Holiday Beauty Essentials

In the next day or so im going to be sunning it up in lovely sunny Spain so I thought it was the perfect time to share a few of my holiday beauty essentials.

Cosmetics

There is something the suns glowing rays  that has me drawn to either white, light or bright nail varnishes and this beige Mac nail varnish in collaboration with Charlotte Olympia as well as this Nails Inc It's Red Babez (sadly I couldn't find a link on their site) a beautiful reddish orange have been gracing my nails all summer.

Carrying on with the bright and light trend, a light tinted lip-balm in the day works at providing a hint of colour whilst also keeping my lips moisturised and I love the Bare Minerals Oil Lip Balm - this shade is Plumbery Pop  and for the night  this beautiful red matt lip stain from Sephora is perfect.

I hate feeling like my makeup is sliding around on my face in the heat, so I tend to give the foundation a miss and instead opt for a mineral powder  - like this Mineral Powder Foundation SPF 20 by Elizabeth Arden  . It gives enough coverage without being heavy. 

As far as Im concerened an orange blush is an absolute essential regardless of the time of year – it gives such a beautiful warmth and glow to the skin particularly on darker skins and I have been loving this one from H&M in Spicy Pepper which also has hints of gold (no huge chunks of glitter to be found I promise)

Face care

My motto for my skin when on holiday is definitely less is more. I try not to play around with new skin care when I'm away, as I always feel like your face is going through so much already with the drying aeroplane air and as well as the changing climate on holiday. Instead I opt for keeping my skincare minimal whist ensuring I add in extra moisture and sun protection for my skin.

These asian face mask sheets from Innisfree and Tony Moly are amazing for adding extra moisture back into my skin either after my flight or after a hot day at the beach. I'm never without a version of a hyaularonic acid serum (an absolute essential for dehydrated skins) and I'm currently using and loving this one from Bravura, layered underneath my moisturiser.

Water sprays are perfect for refreshing, hydrating and soothing my skin and this lovely Grape Water from Caudalie is amazing at achieving all those qualities - I already raved about it in a previous post here 

My most essential item has to be my sun protection and one of my favourites is this Exuviance  Sheer Daily Protector in SPF 50  that I talked about in this post here , it's lightweight, has a high spf and most importantly doesn't leave my skin with a white cast/finish.

My holiday skincare routine has to include a facial oil and another essential item is the 3107 My Everything Soothing Face Elixer which helps to calm, soothe and nourish my skin when massaged in at night. It's also part of my morning routines as it works to give me that added holiday glow and is amazing as a facial barrier on the plane to help prevent moisture loss.

Bodycare

When I was much younger I used to have visions of me running on the beach with sun kissed, glowing, oil glistened skin -  reminiscent of a scene from Baywatch. Now older and thankfully wiser, i'm very much content with being immovable on a sun lounger with a book and something extremely, cold and iced next to me. Although still keeping the moisturised, glowing skin.

This Soap and Glory Righteous Butter has always been one of my favourites, its moisturising, smells amazing and doesn't contain any mineral oil.

The Caudalie Divine Oil is beautifully soft, nourishing and fragrant with woody notes. It's quite moisturising just on its own but it also helps to double up the moisturising effect and to lock in the moisturiser if used just after it.

Finally, there is something about the smell of oranges that always transports me to  warm sunshine, beautiful sunrises and soft sea breezes! And this Atelier Cologne in Orange Sanguine smells just  like sunshine in a bottle.  It's zesty, sensual and energising, with notes of sweet blood orange and bitter orange peel combined with jasmine, geranium and amber woods.

Those are some of my holiday essentials. I would love to know what some of yours are x

Caudalie Vinosource Collection Review

Caudalie is a brand I tend to return to time and time again, and certain products sit highly on my list of favourites.

They recently launched some new moisturisers, which are part of their Vinosource range, and I have been trying out the products over the last month.  All of the products are rich in organic Grape Water, which contains polyphenols and polysaccharides that are good water binding agents and antioxidants.

All of which help to hydrate, moisturize and soothe the skin.

They've created a collection of 4 essential moisturisers with different textures and key ingredients that allow you to pick and choose which one to use depending on your skincare needs.

1. Moisturising Sorbet (Dehydrated Sensitive Skin)

A gel cream that melts into your skin upon contact, this works well for combination/dehydrated skin and leaves it feeling moisturized and nourished.  It does contain fragrance, which is important to mention for those with particularly sensitive skin, however my skin can sometimes be a little sensitive and I didn’t have issues with it at all.  

It retails for £23 for 40ml

     2.   Moisturising Mattifying Fluid (Combination Skin)

This has become my go to when I want my makeup to stay matt.  A lightweight fluid, it has a blotting effect on any excess oil and its velvety texture acts as a bit of a primer before my makeup. 

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

     3.   Intense Moisture Rescue Cream (Very Dry Skin)

Although this is meant to be for very dry skin, I found it worked well for me as a night cream and with the addition of glycerin, squalane and shea butter it really packs a moisture punch. 

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

      4.   Moisture Recovery Cream (Dry Skin)

A rich velvety cream that comforts and nourishes the skin. This is one I like to use if my skin is feeling a little dry, and it contains nourishing grape and borage oils. Although I lean more towards combination skin, I found that this wasn’t too heavy and my skin was moisturised but not greasy.

It retails for £23 for 40ml.

5.   Grape water

A lovely botanical mist made with 100% organic grapes that refreshes, moisturises and soothes in one easy step. This has been perfect for using after washing my face and just before applying my moisturiser. It acts as a moisturising mist and is instantly absorbed by my skin. I also love it as a refresher for my makeup during the day if it’s looking a little tired or it’s been a long day.

At only £6 for 75ml it’s a no brainer for me.

This pink bottle is a limited edition but their Grape Water in its usual packaging is one of their signature products and can be found at selected stockists.

Have you tried anything from the Caudalie range? What are some of your favourite products?

SPF for Darker Skin

A common misconception that I have heard too many times to count is "Oh if you have dark skin you don't need to wear sunscreen" or "all SPF's leave a grey/white ashy tint on my face"

Now although the weather forecast in the UK seems to have missed the memo that it's June and should be summer, I'm here to dispel that beauty myth and also add on that sunscreen isn't only for when the sun is shining.

So where does this beauty myth originate from?

Your skin gets it's colour from melanin (the pigment which naturally gives skin it's colour) and the darker you are, the more melanin you have within your skin, which then offers a greater natural level of sun protection. This is because melanin absorbs UV rays from the sun, thus providing some measure of defence for your skin.

In fact research suggests that darker black skin has a naturally higher SPF (sun protection factor) of approximately 13.4, and paler white skin has an SPF of 3.4, with other skin tones falling in between those two ranges.

A key point to note is that higher levels of melanin slows down the skins natural production of Vitamin D from the sun, so it is worth having your vitamin D levels checked. 

Now while this might sound like it confirms the beauty myth that you don't need to wear sunscreen if you have dark skin, this doesn't mean that you aren't getting any sun damage by not protecting your skin or that it isn't adversely affecting your skin.

There are so many benefits to wearing an SPF and for me, aside from protecting my skin from premature ageing, it also helps tremendously with my hyperpigmentation. By inhibiting any further darkening of the scars I am trying to fade as well as preventing new scars from forming.

Fresh starts

It's been more than a minute and a half since I put up a post, and I thought about writing a really long explanation but decided that simplicity is really the way forward

In all honesty some tough things happened, life took over and for a while I fell out of love with blogging. So I did the best thing I could do -  which was to pause, reflect, sort things out and simply enjoy life.

I've missed it though, being able to share and engage with you...and now feels like the right time to come back and begin again.

Thanks for sticking with me on the break, it really did mean a lot to me.

Xx

Changes and Exciting News for LPM

Hi lovelies,

I know things have been a little quiet over here at LPM but I have some exciting news to share with you about that.

1) I started a new job, and the hours are a little longer which has meant less time, adjusting to being the new kid on the block  and also looking at how I post things. 

2) Even more excitingly, things are going to be changing on LPM. First of all, I'm planning a bit of a makeover in terms of my outward appearance, but even more than that, as I have grown over the last couple of years, I have also felt that my content needed to change to reflect that. So I'm hoping to bring you fresh, new and exciting content.

I can't wait to start this new adventure and I'm hoping you will join me on it. Right now I'm planning and plotting things behind the scenes and will be back properly later on in June. In the meantime please do keep up to date with me on Twitter and Instagram.

If you have any requests for future blog posts that you would like me to write about, please let me know in the comments below.

Segun. x

Fashion Fair Carnival Collection: Review and Swatches

Staring out my window with the sun shining brightly, and despite the rain we have been experiencing recently - I feel inspired to believe that Summer is finally around the corner!

One of the things I love most about Summer is the sunshine which always encourages me to shed the dark colours of autumn/winter and move into more vibrant hues, whilst also allowing my skin to get a beautiful bronzy glow from the sun (with protection of course) 

So when Fashion Fair offered to send me a few samples from their Carnival Collection, It sounded like it would be perfect for summer. Inspired by the sun kissed Caribbean and festivities of the Carnival, the collection is a mix of oranges, metallic gold, bronzes, vibrant pinks and purples.

L - R ( Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

I was sent a selection of metallic golds and bronzes and starting with the eyeshadows - I just have one word. Gorgeous! Highly pigmented, they are beautiful shades that are highly wearable even during the day and they show up beautifully on darker skin tones.

My favourite is Safari Brown, which is a perfect brown skin nude on my skin tone and I can actually wear it on it's own.

The shadows go on extremely soft and are so easy to blend with other colours. Below is a swatch of the lipsticks and shadows.

L - R (Sepia, Confidence, Safari Brown, Sahara Sand)

The lipsticks I will admit, made me extremely nervous when I first saw them in all their bronze and gold glory, all I could think was circa 90's! But I was pleasantly surprised. 

L - R (Confidence, Sepia)

Confidence is more on the golden side and on its own doesn't work for me, but it can be combined with a darker lip colour to create a nice ombre effect and also worn over a nude lipstick. 

The star of the show however is Sepia lipstick, which completely wowed me - It has a brown/ bronze tone to it which also works as a nice nude colour. It's such a pretty shade and is long wearing and soft on the lips. 

The Carnival Collection is available from selected Debenhams and Boots.

Hair Health and Growth with Phyto Specific

I have always had tiny, baby type curls along my front hairline, but looking at my hairline recently I noticed that it definitely looked a lot finer than I remembered.

Cue panic and much staring into the mirror whilst interrogating Mr LPM on if he had noticed it, and if so why he hadn’t said anything! In typical male fashion his response was a calm no you look great! Admittedly any other response was liable to get him into trouble…  however it did manage to calm me down.

I realised that no I am not suddenly turning into a middle aged balding man, and on much reflection I remembered that it started when I was going through the stressful period I mentioned I had a few months ago. This meant I didn’t have as much time to take care of my hair, so had worn it in a few too many tightly scraped buns and had also generally neglected my hair in regards to treatments and deep conditioning. (Always a bad idea with fragile Afro hair)

Anyhu, I’m now armed with a good hair trim and two new products that I’m testing out in the hope that they will provide my hairline with a bit of a boost.

I’m also working on a new hair regime, but I’m currently in the early phases, so once I’m sure that it works I will post it up.

The two products I’m about to trial are from the new Phyto Specific Range for Curly Coiled Relaxed Hair.

You all know that I’m a big believer of the phrase beauty starts from within, so the first is Cap’Energy, a dietary supplement for the hair and nails.

The key ingredients are the B Vitamins, which have a well-known track record of being beneficial for hair health and growth.  They are said to provide essential nutrients to increase vitality and to strengthen your hair. Vitamin B6 helps to synthesise cysteine, the natural amino constituent of keratin. While Vitamin B8, also known as biotin is essential for hair and nail growth and for preventing hair loss and premature gray hairs.

The second is Phytotraxil – an anti thinning treatment for traction alopecia. Its meant to boost hair growth in traumatised areas caused by pulling and is said to be perfect for post weaving, braiding and relaxing.

I’ve literally only just started using the products and will come back with an update in the next couple of months on how effective they have been on my hair.

Have you tried any of these products? Or have you experienced similar hair problems before? What did you do? Would love to know in the comments below