Friday 7 December 2012

Summer lovely - beauty must haves for summer


In my previous life before being a mummy, wife, office worker, general domestic darling I was actually a beauty therapist sometimes make-up artist. Often in my job I was asked by my clients "what do you use?” It’s a good question really as I have been lucky enough to try a whole lota goodies and the benefit of seeing firsthand what works and what totally doesn't.

So in the spirit of the festive season I will share some great beauty finds with you, some very obvious, some not so much.

SPF - The cheapest best cream investment you can ever make. Seriously use it every day. You can either use it in a foundation if you are a religious make up wearer or a regular or tinted moisturiser if you don’t like the feel of regular sunscreen. Just remember that every time you walk outside, stand near a window, drive in the car you are exposing your skin to all those cancer causing, premature aging, skin thickening and pigmenting rays. Get the message? Ok good. P.S don’t forget to think about your chest and neck too ladies (and gentlemen) they need some SPF love too!

Water - Another totally obvious one is to make sure you are drinking lots of water (tea, coke or fruit drinks don’t count here) the skin is a good indication of inner health and if you are not drinking enough water, your skin can look sallow, dry and probably spotty from the build up of toxins in your poor body.

Exfoliation - A good quality AHA exfoliant- AHA stands for alpha hydroxy acid. Sounds scary and painful but it’s totally not. If you want that gorgeous soft baby faced skin, this is what you need to use. The exfoliant helps to remove the old dead layer of skin, get rid of blockages that cause spots and blackheads. If you need any more convincing, there is evidence to suggest that regular exfoliation actually helps prevent the occurrence of skin cancers!

Treatment serum or treatment cream for your skin type - This can be a bit pricey sorry but totally worth it for giving your skin the boost it needs. Personally I use Ultra C Facial Cream 23% by Ultraceuticals and it is awesome for a drier skin type.

I like something that helps to hydrate my skin, help refine the texture and give that nice glowy effect so this is perfect for me. If you have an oily skin, you probably want to look at something for helping control shine, keep oil production under control and help keep your skin clear of spot causing blockages.

Skin Illuminator - If you don’t have this in your make up kit, you should. I love the Radiant Highlighter by the body shop, particularly because it’s a pretty good price and isn't sparkly like a lot of others I have found.  


For daytime use, I like to add a little to my foundation to lighten up the coverage and give that gorgeous dewy skin effect. You can use it to highlight your cheek and brow bones too but just go easy here as you don’t want to look too shiny!

Lip tint - Another one I love from the body shop gets points because of the price factor but it also gives a gorgeous natural colour Lip and cheek stain

This was actually recommended to me by a very clever makeup artist about four years ago to use on brides who want something long lasting but natural looking (and kiss proof). Perfect if you want to liven up your lips without looking "done up" during the day.

Mascara - What woman doesn't love good mascara? I can't take credit for spotting this one either as an old beauty school friend posted this one on her pintrest board (Thanks Emma :) ) Beyond Amplifying Mascara by Designer brands.

This is awesome for those who like me end up with black panda eyes after a few hours of wearing regular or water proof mascara, the best bit is that it comes off like a dream in little black tubes with only warm water when you want to take it off ahhhhh.
***If you happen to be lucky enough to live in sunny Perth and are looking for a talented makeup artist you can look up Emma on Facebook here

Eye Shadow Quad/ Trio - The Swan Lake Prismatic Quad by Napoleon Perdis is a great palette that works on anyone, and allows you to create anything from a natural look all the way up to a super smoky

A matte pinky cream, a matte cool tone taupe, a shimmery cool tone bronze, a matte almost black chocolate. If you are on a budget, please don't let it put you off trying something like this or another quality make up brand, what you spend you get back in good colour lay down (when the colour actually shows up on your eyes) and something that will actually last the day or night rather than fading away to nothing.




Now I am on a roll, I could probably bang on for another couple of hours about beauty must haves but we will leave it here for now so as not to wear you out and these really are my top basics minus fake tan, foundation and blush, but we can leave those for another day.



Is there something you think I have missed or a recommendation you have? Make sure you leave a comment and share the love!

xo







No comments :

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...