020 Style Icon : Elizabeth Olsen

Hey Belles! Hope you're all doing well & enjoying this much needed beautiful weather! I'm having a super chilled week and treating myself to some very well deserved me-time. It's so nice just to have time to get lost in your thoughts every now and then! 

This week I've chosen the gorgeous Elizabeth Olsen as my Style Icon, the younger sister of the much coveted Mary-Kate & Ashley, Elizabeth is making a huge name for herself in the fashion world, opting out of following in her elder sisters' boho chic footsteps, she's looking every inch the Hollywood starlet. Elizabeth has been landing on everyones Best Dressed lists since her breakout role in cult indie movie, Martha Mary May Marlene. She's scored some major points for her classy red carpet choices and super effortless off-duty style from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Proenza Schouler and obviously, the Row.

Her impeccable sense of style clearly runs in the Olsen family, she's super polished and favours tailored blazers and monochrome palettes... and her footwear? She always gets it right, never choosing a boring beige heel! When she's not on the red carpet, Elizabeths off duty style is timeless, she's always adorned in a slouchy knit, simple outerwear and has a penchant for pulling off great hats effortlessly. 

I absolutely adore Elizabeth Olsen, massive girl crush here! She has the Olsens' much loved heart shaped face and curious eyes, and knows exactly how to dress herself. From the floral blouse and her dressed down hats teamed with Chanel handbag and flats, she just never gets it wrong. And that rust coloured leather skirt? Just wow. This girl is going places. And her life is about to get hectic again as she begins filming on the new Godzilla remake. 

Who's your style crush at the moment?! Would love to hear!

Lots of love xx

View Post

019 Review - Soap & Glory : The Fab Pore Facial Peel

Hey Belles! Hope you're all having a super week, I wasn't going to update until Sunday but couldn't wait to share this super product with you! 

I've had troublesome pores on my nose, cheeks and chin for a while now and whilst they aren't that obvious, it was enough to bother me, wearing lots of foundation everyday doesn't really help either, I figured it was time to invest in something to fix my pore-ly face! (that was so bad.. sorry!) 

I've been a fan of Soap & Glory for such a long time now, they're definitely my go-to brand when my skin needs a little pick me up and I'm yet to find one of their products I haven't loved or wanted to eat.. they smell way too good. You can imagine my delight when I found this little pot of joy at my local Boots. 

A little about the product... 
"The Fab Pore™ has an intensive pore refining action with our exclusive PORESHRINK-R COMPLEX™. Ideal for greasy, spot prone or problem skin, or for a strategic attack on a misbehaving T-zone." 

The Fab Pore contains four main ingredients that claim to work to help refine pores;

Fomes Officinalis Extract quite a mouthful! This is a mushroom extract that helps to tighten up your pores.

Salicylic Acid this loosens up dead cells that contribute to your pores clogging.

Kaolin That's cosmetic talk for clay, it sops up extra oil on your skin and smoothes out the skins surface.

Vitamins E & C both Antioxidants.

 

The consistency of the face mask is really lovely and creamy, as with every Soap & Glory it smells delicious, it has lots of little green beads in it which dissolve as you rub the mask onto your face. I left mine for fifteen minutes as instructed and I was so impressed with the results, there was a massive difference in the visibility and size of my pores. I wasn't expecting amazing results straight away but this really blew me away. A definite re-purchase! And it looks perfect on the dressing table! The side of the tub instructs to use 2-3 times a week, which I definitely will be doing!

Hope this helps anyone who's considering buying this, you definitely won't regret investing in this little pot of joy!

You can find The Fab Pore Facial Peel at Boots - retailing at £8 for a 50g tub. 

Lots of Love

xx 

View Post

018 April Purchases

I might have been a little naughty this month and overspent on the beauty front, but all of it was things I wanted utterly essential! If anyone would like to see a full review of any of products featured, just let me know! 

L'oreal Youth Code BB Cream - £14.99 Okay, so, I bought this on a bit of a whim. I have to say, I'm not utterly impressed by it and it doesn't claim what it says to do. I couldn't see any 'instant luminosity', to be honest it was nothing more than a tinted moisturizer. I definitely wouldn't buy it again, after buying it I did a little research and read other peoples reviews and most of them said the same! Definitely wishing I'd done my research before buying it!

L'oreal Youth Code Youth Boosting Day Cream - £13.50  I am in loooove with this! I was looking for another moisturiser having tried hundreds of them and not finding anything that really suited my skin, but I think I've met my match! It smells utterly dreamy and melts into your skin. A definite re-purchase! I love the packaging too, the little glass jar feels super luxurious and looks divine!

 Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow SPF 25 (Shade Ivory) - £25.50  I bought this having read some super reviews about, I wasn't planning on buying it, it was a little bit of an emergency purchase after my very much coveted Mac Studio Fix ran out. I wasn't massively impressed by it and I'm surprised that its had such amazing reviews. The colour match was great and I love the range of shades available for this foundation, but my skin didn't look 'brightened' as it claims, the coverage was good and I like that it has SPF 25 in it to protect your skin, which is great now the sun has come out to play. But I just don't think it was worth the £25.50. It has quite a runny consistency and doesn't last throughout the day. I much prefer my Mac and with the Benefit being a whopping £6 more expensive, I don't think I'll repurchase! 

 Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer - £6.99 & Rimmel Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch (Radiant Rose) - £4.99 I bought this Rimmel Primer having seen it on the beautiful Olivia's Instagram feed, I am super impressed by and I'd say it's just as good as my Mac Prep & Prime! My skin definitely looked smoother and my foundation went on like a dream, it's definitely worth the £6.99. As for the Shimmer Touch, it was okay, it did leave my skin looking a little dewy but the results weren't that noticeable, I'm super pale and so thought it would leave me with a pretty English Rose glow! Unfortunately that wasn't the case!

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Polish (shade Lychee) - £3.99 Ohhh my gosh I am utterly in love with this polish. Its the perfect shade of nude for spring. It looks classic and goes with absolutely everything. 'Nuff said!

Essie Nail Polish (Tea & Crumpets) - £7.99 I've been pondering over getting Essie's much coveted Fiji polish for a while and whilst browsing I found this little beauty! The shade is hard to describe but its a pearly classic nude. It looks super pretty on! Definitely an Essie favourite. I'm so glad it having since read that Fiji looks a little like Tip-Ex when it's on!

 

L'oreal Skin Perfection 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil - £7.99 I was bullied sweet-talked into buying this by a friend and I'm so glad I did! It's not quite Liz Earle but it does an amazing job at cleansing your face and leaves your skin feeling so so so clean afterwards. My skin looked lovely and bright the next morning. I'd definitely recommend it! And it smells delicious! What's not to love?!

Dove GoFresh Pomegranate & Lemon Verbena Deodorant (150ml) - £2.89 Bit of a random one to include, but I was attracted to this purely because of the pink lid. It smells utterly beautiful, I'm so glad I bought it. It has a really girly, fruity smell which lasted all day. It claims to last 48 hours, I'm not sure it lasted that long as I didn't go that long without using it! But Dove definitely delivers on this one!

What have you purchased recently?! Are there any products you'd love to see full reviews of?

lots of love

xx

View Post

017 Chi Chi Wishlist

Hey Belles! I love this time of year, Spring is absolutely my favourite season, I adore the longer evenings and the cool breeze in the lovely warm air, finally being able to dig out the flip flops and not have to defrost my car every morning! Pure bliss! As you can imagine, I jumped at the chance to enter etailPR's competition to win £200 to spend at Chi Chi Clothing, along with the warm weather, social events like proms, parties and weddings tend to pop up at this time of year and what better excuse to invest in a new dress (or two!)?! 

Chi Chi have an amazing selection of dresses on their website, suited for all different kinds of social events and to suit all types of shapes and sizes! And the best part... they're super affordable too! Sounds almost too good to be true!

Here's my wishlist of Chi Chi dresses... I'll post a link below for all the details on how to enter this mustn't be missed competition!

As you can see, Chi Chi has some utterly stunning dresses. My favourite has to be the Salma, I love the lace bodice, its super cute, the back is also elasticated for a nice snug fit!

If you want to enter the etailPR competition to win £200 at Chi Chi, all you have to do is make your own wishlist! Easy peasy! Full details on how to enter can be found here!

Would love to see some of your wishlists!

Lots of Love
xx

View Post

016 What's Your Acne Telling You?!

Evening Belles!

So, I wasn't going to branch out into this type of post.. but this has really helped me and hopefully can help some of you too! All through my teenage years, I never suffered with acne, I was really fortunate to only get the odd spot here and there, but a lot of my friends suffered (and still do suffer) but I have found now that I'm out of teens and into my twen-teens, I'm still getting the odd spot, often bought on by my weakness for chocolate, or overstressing about things I probably shouldn't be. Then I came across 'face-mapping' , sounds odd right? 

Face mappings combines Ayurveda and ancient Chinese medicine with dermatologists’ prescriptions to explain how certain parts of your face are connected to other areas of your body. Think of your face as a map and little blemishes as X’s on that map. Spots in different zones correspond to different issues. Using the “map” as your guide, you can address the underlying causes of blemishes and not only make the spots vanish but treat the underlying health problem too! Sounds absolutely dreamy! 

Here's how to decode any breakouts in the basic areas of your face:

 

 1 & 2 - The Digestive System : Eat less junk/processed food, choose cooling foods such as cucumbers, up your water intake and reduce the fat intake in your diet.

3 - The Liver : Reduce the amount of alcohol you're drinking, cut out greasy foods and reduce your dairy intake. This is the area where food allergies show first, so check the ingredients of what you're eating. Rest your liver by doing around 30 minutes of light exercise each day and make sure you're getting enough sleep.

4 & 5 - The Kidneys : Any blemishes around the eyes, yep that does include the dreaded dark circles, has all fingers pointing at dehydration, make sure you drink lots of water each day, especially as summer is approaching!

6 - The Heart : Check your Vitamin B levels and blood pressure, decrease your intake of spicy foods and meat and make sure you get some fresh air, take a little walk each day. Besides this, try and look at different ways to lower cholesterol, you can do this by swapping 'bad' fats for 'good' fats, like Omega 3 & 6, found in nuts, avocados and fish. This part of your face is full of dilated pores, make sure you take off your make-up every night before bed and that it isn't past its use by date.

7 & 8 - The Kidneys : Yep, the Kidneys again! Cut down alcohol, fizzy drinks and caffeine intake. These will make you feel even more dehydrated. If like me, you're partial to some full fat coke most every days, wean yourself off by swapping one of the meals you'd normally have it with (ie dinner) for a glass of water instead. 

9 & 10 - Respiratory System : If you smoke or have allergies, this may be your problematic area. If you're a non smoker and don't have allergies yet this area is still an issue for you, try not to let your body overheat, eat lots of cooling foods, cut down your sugar intake and make sure you get tons of fresh air! Add some more alkalizing foods to your diet, like green vegetables. Also, dirty mobile phones and mucky pillowcase affect this area the most, who'd have thought?! 

Zones 11 & 12 - Hormonal Changes : Sometimes hormonal changes can't be avoided, but bear in mind, this is your signature zone for stress. You can decrease the effects that both have on your skin by getting lots of sleep every night, drinking enough water and keeping your skin squeaky clean. Odd fact; breakouts in this area can indicate when you are ovulating, and on which side!

13 - The Stomach : If this is your problematic area, make sure you're getting enough fibre in your diet, swap cornflakes for bran flakes with a few prunes on the top. Try and drink some herbal teas to help with your digestion.

14 - Illness : If you're getting spots here, it could be a sign that your body is fighting bacteria to avoid illness. Drink water, have a few more naps, try some relaxing exercises such as yoga and try to de-stress (any excuse for a massage!) 


So, next time you have a little break out or notice some dark circles under the eyes, consult the face map! Your skin might be trying to communicate on behalf of your organs. Do remember though, with all medical problems its always best to see your GP or a dermatologist for a full diagnosis. This guide is designed to head you in the right direction, just because you have a break out between the brows, doesn't always mean your liver is a little dodgy!  

What do you think to this type of post?! 

lots of love
Blush & Belle

View Post

015 Pretty Spring Pastels

Hey Belles! It feels like its been forever since I last updated, half term has kept me super busy with my little ones! Anyway, its starting to feel like Spring has finally peeped its head out and we're headed for some beautiful weather, what better excuse to shop for some super cute pastels?! I love Spring, no more having to de-ice the car, no more having to wear uggs, being able to sit in a beautiful little beer garden with an ice cold drink (or two!)  - ah perfection!

Here's a little wishlist of some of my favourite Spring finds..

(left to right)

001 Lemon Skater Skirt - £34 Topshop
002 Pink Blazer - £24.99 New Look
003 Crochet Cami - £34 Topshop 
004 Stripey Hotpants - £32 Topshop 
005 Olivia Burton Coral Watch - £52 ASOS 
006 Wedges - £50 Topshop 
007 Blue Cami - £18 Topshop
008 Alice Bands - £4 Accessorize 
009 Pink Skinny Jeans - £22.99 New Look 

As you can see, some of our top high street stores have some adorable little pieces in at the moment! Is everyone feeling in the mood for Spring? I've spent my day baking cupcakes, what have all of you beautiful belles been up to?! How was everyone been?

Lots of Love 
xx
 

View Post