Murad UK's 4th of July Celebration

I have finally found the time to write to you about the fabulous Murad event I went to 2 days before I went to the South of France! I met up with the lovely Laura from Heroine in Heels and later met the lovely Gemma. The event, being held by a large L.A. based company on Independence day, had a brilliant 4th of July theme and we were spoilt with wine and obviously... cupcakes (it wouldn't be a blogging event without them!), as well as a free facial, face scan and a little blogger treat to celebrate the first UK store, out of London which can be found in my home town - Leeds (House of Fraser)! 

jacket - H&M, crop top - Topshop, trousers - Primark, shoes - Topshop via Next2nowt.com, bag - H&M

I managed to try their products before, back when I was suffering mildly from acne which really affected my self confidence. I was pleasantly surprised by the products supplied by a cosmeceutical company which I hadn't particularly heard of before but my grandmother forced me to try. That 'cosmeceutical company' happened to be Murad and did miracles for my skin and now I have much better skin! So when I was invited to this event, I couldn't wait to go and show my appreciation as well as try some new products!

First me and the girls pondered around the new products snapping away and getting some advice from the lovely people there, like Zooey and Sarah. We then got an interesting talk about the ethics and morals of the company as well as the history of Dr. Murad and a little insite to the products that we were going to receive in our blogger goodie bags! 

Dr Murad is both a dermatologist and a pharmacist and wants the best for your skin in the long run! He's one of a kind and has 18 patents making him 'a leading visionary in the fields of skincare and dermatology'. So I couldn't recommend his products more! You can find out more about the skincare range which is perfect for you and some of the things we learnt from the Murad website (click here) and if  you have any questions about any products, feel free to ask and I'll drop an email to Sarah to let you know any answers!

 After the little talk and receiving our brilliant goodie bag (post up soon!!), I headed back upstairs and I had a face scan by Rachel who told me exactly what I should be doing and not doing with my skin in order to reduce redness, dryness and stop the majority of my break outs! I've never done anything like this and was extremely nervous for the outcome but Rachel made me feel very comfortable and happy in my skin and gave me a prescription for the products that would help me the most! 

After the face scan, I had a cheeky facial at the very end since I was the last one standing! It was so soothing and definitely worth getting the bus home fresh-faced for!!

Hope all the americans (and any other nationality that celebrate Independence day) enjoyed 4th of July even though it was ages ago now!! 

What did you all do for Independence day? Have any of you tried any Murad products?

G xxx

ps. all photo's are taken from Heroine in Heels! 

Battle of the hand creme

At the North Meet Up, I was lucky enough to receive 2 different hand creme's. I love hand creme's and they both looked brilliant so I wasn't stuck at which one to open first. Me, being me, opened them both and thought I would see which one was better so that I can help you guys if you're choosing a new hand creme! 

Nourish's Protect Smoothing Hand Lotion smells divine but it's slightly too strong for my liking. I like a subtle fragrance so that I can also wear my favourite perfume without the smell being masked by the hand creme whereas, the citrus smell of orange and mandarin from the Nourish hand creme dominates over other smells. When you apply it to your skin, it sinks in very quickly and the creme is not greasy at all, which can often be a problem I find with moisturisers so that's very good. However, if I'm being honest, for about 10 minutes afterwards my hands felt slightly sticky and uncomfortable, which was weird, even though the hand creme had been absorbed already. Other than that, I can tell you my skin feels softer and more hydrated after use! Another good point about this hand creme which may appeal to some people (especially my family) is that it's 94% organic and has another 1% natural minerals!

Out of them both, I feel that I prefer Arbonne's FC5 Ultra-Hydrating Hand Creme mainly due to the fact that I favour the subtle smell of it (I would describe it as refreshing and tropical) and also it doesn't leave a sticky feel after applying. A video on the Arbonne website explains that this hand creme works with 'fresh cell technology' and 'extracts the vital cell nutrients' which are 'preserved naturally' within the hand creme in order to 'protect and preserve the skin' (see video here for more information). The vital cell nutrients come from natural products such as fruit and vegetables and this product has no sight of parabons and other nasty products! This hand creme instantly makes my skin feeling fresh and smooth and hydrated after quickly being absorbed by my skin therefore it does exactly what it says on the tin! And just like the Nourish product, it isn't greasy. This product also comes in a little travel size - perfect! This product is slightly more expensive than other hand creams that I have bought in the past, which is my only down side to this product! But who can put a price on young-looking skin?

My hands aren't particularly dry so I wouldn't be able to tell you how well they work if you have a serious problem with dry skin but for someone with 'normal' skin (not trying to sound rude, but they describe them as dry, normal or oily), they certainly do what it says on the packet. I didn't feel like I needed to reapply either of the hand cremes soon after I applied it the first time.

Nourish's Protect Smoothing Hand Lotion* - 12.95 (can be bought here)

Arbonne's Ultra-Hydrating Hand Creme* - £19 (can be bought here)

Hope this helped, 

G xxx

ps. have you ever used either of these products before?

Beauty Review: Ilah eyebrow kit*

Although I am mainly a fashion blog, I am a big beauty lover and so I am doing my first beauty review! At the #northmeetup (see my post about it here), there was many companies including Ilah. The Ilah team were very helpful and friendly and let me know that I was the 'perfect New York', they also did my eyebrows for me with the kit I was kindly given in my goodie bag! After I had a recent eyebrow disaster - in which the eyebrow technician waxed my eyebrows horribly and completely not in the shape which 1) I wanted 2) suited my face - I was left with eyebrows which were thin and I didn't really like them therefore, I often coloured them in (which hardly ever match symmetrically). 

Therefore, Ilah's eyebrow travel kit is perfect. Not only is it packaged nicely (which is always something which draws me to a product) it is also very compact, which is extremely handy. The pack comes with 3 different eyebrow shapes - New York, London and Paris in order to colour in eyebrows in a perfect shape. This allows you to get the perfect shape eyebrow in a matter of seconds and it lasts for up to 24 hours (semi-permanent is a slight twist of marketing)! There is also 3 different colours of colouring to suit different colours of eyebrows. The little clear pot of gel on the right is to apply before the powder so that the powder appears darker and stays on the eyebrow for longer and the white at the top of the middle powder circle should be applied beneath the eyebrow after applying in order to highlight and contour the eyebrows giving you the PERFECT eyebrows! Perfect. 

As you can tell from below, the Ilah eyebrow kit makes my eyebrows look a lot fuller without looking bushy (like the famous Cara eyebrows - which in my opinion are p e r f e c t) and slightly darker! I'm absolutely in love! 

before

after

This product is obviously not permanent (nothing ever is!) and so obviously this product is not the only thing able to give you the perfect eyebrows but maintaining your eyebrows with plucking/waxing and using this product would create a much better world... eyebrows wise. 

The RRP is £29.99 and although I haven't been able to test out the lighter shades, I can tell you it really does do it's job (for me - the darkest shade, and I'm sure for everyone!) so it's definitely worth the money spent! You can purchase it here or at other Ilah stockists.

G xxx

please comment whether you liked this beauty review - it's my first so I don't really know how to go about it!