A Little Something From Kiehl's, Space NK and Sephora.

Kiehl's, Space NK and Sephora...it's the holy trinity of beauty stores and here's a little shop and restock that takes in all three!

First stop was Kiehl's where I dropped off empty bottles and tubes for their recycling program (which used to be excellent and now isn't great but that's a whole 'nother story). I needed to get a new hydrating toner and picked up the Ultra Facial Oil Free Toner. I've used the regular Ultra Facial Toner before and it's one of my faves so I thought I would give this one a go. I do like Kiehl's toners a lot - they aren't crazy expensive ($16.00 for 250ml) and this one is alcohol free which is something else I look for. Of course, this being Kiehl's I also walked away with a generous selection of samples.

From Space NK I finally picked up the full sized Bumble and Bumble Surf Shampoo and Creme Rinse that I keep banging on about. I also bought the ByTerry Ombre Blackstar in  'Brown Perfection'. Like all ByTerry products its beautifully packaged and this is going to be my replacement creamy eye shadow stick for the now discontinued Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier. (I used to love the Sue Devitt range, especially the eye shadows and pencils *sighs, makes sad and frowny face*)  I bought these all on line at spacenk.com so there was another fistful of samples... I can feel the second month of foil coming on!

Finally in Sephora I picked up the Bliss Lid and Lash Wash that I talked about in my last blog post. It's still hot and I'm enjoying the cooling feel of gel products.

Of course September is just around the corner and it's a good month for GWP'S so I'm saving my pennies for the SpaceNK Fall Beauty Event and Barney's Love Yourself, although I think I may just have to squeeze in a cheap and cheerful CVS restock before then... 

  

Oyster Books

I love reading and I love books. I love the feel of a book and it's crisp pages so the whole e-reader thing has never had that much appeal for me. However I've been taking the train from NYC to Boston and back almost weekly the whole summer which means a lot of time to read and a need for a small, light travel bag as I'm the one hauling it.

giltcity.com  currently have a free 2 month trial of Oyster available. Oyster allows you to download as many books to your ipad or tablet (or nook or kindle) as you want and has a selection of 500,000 to choose from. It normally costs $9.95 a month with the first month free.

Pros of Oyster:
I loved the portability of it.
There was a good choice of books, including things such as picture books and cookery books.
Oyster sent you suggestions for books as you complete each one. This lead me to read things that I otherwise wouldn't have picked out for myself.
Oyster told you how far through each book and each chapter you were which I loved.
You can read multiple books at the same time and create a reading list.
The downloads were really fast.

Cons of Oyster:
I missed the feel of a real book.
The books available were a few years old (copyrights?) so I didn't get to read anything on my current reading list.

What did I read?
Driving The Saudis Jayne Amelia Larson
Waiter Rant Steve Dublancia
Roasting in Hell's Kitchen Gordon Ramsey
It Chooses You Miranda July
Sign Language Daily Telegraph
I Heart New York Lindsey Kelk
Prime Time Jane Wenham Jones
I Am Not Myself These Days Josh Kilmer-Purcell
The Bucolic Plague Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Overall:

I was happy to have tried out Oyster at no charge but I won't be subscribing. TBH at times I found it difficult to choose something that I really wanted to read and most of the books are ones that I wouldn't have chosen from my excellent, local public library. A lot of my favourite authors weren't featured, a lot of lesser known writers were. 

(I did thoroughly enjoy It Chooses You and the two Josh Kilmer-Purcell memoirs though).

An Eye Make Up Remover for Every Budget.

The best eye make up remover ever, IMO, is Chantecaille's Rose Eye Make Up Remover.  It's really efficient - one swipe and everything's gone, it doesn't irritate or dry my eye area and it smells divine. But it's expensive, $39.00 for 2.5oz - ouch - so it's not always on my shelf.

Here are some cheaper removers that do the trick and tick the boxes of my eye make up remover requirements - which are as follows:

. It has to be efficient, no scrubbing permitted.

. It has to remove waterproof mascaras.

. It can't be oily or a bi-phase (this is just my own preference).

. It has to be soothing and non-irritating. 

1. Rimmel Just Let It Go. This has a water like consistency and is really effective, it doesn't irritate and it's as cheap as chips. How Cheap? $5.99 for 4.2oz at harmondiscount.com! And it's made in Monaco where a lot of high end beauty brands (Clarins, Lancaster) are made.

2. Kiehl's Supremely Gentle Eye Make Up Remover. At $16.00 for 4.2oz from kiehl's.com it's not as much of a bargain as the Rimmel one but this mid-priced remover does just what it says on the bottle. It's lotion like consistency is effective and feels nourishing and a little goes a long way so a bottle lasts a long time.

3. Bliss Lid and Lash Wash ($18.00 for 3.7oz - although you can often find a specially priced two pack of these at blissworld.com comes with a pump and is a cooling gel that removes make up and refreshes eyes. I like to keep this in the fridge so it's extra calming.     

Product Love - NARS Pro-Prime Eye Shadow base.

My skin leans towards the greasy side of things and I spend a good portion of most work days in a hot kitchen. Add to that the summertime humidity of NYC and it comes as no surprise that a  facial primer is a must in my skincare/ make up routine. 

However, an eye shadow primer wasn't even something that I had ever considered using until I received a sample of this from Sephora... Oh my, talk about a game changer! Sweaty lids and creased eye shadow be gone!

It's really lightweight. It's fragrance free and non-irritating. It contains antioxidants and it holds eye shadow in place all day long. It's a permanent addition to my make up bag!

You can find it at all NARS stockists including www.sephora.com  Give it a whirl, I can't recommend it enough.

GWP

One of my favourite blogs is Lola's Secret Beauty Blog. A couple of weeks ago Helen who writes this lovely blog offered a special GWP in conjunction with Space NK. The items above were the GWP with an online purchase of just $50.00. 

I read about it the day before my birthday (last mention of my birthday, I promise!) and the fact that it was my birthday weekend and a give away from my favourite store meant that I just had to indulge myself! 

I bought some Bumble and Bumble Surf products and received this fabulous gift...

In addition to all the wonderful samples above there was a hot pink make up bag. I already have a couple of these and although they are quite a basic bag they are surprisingly roomy and their length means you can carry brushes in them - they are great for travel. 

The full sized product with the gift was a Kevyn Aucoin Pure Powder Glow in the shade Neolita - a build-able berry hued blush - just lovely!

I had already used all of the products included in the sample sizes and there's not one that I dislike. The Radical Peptide Infused Antioxidant Serum is amazing and the Hourglass Film Noir Mascara is one of my favourite mascaras. In fact all of the products included are great and it was a lovely treat!

 I've said it before and I 'll say it again... I heart GWP's!

Free Birthday Goodies.

Yet another great thing about living in the States are the freebies that the big beauty retailers dish out to you for your birthday if you are enrolled in their loyalty programs.

Kiehl's  give you one of their fabulous Lip Balms. 

Sephora give Beauty Insiders a Makeup for Ever Kit of a mini Smoky Extravagant Mascara and a mini Rouge Artist Lipstick. 

As always Space NK come up trumps with a Radical Multi Brightening Serum deluxe sample . (It's a quarter size sample of a product that retails for $150.00 - so it really is deluxe!)

And Caudalie award members of their My Caudalie program with 30 extra points towards a free product.

You don't need to purchase anything to claim these lovely gifts if you pick them up instore... although I may have picked up a few odds and ends when I was collecting my gifts! I'll tell you what I chose next time...

Masks and Minis.

It was my birthday a couple of days ago. 

It's become something of a tradition to give one main present along with lots of 'stocking filler' type gifts in our house - some silly, some useful and some little treats. This year I received some useful treats from Crabtree & Evelyn and Target in my birthday stocking.

I love minis and deluxe samples, not only are they handy for traveling and a great way to try a product without having to commit, they are just so flippin' cute so I was happy to get a whole bunch. 

The two Crabtree & Evelyn sets are adorably packaged (I want bedding in the same print as the boxes!) each with a shower gel, body lotion and handbag sized hand cream. Citron, Honey and Coriander is light and lemony yet warm, whilst Caribbean Island Wild Flowers is fresh with an almost mineral like note and a hint of citrus - just lovely.

The J.R. Watkins mini collection has four hand and body lotions and a foot lotion. I've not used any of their toiletries before, but their Aloe and Green Tea Room Freshener is something we use already so I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Who doesn't love a little Bumble and Bumble? I know I do and have used the Seaweed shampoo and conditioner before. It's  great for daily use and I'm keen to use the rest of the range.

Finally the masks - what fun! Que Bella Masks are cheap and cheerful numbers from a UK company that you can find in Target. Handily packaged in single use sachets I was given a variety of them. This morning I used the peel off cucumber clarifying one. It's been years since I used a peel off mask, I'd forgotten how fun yet freaky they are! (It did make my face nice and soft though).

I had a wonderful birthday and all these little treats will remind me of it whenever I use them. 

*Big grin*

Beauty Supplements.

I really do believe that the best thing that you can do for yourself is eat correctly - by which I mean eat fresh, healthy foods and have a varied sensible diet. I'm lucky that I enjoy eating healthfully and the benefits that come with it but there are times when I'm way too busy to cook and I end up making bad food choices.

Although I'm a strong believer in getting all of your nutrients from actual food, as a safety net I also take vitamins and supplements. (I'm not totally convinced that your body absorbs them but I figure they can't harm you...). On a daily basis I take a multivitamin, a calcium supplement with vitamin D and a fish oil omega 3 capsule. I feel that this is a good all round mix for me that covers the basic nutritional bases.

From time to time I will throw another one or two into the mix - recently it's been a turmeric capsule which gives me extra plant based antioxidants and supports my immune system.

On a recent trip to the drugstore I picked up these two supplements by Nature's Bounty. The Hair, Skin and Nails Gummies contain Vitamin C (which is an antioxidant and also helps produce collagen), Vitamin E (another antioxidant) and Biotine, also known as Vitamin H or B7, (that allegedly strengthens hair and nails). They taste great BTW like strawberry candies!

The Hyaluronic Acid Beauty Formula capsule contains yet more Vitamin C and Hyaluronic acid that helps with skin reparation. Hyaluronic acid is probably better known as both a facial filler and an ingredient in face creams and serums that hold moisture and plump skin. I'm really not too sure how this will work from the inside out as it were but I've heard of a Hyaluronic liquid supplement that's popular in the UK.

Now I'm not expecting to wake up with totally rejuvenated skin but I'm hoping that they may make my skin a tad healthier - I'll keep you posted...

Flip Flops.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that everybody needs a pair of flip flops. In the summer they are a beach must have, they work as summer slippers around the house, they are great casual sandals with jeans or shorts (or even skirts) and of course they are a must have if you are going for a pedicure.

In the past I've gone for the Old Navy cheapies - which sometimes fit like a glove and other times need breaking in - or Havaianas.

This year I wanted something a little different and ordered these from Cobian. There's nothing fancy about this model but I have to say they are really comfortable. The straps are soft and the sole is cushioned. They come in black, white or aqua and cost a mere $12.00 from www.cobian.com