Tag Archives: beauty

The Benefits of Rose Water

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Since Ancient Egyptian times rose water has been used not only as a drink but for its skin benefits. It’s said that Cleopatra used to bathe in rose water, and still today you can see it’s benefits if regularly used. I’ve used many toners in the past that have rose water as an ingredient, famed for its rejuvenating, soothing and calming properties, but I had yet to use it on its own until I found Erbology Organic Rose Water.

The Erbology Organic Rose Water is made from only the best organic fertile Damask rose petals making it the perfect rose water to use on your skin. I suffer from oily skin that is prone to redness and have found in the past that a lot of toners aimed at my skin type tend to cause my skin to dry out too much. When switching to moisturising toners I found that they broke me out so I could never find a happy in-between! This is when I decided to switch to a more natural product like rose water, hoping that I would see some of the the famed benefits. It is claimed that rose water:

  • Reduces skin redness and puffiness due to its anti-inflammatory properties
  • Helps to sooth skin irritation such as eczema
  • Help prevent acne due to its antiseptic properties
  • Helps to prevent cell damage as it contains antioxidants which are found within rose petals

After using the Erbology Organic Rose Water for 3 weeks every morning and night I found that the redness in my skin reduced and I was able to go to work without feeling the need to wear foundation. My skin felt cleaner after using it, without feeling stripped (due to rose water having a neutral pH 7), and it was gentle enough to retain moisture in my skin without breaking me out in spots! Ditching harsher ingredients for pure rose water was the best switch I made for my skin and I’ve even had compliments on how glowing my skin looks! When you treat your skin correctly the results are bountiful.

Continuing with my use of rose water I’m sure that my skin can only get better, especially that after 3 weeks I’m already seeing fantastic benefits and I will also be experimenting with incorporating it into food, as it is a very popular ingredient in the Middle Eastern cooking. If you have sensitive, acne prone or skin redness then it’s definitely worth trying to incorporate rose water into your beauty regime! The Erbology Organic Rose Water can also be drank or mixed into smoothies; I found it very calming when I drank it before bed and it helped me to fall asleep.

You can purchase the Erbology Organic Rose Water from their website here – Erbology Organic Rose Water, along with a range of other fantastic health products!

Have you tried rose water before?

Laura ♡

Disclaimer: I was gifted this rose water, however all opinions are genuine and my own.

 

Ditching The Plastic – My Shampoo Bar Journey

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I’m not one to stick to my New Years resolutions, but as the clock struck 12 on 1st January 2020 I vowed that this year I was going to make a conscious effort to reduce my plastic waste. This resolution seemed more achievable than my usual ‘eat less chocolate’ or ‘exercise more’ goals that I seemingly failed to do each year. I was easily able to ditch my makeup wipes and single use cotton pads for reusable hand stitched cotton pads, which if anything actually cleaned my skin better than the single use ones! Next I was able to switch my toothbrush for a bamboo toothbrush, my ear buds for bamboo ear buds and my plastic shopping bags for more durable fair trade cotton bags.

I made many switches but the last thing I was reluctant to ditch were my (plastic bottled) shampoo and conditioner. I’ve tried in the past to switch to a shampoo bar but it was disastrous. Many shampoo bars don’t contain SLS (SLS is round is most standard shampoo and stripes your hair of its natural oils) so you have to go through an adjustment period when you switch which can take up to two months. I really tried for months with other shampoo bars but was left with lank greasy hair, the transition phase seemed to never end. Due to this I was reluctant to try a shampoo bar again, however mid lockdown as I browsed the shelves of my local Waitrose for the ever scarce hand sanitiser or soap I spotted Beco Argan Oil Shampoo Bars for just £4 a bar, which I had only spotted due to someone placing it in the soap section of the store and not the haircare section! I mean what was the worst that was going to happen? If they gave me greasy hair like the others at least no one would see me due to lockdown!

After I got home and searched Beco I found out how much of an amazing company they are. Their products are vegan, cruelty free, 97% organic, hypoallergenic, pH balanced, biodegradable as well as being plastic, paraben and SLS free. But the most amazing thing about Beco is that they’re a social enterprise that help disabled people get job by actively encouraging other companies to employ disabled staff, with 80% of own workforce being disabled. Unfortunately the employments rates amongst disabled people are higher than the rates amongst people without disabilities, but Beco are campaigning to change this.

The product itself comes unwrapped in a FSC certified recyclable cardboard box. The first thing I noticed about this shampoo bar was how amazing it smelt, I could even smell it through the box! Surprisingly when I used the bar for the first time it lathered up really well compared to other bars I’ve used, which is thanks to the Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate it contains – a natural mild surfactant derived from coconut. After using it my hair felt lovely and clean, where as with other bars it felt heavy and greasy. I expected there to be a transition phase using the Beco Argan Oil Shampoo Bar but my hair was perfect from the start! Not only did my hair not get greasy as fast but it was left beautifully soft. I was really impressed with the results from this £4 bar! The best part about it was the bar lasted SO long, one bar lasted me around 2-3 months which is far longer than a standard bottle of shampoo would last me. It should also be noted that because this shampoo bar doesn’t contain natural oil stripping ingredients you can use it without conditioner and still have beautiful soft hair. I have bleached hair and use this bar without conditioner most days, or use a silicone free conditioner when I feel my hair needs a little nourishment. You may think using no conditioner would ruin your hair but my hair has become more healthy with less split ends!

The Beco Argan Oil Shampoo Bar comes in 3 different scents – honey blossom and spring meadow; I tried both and they both smell lovely. Beco also sell bars of hand soap and liquid soap and you can find their products in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, Boots and The Ethical Superstore. To find out more about Beco and the amazing work they do visit their website https://betterconsidered.org

What shampoo bar brands have you tried?

Laura ♡

Heaven Sent Lichfield Review

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It’s not often that I get time to pamper myself, so I set it as my new years resolution for 2020 to start giving myself the pampering I deserve! There’s nothing better than having a relaxing massage or facial after a hard week at work and in late 2019 I discovered the newly opened Heaven Sent in the charming cathedral city of Lichfield, located in Staffordshire.

Heaven Sent is a luxury salon spa located in a beautiful listed building on the scenic cobbled streets of Lichfield. Already having a branch in Sutton Coldfield, Heaven Sent opened the Lichfield branch in December 2019 offering an array of skin and beauty therapeutic treatments. After visiting the salon in December when it first opened, having an amazing facial and massage treatment, I couldn’t wait to come back. Eager to visit again I returned this month to try out the ‘Lichfield Luxury Ritual‘.

Upon entering the salon you’re greeting by the bright fresh chic interior and friendly staff who show you to the stylish seating area to relax and enjoy a drink whilst you wait for your treatment. After a few minutes I was then shown to the ambiently lit treatment room where the ‘Lichfield Luxury Ritual’ would be taking place, which had amazing heated massage beds and candles lit to set the mood. I was so warm and cosy that I could have nodded off! The treatment started off with some relaxing inhalation’s of lavender and vetiver to bring a calming feel of tranquility to the experience; this is something I’ve never done before but it really relaxed me!

The ritual then proceeded which started off with a well needed soothing foot exfoliation for my tired feet. My feet were then wrapped in warm steamed towels whilst my back was coated in a cleansing body lather that contained olive grains to exfoliant and cleanse my skin. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, a soothing mask was applied to my feet, followed by amazing heated booties. I was in heaven! To finish the ritual my whole body, including face and scalp was massaged with luxurious body oil followed up with sleep well nourishing body cream.

The whole ritual took about 80 minutes and I was left feeling a new level of relaxation I’d never felt before, with super soft skin! After my treatment I was able to return to the stylish waiting area where I chatted to the lovely staff and helped myself to the drinks on offer for clients. After a tiring January at work this was just what I needed to revitalise myself! After the treatment I returned home and had one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time. Heaven Sent go above and beyond to make sure your experience is one to remember, from the beautiful interior to the attention to detail to goes into perfecting every treatment. Kelly and all the team at Heaven Sent really know how to make you feel special and this is reason why I will be returning again and again for the fantastic treatments they have on offer!

If your local to Staffordshire or the West Midlands I’d definitely recommend visiting Heaven Scent, you certainly won’t regret it! Whether you’re tired and worn out, or just need some pampering, Heaven Scent has a treatment to fit your every need and bring you back to feeling like your best self! You can find out more about what they have to offer on their website here.

When booking you can use ‘LAURA15’ to gain 15% off the price of any treatment!

What’s your favourite spa treatment?

Laura 
♡

Disclaimer: I was gifted this treatment, however all opinions are genuine and my own.

 

The Envy Facial at Dermoperfection UK

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Over the festive period whilst we eat, drink and be merry, the partying and over indulgence can really take a toll on our skin. Thinking there’s no way to rescue your skin? Dermoperfection in Birmingham has come to the rescue with the ENVY Facial!

Dermoperfection is a medical aesthetics clinic that opened in early 2019 within Birmingham city centre and is now the first establishment in Birmingham to offer the ENVY facial. If you haven’t heard of the ENVY facial as of yet I’m sure you will be hearing much more about it soon, this celebrity favourite facial helps you achieve the skin of your dreams leaving your skin red carpet ready in under an hour!

How does the ENVY facial work?

Photo credit: Dr Nyla Raja

The ENVY facial, created by ENVY medical cleverly utilises a 3-in-1 skin resurfacing treatment carried out by a patented diamond tip hand held device, which exfoliates and extracts dead skin, blackheads and impurities, whilst infusing your skin with serums all one one step. The ENVY technique allows the serums to fully penetrate your skin, absorbing into the layers where they’re most needed.

The most exciting thing about this treatment is that it’s completely customisable, which the choice of different serums targeted to specific skincare issues. But as many of you know most people have more than one issue with their skin and the founders behind the ENVY facial understood that, creating a device that can infuse two separate serums into the skin to target your different concerns.

Interestingly at the end of the facial you are actually able to see what impurities, dirt and blackheads were removed from your skin. If you book a course of facials you will be able to see that over time your skin will improve with each facial and less impurities will be present in the jar at the end. Not only does the ENVY facial reduce the appearance of wrinkles and plump up the skin, but it also has been shown to be very effective at treating other skin concerns such as acne, hyperpigmentation, rosacea and large pores.

My Experience

Upon entering the clinic I was greeted by Stuart, the friendly and knowledgable owner of Dermoperfection. Stuart showed me to the treatment room where I had my consultation and skin analysis during which it was decided what serums would be best for my skin. The ENVY facial offers 4 different serums to chose from:

  • Pro-Infusion Ultra Hydrating serum
  • Pro-Infusion Vitamin C serum
  • Pro-Infusion Skin Brightening serum
  • Pro-Infusion Pore Clarifying serum

Each facial uses two serums and with Stuart’s advice I decided to opt for the Pro-Infusion Pore Clarifying serum and the Pro-Infusion Vitamin C serum. The pore clarifying serum contains salicylic acid, bakuchiol and Origanum Vulgare leaf oil, which work together to target bacteria, unclog pores, reduce surface redness and prevent future outbreaks. The vitamin C serum contains vitamin C, vitamin E and grape seed extract which work together to help the production of collagen synthesis, protect against free radicals caused by oxidisation from sun exposure and helps the skin to retain moisture by preventing transepidermal water loss.

Next my skin was cleaned, followed by the serums I had chosen then being placed into the ENVY medical dermal infusion device with the facial then taking place shortly after. During the facial you feel a slight scratching sensation and pressure as the device is applied to your face, which is due to the diamond tip exfoliating the dead skin away. It was not painful in the slightest and the pressure applied can be altered so even the most delicate areas of your face such as your under eye area and lips can also be done. The facial itself took under half an hour and I was left with dewy glowing skin! My skin looked radiant and had no redness after, so I was able to leave the clinic and carry on with the rest of my day. However the best results from the facial appear 1-3 days later after the serum has been able to get to work , which is when my skin began to look even more radiant and youthful.

For me the best part of the facial is the jar of ‘junk’ you get at the end of it. This jar contains all the dead skin cells, blackheads and impurities that we’re extracted out of your skin and it really is a shock to see how much grime can be extracted from your face even if you have a brilliant skincare regime! Below is a photograph of my before (left) and after (right) jar.

I’m not sure if it was satisfying or disgusting that I was actually able to see the dead skin and blackheads floating around within the mixture extracted from my face which can be clearly seen in the photograph below.

I believe the ENVY facial is the perfect treatment to get your skin in tip top condition again without having to use invasive techniques. What’s also brilliant is that the ENVY device can be applied to any area of your body, so if your suffering from back acne or maybe want a glowing décolletage then this might be the perfect treatment for you. It’s really exciting that Dermoperfection has become the first clinic in all of Birmingham to start offering this revolutionary treatment and I can’t wait to see what other groundbreaking treatments Stuart and the team will be offering in the future! No other facial technique is able to carry out the 3-in-1 technology and infuse serums deep within the skin like the ENVY facial does. So what are you waiting for, 2020 calls for a new beginning and what better way to start it than having an ENVY facial at Dermoperfection!

Will you be trying you the ENVY facial?

Laura 
♡

Disclaimer: I was gifted this treatment, however all opinions are genuine and my own.

 

My First Experience With Microblading

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I’ve always dreamt of having the perfect eyebrows, but brow pencil just hasn’t quite cut it for me. Whether it’s my technique or the products I’ve been using, I’ve never been able to get my eyebrows to look just how I’d want to them to; I’m sure every girl understands this struggle! For a long time waking up with ‘fleeky’ eyebrows was just an unachievable dream for me until I discovered the new latest trend – microblading.

What is Microblading?

Microblading is a semi-permanent tattooing technique that uses a handheld tool to make small superficial incisions into the epidermis layer of the skin, depositing pigment under your skin. Microblading strokes are finer and look more natural than a traditional tattoo. Additionally, techniques can also be customised to include a combination of microblading and tattooing to create more defined brows.

Picking the Right Artist

After trawling through Instagram for hours, days, weeks, account after account, I finally found the artist I was looking for – Chelsea Brows! During my search I’d come across a lot of shoddy work and ‘back street’ practitioners advertising their work on Facebook marketplace without having proper training. It’s really important to research the person you’re going to, because they are literally giving you a tattoo on your face which will take a lot of time and money to remove if you don’t like it. Even worse you could end up with a nasty infection and scarring if your practitioner isn’t trained in aseptic techniques.

The Procedure

I’ve always been someone who’s a bit of a wuss and terrified of needles, so the thought of having my eyebrows microbladed terrified me. But beauty is pain right? After hearing some horror stories from friends telling me that the procedure was extremely painful I headed towards Chelsea Brows in Birmingham afraid of what lay ahead of me. Almost certain that I was going regret my decision to get my eyebrows microbladed when I discovered how painful it was I lay down on the table awaiting my fate. My microblading artist, Chelsea, was lovely and assured me it wasn’t going to be as bad as I expected it to be and after the first stroke I felt stupid that I was even scared! The pain was no where near as bad as I expected it and strangely enough I quite liked the weird scratching noise the microblading tool made as it created the strokes. Yes it was a bit sharp, but no where near the pain level I was expecting after reading other people’s reviews of their experiences online. I’m the type of person who faints whilst having blood tests so if I can do it then anyone can!

After the first initial strokes Chelsea applied a numbing cream which meant I could hardly feel anything after and the experience was quite relaxing. I opted for the ‘combination brows’ which was a combination of microblading strokes and shading using a tattoo gun to create more defined look whilst still looking natural. After Chelsea had finished she showed me my eyebrows, to say I was shocked would be an understatement. They were better than I expected, they were the eyebrows I had always dreamt of! I had envisioned in my head exactly how I wanted them to look and she had created that vision perfectly.

The Healing Process

This was definitely the most annoying part of having my eyebrows microbladed. It was amazing having perfect eyebrows but I had to keep them from getting wet for two whole weeks, which resulted in me having to shower in some very unusual positions to keep my eyebrows dry. After the first week and a half my eyebrows started to scab up and itch, which is completely normal but it took extreme concentration to prevent myself from scratching my eyebrows every time they got itchy. Prematurely pulling off scabs instead of letting them fall off naturally can pull out the pigment and leave you with patchy eyebrows so it’s really important that you don’t do this! After 6 weeks when my eyebrows had eventually healed I went for my microblading top up session which was included in the price of my initial session. The purpose of the top up session is to re-shade areas which may had faded during the initial healing process and make sure your brows are looking perfect as they can fade slightly after the first session. After the top up session I had to repeat the whole healing process once again but at least this time I knew what I was doing!

Is Microblading Worth it?

Following my top up session when my eyebrows had finally healed I was left with the eyebrows I had always dreamt of. It’s crazy how a tattoo can look so natural! Everywhere I’ve been going I’ve had compliments on them which is a definite confidence boost. The best thing about having microbladed eyebrows is waking up in the morning with perfect brows and being able to stroll out the house without the stress of trying to draw them on. I even had a man ask me how I manage to draw my eyebrows on so perfectly, Chelsea Brows is how!

That’s it now, I will be hooked for life on having my eyebrows microblading. How could I ever go back to drawn on eyebrows when I could have beautiful natural looking eyebrows from microblading. It’s safe to say I won’t be picking up the eyebrow pencil anytime soon! For more information and pricing details for where I got my eyebrows microblading you can visit the Chelsea Brows website here.

Have you ever contemplated having your eyebrows microbladed?

Laura 
♡

Disclaimer: I paid for the treatment in full, all opinions are genuine and my own.