Pantone: Colours of the Year 2016

For the first time in it's 16 year history, Pantone have for the first time chosen two shades to carry the accolade of being named PANTONE Colour of the Year 2016; Rose Quartz and Serenity...  

A harmonious pairing of inviting shades that embody a mindset of tranquility and inner peace.

Top Five: Products of 2015

I can't believe this post has come Round again so quickly! My mother always says that time seems to speed up as you get older and I think she's right - but 2015 has really flown by! I am ending the year as I have done for the last two or three with a round-up of my favourite products; an eclectic mixture of nails, skin and make-up.

Top Five: Luxury Eco Make-up Christmas Gift Ideas

Now December is underway, I can now turn my thoughts to Christmas. As someone who is mightily antagonised by the appearance of crackers and christmas puddings in the shops before the arrival of the twelfth month, I make a point of not thinking about it until then.

Top Five: Australsian Eco Brands

Last month I began a series of Top Five posts on the best eco make-up brands from around the world. Having kicked off with my Top Five brands from Germany, I am now heading down under to explore the make-up brands that Australia and New Zealand have to offer...

From The Vault: Inika Organic Lip Liner Pencil

This months rummage into the vault of posts past brings to light possibly the only one I have ever written about lip pencils... 

Top five: Products I'm Loving - Summer 2015

After nearly four years of writing this little blog, I have yet to actually write a seasonal favourites post. After mulling over what I have been using both in my kit and on myself over the past couple of months, here we go...

Top Five: In Flight Make-up Tips

With holidays on the horizon, here is the second of my Top Five tips to travel skincare and make-up...

Inika Light Reflect Highlighting Creme

An poor nights sleep followed by an early morning train a couple of weeks ago caused me to call in a little extra help in a desperate bid to look somewhat human for work that day. Rummaging through my make-up bag I plumped upon this little tube...

Naturisimo Make-up Discovery Box

I feel that I'm jumping on a band wagon here but a few days ago I came across some posts on a couple of the blogs that I follow mentioning the Limited Edition Make-up Discovery Box from Naturisimo. Now this box had completely passed me by (despite almost constantly being on the Naturisimo website!) but as soon as I read about the box I had to pick one up.

From The Vault: The Kiss

This months trip down memory lane takes us back to Valentine's day 2013 and five steps to getting your lips in tip, top kissable condition for the most romantic day of the year...

Top Five: White Eyes

It was big in the 1990's and now its back with avengeance this spring. White eye make-up is definitely one of those Marmite trends - you either love it or hate it. This season white it is most certainly back and so put aside your yeast extract-y breakfast spread feelings and take a look...

From The Vault...

Two and a half years down the line, I have decided that it is high time that I revisited some of the first posts that I shared with you. Why I hear you ask? I will tell you.

I readily admit I don't have the most reliable memory in the world and on occasion do forget that I have *clears throat*  already written about a product; I begin to compile ideas only to discover that in fact my thoughts are all ready out there (I have written an entire post before now, only discovering the first incarnation when I was about to publish the second...). 

This situation arose a couple of weeks ago when I was using a particular product at work and mulling over it's pros and cons. Realising my error (thankfully very early on in the process) I revisited the original post and it made me realise that I should go over some of my older posts more often and find out if my opinions have changed or not. So here we are.

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Begin At The Beginning...

My first 'proper post' was always going to be a difficult one, choosing which product to start with, so I decided to start at the beginning....

Inika Organic Pure Primer

One of the first products that I introduced to my kit was the Inika Organic Pure Primer. I came across it quite by accident whilst I was looking for some foundations, unaware that there were Organic Primers on the market (I have since discovered there are a couple of others).

Inika Pure Primer

With nourishing ingredients such as macadamia oil, shea butter, avocado and apricot, Pure Primer has a luxuriously creamy texture with a mild herbal scent that fades quickly upon application. It applies equally well with either a brush or your fingers and is absorbed quickly leaving the skin feeling smooth and hydrated. There are subtle light reflecting elements that give a real radiance to the skin, creating a perfect base for foundation.

At just under £30 for 30ml it certainly isn't not a cheap product, fortunately a little goes a long way, with one pump of the bottle easily enough to cover the whole face and neck.

Now a mainstay of my kit, I have used Pure Primer for broadcast, bridal and fashion make-ups, on male and female clients and each time I have been happy with the results and the overall look of the skin.

Inika (an Australian brand) have an interesting range of organic and mineral products all of which are certified cruelty free and Vegan. 

www.inikacosmetics.co.uk

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Over the years my writing style has changed somewhat I am sure you will agree, but what of my feelings?

I do still like this this Primer and keep a bottle  in my kit, however it is now having to share it's corner with a couple of other primers; namely Jane Iredale's Absence and Vapour Beauty's Skin Perfector - plus a BB and CC Cream or two. 

I love using it on skin that doesn't need too much doing to it (if you know what I mean) and it is a still great choice if you don't have particularly oily or super dry skin; or you just need a little something to smooth the surface and improve the appearance of foundation. If you are looking for a product that makes your make-up last longer, then in all honesty there are now products out there now that probably do the job a little better but if your skin is fairly balanced without large pores or uneven texture, then I do suggest giving it a go. You can find it in Naturisimo and Inika Cosmetics.

Ingredients:

(*) denotes ingredient is certified organic.

Certified Organic Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice; Certified Organic Macadamia (Macadamia Ternifoila) Oil; Certified Organic Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii); Cetearyl Glucoside (Vegetarian); Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) Extract; Certified Organic Oils of Rosehip (Rosa Canina); Evening Primrose (Oenothera Biennis); Hazlenut (corylus Americana); Avocado (Persea Gratissima); Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca); Sclerotium Gum; Glycerin (Vegetarian); Grapefruit Seed (Citrus Grandis) Extract; Certified Organic Essential Oils of Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia), Sandlewood (Santalum Album), Ylang Ylang (Cananga Odorata) & Geranium (Geranium Maculatum); Rosemary Extract (Rosemarinus Officinalis).

Main image: Anthea Brown via Flickr

Body Image: Inika