#we put moisturising balms that work wonders on dry and oily skin to the test

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'Are we gonna listen to Lana Del Rey whilst doing it?'

[hotspottrends]

HOT TIPS AND TRICKS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT COSMETICS Perfume If you hate having to reapply perfume time and time again, you will definitely appreciate this little tip. Dab some Vaseline on the area where you would normally spray your perfume, such as your wrists or neck. When you have done this apply your perfume as usual. The Vaseline will retain the scent and make it last much, much longer. Primers This goes under your foundation or tinted moisturizer and its job is to keep your make-up in place all day. There are primers to regulate oil, primers with sun protection, primers to hydrate and primers to add glow – just choose the one that best suits your skin type. Apply it with your fingers. If you suffer from dry patches of skin, use a hydrating primer on the area in question. If you have an oily T-zone or suffer from oily patches of skin use a mattifying primer. Foundation / Tinted Moisturiser Tinted moisturisers are perfect for an everyday look because they even out skin tone without looking too perfect. Even better if is one with added sun protection. Whichever you go for, it’s vital to get the colour right. Tested on your forehead, cheek, neck, and chin. Remember that your skin changes colour through the year, so your base needs to change too. Apply with your fingers or a foundation buffing brush. If you find that your foundation is rather heavy, use it sparingly by mixing it with your moisturiser. When using a tinted moisturiser, don’t forget to apply some to your ears. This will give you the appearance of overall natural color. To assess the coverage potential of different foundations, tilt the bottle and see how it flows. If the liquid flows quite fast and is rather thin in texture, chances are it will only provide you with very light coverage. When testing foundations, do not use the back of your hand. The color of the skin on your hand does not resemble the color of your complexion and will not be accurate. Dab some on your lower cheek near your jawbone. This will also give you an indication as to how easy it will blend into the edges of your face. Never go for a darker shade of foundation in the hope that will give you tanned-looking skin. Foundation is quite thick in texture and will be difficult to blend into the edges of the face if the shade is distinctly darker than your natural skin tone. After you have applied your foundation, use a ply of tissue to gently pat your face. This will help soften the look. Also, try to apply minimal foundation around the eyes particularly if you have fine lines. The foundation will sink into the lines thereby making them more obvious. Brushes There’s nothing more annoying than buying a new make-up brush only to find it shedding bristles the moment it’s put to use. Next time you are shopping for a brush and you want to determine if it is prone to shedding, quickly run the bristles along the back of your hand. Try to look for brushes with tightly packed bristles as they are less likely to come apart. When washing your brushes, there’s a risk they may lose their shape. If this occurs, wrap the bristles tightly in a handkerchief while they are still wet and secure them with the elastic band. This should help to renew the original shape of the brush, but ensure the band is not to tight, otherwise, the bristles may loosen. Eyeliner brushes may be small but they’re still expensive! A wonderful tip would be, to look in art and craft shops for slim paint brushes that work perfectly for applying eyeliner. Different brushes do different things, so you need a selection. You can build your collection over time; you don’t need to buy all of these at once! This is the ones we suggest: Foundation Brushes And Sponges: You can put tinted moisuriser on with your fingers, but use both brushes and sponges for thicker foundations. Flat-headed brushes buff make-up into the skin and give really even coverage (blend afterwards with your fingers for a super-smooth finish). Foundation sponges, which you use slightly damp, work in the same way. Large Powder Brushes: These are good for applying both translucent powder and bronzer because they disperse the powder evenly over a large area of skin. You need to have two separate brushes – one for powder and one for bronzer. Contour Brushes: These are angled to make it easier to apply bronzer or highlighter under the cheekbone. Blusher Brushes: Designed to be used just on your cheek rather than your whole face, these are slightly smaller than contour and powder brushes. Small Powder Brushes: These are ideal for getting in around your nose and chin and for when you just want to do a quick touch-up. Eyebrow Brushes: A must-have for keeping your brows in order. Eye-Shadow Applicator Brushes: You need two large ones for applying eye shadow (one for dark shades, one for light), plus a small one for blending underneath the eye. Eyeliner Brushes: You should have one of these even if you use an eyeliner pen because they’re great for creating Feline Flick powder-tracing line. Eye-Shadow Blending Brushes: These are rounded brushes which you use after you’ve applied the shadow to create a smooth finish. (You can’t use the applicator brush because will be full of powder) Fan Brushes: Shaped like a fan, these are designed to flick specks of stray make-up away from under your eyes. Concealer Concealer is available in lots of different consistencies, but we like to recommend to use a creamy one under your eyes and a thicker one to hide any blemishes. Some come with an applicator but we find tapping the cream lightly with your fingertips works better under your eyes. Use a small brush for blemishes. You need to buy two shades – one with slightly reflective qualities under your eyes (this will draw attention away from bags) and a darker, non-reflective one for covering blemishes. If you tan regularly, make sure you have a concealer in a shade appropriate for darker skin. If you use your regular concealer on tanned skin, it may result in drawing focus to the blemishes rather than disguising them. Powder When dusting powder on the face, begin at the nose and work your way outwards. By doing this, you are ensuring that the shiniest parts of your face get the most powder. Lips Lip pencils should always be as close in color to your lipstick as possible. Drawing a subtle line just outside the natural lip line will make your lips appear fuller. Filling in your lips with lip pencil before you apply lipstick will make it last longer while using a lip pencil followed by lip gloss creates a natural nude lip. To keep lipstick off your teeth, place your index finger in your mouth and close your lips around it. When you pull your finger out, it will remove any excess lipstick. If you’re not one for wearing bright lip colours, it’s advisable to try red lipstick at home first. Chances are you’ll hate it, but only because you’re not used to seeing your face wearing such vivacious color. For an accurate assessment, leave the lipstick on for an hour. Look in the mirror every so often during that hour and you’ll gradually train your eye to it. When the hour is up, you’ll be able to tell whether or not a shade suits you. When using lip liner, don’t limit the colour to the rim of your lips. Fill them in with the liner, then if your lipstick fades, your lips will still have the color from the liner. If you suffer from dry, chapped lips, avoid frosted lipstick as they tend to dry out the lips. If you don’t have the lip colour require, then open up your eye shadow palette and improvise! An age-old trick used by many make-up artists involves dabbing the lips with Vaseline before lightly blending in the eye shadow colour of choice. If you find that your lipstick is a shade darker than you expect, don’t throw it away! Apply the lipstick to your lips as usual. Next blend a little foundation with some Vaseline and, using your fingertip, apply it to your lips. This will immediately lighten the shade. In order for your lip colour to look its best, your lips need to be in tip-top condition. To soothe and soften dry lips, mix some sugar with Vaseline and gently massage the mix onto your lips. To get the most benefits from this exfoliating paste, apply it to a dry toothbrush first and use it as an exfoliator. If you prefer the minimalist approach and like to carry a few products as possible, look out for multi-use items. For instance, buy lip colors with built-in gloss or balm, or use a tinted moisuriser rather than moisturiser and foundation. Blush Blusher ads colour to your cheeks. When you’re choosing the colour, think about what colour your face goes when it’s tanned. Apply with a brush from the apple of your cheek out towards the cheekbone. We like powder blusher but you can get creams also. If you do choose a cream, then you need to use a cream bronzer too, because you can’t use the cream over powder. To avoid creating a distinctive line when applying blush, work the brush in a circular motion on the apples of your cheeks. Eyebrows To give your plucked brows a nice, defined shape brush the upwards and then sideways. You can buy brow brushes, but quite a lot of make-up artists like to use toothbrushes as they bristles are so thick and excellent for shaping. To give your brows a glossy shine, apply some Vaseline to a brow brush before sweeping it over your brows. If you find that your brows tend to lose their shape quite fast, spray your brush with hairspray before running it over the brows. The hairspray will secure the shape. Eyes Before applying eye shadow, always prepare the skin on the eyelid by dabbing it with some concealer and lightly dusting it with loose translucent powder. If you find your eye shadow is too dark dab a cotton wool ball in some loose powder and gently blend it into the lid until the colour has toned down. If you have mature skin or puffy eyes, avoid frosted shimmery shades of eye shadow, use soft matt shades instead. Certain shades of eye shadow can really emphasize your natural eye colour. To help you on your way here is a list of shades that best enhance different eye colours. Green Eyes:   Golden brown, mauve, lilac, taupe, violet, deep purple, plum, peach, and gold. Grey Eyes: Purple, violet, charcoal, brown, black, pink, blue, gold and, light green. Brown Eyes: Brown-eyed girls can wear a variety of eye colours, though violets look particularly well, they can also work the smoky-eye look. Blue Eyes: Chocolate brown, warm taupe, gold, plum, champagne, and rich peach. Shimmery gold is perfect for evening occasions. While blue-eyed girls can wear navy eye shadow, they should steer clear of blue shades similar to their own eye colour. Good-quality beige and browns should be a staple future of every woman’s make-up palette. These shades are perfect for when you want to add instant definition to your eyes but don’t have much time to spend on your eye make-up. When applying eye shadow, make sure the brush reaches the roots of the eyelashes otherwise there will be a space between the lashes and the eye shadow which makes the overall impact less intense. Mascara Volumising mascara with a thick brush is great for accentuating your eyes. Use a bit of mascara even if you’re wearing false lashes – it helps them blend in with your own eyelashes. Some women have a preference for the type of mascara wand they use. Some like combs, others like wands. If you want to buy a new mascara but don’t like the wand that comes with it, then recycle an old mascara wand you do like. Clean it thoroughly with make-up remover and it’s ready to be reused. Just make sure you don’t discard the new wand as you will need it to close the mascara. If you stain the skin around the eye when applying mascara, wait until it dries before gently wiping it away with a cotton wool swab. It will be so much easier to remove when dry. The opposite applies to eyeliner.   The post HOT TIPS AND TRICKS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT COSMETICS appeared first on Hot Spot Trends.

https://hotspottrends.com/hot-tips-and-tricks-you-must-know-about-cosmetics/

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What to do…if you hate your perfume present? 7 tips to try before you cry!

Well firstly, ‘hate’ is a very strong word. If you’ve been landed with the favourite fragrance of your current partner’s ex, we’re not going to pretend to make you suddenly adore it, so maybe re-gift that one – see tip #7 – and treat yourself to one of our Discovery Boxes of fragrant delights, and perhaps a new partner, instead?

But there are things you can try before you completely ditch a scent – we can’t tell you how many fragrance experts (ourselves included!) and even perfumers have drastically changed their minds about a fragrance by trying some of these top tips…

#1 – Seasonal changes Did you know that the weather, your mood and even what you ate up to *two weeks ago* can dramatically alter how scent smells on your skin? Skin and climate temperature are vital to a perfume’s performance, so even your favourite fragrance will smell different based on the time of year. When perfumers test the scents they’re creating they often use climate-controlled booths to check how they smell in hot and colder conditions (depending what countries they’ll be selling in). Don’t re-gift until you’ve tried the perfume again later in the year, or even on holiday – you can easily decant some into one of the wonderful Travalo bottles we sell, just for this purpose!

– Similarly, strongly spiced foods can change how a perfume smells on your skin, and when testing fragrances under lab conditions, the ‘skin model’ volunteers they use are often specifically asked to refrain from eating such foods up to two weeks prior to testing, so the perfumers can smell a ‘true’ representation of the scent. Though sometimes the reverse is true: if a fragrance is to be mainly sold in a country where people eat lots of spicy foods, the ‘skin models’ are asked to replicate that diet to ensure the scent works efficiently.

– We now know that mood plays an important part in how we select a fragrance – try a scent when you’re feeling a particular way, and it colours how you feel about the fragrance itself. If you’re feeling stressed or upset, a bit under the weather or just overwhelmed, these are not ideal conditions for testing out something new. Wait until you’re feeling calmer, or simply have more time to really explore what you’re smelling. That’s when you can try to…

#2 – Improve your sense of smell Absolutely everyone can benefit from this – we’ve had people from normal perfume-lovers, complete novices to industry professionals telling us how trying these techniques have changed the way they smell for the better (for good). This doesn’t mean suddenly gaining the ability of being able to detect every single ingredient within a bottle of perfume, but rather learning to train your nose the way a perfumer does: by deeply exploring the emotions it makes you feel, colours, textures, places and people it reminds you of.

This is why we developed our so-popular How to Improve Your Sense of Smell Workshops, regularly held in London and, sometimes at independent perfumeries around the UK (let us know if you’d like one near you!) We’ll be adding new dates soon, but if you can’t make it to one of these fun and fascinating afternoons, here are a few simple tips to try every day:

– Spray a scent on a blotter, preferably (you can buy books of blotters in our shop, if you need), close your eyes and keep sniffing for several seconds, then take the blotter away, inhale deeply, and re-sniff the blotter again. Repeat this for a minute or so, and then begin writing a few words in a notebook. It doesn’t have to be a description, and it shouldn’t ‘list’ notes – try to use words that make you think of other things. For example…

– If this scent were a fabric, what would it be? What colour? If you made someone an outfit from that fabric, who would they be, where would they be going?

– If it were a piece of music, what instruments would be playing? Is it classical, rock music, pop, rap or jazz?

Really attempt to get past thinking ‘I don’t like this’ and focus instead on the mood it’s creating. Is it too deep or too fresh or floral for your personal taste? Give it time and then, if needed, move on to one of the tips, below…

#3 – Layer up! Layering fragrances used to be seen as a scent sin, but we’ve all gotten over ourselves a bit (well most of us have). You don’t have to do this to a perfume you already love on its own – why would you need to? – but there are brilliant ways of beefing-up a sadly flimsy fragrance, or adding a zing to something that’s a bit too dark or cloying on your skin. Give it a go, because, as we always say: perfume isn’t a tattoo – if you don’t like it, you can wash it off!

– Add power: ramp it up by adding more base notes like patchouli, labdanum, vetiver, woods or musk.

– Add freshness: look for citrus notes like bergamot, neroli, lemon, lime or ‘green’ notes such as galbanum, tomato or violet leaf, green tea, marine/aquatic accords (synthetic recreations of sea-like, watery smells) and aldehydes (often desribed as being like Champagne bubbles).

– Add beauty: find a scent too ‘harsh’ or clinical? Look to layer it with decadently velvety or lusciously fruity rose oils, the sunshine-bottled scent of orange flower, a heady glamour of tuberose or a luminescent jasmine; try an apricot-like osmanthus flower, the fluffiness of mimosa or the powdery elegance of iris/orris.

– Add sweetness: vanilla and tonka bean can ’round’ a perfume, making it swoon on your skin (and addictive to smell), as can touches of synthetic notes described as ‘caramel’ or ‘dulce de leche’, ripe fruits, chocolate or even candy floss. Try to add less than you think you need, as adding more is always easier than taking away, and a little of these can go a long way!

For layering any of these, you can either try layering over other fragrances you have in which the above notes dominate, with a single-fragranced ‘soliflore’ (one main note) fragrance oil or spray, or try layering the scent you don’t currently like over a differently perfumed body lotion or oil (see below or the added benefits of doing this…)

#4 – Boost the lasting-power If the reason you don’t like a perfume is because it just seems to ‘disappear’ on your skin, you’re not alone. We often find those with dry skin have this problem, and it’s even thought genetics and things like hair colour may play a part. Scientists are still finding this out, but while they do, there are ways you can make perfume last far longer:

– Try using a body oil, rich body balm or moisturising lotion before you put any fragrance on (and even afterwards, too), as scent takes longer to evaporate on nourished skin. This helps the fragrance ‘cling’ to your skin more easily, and so you get to actually smell if for more than a few minutes without frantically re-spraying.

– Spray pulse-points you might not usually think of. Behind your knees is a good example – it’s a warm spot that, once spritzed, will mean you leave a fragrant trail…

– Spritz the perfume at the nape of your neck, even into your hair and on clothes – BUT do check by spraying a tissue first that it isn’t going to mark your hair or fabric a strange colour, or leave an oily residue! We adore this way of wearing perfume, as hair and fabric are porous without heating up as much as your skin, allowing the perfume to stay all day.

Spraying a fragrance on to a scarf is a particularly good idea if you want…

#5 – A part-time perfume There are days we feel the need to try something completely different, but perhaps don’t want to be stuck with that scent all day, so what to do?

– Consider spraying a scarf (preferably not silk or a light colour, unless you’ve patch-tested it as above, first!) with this perfume you’re unsure of, that way if it gets a bit ‘too much’ or you want to wear something different, you can simply take the scarf off and you’re not stuck with it on your skin all day.

Nope? Tried all that and still struggling? All is not lost, don’t give up yet…

#6 – Scent up your life We all have certain scents or fragrant ingredients that, for one reason or another, we might not wish to wear but do like to smell if it’s scenting something else.

– Why not try spraying off-cuts of pretty wrapping paper or tissue paper, and using this to line your lingerie or sweater drawers?

– Or, how about being utterly fabulous by spraying your note paper and insides of envelopes (the fancy ones lined with tissue paper are particularly good for this), and writing a few actual letters or thank you cards to loved-ones you’ve not seen for a while. Everyone loves getting proper post!

– The truly decadent could try scenting table linen – again, PLEASE patch test, as above – for lavish dinner parties to rival Marie Antoinette – spraying on cotton wool and putting inside a deocrative ceramic or pottery vase, on wooden ornaments or ceramic discs you hang over radiators to scent the whole room as they heat.

We so hope you can find a way to try this poor perfume again and give it some love, but if all else fails and you still can’t bring yourself to use it, well at least you tried! Why not…

#7 – Have a perfume-swapping party / re-gift Um, remembering not to invite the one who gave you that particular perfume… otherwise, major awks. Or, if you’re looking to re-gift, have a look at our brilliant Fragrance Finder. Simply put the name of the fragrance into the search box, and it’ll suggest six scents that are similar in character and style, or share a number of significant notes – this way you can see if anyone you know already has one of these, and it means they’ll very likely love to receive this one from you. Genius!

Written by Suzy Nightingale

The post What to do…if you hate your perfume present? 7 tips to try before you cry! appeared first on The Perfume Society.

from The Perfume Society https://perfumesociety.org/what-to-do-if-you-hate-your-perfume-present-7-tips-to-try-before-you-cry/

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Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion: Bye Bye Scrubs

I’m surprised to find that I haven’t ever done a full and proper review on Ameliorate’s cult body treatment, the lactic acid-loaded Transforming Body Lotion. I thought I had, but if I have then I can’t see it! Which wouldn’t be surprising, to be honest, because I can’t see a thing without my glasses on, these days, and my glasses are currently at the opticians having bi-focal lenses put in. BI-FOCAL LENSES, people. It’s the beginning of the end.

Anyway; there are very few dedicated, hard-working skincare products for the body that do more than just moisturise – you’ve got your brilliant soothers, like Cicaplast and Dermexa and CeraVe, and you’ve got your luxury oils and balms and whatnot, but when it comes to proper smoothing and brightening, the options are limited.

And in this relatively niche market of “performance” body treatments, Ameliorate make one of the most effective, non-hyped, nicely-formulated products I’ve ever tried. It exfoliates without being abrasive, it moisturises without leaving grease behind and it is bump-smoothing and surface-brightening without the need for any excess manual labour.

Because of course we have all done the crazy “body scrub dance” in the shower, haven’t we? Assumed the semi-squat position so that we can more easily buff some overpriced sea salt into our buttocks. Lost all feeling in the palms of our hands (which is actually quite nice – tingly) because we’ve spent too long massaging our shins in a circular motion. Almost broken our necks slipping on the oily stuff that’s left in the shower tray.

The problem is that many-to-most body scrubs are dire (the odd bit of apricot shell in an otherwise unremarkable, overly-runny shower gel) and the few that are serviceable (the gritty ones, like Clinique’s Sparkle Skin) leave the bathroom looking as though you’ve had a fight in the kids’ aisle of a craft shop. Glittery, sandy, gluey streaks and blobs all over the place. And don’t even get me started on this craze for the ground coffee scrubs: no, no, no.

(links marked * are affiliate links, for more info see disclaimer below post)

So for those who wish to eschew manual scrubbing and a glitter-spattered bathroom, I have just the thing: Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion. I’ll say it one more time for those at the back, just in case they too want to find something effective and fast-working for their dry, rough skin or ingrown hairs or for their keratosis pilaris; you need Ameliorate. I actually get asked about keratosis pilaris a lot – it’s often (very appetisingly) called “chicken skin”, and comes in the form of tiny red bumps over the thighs, arms and/or back. I used to get it on my thighs when I was small – they looked quite like goosebumps, except that they were irritated, reddened goosebumps. I used to try to pick them off! The horror.

The best, most-proven remedy for KP seems to be gentle, non-abrasive exfoliation and the lactic acid in Ameliorate’s body lotion provides just that. (I also know people who have had amazing results with Paula’s Choice BHA Liquid, wiped on directly and left.) If you’ve ever used Good Genes from Sunday Riley, which is absolutely jam-packed with lactic (so much so that you can’t actually buy that version now in the EU) then you’ll know how immediate the exfoliating effects are.

And it’s important to stress the difference between an acid exfoliant, like lactic acid or salicylic or glycolic, and a manual exfoliant like a scrub. If you do have bumps and itchiness, then quite often using a body scrub is counterproductive – maniacally scrubbing off the surface of your body in the shower is not only going to be quite irritating to your skin, but the problem (especially with keratosis pilaris) is deeper down anyway, so it’s doubly pointless.

I’m always wary of raving about any kind of “miracle cure” for skin conditions, but the many online reviews of this body lotion speak for themselves. I’ve also farmed out a few tubes of this wonder treatment to friends with bumpy bits and the feedback has been – quite literally – glowing. It’s not the most luxurious of body lotions – runny rather than creamy, slightly yoghurty in smell rather than anything particularly spa-like – but bloody hell, who cares? It’s a worker, not a pamperer. If this cream was a holiday (random concept) then it would be one of those fitness boot camp retreats, not a ten day trip to the Maldives.

You can find Ameliorate at SpaceNK here* – £14.50 for 100ml – or at Amazon (authorised stockist) here*, £22.50 for 200ml.

Look; I won’t judge you if you still want to scrub – I’m partial to a bit of a sandblasting session now and then, especially if it’s in someone else’s bathroom – but if you want to save yourself some energy and get fast, deep-down results rather than a superficial sort of skin smoothness, give this a try. There’s also a brilliant bath milk I’m testing from Ameliorate, so I’ll be back with a verdict on that shortly.

The post Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion: Bye Bye Scrubs appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion: Bye Bye Scrubs was first posted on December 13, 2018 at 9:35 am. ©2018 "A Model Recommends". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at contact@amodelrecommends.com Ameliorate Transforming Body Lotion: Bye Bye Scrubs published first on https://medium.com/@SkinAlley

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Folks, has your skin gone oily? Try only moisturising your skin for a week and a bit!! Your skin needs moisture and creates its own moisture (oil) if it does not get as much as it needs, resulting in the much feared: pimples!!!