Magic Minerals...

Ok I admit it, I used to be a bit of a makeup snob... I thought all the best makeup, was the expensive stuff.. the most widely used, the most popular, the most this, the most that... how wrong I was.

As long as the makeup you're using is working for you, quality wise, price wise, looks wise, then it really doesn't matter. Don't get me wrong, I love my luxurious products (who doesn't!) but I also love the high street brands, and its good to have a proper mix of everything in your makeup bag.

One makeup trend that I was never sure about when it first came out, was mineral makeup. I remember when it started appearing on counters in Selfridges, I thought, how can you use powder based foundation? The pigments mustn't be as good as normal makeup? It won't look as good surely??

Once again, how wrong I was....

Last year I was introduced to Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics - a pure natural mineral range of makeup that was developed by Pauline Youngblood, initially for people who had severely traumatised skin from laser treatments and cosmetic surgery. There was nothing else on the market at the time was up to standard.

And so she formulated a natural mineral foundation that didn't clog the skin but still looked amazing. That was 10 years ago, and there is now a full makeup range..

And is this makeup range up to scratch? Yeah it is!!

The whole of the Youngblood range is amazing.. its luxurious, creates a healthy natural glow, won't block pore or cause spots, free of fragrance, oil, talc, parabens and artificial dyes and it has a natural sun protection factor in, so all of it can be used on any skin type.

I have to say, after using this on my makeup clients, I was and they were, amazed at how good their skin looked. You get a beautiful glow from the loose and the liquid foundations

£31

£35

Both foundations are buildable in coverage, and the powder can be used as a finishing powder on top of the liquid as it gives a gorgeous sheen when buffed into the skin. There is more choice in colour in the loose foundation but the liquids can always be mixed together to get a mid colour for in between seasons.

In a nutshell these foundations are great for your skin because they are actually full of minerals so great for those sensitive people.

I also wanted to mention the high definition powder... this is beautiful. Not only does it mattify where needed like a bog standard powder, but this also helps the skin to look utterly flawless all day long and leaves the skin feeling really really soft.

£32

I could go on and on about each and every product they do but it would take too long! But just know this, this makeup needs to be in your kit. If only one or two of the products, its lovely and really easy to work with.

If anyone is interested in looking at any of the products in the range, I am selling it at Cheshire Makeup HQ! So please get in touch.

See you soon xxx



Ultimate Rejuvenation

Its time for another peel update! This week I am completely loving

'PUMPKIN PEELS'

I've been doing these now for about a month on clients, and the feedback I've had from doing them has been fantastic.

There are two types, Primary Pumpkin (milder, usually clients will start off with this and progress to the power through the course of treatment) and Power Pumpkin (more powerful, both DermaQuest).

This treatment isnt actually a peel, its a powerful resurfacer that

* Supports age management

* Stimulates collagen for hydrated, plumped and smooth skin

* Fades mild pigmentation which will be lightened with the treatment resulting in a more even toned skin.

* Decreases existing acne and aids in preventing new lesions

* Improves skin hydration

It uses the power of 3 acids, Glycolic, Lactic and Salicylic, and also the pumpkin pulp which is enzymatic (imagine a little pac man, munching away on your skin!).

When the pumpkin is on your skin, you will feel some tingling and it can get a little hot, but it will start to cool and is left on the skin for a maximum of 10 minutes.

The initial result is redness on the skin (which will go down after a couple of hours) and a tightening of the skin. The treatments are done in courses of 6 1-2 weeks apart and can be done 2-3 times a year.

So as you can hear, this resurfacer is the business! People will start saying how good you look, how amazing your skin looks, and you will feel amazing!

I'm starting these on myself this week, I can't wait to see the results.. if you're interested, please get in touch, consultations are free and you can ask as many questions as you like.

See you soon!

xxx

New Spring/Summer No 7 products

Hi everyone, firstly just a little note to say sorry I've been away for a while, been really busy and only had time to update today!

And secondly, we're back onto a makeup update today, yey! Colour fun :)

So I've really been wanting to try these new BB creams that everyone has been talking about.

BB creams are 'Blemish Balm' creams, they're an all in one, super duper cream (primer, foundation, concealer, SPF protection and moisturiser). They're really popular in the far east, and made their way over here last year...

I decided to try the No 7 BB cream from their 'Beautiful Skin' range - this comes in two shades, Normal/Dry and Normal/Oily in a fair and a medium tone.

I applied it with my fingers, and I have to say, it goes on like a dream! Soaks into the skin very quickly, gives a flawless finish with a light-medium coverage and there is enough pigment in there to make you feel like you don't then have to layer a load of concealer on over the top. A little seems to go a long way as well so I think this will definately last 4-6 weeks.

At £12.95, its not going to break the bank either!

Whilst I was at Boots, I noticed there was a 3 for 2 mix and match no their No 7 products spring collection.. so I also got their

Vital Brights Cream Blush in Blossoming Pink

And, their Vital Brightening Eye Pallette (both £13)

 

I used these both at the weekend and I absolutely love the eye pallette! It has a lovely range of neutral colours that create a defined, natural, pretty eye makeup look. I especially love the little curve of yellow in there, it looked great on my friend who has amazing blue eyes as an all over colour, and I used just on the inside of my eye as a hint.

The blusher is lovely too, great colour, but I felt it went on better with a brush as you get a better coverage with it like that. With fingers it seemed to go on quite patchy, but still a fab product, that could also be used on the lips. This blusher also comes in a deeper stronger pink, rather than the peachy pink I bought.

All in all, I love this new Spring range from No 7, affordable, fun and easy to use. I'll be using on all my brides this summer for sure :)

Catch up soon girls and guys

xxx

Final Pictures for the TCA Peel!

Good avo girls and guys.. what an absolutely gorgeous day its been! Here's hoping we get some more of that??!!

This is just a quickie today to show you the final images of my skin from the skin peel which were taken at the end of last week (Friday and Saturday).

To feel the skin, its really soft and smooth, much more than before so I'm really pleased after just one treatment that it feels so nice. To look at, its just got a glow about it, makeup goes on much better and I'm hardly having to wear any as it actually looks nice when I'm not wearing any!

So all in all, I would sooo recommend this peel.. particularly if you are a bit older in years, and have a build up of sun damage and any type of scarring. You literally will look the best that you can look!

Remember I'm doing these now at the Skin Sanctuary @ Cheshire Makeup in Warrington so if you're interested, give me a call or email me!

07761 825190, lauren@cheshiremakeup.com

See you soon!

xxx

P.S My next blogs will be all about the current spring makeup trends that are about at the moment, there will be picture tutorials so watch this space!

More pics - TCA Peel from The Skin Sanctuary!

Well... I said I'd update with some pics of my skin from the TCA peel I had done on Friday last...and here they are...

But just before you look... a bit of an update on how its been from a 'daily life' aspect.

The thing with this peel is, you know at the end, when your skin has peeled and healed completely, your skin is going to be amazing.. like AMAZING. Your skin does literally peel off, kind of looks like you've had quite bad sunburn and you didn't put enough aftersun on :)

For the first couple of days, it feels very tight and your skin does look quite.. good actually! Because it is so tight on your face, it looks like you've had botox and the skin is quite luminous..

But it will enevitably start to peel, mine (and most others) started around the mouth on day 1. Day 2 under the nose and further down around the mouth. It also goes quite dark (darker still if pigment has been drawn to the surface) which is quite normal.

Day 3 it then moved to the cheeks, forehead and nose, and now on day 4 5 and 6, I can start to see new, beautiful soft baby like skin emerging.

I'm not going to lie, it does get a little itchy and you really want to pick it all off (which is a big no no as it can scar the new skin underneath.. my way of dealing with this was to pull my face into different expressions so the dead skin stretches out without you touching it and acts as a scratch!).

BUT its totally worth it for the result I know I'm going to get at the end of this week... even worth walking with a scarf around my face at the Noel Gallagher gig I went to on monday night so as not endure endless stares at my face..

So anyway, without any further ado.. here are my pics from day 1,2,3,4,5 and (today).. there will be more to follow as the skin completely heals.. eeeeeekkkkkk

Day 1





Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

So as you can see, the skin starts off looking quite dark and red, then starts to peel, getting worse each day until day 4 when you can see new skin coming through.

By day 6, there are little bits left on around the sides of the face but the rest of my skin looks and feels really good. There is a glow to it that wasn't there before, and its brought all my pigmentation to the surface (that I didn't even know was there!). These parts look as if they are peeling again which will then just fall off. And its also cleared my nose of blackheads..

So all in all, for all the unattractiveness of the first 5 days, its been totally worth it :)

Will update with a final picture when its completley peeled..

Hope you've found it interesting!

See you soon xxx

TCA Skin Peel from The Skin Sanctuary @ Cheshire Makeup

Ok ladies and gents this treatment is going to rock your socks off!!

Its a TCA ADVANCED PEEL... the reason this is advanced, is because it is a medium strength peel and its used due to its reliability and performance on the skin.

This particular TCA uses 7% Trichloroacetic acid, 2% Salicylic acid and Retinol (Vitamin A) in one treatment... WOWZERS!

TCA has the following amazing benefits....

* Stimulates Collagen and Elastin production
* Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
* Imrpove acne scarring
* Diminish pigmentation - resulting in smoother, firmer more refined skin tone and texture
* Fantastic for comedonal acne
* Great for thickened damaged skin
* Visible tightening of the skin
* Because it is restoring and renewing cell activity, it will reveal healthy, bright, youthful skin underneath

 - Thats a lot of great benefits isn't it :)

So its great for all skin types, and has the same benefits of the 30% TCA (which some of you may have heard off as well) but with less side effects.

Now I'm going to be really brave here, and tell you first of all that I've had this treatment done TODAY!! And second of all, I'm going to be posting a picture of my skin day by day so you can see whats happening to it.

The actual treatment itself is not for the faint-hearted I have to be honest, it stings and gets very hot when the product is applied to the skin, but it cools within a couple of minutes, ready for the second pass. With the second pass of product, it will get hotter quicker and if you can make it to a third pass, you're onto a winner!

At the end of this treatment, you should have an even layer of 'frosting' or protein coagulation on the skin (see picture below). This is a fantastic sign that the peel has done its job and you're going to get a good 'peel' over the next 3-6 days, with total downtime usually at between 7-10 days.

Retinol is then applied all over the skin to encourage an even full exfoliation of the skin.. this does have a yellow tinge to it, so you will look like you've had a tan done! (And probably a good thing to tell people if they ask you!) But when you cleanse the face later on this colour will come off.

Soooo without any further ado!! Here's what my skin looked like immediately after the peel

Pretty scary!! So will keep you updated with daily pics of how my skin is looking until my new face is unveiled!

This treatment will be available from the The Skin Sanctuary @ Cheshire Makeup from 20th February.

See you soon xxx

The right colours for you....

I get asked a lot when I'm doing someone's makeup for a night out or in a makeup lesson 'what eye makeup colours suit me???'


And with the eyes, its usually whats going to make their eye colour POP!


First of all, neutral colour will always suit everyone no matter what colour your eyes are. So starting off with these colours is aways easy as you will easily find at least one pallette on a makeup counter that sells them.  These colours tend to be


Light - Mid - Dark - Cool - Warm browns


Ivory, White, Peachy


These can be worn naturally or more sophisticated depending on how you apply...


Then it gets exciting :)


If you imagine a colour chart like the one below



Find your eye colour on there (or as near to it!) and follow the chart directly across.. the colours on the opposite side will be your 'Eye popping colours'.


But as a general guideline (though there are no rules with makeup) the following applies when choosing the right shades for you -


Blue eyes look for - Brown - Red - Gold - Orange - Copper - Lilac - Grey - Plum




You can also wear warm or cool blues depending on your overall colouring


Green eyes look for - Browns - Purple - Navy Blue - Plum - Pinks - Reds - Burnt Orange

You can also wear warm or cool greens depending on your overall colouring.


Brown eyes can wear most colours but these specifically will look amazing - Black - Blue (deep will more intense) - Gold - Teal Green - Purple

You can also wear warm or cool browns depending on your overall colouring.


Hazel eyes look for - Mauve - Purple - Plum - Golds - Greens



And black will always make an eye colour pop... if you aren't brave enough to wear it all over the lid use it as an eyeliner on your top or bottom lash line or in your water line.

I hope that helps some people choose the perfect shade for that night out your going on : )

See you soon! xxx

P.S I will be doing some tutorials soon, not sure if they're going to be with camera or video yet so will keep you posted!