Perfectil Skin, Hair & Nails Vitamins review

Hiya ladies,

I get a lot of brides who ask how they can get their face, hair and nails in the best condition. I usually give them a few ideas to set them off in the right direction after hearing what their main concerns are. The main advice I give to brides is to take a good supplement. This review is for my favourite supplement which I now take everyday after testing it out initially to see if it worked. 

Perfectil claims it works by delivering nourishment via the bloodstream - the very deepest level - for the dermal layer of the skin, hair follicles and nail beds. Each tablet contains micronutrients including:

• Biotin, selenium & zinc which contribute to the maintenance of normal skin, hair & nails.
• Riboflavin (vit.B2) and Niacin (vit.B3) which contribute to the maintenance of normal skin.
• Minerals selenium and zinc which contribute to the maintenance of normal hair and nail health. 

I bought from boots and paid £21.49 for a 3 month supply. You take one tablet a day with a meal and the product is suitable for vegetarians, but not those that are allergic to soya. 

The list of vitamins is very similar to prenatal vitamins with a good supply of Folic Acid, Vit B's and Zinc, all of which are known to help boost the health of your hair, nails and skin. So I guess you could cheat a little and take a good prenatal vitamin supplement instead of paying for Perfectil.

So before I tell you how I got on I thought I should tell you how my skin, hair and nails were like before taking Perfectil.

Skin

I suffer from hormonal acne around my jawline and back and my face can look dull and blotchy at times. I usually have dry skin on my shins and elbows.

Hair

My very long hair is always been in good condition, but it can feel dry at times and suffers if I don’t get it cut regularly.

Nails

My nails are in good condition, although this past winter I have been wearing gel nail varnish and my nails are much weaker than usual. 

Results After 1 Month

Skin

I am still suffering from acne, but my skin feels brighter and less dull and blotchy which is great. It also feels smoother both on my face and my body.

Hair

As my hair was in good condition to start with I haven’t really noticed a difference.

Nails

My nails feel smoother and are a lot shinier.

Results after 3 months

Skin

My acne seems to be clearing and my skin is definitely brighter and looks glowing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an acne cure, but the spots I get don’t seem to be as red and the red scarring they leave seems to heal quicker. My skin on my body feels a lot smother and less dry as well.

Hair

Well my hair is great! It hasn’t felt dry in ages. It is also a lot stronger and doesn’t snap when I brush it and it seems to be growing quicker. (I have a fringe and I can always tell easily how quickly it grows!)

Nails

My nails seem to grow quicker and stronger than before. They are very shiny and smooth to touch even after using gel nail varnishes!

Overall Verdict

I’m so impressed with these vitamins that I am going to keep on using them and I would definitely recommend them to brides to be, but make sure you start to use them at least 3 months before the big day. Your hair, skin and nails will be in the best condition for the big day this way. Who would have thought something so simple added to your diet could cause such good results! Don’t believe me?? Well try for yourself!!

Perfectil 90 day supply can be bought from boots  http://www.boots.com/en/Perfectil-Triple-Active-90-tablets_9221/

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray Review - beachy wavy hair!

I have been intrigued to try this for a while now, but could never quite get around to buying it. Well I saw it on offer from Amazon and I thought I would give it a try! its been instyles best beauty buys for the past 3 years at least, so there must be something about it thats amazing!

The bottle looks great and I love the spray action and the smell is lovely! You get 125ml in a matte black bottle. The bottle looks so good my husband thought it was perfume! Bumble and Bumble describe it as Sexy, salty, sun-dried, windswept styles - whenever, wherever.

Retails at £20.50

First I have very long black straightish hair. It’s not thick or thin and it’s in good condition.

I washed my hair and blow dried it to slightly damp. Then I spritzed all over my hair and scrunched it with my fingers and left it to dry naturally. 

The results!! Well I loved it. It certainly gave me that beachy wavy look and with minimal effort. It’s made my hair look thicker and naturally very wavy. Its matte looking which is what you want with this look. I think any sort of shine will leave the hair looking greasy and unwashed. The smell is really lovely and Ive had so many compliments.  Here is my hair 8 hours later from the initial spritz!! Bumble and Bumble tell you that the less you touch the longer the hold will last, but I’m a hair fiddler so I was worried it wouldn’t, but as you can see, even though it has dropped from when I first spritzed its still very very wavy!! Yeah!!!  

After speaking with a hairdresser friend she advised me to spritz on damp hair and then split into two very messy buns on the sides of my hair. Blast with a hairdryer until dry and pull the buns out. This will give a greater curl and will last a lot longer!! Bonus!!

Would really recommend this product and it’s totally worth the £20.50 price tag. I alsol feel it would work really great for blokes as well.  As stated above I bought it from Amazon for £16. here is the link to buy if you also love the beachy look!! 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bumble-amp-bumble-Styling-Spray/dp/B000VPJ550/ref=sr_1_1?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1367241160&sr=1-1&keywords=bumble+and+bumble+surf+spray

DIY Wedding Make Up for Deep Set Eyes

When learning how to apply make-up to deep set eyes it's all about applying the correct tone of eye shadow to the right places to balance out the eye. Using good make-up brushes when applying eye shadow to the eyes is vital as blending is very important. Real Techniques Base Eyeshadow set is great as it has all the tools you will need.

First thing to do is to use an eye shadow primer all over the lids, it will make application smoother and your eye make-up will last all day long, very important on your wedding day! I recommend Urban Decay eye shadow Primer Potion, but if you have discoloured eyelids then go for Benefit Cosmetics lemonaid.

After the primer has dried, use a light colour eye shadow that has a slight shimmer to it. I like MAC eye shadow in Shroom.  Apply it all over the eyelid right from the lash line to just below the brow bone with a flat eye shadow brush. Using a light colour eye shadow will help to bring out your deep-set eye.

Take a mid-toned matte eye shadow, I like MAC eye shadow in Wedge. It's important that it's a matte eye shadow as this is the one you're going to use for the contouring. You'll need to invest in a good eye shadow blending brush, I recommend Mac 217 as its the best around, but real techniques crease brush is a fantastic and cheaper alternative. Sweep the colour just above the crease and blend slightly upwards onto the brow bone, the shading will recede the brow bone and will make the eyes appear less deep-set. With a slanted eye shadow brush (again real techniques slanted brow brush is great) apply some of the mid tone eye shadow just on your lower lash line to balance out the colour. make sure its all blended really well. you really shouldnt be able to see a strip of colour. if you can then blend a little more.

To apply eyeliner for definition, a good eye make-up tip is to use a slanted eyeliner brush with a cream or gel liner as this will last longer than a kohl pencil. Macs Blacktrack is a good investment and will last you forever. Apply the eyeliner so it's touching the lash line and take it up slightly at the outer corner of the eye. try Ruby & Millie's i-Define Brush for this. I then take a cottonbud and blend it alittle so it creates a softer line. also tightline it into the lash line. (click here if you dont know what tightlining is). To finish off, apply a highlighter eye shadow in the inner corners of the eye, MAC eye shadow in Phloof is perfect for this.

Curl the eyelashes. I currently use tweezermans eyelash curlers and apply two coats of black mascara, always use waterproof mascara for weddings! L'Oreal Million lashes is my ultimate masacara. If you want a more dramatic look to your lashes you could a natural strip of false lashes. Eyelure Naturalites are brilliant. apply just after your masacara so they stick to your natural lashes and apply a finishing coat of macara to seal them together so they look the most natural.

I know I have used mac eyeshadows in this post but for a cheaper alternative you could always try boots seventeen eyeshadows as I have always found these to be very long lasting but if you know of any other good cheaper mac alternatives then please leave a comment and let me know!

How best to apply eyeshadow to different eyeshapes. - hooded, wide eyes, deepset, almond and closeset

Hello lovely brides to be!

I often get asked about how to apply eyeshadow. The answer always is “it depends on your eye shape”.

Different eye shapes have different needs and we want to make the most out of all eye shapes. Below I am going to go through the different eye shapes and what they mean and where best to apply each colours for them. If you get confused or if you slot into two or three of the different types and you are not sure what to do then just leave me a comment below and I can help you directly. You can also wonder over to my facebook page at www.facebook.com/herefordbridalbeauty and ask me there, I can see your profile picture and will be able to tailor my answer directly to you.

Standard/ Average

Firstly we have standard eyes. This is the most common eye shape. Its neither too large nor too small etc and it can carry off most looks. 

For eyeshadows take a light colour and blush all over the lid up to the brown bone. Then take a medium colour and blend into the crease. Then take your dark colour and blend in a > shape along the outer eye from the lashline up into the crease, staying most darkest near the lashline as this will be most seen. Finish with a whitish cream colour under the brow bone and on the inner corner of the eye to give a fresh, brighter look and really open those eyes.

Wide set Eyes

Wide set eyes are just where the gap between each eyes is slightly larger than average. Some good examples of celebrities are Jessica Alba, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Seyfried, and Jacky O. All very beautiful!

The best way to wear eyeshadow with wide set eyes is too only use a light and medium colour. Take your light colour all over the eyelid up to the brow bone and then with your medium colour blend in a > shape from the lashline into the crease. Try not to take it too far up the brow bone and keep it on the eyelid. Then with the same brush but without dipping into the colour again use it lightly to blend any remaining colour into the inner eye crease. This will balance out the eye and giving it more dimension and make it seem more closed. Finish with a whitish cream colour under the brow arch to get a fresher bright eyed look.

Close set Eyes

Close set eyes are just where the gap between each eye is slightly smaller than average. Some good examples of celebrities with close set eyes are Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Kardashian, Rachel Bilson and Nicole Kidman. Again all very beautiful!

To make your eyes really pop you need to create the illusion that they are slightly wider so the colour focus is going to be on the outer corner. So using a light colour sweep it all over the eyelid up to the brown bone. Next take a dark colour and create a > shape from the lash line to the outer crease of your eyes, blend it outwards and upwards to the brow bone. If you want to wear eyeliner take it thinly from the inner corner to the outer and just a little flick on the end. Finish with a whitish/ cream colour under the brow bone and inner eye. This will create depth to the eye.

Deep Set Eyes

Deep set eyes are lovely to work with. They already have depth and shape to them so all you need to do is add light and colour to get a great look. Keira Knightly, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie and Kim Kardashian (also has closeset eyes as well) are great examples of deep set eyes. 

You want to try and stay away from putting dark colours into the crease line as this will only make deepset eyes appear deeper. What we are trying to do is lighten. So take your light colour all over the eyelid up to the brow bone. And then take a medium colour and apply that lightly into the crease line. Make sure you go right to the inner corner crease. Try not to take this colour down into the outer lower lid as again we are trying to lighten. If you want to wear eyeliner take this from the start of you lashline and try not to go to thick. Finish with your whitish/ cream colour on the inner corner of the eye and very thinly under the brow arch, not to much as again we do not want to create too much shadow.

Prominent Lids

These are eyes that are the main focus of the face. Good celebrity examples are Christina Ricci, Nicole Richie, Cher, and Sophie Dahl. They tend to be more doe eyed and usually have a lot of eyelid to play with. You can afford to be heavy handed with these types of eyes. 

Firstly take your light colour all over the eyelid up to the brow bone. Then take your medium colour into the crease. Make sure you blend down into the outer and inner corners. Then take your dark colour along the lash line and blend up into the crease. Finish with a whitish/cream blended thinly under the brow arch and blend down. This look should leave the lightest colour showing through in the middle of your lower eyelid creating a focus for the eyes. 

You can also play with dramatic falsh lashes as your eyes can really take them without taking over your look. have a go!

Hooded Eyes

This seems to be the eye shape I get a lot of questions about as there isn’t a lot of lower eyelid on show you need to carefully place your colour where you can see without looking too much like a clown! It’s where the upper brow lid covers most or all on the lower eyelid. This is something that happens naturally as we get older, but some people have eyes naturally like this. Some great celebrity examples are Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, Sharon Stone Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger, again all beautiful women, so don’t see this as a curse!

The best way to wear eyeshadow is to take your light colour all over the lower eyelid, up to and just a tad further onto the brow bone (not all the way to the top please ladies!) then take a medium colour and work this into your crease, blending this lightly up to the brow bone on the outer corner. Then take your dark colour and work it from your outer lash line up to the crease and blend it out and up. You can also work a little into the lower lash line (very gently). Lastly take your whitish/ cream colour and blend this under your brow arch blending across the whole upper browbone and down into the inner eye socket.

Bridal DIY Make Up Tips

Hello ladies!!

Well I know a lot of you have looked at my mature Bridal DIY Make Up tips so I thought I would do one for the other brides out there. A lot of the recommendations will seem similar, but there are loads more new tips to help you all out!

I can also be contacted direct at www.facebook.com/herefordbrialbeauty if anyone would like more tailored advice to yourself or you can always leave a comment below! Hope these help!

Face

1. Avoid using thick foundations it will only cake and look mask like in photographs. Try a radiating foundation like Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation or Make Up Forever HD Foundation or if you prefer a matte foundation then I recommend Make Up Forever Matte + Velvet Foundation. It’s truly amazing!

2. Try and avoid foundations that contain an SPF for the big day as the camera will pick up the SPF as it creates a ghostly whitish look to the skin.

3. Buffing foundation into the skin instead of applying with a foundation brush will diminish pores and fine lines and will give a flawless finish. Real techniques do a great brush for this. They have named it their “face brush”.Check out my foundation tips for getting a flawless finish here.

4. Apply a foundation primer before you begin with your application, Smashbox photoready primer is amazing. Primers provide a smooth surface for a blended application of foundation. Remember though a Silicone foundation needs a silicone primer and a oil free or water based foundation needs an oil free or water based primer. I will do a blog on the different types so look out for it!

5. Concealer is used to freshen your under eye and eye lid and cover blemishes, broken veins or redness – a great concealer is Luminess Air Concealer. It gives enough coverage, but doesn’t cake. I also love Mac Select Cover Up, but this needs to be buffed into the skin with a large fluffy eye shadow brush. Real Techniques do a great one it’s called a domed shadow brush.

6. Opt to wear a loose powder over your foundation. Loose powder reduces the shine on the skin. A matte face is a fresher younger looking face and will look the most natural and flawless on photographs. Do not use compact powder – they provide a heavy layer to the skin and you will look older. A great Loose Powder is Laura Mercers Translucent powder, but Macs pre+prime is also great. 

7. Use a matte peachy or pinkie blusher on the apple of your cheeks to give a pretty flush and to balance out your eyes and lips. You will also be able to use a brighter lipstick shade as the blusher will stop the brighter shade being so dramatic.

8. Don’t be tempted to use a bright cheek highlighter on your cheeks, these don’t show up great in photographs. If you want more of a glow on your cheeks, then I would suggest mixing a little of the highlighter with a bit of foundation and run this mixture on your cheeks on top of your foundation. The added foundation will tone the highlighter down, making it more natural and it will blend better with the foundation already on your cheeks and remember less is more!! And never put liquid highlighter on top of your powder, it will cake!

Eyes

1. Use waterproof mascara and keep the focus of the mascara on your top eye lashes for as much upward lifting illusion as possible and also to prevent a panda look if there are tears. L’Oreal Million lashes in black is perfect. Always use black mascara for your wedding day as this will create a frame to your eyes that brown mascara can never do.

2. Never wear one shade of eye shadow from your eyelashes until your eyebrows. You need to use light and dark shades in the correct place to create natural focus to the eye. Try a lighter shade on the inner corners of your eye and under your brow. A medium shade on your lid and slightly darker shade along the outer corner of your eye.

3. If you have a hooded eye, don’t use dark eyeshadow in the crease, this will only exaggerate the hood and make the eyes bulge. Younger skin can afford shimmery neural colours on the eyes.

4. For your bridal look try and keep to a neural palette of browns, pinks and greys. These are tried and tested to work the best for brides.

Lips

1. If you have small lips, go brighter or lighter rather than darker. Darker will make your lips look smaller and will make your face look hard. A little lipgloss in the centre of your bottom lip will also give the illusion of a fuller lip. 

2. Never go for frosted lipsticks as these will drain the colour from your face. Use satin or sheer finishes as these will work best. 

3. Never mix warm shades and cool shades on your face. For example you should not mix a pinkie lipstick shade with a peachy eye shadow shade. Opposites don’t balance on the face. If your lipstick is pink so should your blusher be.


General

1. If you feel the tears welling in your eyes. Take a deep breath and look up. This should help prevent them rolling down your cheeks.

2. Wedding dresses really are heavy and warm, so I would advise keeping some cooling mist spray like Neutrogena’s and spray on your shoulders and back. Also if you feel flushed, run your wrists under a cold tap. The cold water will cool your blood. 

3. If you’re doing your own make up on the day. Make sure you apply it on your own or with one friend. A massive crowd watching your every application will put unnecessary pressure on you and you are more likely to make mistakes. Just pretend your doing your everyday make up and don’t worry!

4. Don’t try anything new on the day! Always practice lots before hand. Your wedding day is not the time to unwrap that new lipstick you have never worn before!


Hope these tips help!! Please leave a comment if you have any other tips that could go onto the list to help your fellow brides out!!

Viva Diva - Boots Seventeen Eyeshadow Review

I bought this lovely eyeshadow on the spur of the moment as I wanted a similar colour to Benefits Cosmetics Mint Tulip, but without it being a loose powder and being so messy.

I must say that I am in love with this eyeshadow and it’s spurred me on to buy more from the range. The packaging is light and bit cheap looking, but the colour range is fab and the colours themselves are very rich and have great staying power.

Viva Diva £3.89 Boots

Viva Dive is a turquoise green with a hint of shimmer. I found the colour to be very true to how it looks in the pot and it applied nicely with no drop off onto my cheeks.

It retails at £3.89, but there is mostly always a 3 for 2 on this range so be brave and purchase a few more colours - statuesque is also a lovely beige shimmer colour. Check it out! http://www.boots.com/en/17-Solo-Eye-Shadow_927050/


I have an example of how it looks below.

 To get this look I first popped on an eye shadow primer. Here is used Urban Decays Eye Potion. Then I patted the Viva Diva all over the eyelid and along the bottom lash line. I then pushed some Macs Beauty Marked into the crease and outer corner to give the shadow some depth. Beauty Marked is a deep maroon/black/purple colour, but a black shimmer would do the job just fine. I then popped on some Boujoris waterproof eyeliner along the top lash line and in the waterline. I finished with Boujoris white shimmer eyeshadow under my brow arch and on the inner corner of my eye.

Best Bargin Eyeshadows! - Boots Seventeen Range!

Hello Lovely ladies!!

Now I know I ramble on about prestige brands a lot and so I thought I would tell you a great eyeshadow range that’s an absolute bargain. It’s the Boots Seventeen range. Now rummaging through my make up bag I noticed that I have developed a sort of bargain crush on these eyeshadows and I had about 7 solos in my kit.

They have a vast arrange of colours and eyeshadow types from shimmers and bright colours to matte and neutral. My favourite is Viva Diva and you can read the review and see how it looks here, but its wonderful turquoise green with a gold shimmer.

They are quite compact colour wise and there isn’t a lot of brush off when you swipe your make up brush through which is great and it has serious staying power. I always apply a good eyeshadow primer first. I currently use Urban Decay's Eye Potion and I find these seventeen eyeshadows are just as good as the more expensive ones on the market.

The packaging is light and plasticy, but the see-through top is great so I can easily identify the colour.

They retail at £3.89 a pot but they are nearly always on 3 for 2!

You can buy from any Boots Store or online at http://www.boots.com/en/17-Solo-Eye-Shadow_927050/

Tightlining - Eyeliner for people who dont like wearing eyeliner!

Hi Guys!!

Well today I thought I would do a little blog on one of the best make up techniques I have learned in a long time. It’s called tighlining.

On a day to day basis I do not wear a lot of make up myself. One reason is to keep my very grumpy skin for being grumpier and another reason is time. I really do not want to be spending hours in front of the mirror each day. I usually keep dramatic looks for my clients or nights out!

That doesn’t mean that I do not want to make the most of my day to day look or alter it slightly every now and then. I have big slighty round eyes and I never wear eyeliner on its own, as I feel it really does nothing for my eyes. I only ever wear it when I do big dramatic eyes and i know there are a lot of girlies out there who are also not big fans of eyeliner everyday. 

Sooo to frame my eyes without actually wearing eyeliner I tightline. Tightlining is where you push a eyeliner gel or matte eyeshadow into the lash roots, filling in all the gaps to give the illusion of thicker, fuller and longer lashes. Add your mascara over the top and boy does it look amazing! I wouldn’t recommend a pencil or liquid eyeliner as a pencil you would need a lot of pressure and a liquid, well its just too close to the actual eye for my liking, so stick with a gel or powder.

For this I normally use Macs blacktrack eyeliner gel and a flat angled brush. I have also used this technique on clients whose eyes water with eyeliner by using a back matte eyeshadow. I have an urban decay naked palette which has a lovely matte black.

If you don't know how to tightline, here’s how:

1. Firstly use a brush that has been cleaned with baby shampoo and not alcohol brush cleaner. Baby shampoo is tear free and alcohol brush cleaner will only sting your eyes and make them water!
2. Raise your lashes upward by gently lifting the eyelid skin in order to expose the inner skin area at the lash roots and waterline.
3. Look for tiny gaps between the hairs, and starting at the outer corner (where you'll want the most pigment) lightly wiggle the color from the brush into those gaps as close to the roots as possible (not the waterline).
4. If you want you can Tightline your lower lash line by wiggling color into the gaps from on top, between the roots very lightly. If you go to heavy and it looks obvious then lightly rub a cotton bud over it to take some of the colour out.

And that’s it. Simple!

If you still need some help visualising it then below is a great video on how it’s done. 

 

Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation Review

I thought I might add a review of foundation that I love to use for proms for young ladies who have normal or combination skins.

I don’t use on brides as it contains an SPF (15) and SPF create a ghostly white glow on photographs. You want the skin to look as natural as possible in photographs so I tend to steer clear of SPF.

However this foundation is beautiful and for ladies who are going on nights out or for proms where coverage is key then this foundation is great. It’s a liquid which sets so you need to be quick with blending, but once it sets it doesn’t look cakey and doesn’t contain oil so it’s very long lasting. The coverage is medium but you can build it to full if that’s what you are after. Once on it looks very very flawless.

Ideal Flawless Shades

It gives a beautiful glow and comes in loads of shades!! Even pale and dark skin tones will find a shade. Avon has created a Facebook app to help you find the perfect shade match.

https://www.facebook.com/Avonuk?sk=app_251320364945072

It gives a beautiful glow and comes in loads of shades!! Even pale and dark skin tones will find a shade. Avon has created a Facebook app to help you find the perfect shade match. The bottle is glass and it has a black lid and looks very expensive. It costs £12 which is on par to other middle of the range brands. It also comes with a pump which with other brands you usually have to buy separately.

The Avon website as a great video that explains the product fully and also gives you a few tips and tricks like using lipstick as a blusher!! Amazing. Make sure you check it out.