Purity Organic Skincare - Product Range Overview

I've mentioned my love for Purity before and reviewed a couple of their products. Recently I entered a competition of theirs and although I didn't win, I was kindly sent some products as a thank-you for entering. I was really not expecting all these lush goodies, so it was a lovely surprise in the post. Below are the cleansing products. I have previously purchased the Conditioning Cleansing Lotion myself before, and this is a product I find very effective and kind to my skin. It has quite a milky texture and is a gentle way to remove my make-up at the end of the day. Because it's conditioning, it also leaves a nice smooth finish on my skin. I have also bought the Exfoliating Wash before which I'm sure I've reviewed so won't go in to detail here, but it's another great product and one I will repurchase when this runs out. I alternate between this and Lush's Angels on Bare Skin, and they both seem to do wonders for my skin. The Facial Wash is one I wanted to try out so I was happy to see this in my parcel.

A couple of products I probably wouldn't have otherwise purchased were the two anti-aging products. I'm still just about the right side of 25, and I don't really think about aging although I feel like the cosmetics industry would have me believe that now is the time to start taking action to help prevent the effects it will have on my skin. I'm not buying into most of the hype surrounding anti-age products, but I think these products are a little bit different from your average anti-aging product. I won't name any brands, but there are some that claim far too much than they actually deliver and contain such a cocktail of chemicals, they end up doing the exact opposite to your skin than you were hoping for. I remember a programme a while back which studied a variety of products. Whilst using the products, skin might appear younger, but once stopped, and the skin examined, it was clear the signs of aging had been sped up. The brands with the fewer chemicals came up tops and that's why I feel like I might be having my eyes opened to Purity for their anti-aging range, I've actually used the serum mask once and I have very positive thoughts so far, so a review will be to follow shortly. The original Facial Moisturiser is my current moisturiser, I purchased this myself with the Cleansing Lotion, so it's good to have a back-up when it runs out. The other moisturiser is the Regenerating Overnight Moisturiser which I haven't yet tried out. I tend not to use rich moisturisers as my skin is quite oily, but going in to winter time this is less of a problem, and it is always beneficial to your skin to give it a good hydration from time to time so this is something I'm looking forward to trying.

I'm going to give using the products I haven't reviewed a little while longer before I review them in more detail, but my initial thoughts are pretty good and of the usual standard I expect from this brand.

Have you ever tried Purity?

UNE Eye Pencils

I'm on an Une role at the moment. I loved the foundation so decided to branch out and try their eye pencils. If there's one part of your body that you might want to avoid products with man-made chemicals in it's probably your eyes, and these are the first eyeliners I've seen that are natural. I wear eyeliner practically every day, liquid on the lashline, and a pencil or kohl on the waterline, and have done for years, so I know I'm not sensitive to any chemicals, but it's never too late to try and be good to my body.

There are a few different eye pencils available, and this is where you need a beady eye because they all look the same, same white packaging, same square shape, and the concealer is the same format too which I found the whole idea of a pencil crayon concealer quite interesting. But anyway, thinking about it, eye pencils are one of the most annoying things to buy, they will be put closely together and get so mixed up, you reach for a kohl and you get an eyebrow pencil, I also don't enjoy sifting through them to find one that hasn't been blunted (real word?). That wasn't an issue with these pencils since they took me the best part of 20 minutes to remove the security packaging when I got home. Still, you might need to look at these closely since the only clue to colour is on one end of the pencil, the names give nothing away as they are random letters and numbers.
Below is the eyebrow pencil in B01. There were only two shades available, and since I'm blonde I went with the lighter shade. This was a bit of a mistake since my hair naturally is quite a dark shade of brown, and so my eyebrows are not really blonde. I usually find dark pencils a bit too contrasting with the light hair so I don't want to go any darker than my natural brow colour. The B01 pencil has a slight reddish tone, so I would say this particular pencil would be great for a redhead, or someone with naturally blonde eyebrows. I swatched it on my hand so see the colour but sadly I will have to sell this since it's really not a match for me, it's far too light. I may go back for the darker shade but have a feeling this may be too dark for me, and since the eyebrow pencils are all sealed and there's no testers, I might give it a miss. From the swatch however, I was pleased with the quality of this pencil, some eyebrow pencils have to be pressed quite firmly on the skin just to get any colour pay off. This usally means they stay put once they are which is important because you really don't want to see your eyebrows smudged half way up your forehead. But I liked the way it just glided on with minimal effort and was hard to rub off my hand afterwards. The colour is buildable, I just got a faint bit of colour to begin with, but it doesn't look like an obviously drawn on line, just feathered, evened out colour with no patches which would look very realistic on your brows. Not so in my case since it's about 3 shades too light but you know what I mean! I had a terrible time opening these pencils, and consequently ended up breaking this one. This is the Absolute Blacks KOHL which was available in two shades, this one and a very similar looking one which I think had a hint of blue, but it was difficult to tell the shade just from the end of it. This is a very highly pigmented pencil, it has a very soft formula, similar to kajal, which is why it broke so easily, but it means this goes on like a dream, so soft! Initially, I really liked how easy this was to apply and achieve a dramatic look if you wanted, but a few hours in and I was not so pleased. I'd only worn this in my flat, and a couple of hours later, I looked in the mirror and I looked like I'd been to sleep in my makeup. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it was smudged up, to the point where I would be very wary about wearing this out in public. I've used a lot of kohls in the past, by many different brands and never experienced this, so it's a little disappointing, since this is the product I really hoped would work for me.

I'm not one to dismiss a product too quickly though and I gave this another try today, this time applying just to the waterline, I think I put a little on the lower lashline last time instead of liquid liner, and it seemed to fare better when not applied directly to the skin.

The third and final eye pencil I got was this Sfumato Eyes Pencil. Now I don't know what Sfumato means to you, but for me, it means a great quality eyeliner, one that is kind on my skin, and doesn't give me panda eyes. I went for S11 (I have to add at this point how much I really don't like the name format of Une's products, it makes them very unspecial and hard to remember) which is a deep dark brown with ash tones. I use this in the same way I would use the kohl, but I was very pleased to find this does not move about of it's own free will, but stays nicely in place underneath my lash line. It doesn't last as long on my waterline but I think that's pretty obvious, the only colour that stays there for long enough is black, any other coloured eyeliner I've used there has generally faded after a couple of hours, maybe less.There were also some glittery pencil liners available which looked fun and perhaps next on my to-buy list.

Has anyone else tried any of these pencils?
Also, please get in touch if you want to take the blonde eyebrow pencil off my hands as I might as well sell it.!

Loving and Disliking Part Une...

Some things I'm loving and disliking (Because hate's a strong word!) lately.

Loving:

Sushi! Can't get enough of it lately

Katy B, there's something hauntingly beautiful about her voice, and in the genre she's associated with as a whole, I hope she takes off and gets the full credit she deserves.

Finding shoes that fit well. I love heels but it's so difficult to find the right combination of high heel, stylish and comfortable all rolled into one. Lately I've been successful in finding shoes that I like and don't hurt like hell either.

New beginnings. I'm excited that one chapter of my life has ended, and now another one is about to begin, exciting times ahead. :)

Disliking:

Breaking nails - I had them in such great condition, they were long, strong, the tips were white, so I painted them A LOT, and now I seem to be breaking them. :( Nothing lasts forever does it, but why is it when I break a nail it has to be so low down. Oh dear.

Shorter days, it's only September and it's noticable already that the days are getting shorter, booo!

UNE Skin Glow Foundation Review

In my last post I mentioned the UNE Skin Glow Foundation as my weapon of choice for my FOTD. Back in March, UNE received quite a bit of publicity as they were just launching and reaching out to new customers. Things got a little quiet since then, and admittedly, I hadn't heard of this brand until around a fortnight ago when I found the makeup stand at Westfield in Shepard's Bush, and came home with a bottle of this, bought partly on impulse, and searched the brand for more information.

Now I'm going to write this review based purely on my experience with this foundation and ignore what I've read, because so far, I don't feel like this brand has been painted in a positive light which with my experience isn't rightly so, because I have nothing really negative to say.

So a quick overview of UNE, they are a spin-off company from Bourjois, but differ quite considerably to Bourjois, or any other make-up brand in that they are a "natural" cosmetic company. I think if any brand is deserving of that title, it would certainly be UNE since in the foundation alone, 98.2% of the ingredients are from natural origin, 17.1% are from Organic Farming, and many of the products, if not all, are free from parabens.

There may be a brand comparable, but when you walk into Boots, that's not neccessarily obvious, and that's what singles this brand out, is it's accessibility. Since buying the foundation in a large branch of Boots, I have now seen a stand in my local Superdrug, which I was pleased to find, and glad that this brand is reaching out as accessible and affordable. I opted for shade G06 which I think is around a MAC NC20-25. The foundation was priced at around £13 for 30ml of product. Not cheap, but then not vastly expensive either. It's mid-range, cheaper than a lot of foundations I've tried and a price I'm willing to pay to not put a cocktail of chemicals on my face. Don't get me wrong, I'll slap on MAC like it's going out of fashion, but I do think it's important to give my skin a breather from time to time, and I am one of those paranoid people who's a little afraid of chemicals. If I could choose a product from another and the only difference was the list of ingredients, then I'd obviously plump for the one without the artificiality, and I'm sure I'm not alone. So I applaud UNE for going against the grain and releasing an authentic natural range.

The real test is in how this make-up holds up. It's all well and good being natural, but if this make-up is gone without a trace in 2 hours, it's somewhat useless. NOT the case I'm glad to say! This is a "glow" effect foundation, and I am a combination/oily skinned client, so we are not traditionally a match made. I usually need something with "matte" in the title, particularly this time of year, late spring to early autumn and anything "glowy" or "dewy" on my skin usually=shiny. If I don't powder, I do notice a shine, but it's actually not something I can't live with, I don't feel like my skin is suffering under there, it's just a very natural look. It makes me feel like I can embrace the natural oily state of my skin, because it is still less oily than usual, and it evens out my skin tone, minimises my pores, all the while looking natural.

Here we have a blob. I wanted to give you an idea of the consistency and texture of the foundation. It looks like any other at this point I suppose.
Rubbed in a little, it's actually very smooth to apply, even on the dry skin on my hands it doesn't pick up any skin, just smooths over for an even texture. It's very creamy yet light feeling.

And rubbed in almost entirely, this is pretty much the coverage on my face, minus the cracks because my hands are a little dry lately. A little blob goes a long way which is another plus point, I don't like to apply a lot of foundation, I want a foundation that is going to last me a good few months so it's good value, and this definitely does the job.

So is this foundation for you? If you want heavy coverage then no, definitely bypass this, but if you enjoy make-up and want to go for a lighter, natural look than normal without skipping foundation it might be worth a look. I think this is great for people just getting into make-up aswell, people who might not have tried any foundations before, or if you have problematic, sensitive skin, this might be suitable as it's free from harsh chemicals. Even those make-up lovers who just want something for their down-days where you still want to wear a foundation but without the effort of a heavy coverage face, since this is almost like a tinted moisturiser. Since buying this, I've also gone back to my parents house to visit and lost my moisturiser somewhere in transition, so I use this after toning and it's become a make shift moisturiser/foundation. I love a good multi-use product.

FOTD using UNE Foundation and Sleek Jewels palette and NOTD 1/9/2010

It feels like England is clinging on to Summer now with a little burst of sunshine, even though technically it's September, we're now officially Autumn. This time of year usually means finding transitional makeup, makeup that's suitable for both seasons. For me, that usally means finding rich, plummy, golden colours, at least for my eyeshadow. A palette I find perfect for those rich, beautiful colours is the Jewels palette by Sleek, so I dug that one out and will show you a quick FOTD.I used the champagne gold colour all over the lid, it's a perfect wash colour, and probably one of only two colours I can use all over the lid. Then for the crease I picked out the plum/purple shade, and used the silver on the inner corner. Still a pretty neutral look, but the purple livens it up a little. Sleek is fantastic for their pigmented eyeshadows, they look so multi-dimensional once applied, so much depth to the colour. The only problem is finding a palette with an entire range of colours that I can wear. I wish they would bring out a neutrals palette, like the Urban Decay Naked palette, it would be pretty near perfection in a £5 palette. Close up of the eyes - I used Sleek Jewels, No. 7 Amazing Eyes eyeliner, (I found another liquid liner that actually compares to my HG Loreal Superliner!) it was given to me by my Mum since she couldn't apply it, and it's surprisngly very good, and I'd say pretty fool-proof too, if you're a shaky-hand-eyeliner-applier as I am.

Other products I used

EYES: Bourjois 1001 Lashes mascara, topped with Rimmel Volume Flash the Max mascara; Eyeshadows primed with TFSI;

FACE: Une Skin Glow Foundation in G06 (Love this, review to come soon); Rimmel Clarifying Powder, MAC Refined Golden bronzer.

LIPS: Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Rose Pearl.

And not to leave my nails out, since I really love this colour, I painted them in Barry M's Racing Green, which is truly a gorgeous colour in it's own right, it reminds me of old Jaguars, not just the colour but the finish aswell. I decided to turn it matte out of curiousity, and it turned out pretty good. It's a slightly irridescent colour, and you can still see the other dimensions to this colour, just in matte form. I'm going to be sporting this a lot through Autumn I think. I prefer dark colours for my nails so I'm not going to miss the summer pastel shades too much.

What are your favourite colours for autumn?

NOTD Matte Barry M Shocking Pink

Whenever I look at Barry M, I always gravitate to the shades that are probably the most obscure and unusual, the purples, the blues, the greens...I overlook the more normal colours. I'm sure I could find a hot pink shade like this by most cosmetic brands. Truth be told though, there aren't many brands of nail polish that please me as much as Barry M in terms of quality and value for money. It's the most long lasting nail polish I've tried and that's comparing it with brands such as OPI and YSL, and this is cheap as chips, almost. So rather than reserving Barry M for times when I want to pick up a new, outlandish shade, I'm going to make a point of picking up more every day, easy to find colours, so this one, Shocking Pink, was a start. It's not neon and nothing you haven't seen before, just a good quality hot pink shade. I've noticed a lot of hype around matte shades lately and realise they are making a bit of a comeback. I wasn't about to go out and buy a load of matte shades, instead I found this rather amazing, (well it amazes me!) product from Rimmel called Matte Finish, Mattifying Topcoat. Does exactly what it says, and worked even better than I expected it to. I thought it might need a couple of layers to become completely matte, or that it might somehow change the colour I'd already painted, but it did neither of these. It's literally just a quick one coat paint job and it dries incredibly quick. It turns even a very glossy finish like Barry M's Shocking Pink into a completely matte finish.It's always a good idea to use a topcoat to make your polish last longer, so now I can use this in place of my normal topcoat and get even longer wear out of my nails with a matte finish. I'm very impressed so far, I've actually been wearing this for about 4 or 5 days now, and there is only signs of chipping on the corner of a few nails. I'm going to redo them today, because I feel like a change, but I could get away with probably another couple of days if I wanted.

I like that this topcoat is a true matte finish aswell, it doesn't have that semi-matte, more of a satin finish, it's a pretty straight, flat matte!

So for around £4.95 this is a great value nail polish if you want to update your nail look. Definitely more purse-friendly than buying a whole bunch of new matte shades which you probably won't get to finish the bottle of, and you have the added bonus of being able to transform any shade you own.

Cornwall August 2010

Last week I went to Cornwall for a couple of nights. I braved the six-hour drive on the way down there, and an even longer drive on the way back. We decided to take the "scenic" route which inevitably means the longer route. I hate motorways though, and some of the countryside we drove through was very beautiful so it was worth it. We took the road that passes Stonehenge which I'd never seen before. It was a bit surreal seeing it this close, it's somewhere I associate with having a lot of mystique about it, and attract a lot of tourists, but it was strange how isolated it is from anywhere else, it just kind of pops up in a field. Here's one of the shots I managed to take from the car as we drove by.
Once we arrived in Cornwall and checked into the B&B we went to the harbour for lunch. It was so sweet and idyllic, and obviously a lot of other people thought so too, it's so busy this time of year.After lunch, we decided to head to the beach to escape the crowds, afterall we'd left for a break from the chaos of the city. This was so not how I remembered British beaches to be, white sand, and clean turquoise sea, so beautiful. It wasn't very hot whilst we were there, in the low 20 degrees, so the beaches were pretty quiet. Next day we decided to go for a walk along the coast. The weather really wasn't typical of summer so we gave up the hope of having a beach day and soaked up the scenic coastal walk instead.
Near to where we parked, there were signs for the walk which took us up a steep slope to the cliff edge, then in the middle of the grass there was this giant hole which the picture doesn't really give you much of an idea of just how giant and deep it was. I think it was caused by the waves crashing underneath and causing a collapsed cave.
I saw corn and wall! Back to the start of our walk near the beach where we ate lunch that day, the houses in the background are so pretty.

So it wasn't quite the same as a summer vacation abroad, and if the weather had have been sunny it would have made it a million times better, but I still had fun and was reminded by the beautiful sites we have without leaving our shores.