Glossy Girl

Hey girls, 

As mentioned in my last post I did a massive Anastasia Beverly Hills haul on Black Friday so I am doing a series of posts to cover the products I bought. 

Today I am going to cover what I felt was the ultimate bargain buy from the lot, that is the Lustrous Lipgloss Set.

The set includes 8 of the ABH most popular gloss shades including (listed in order from left to right) : 

-Glided, a subtle metallic gold

-Danity, a pretty baby pink

-Sunset Strip, a coral/pink with added sparkle

-Socialette, a cherry red

-Weekend Barbie, fuscia with a hint of glitter

-Date Night, a sparkly pinky red

-Metallic Rose, a metallic purple/pink

-Black Cherry, a deep purple 

Swatches of the set, L-R:Glided, Danity, Sunset Strip, Socialette, Weekend Barbie, Date Night, Metallic Rose, Black Cherry

I personally found the lighter metallic and glittery shades, particularly Glided and Sunset Strip, were not as pigmented as the rest of the colours. I have been using these two colours on top of other lipsticks to make the most of the colour, but wouldn't really wear them alone. All of the other colours have great colour pay off. 

My favourite shades in the set are Danity and Black Cherry, however I also like the Metallic Rose as its such a different shade to any I have come across. 

I did not find the glosses super sticky, as I have found some glosses can be, however the glittery shades had a slight stick compared to the muted colours. Overall these glosses feel pleasant to wear and smell AMAZING, literally like sweets, an added bonus when wearing them. 

What I love about this set is that there is a gloss for every occasion, and the price is unbelievable for the value for money ($40 in the US, or £33 in the UK which works out as £4.13 per gloss- A-M-A-Z-E). I am not usually much of a gloss girl and tend to wear lipsticks more often however I give these glosses a massive thumbs up, they have won me over as preferred choice against the Mac lipglass, its just a shame we can't buy the individual ABH lip gloss shades in the UK. 

I also bought my first ABH matte liquid lipstick, which will be covered in a seperate post so stay tuned! 

Are you a lipstick or a gloss girl? 

Roll Up, Roll Up!

Happy Sunny Sunday Girls, 

Today's short and sweet post is about another one of my Amazon research buys, the Babyliss Hot Rollers. After using them on a few clients this week, and myself a few weeks ago, I had to share how great they are with you all.

It seems rollers have become a bit of a trend, especially following on from celebs from reality tv shows using them. After seeing so many posts on social media it seemed nothing really could give more bounce and natural looking volume than rollers, so I wanted to do lots of research before investing in any. 

Although the 'sleep in' rollers were tempting for my lazy self, after watching countless Youtube videos, reading Amazon reviews, and googling like crazy, I decided to give Babyliss Thermo Ceramic Rollers a try. They were an absolute bargain (£30 on Amazon), what did I have to lose?!

I plug in the roller heater for about fifteen minutes before I use them, although I think the warm up time is actually only a few minutes. I section parts of hair into the rollers and leave them in for 20 minutes at a minimum, usually I can leave them in whilst doing my make-up in the meantime. The results are bouncy and effortless hair that looks like quite an expensive blow-dry. 

What's not to love? 

End result when used on blow-dried
hair

The set comes with all the necessary equipment including the rollers, heater and clips to hold the rollers in place. The different sized barrels are useful, and I tend to use the larger rollers on the top section of my hair, and use the smaller ones on the bottom layer for the best effect. For added styling I sometimes go over my curls with my Bombay Hair 25mm (from the 5 in 1 range) wand. 

Taking into consideration a blow dry can cost £30 if going to a hairdresser, this is a great at home alternative and also a great addition to any hair stylists kit. It is simple and easy to use and also effective for such a small price. 

I may do a video tutorial on how I use these tools if readers find it useful, so let me know if that's what you would like to see and I will give it a go. 

Do you have a go to styling tip that give you the celeb factor? 

K xx

Please feel free to post any skin care tips, products or comments you may have which could benefit others. 

Get The Glow

Hey guys, 

Its been a while since I did a post, but I had a few products I really wanted to put to the test before I blogged about them. 
I have had problems with my skin for some time, I often (triggered mainly by stress) get psoriasis on my scalp and skin. I have also had acne in the past, so my skin seems rather dull when I don’t have any make up on. The products I am posting about today were used to try and get rid of this dullness and to get a "glow" read on to find out if I had any success….

Herbal Soaps

Those of you who follow me on instagram (if you don’t then get following now... @kokobeautyuk) may have seen I tried two herbal soaps; black soap and shea butter soap. I bought both of these from @pure_herbal (instagram page) and completely replaced my usual cleanser with these for a few weeks each. 

The black soap was used for three weeks. The results allowed my marks to fade, and my skin to clear from blemishes, however post application of the soap my face never really felt fully soft and clean like it did with my cleanser, my skin also felt a little dry however I do have dry combination skin and this soap is not reccomended for dry skin. This is great for interim use when you might be having breakouts, but I would not reccomend relying solely on this, so don’t chuck out your cleanser just yet! 

The second product was the shea butter soap. This soap felt a bit sticky to apply to my face, and I felt it was quite hard to rub into my skin. If I am honest, I did not see an amazing difference using this, and I had to stop the use of the product after two weeks as my psorisis flaired up to the worst it has been. 

So these products didn’t quite live up to the expectation I had hoped, but for the value it was not a heavy price to pay. I continued my search for good products whilst out on my trip to the U.S recently.

Clarisonic

For month’s I have researched into the Clarisonic, and whilst in Lord and Taylor (5th Avenue, oh how I miss you) it seemed like the perfect time to get some in depth face to face knowledge on the product at the Clarisonic stand. I have read review after review praising this brand, and I have wanted it for some time but never wanted to give in to the price tag (they range from £100-220). I eventually ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ and I gave in (thank god I have a credit card with me). 

The purchase I made is the newly launched Clarisonic Smart Profile which can be used on the face and body through the use of different attatchments. Unfortunately, I am not sure this version is out in the UK yet, so you girls may just have to wait… although the Clarisonic Plus is very similar and a close second choice to the one I would have bought. The reason I chose this is because I often get breakouts on my shoulders and back, so I thought this might be a good investment for me. The new version also comes with a pedi brush attachment which is also a bonus. I did pay a hefty price tag of $280 (ouch), but I do not regret it one bit. 

The lovely lady in Lord and Taylor gave me a few attatchments for free which was a bonus, as well as cleansers. I personally don’t see the fascination with the cleanser if I am honest, I feel the one I use already (Clarins Cottonseed Cream Cleanser) paired with my Clarisonic does a better job so don’t feel obliged to give in. 

I am currently using an attachment for deep cleansing, which I started off using twice a day. I have read many bloggers say they broke out in the beginning and I dreaded this but my breakout was very minimal. The breakout usually is all the dirt and oils trapped under your skin surfacing to the top. I now use the Clarisonic it once a day if I have worn makeup, sometimes I don’t even feel the need to use it on the days I haven't  worn make up as my skin still feels soft from the previous day. I also use the body brush twice a week on my shoulders and back, which has really helped control my breakouts and make my skin soft.

I did a comparison of how much makeup is left on my skin after removing makeup with a wipe, cleansing and toning vs the same routine with use of the Clarisonic to show the effectiveness it has of removing makeup: 

As you can see there is literally nothing left on my skin in the second picture.

Results of my skin without make-up after a month
As you can still I still have a few scars, but overall
my skin has a nice healthy glow. Note no filters were
used to take this photo, it was taken in natural light. 

I have been using the Clarisnoic daily for a month now, and I can not believe how many people have complimented me on my skin, a lot of comments to say I look glowing (I promise its for no other reason). I have found myself wear a lot less make up, as my products sink into my skin better and also blend better than they did prior to the use of this tool. My skin feels super soft and silky to touch, and I have also gained the confidence to go into the gym without tinted moisturiser anymore, and stay bare skinned(I am usually really conscice of my skin). 

I still cannot believe how great my skin looks in the morning, and when I take my make up off in the evening. I will not stop repeating this when I say, this is honestly one of the best beauty investments I have made. I am not saying go out and buy one now and you have to, I know many don’t have a fascination or need, however I can’t stress that although not a NEED once you try this you won’t look back. I can’t tell you if it work’s for everyone, it probably doesn’t but it really, REALLY worked for me. I am sold on the hype of the product, and wonder why it took me so long to give in. 

Overall this is my favourite beauty buy so far. So if you are contemplating, I hope you sway towards getting one; I promise you won’t regret it. I know there are many brands who do similar and cheaper products, however what I liked about Clarisonic is their confidence in their product and customer service (30 day money back guarantee), the range of heads available so you can change dependent on skin type or even share with your sibling/parent if you buy different attatchments. Some of the other brands also have bristles which turn, this in effect can be harsh on the skin, the Clarisonic pulses but does not turn. Finally I love that it is gentle enough on my skin to be used daily. 

Have you used any products that have lived up to their expectations? If so what were they? 

K xx

Please feel free to post any skin care tips, products or comments you may have which could benefit others. 

Straight To The Point

Hi Guys,

I know it’s been a while (again) but I have decided to only blog about items I feel are worth writing about, rather than posting for the sake of a “once a week” post. So this time I have come across something which has made me want to blog literally the next day.

About 10 years ago I got my first pair of GHD’s (still going strong- touch wood). Although they were a lot of money, they were the best around at the time. As technology has moved on many stylers released have caught up with GHD. To be honest I am disappointed that for their price tag they have not come up with anything new or exciting except a range of colours. For a much lower price other brands are coming up with something just as good, sometimes better. I have said it before but I will say it again- it’s not always the brand and you don’t always get what you pay for so do your research before splashing out.

The Remington Pearl Straighteners and Heat mat
£36 from Amazon

These are the Remington Pearl Straighteners. My cousin who lives abroad wanted some new straighteners;  she’s not very high maintenance and asked not to spend too much so I did some research and came across these. They arrived last week, and yesterday I tested them to see if they hold to their gleaming reviews.

The digital display and control settings panel

The Pearl comes with a heat mat which you can also store the straighteners in, the tool itself is a lovely pearl white design with a temperature control setting on the side.  They can go up to 235 degrees (if you are worried it won't be hot enough for your own hair). 

I washed and blow-dried my hair as normal and then used these. I was in a rush, but they heated up quickly with a bleep to let me know they are warm.

I am so used to my GHD’s that it felt slightly weird not to have to grip so tight (these pretty much glide through). I only had to go over my hair once and the results were great. Considering a day out and about in British weather my hair remained straight until evening.

The Results
Please note I never wear my hair dead straight,
I curve in the bottom. 

It is now the next day, I have slept on my hair, and it’s still straight. I rarely get these results even with my GHD’s or a salon blow dry. I have not even had to retouch my hair this morning, even after tying it up to go for a shower and taking it back down.

I am so amazed that I think I will invest in a pair myself; they seem great to take travelling as they adapt internationally and the price tag makes it worth the risk of anything happening to them. If something is to go wrong they also come with a 5 Year guarantee which is a bonus. I have not yet tried them to curl or in another country, but I may do a short follow up post after my holiday and let you all know how I get along with them.

As much as I Iove my GHD’s for been loyal to taming my hair through the years I think that innovation has moved on and in order to keep up they may need to come up with something new, or possibly lower their prices to meet with competitors. My next venture will be the Remington Pearl wand. 

Do you always get what you pay for, or are you paying for the brand? 

K xx

Please feel free to post any skin care tips, products or comments you may have which could benefit others.