Rise & Shine!

The alarm goes off, it's 8am, bleary eyed you look in the mirror and yep, you look as tired as you feel. Sound familiar? It's rare that I will wake up and by some miracle I've slept solidly through the night and look refreshed. Dark eyes are my downfall, and there aren't many products on the market that really do as they say when it comes to hiding this little problem. There are hundreds of creams that claim to brighten your eyes and I've tried a lot. But the winning product in my mind is from Origins. My favourite is Dr Andrew Weil - Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer. For me this has been the most effective. The creamy texture to this also adds hydration (which especially at night time I find more satisfying than a serum). I mainly use this product at night, and in the day I like to use the Origins GinZing eye cream. It definitely restores radiance to your eyes, I think mainly because of the reflective qualities. It is slightly pearly in appearance and very light so it works well with applying underneath your makeup for the day ahead!

Aside from lotions and potions, you can hide all sorts of problems with makeup tricks. I've not found better than the YSL Touch Eclat. I use the original shade, and blend from the corner of my eye (avoiding the delicate skin area underneath the eye) and bring it right around the eye socket and blend. It's pinky tones reflect light and doesn't dry up on your skin. As well as this, I use Benefit's Eye Bright Pencil. This can be blended into the inner and outer corner of your eyes for that wide awake look. I also lightly use this underneath my eyebrows (Benefit do have one specifically for eyebrows, but I tend to double up and use this one for both). You don't need a lot because it is quite white/pink, but blended in gives a nice glowy bright eyed look.

I find less is more in this instance, and using a simple regime to brighten your eyes is better than piling on the products. Avoid putting foundation underneath your eyes! More often that not, foundation will dry around the eye area and draw more attention to dark circles...it's all about the trick of the light - go for anything reflective!

Raise the Volume!

I thought for my first post I would start with my biggest bugbear. Hair products.The list of my moans and groans are quite endless - too flat, too dry, too straight, too frizzy or too greasy. By far, the best brand that I have found is Aveda. I've fallen in love with this brand, and I don't see that changing any time soon! Aveda cater for all hair types. I myself have fine curly/wavy hair, that with the touch of the lovely London air, flops and flattens, and is seriously lack luster by the end of the day. If you're looking for a 3 step hair care system, the Invati range really is great. It can't be called cheap, but if it's volume you're looking for, you've found the right products. The shampoo in this range cleanses, reduces breakage and exfoliates at the root which is supposed to promote hair growth. In all honesty after a month of using this range, I've found all of the above to be true. The conditioner isn't particularly moisturising, but for thin-ish hair, it's lightweight and does the job. If you want to push the boat out and go for the three step then the scalp revitalizer will give you volume at the root. I tend to go against this three step rule and use the Pure abundance style prep instead - this is another firm favourite of mine. You spray this onto towel dried hair (although you can use it on dry hair as well), and once styled, I really noticed that my hair felt thicker and with a lot more volume. It didn't weigh my hair down, cause any greasiness, and can even be used during the day for that extra bit of oomph.

About...

Welcome to my new blog! Starting a blog is something I've contemplated, spoken about, umm'ed and ahh'ed about for a long time. Excuses such as 'I'm too busy' has been flung about a lot (which isn't true, I'm procrastinating). My name's Sophie, and like many girls/women out there, and to some of my friend's horror, I have an uncontrollable urge to spend my money on beauty products and clothes. To some this may be mad, and to those who tell me I'm sucked in by gimmicks and overpriced promises - I don't care! I love it!

I'm an avid reader of reviews - I like to know what I'm getting myself into. So here I am, giving my advice and opinions on the things I love to talk about!