Dry Heels? Compeed Overnight Cracked Heel Cream

A recent debate at among friends left me no choice but to post how I try to avoid the dreaded ashy feet / dry heel problem. I am one of those people who use a foot cream every day! In fact, the thought of putting my feet into a any shoe / sandal / slipper without any sort of emollient on breaks me out in a sweat. I just cant do it.

Compeed's Overnight Cracked Heel Cream is one of my favourite 'go-to'. Nice and thick in consistency, its rich formula leave you in no doubt that your feet will keep the dreaded ash away. Containing the blessed Urea and Lactic Acid, over time my heel's skin changed in texture to one that wouldn't cause me any embarrassment. I found that other creams merely coasted my skin, building up a nasty film over time and loved that this cream didn't.

But I have really bad skin on my heels....
If you do then I would suggest some serious TLC. The web is littered with solutions to remove hard skin, but I find nothing beats a good soak and scrub. My favourite combination: warm water, drops of Tea Tree oil or lemon (good for antibacterial properties- excellent for people with funky toenails) and rough salt. Soak for a good 20 minutes and then, using a pumice stone, scrub the hell out of the skin - taking care not to cut the skin.  Take good care to dry your feet, slather them with a really rich, moisturising product such as the Compeed or Shea Butter. Depending on how much you want to treat yourself - I tend to do this when I'm having a night in - wrap feet in cling film, then socks after a good trim and cut the nails. Leave overnight and then enjoy the renewed skin on your feet! A good soak once a week, coupled with a good moisturising routine for badly damaged feet for six weeks should help the skin sort itself out. If all else  fails I would suggest visiting your GP / Chiropodist.

How do you keep your feet looking good?

Hat's off to ya Ma'am

I've become an even bigger fan of hats since beginning to transition 

my hair back to it's natural state. I loved the whole Saint Laurent 

(YSL to me always!) aesthetic with the wide fedoras and recently

picked up a wide brimmed felt hat from Peacocks that I obsessed 

over when I first laid eyes on it. Unfortunately for my purse I saw 

another trilby and will be going back to purchase on pay-day. I have

messed around with a few ideas on how I'm gonna style these hats 

and the results are below.

Baby On Board

So, you may have noticed there has been a severe lack of posts on my blog  over the last year.....

As the title suggests I was in fact pregnant and have now given birth, whoo hooo!

Whilst hubby and I were extremely happy to be expecting,this pregnancy was not without hiccups along the way: I was unfortunately severely anaemic during the majority of the pregnancy and found it hard to breathe, let along find the energy to blog. The hospital told us we were having a girl and out popped my son! That said, baby is healthy and happy so expect to see additional items on my pregnancy / motherhood on this blog, as I found reading about real life experiences to be helpful to me during this humongous period of change.

Hair
Weirdly it's like my body knew it would be going through a change, in January I made the decision to revert my hair to it's natural state from perm and so expect a few posts on my experiences (good & very bad). The regrowth has been a revelation; I feel as if I'm having to relearn how to manage with my Afro hair after fifteen plus years of having a perm! It's been hard for me style the two, very different textures without loads of hair breaking off or the teeth of my comb breaking.

Hopefully, as my son grows, I will be able to catch a few minutes to write and I plan to post on the rare days that I have off from full on mummy duties.

elf HD Blush

ELF HD Blush
(L-R) Encore, Showstopper, Diva

EyesLipsFace (elf)'s HD  Blush had been on my watch list for a while. Touted as being a credible, affordable dupe for MakeUpForever's HD Blushes, I - like many other UK make-up lovers- waited impatiently for them to reach our shores after watching / reading about them on the internet.

These blushes are sold in the UK for £3.75, earlier this year I managed to get my paws on three of the five HD Blushes: Encore / Showstopper/ Diva, taking advantage of elf's 50% discount on all Studio products. I found these blushes to be creamy in texture and was initially scared of just how pigmented they are. To say a small amount goes a loooooooooong way is an understatement and necessary to avoid wastage. As you can see from my swatches, I placed a relatively small amount on my arm and had an obscene amount left over. A stippling or elf's power brush is a must for application to avoid staining your fingers. You need to ensure that you blend, blend, blend in order to avoid coco the clown cheeks. It would be a good idea to practice before using the blush directly on your face. 

Pros

• Highly pigmented and colour choice of the above blushes = excellent for WOC. 
• Extremely affordable at £3.75 for 10ml and value for money due to amount required.
• Long lasting
• Multi use- I've seen YouTuber's using the excess on lips as stain or base for lipstick. 

Negative

• Pump dispenser allows for wastage, heavy fingers beware.
• Availability- website regularly shows popular colours as being out of stock. 

Overall I am a fan. I am confident that I will be ordering Superstar once it shows as being back in stock and am really proud of elf for bring us a product that could have remained in the land of high end brands to the masses, at an affordable price point without compromising on quality.

I wish more brands would be as honest elf in their pricing to consumers. 

Have you tried HD Blushes  what are your thoughts? 

Sleek MakeUP Crème to Powder Foundation: Chocolate Fudge

During the warmer months I tend to opt for a powder foundation to counter my oily T-Zone, rummaging through my make-up bag the other day I found myself reaching for my Sleek MakeUp Crème to Powder foundation and smiling.  Sleek offer a wide range of foundation shades for WOC (28 no less), so I was a little daunted but the gods on me and I stumbled onto their Pop-Up event in Stratford where an excellent make-up artist matched me to Chocolate Fudge. 

How do I apply?

After applying a primer I will use a stippling brush (or my Elf Powder Brush) to apply this crème texture foundation. The texture converts to a powder with the finish ranging from medium to full depending on application.

Pros, Cons

The colour match, price point and decent size allow this foundation to be a regular for me. It is extremely rare for me to find a foundation in a high street store that just works with my skin tone so kudos to Sleek / Superdrug for creating a decent product and stocking it in their stores. The compact has survived a LOT of trauma in  my bag so I can truthfully attest to it's durability; be warned- it will cake if you use too much so be careful and unlike some foundations, I find that it transfers easily if it isn't set with a powder.

Are you a strictly liquid or do you mix textures depending upon the seasons too?

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin and Makeup Brushes

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion

No7 Eye Contour Brush 

No7 Essential Lip Brush

No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser 

Every few months Boots holds a promotion where customers who spend over £5 are rewarded with a voucher for their No7 range or perfumes. I adore this promotion, finding it an excellent way to try out products from their own brand No7 range. You may recall my previous post regarding their No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser where I waxed lyrical about how great I found this product to be. I managed to accumulate a few of these vouchers during the promotion and knew a repurchase of the cleanser was a must, deciding on a whim to try their Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion and two makeup brushes. 

The products from (left to right):  

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion: Unfortunately this was a fail for me; found I needed to use a lot of product and it didn't get off all of my makeup. My skin became heated and I can't see me daring to finish it.

No7 Eye Contour Brush: Much hyped dupe for MAC's 217, really good blending brush. Fits into my eye area perfectly without being too stiff or soft on the skin in this delicate area. I have subsequently repurchased another two brushes for my kit). 

No7 Essential Lip Brush: As a Woman of Colour I love my full lips, but find many lip brushes far too small to allow me to build up colour on my lips for a lasting finish. It was the size of the brush that caught my attention and found the firmness of the bristles to be superb. If you love a good red lip a good lip brush is essential. Yet another repurchase.

No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser: A excellent gel cleanser repurchased as I love taking off makeup with it. Trust me - it gets rid of everything!

I used to be weary of trying own-brand products but I’m glad that smart promotions such as the No7 promotion affords me the opportunity to become familiar with excellent products and at a relatively decent price point.

Have you made use of this promotion – what product(s) go you recommend?

Lip MawAhh: You're So Cute Chocolate

 

Winter can be a trying time for me; my skin becomes parched and lips chapped, so I'm always on the look out for decent products to counteract this. Around a month ago a work colleague handed me a  tube of Lip MawAhh's You're So Cute Chocolate to try and I have been loving it! 

I've had problems with chap sticks in the past - irritation, over drying my lips, offensive smells and white gunk forming a line around my lips- to name just a few. Upon opening You're So Cute Chocolate I was surprised by the natural chocolate smell and was delighted to discover that the product is completely natural, with a whole bunch of oils/butters to provide goodness to my lips. As the month progressed I noticed that the texture of the tube changed to a slightly gritty texture that felt akin to giving my lips a nice massage. 

Overall, I'm impressed- the tube hasn't left my bag!