AMBRE Botanicals Pumpkin Seed and Kokum Face Cream & Rhassoul Clay Face Mask

I've jumped head first into Ambre Botanicals and as yet have not been disappointed. The independently owned raw skin and body care brand has a concise range that does not contain any water, chemical ingredients, preservatives, artificial colour or fragrance.
 
PUMPKIN SEED & KOKUM WITH FRUIT NUT OILS FACE CREAM (£23 for 30ml) Slightly yellow in colour, this has a rich texture and is highly concentrated so you only need a bit. The balm melts onto the skin without leaving a greasy residue. It contains pure plant oils and butters, rich in vitamins such as A,E & C, essential fatty acids and antioxidants.

 I use this at night and for me it soothes and keeps my skin hydrated and feeling smooth. I really feel like this restores balance, my skin is very prone to breaks outs and irritation from stress and poor diet so I find this balm works to return it to its normal state.

Ingredients: Pumpkin Seed Butter (Cucurbita Maxima), Kokum Butter (Garcinia Indica), Pumpkin Seed Oil (Cucurbita Maxima), Starflower (Borage) Oil (Borago Officinalis), Passion Fruit Oil (Passiflora Incarnata ), Sea Buckthorn Oil (Hippophae Rhamnoides), Rice Bran Oil (Oryza Sativa), Avocado Virgin Oil (Persea Americana), Hazelnut Oil (Corylus Avellana). Non-GMO Natural Vitamin E (D-alpha Tocopherol), Rosemary Antioxidant (Rosmarinus Officinalis). Natural Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate). Unscented.

RHASSOUL CLAY FACE MASK (£8.50 for 15g) The clay mask comes as a fine loose powder that you need to mix with water to create a thin paste. I found it difficult to get the correct ratio of water to begin with so I would advise using less water than you think. You apply it to the face (avoiding the eye area) and rinse off with warm water after 7-10 minutes.

This really smooths the skin and absorbs all the gunk out of pores and if you have any spots brewing I found this brought them to the surface and allowed for a much faster heal time.

However, proceed with caution as this is not for the faint hearted; I loved the effects so much that instead of using it once a week (for sensitive skin I always think once a week is the right amount of time for masks/scrubs) I used it again just 2 days after one treatment and it did really dry my skin out for about 4 days. So if you do have dry/sensitive skin like me just use once a week as this mask means business.

I bought the face cream from Etsy.com and the mask was a gift with purchase (this promotion is still running on ambrebotanicals.com with your first purchase and they deliver world wide)

Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist offer for you

Omorovicza are giving my readers 20% off the Queen of Hungary Mist (my review is here)

The offer expires 31st August 2012 and is available from their website http://www.omorovicza.com (they ship all over the world)

Please enter this code at checkout VB20

As always none of my links are affiliated and I make no financial gain if you decide to make a purchase.

Laura Mericer Cinema Noir collection: Organza Nail Lacquer

The Cinema Noir collection includes 3 limited edition nail shades. As the brown toned shades looked rather warm I went for the lightest shade Organza (£12.50).

This is the first time I've tried a LM nail varnish, and I am impressed. Its fast drying, the colour does not fade and this wears better on me that the majority of brands (I don't tend to go more than 2 days without chips but can get a good 3 days with this)


Unfortunately this shade isn't quite right for me. It a very pretty sheer golden beige infused with multi coloured shimmer, with gold being the most dominant. Its just slightly too warm against my skin and looks a bit off.

Ingredients below: it does not contain formaldehyde, toluene, or dibutyl phthalate (DBP).


I bought this from John Lewis

Benefit Perk Up Artist Palette

A foundation/concealer crisis had me standing at the Benefit counter, I had 15 minutes to spare on my lunch break to fix my skin/foundation before a meeting at work and a Benefit SA kindly came to my rescue. As I clearly stated that I only had £25 to spend before we began, I did not get any hard sell typically associated with Benefit SA's. Of the rather humongous amount of products that were used to re-do my base makeup, the perk-up artist palette (£22.50) caught my eye.

I'm going to ignore the ridiculous man picture on the box/palette lid.....

The mirrored palette contains a double sided mini brush and three cream shades that are meant to correct, cover and brighten. They each have a protective flip top lid, which I thought a nice addition.


You get a very yellow "correct" shade that is meant to disguise redness/discolouration, a medium skin toned colour which runs slightly warm and is meant to cover dark circles/imperfections and finally a light pink shade to brighten the eye area.
Here is the leaflet you get inside.

 The shades feel very lightweight and have a lot of slip to them, I wouldn't say they feel greasy but oily skin may not appreciate these. The coverage of all 3 is very sheer so I would say to forgo the notion that you will get a lot of coverage out of this palette. Whilst I had assumed the shades were lemon aid, the medium boi-ing shade and eye bright, having tried it they don't seem to correspond to the full sized versions, though it was a few years back that I had those.

 Ingredients:

Though this is not a miracle working, its a really nice portable palette that brightens the complexion and lessons discolouration. Benefit is not a brand I tend towards for various reasons but I won't discount it in future.

I bought this from Boots

Beauty Spotlight: Whats in Modesty Brown's.....

Modesty Brown loves nothing better than a good snoop. On a visit to her Mother's house earlier this year, she went on a scouting expeditions and unearthed three generations worth of perfume. It's an eclectic mix of old and new, including some memorable old favourites. Let's pay Modesty a visit to find out what's in her Mum's Perfume Archive.

Omorovicza Essentials & Queen of Hungary Mist

I bought the essentials set a while back as I thought it an excellent way to try out a range of items at a reasonable price (Its normally £75 but is currently on offer for £50).

Though the set is still on their site, there is one product that differs to the set I show here, instead of the thermal cleansing balm the updated set contains the deep cleansing mask.

The items come housed in a blue see through bag, you get travel sizes of the Queen of Hungary Mist, Illuminating Moisturiser, Rejuvenating Night Cream, two deluxe samples (5ml) of the Thermal Cleansing Balm, and a cleansing mitt.

 
The illuminating moisturiser has quite a light texture yet delivers instance and lasting hydration, though I don't think it would be enough for a really dry skin type. Its meant to provide a light diffusing effect, and I do think my skin looks just a touch better when I have this on.

The night cream is real luxury, my skin looks better in the morning having used it the night before. It has a lovely creamy texture without feeling too heavy or greasy. My skin is left hydrated and looking more rested.

I was very taken with the cleaning balm. Black in colour, it removes makeup well and does not leave the skin feeling stripped nor irritated, my skin feels smooth and soft after use. My only issues with this is that I had to use quite a a lot of product each time so I went though it really quick. 

The mist is great for refreshing the skin, especially in humid weather as it manages to make the skin feel clean yet provide the right amount of moisture. It smells nice as well, probably the orange blossom and rose listed in the ingredients. As soon as I used it up I bought the full sized version, pictured below.

 
The kit is a great way to introduce yourself to the brand and also contains your skincare needs for travel. I think the price of individual items is a slight issue for me so whilst the set is still on offer I might well buy another.

I bought these from omorovicza.com

Burberry Light Glow Natural Blush Tangerine

The blush is housed in a sturdy and quite heavy mirrored compact, complete with a mini angled brush.

The shade Tangerine 06 (£29) is a dusty beige peach.Though it has an almost matte finish it does not look at all flat on the skin. It applies without any harsh lines and never looks overdone. Though not as creamy as my Rouge Bunny Rouge blushes, it feels smooth, light weight and has a finely milled texture.

Swatched below, on the left two swipes and on the right one blended in
 
I had initially avoided these blushers due to the corn starch. Whilst it can be difficult identifying acne triggers due to the sheer amount of ingredients in any one product, the blushers I was breaking out from all contained this ingredient. I have not had any breakouts or itchiness from this and I have been using it almost daily, however I am still hesitant with products containing corn/rice starch.
Ingredients:
 

The only downside I have found is that it does fade quite a bit after about 5 hours. However, overall I'm really pleased; it applies so well and I haven't got another shade like it, I'm already contemplating what shade to get next.


I bought this from johnlewis.com