Tsaka Deep Clean Facemask

What do you do when you leave your country to go and study in a new country and then find your skin starts playing up trying to adapt to the new climate? Launch a new skincare brand that will cater to your melanin rich sensitive skin? No, me either, but that is exactly what the formidable Celmira Amade did when she came and study here in the UK. Celmira came to the UK in 2010 to study International Business, almost overnight her skin suffered from blemishes, dryness and uneven skin tone. She searched the British highstreet trying to find natural based products designed specifically for her melanin-rich skin to no avail, and eventually settled for make-up to disguise rather than treat the problem. It was not until she was offered a skin bleaching cream in a local beauty store that she realised she had to do something about this, makeup and skin bleaching were not acceptable alternatives. Despite some hesitation Celmira took that leap, influenced by ancient Mozambican beauty recipes from her grandmother the British based vegan brand with African roots, Tsaka (pronounced Saka - meaning happiness in the Ronga dialect of Mozambique) was born.


TheFoundationDirectory; Tsaka Facemask

First in this skincare brands line-up is the Tsaka Facemask, the first beauty line in the UK to formulate with rare plant extracts from the Olacaceae family that are only found in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar extensively. Paying tribute to time tested traditional African beauty recipes, each ingredient is wild harvested, hand picked and processed with heat. The mask has high anti-inflammatory and smoothing properties, that minimise post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, it deep cleans and detoxifies without clogging your pores, while regenerating and hydrating your skin. The big difference with this face mask however is it's preservative free formula, which is enabled due to the lack of water in the formula. That's right the mask doesn't come premixed, it's water activated so you add water when you are ready to apply it to your face, mixing a teaspoon of water to half a teaspoon of mask together.

Celmira is very hands on, splitting her time between studying at University of Cambridge and travelling back and forth to Mozambique to ensure that only the purest ingredients are used in production. As if giving us a British vegan African fusion skincare line, designed specifically for melanin rich skin wasn't enough. Celmira has also made the commitment to leverage 2% of it's profits to achieve beautiful things in the communities where the ingredients are sourced, utilising a beauty brand to sprinkle happiness and touch the lives of many.

I have to say I found it a little alien at first, trying to get the right proportions of water to product, and when I applied the mask to my face it felt like I wasn't applying very much. But then as the mask hardens it turns white, and you can see the mask become more apparent on the skin. It doesn't feel like your traditional facemasks, so not too tight or drying, and my skin felt clean and soft after use.

If you are looking for natural vegan skincare, designed specifically to work in harmony with your gorgeous melanin rich skin, that is free from Preservatives, Hydroquinone, Lead, Heavy alcohol, Synthetic Fragrances, Sulfate, Mineral Oil and Animal derived ingredients then you cannot go far wrong with Tsaka, I can't wait to see what else the brand has in store for us.

Prices start at £17 and the Tsaka facemask can be found here.

balance Me pure skin face wash; skin-balancing cleanser!!!

I'm always on the hunt for a good facial cleanser, I want something that feels nourishing and leaves my face feeling clean but not stripped. So I picked this up with the latest issue of Glamour magazine, I've not used many balance Me products, but always been quite intrigued. When I saw this cleanser as a freebie, I thought it was a great opportuinity to try it, especially as it's targeted towards combination skin.

This 50ml size costs £11, it's 98.8% natural based product and here is what balance Me say about the cleanser;

"A gentle yet effective non-drying sulphate and petroleum free face wash to cleanse skin of make-up and daily grime. Formulated with anti-oxidant rich moringa and rice bran oils to brighten and polish the skin and leave it smooth and gently cleansed. Ideally suited for normal to combination skins." 

It's a thick, white cream that is emulsified with water and applied to dry skin to dissolve daily grime, I usually remove my initial layer of make-up with a wipe, so can't fully comment on it's make-up removing abilities. However it does remove water-resistant mascara and leaves my face feeling clean but not stripped., I usually remove it with a muslin cloth, which adds a mild exfoliation aspect to the cleansing process. It has a strong frankincense scent I'm not massively keen on, but it's not a major deal breaker for me. 

I have really enjoyed using this cleanser and would definitely purchase this product, it's great for days when I want to give my skin a break from all the glycolic based products I use, while still feeling like my skin is being thoroughly cleansed and nourished.

From the 19th you will be able to purchase this cleanser from debenhams.com, so bring on the beautyclub card points!!! Have you used any other balance Me products, what other products from the range would you recommend? 

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today

Alex

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder - No50!!!

I'm sure most of you have heard about the latest release from Chanel, the healthy glow sheer powder from the Les Beiges collection, inspired by freedom and light as air make-up. I had a £10 Debenhams voucher and decided to put it towards the purchase of this £38 powder, I'm getting a litle bored of my MAC mineralise skinfinish and with these new powders on the market claiming to prevent cakey over powdered application, while mattifying and giving the skin a glow all at the same time I had to see what it was all about. I have the hourglass ambient lighting powder (review here) and absolutely love it, but due to the universal shades it offers no extra coverage when setting make-up. My skin is a little crazy at the moment, I have some horrible blemishes on my cheeks that refuse to fade, so I need something that will work towards disguising them without having to wear a full coverage foundation. Saying that the powder is incredibly sheer, so coverage is minimal, which is great if your wear little make-up and/or have great skin. I use this powder to set my foundation and concealer, it also has SPF 15, which is personally a bit low for me in the summer months, but can help to top up your SPF throughout the day (better than nothing).

The packaging is gorgeous and chic, the powder feels soft and buttery to the the touch and it comes with a large mirror and brush for touch up's on the go. I have used the elf powder brush and real techniques buffing brush to apply this, but my favourite at the moment is the elf mineral powder brush. I love the feeling and finish of this powder, it never leaves me looking over powdered or cakey, it does have a strong scent, but I don't notice this once it's been applied to my skin. I got the shade No50, but think in the winter I would need No40, however the powders are incredibly sheer so I could probably get away with either shade. The powders can also be used as a bronzer if you purchase a shade or two darker than your skintone. The shade range goes upto No70, but I'm not sure how many of these shades are available in the UK, the darkest shade the counter I purchased mine from seemed to be the No60.

Heavily swatchedSlightly blended out

It looks light initially, but blends out beautifully to give a demi-matte, sort of satin smooth finish to the skin. I believe these powders will be realeased in the USA in August, I can't wait for the cream blushes that are already avalable as part of the fall collection in America to launch here in August.

The powder with Laura Mercier's secret camouflage concealer

Do you have any chanel make-up, have you tried this new powder? Share your thoughts and any questions below.

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Clinique Moisture Surge SPF 30 CC Cream!!!

We had BB creams and now CC creams, next it'll be DD creams lol, but seriously I actually read somewhere that this is next on the market. I've only ever tried one BB cream, the sleek be beautiful blemish balm, review here. Let me predicate this post by saying, I think some of these creams are labelling and hype, so I just think of them as tinted moisturisers or bases with added extras. So for my first ever CC cream, I went with clinique, the shade range of CC and BB creams are usually quite limited compared to foundations. Clinique have 9 shades for their moisture surge CC cream, but most beauty counters only stock the most common 6, the darkest shade Deep was the closest match for me. So if you're darker than an NC55 you may not find a shade to match, saying that the coverage is light-light medium and can be used under foundation, so if used like this colour match isn't as important.

 

The cream is very thick and almost feel like it would be difficult to blend, but it does blend, I use fingers and/or a brush. This will not cover blemishes completely and if applied over a heavy moisturiser or sunscreen with leave you looking very shiny, oily skinned gals beware. I find it applies best on my combination skin without moisturiser or sunscreen, the product offers good hydration and has good lasting power like this, it evens out my complexion nicely.













I like this cc cream and how clinique don't claim that the product will do a million and one things for your skin, just hydration, SPF protection and colour correcting. My skin always feels soft when I take this off, for a little extra coverage I set it with MAC's MSF, otherwise I just use my Hourglass ambient lighting powder (review here). But it doesn't really need to be set, depending on your skin type. I do think the shade range is limiting for a darker skin girl, but clinique offer more shades on the whole than some other brands with similar products.

I love how it evens out my skin, with a supper natural, my skin but better look!!!

Have you tried this CC cream or any similar product, let me know your experiences?

Thanks for visiting the blog today

Alex

Benefits fake up!!!

Hello everyone,

By now most of you would have heard of Benefits latest release, the hydrating crease-control concealer, Fake-up. I was in need (want) of a new day-to-day use concealer and decided to try this one, especially as asos had 30% off all beauty on there website, which meant this £18.50 concealer was even cheaper. This concealer is different in that it is surrounded by a hydrating ring, which contains vitamin E and apple seed extract, benefit claims it hydrates, conceals, is long lasting and won't crease among other things. The shade range is limited, light, medium and deep, I knew I would be using this as an under eye concealer so opted for the shade medium to brighten and highlight my under eye area.














I love Benefits quirky packaging, which makes this concealer easy to use and travel/handbag friendly, great for touch ups throughout the day. I dab it straight from the tube under my eyes and blend it out with my finger, I then set it with either my MAC mineralise skinfinish powder, my hourglass ambient ligthing powder in Dim or both.

With FlashWithout Flash

Initially when I applied the concealer, it creased a very tiny bit, but I blended it out further with my finger and it's not been a problem since. I really like this concealer, once blended it doesn't crease and is long lasting, I was worried it would make my combination skin look greasy and oily, but it gives a gorgeous, luminous glow to the skin. I can't comment on whether it conceals dark circles, as I am using it as a highlighting concealer and my dark circles are only bad when I've had periods of poor sleep.

Set with ambient powder in Dim.

 

 

Have you tried this concealer yet, what did you think? Any further questions please feel free to post a comment below.

 

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

 

Alex

 

Get To Know Me:The Beauty Blogger Tag!!!

I have seen a couple of these tags and when I was reading through Beauty Broadcast's Blog, aka Emily Noel, she decided to tag everyone.  I agree with her that it'll be a great way for you to get to know a little more about me, so here goes.


1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight? I've been relaxed for many years, so it's straight. I haven't relaxed my hair since July 2012 as it's been in a weave mostly, I plan to get a brazilian blow dry very soon, so I'll let you all know how that goes.

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon? I haven't dyed my actual hair for a while now, but my weave I dye myself, however in the past I've done both on my actual hair.

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it? I'm quite low maintenance when I have a weave in, hence why I have it in, it pretty much stays the same until I revisit the hairdressers.

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon? At present I do my own, years ago I use to have acryllics done and after that gel polish, as a treat I might go get the odd manicure now and again.

5. How often do you change your nail polish? At present I change it weekly, being a working mum it's hard to find the time and until recently I was also studying, my toes can go even longer especially in the colder months.

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just summer? Kinda already answered this lol!!! I polish them all year round, but less often in the colder months.

7. How long does it take to put on make-up? I think I take a fair amount of time to get ready, I'm always running late, lol!!! I have never actually timed myself, I'd say about 15 minutes in the morning, depending on how late I'm running. If I'm going out in the evening then it can take even longer, drives my husband crazy lol!!!

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes? Always tends to be face, if I remember or think about it or want to do particularly heavy eye make-up I might do eyes first, but on the whole I do my face.

9. Do you collect make-up or just buy what you need when you need it? Definately collect it lol, one of the reasons I decided to start blogging, might as well let people know how the products worked out for me and gives me even more of an excuse to buy more make-up (shhhh don't tell my hubby).

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes? As often as I can get away with lol, I don't wear them to work, but for an event I definately will. If it's a day time outing, then it just depends on where I am going, what it's for, my mood etc.

11. Do you do a full face of make-up everyday? No, some days if I'm home all day I don't wear any, if I'm just running errands I may just do something light tinted moisturiser, mascara etc.

12. Do you wear make-up when you're home alone or with family? Sometimes, I wear make-up if I'm home alone if I'm testing out a product, just feel like experimenting or the mood takes me. With family it depends on the event, my mood etc.

13. Will you leave the house without make-up? Yes, I never want to be bound by make-up, but I do really enjoy wearing it.

14. How many high-end products do you own? I have never counted, but my drugstore range definately outweighs the high-end brands, however I do have a ponchant for luxury.

15. Do you plan your outfit of the day every night or decide when you wake up? No matter how organised I try to be, I will eventually end up planning my outfit in the morning.

16. How often do you change your handbag? My work handbag pretty much stays the same, but for all other events I decide depending on my outfit.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep? I go to bed between 11-12pm ish and wake up at about 6.30am. I get about approximately 6 hours a night, even on weekends, my 16 month old doesn't know the meaning of a lie in.

18. How often or when do you workout? Hardly ever, people don't believe me when I say that though, I've been to the gym once since my son was born. I tried the squat challenge recently and got to day 8. *Gotta start that back up*

19. Left handed or right? Right, but for some reason I've always wished I was left handed.

20. How tall are you? 5'5

21. Do you speak any foreign language? Yoruba (from Nigeria), wish I spoke more languages.

22. How many pets do you have? None, like the idea of getting a dog, maybe one day.

23. How often are you on blogger? I read blogs on blogloving several times a day, on my own blog less, trying to post more often.

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs? Yes, not all if there are loads, on my blog all comments, I don't get that many lol!!!

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts? Yes, I have a list in the notes section on my iphone, it very long lol!!!

26. How did you come up with your blog name? It's a play on my name that came about with a friend in college, couldn't think of anything else that I liked, so thought why not. It's now the same name I use on my twitter.

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs? Mostly my iphone, I also have a little canon, but mostly my iphone.

28. How often do yo clean your house? Feels like all the time with a husband and a 16 month old, mostly at the weekends, with general stuff during the week after work.

29. What's your favourite colour? It was purple, but I'm really falling for teal at the moment, and I think any shade of orange looks nice against my skintone.

30. Do you swear? I use to have a real potty mouth years ago, much more toned down now though.

31. What are you doing with the rest of your day? Well it's 11.12pm so I'll finish writing this post, probably peruse the internet a little more, then go to bed.

Wow!!! Thats the end of my first tag, if you read all the way to the end thank you, if you have done one of these yourself let me know and I 'll take a look. I tag everyone whi wishes to do it!!!

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Ben Nye Translucent Face Powder in Topaz

Now the Ben nye banana powder is infamous across youtube and blogging communities, but the one you don't hear as much about is the translucent face powder in Topaz. This is a orange tinged powder than can be used to set the entire face or your under eye highlight depending on your skintone, also the hint of orange is great at reducing ashy areas that can happen due to hyper-pigmentation on asian and deeper skintones or using white based translucent powders, also great at reducing flash back in photography.

                                                             

I bought this powder from makeupeffects.co.uk for £8.10, which is amazing value for 2.85oz/80grams of product, it comes in a sifter type bottle which can cause some waste, but I tap a little into the lid section of my mac mineralise skin finish powder. I also have the banana powder, but I definately reach and use this more often to set my entire face, you can also tap a little onto your current face powders to brighten the complexion, warm up the complexion etc depending on your needs and skintone.

   Heavily swatched                                  Blended out slightly.

I absolutely love this powder and happy that I got my hands on it, I thought I would use the banana powder a lot more, but this one is definately slipped in my day-to-day routine as I don't like over highlighted looks for daytime. It helps with oil control, but won't cling to dry patches, as long as you don't apply too much, if you do just spritz your face with a bit of water, Mac fix plus or the like. Have you tried this powder or any other in the ben nye range, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex