skincare

Review: Tony Moly Egg Pore Silky Smooth Balm Primer

/ thoughtfulpigeon / Leave a comment

tony-moly-egg-pore-silky-smooth-balm-primer-1

I’ve had the Tony Moly Egg Pore Silky Smooth Balm in my drawer for a while, I’ve had a few primers to go through and try and it somehow ended up falling down the queue. Like a lot of Tony Moly products it has cute packaging, though it’s a lot bulkier than it needs to be it’s the kind of product that looks really nice sat out on the side. I got it for £9.99 in TK Maxx but I can’t find it there any more so it’d probably be eBay if I wanted to replace it.

This primer is supposed to contains egg, though I can’t see it in the ingredients specifically. It’s aimed at reducing pores and is that silky kind of primer that fills in pores and fine lines to leave a flatter surface for your foundation. It claims to help your makeup stay matte for longer, and as I prefer the matte look but have dry skin something that gives me that finish without adding to the dryness is always something I’d like to try.

Continue reading →

Review: Alpha-H Liquid Gold (and Limited Edition Rose Version)

/ thoughtfulpigeon / 2 Comments

alpha-h-liquid-gold-rose-limited-edition-1

I was planning on doing this review of both of the versions of the Liquid Gold I have from Alpha-H and then realised that the Limited Edition Rose version isn’t available in many places. I’ll leave it in because I did find it still available online (£37 for a 100ml bottle here) and it might be available ion various online stores in other countries so might be worth knowing if it’s worth searching for over the original version.

Liquid Gold is an exfoliated, or I find it works as one, with glycolic acid. It’s quite strong and works in the same way as products like the Pixi Glow Tonic where it uses chemicals to exfoliate and remove dead skin rather than a physical scrub. The original version is available in a lot of places and the price various from £30-£40 for a 100ml bottle, though £33.50 seems to be the most common price. As it’s stronger than a lot of other similar products it’s recommended you use it once in the evening every two days, rather than twice a day as the Glow Tonic recommends. I’ve had the original for a while and I got the Rose version in an advent calendar but I haven’t got round to giving them a proper try so was interested to see how they’d work compared to other similar products I’ve tried.

Continue reading →

DIY Beauty: Cocoa Face Mask

/ thoughtfulpigeon / 2 Comments

DIY-beauty-home-made-cocoa-face-mask-1.jpgI’ve always been interested in trying some DIY beauty products but have never got round to it, either because I didn’t have the right ingredients when it came to making them or I didn’t know what ones to try. Last weekend we had a couple of avocados that needed using up so I tried a face mask and a hair mask.

There are so many face masks out there I didn’t know which to try but I found a chocolate face mask that seemed like it’d work for what I want and we had all the ingredients in the cupboards, it seemed an obvious choice for a first attempt. This recipe is from the Marie Claire website, you can find it here along with five other easy face masks so if this doesn’t seem right for your skin type there are others to choose from instead.

Continue reading →

Review: M&S Beauty Formula Absolute Ultimate Sleep Cream

/ thoughtfulpigeon / Leave a comment

marks-and-spencer-beauty-formula-absolute-ultimate-sleep-cream-1

I haven’t actually had a full sized version of this but, with the latest Marks and Spencer Beauty Box, I have had three of the mini sample sizes and been using it for a while now so thought I’d do a post on the Formula Absolute Ultimate Sleep Cream. Although these are minis at 15ml you really don’t need much of the product so this is enough to get a good feel for if it’s right for you, I love it when companies do that.

The full sized version of this cream comes in a jar and contains 50ml of product at £22. It’s not a low budget product but it’s not high end either, I’d say it’s somewhere in the middle price wise. It is also vegetarian friendly and cruelty free with the leaping bunny logo, one thing I love about Marks and Spencer’s beauty ranges is that they are cruelty free.

Continue reading →

Review: Dead Sea Spa Magik Mild Exfoliant

/ thoughtfulpigeon / Leave a comment

dead-sea-spa-magik-mild-exfoliant-1

As my skin has dry flaky patches I’m always on the lookout for a good exfoliator. I love how well the Dead Sea Spa Magik hair products work on my scalp so thought I’d try the Mild Exfoliant when I saw it in Tesco recently. It seemed like it’s sort of a mix of mud pack face mask and standard exfoliator so I was interested to see how it would work for me.

Like the other products in the range it uses minerals from the Dead Sea and harmonised water, though I’m not sure what that is. It’s also paraben free and uses an allergen free fragrance if your skin is sensitive to normal fragranced products. The tube has 75ml of the product in it and costs £7.99 on Holland and Barrett, and I think it was the same price in Tesco it’s just not online.

Continue reading →

Review: Nail-Aid 3 Minute Pedi Peel

/ thoughtfulpigeon / Leave a comment

nail-aid-3-minute-pedi-peel-3.jpg

It’s summer time, or feels like it at the moment anyway, and sandal weather has started here in the UK so it’s time for my feet to get some pampering. I tend to neglect them a bit over the winter, though I use foot creams that’s pretty much it, so this Nail-Aid 3 Minute Pedi Peel has been sat in my drawer waiting to be used and now seemed the perfect time to give it a go.

It’s a thick foot cream with a 12% Glycolic Complex that says without filing your feet you can get softer skin and it helps with cracked, dry skin anywhere really. It also claims that it works after one use, which I was a bit sceptical about. I found it for £4.99 in a local TK Maxx though I’m not sure if they’d still have it as things tend to come and go quite quickly there.

Continue reading →

Review: Etude House 98% Soothing Watermelon Gel

/ thoughtfulpigeon / Leave a comment

etude-house-water-melon-gel-1

After the recent hot weather it seems the perfect time to review the 98% Watermelon Soothing Gel from Etude House. I bought it in a recent eBay Korean Beauty haul for £6.65. It’s sold as a cooling and calming gel, something like the aloe vera gel you get to use for cooling and calming your skin especially after sun burn. To add to the cooling effect you can keep it in the fridge, though this does give you a bit of a shock when you first apply it!

Continue reading →

Review: Tony Moly I’m Real Aloe Moisturizing Sheet Mask

/ thoughtfulpigeon / 6 Comments

tony-moly-im-real-aloe-sheet-mask-1I’ve tried a few of these Tony Moly I’m Real sheet masks and so far they seem nice enough. I bought the set of sheet masks for around £10 on eBay a while ago and this Aloe Moisturizing Sheet Mask has been sitting waiting to be used. I’m trying to use my face mask stash up by using one a week, I’m not sure how much it has improved my skin but it’s definitely a nice, easy way to have a face mask and these sheet masks are especially refreshing.

This sheet mask is aimed at moisturising and the main natural ingredient for this is Aloe. It seems like it’s one that should also be calming and cooling and would be good for oilier skin too. I know that my skin loves aloe gel when it comes to calming it down after sun burn or a reaction so when I was choosing a face mask in the warmer weather recently it seemed to be the perfect one to try. 

Continue reading →

Review: Korean Beauty Secret Key Gold Racoony Hydro Gel Eye and Spot Patches

/ thoughtfulpigeon / 6 Comments

korean-beauty-secret-key-gold-racoony-eye-patches-1

A while ago I bought some Secret Key Gold Racoony Hydro Gel Eye and Spot Patches from eBay as I’ve liked under eye gel patches before but they’re so expensive here in the UK. These are a Korean brand and in general cost around £7 – £10 depending on where you get them from. I got them from the f2plus1 eBay store (the eBay store for Beauty Net Korea) and at the moment they’re listed for £8.55.

These eye patches contain gold and claim to be good for refreshing your skin as well as hydrating it and improving elasticity. A lot of these patches with gold in claim to be anti wrinkle and with the amount you get in each tub they’re actually quite a cheap way of treating this if they actually work. Each pot contains 60 of the eye patches, the semi circular shaped pieces, and 30 of the spot patches. You can use them daily if you want and then they’d last a month, but I don’t think they’re something that would be part of my daily routine so a couple of times a week makes them last three or four months.

Continue reading →

Review: Pür Correcting Illuminate and Glow Primer

/ thoughtfulpigeon / 3 Comments

pur-illuminate-and-glow-primer-2

I have to admit that I’ve not always been a fan of primers as an added step in my beauty routine. I’ve tended not to use one, though one of my favourite foundations is a mix of powder foundation and primer mixer, so when I got the Pür Correcting Illuminate and Glow Primer in the Marks and Spencer’s beauty advent calendar last year I didn’t have high expectations for it. I’ve heard of the brand, I think I may have tried something from them before, and it’s all been good so I did want to give this a proper go.

As it’s an illuminating primer it does have an aspect of shimmer to it, though I’m not sure exactly which of the Illuminate and glow primers it is, they have ones aimed at specific skin colour issues, I think it’s the summer one. It isn’t available in Marks and Spencer’s any more but I did find the full sized 30ml ones in Look Fantastic for £24 and Beauty Bay has the full sized tube for £22.50. There are also a lot of the mini sized 10 ml tubes, like the one I have, floating around on eBay if you want to find one to give it a go.they do also seem to come up as cheaper per ml so it may be worth having a look round on there.

Continue reading →