Beauty Lately...

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Beauty Lately... is a selection of mini reviews; good, bad or indifferent of beauty products I'm currently using. If you missed it, you can find my post from last week here. Today I have a couple of new to me brands, a new season lip product and a rediscovered favourite nail polish.

No lip balm/gloss this week as I was still wearing Lancôme Juicy Tubes in Ginger from the previous week. I did get round to painting my nails though and although they are shockingly short right now (have honestly broken every single one), I loved this manicure. I found Ciate Paint Pots in Kitten Heels (PP014). Unfortunately and I'm really sad about this, they no longer make this colour, though you do still get Paint Pots. You can tell it's old by the proper ribbon bow as opposed to the printed one nowadays. In the bottle this looks like a bright cherry red with a slight pinky flash in some lights and a strong gold glitter sheen. However on the nails it's still the bright cherry red, but it either flashes pink or orange, there's no gold shimmery sheen. It's a really thin, runny formula, like water and I expected it to be a nightmare but it applied beautifully.  It was also super easy to remove.  I would put this in my top 5 nail polish shades of all time, seriously it's gorgeous. 

As a feature nail (ring finger on my left hand), I applied Lancôme Vernis In Love in 340 Golden Riviera, which I also found when tidying. I was a bit confused because I already have a Lancôme polish similar to this (a bit darker) and I never realised I had the two. This one is a really light (yellow) gold sparkle (even paler than it looks here) and it looks so beautiful when you're applying it. Unfortunately it dries to a matte finish, which I'm not fond of, but I applied a top coat with gold flecks in it that I forgot to photograph, so it wasn't matte and the finished result was really pretty. I don't really understand glitter mattes...is there a point to them? You either like sparkles or don't, I don't know why they're trying to cater to both (I have a YSL red sparkly one from years ago that I'm equally disappointed in when it dries down matte). This was a limited edition shade a few years back, so no longer available. 

In a Cult Beauty goody bag last year, I got this, Dr. Barbara Sturm Calming Serum £65 10ml/£175 30ml.  Yes, I winced at the value of my tiny 10ml and hoped I didn't fall in love with it!  It's a thin, white consistency exactly like milk and is easily absorbed into the skin.  I've been rationing this to make it last, so just 2-3 drops each morning after Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair and before moisturiser and to be honest that's all you need.  The description of this is exactly what I'm looking for at the moment as I'm completely changing my skincare routine; it calms irritated skin, reduces redness and burning.  It does do all that and in all honesty my face has not been as angry (it used to be on a daily basis), so I'm thinking I'm on the right path (ish) with my new routine, but it's meant I haven't really gotten to see this do it's thing or test it to it's limits.  I like it, I think it has calmed my skin, leaves my skin quite soft, but I'm not going to be in a rush to spend £175 on the bigger version.  I'll be keen to see how my skin reacts once this is finished, that'll be the real test and maybe I'll change my tune then!

Another CB goody bag product and again a great value one, is this Lovinah Dragon's Blood, Stem Cell Soothing Balm £72 50ml (mine is 30ml).  I fell in love with the packaging; the beautiful box it comes in is red with a gold etched dragon on the sides and print inside and the jar itself looks like a little urn!  Then I got a shock when I opened it and saw the bright red product!  It actually stays reddish when applying which is worrying for a moment, but it doesn't stain or tint the skin once on.  It has a stiffer balm like texture in the jar that turns to an almost jelly like consistency when touched and then an oil quickly, when applying.  I found it wasn't always well absorbed into the skin, it just kinda sits there.  I think really massaging it in, rather than patting, helped, but it's most definitely an overnight product for me because it does leave my face shiny.  The smell is the first thing that hits you when you open the jar, it's a very strong herbal scent that I can't see everyone liking.  Lovinah are an African herbal brand, so I assume the whole range has these wonderful smells.  It's also helping calm my spots and redness a little and by morning my face looks less irritated and nicely moisturised.  For me, this would likely be too much to use every night, so I've been sticking to every other night or when I feel I need it and that seems to be fine for me.  I'm not sure if I'd buy this...could I get similar results from something a little cheaper? Probably.

I bought a few new bits from the Paul & Joe Spring collection and one thing that I immediately enjoyed was the Liquid Rouge Shine in 04 Cat Grooming £17.  It feels absolutely amazing on the lips, so luxuriously cushiony.  There's a lot of colour to it, so it's more like a liquid lipstick than a gloss, but it's been so long since any liquid lip product has been anything but matte, this was such a welcome change!  I must admit I'm really into super glossy lips right now (whilst the world wears masks and forgets about lip products altogether 🤣) and am always topping my lipstick with a gloss in the house.  I haven't worn makeup all year, but I make a point of putting on lipstick at least once a day.  It just makes me feel nice.  I've been wearing this on it's own and it's so glossy, so comforting on the lips, really smooth and not at all sticky, leaving plump looking lips.  It's a thick formula with a nice teardrop sponge applicator and obviously the packaging is lovely, it's Paul & Joe!  The (8) shade range is limited, this was truthfully the only one that appealed to me (a warm terracotta nude-brown), but I'd love to see new colours.  There's also 3 shades of a tint version, which is apparently a bit more subtle and not as pigmented as this.

There was a gift with purchase recently that I found too good to resist and one of the products I bought to qualify for it, was this Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, Eye Concentrate Matrix £50 15ml.  I've been using up loads of little EL eye products that I've gotten in GWP's and this is probably joint favourite with their Revitalizing Supreme + Global Anti-Aging Cell Power Eye Balm.  It's a serum like consistency, so I layer it under a thicker cream, but it works well alone too.  It comes with a little ball like spatula that you actually use on the eye area to apply the product (I swipe gently back and forth, then use circular motions and then pat in any remaining serum with my finger).  It's instantly soothing, it makes my eyes seem brighter and more refreshed and I'm sure it's plumping those little lines a bit.  I find the eye gel/cream from the same ANR range to be really sticky, but it applies beautifully over the top of this.  It was a bit of a splurge for me, but I'm 40 now and no needles or knives will ever come near this body (unless medically necessary), so I need my skincare to really perform and this was one where I did really notice a difference (and from the first application too).  Between finishing the mini bottle and buying the full-size, I've been using other things and honestly, I'm just desperate to get back to this as I miss it and my eye area isn't looking as perky!  

That's it for another week.  My top picks would definitely be the new Paul & Joe Liquid Rouge Shine and the Estee Lauder eye serum.  Absolute top would be the Ciate nail polish, but unfortunately you can't buy that.  Nothing was terrible or a 'miss' for me this week though.  Have you tried any of these?