Green People Invasion: Vitamin Face Mask

I haven't used a face mask in a while. I have had this one by Green People on my wishlist for a while now... and after a very long, difficult month, I treated myself. I loved      The Cream (reviewed here) and I and loving the Vitamin Mask just as much!

Green People Vitamin Mask is different to     The Cream.... ( I like to Pause before mentioning          The Cream because it is that awesome) in that it is fragranced. But this mask is just as great for dry skins. Green People Vitamin Mask is worth Every Single Penny of the €14.95 that I paid for it (from awesome natural website Nature7.ie )

The little bottle is plastic and fully recyclable. Two full pumps dispenses more than enough of this thick silky cream to do my face and most of the way down my neck. The Sunflower oil, Shea Butter, Olive oil, and all the other skin nourishing ingredients are so, so good and hydrating and loving the skin.

This is what 2 pumps looks like:

After about 10 minutes the mask sinks right into my skin.. and the last 2 times I used it I ended up forgetting about it and only remembering when getting into bed that I still had the mask on my face it, it is that comfortable. I use a warm facecloth/microfibre cloth to remove any remaining mask and finish with a few drops of facial oil. Just to finish off the ritual. But I don't think my skin would worry if I didn't.

My skin looks and feels hydrated. I feel like my skin looks glowy and healthy and plump and all those good things. And after using it weekly for a month now, I have had no breakouts or irritation from this beauty. And then there is this:

Green People's Pedigree. All those little badges and labels are well earned and make for a responsibly sourced product. I like that. I recon you would to.

Getting to like Coral...

So. Coral. The colour right... not the marine invertebrates. It isn't a colour I own a lot of. I like it... but I have to admit I am a little bit scared of it.

I am trying to embrace things I am a bit scared of. I can safely say I will NEVER embrace a Parktown Prawn... But Coral is winning me over. I am now the proud owner of a Coral T-shirt and a pair of Coral coloured flat shoes (that I got for the bargainous price of €3). And to further embrace the colour and conquer my fear... I dug out the Only Coral coloured nail varnish in my collection.

It's from the Cherry Blossom Girl Collection from Essence that came out more than a year ago, called Its Peach Not Cherry!.

And then just so I wasn't totally overwhelmed by the colour... I gave it a little Sparkle with Barry M Nail Paint in Yellow Topaz.

I realise that it isn't IN YO FACE Coral... it is more peachy.. I am taking baby steps...

 

Freebies from Cloud10 Beauty and DuWop

Cloud10 Beauty are really on a roll. They are offering a free DuWop Try Me Kit worth €45/£40 with a purchase of any DuWop product (while stocks last!).

DuWop Lip Venom was the very first lip plumper on the market, but they don't only do lip products... they do a selected range of colour products too! In fact, Cloud10 Beauty has 31 different DuWop products you can choose from!

The kit includes deluxe trial sizes of the following products: DuWop Prime Venom, DuWop Venom Gloss Lantana, DuWop Venom Gloss Wisteria, DuWop Private Red Lipstick, DuWop Lip Venom Original and finally DuWop Lip Venom Pink Shimmer.

I don't mind the tingly-minty-vaguely-cinnamony feeling/flavour of the lip products, but it might turn some off. This little kit is the perfect way to try it though, and I recon Prime Venom is a little beaut and deffo the pic of the lot! Although.... Private Red is just so bloody gorgeous. Good thing you can wear both at the same time!

Head on over to Cloud10 Beauty and check out their selection and avail of this fab offer!

Real Techniques Discount codes with Cloud10 Beauty

Real Techniques are not a brand I have had the pleasure of using yet. YET. But these beauteous brushes are getting rave reviews all over the interwebs and I'mma 'bout to pick me some up.

Cloud 10 Beauty are offering a whopping 20% off across the range of Real Techniques Brushes (when you spend €40) from today 15th May when you use the code: realtechniques20 . This awesome special runs until the 28th of May 2013.

If that is a bit rich for your bank balance, then the Cloud 10 Girls are offering you a 10% discount if you spend just €20 using the code: realtechniques10.

So to recap: 

 

Since this code is valid until the 28th of May 2013, I have plenty of time to save a few pennies to treat myself!

Mint Macaroon all the way from NYC...

Okay... so its not ALLLL the way from the actual New Your City exactly... But it is so awesome it may as well be. This beautiful shiny pastel minty green is called Mint Macaroon and its from that awesome budget brand NYC (or New York Colour).

Just to remind you, this little bottle of Mint Macaroon costs just €1.99, and I got it in my local Penneys (which is woefully understocked and extremely poorly looked after), and I was lucky enough to nab the last bottle of this beauty.

You could get away with one thick coat, but then its not going to take about 7 minutes to dry. Better to go with two skinny coats and your total application time is 3 minutes (including the dry time between coat 1 & 2). Its beautiful and shiny and opaque and refreshingly summery to look at. And... and... and it matches my new pastel mint jeans...

I got my first wee chip after 3 days... so out came my Essence Tip Painter, my tin foil and my doting tool

and I got busy:

Easy Peasy: a lovely new look to hide the wee chip, and the new nails lasted a week!

 Another summer trend that NYC has nailed (tee hee)... all for €1.99!

NYC Big Bold Curl Mascara: its Awesome!

Look! Just look! Seriously... look at my lashes:

 

er.... that is supposed to read clumpless.... 

Defined, curled, long, extremely black eyelashes. Aren't they lovely? Would you believe that these beauties could cost you a measly €3.49?And that Budget Super Brand NYC makes the mascara that did this to them... Meet NYC BIG Bold Curl Mascara in Black.

Oh and look how pretty the packaging is! Turquoise and Metallic Pink is so hawt right now...

And as far as the wand... bigger is better... oh oh oh so much better. And this wand is Ha-yooje!

Just look at it next to my peter pointer (index finger). It is massive,  for mascara newbies... this may seem daunting and you will probably poke yourself in the eye. Fret not... it gets easier once you get the hang of it and you will be pleased to know its Dermatologially and Opthalmologically tested. And this contact lens wearer can attest it is perfectly awesome to use.

I have been using this for about 5 weeks now, it is a very wet formulation when you first open it, so open it and leave it for about a week so that the formulation can mature... and then it is just perfect.

This is no mascara on the left and one coat of Big Bold Curl on the right...

Longevity is great, it lasts a good 8 hours with no flaking. But shield your eyes if you are caught in a rainstorm because this will run like Mo Farrah if it gets wet. So don't wear this when there is a chance of tears... or in the vicinity of pools...

But seriously, €3.49 for this little gem is a bargain. Especially when it does such wonderful things to your lashes. Find it on NYC Stands in Penneys stores and in pharmacies...

Super Moisture Boost with La Roche Posay Hydraphase

Hydraphase Intense Legere by La Roche Posay is not new to the market, and its not exactly new to me either. I have had this bottle of moisturising lotion since November 2012 and while I don't use it everyday, I do use it at least 2 - 3 times a week to give my skin a bit of extra moisture.

Hydraphase Intense Legere is a very light lotion that is quite watery, spreads easily, is absorbed extremely quickly (work fast with this one) and smells refreshing and clean.

But the best thing is that delivers exactly what it says on the bottle. And intense moisture boost that doesn't leave a heavy film on your skin. And you only need 2 pumps to do your whole face and all the way down to my "decollete"...

I love everything about this: I love how quickly my skin drinks it up, how my skin feels super velvety after using it, how comfortable my skin feels on days that I have used it. My skin didn't react to it at all and I had no break-outs from this. I love everything... except the bottle. I don't like that the pump nozzle is on the bottom. I don't like that when you use it, you have to put the lid on before you stand it up. So I have to keep track of the lid. I never keep track of the lids...

My 50 mls tube retails for €22. Which is totally reasonable for something that I use like a serum. I like to use this under my day cream, on days when I know that I need an extra shot of hydration. Considering that my €22 has stretched almost 6 months and is still contains a third of product... I recon its pretty budget friendly.

I would like to try the actual Hydraphase Serum, its gotten great reviews and I deffo need to step my  hydration levels for the summer. Thankfully, LRP fits nicely into my budget...

1..2....3... Green & Yellow with NYC

Green is not my favourite colour, BUT.... I am willing to try new things, so I gave NYC In A New York Minute Nail Polish in High Line Green a go. And I fell a little bit in love with it...

NYC 298 High Line Green

High Line Green is a strange one, in some lights it looks a bit matte, in others the shine is blinding. The colour is very good. You could get away with one thick coat, but then you need to sit quietly for about 3 minutes. Two thin coats are dry within 2 minutes and totally opaque.

I like this Green... I am properly green fingered now!

Lexington Yellow is the same, 2 Thin coats dry in 2 minutes and nicely opaque. I can't wear this one on its own, as my colouring is all wrong and it looks like I have smokers nails.

NYC Lexington Yellow... very pretty!

However, I can wear the yellow if I am doing nail art. And this was some super simple stuff I did one afternoon... it took me all of 6 minutes to do and with my trusty Sally Hansen Insta-Dry top coat it looks super swish...

Very Swish Nail art... and it is super simple!

I already had my nails painted green, so I used a straight manicure guide and stuck it onto my nail diagonally. Then I painted one half with 2 coats of Lexington Yellow and carefully peeled off the mani-guide and allowed to dry for a minute before topping with my topcoat to even out the polish line.

Easy as place the mani guide, paint & wait & paint & remove.... tah dah!

NYC is seriously doing great things within super strict budgets, The nail varnishes range between €1.59 and €1.99. Which is less than my beloved Catrice...

New Budget Favourites

NYC Stands (in Penneys and Pharmacies) are totally worth checking out if you already haven't...

Bepanthen Stretch Mark Cream: not just for Pregnant ladies

Just to clarify (before my other half has a heart attack) I am not pregnant. I am losing weight slowly though and so I do have stretch marks. It is too late for me to prevent my silvery stretch marks, but its never too late to condition the skin, and this is where this lovely tube of Bepanthen Stretch Mark Cream comes in...

A handy 150ml tube contains a range of ingredients to condition and strengthen collagen levels in the skin the most interesting being Centella Asiatica. Also Provitamin B5 and glycerin are included to promote suppleness and Pure Olive Oil supports the skins barrier. All great ingredients. Bepanthen Stretch Mark Cream is also Hypoallergenic, Preservative free, colour free and dermatologically tested.

Bepanthen recommends that you massage into breasts, belly, hips and bums during the pregnancy and after delivery to help skin return to its pre-pregnancy condition.

I trialed this for a week and I loved it. Even though I am not pregnant, I loved the smell and the feel of the cream. The pump does take some muscle to extract the cream, but the fact that it sinks in so quickly and doesn't feel remotely sticky or greasy more than makes up for the difficult pump.

As this as a sample sent to me for review, I am not entirely sure about the cost, but as a long time user of Bepanthens Nappy cream, I am sure it shouldn't cost the earth...

I have passed this on for proper testing to a friend of mine so I will be reporting back in a few months (with the price)... I will also buy another tube for her when this one runs out so that we can give this a good test.

I will probably get a tube of this for me too... it is fabulous on my arms, legs and belly...

Elave Intense Moisture Surge: for my Husband

I was gifted my first tube of Elave's Intense Moisture Surge cream and after using it a few nights, passed it on to my husband. It was just too rich for me and I found it didn't sink in as nicely as I would have liked, but then I have mostly normal / combination skin with a few dry patches. But my husband.... my husband LOVES it. He loves it so much he just started his 3rd tube.

The minimalistic 50ml squeezy tube is plain and unassuming, perfect for your man, not a pink thing on this tube of super rich cream.

Containing nourishing Shea Butter to deeply rehydrate and calm the skin and Pure Coconut oil to boost  moisture for lasting hydration while reducing the appearance of fine lines and fatigue. Not to mention completely banishing any dry patches...

Himself's dry skin loves this cream. He likes that he doesn't have to use a load, its not overly greasy on his skin and skins in quickly. It helps soothe any post-shaving rash and his dry patches a mostly a thing of the past. This would be great for dry or sensitive/dry skins, not so good for oily or normal skin... upon reflection though this would be great post-sunburn though... especially on tender noses, cheeks and ears (or the tops of your feet)

I think he likes the fact that he isn't putting unnecessary nonsense on his skin, and this is a purified, clean formulation, free from worrying chemicals.

I like it cos it is widely available and it retails at around €20 - €24 per 50ml tube, which is pretty reasonable considering it lasts him about 4 months.

He's happy, his skin looks good... so I am happy.

And we all know that if the Mammy of the house is happy, then everyone gets cookies...