Why hi there.
Remember me? The girl who talks about stuff that she shouldn’t talk about, with more comfort and joy than she probably should?
Yes that’s a line from a hymn and yes, I’m still here in the land of the living, only I tend to do the stream of consciousness thing more on Instagram Stories these days.
Instagram needs a bouncer, I’m telling you. Someone to tell you when you’ve had too much and to kick you out. Translation: when you’ve just messaged Caroline Flack telling her she is worthy of love. Definitely a pal’s anecdote and not based on my own wild real life events at all. No.
It’s been a wee while since I’ve sat down to write about something that isn’t a deep thought piece and dare I say it, I am GAME for a light write lads.
I love unwrapping my thoughts on something chunky ‘n’ meaty. I don’t know about you, but I’m very much picturing a chorizo and diablo cheddar rollito right now and I thought it only right that I should share that sophisticated poetry with you.
Because you needed that insight for life to truly make sense, didn’t you?
But back to the blog meat. It helps me to better understand where I sit on certain subjects and it’s always weirdly therapeutic but it can also be long and exhausting. Like a day out to Thorpe Park.
It’s great innit, but you’re always a bit wet and grouchy afterwards, squelching under your pits and lugging some sort of weird looking bear around. Did you win him or did he win you? No one really knows.
Consider this piece, then, a little beauty buffer, something you can read in between flipping ya fish fingers over – no you eat too much beige – or while you wait for your Deliveroo husband to arrive with the goods.
Nothing heavy or opinionated, just a bit of light beauty relief. So, here’s a quick nosy at some of the products I’ve been slapping on my face with a vengeance this month.
REN Keep Young & Beautiful Anti-Ageing Eye Cream
My eyes are the oldest thing about me. A fluffy eccentric palm reader would tell me I’m “wiser than my years” but I know a fancy and accurate machine would tell me I’ve got the average eye-skin age of a 47 year old.
Not only are my eyes needy, weepy and sensitive (honestly mate, date me?) but they also seem to be dry and tight, crying to overcompensate for how truly arid they are. Ah, the human body, everybody – it makes no sense to me either.
Needless to say, I can’t get by without an eye cream and this one seems to be a good gentle lover for my dramatic af eyeballs. It’s hydrating, light and creamy without feeling at all greasy. Here’s hoping I look like a wide-eyed Lana del Rey by Christmas.
PS everyone loves a pump applicator, right? That way you know exactly how much you should be using. Otherwise, you’re there going all kinds of fucking mental with your liberal handful. You animal.
Nuxe Micellar Cleansing Oil with Rose Petals
If it’s an oil-based formula, gimme. Some people like their cleansers creamy, some people like them foamy, I like ’em oilier than a mackerel on a bed of rocket leaves.
And this one is delivered in micellar water form infused with delicate ROSE PETALS. I’m done. Everyone pack up, go home. Nuxe, you win.
I’m a bit punctilious about cleansing – I always get down and dirty twice – the first cleanse dissolves your makeup and then the second cleanse actually cleans your skin, ya know?
But since this one is calming & alcohol-free, there’s no danger of stripping my face of all its natural oils. Lovely job.
Plans for tonight include: planting my face in a micellar meadow and staying there until a little white rabbit comes to collect me.
Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm
Be still my beating heart. The Elemis Cleansing Balm has been a firm favourite of mine ever since I went into beauty journalism, and at the top of the charts it has stayed.
This no nonsense balm makes taking your makeup off anything but a chore; it’s a ritual. It’s brilliant at tricking your brain into thinking you’re really sat in a spa, sippin’ on something extra like lemongrass and aloe water, trying not to flash fellow spa-goers with what lies beneath your fluffy robe *shudder*
Spoiler: it’s also fluffy. Ish. On a good day.
Seriously good for a deep cleanse at the end of a particularly grimy day or as a facial mask when you’re in the bath. Close your eyes and off you float fellas.
Decleor Lavandula Iris Serum
A treat for your nose as much as it is for your sluggish skin. Especially if you have a strong Roman nose with sizeable nostrils to match, like some of us.
Its silky, second-skin texture makes it easy to absorb and the floral scent is perfect for dabbing all over your face, right before you own the day. Uplifting, strengthening, comforting – it’s basically like Oprah in a bottle, tbh.
It is a bit pricey for a teeny 15ml (RRP: £59, but considerably cheaper on Gorgeous Shop) but it’s like I said earlier, just don’t go mental with it.
What’s more, people will want to sniff your face and you can’t put a price on that.
bareMinerals Sheer Sun Serum Bronzer
Most days, I ditch foundation or just opt for a light CC cream but for those days when I want to feel a little bit more put together, I’ve been relying on this dreamboat. Lol, when I’m currently sat in tartan pjs and an old gym top with a Flake yogurt dripped down it, sure sure.
I love products that combine the benefits of skincare with makeup and this serum bronzer is a bougie hybrid of both. Boom. I’ve been wearing it alone but if mixing it in with your foundation is more your jam, then absolutely do that.
I’d say it’s pretty similar to ByTerry Brightening CC Serum, only with more of a matte finish and an oilier consistency. As we’ve established, I love me an oil formula.
A real charmer for giving your complexion a healthy glow once the heatwave hype is but a distant sweaty memory.
Love you bye.
This post is a gifted collaboration with Gorgeous Shop. Use my code “GSXLareese” for 10% off your order.
All words, love and Caroline Flack anecdotes, very much my own. More’s the pity on the latter.
Photography by Olivia Foley
