Hits & Misses

When you're in the habit of trying new things you're bound to discover some real gems, but not without bumping into a couple of duds along the way; I'm always a sucker for recommendations from other bloggers and for the cute mini versions of popular products that you'll find when you're queuing to pay at the shops.

Photo courtesy of: www.soapandglory.com

Product Name: Soap and Glory Trick & Treatment Concealer

Love: I loved that the one colour took the guess work out of figuring out what colour to buy (although this could prove tricky for others no doubt) and that it had a full coverage but easily blendable formula.

Hate: The formula was quite dry for an under eye concealer, considering under eye skin tends to be a bit drier and delicate than the rest of the face, I found that after a couple of hours it wasn't just settling into fine lines but it was also flaking right off my face.

Overall Rating: Miss.

Photo courtesy of: www.sephora.com

Product Name: Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads

Love: N/A

Hate: TMI WARNING! So I get really bad ingrown hairs in my bikini area, I'm talking really bad. Waxing is no fun, shaving is even worse and due to some tattoos laser is completely out of the question so when I heard great things about these I was so excited to have possibly found the solution to all my problems, alas that was not to be. I bought the smaller 10 to try them out and found they made absolutely no difference for me whatsoever, so for now I'm still on the hunt for a good in grown hairs solution, if you've got one let me know!

Overall Rating: Miss.

Photo courtesy of: www.sephora.com

Product Name: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

Love: FINALLY! An under eye concealer that actually works for me! Full coverage and so creamy and hydrating it doesn't crease or flake, no one has asked if I'm tired since I've picked up this bad boy which is massively impressive thanks to some sketchy genetics.

Hate: I mean the $32 price tag is less than desirable but since it's taken me so long to find an under eye concealer that does the job, I'm not about to complain.

Overall Rating: Huge Hit!

Photo courtesy of: www.sephora.com

Product Name: Bumble and Bumble Pret-a-Powder

Love: N/A

Hate:  So I went into Sephora looking for a new dry shampoo and the girls there were ranting and raving about the new Bumble and Bumble one and while the $31 price tag was significantly higher than the $8 I usually pay for my Batiste dry shampoo, I've loved everything of Bumble and Bumble's I've tried in the past so I figured I'd give it a try. It's the absolute worse. Fails as a dry shampoo - I started with just a little bit, did nothing, so I gradually added more and eventually wound up with a greasy mess full of powder. It added no volume, if anything it weighed my hair down, extremely unimpressed with this product.

Overall Rating: Massive Miss!

Photo courtesy of: www.firstaidbeauty.com

Product Name: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

Love: I've been putting off trying this for ages because I have so many hand creams and none of them seem to help my dry, itchy alligator hands, but I finally caved and bought this a couple weeks ago and I'm so in love! It's super hydrating without being greasy and has made the scaly rash on the backs of my hands disappear, thank god!

Hate: That I didn't try this sooner.

Overall Rating: Hit!

Photo courtesy of: www.ebay.com

Product Name: Tarte Maracuja Oil &Tarte Maracuja C-Brightner Eye Treatment

Love:  I picked up the mini set of these from Sephora because well, miniature and Tarte, need I say more? The Maracuja oil has since replaced my normal facial oil in the morning and I love it so much because it's super hydrating but sinks into the skin quickly so it doesn't affect the wear of your foundation.

Hate: Unfortunately the extreme amounts of Vitamin C in the C-Brighter Eye Treatment severely irritated my sensitive eyes so I can't attest to whether or not it really helps with dark circles but if you're a sensitive sort like me proceed with caution.

Overall Rating: I chucked the C-Brighter in the bin but went and bought the large Marajuca Oil, so a little hit and a little miss.

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In Flight Pamper Session

Being in a long distance relationship means you are usually subjected to long haul flights more often than most and anyone that flies knows how much of a toll the recirculated cabin air can take on your skin and hair if you're stuck in your seat for hours on end. Since there's not much else you can do on a plane aside from back to back movie marathons you might as well make that time work for you and get some good quality pampering in!

I always like to have a good quality face wipe on hand to refresh myself when I'm feeling tired and grimy from 8+ hours of traveling. I've tried several brands and the First Aid Beauty Gentle Cleansing Wipes get my vote! They're gentle enough you can use them to remove eye make up but they're still strong enough to get off that mascara and liner; I also keep a pack in my gym bag for a quick refresh after a good work out!

I am all about serums and facial oils especially when things are getting dry but liquids can be a tricky thing to take in cabin so LUSH's Full of Grace is the perfect product for the job; a solid moisturizing bar that melts when warmed between your palms and can then be massaged into you skin to add a quick punch of easily absorbed moisture to your parched face. I also take a little chunk of Fresh Farmacy Cleanser that way near the end of the flight I can just nip to the toilet and give my face a proper wash; just lather the warm, massage your face and then use a muslin cloth to remove so that you don't have to worry about trying to wash your face in a teeny airplane loo.

If it's a long haul flight I like to do as much pampering as possible to make the time fly by I usually have some of my My Beauty Diary Dark Circles Eye Masks in my bag that I can pop on for a couple minutes because let's face it, no one looks well rested after 8+ hours of flying. I usually have my sleep mask handy that I can slide down over the masks so I don't look like a major weirdo and I'll usually listen to music and just relax for 15 minutes or so while these bad boys do their job.

After I remove the eye masks I massage any extra serum left on my skin into my ocular bone and add a little bit of the Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado to keep the delicate eye skin hydrated for the long haul; when using this I found the best way to apply is to pick up a TINY bit with your ring finger and massage it between your two rings fingers for a couple seconds first to warm it up and then tap it into the ocular bone as opposed to rubbing it, works like a dream!

I mix up my own leave-in hair treatment for the flight using 1 vial of Difiaba Luminessence Hydrating Serum mixed with equal parts of water in a travel sized spray bottle and just mist it through my ends to keep my hair from drying out. I love the Difiaba serum as it smells wonderful and leaves my hair shiny and hydrated.

The last step before I struggle for the rest of the flight trying to sleep (before eventually giving up and reading for the next several hours) is to add an overnight hydrating mask; I love Glam Glow's Thirsty Mud for this purpose because it smells amazing and when I rinse my face in the morning my skin looks like I never stepped foot on an airplane! I usually decant a little bit of this into a sample cup so that I don't have to faff about with the big pot of it in my carry on.

Clearly I use my flights as an excuse to get in some much needed pampering, I find it makes the flights go by faster and I feel relaxed and refreshed when I step off the plane, even if I didn't get a wink of sleep!

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