Charlotte Tilbury Multi-Miracle Glow Cleanser

It was my birthday last week, it was a wet rather grim day and I wanted to purchase something glamorous and indulgent and this was the result.

I need a new cleanser like a hole in the head but I wanted something to cheer and this has been a joy to use.

The jar is large, 100mls worth and chunky if not particularly heavy, being thick plastic rather than glass. The rose gold jar with deep chocolate font is pleasing.

The product is a light fluffy gel balm. It has a gentle scent, not really roses to me, more herbally and maybe a bit powdery, which I like. To me it is comforting and calming and pleasurable, a scent that makes me want to use it.

It is a definite gel when applied initially, but it becomes an oil but not a drippy thin oil, more of an ever so slightly warming thicker oil.There is a good amount of slip to allow enough of a massage. 

I can use it around my eyes and it does remove all of my makeup and whilst it is a dry hands dry face application, it does emulsify with water.

I initially thought that I would use it as a second pm cleanse but to be honest I have enjoyed using it so much that I use it as a first, and a second cleanse and tend to leave it on after the second cleanse whilst I get in the shower in the evening and then remove.

I like the fact that water is not the first ingredient.

This is currently £45 for a 100mls jar.

Minatures

I have a thing about minatures, not samples but minatures of the full size product, down to the glass jar (thank-you Omorovicza and Oskia) or glass bottle (thank-you Aurelia). 

Sometimes the minature is an improved version on the full size - Sunday Riley Start Over Eye Cream I am looking at you with your metal applicator missing from the full size.

Above is a small selection of some of my gift with purchase products.

Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner

Sometimes I look at my poor old face with its broken capillaries and redness and open pores and discolouration and think, maybe it needs a bit of TLC and a break from all the acid toners and double cleansing.

This is when I reach for this product for it is truly lovely. The texture is quite thick, a bit like a jelly serum and I find that I can apply and there is no tingle whatsoever, it is almost a comfort to apply and it has some level of hydration and soothingness on my skin.

This is currently £26 for 125mls, and is probably a staple for me, I forget how good it is.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm

So I am coming to the end of this 200mls cleansing balm - I am scraping the so called barrel, although it is a plastic jar.

I rather like the jar, yes it is plastic, but it is a sturdy, solid plastic with a silver lid and importantly for me it is wider than it is tall, not by much, but enough to allow easy access for those final scrapings.

The texture is oily buttery, a bit like butter that has been refridgerated, there is a solidity to it, so that it does not immediately turn into an oil which I rather commend it for. There is sufficient slip for a decent massage.

It emulsifies into a thick milk. And it removes makeup efficiently, a couple of passes but that is to be expected.

It is strongly scented, to my nose geranium comes to the fore, and this is my problem, it is just too strongly scented for me.

Which is sad because this is a good cleansing balm - maybe a little on the drying side post cleanse, but I like the texture and the packaging and the effectiveness, just not the smell and often that is the deal breaker.

It does come with two excellent face cloths, denser than most and a little on the small size their close weave makes them both effective but gentle.

Currently £39.50 for 105g but I purchased mine from QVC for £44.52 (+ £4.95 p+p) for 200g.

Shavata Pointed Precision Tweezers, Magnifiying Mirrors, and when photos go wrong

I have had a pair of Shavata's Precision Tweezers for a while until they were stolen from me by my daughter - she is 19 by the way.

These are not the same in that the tips are slightly rounded off - that is fine, but the original design were pointed all the way to the finest of tips and as such removed the thinnest of thin fine hairs, accurately and effectively.

This replacement was purchased recently and came with a 15x magnification mirror. Somewhat on the small size, any magnification mirror is a godsend, for tweezing, checking whether foundation settles into pores, checking for errant hairs from eyebrows or noses, just don't focus on pores per se because they look huge, what is new, but for all the above especially as one's eyesight fails, and it does, to us all, a magnifying mirror is essential.

I tried to photograph it....

Result is some weird sort of sideways look at my distorted face.

Tweezers are round £20 and magnifying mirror around £13. Mine was around £26 for both from QVC

By Terry Mascara Terrybly

 I am not great with mascara, if I was asked what my dessert island makeup product would be, mascara would not be it, too fraught with difficulties for my liking. However I am not averse to the charms of mascara, and this one caught my eye because of its lash enhancing properties, as I understand it, that means it not only conditions but may even encourage growth.

What I want from a mascara is something which adds a bit of definition, my lashes are quite long, but are flimsy and wimpy and need some nurturing really, most important is that it does not feel crispy on the lashes and it removes easily.

I went for #2 Moka Brown.

I like the brush which is a traditional fibre Christmas tree type, no blimmin' new fangled plastic teeth for me thankyou very much.

The brown is suprisingly dark but rich, what I mean is that it has some depth to the shade.

Below applied to one eye, fairly obvious which one I would say.

I have only just started to use this, so I cannot vouch for its enhancing properties but so far so happy, a product which defines and separates, feels soft on the lashes, does not flake on me and removes easily.

£33.50 for 8mls

Makeup brushes I buy in duplitriplicate

I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to beauty products, or maybe that should be collector? Whatever it is, if I find something beautywise which I like and use which does its job, I am likely to buy it again, and again, and maybe even again.

First up Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush from Bare Minerals. I bought one, found that it was exceptionally brilliant for applying mineral powder foundation, concealer, liquid foundation, stippling a product into my pores to minimise them. And I found that I didn't want to be without it, so I bought another, then thought I had lost one, so bought a third and felt well really it is a bit like bras, one in use, one in the wash and one washed and ready to use.

Everyday Minerals Short-Handled Kabuki Brush. I am a bit of a mineral foundation fan, although I can go off it suddenly and completely only to return to it when the weather warms and every foundation product is sliding off my face.

I have an inordinate number of kabuki brushes, but these - flat top and domed are really good at applying a light layer of any powder, be it mineral, or finishing. They also do not shed, wash and dry super quick and sit extremely easily in the hand - in short they do the job I ask of them time and time again.

Aurelia Probiotic Skincare CEW Best Brand Trio

This is a delightful little kit from Aurelia. Three of their key products in minature but-big- enough-to-get-a-few-generous-passes.

The kit contains 15mls of Miracle Cleanser with a bamboo muslin cloth, 5mls of Revitalise & Glow Serum and 5mls of Cell Repair Night Oil, a hand written note and a voucher for £10 off a £40 spend.

I have used all of these products in their full sizes, they are a sensorial joy to use but are effective. 

I have reviewed the Miracle Cleanser here, I find it such a pleasure, from its gel like cooling texture to its refreshing scent, it is like cleansing one's face with a moisturising treatment for me.

The Revitalise & Glow Serum again reviewed on this blog has to be one of my most favourite serums because it does not effect any other product applied over the top of it, and really does impart a gleam to my tired skin.

The Cell Repair Night Oil is in my stash of face oils and is having a bit of a back seat currently due to the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil, but it is a delicious flower garden scented oil which sinks in easily and calms and fortifies me before sleep.

 

I love the grosgrain ribbon.

This is currently £18 from Aurelia website. There is no extra p+p to pay at the moment.

Clinique - The British Beauty Blogger Edit

As I understand it, this has now sold out which seems a bit mean to blog about it, but it shows the quality of the boxes which British Beauty Blogger has put together, and I suppose it is a warning to say if one comes up again, it is seriously worth considering purchasing.

This box was £18.50 with no extra postage and packaging charge and contained a voucher for £10 off a £40 purchase.

The contents below include a full size High Impact Mascara in black, and a full size Chubby Stick in Plumped up Pink.

This was available from the Latest in Beauty website, which often sell boxes which have been put together by beauty editors and magazines. 

I am seriously impressed with this beauty box, the smaller sample sizes are large enough to allow for a decent trial, and the diddy perfume is rather delightful.