Beauty Lately...

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Beauty Lately is a selection of mini reviews on beauty products I've been using lately; good, bad or meh, I include them all! You can find my post from last time here and today I have 6 items for you. Sorry it's taken so long to finish this post, but my back 'went' the other week and I had to drop everything and rest until it was better.  It's completely back to normal now, so I'm happy to be standing up straight and walking again (crawling like a hunchback to the toilet is no fun!), so let's get straight into the beauty bits.


Starting with the ligploss I was wearing. You may recall I said last time that I'm using lipgloss instead of balm to feel a bit 'fancier' at home and to use up some of the gazillion tubes I have! I had a rummage and found this 17 Va Va Voom, Plumping Lipgloss in my stash of nudes. It doesn't appear to have a shade name (I suspect it perhaps did on the outer seal, but nothing permanent, which is silly), regardless it doesn't really matter as 17 are no longer, but you can find similar glosses here. How did I miss that happening by the way? Anyway this certainly didn't feel as luxurious as the Dior gloss the week before (not that I expected it to at a 10th of the price), but it definitely has plumping power or the pain part anyway. This stings! Now I'm in the camp that likes and gets addicted to that kinda pain and wants to apply more once it's died down, call me strange if you want! The burning tingling definitely lasts a while on this one and whatever you do, don't get it on your tongue by accidentally licking your lips, oof! It doesn't have that thick, glassy sheen that the likes of MAC or Dior have, the consistency is very thin. The colour is a lovely light beige-nude with silver sparkle, but as it's so thin, it sheers out very easily on the lips. It basically just enhances my natural lip shade. Whilst the glitter isn't visible on the lips (or my arm swatch below) and you don't feel the chunks, I've definitely felt smoother glosses. Does it plump? Well it certainly feels like it's doing something, I do think lips appear a little more swollen. There's no point asking if I'd repurchase as I can't, but I do like a hurty-gloss!
Nails this week were Lancome Vernis In Love in 425 Rouge Midnight. I knew this was an old limited edition shade and judging by the colour, I figured it was a festive one and I can't quite recall which collection it was, but I think it's from 2015 maybe (sorry, another item you can't buy). I don't have a swatch of this on my nails, I should maybe do that in future, but the colour is a lot deeper than it looks in the bottle. I think if it came out a brighter red with gold sparkle, it would be a little more unique than the wine shade it really is.  I like the smaller 6ml size as it's rare I ever use up a nail varnish as I own so many and you never reach the bottom with the brush anyway. I have no complaints about the performance; applies nicely, actually pretty decent coverage in just one coat, but I do usually add another.
Soap & Glory Speed Plump Super Hydrating Miracle Moisture Sheet Mask £4, I said last time that I'd forgotten how much I love S&G sheet masks and this one is probably my favourite of theirs. It's a 2 part hydrogel mask, which I like as it's more adjustable to fit your face (a lower part to cover your chin, mouth and lower cheeks, then the upper part fits over your forehead, cheeks and around the eyes). However it is very slippy, so a bit of a plaster to get out of the packet and onto your face, removing the protective films. My nose for once was covered (most masks usually fall short, but have too much forehead height), I think because of the separate parts, I could better position it. I like the thicker, gel feel as opposed to the thinner paper or fabric masks and performance wise this blows it's more expensive counterparts out the water. I have combination skin, prone to break-outs/acne, not massively oily, but dehydrated sometimes and what a difference after just one application. Leave for 20 to 30 minutes, the mask is infused with hyaluronic acid and S&G's Pink Flowerpower-3 complex including rosa rugosa, safflower and peony extracts. It's apparently scented with sweet orange peel oil, I'm not getting any citrus scent whatsoever, but I absolutely adore the smell of this. Do you remember S&G's Wish Upon A Jar in the silver sphere? It's the exact same scent, something soft and sweet, like marshmallows! I really love it, so it adds to the relaxing experience for me. Cannot recommend this highly enough, feels like such a hydrating treat and will definitely be repurchasing.
Elemis Balancing Lavender Toner £25 200ml. I've had several of these smaller trial sizes (they are 50ml, so last a while) and it's usually the Soothing Apricot one I use. The lavender one is more aimed at my skin type, but I do find it a bit on the dry side. It contains extracts of lavender, quillja wood and Sweet Betty Flower to balance and soften the skin. I just find it's stripping my skin a bit, leaving it parched. Some reviews said they noticed a massive improvement in clearing up of marks and evening of the complexion, but I haven't noticed a difference in my skin looking clearer using this as opposed to the apricot one, so I'd more likely go back to buying that one. Scent wise, the lavender is strong, as tends to be with Elemis, but I like it. It doesn't linger, but I do enjoy the wee inhale especially before bedtime. Actually this is how I've been using it now, at night and a different one during the day. I'd recommend this for oilier skins, but I'd go for the Apricot one if you're on the normal to drier side.
Paul & Joe The Oil, ok, I love P&J stuff, but I'm getting a bit exasperated with how difficult it is to find in the UK now. Their skincare is especially tricky to track down, but I got this mini in my P&J advent calendar last year. Firstly, I love the bottle, the packaging is always totally to my taste (the cat mirror throughout this post is theirs from AW19). I'm not sure I've been using this right or quite how I should use it. On one site it said to apply on bare skin after cleansing, but then to use the Herbal Lotion (toner) after. Would you not just be wiping it back off? I usually apply oil either on bare skin with no moisturiser or on top of moisturiser, as oil based products should be applied after water based ones, so that's how I've been doing it. It's very oily, I'd say it leaves my skin shinier looking than other oils I've tried, but an oil is something I'd only use at night time anyway, so a shiny face doesn't bother me. The smell is amazing, that alone sells this to me. Every time I apply it, it's on the tip of my tongue the exact scent and then I lose it, but to me it's like jelly sweets (random I know), something really juicy and tasty, it really takes me back. The Oil contains olive oil from centuries old olive trees from the Mediterranean, olive squalane and 100% plant derived emulsifier. It definitely hydrates, plumps and like I say, the scent is enough for me to fall in love and buy again...if only I could find it!
The final product I have for you today is another mask, the Soap & Glory What A Peeling! Purifying De-Clog Mask £4. Now this isn't a sheet mask, it's a set of two pods containing the product and a spatula. It's a peel-off formula (leave for half an hour or when it feels completely dry), as it's so runny, applying is messy and also prepare yourself for how bright pink (Pepto Bismol) this is! It contains oil-absorbing kaolin and clay powders, Vitamin C & E, oolong tea, lentil seed, sage, camomile and ginger extracts...interesting! Firstly, my only gripe with this is that you get quite a generous amount in each pod. It's too messy to keep (the pod can't be resealed), you'd definitely get two applications out of this, possibly another, so try to apply with a willing friend! You want to apply an even, but relatively thin layer with peel-off masks as anything too thick won't dry or peel. I do like that you get the second pod, but between the two, you'd get maybe 5 applications, so I'm not a fan of the product wastage. What I love about this though, is the one-peel removal. Every time, I get this off in one sheet, with the tiniest bits remaining (usually around my eyebrows or under my chin). Be very careful around the hairline and any baby hairs/fuzzy bits, this pulls like one of those pore nose strips, I was wincing last time, ouch! It's very strong and very secured to the face once dry, but persevere, try to be gentle and you'll get it all off in one go. I use this when my face feels really gunked up. I was feeling like this the other week, that I just needed a good clean up and out and this does it, but without leaving the skin parched. Actually my face feels so soft and smooth afterwards, not tacky or shiny, but not dry either. If the packaging was better, I'd love to use this as a spot mask on really congested areas (like my chin/lower cheeks), when I don't feel like a full face mask. Regardless, I love it and will definitely buy again.
So that's it for this week, I'm so behind with these posts that I've had to skip some weeks, but anything I've already group-photographed, I'm aiming to catch up with, so I'm not talking retrospectively for the entire series!