Showing posts with label cuccio

Hello lovelies,

I have attended the Olympia Beauty Exhibition in London again this year and I'm going to share with you some photos and also my first ever haul video!

British beauty exhibitions are great way to shop with discounts so I attend these twice a year and stock up on polish and other supplies. For the first time this year the new Beauty Blog Awards were hosted alongside the Olympia Beauty Exhibition. I was at the venue quite early so I stopped at the Beauty Blog Awards site first...plus first couple of hundred bloggers received a goody bag (yes, one more reason to stop by there!). I haven't been shortlisted for an award so I didn't stick around for long. The awards were situated in the Pillar Hall and few sponsoring brands had their small stand there. Both very interesting for me so I moved on..

Beauty Blog Awards in Pillar Hall, the view of Olympia Beauty Exhibition
Beauty Blog Awards in Pillar Hall, the view of Olympia Beauty Exhibition
Beauty Blog Awards in Pillar Hall, the view of Olympia Beauty Exhibition

Beauty Blog Awards in Pillar Hall, the view of Olympia Beauty Exhibition

 

 

Let the shopping spree begin! I stopped by most of the stands with nail polish and snapped few pictures for you:

 

China Glaze stand
China Glaze stand

China Glaze stand

Cuccio stand

Cuccio stand

Morgan Taylor stand
Morgan Taylor stand
Morgan Taylor stand

Morgan Taylor stand

Alessandro stand

Alessandro stand

Soigné stand

Soigné stand

 

One stand I was particularly eager to visit this year was All That Jazz! They've introduced new range of filigree nail art stickers and I just had to have them! I've seen them on Instagram and they looked awesome so I wanted to check them out. There was a whole stand of stickers so I went a bit overboard but I don't regret it. There are so many beautiful patterns and I bought loads in gold, silver and rose gold colours and now. They do have neon, black and white ones as well but metallic ones just rule! I kind of wish I bought some black and white ones too.

 

Watch my video at the bottom of this article for more details on these stickers and if you haven't already, check out my review of All That Jazz manicure products range and video tutorial on luxury manicure at home!

All That Jazz stand and the always fabulous Jazz Smedley
All That Jazz stand and the always fabulous Jazz Smedley

All That Jazz stand and the always fabulous Jazz Smedley

 

I also visited the Scratch Stage again for some seminars and lovely Gemma aka Polished Inka joined me and kept me company.

 

The first seminar we sat through was Sam Biddle's New Ideas for Nail Art In Your Salon. Sam took the stage together with her business partner and showed us how to use her Nail art pen and Be Creative Medium and paints to achieve couple of nail art designs. I really enjoyed watching Sam live as she is a nail industry veteran and award winning nail artist. And as a little surprise she gave most of us one of their Nail art pens so I will definitely be playing with it later! I've actually purchased a lot of things from Sam's Be Creative shop but never got to try them out. This seminar gave me the kick I need and motivated me to try new techniques with her products. Stay tuned!

Be Creative team
Be Creative team

Be Creative team


Straight after Sam's seminar, Sophie Harris-Greenslade aka The Illustrated Nail took the stage to introduce everyone to her new nail art book (reviewed here) and show us how to create one of her beautiful lace designs. It looked so simple when she broke it down into small steps so I might attempt it myself one day.

Sophie's seminar and OPI stand
Sophie's seminar and OPI stand
Sophie's seminar and OPI stand
Sophie's seminar and OPI stand
Sophie's seminar and OPI stand

Sophie's seminar and OPI stand

Obligatory selfie with Gemma aka Polished Inka! (Picture taken by Gemma)

Obligatory selfie with Gemma aka Polished Inka! (Picture taken by Gemma)

 

 

We did a bit more walking around the show and checking out Nails Supreme stand and then it was time to say bye and go home. We both brought home a lot of new goodies, here are mine:

 

 

 

Hope you've enjoyed my post and quite lengthy haul video and have a lovely day! Lucie x

 

 

Hello lovelies,

 

This is the last pre-wedding post, the next one will be when I'll be back and be married! You might be wondering how I'm preparing for my wedding day beauty-wise and what products I'm currently using. That's what today's post is about.

 

My usual routine throughout the year consists of occasional use of body butter when my skin gets itchy and night cream or oil serum before I go to bed. I'm just that lazy! But in preparation for the big day I've stepped up my game and have been using regularly quite a few products.

 

My Wedding Diary - Part 4: Beauty Regime & Products

 

 

Face care - I obviously want my skin to look its best so I've started a new routine with regular moisturising and exfoliation. I exfoliate my face in the shower with Yves Rocher apricot Fruity Scrub and then continue with my face routine:

 

No 7 Early Defence Eye Cream - this is the first step in my face care routine. I've always struggled with dark circles under my eyes. This cream doesn't erase them (nothing can!) but I've found that with keeping the skin hydrated makes it look better. It also soaks into the skin fast and doesn't leave a shiny or sticky residue.

 

Noxidoxi Enhancing serum - I got this little French product from the July Glossybox and have been using it since. It absorbs fast and leaves my skin nice and plump. I use it before face cream or before night oil serum.

 

Vichy Aqualia Thermal - another product from Glossybox that I like. Vichy has a very good reputation on the continent so I was happy to see it in the box and try it. It's a nice light moisturising cream for Summer. It wouldn't be heavy enough for Winter but now it's fine. It absorbs nicely and it does my skin good ;)

 

The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-oil - I like to use few drops of this oil after Noxidoxi Enhancing serum. It's too oily for day use but by morning my skin feels great. Definitely a great thing for those with dry skin.

 

Body Care - of course body care is a big whole chapter and I feel kind of pressured by all those tv ads, magazines and beauty bloggers to use different products for different parts of my body. I will probably stop after the wedding...yeah, lazy lol!

 

Kueshi Anticellulite Booster - I probably wouldn't buy a product specifically for getting rid of cellulite because they just don't work like we want them to, but this little product arrived in Glossybox so I've decided to use it. I have been using it for few weeks now twice a day and so far quality of my skin improved because of the continued moisturisation but cellulite seems the same. And yes, I exercise and drink just water. Nope, products aren't miracle workers!

 

Eucerin Intensive Lotion with 10% Urea - I've bought this specifically for my arms. I've never been really bothered about having keratosis pilaris (KP for short) but I would like to not have red spots on my arms in my wedding photos. Let's face it, who would want to photoshop hundreds of small spots from hundreds of photos, right? After a lot of research I've decided to try this Eucerin lotion with urea paired up with light exfoliation. I must say that it is really helping but I must keep using it and it is not gone completely. I would say it's a 50% improvement which is better than nothing.

 

Cuccio Milk & Honey Butter - I use this body butter for the rest of my body (not a lot is left! :D). I've shown you this product is some of the earlier monthly favourites posts and I'm still using it. It's nicely nourishing and leaves skin lightly perfumed, nothing overwhelming.

 

Gordon Castle Scotland products - it wouldn't be a wedding beauty prep without some luxurious pampering. Lovely people from Gordon Castle Scotland have treated me with a gift box full of products from their Flower Garden collection. What I like is that these are all 'handmade in the British Isles, free from artificial colours, fragrances, parabens and never tested on animals. Gordon Castle & Estate, in the north of Scotland, have a beauty range made using plants and flowers grown on the land and in their walled garden'. It's always nice to support local/British businesses. I'm currently enjoying beautifully smelling hand cream, bubble bath, bath oil and candle! The scent is very relaxing so the bath products and candle are a really special treat for bath-lovers.

 

Of course, my first impulse was to try the hand cream. It contains sweet almond oil and magnolia essential oil and a lot of flowers and herbs. The cream itself is light and absorbs really fast which I love and there's no sticky residue either. Have they cracked the secret of a perfect hand cream? Maybe! It is a bit pricier than the usual drugstore hand creams (£15 for 75ml) but so far for me it feels like you actually get what you pay for which is not always the case with high-end brands. So thumbs up from me!

 

My Wedding Diary - Part 4: Beauty Regime & Products

 

 

Hair Care - I don't do anything special for my hair apart from the occasional treatment with Vita Coco coconut oil. Of course it is a multi-purpose product and could be used for anything but I like to use it as a hair mask. It makes my hair really soft to the touch which I really like. I also use Macadamia Oil Shampoo and conditioner from Savers for £1 each. It is very cheap but so goo to my hair, including the hair mask from the same brand (reviewed here).

 

My Wedding Diary - Part 4: Beauty Regime & Products
My Wedding Diary - Part 4: Beauty Regime & Products

 

I guess I've covered them all, quite a few products, eh? I hope it will be at least useful to some of you, maybe you'll want to try some of these products or perhaps you've discovered a new brand.

 

I'm going to say goodbye for now and lend my blog to some very talented bloggers who will be guest posting while I'm gone. I might post to my Instagram or Facebook some minor updates of how my wedding and holiday is going but it will be pretty busy so I might be quiet ;) Bye and be happy! Lucie x

 

 

*Some products were previously sent as a PR sample