August Ipsy Bag

Hello Beauties, 

So this month the theme for the Ipsy bag was back to school ( prep school to be exact)

The bag this month was a patterned and slightly textured bag in black and white with hot pink accents.

The 5 pieces I received inside my bag this month were:

1. Hikari lip gloss in "salsa:
2. City Colour HD powder ( SO EXCITED!)
3. Briogeo Blossom and Bloom Ginseng and biotin volumizing spray
4. Lather ultra mild face wash
5. Starlooks liquid liner pen in black


This month my bag was just alright.  I really enjoyed 3 of the 5 products, however the other 2 were a complete miss.


The Hikari lip gloss is beautiful, it is a fully pigmented ultra shiny gloss and the colour payout is AMAZING. It really wears more like a lip lacquer than a lip gloss. The downside is that because it is ultra shiny, it is also sticky. I found because of the high shine in the product that it never really "dries" which means that your lips stay tacky for as long as you're wearing it. The second issue I had with this product is that it does not have the staying power of some of its peers the wear time is relatively short.

I am trying to get into filming YouTube tutorials right now, so this powder is fabulous. I am able to set all of my looks without the harsh blow back that you would get from other traditional translucent/ setting powders. I wish that I had gotten it in a pressed powder formula instead of the loose powder (just personal preference). The powder performs well, it set my makeup and has kept it in place through the hot and humid August days.

The Briogeo volumizing spray was not one of the products that I used a whole lot of. I have a tonne of volume naturally, my hair is thick and curly, so I only ever really used this spray to try and help my hair along after I had back combed it. I can't honestly say if this spray made a difference or not, I really didn't notice any difference in my hair when i used the spray Vs not using it... Womp

Oh, the lather face wash... I was really hoping that I would like this one. I had heard really good things about this face wash and if I'm being totally honest, it worked really well BUT it smells awful. I just don't want to put it on my face again.

Last but not least, and possibly one of my favourites the Starlooks liquid liner pen by Doucce. This liquid liner is killer! the fine tip give you ultimate control over your liner look, whether it's a graphic liner, or something super simple. The colour payout is great and it stays ALL day. This was a great find for me.

Tips: The Scrub That Will Ruin Your Skin

Hello Beauties,

I realized it's been a while since I've done an honest to goodness skin care post, so, here it is.

Your skin is your body's largest organ. It is a complex system of layered cells that protects the rest of your body from the harsh pollutants of the outside world. The dermal layers of the skin in order from the surface down are :
- The epidermis
- The dermis
- The Hypodermis

Skin care lotions and creams generally only penetrate the skin to its epidermal layers, though some medicinal creams and lotions can penetrate into the dermis and hypodermis.

The epidermis contains:
- The Stratum Corneum
- The Stratum Lucidum
- The Stratum Granulosum
- The Stratum Spinosum
- The Stratum Basale

If skin cells are the bricks of the skin, then collagen is the mortar. It helps to hold the skin together and gives your skin it's elasticity as well as its strength, and is responsible for replacing dead skin cells. Your collagen is essentially the main support structure for your skin. As we age your body produces less collagen, which makes the skin loose its elasticity.
It's this slow down in the production of collagen that causes fine lines and wrinkles to occur.


Let's get into exfoliating.
You should be exfoliating your skin once a week. This will help remove the layer of dead skin cells (stratum corneum), so that your body can replace them with healthy new cells.
Over exfoliating, and exfoliating with products that are too harsh can result in skin conditions (IE Oily skin), and the long term breakdown of your skin's function.


which brings us to...

St. Ives -

I'm sure most of you have at least heard about, if not used the St. Ives apricot scrub...and here is why you should never use it on your face again.

They claim to use "crushed" apricot pits in their scrub as an exfoliant. the problem with that is when you crush anything, especially something as rigid as a peach/ apricot pit, you're going to get sharp and jagged pieces in the product. These jagged pieces will force off healthy skin cells, as well as the dead ones as it moves across the dermis. Over time this will result in the break down of the collagen that holds the cells together, which will cause premature aging, fine lines and wrinkles.

If you're looking for a good scrub that will be gentle on your skin, but still effective, try any type of scrub with round exfoliating beads. These beads are generally man made from plastic materials.
If you're looking for something a little more natural - look for something that contains jojoba beads. These beads are made from the jojoba wax and are all natural.

If you're looking for something that is gentle enough to use on your skin every day, you could try Dermalogica daily microfoliant.

This is my personal favourite, you can use it as often or as few times a week as you like.

Exfoliating is the way to beautiful, glowing skin. Just make sure you're using the right product for your skin.

Danielle