Battle of the Beauty Tools #6: The Dermasuri

Whether summer, winter or just for an even tan, exfoliation of our skin is vital. It helps promote good circulation, keep the skin looking and feeling in a good condition and promotes skin cell renewal.

When our legs are hidden away in the chill of winter, I do think exfoliation is often the last thing you want to be doing or thinking about. This edition of Battle of the Beauty Tools features one of the most simple, but life changing tools that you must just for a moment think about investing in and adding into your routine - to make everything a little less difficult and tiresome.

The Dermasuri. I was flicking through the virtual pages of new products on Victoria Health and had to take a closer look, and subsequently order this item. Yes it's £19.95 essentially for an exfoliating mitt, but I think what you pay for here is the research behind such a product and the following it has now got from celebrities and beauty bloggers.

To get the most from this product step into a steamy shower, and don't apply any shower gels, lotions or potions, but wait for your skin to be slightly wet. The steam and warmth from the shower opens up pores and prepares your skin for exfoliation. Grab your Dermasuri mitt and brush in upward motions against the skin, again with no shower products. This product works on exfoliating using friction, not beads or bristles.

The upward motions against the skin can be as hard or as soft as you feel you need them. I like to get a good vigorous motion in with good pressure. You will then see your dead skin / fake tan just rolling away from your skin and onto the mitt. This is a deep exfoliation mitt, and will mean you don't have to be doing this process, eventually any more than once every couple of weeks. Amazing!

First Impression: This is nothing I couldn't get out of a high street store, it's just an exfoliating glove?

Lasting Impression: The feeling and results this leaves your skin with are worth the money, and it's a tool which requires no batteries, no charging cradles just a quick rinse under some water and a hanging out to dry after use. This is a no frills, but effective exfoliating tool which should definitely be considered if you put off scrubbing your skin!

You can purchase the Dermasuri Deep Exfoliating Mitt @ Victoria Health, and the official website.

Battle of the Beauty Tools #5: Tangle Teezer, Aqua Splash

Welcome back!

As many beauty bloggers are I am a huge fan of the Original Tangle Teezer, it's such a great invention that I think many of us wonder where we would be, and what kind of state our hair would be in without one. 

The Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash is designed in a different way than the Original, and for a different purpose. Designed for use in wet or damp hair, the bristles are apparently designed not to pull out the hair but teeze out those tangles like its popular sister product. I have been known to use it on dry hair too! 

I like to use this product in the shower, when applying hair masks or treatments, or even just to distribute leave in conditioner into my hair after washing.

The hollow middle, means if you do like to use a brush / comb in the shower and have it left ready for next use, nothing is going to be holding on to the water when you are not using it. The product comes in great bright designs, and would be ideal for little girls at bath time or holiday trips. 

First impressions can say this product is really basic, it's a plastic tube, with plastic bristles that retails for over £10. It does have a grippy texture though and good ergonomic design, so it's easy to hold, but it's light and I would say a no frills product.

It's bristles kind of mean its hybrid between the comb and the brush. I've always gone for a wide tooth comb, because my hair just falls out so easily and gets damaged with a brush when wet. The Aqua splash for me is just a fancy comb, and I can definitely get along without it. If you fancy trying it and have the extra cash to spend on a brush then it is a good tool to have, especially if you find brushing your hair a chore after showering.

I don't think the Aqua Splash made as much of a 'Splash' in the beauty market ocean as expected, but it is a product which if you can afford probably will benefit you in the long run and keep the chore of de-tangling wet hair to a minimum. 

You can find the Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash here, for £11.69 currently. 

Have you used the Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash? 

New Year, New Resolutions; Happy New Year

In this post I will be sharing those obligatory resolutions for the coming year. Let me know yours in the comments below! Some of these I am pretty sure are the same if not similar as the resolutions made in last years post here. 

• Drink More Water - It's simple in theory, but in method so hard to do. I intend to be carrying an Evian bottle around with me at all times, for the purposes of keeping me hydrated & to see if the amount of water I consume affects the headaches I keep getting! 

• Save, Save, Save - this year it is happening, I am going to put my spare monies away & this year it's going somewhere I can not delve into and spend it from (stupid bank accounts!).

• Use products up, before taking to the shops to buy more! - I have draws full of body products, skincare products and nail polishes never before used. I find happiness in knowing i have a lot of products & I will be ok if ever caught in some kind apocalypse (is this hoarding?). But in reality 2014 will be a year of using up, and making space for new products.  So watch out for lots of reviews along the way!

• Keep NLMORGAN.com alive! I love blogging, and am slowly becoming more involved in the blogging community, working full time as most of you will know creates difficulty in keeping the posting momentum going, but every comment and page view pushes me on and I really appreciate any help I can get in getting my blog out there. I am aware that the beauty blogging industry is just saturated and bigger than ever. Now recognised in all different media forms - as valuable sources of information and opinion, bloggers are more recognised now than ever before. When you are starting out us newer bloggers find it tough to get recognised. This year I want to work with you, the other beauty bloggers reading this to get our readership recognised. 

Thanks for reading, I think this small but ambitious collection of resolutions is achievable and will get 2014 going to a great start...

... now where's that bottle of water?

Battle of the Beauty Tools #4: Silk Epil 7 Epilator

If you were going to pick the best electronic gadget for removing those pesky hairs from your pins it would be from the best brand possible, and that's Braun. They know what they are doing when it comes to hair removal. From the Silk Epil 3 (which has only 20 tweezers) to the current Silk Epil 7 (which has 40 tweezers)variations. Braun have made their way into the prestigious Harpers Bazaar Top Beauty 100 in 2013 with this sometimes scary to look at gadget. But once you get used to the pain.... it's fine - or thats what all of your girlfriends have been saying about epilation for years. Me included. 

If you are not that familiar with this method of hair removal, epilation is the removal of hair from underneath the skins surface, taking the hair (from whatever part of your body) away from the root. The epilator, as seen in the picture above, has a rotating head which is filled with lots of tweezers, that as they are pulled along your skin grip on to the hair in its way, and pull from the root. Like tweezing your eyebrows but on mass, epilators can be used from those stray hairs on your toes (we all have them!!) to the underarms, obviously though I would avoid the face and any sensitive skin. 

All epilating devices all work in the same way, so essentially you don't need to keep buying different versions, get a good one like the Silk Epil 7 (retails at around £130.00) and you can be set for quite a while. There's no buying razor heads or refilling your wax pot here, except you will need some kind of electricity source to recharge after all the hair removal fun, so really you do get your monies worth. 

As technology changes though, it's good to jump on the 'new epilator band wagon', not only do old versions make a hell of a noise, but they also can not be used in water or have a light which highlights those finer hairs you may have missed. The Silk Epil 7 has both of these additions, and Braun have even brought out the Silk Epil 7 Dual Epilator (the combination of both shaving and epilation for extra smoothness) and the even more recent Silk Epil 7 SkinSpa which provides exfoliation and epilation - I am quite eager to get my hands on this one after having my original Silk Epil 7 for some years now. 

If you epilate for enough years, the story goes that your hair will eventually stop growing in that area, it will almost just give up! I am waiting for this time, however from epilating for 5 years, I now epilate every 3 or 4 weeks, and there are some people that shave every dyay, so that's a lot of shaving foam, and blades you would be going through. As a plus to not shaving every few days, with epilation the regrowth is definitely finer, and lest noticeable. 

First Impressions; The whirring noise of the motor, and the initial pain of pulling hairs out of your legs with tweezers is enough to put you off BUT perceiver, it gets easier girls (or guys.. although in my experience the noise is enough to scare them off). Your legs/underarms may look a little blotchy and red after but this is your skin freaking out, and telling you it's not used to it. After a few weeks you'll be totally confident with the whole process! 

Lasting Impressions; Apart from the fact that I think the battery is now dying on my epilator and always shows a red light (above) it has had a very good run and I refuse to shave and break the habit.  I am not always sure it picks up EVERY little hair, but perhaps I am not patient enough. 

If you are thinking about epilating here are some good tips that work well from my experience;

1) Have a hot bath/shower, this will open your pores of your skin - in turn when you epilate whether in the bath or not, it will be less painful and the hairs will pull out without a problem. 

2) If you have some aloe-vera gel, or moisturiser handy after your epilation session, wait about 10 mins for your skin to calm down and then slather on the soothing stuff, this will take down the redness immediately, and refresh the area.

3) Hold the area you are epilating taught, so that the hairs are picked up more easily. 

Let me know if you have any epilating tips?

Natalie  

Battle of the Beauty Tools: #3 The Clarisonic

The mighty Clarisonic Cleansing System has to be up there with some of the best beauty award winners of all time. 

So if you are scrubbing up for a fabulous date night on this Valentines day, reach for your Clarisonic!

Clarisonic Plus: Image taken from SpaceNK.com

With many different variations Clarisonic have gone from a tool used exclusivley in salons, with the Clarisonic Professional, to enabling male and female skin care fanatics to own their own Clarisonic and get the results in the comfort of their own bathroom with the Clarisonic, Clarisonic Plus & more recently the Clarisonic Mia. Many of these fanatics do not know where they would be without their much loved cleansing system. 

The Clarisonic works on Sonic waves, as the brush at the top of the device vibrates and oscillates accross all areas of your face it works with your favourite cleanser to remove dirt and makeup whilst gently exfoliating your skin.

For anyone with acne prone, or particularly oily skin this is a great tool to use to make sure the pores in your skin stay free of bacteria, that would normally cause spots. Those that also love to exfoliate will find fabulous results from using this as close together as every morning, to cut out their normal exfoliation routine, but reveal smoother skin which absorbs your products much easier.

Whilst it is an investment, any skin care lover will understand that parting with your money will mean skin which is in a great condition and could change the way you go about cleansing your face.

When i first received my Clarisonic I couldn't wait to use it to help take my makeup off along with my cleanser. Removing makeup & cleansing became a joy to do!

One thing I do wish Clarisonic would create is some kind of cleaning system for the brush heads, which although you can replace, never seem to get as good as new once makeup is on them. As you are placing that brush directly on your skin, it seems a good idea to make it as clean as possible, and rid of the bacteria as best you can.

The heads for the system, cost around £20 and should be replaced every 3 months or so, and come in a variety of different sensitivities. If you have quite sensitive skin you might want to go for the Sensitive brush head, but if you have acne issues, maybe go for the pore cleansing brush, there is also heads for other skin types.

First Impressions: I was so excited to use this tool when I got it that I maybe used it too much, resulting in even angrier looking skin - this can happen as all the nasties are being brought to your skin's surface. You really need to take time to find the speed setting that works for you skin, and whether you want a timer telling you when you should be done scrubbing! My face was a lot smoother, and i do miss my Clarisonic when I don't use it, however I do not use it all the time. Maybe once a week, as my skin is sensitive to being scrubbed a lot.

Lasting Impressions: I am glad I have a Clarisonic, it does make my skin feel great & clean - but I find myself needing to buy new brushes all the time, and having to pay £20 a pop for a brush head sometimes isn't on the top of my list to spend £20 on, and this stunts my usage of this great tool sometimes.

The Clarisonic is available from SpaceNK priced at £179 for the Clarisonic Plus 

Do you have one of the Clarisonic cleansing systems?
Could you live without yours?

Let me know!

Battle of the Beauty Tools: #2 Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

I have only ever had three sets of eye lash curlers, one which was a heated pair brought straight out of  a Tesco's beauty dept. , the other a stainless steel pair from reputable brand Tweezerman & the third I received at Christmas last year, Shu Uemura's iconic eyelash curler.

Iconic because these curlers seemed to be all I ever heard about through beauty blogs, beauty awards and YouTube videos since I must have been 17!

These curlers just deliver the most maximum curl possible! They work especially well if you put your eyelashes between the curlers, and then tilt the curlers up towards the ceiling with your thumb. When I first did this I expected each of my eyelashes to be pulled out in the process, but pleasantly I was just wowed with the difference it made to my eye shape, and the way mascara could then work even harder, without losing eyelashes!

I have relatively small eyes with lashes which look like they have been straightened to be fair, so I wasn't expecting much in terms of curl. But I was really impressed with the curl, the pressure I didn't have to apply to my lashes, and the staying power of the results overall!

First impressions: When I popped these out of the box I thought, 'They don't look any different to my Tweezerman curlers!' That does still stand true, they really don't look any different, but the results were really different. So much so that I reach for these curlers on a daily basis now, after giving up on my others, which I never bother using anymore.

You can see from the photo I took below the difference from the curled eyelashes, and the non. Obviously no two eyes are identical - put this really gets accross how much more awake you can look with curled lashes, thanks to using the Shu Uemura curlers.

If you have trouble justifying £20 on a set of eyelash curlers, maybe ask for them for as a gift when you have an occasion such as a birthday coming up. You will be so excited to receive them! If you birthday isn't around the corner though, maybe try out the tilt trick with your current curlers.

Lasting Impressions: Totally worth the spend, definitely live up to their iconic status!

I got my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers from SpaceNK they are priced at £20. 
Image of curlers taken from SpaceNK.

Do you have any beauty tools or tricks you think others should know about? Let us know below!

Natalie, x

Battle of the Beauty Tools: #1 The Beauty Blender

I'm really excited to start a couple of new post series this month - one of them being the Battle of the Beauty Tools series. Each post within this series will feature on a specific beauty tool that is new, old or up and coming in the beauty industry. 

The posts will focus on just how and if we could cope without the beauty tools of today, for example straighteners, tweezers, and nail files, would you know which one you could leave behind? It's more than deciding what would be your desert island pick - but a chance to discuss and review the beauty tools which we all love to use to make our day to day regimes that much less stressful!

I am kicking off the series with the BeautyBlender!

Image taken from BeautyBay.com

As one of what has to be the most talked about makeup applicators, the BeautyBlender does have competition from un-branded makeup sponges, which claim to mimic the effect that the Latex free official BeautyBlender has on our foundations - this post will be based upon the official & ultimate BeautyBlender, which is available either from BeautyBlender.co.uk or many other beauty tool retailers, such as BeautyBay.com

First Impressions; Yes, this is just a pink sponge that can be used to apply makeup. 

Applying Makeup with a sponge?! NO! 
I hear you skin care fanatics scream at me! 
Using your average makeup sponge to apply make up is frowned upon by skin care specialists, especially if your skin is sensitive or suffering from a skin complaint such as Acne. The sponge can harbour all sorts of bacteria, which could well be causing your Acne. Bacteria can stay in your sponges if you are a) not cleaning / or throwing it out after each use b) storing it in an bacteria free zone.. (who has one of those!?)

This professionally used, egg shaped foundation and makeup applicator can be used damp with water or dry. Damp is especially good if you have dryer skin types, you then dab and daub the sponge into those areas which need foundation / or other product of choice... You will notice no brush stroke marks, no patchy coverage and you may even find your foundation is working even better than when you used your foundation brush or fingers. 

Because of it's unique patented shape, the sponge is used to reach all those areas of your face such as around your nose, or on spots you wish to conceal heavily - really easily! Just pick the part of the sponge which fits that area of your face best. I like to dab the sponge on to my face, and then roll as I am dabbing to create a great flawless finish. 

Once you have used your BeautyBlender, you should rinse with the Anti-Bacterial 'blendercleanser' sponge cleanser which you can buy with the sponge, and use for all your other brushes too. I did find that upon the first few washes the fabulous pink colour will run out with your excess foundation, and I was disappointed with this too, as this 'sponge' does not come into your makeup collection at your normal make up sponge cost. I have developed a pretty random hole in my BeautyBlender aswell and am really not sure how this can happen, but the good news is that the colour running out of the sponge does settle down. After use ensure that the sponge air dries so it can go back down to it normal size (it really expands when it takes on water) ready for the next use. 

Lasting Impressions: This sponge has definitely given me more options for how I apply my makeup, however I rarely use it unless I am going out, as I am more conscious than ever that it needs cleaning before next use (cleaning the BeautyBlender for me takes more time than brushes because I can't get all of my foundation squeezed out easily!). It does feel like I need more product too, the humble makeup brush doesn't take on as much liquid as this blender does for me! The results though are really impressive, everything is blended, covered & looking radiant and goes on so much easier and in possibly half the time.

 If you are an avid makeup wearer, and have the time to wash (or money perhaps to buy multiple BeautyBlenders) definitely invest in this beauty tool, as I have yet to try a high street beauty sponge that works as good as this one!

The classic BeautyBlender retails at around £16.00,  for more information on the BeautyBlender take a read of the information available at www.beautyblender.co.uk . Image taken from BeautyBay.com

Let me know if you have a product to rival this one in the Battle of the Beauty Tools series leave me a comment below!

Natalie, x