Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Dedicated Beauty: A Year of Nailing It - The Best of My Nails...

Kelsi xx

About Face (and body, hair and nails!): 5 Things I Love #2

Here's what I'm using and loving in the beauty world right now!

1) Lather - Bamboo Lemongrass Foaming Scrub - $38 for 8oz.

This has to be one of the best scrubs I have ever used - it smells good, the granules are very fine (powdered bamboo) - but really rough without being really abrasive. It does an amazing job and foams up to be a great body wash too!

It's not at all oily (which depending on what you want can be a good/bad thing) and you can use it very sparingly - which is good because it is fairly costly! On the con side - it can make a mess of your shower!

Courtesy of Lather from the Two Point Oh! LA Picnic.

2) Curlisto Hair Rehab Cleanser - $40

I found this little gem in my giftbag from the YouPhoria party at Blog Her in San Diego a few months ago and decided to give it a go.

Ok. So there's a dude with an elongated soul patch on the container....it's not a pretty colour and it doesn't even smell that great. It's also $40 a bottle. But man. This stuff is good. My hair is shiny, soft, sleek and literally squeaky clean. I have never used a shampoo that cleanses so thoroughly - not just my hair, but my scalp, and it doesn't irritate my hair or leave it greasy after a day. It's magic, and it's love.

3) Blistex Revive/Restore - $2.99

Last week (or perhaps the week before...life is kind of like that right now) Blistex invited me to Palihouse to explore their products, nibble some delish cheese and meet the lovely Mickey Williams - beauty expert extraordinaire.

I'd honestly never used Blistex before and had absolutely no idea they had such an enormous variety. They gave me one of everything, which is essentially enough to get me through the better part of next year, but thus far - this is my favourite. It's a two jar system (and they click together which is fun) called Restore and Revive. Under Mickey's suggestion I've been using the Restore jar as an overnight treatment and using Revive during the day to keep moisturized - and they seem to be doing the trick quite nicely!

They smell yummy (no overwhelming scents), they aren't sticky, are great over lip stains and you cannot beat that price!

4) Eight - Body Softening Oil - $22

Continuing the moisture theme is Eight's Body Softening Oil - I've been a fan of their moisturizing lotion and their scrubs for awhile now and have written about them before - the oil is a newer product. I say newer because this was one I was sent ages ago upon it's release and am only getting around to writing about it now....I'm terrible!

Some folks are frightened of oils - but I really love them - especially the ones you can spritz on - they moisturize deeper than your average lotion and leave a sheen on the skin that radiates this healthy glow - looks fab with a tan and actually makes my legs look slimmer and smoother! The ginger lime scent is invigorating and the oil light and not terrifyingly greasy.

It can get a little messy - I suggest applying in the shower after showering - using it sparingly and rubbing it in - but make sure to wipe the shower down afterwards so that the next person (aka Mr Style in my situation) doesn't slip!

5) Lovely Skin - Healing Body Balm - $TBA

I picked up this fabulous balm at the Kari Feinstein Emmys Lounge a few weeks ago from the lovely folks at Lovely Skin and it was right in the nick of time. When we were in England Frank, the cat, decided to spend a night in the wild, and picked up some new friends...the itchy/scratchy variety. Nice welcome home gift eh? We treated them immediately and they apparently decided to have their last supper on my legs.

I react really badly to two things. Mosquito bites and flea bites. My legs were swollen and incredibly itchy (they may actually scar - it was that bad) and this balm was my saving grace - with 1% hydro-cortisone it soothed and protected my bites like nothing else. I really really recommend this product and I'm sure I'm going to find a million more uses for it.

It's not available yet - it was a special celebrity sneak peek - but when it is, I strongly suggest snapping one up! It's also going to be available as a face cream! Lovely Skin also furnished me with a $100 gift certificate which I managed to spend instantly - I'll be sharing my experience shortly - it was a good-un!

Kelsi Smith.

 

 

Road Test: Glen Ivy Spa

Last week I got to spend a much needed day doing literally nothing. Now in all honesty, I'm really not very good at relaxing. Being still is not something I'm good at - so having it "forced" upon me in the form of visiting a spa to review, is somewhat of a necessity.

The Glen Ivy Spa is situated in Corona at the base of the Painted Hills - the area is actually very gorgeous and tucked away from the hustle of the city - upon arriving you really feel as if you've discovered something that no one know's about - or rather you would if the parking lot wasn't brimming with cars.

Despite the amount of cars, and being at peak season, the spa didn't feel over crowded and the amount of people didn't disturb the tranquility too much. I'd be extremely curious to visit off season, however, as I'm sure the atmosphere is entirely different.

We started our day with lunch - it was only 11.30am but we took the advice of the staff and hit the café before the lunch rush - this was definitely wise - as we left the café the line was out the door. I opted for the veggie lasagna (though apparently everyone else in the café opted for the giant plate of chicken nachos) the food was extremely good. Despite being a "heavy" dish, I didn't feel bloated, but felt pleasantly full. Perfect spa food.

After lunch we changed and headed to one of the pools. This pool is around 2.5 feet deep and filled with "floaties" (or as we call them in the UK - "lilos") - this was probably my favourite space - lounging in the sun, but in the water was perfect on a super hot day. My only complaint here would be the bees - we kept finding dead or dying ones around us and my intern Gina did get stung (which she handled like a trouper...I would have whined soooo much) - this did make it a little hard to relax. Minus the bees this pool couldn't be more perfect.

Next we switched to our old bathing suits (as per recommendation as the red clay can stain) wearing an old bathing suit was quite an ordeal for me, being that I've gained 40lbs and 3 cups sizes since any of my old suits....this was the only one that covered my nipples, so I went with it.

We jumped in the mineral spa first to open up our pores - you have a choice between a group pool which seats about 10 and smaller pools which sit 1-3 people - we were lucky and got a small pool to ourselves immediately with no wait. The pool was hot and relaxing (as you'd expect a spa to be) and the sulphuric stench was evidence of it's natural minerals.

After the mineral pool we headed to 'Club Mud'. Club Mud features a mud pool with a pile of red clay in the center, if you're not brave enough to enter the pool there's also an area with misters and a pile of clay. The idea is simple - cover yourself with the refining clay bake in the sun or the stone hut, brush off the clay and shower! My skin felt super soft after the treatment and the element of fun in slathering yourself with mud is not to be missed.

 


We changed back into our far more appropriate swimsuits and spent the next hour lounging by the pool - we had every intention of participating in the water aerobics pictured above but chickened out and just watched the class instead.

Overall our day at Glen Ivy was wonderful, it's the perfect, quick, easy and inexpensive escape from Los Angeles and I highly recommend it. I cannot wait to visit again in the off season and perhaps sample one of their many wonderful treatments!

Our trip was courtesy of Glen Ivy for the purpose of review, but a day pass to the spa is really inexpensive - access to everything above is $46, Monday-Thursday and $59 Friday-Sunday and holidays. There is a discounted entrance fee when combined with a treatment and treatments (which include massages, manicures and facials) range from $49 to $159.

To learn more about Glen Ivy visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

Thanks so much for a wonderful day of much needed relaxation Glen Ivy!

Kelsi x

 

Nailed It. On Trend Fingertips.

Ordinarily I post shots of my nails exclusively on my Tumblr, but these, these are a little too epic to not share here. Yes, I did paint them myself, so yes I am "tooting my horn" but perhaps worthy of toot or two, no?

Anyhoo, so here's how I did them. I started with Essie's Absolutely Shore - two coats. I then used Milani's Nail Art in White Canvas to paint a variety of lines and squiggles onto each nail. Some lines were wider than others, and every nail was different.

Next I used L.A Color's Art Deco in Flamingo and Seafoam Green (I picked these up in a Chinatown Market for a $1 each - so heading back for more colours!) to paint more lines and add shapes (the odd triangle or curve). Lastly I used L.A Colors Art Deco in Black to add detail around the shapes - extra lines, dots and chevrons. Finish with a top coat, and voila. The whole process took about an hour (including drying time!) - so pop on a movie, and have fun!

Kelsi xx

About Face (and body, hair and nails!): 5 Things I Love.

As a fashion blogger, I am fortunate enough to court the attention of those in the beauty world as well, as a result I do get to try lot of beauty products, a lot. As a beauty junkie - it's certainly not something I'm complaining about, as a fashion blogger, it is a little tougher to integrate them into the site in a natural way - sometimes it works well and sometimes it just feels awkward.

However, at this point I have a zillion products I've been gifted, and have really, really good things to say about all of them but to write about each individually would be a little ridiculous and likely involve a name change to blog...so - problem solved - I'm going to break my reviews down into manageable chunks - 5 products, I'm loving, at a time!

1) ProActiv Make-Up Removing Cloths - $11.95

These wipes are a God send for the lazy/busy girl (aka me) - if it weren't for convenient wipes like these I shudder to think the state my skin would be in. I've been using wipes for years (it's the traveller/festival goer in me) but these are some of the best I've come across. They really remove everything (even stubborn mascara!) and they stay super moist - so you only need one wipe. Yayness.

2) StrivectinSD - Eye Concentrate - $59

Every time my Mum see's a picture of me at an event she always comments on how tired I look (this is a Mum thing - non?) I always respond with the fact that it's probably because I am tired - because more often than not I got up at 6am on two hours sleep to produce the event that I am being photographed looking tired at. Le sigh.

Well this fancy cream I picked up at the Kari Feinstein Lounge for the Golden Globes (yes it's been that long and I've now been using it a month...) seems to be fixing the problem quite nicely. So now all I can expect from my Mum are calls asking why I look so awake - am I not working hard enough?! ;)

3) Sheer Cover by Leeza Gibbons - Dual Compact Concealer - $19.95

This concealer was popped in my giftbag after a lovely breakfast with the lovely Leeza Gibbons herself (you can read about that here) - I'm a concealer fiend. I tend to not wear a ton of make-up - I rarely wear base, if I do it's a tinted moisturizer, so concealer is a must for me. Have to fix those dark circles that the Strivectin hasn't quite gotten rid of yet and my nasty spots (pimples in American)

The great thing about this concealer is it's thickness and coverage - you really only need a tiny smudge to conceal even the worst hormonal spots (anyone else get them - I swear - a week before my period my chin becomes a swollen lump - not fun!) The dual colours are great too - lighter for under the eyes and a little darker for spots - and totally blendable too. Yay.

4) Cover Girl - Nature Luxe Mousse Mascara - $8.99

I'm pretty fussy about my mascara I find I favourite and I stick with it, for years that was Lancome Defincils - but being short of funds I have ventured to the make-up aisle of the drugstore, I've tried a few and been horribly disappointed but after being gifted the new Cover Girl Nature Luxe mascara by Amy Nadine (Cover Girl make-up artist) herself I am incredibly impressed!

It goes on super smoothly, no clumping whatsoever, one coat creates naturally long and luscious lashes - and it's completely buildable - a few more coats, no more clumping and a great dramatic look. All for under $10. Amazing!

5) Degree Motion Sense Deodorant - Clinical Protection

Nothing particularly glamourous about a deodorant, but this stuff is as good as it gets. It smells good, and keeps me smelling good, all day. It leaves no marks on my clothes and goes on easily. Sure it's a wee bit pricier than your standard deodorant - but it's entirely worth it.

As a side note you can still win prizes in Degree's Get Moving Program throught their Facebook page plus you can get 5 extra points if you use the code 'GetMoving053' - so go have fun with it!

Kelsi Smith.