The Body Shop Vitamin E | Skincare Review

Hello....my name is Clare and I'm a moisturiser addict. Okay, all hilarity aside - but seriously I do have 5 in my wash bag - I have dry skin even in summer, so needless to say winter brings a few skincare treasures of its own. Winter brings colds, cracked hands, red faces, and, for those few who possess dry skin, random breakouts and a dull complexion. As I have mentioned before I now have a minimal and more environmentally-friendly makeup regime and choose to focus on moisturisers, so when I saw this Vitamin E gift set on sale in The Body Shop, I jumped at it. The most sensible of impulse purchases. I've been trying it for four weeks now, so you can say this is post was a long time in the making. Details below!

Vitamin E Cream Cleanser - Massage into the skin with your fingertips (but careful not to use too much!). Remove with a clean cotton pad or muslin cloth and feel the skin-softening effects of the wheat-germ oil and shea butter.

Vitamin E Hydrating Toner - Soak the alcohol free toning liquid onto a cotton pad and sweep across your face to remove excess oil, cleanser or makeup. This part really prepares your skin for the moisturiser part later on.

Vitamin E Moisture Cream - For those who vacillate over the qualities of face creams - this is a light one and probably not for the perennially dry skinned.

Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil - WARNING Do not try to use this while drunk! I am clumsy - so when trying to put 3 separate drops of the serum on my cheeks and forehead, I knocked half the bottle down the sink. Beware! The serum, when massaged in, works very effectively though.

Unfortunately I cannot find the Vitamin E gift set on sale any more. This is a link to the small, but complete, Vitamin E Skincare Kit:

http://www.thebodyshop.com/by-line/vitamin-e/vitamin-e-skincare-kit.aspx

Skin Confidential: Top Tips for Your Best Skin Ever

Source: http://www.garnier.it/_it/_it/our_products/SKINCARE.aspx?tpcode=OUR_PRODUCTS%5EPRD_SKINCARE%5ETRD_SKINCARE

For many Asian and French women skincare is top priority, but particularly in the UK and America makeup seems to have taken precedent. It's time we ditched the piles of foundation and looked after the skin underneath so that there's less to cover up! Do you agree? My top tips are:

1) Water, water, water.... boring, I know. Ditch fizzy drinks, excessive alcohol and coffee (tea is a better alternative), and make sure you are hydrated throughout the day. If you're out and about take a water bottle with you. 

2) Ditch the Sugar..... as well as being bad for your teeth, fizzy drinks with spoonfuls of sugars, cups of tea with added sugar, and sweets contain glucose that are damaging to skin. I'm not saying give it up, just watch out for when your overdosing on the stuff!

3) Wash your Face..... it's something that is a habit for many kids, but cleaning your face twice a day - especially is you're exfoliating and cleansing - will prevent pore blockages and dirt buildup that causes spots and pimples. 

4) Makeup Free..... just like your body sometimes needs a detox from excess sugar, fat, alcohol and other nasties, your skin will benefit from going makeup free for at least one day every week, if you can manage it. Anyone who has tried this incidently will realise that the benefits outweigh the makeup free 'scary' look!

5) Moisturise..... moisturising twice a day, particularly if you have dry or sensitive skin, will create beneficial skin renewal and prevent dryness and early wrinkles. 

6) Sleep in the fresh air..... weird one, I know, but sleeping with the window open is great for your skin. Sleeping in a hermetically sealed bedroom can starve your skin of oxygen, drying it out, and be as bad as a 10-hour flight in an airconditioned airplane.

Carpe diem xx

Beauty Confidential: Colour Analysis (Skin Tone)

Colour analysis, also called skin tone color matching or color seasons, is the process of finding colors of clothing and makeup to match a person's complexion, eye color, and hair color. It is often used as an aid to wardrobe planning and style consulting.

Color analysis is the process of determining the colors that best suit an individual's natural coloring. There are several means of analysing personal coloring. The most well-known is "seasonal" color analysis, which places individual coloring into four general categories: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. "Winters" and "Summers" have cool coloring. Some clues that a person has cool coloring might include ash tones in the hair, grey-blue eyes and pinkish undertones to the skin. "Springs" and "Autumns" have warm coloring. Some signs of warm coloring are red or golden hair, golden brown eyes and golden undertones to the skin.

Winter

Winter is, along with Summer, one of the two "cool" (i.e. blue-based) palettes. This means that a person who is a Winter should wear colors that have blue undertones. Winters differ from Summers in that their skin tends to contrast dramatically with their hair and eye color, and therefore seem “intense.”^[14] This means that they look best when dressed in colors that are relatively more intense, and that contain sharper contrasts, than would look best on a person belonging to the other "cool" season (Summer). When dressed in the strongly contrasting colours that suit them best, Winters look “intense”, “pure” and “clean”.^[14] When Winters dress in less intense or highly contrasting colours, the strong contrasts between their skin on the one hand and their hair and eyes on the other will seem “washed out.”

Summer

Summer is, along with Winter, one of the two "cool" (i.e. blue-based) palettes. This means that a person who is a Summer should wear colors that have blue undertones. Summers differ from Winters in that their skin tends to contrast gently with their hair and eye color, and therefore seem “softer” and “less intense.” This means that they look best when dressed in colors that are also relatively softer or less intense, and that contain less dramatic contrasts, than the colors which look best on a person belonging to the other "cool" season (Winter). When dressed in the less strongly contrasting colours that suit them best, Summers look “harmonious” and “subtle.” When Summers dress in more intense or highly contrasting colours, the gentle contrasts between their skin on the one hand and their hair and eyes on the other will seem “overpowered.”

Spring

Spring is, along with Autumn, one of the two "warm" (i.e. yellow-based) palettes. This means that a person who is a Spring should wear colours that have yellow undertones. The main difference between Spring and Autumn colour palette is that the Spring's colours are based on yellow such as yellow sparkling gold, in contrast with Autumn's colours which are based on deep gold. As a result spring's colours are intense, often bright and playful.

Autumn

Autumn is, along with Spring, one of the two "warm" (i.e. yellow-based) palettes. This means that a person who is an Autumn should wear colors that have yellow undertones. Generally the autumn colours are warm, soft, and deep. Some of the autumn colours are brick, coffee, caramel, beige, tomato red, forest green.People who fall under this category usually have brown hair with golden or red undertones but a person with almost black hair and skin with yellow undertones can find him or herself to be an autumn too.

Carpe diem xx