The_FT_Times_Blog_Beauty_Editor_empties

BEAUTY EDITOR EMPTIES #1 SPRING’18

In an attempt to create beauty content on my blog that you would find useful, honest and real, I’ve decided to regularly post all my empties on here with a warts ‘n’ all lowdown on why I love them. *Note* I’ll never post about products I don’t like. Not my style. If I don’t like something then you just won’t see it featured here, innit!

Working as a beauty editor for 17+ years, suffice to say I’ve tried my fair share of product – not everything – but a sizeable stash, nonetheless.

Brands continue to send me stuff to review and I’ve been priveé to some fast and furious beauty sales when working on magazines – the best blag to date being a Jo Malone Midnight Black Tea Cologne, 175ml worth £240 that I picked up for £10! A TENNER! Smells uh-mazing!

Before we begin, it’s worth remembering that everyone is different. From skin complexion to hair type and just simply personal preference, too.

My one and only rule is, do what works for YOU!

Finally, feel free to comment below to get in touch with any questions. If it’s something I can’t help with, I can ask my many hair/make-up/dermatologist friends; I can even ask the brand PR themselves…

OK! Are you ready for my Beauty Editor Empties #1?

Let’s begin…

Schwarzkopf Color Expert with OmegaPLEX Colour Sealer Conditioner, £3.99

If you have coloured hair, you may have heard of the Plex trend? Initially a treatment exclusive to salons only, the heat-styling and colour repairing treatment is now available as part of your home hair products, thanks to this range from Schwarzkopf.

I first came across this at their launch last year where I also had a hair colour consultation with their brand ambassador, Carolyn Newman, who explained its magic.

She said: “When you colour hair, you’re working on micro-bonds within the hair fibrils which can weaken and sometimes break. The acids and polymers in plex treatments act as a shield to protect these bonds, helping repair and restructure broken micro-bonds, creating new interlinking bonds for lasting strength.”

My hair is very fine, so I used only a small amount on the mid-lengths and ends and every two weeks used the Schwarzkopf Colour Expert Treatment – which is much heavier – as a deep conditioning mask. A must for coloured or overly heat styled hair.

RPR Rejuvenate my Hair Shampoo, £12.95

Now this Australian professional hair care shampoo is quite tricky to find as lookfantastic.com have sold out along with a few other great beauty sites like hqhair.com. You can still find random bottles from Amazon but you need to be quick!

I first started using this on holiday last year as I felt that over three weeks in the sun and sea meant that my hair needed all the help it could get! I used it along with their conditioner and left hair to air dry afterwards with no styling products needed! The Dream! However, we were camping, so it was more about embracing the hippy-vibes than getting all dressed up for hotel-chic…

Ingredients include…rosehip (to tackle signs of premature ageing) baobab (great antioxidant and rich in Vit C) and biotin (basically, Vit B7 for general hair, skin and nail health).

Together, they’ll help transform fragile, lifeless and damaged hair into a much more manageable state. It’s a great scalp balancer too, so drier scalps are hydrated and oily ones aren’t overloaded.

If you find it, buy it. It’s brilliant!

Tiana Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 750ml, £22.49

First thing – this lasts for AGES! Cold pressed – so no heat has been used in the process – and made from organic coconuts, it’s a great multi-tasker. It’s only bad point is that it’s SO BIG! So when travelling, I’ve blogged about how I use a more portable size coconut oil instead, but apart from that, it’s a great product that all the family can use.

I mainly use it as an all over body moisturiser. I don’t get on that well with lotions and creams and prefer to massage oil onto damp skin which I find locks in more moisture. I don’t use it on my face as I suffer from hormonal acne (another blog post!) but I imagine you could, just very, very sparingly.

You can also use it as an overnight hair treatment (just don’t use your favourite bedding!) and you can also cook with it and even eat it straight from the jar (which I don’t, but my cat often licks the inside lid when I’m not looking!)

It’s a bit of a hefty price tag but Holland & Barrett do good offers and it will last you at least 6-9months if not longer…

Bourjois Liner Feutre Felt Tip Eyeliner in Ultra Black, £6.99

A flicked eyeliner is my go-to look. I’m not really into eyeshadow, so if there’s one thing I have tried LOTS of , it’s liquid liners. This Bourjois liner ran out recently so I’ve started to use Kat Von D Tattoo Liner instead – which is AMAZING but a lot more expensive, mind! However, for half the price, you can totally wing it (sorry!) with this! It lasts for yonks and the fibre nib is firm but not scratchy, allowing perfect precision lines.

MAC Select MoistureCover in NC44, £16.50

Bollocks! Don’t you just hate it when they discontinue stuff!? Well this happened with my favourite concealer from MAC and I’ve now had to go up a shade from NC44 to NC45. It’s not ideal as it was the perfect tone to cover up my acne scars and hormonal outbreaks. I now have to mix it in with a bit of a base from Dr Murad Skin Perfecting Primer (another item that seems to be selling out everywhere!) which is a little lighter than my natural skin tone so together they make the perfect blend and coverage.

Rimmel Volume Shake Mascara in Black, £8.99

I’m a liner and mascara girl, so there’s not many wands out there that I haven’t waved over my lashes. I actually really liked Rimmel’s Volume Shake – it had mixed reviews and has been out for a while but I was still using Bourjois Volume Reveal Mascara. Beauty Editor problems, innit!

I’m not quite sure how the vigorous shaking really helped keep the formula from clumping (it’s not clumpy at all) but I will say that the barrel is quite heavy as mascaras go. Currently, I’m trying out a new Yoga Waterproof mazzy from Eyeko…

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Replenishing Cleansing Oil, £25 down to £15 at Debenhams Beauty

If you’re after a BRILLIANT make-up remover, that doesn’t sting one bit, is gentle on all complexions and doesn’t stress out skin that’s susceptible to hormonal outbreaks, then this is your product! Debenhams Beauty have a great offer on the moment with £10 off the RRP and I can guarantee, it’s worth every penny.

Not only does it lasts for AGES, it’s the kind of product that actually makes you look forward to taking off your make-up at the end of the day. Weird, innit!? Simply rub onto dry skin, taking more time to massage and lift out mascara and other make-up around the eyes, then either wash off with warm water, or use a face cloth to gently wash and slough away dead skin cells whilst wiping away all traces of slap minus the scratchiness of an exfoliator. LOVE THIS! Will miss it loads!

Bloom Collection Fragrances at Superdrug

Superdrug don’t have this trio set listed on their website currently, but basically, Bloom is their own fragrance collection and it’s a great dupe, that’s all I am saying! What they do have though is a very clever  ‘countdown to spring’ calendar with miniature sized perfume bottles which are the ideal size to pop in your bag and also for layering up scents. Great for on-the-go, everyday…Oh and you know that Aldi have launched their fragrances now too, right? Go! Go! Go!

The Body Shop Deep Sleep Dreamy Pillow & Body Mist

This is quite a old product, so I’m not sure if you can still purchase it other than in store or on Amazon… I stumbled across it in a box under my bed which stores all my beauty stuff to be reviewed, as I couldn’t find my Neom Perfect Night’s Sleep Pillow Mist. (Still can’t!)

If you’ve yet to use a sleep mist, you must try one. There are lots of different ones available and at the moment, I am using Calm Sleep Mist which is heavenly when spritzed over the pillows before turning in. I find that allowing yourself to have a proper bedtime ritual is really important, we do it to our kids, innit!? And especially in these days where scrolling seems to take over from sleeping, switching off is so crucial not just for your beauty sleep but in all seriousness, for your mental clarity. I’ve always believed that if you’ve had a good night’s sleep, you can achieve anything the next day, innit!

So there you go, my first installment of my Beauty Editor Empties.

Let me know what you think and I look forward to bringing you some more in the next couple of months.

Thanks for reading

F.T.

2 Comments

  • Thanks for your big reveal FT! Loving the look of the Lizzy Arden remover..could do with something nicer than I use currently, and I would not have found this if you had not featured. Great stuff thanks!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: