Bathtime bubbles and body scrubs for beautiful skin and 'me time'

I’ve recently started a new job which comes with a much bigger responsibility.  While this is doing wonders for my career, one of the downsides is that I’ve been drafted here, there and everywhere, which means spending precious time away from my family.      

However, in a bid to see the positives in everything (well, at least I try), I’ve used this opportunity to take some ‘me time’ - reading a book, putting on a face mask and gorging on room service.  

Another luxury which comes with staying alone is that I can have a long bath without anyone banging on the door.  Something which, according to a new report from Radox, is one of our favourite treats.

Research by Radox reveals that the average person spends 16 weeks of their life in the bath, with three out of four of us using the bath as a time for solace and ‘me time’. 

Radox Bath Smoothies



Well, I certainly agree with the latter. 

Plus, with winter creeping in, more of us are turning to the bath over the quick and dirty shower.  So I thought I should combine by work-travel boredom with a spot of reviewing of bath goodies so I can recommend to you what to lather up in.     

Radox has brought out a new range of Bath Smoothies, sumptuous fruit-flavoured bath creams which lather up a treat.  Essentially, it’s bubble bath for grown ups.  I’ve tried Soul Soother - a blend of cranberry, blackcurrant and chamomile – during one of my recent stays, and it does what it says on the bottle. 

Soaking in the bath made me totally forget about the horrible journey to the hotel, where I had to stand in a packed out, smelly train.  I could have bathed longer had it not been for an irrational fear of sliding and drowning in the bath.  But that’s a whole other issue.

Dr Organic's Rose
Otto Body Scrub

Anyway, while Radox Bath Smoothies are lovely for relaxing, if you want to pack a cleansing punch into your ‘me time’, then I would recommend Dr Organic’s Rose Otto Body Scrub.  True to its name, the Rose-Otto oil infused scrub is great for cleansing and polishing (no need for a loofah).  It really goes further in the bath, as opposed to the shower, as the rose essence stays in the water.  Plus, using circular motions, you can properly exfoliate without the water rinsing the little volcanic lava particles (yes, that’s right, LAVA) away.    

I hope these recommendations are of use, as we head through autumn, I’ll be sure to post some more winter-friendly tips and reviews!              

Radox Bath Smoothies are available from Boots, Superdrug and selected supermarkets.  RRP: £2.99. 

Dr Organic’s Rose Otto Body Scrub is available at Holland & Barrett stores and online at http://www.drorganic.co.uk/. RRP: £6.99.  

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Colourworks Glitter Liner Giveaway!!!

Colourworks Glitter Liners 



One of my aims when writing Desi girl’s beauty blog was to share the love – by giving away fab goodies to loyal readers. 

 

So as my first freebie, I’m giving away a brand new Colour Works Glitter Liner set to one lucky reader of Desi girl’s beauty blog.  I’ve reviewed this product, so click here and see for yourself how fab it is!      




Colourworks Glitter Liners work their magic

 To be in with a chance of winning the Colourworks Glitter Liner, you need to do one of two things: 

‘Like’ Desi girl’s beauty blog on Facebook 

And/or   

Tweet the link to your favourite Desi girl’s beauty blog post

If you’re tweeting, be sure to email me to let me know – dgbeautyblog@gmail.com.  Then I can then get in touch if you are the chosen winner!

By the way, if you both ‘Like’ on Facebook and tweet your fave post, you’ll have a greater chance of winning!

For those who are already ‘liking’ on Facebook, you’ll automatically entered into the giveaway. 

Simples!      

I’ll choose a winner over the next few weeks, so get on it!   

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A flick of colour with Colourworks Glitter Liners review

Colourworks Glitter Liners 

As part of my ongoing experimentation that is Desi girl’s beauty blog, I’ve recently tried to introduce a bit of colour into my makeup palette.  That’s not to say that my makeup range was colourless, but one thing that stayed safe was my trustworthy eyeliner.  It was – and always has been - black. 

So when I was offered the chance to try out Colourworks Glitter Liners, I couldn’t resist.  Because if there was one product that would get me out of my self-induced noir rut, this was it.  

The liners certainly add pizzazz to your peepers. With five different colours, the Liners set can prep up an evening look, or even be worn with simple makeup.  They’re easy to apply and the colour is buildable.  And if, like me, you struggle to go without dark or black eyeliner, the Glitter Liners work just as well atop your usual eyeliner.  

Blue and gold - Colourworks can work the colour blocking trend

My personal fave among the range is the purple, and I’m going all colour block crazy by using a different colour on top and underneath my eyes – the options really are endless.  

Colour works Glitter Liners is £4.99 and is available in Superdrug.  

Best of all, I’m giving away the eyeliner to readers of Desi girl’s beauty blog.  Click here to find out how to make your eyes pop with colour. 

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Lush vs. your kitchen cupboard homemade face mask

Way before I started writing Desi girl’s beauty blog, I had a passion for beauty products and skincare.  In fact, I’ve always been a sucker for anything that promises to smooth, brighten or highlight.  Sometimes I get it right, and quite often I get it wrong, such as the time I bought Dr Murad’s Gentle Blemish Treatment Gel. 

However, in more recent years, I’ve realised that for good skincare you don’t just have to shell out for products, as many treatments can be made from what you have in your cupboard.  This is no more the case than with face masks.  

A good friend, who’s clued up on ayurvedic treatment, showed me how to make a great face mask, which I’ve been using to this day.  I even shared this with colleagues in aid of charity.  While there was some interest, I think many people were wary of homemade masks, as they thought they may suffer a breakout or reaction.      

In fact, while people won’t think twice about buying an off-the-shelf face mask – where they don’t have a clue about the ‘hidden’ ingredients – they’re nervous about using something that’s been freshly made from scratch.

To right this wrong, I decided to pit one of my favourite facemasks against a mask I bought recently from Lush, the fresh handmade cosmetic giants. 

My face mask is lovingly called ‘atta face’ which translates to ‘gram flour face’, alluding to one of its key ingredients.  The facemask from Lush is ‘Brazened Honey, which was recommended to me by the sales assistant.  I used this mask three times in a week, and did the same with my own face mask the following week.  Here’s the lowdown:

Cost:

Lush: Brazened Honey – £5.50 for 75g

Brazened Honey - Lush's handmade face mask

‘Atta face’ – free, if you already have the ingredients.  If you’re buying from scratch, the cost still amounts to a few pennies for 75g.   

'

'Atta face' - humble but effective facemask

Ingredients:                                                                              

Lush Brazened Honey - More than you can shake a stick at:

Kaolin, Talc, Fresh Organic Lime Juice, Sage, Rosemary and Juniperberry Infusion, Fresh Free Range Eggs, Honey, Glycerine, Fresh Fennel, Ground Almond Shells, Almond Oil, Bentonite Gel, Fresh Ginger Root, Fresh Parsley, Fresh Coriander, Ground Tumeric, Ground Cardamom, Clove Bud, Ginger Oil, Vetivert Oil, Juniperberry Oil, Benzyl Salicylate, Eugenol, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Perfume.

Note: Perfume? Benzyl Salicylate (or acid)?  Hardly the most natural ingredients.

‘Atta face’ – Everything you can find in your kitchen cupboard, or at the ‘World Foods’ section of a supermarket, or an asian grocery store: 

2 tsp Gram (or chickpea) flour, ¼ tsp turmeric, 2 tsp natural yoghurt, ½ tsp honey, squeeze of lemon juice (optional).

Lasts for:

  

Lush Brazened Honey – Two weeks if kept in the fridge.

‘Atta face’ – Two weeks if kept in the fridge. 

Leave on for:

Lush Brazened Honey – five to ten minutes.

‘Atta face’ – About 20-30 minutes.                                         

Mask promises:   

                                            

Lush Brazened Honey - A powerhouse of effective ingredients for all tired skins. Refreshing herbs and fruit juice are blended with warming Ayurvedic herbs and spices. With almonds to polish and moisturising honey, this blend leaves the skin vibrant and reinvigorated.

‘Atta face’ – Turmeric brightens, yoghurt and gram flour tightens, while honey moisturises.  Lemon juice helps if you’ve got suffer breakouts.  Oh, and it’s an absolute killer for dry skin!  

Results:

Lush Brazened Honey – The first time I tried this product, it stung like hell.  I literally felt my face burning up, so I had to take it off after just a minute rather that keeping it on for the recommended ten minutes.  I imagine it was all those ingredients kicking into action.  This certainly isn’t one for sensitive girls.   

Bravely, I tried my luck again after a few days.  It was more manageable this time, and I could keep it on for ten minutes.  After rinsing, my skin did feel cleaner and softer, but the results weren’t particularly noticeable or lasting.  

‘Atta face’ – Again, the turmeric might not agree with all skin tones.  In fact, if you’re very sensitive, I’d reduce the quantity, or omit.  Also, for very fair skin tones, the danger is you could look every so slightly jaundiced, or like one of The Simpsons. 

But for most skin tones, it works a treat.  I’ve even managed to convert a fair few friends and relatives who noticed the difference in my complexion after using it.  The biggest benefit is that it really does eliminate dry skin, because if left on long enough, it hardens and comes of like a clay mask, taking all the dry skin with it.      

Conclusion

So in short, don’t assume that the perfect solution comes in pretty shop-bought package.  Sometimes it may just be in your kitchen cupboard.                     

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Collection 2000 Smokey Eyes Review (and how to create smokey eyes)

Collection 2000's Smokey Eye

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The Smokey Eye palette from Collection 2000

When I was offered the chance to review Collection 2000’s Smokey Eyes kit, I jumped at the chance.  This was because it played to two of my beauty bugbears:

 

1)     I can’t create the smokey-eyed look to save my life

2)     I always thought that cheaper eyeshadows aren’t very good

At a cost of £4.10, the Collection 2000 Smokey Eyes kit certainly falls into the budget category.  Plus, with its handy instructions on how to create a smokey eye, it seemed to be a win-win product.  

Creating the smokey eye look has always been a challenge for me.  Generally, dark eyeshadows don’t sit well on my large, round and slightly hooded eyes.  It either makes them appear deep-set or looks like I have a black eye, or worse, I look like a desi goth.  As a result, I tend to stick with lighter or golden shades, often wearing just the one colour, so there is little blending involved.        

More recently, I’ve experimented with colour more.  Not least because of this blog, as I wanted to share my mistakes and occasional triumphs.  So when the Smokey Eye kit arrived, I was keen to give it a try.   

  

The kit comes with eight colours, and one cream.  The colours are separated as light (white and pink), medium (bronze and two silver shades) and dark (browns and a black), and the cream is a light pink.

The kit comes with an idiot-proof step-by-step guide on the back, stating:

1) Blend the medium shade over the eyelid.

2) Brush the dark shade from the outer corner and blend into the centre of the lid.  For more impact, sweep along the lower lash line.

3) Use the light shade to highlight the brow bone.

4) Brighten the inner corner of the eye with the cream.

Simples, eh?

I followed the instructions to a T (and used a willing guinea pig, too).  The results are as follows:    

   

Collection 2000 Smokey Eye Palette, bronze shade



Collection 2000 Smokey Eye Palette, silver shade

  

The only adaption I made was that I used BellaPierre’s eyeshadow base before applying the colour, as this created an even-toned canvass.  

Considering the price, the dark and medium eyeshadows have a good colour to them.  I was also impressed by the fact that there were no creases, so there was good pigmentation.  However, I think the light shades didn’t come on as well.  The pink was OK, but the white looked every so slightly chalky.

I also wasn’t sure of the point of the cream.  It didn’t really brighten, or even come on as a colour.  So on Asian skin tones, I don’t think it particularly helps. 

However, after experimentation, I think that Collection 2000 is a nice little handbag-sized set which has all the smokey eye colours in one place.  Plus it won’t break the bank.  But I think they are definitely better used with the base.  In fact, I should have applied the base up to the brow bone, as this may have avoided the slight chalkiness with the white colour.       

The instructions with the set are also very handy for novices like me.  The one piece of advice I would add in terms of creating the smokey eye is to work with your eye shape.  As I’ve got round eyes, I used less of the darker shade.  However, my sister has long eyes which are less hooded (i.e. you see less eyelid when open), so she could be more liberal with the darkest shade in the palette.

    

Happily, Collection 2000’s simple instructions can be applied to most eye colours.  See below the results of my handiwork with an eye palette from Debenhams, which was also pretty reasonably priced.     

Purple can also create a smokey eye look



Smokey eye, courtesy of Debenhams eye palette



Using different shades of purple can also achieve a ‘smokey look’.  Again, I used the BellaPierre base as a foundation for the colour.  I’ve also seen smokey palettes in shades of green, pink and blue.  So if you’re afraid of too dark colours, there’s a smokey eye out there for you. 

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Alert: Limited edition Bare Escentuals Sweet Talkers Lip-Gloss Kit launches today!

Be the first desi girl to purchase the wonderful limited edition collection from Bare Escentuals as they launch the ‘Sweet Talkers Lip-Gloss Kit’.      

The collection will be the first product to be launched globally on all QVC channels and you’ll be able to get your hands on it from Thursday 8th September!   

Bare Escentuals 'Sweet Talkers Lip-Gloss Kit' Item no: 227216

QVC price: £26.00                                                                        

Just to whet your appetite, here’s a look at the range in all their gorgeous glossiness: 

Bare Escentuals Sweet Talkers Lip-Gloss Kit

Showcasing three of their best-selling lip-gloss shades plus two new colours, alone, mixed or layered these mouth-watering shades will leave your lips drizzled in sparkling colour and shine. Containing an infusion of 100% pure bareMinerals, this wonderful collection also provides long-lasting hydration whilst giving you the perfect pout!  

Stockist details

Online at: www.qvcuk.com

Direct orders: 0800 50 40 30

Notes to editors

QVC is available on Freeview channel 16, Sky digital channel 640, Virgin TV channel 740, Freesat channel 800

Collection contains:

·         1 x 0.8fl. oz. 100% Natural lipgloss in Ambrosia (pink frosting)

·         1 x 0.8fl. oz. 100% Natural lipgloss in Raspberry Truffle (sheer berry)

·         1 x 0.8fl. oz. 100% Natural lipgloss in Sugar Cookie (pink peach),

·         1 x 0.8fl. oz. 100% Natural lipgloss in Cupcake (rose pink),

·         1 x 0.8fl. oz. 100% Natural lipgloss in Rose (mauve pink)

            

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