DeVita is a vegan, paraben-free natural skincare and cosmetic brand from Arizona that was created by Cherylanne DeVita after having suffered with chronic cystic acne. They use organic aloe vera as a key 'delivery system' and also have a line of mineral makeup that is infused with aloe.

The Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+ is a mineral based sunscreen using 19% zinc oxide (no nano particles) that has been formulated for skin prone to acne (like mine!) and moisturises the skin as well as providing broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection.

I'm not a fan of sunscreens that feel like typical sunscreens with the slightly tacky/greasy/whiteish look and I'm happy to say that DeVita's offering is absolutely the opposite of this. It feels creamy, light and non-chalky and once applied absorbs quickly into a natural matte finish that is not discernible on the skin, so no whitecast!

Another thing I like about this is the scent, so unlike any other sunscreen, it has a beautiful light vanilla/coconutty scent that adds to the pleasant nature.

From iHerb this was around $20 for 75ml/2.5oz , which I find reasonable as I don't seem to need too much product so I think this should last a while yet.

Ingredients: