Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

My summer giveaway has finished and the winner has been announced . Congratulations. Look out for another giveaway later in the year. Leighlee

I love visiting spas and I regularly visited  Serenity Spa  at Seaham Hall Hotel (read my previous review here ).  It was on one visit to the spa that I came across Ishga products which was a brand that I haven’t heard of before.  Ishga makes Organic Scottish Seaweed skincare products and I decided to buy the Ishga Exfoliating Face Mask .  The Exfoliating Face Mask contains pure high quality Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed powder combined with natural Hebridean Seawater.  The seaweed grains exfoliate and remove dead skin cells and is ideal for all skin types.  It costs £35 for 50ml.   The key active ingredients are natural saltwater, kelp seaweed powder and rose geranium essential oil.  I'm not going to lie, this product is not pleasant to look at as it’s a dark brown colour and you wouldn’t want to answer the door with this mask on as it looks like you have smeared something slightly unsavoury all over your face.  The sme...

The weather is so humid here in the UK right now, so it's all about lightweight products that don't leave me feeling sticky and uncomfortable.  I am loving  Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream All-Over Miracle Oil right now.  This is a wonderful lightweight oil spray that you can use on your face, body and hair. It contains Tsubaki Oil and I find that the spray makes it easy to apply all over my body and I can also spritz some on my hands to apply to my face and the ends of my hair.  I really love multitasking products, don't you? The oil doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy and absorbs quickly, leaving my skin looking and feeling soft and moisturised.  The oil costs £29 for 100ml, but I was very lucky to pick it up in a gift set with a couple of deluxe size samples for $19.99 at the Elizabeth Arden Outlet Store at The Premium Outlets in Orlando on my recent visit to the US, which was such a bargain and I really should have picked up some more t...

I am obsessed with lip oils and face masks at the moment (I know it's a bit of a random combination!).  So I thought I would start off reviewing one of my recent lip oil purchases, Milani Moisture Lock Oil Infused Lip Treatment .  I bought 2 on a recent visit to Florida, the Nourishing Raspberry and the Protecting Pomegranate Lip Treatments.  They both have a fruity fragrance, but it's not strong which is good and you can taste it a little when you first apply the lip treatment.  There is the faintest colour, but my lips are quite highly pigmented so the colour does not show up on my lips.  It's a thick oil consistency, but it doesn't feel sticky on my lips and it makes my lips feel instantly moisturised as soon as I apply the lip treatment. The only thing I don't like is the doe foot applicator.  It's much too big and really stiff.  There is no give in the applicator whatsoever.   Overall I like the Milani Mois...

I was recently sent a bottle of Solgar Collagen Hyaluronic Acid Complex Supplements* to try out.  I've been taking the supplements over the last few weeks now.   You only need to take one tablet daily with a meal so it's easy to fit into your routine (I normally take them with my lunch).     I'm all for trying anything that helps keep my skin looking and feeling good without resorting to anything extreme, so I was happy to try these supplements out.     The tablets are on the large size so if you do struggle to take tablets for any reason these may not be for you. Since using these supplements I haven't had any problems with my skin and I do think they are worth including as part of a daily skincare routine. Now for the science bit.  The information about the product on the company's website is below: Designed to complement a healthy diet and lifestyle, this daily restore complex combines a special form of bioavai...

This post is All About The Face - My Favourite Face Products.  I have already posted about my favourite  eye products ( It's All About The Eyes ) and my favourite lip products ( It's All About The Lips ). I have quite a lot of face products on the go at the moment and here are some of my favourites: First on my favourites list is the all important SPF product.  It appears that summer has finally come in the UK and we have just had a lovely hot, sunny weekend, so I have been covering myself in Ladival Sun Protection SPF30 . It's a non-greasy spray which is easy to apply, doesn't clog up my skin and sinks in pretty quickly.  It does not leave a white cast to my face either.  This is quite a new product to me and I got it from a beauty box.  It's water resistant and suitable for sensitive skin. It's currently £10 for 150ml in Boots (normal price £13.50). During the summer months I prefer to wear a tinted moisturiser, ...

Zoya is my absolute favourite nail polish brand.  I love it.  I don't get to buy it often as it's quite expensive in the UK and not available is many shops in the US. So when I get a chance to buy some I generally go mad.  These are some that I recently purchased. Colours Left - Right: Ki - This is a gorgeous multichromatic oil-slick shade combining silver, purple, blue and green with a metallic finish. Prim - This is a blue metallic colour Oceane - This is a lovely turquoise colour with silver sparkles Brigitte - This is a dusky pink colour which is one of my favourite colours at the moment Faye - This is a pale purple with lovely golden sparkles Autumn - This is a burnt orange metallic colour with sparkles I also couldn't resist buying the Petals Full Collection Set for $40 which also came with a free nail polish remover, which sadly I couldn't fit in my case for the journey home. Colours Left - Right: Leia - This is a sheer white colour with ...

Pixi Beauty is one of those brands that keeps coming up with must have skincare and beauty products.  Ever since the brand came to my local Marks & Spencer branch, I just can't get enough of it.  I started out with the cult Glow Tonic which I love and every time I browse the stand in M&S I always want to pick up something new.  The prices are very reasonable too.  I recently bought LipLift Max in Petal Ice which is a glossy lip plumper. I have thin lips, so I am always looking for ways to enhance them and make them look a little plumper.  I love wearing glosses as the shine seems to give the effect of plumper lips.  Lip plumpers sometimes have an unpleasant tingling effect, but that's  not the case with LipLift.  It has a nice minty freshness, but no tingling sensation, so that's a great start. It looks pink in the tube, but goes onto the lips translucent with just the faintest shimmer effect.  I think it's that shimmer ...

I just wanted to let you know that I am constantly updating my blog sale with new stuff.  You can check out my blog sale here . Leighlee

As promised I am running a giveaway to win prizes from some of my favourite brands Colourpop, EOS & Bath & Body Works.  The giveaway is open internationally and you can enter here.  The giveaway closes 30th July 2016. Good luck everyone. Leighlee I bought these prizes with my own money.

I can't say that I am a fan of the Kardashian/Jenner Reality TV Takeover, but I do love a good nail polish and when I walked past the Kylie Jenner Sinful Colors stand in Walgreens, the beautiful colours sure made me look twice.  For $2.99 each I could have easily bought the whole collection, but in the end I managed to whittle it down to 8 polishes.   I bought 5 Polishes from the Trend Matters Demi Matte collection: Karma - A light mauve with gold shimmer Kurtsey - pale lilac with gold shimmer Kommotion - a pretty purple/blue with gold shimmer Silhouette - lavender with gold shimmer King Size - Purple with gold shimmer Left to Right - Karma, Kurtsey, Kommotion, Silhouette & King Size So   far I have tried out Kommotion and King Size.  The polish is slightly thicker than I am used to, but it applies really well and you get full coverage in just 2 coats.  It dries really quickly as well and it didn't chip straight away like a lo...

I thought I would review one of the products that I'm using at the moment Balance Me BB Natural Perfection with SPF25 cream .  It's not a new product but it's an important part of my skincare routine. The information on the back of the tube states ' Smooth away imperfections, address uneven skin tone and give your skin a flawless finish with our protective, nourishing, plumping and radiance-enhancing BB cream SPF25. ' I love using this product. I have quite dry skin and when I use foundations and BB or CC creams I do have to put moisturiser on first to make sure my skin doesn't dry out, especially around the nose area.  This is one product that I've found that I can apply to my face without a layer of moisturiser and I have no dry areas.  It has a light coverage, that adds a hint of colour and I like that it has an SPF25, as it's great to know that my skin is being protected when I wear it. I just apply a light layer after I've clea...