February Favourites

House Of Lashes Dark Eyelash Adhesive
I've always used Duo Lash Adhesive to apply my falsies & in general I was pretty happy with it. However I didn't really like the squeezy tube or how long it would take to become tacky & I would often jump the gun trying to apply false lashes before the glue was ready. There's nothing more annoying than spending ages perfecting your eye makeup just to mess it up with lash adhesive. I adore the eyelash styles from House Of Lashes (Iconic lashes are my fave!) & had heard so many good things about their lash glue. I got the dark version because it's easier to blend in with my eyeliner & I absolutely love it! It gets tacky right away & keeps my lashes in place all day. The glue is latex-free & completely waterproof but that can make it difficult to remove. It comes with a brush-on applicator which is less messy & very precise. The only thing I'm not so keen on is the scent. It's got a slight floral fragrance which is certainly better than the fishy odour of Duo but still a bit weird. It soon goes away after the glue dries though. Overall I really like this lash glue & it makes applying false lashes a breeze.

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Between The Sheets
My obsession with Charlotte Tilbury's makeup range knows no bounds & whenever she brings out something new, I have to buy it immediately. I'm a huge fan of the Matte Revolution lipsticks & couldn't resist snapping up her new rose petal pink shade called Between The Sheets. The last thing I needed to buy was yet another pink lipstick but I fell in love with her first date makeup look & the model's lips looked so pretty in this tutorial. I really love the Matte Revolution formula as the lipsticks are creamy & don't dry out your lips. They don't look flat either as they contain 3D glowing pigments which give the appearance of wider & fuller lips that almost look lit-from-within. The square tip is also fantastic for precision application. The longevity isn't great for a matte lipstick but the romantic pink colour of Between The Sheets is too dreamy to miss out on.

Maria Nila Luminous Colour Shampoo
My hair is currently a gorgeous shade of grey all thanks to my new hairdressers. To keep it that way between hair appointments I use various silver shampoos but I felt that the rest of my haircare routine was slightly lacking. I was using some Alterna & Tresemme products to wash my hair but they weren't that great for maintaining the colour or the condition. Instagram is full of people with fabulous locks & I noticed some of my favourite pink haired ladies posting about these Maria Nila products. So I went to Sally's & bought a few items from the Luminous Colour range. These products are specially designed for coloured hair as they boost softness & shine whilst rebuilding the hair structure. They feature pomegranate extract and a colour guard complex which protect hair & reduce the loss of colour associated with washing, heat styling, UV rays & free radicals. They are also sulphate & paraben-free. Not only do they smell incredible but my hair has never looked better! I still have a few broken pieces from excess bleaching but this stuff smooths them down beautifully so my hair looks much fuller & healthier. My hair feels super soft & light after washing but it's completely frizz-free. The condition of my hair has improved so much since I started using this range & I've had hardly any breakage as a result. Maria Nila's Luminous Colour Shampoo & Conditioner are hands down the best products I have ever washed my hair with. You need to try them!

Superfacialist Probiotic Skin Recovery Day Cream
In my opinion Superfacialist By Una Brennan is one of the very best drugstore skincare brands. Their products combine potent natural extracts with high performance active ingredients which is something I tend to look for when buying new skincare items. You get the best of both worlds that way & in my experience, the best results. A few months ago they brought out a product range harnessing the healing power of probiotics. This range claims to gently yet effectively hydrate, balance & rejuvenate sensitised, stress damaged or overly treated skin. A couple of the products I tried were complete duds but the Skin Recovery Day Cream has fast become my go-to moisturiser. It has such a lovely texture that feels light yet nourishing & immediately calms down any irritation or redness. It deeply hydrates the skin & features a small amount of lactic acid for a softer, smoother complexion. I think it's a brilliant moisturiser & a great base for longer lasting makeup.

Viridian 100% Organic Raw Coconut Oil*
After 10 years of having stretched ear lobes I finally said goodbye to my tunnels last month. I still loved them & was very sad to get rid of them. I would've gladly worn them forever. Unfortunately for some reason my ears had gotten really irritated & no amount of salt soaks or oil massages would calm them down so long as I continued to wear earrings. I hadn't stretched them recently or done anything differently so I don't really know what happened there. I finally admitted defeat & took them out which left me with some rather fetching holes in my ears. Stretched lobes look kinda gross if you're not wearing earrings in them so I needed to shrink them down as fast as possible whilst soothing the inflamed skin. In order to do just that I decided to try massaging them with this coconut oil from Viridian Nutrition. Any coconut oil would do but this adorable little pot is the perfect size to keep on my bedside table as you only need a small amount of oil for your ear lobes. I started massaging them about three times a day which reduced the redness, removed the dead skin & most importantly healed up my holes. It's been about three weeks since I took the earrings out & they already look pretty much back to normal. I don't think I would stretch my ears up again even though I do really miss my sparkly white tunnels!

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Clear Skin From Within With Viridian

The Clear Skin Cookbook* / Clear Skin Complex* / 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil*

Since making my clear skin smoothie shots I've become more and more interested in feeding my skin properly. I'm the first to admit I still indulge myself a lot with burgers, brownies, ice cream & everything else that's bad for you but if you manage to eat well most of the time it will show through your skin. Recently I've been trying out Viridian Nutrition’s Clear Skin Collection. As a bit of a supplement junkie I know that Viridian's products are really high quality and are made from the purest ingredients so they're a great brand to opt for. I was sent three products to try out - Clear Skin Complex, 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil and Dale Pinnock's Clear Skin Cookbook. The cookbook was the inspiration behind the two supplements as a way of supporting the underlying health of blemish-free skin.



Clear Skin Complex is a supplement which combines probiotics, botanicals, minerals and antioxidants to help clear the skin. If you struggle to eat properly I whole heartedly recommend supplementing your diet. I take a ton of pills every day, its surprising I don't rattle when I walk! I've had to limit myself in recent years because otherwise I would spend a fortune on them every month. One supplement my skin has missed is Burdock Root so I was pleased to see the inclusion of this in Viridian's Clear Skin Complex. It also contains Zinc which is something Dale Pinnock highlights as an acne fighting mineral. This bottle contains 60 capsules which is enough for one month. I've finished taking the whole bottle and I'm definitely going to repurchase this. Rather than the huge crop of new spots I get on my chin every month, I've only had two. Two! It's normally that area that is affected by hormones and eating better is also known to help balance hormones so I'm gonna put it down to taking these pills and the omega oil.



I absolutely love the 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil. This is a bright yellow and highly nutritious oil that you can either take directly from a spoon or mix into food. It doesn't taste great on it's own as you are literally eating a spoonful of oil which isn't the most pleasant sensation. But combined with other food it becomes a brilliant supplement. It works really well when used as a salad dressing and you can add a couple of spoonfuls to things like smoothies and soups. My favourite way to take it is mixed into a tub of hummous. It doesn't change the flavour or texture at all, it just adds extra goodness to an already healthy snack. The oil provides you with Omega 3, 6, 7 & 9. Those fatty acids are great for eczema. I already take Omega 3 and flaxseed oil supplements to help with my eczema so I know first hand they work really well for that. The main ingredient in this is flaxseed oil but there's loads of other lovely stuff in it such as rosehip oil, avocado oil, pumpkin seed oil and argan oil. Together with the Clear Skin Complex pills, this has really helped my skin - both my blemishes and eczema have lessened since I started taking them and they're not the only things to benefit from these new additions to my diet. My nails have grown so much and they're strong for once! Mine normally break & peel all the time but now they're strong & long.




Dale Pinnock is the UK's first medicinal chef. He wrote The Clear Skin Cookbook to share his knowledge about how different food can affect the skin and to provide healthy recipes to boost your skin. The first section deals with different ailments such as acne and eczema and what kind of things you should be including in your diet to help combat them. The next few chapters discuss vitamins, minerals, fats and antioxidants. I found it really interesting to learn more about what each vitamin & mineral can do for your skin. The science behind it all is explained in a really enjoyable way. Then the second half features some recipes for every meal as well as snacks and drinks. Each recipe is followed by a page explaining exactly how the ingredients will help your skin. While there is some good meal inspiration in here I think the book suffers due to a lack of recipes. But after reading through the rest of it you gain knowledge about ingredients so you can make informed, healthier choices and then google recipes featuring those ingredients. The internet is always going to be a better resource of recipes than any cookbook so it's the rest of the information in here that's really valuable. I've been using it more like a shopping list so I know exactly what things to get when I'm doing the weekly shop.








Here are some of the recipes I tried to recreate. The first thing I made was the Mean Green Mineralizing Machine. This is a green raw vegan soup and it's probably one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I'm sorry, I just couldn't stomach this. I love eating vegetables but this just wasn't for me. There is a crazy amount of extra virgin olive oil in this and I couldn't enjoy eating cold soup even on one of the hottest days of the year. Next I tried making Spinach Pate. This is basically chopped spinach mixed with light cream cheese and nutmeg. I topped some Ryvita with this as a healthy snack and this tasted a lot nicer than the soup. The nutmeg went surprisingly well with the savoury flavours and it was really filling. I also made the Blueberry & Yoghurt Layer Crunch for breakfast one day. This was nice & filling too and a great way to start the day. It's so quick & easy to make. I did have to cheat a tiny bit and drizzle it with some agave syrup to sweeten it up though. I'd used ground flaxseed instead of golden flaxseed which made it a bit dry so the syrup made it easier to eat.

Overall I'd say the book is a great reference point as to what kind of things you should be eating to help alleviate various skin problems. Viridian's Clear Skin products are the real stars here though. If like me you often don't eat enough healthy food then supplements can really help your diet. These products take note of the vitamins, minerals, fats and antioxidants that Dale Pinnock champions in his cookbook and delivers them in an easy to stomach and convenient manner. They're definitely worth a try if you suffer from any skin ailment that is treatable through your diet - especially acne!

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