REVIEW: Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder

Let me begin with a short (ish) story about the ins and outs of this purchase...fast forward for the pictures and review if you're way too curious to sit tight and listen to my ramblings.

I instagrammed (@imzlondon- if you dont already know, I'm on the beat with this social media medium) a picture of this purchase with the hashtag 'shame'.  Shame because Im on a spending diet of sorts and shame because I didn't really need this powder but I wanted it so I got it- shame.

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Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder no. 40 £38 Link 

This imparts a beautiful suede like finish to the skin when applied.  Its not your usual glow touted about by beauty buffs but it provides something much better in my opinion.  I think this wears incredibly well throughout the day/night and tends to look better the longer you have it on.  Genius- I like a bit of that.

I bought this online and when I first peeped into the pan I was taken aback at how dark it was and I was worried Id made a HUGE shade matching faux pas, but this is so sheer I needn't have worried at all.  I use this across my cheeks on top of my chantecaille future skin foundation and it blends in seamlessly.

I've been skipping the blush and going all out with this and so far I am impressed.

Is it a necessary purchase? No, it is not immediately noticeable but I do feel it does something for my complexion in an oh so subtle way.  I guess I could also be trying to justify the obscene price for something that barely shows up? Perhaps, but in the interest of clarity and my commitment to the lifestyle of a bon viveur,  it isn't all about necessities in this instance.

Overall I am very pleased with this product and the fact that I use it every single day must be testament to how awesome it is.

If youre interested, regularly check back on the Debenhams site as they will offer this for £34.20 during their beauty and fragrance 10% off promotion.

Its a London Thing: An Evening with Nina Naustdal

Last week I attended the second anniversary party of Norwegian womenswear designer Nina Naustdal.  

Nina's South Kensington boutique was packed to the rafters with an off beat mix of fashion folk, policy buffs and business types which made it a very enjoyable evening!  This neatly fit in with Nina's tag line 'Normal is Boring'- and so a normal evening it was not.

The signature collection features beautiful gowns and cocktail dresses souped up with Swarovski crystals and lots of flair- think jewel tones and a 1960's Dolce and Gabbana campaign and you're quite nearly there.   As much as I enjoy such splendour, I was more drawn to the wicked prints and silk shirts on display.  That my friends, is mostly where my style eye starts and ends.

I have to give a shout out to the delicious cocktails provided by Eclipse bar.  I plumped for the gin offering most of the evening but I'm itching to taste their infamous watermelon martini.

Nina Naustdal

The evening has inspired me to enjoy an evening out with a few of my girlfriends, get dressed up- like proper dressed up with sparkles and ting and drink bubbles from a real glass.  Prosecco in the park this aint.   Normal is boring after all.

Nina Naustdal- 176 Walton Street, London, SW3 2JL.

Eclipse Bar (will be visiting sharpish!) 111/113 Walton Street, London, SW3 2HP and 158 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5 0BA.

Canal Cavalcade 2013

This bank holiday weekend I attended the Canal Cavalcade in Little Venice for what turned out to be quite a lovely afternoon.

After all the fun of the boat show I took a wander down the canal path to The Union Tavern on the canal banks.  It was packed out to say the least so I sipped my gin and tonic in doors.  I bet it would have tasted that much better if I was able to enjoy it outside.  After this disappointment I made my way over to quirky North London pub The Betsy Smith for a late lunch and another G&T.  The fittings and fixtures are gorgeous, my fave was the 'Light Box'.  

I love London in the sunshine- note how I did not say summer as that is yet to make its arrival *sighs*.  Until then I shall continue to make the most of my days off, especially on such lovely days as we just had.

What do you typically get up to on the bank holidays?

The Union Tavern- 45 Woodfield Rd, London W9 2BA.
The Betsy Smith- 77 Kilburn High Rd  London NW6 6HY.

Empties: Makeup Edition

I have far too much makeup but I happily spend my pounds on the stuff every so often to satiate my cosmetic cravings. 

Heres a snippet of some of the makeup bits Ive used up.  It took me bloody long enough to get through it all so dont expect a post of this nature any time soon. 

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NARS Casino Bronzer- £26.00

I absolutely love this bronzer- I must admit I keep the crushed up pieces from the remainders of this palette in a lush tub and use it from there.  NARS powders have an annoying tendency to smash into pieces once you've hit pan but that doesn't stop me from indulging.  This is a lovely warm golden bronzer with very faint shimmer running through.  Once my rachet makeshift bronzer tub has finished, I will definitely be repurchasing or failing that, I shall be nicking my sisters unscathed palette. 

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Talika Eye Detox Contour Gel- £25.95

 I thought this would be a bit of a gimmicky 'try this for 30 days to see the difference' product and wait with baited breath for that aha! moment when I would discover the greatest eye care product for tired, puffy, city girl eyes.  I was surprisingly impressed by this product and it was indeed a repurchase.  This is a lovely cooling gel that reduces dark circles and bags by 'detoxifying' the eye area of nasties.  Ingredients include cornflour to soothe tired eyes and proteins to repair and hydrate the eye area.  I really enjoyed using this and the nifty pen made it a fantastic no fuss easy product- the twisty contraption pumped out the perfect amount of product also so you apply the perfect amount every time. Proper genius!

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Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Eyeliner in Brown- £2.99

I've been using this product since I was 17 and I have repurchased it several times.  I get the dark brown shade as its better for everyday and looks really polished for a daily cat eye flick. Superdrug or Boots is the place to pick this up.  In a nutshell, its a pretty awesome eyeliner and I recommend it every time. 

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Lancome Hypnose Star Sample

I picked this up in a magazine freebie last year and as soon as I used it I wanted the full size.  I have really curly lashes and this mascara builds volume and adds definition to my unruly lashes and makes them look wicked.  I love the brush, its flat on one side and slightly curved on the other so you can really build up the product and curl your lashes at the same time. The full size is £22 but I have noticed that it dries out considerably quickly.  I love it so much that Im willing to overlook this and pick it up again once my current offering dies. 

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Ellis Faas Concealer S207- £22.00

This was averagely...okay.  I liked the pen aspect but the colour was too dark for me and it was not very long lasting.  I have since moved on to my By Terry Ultra Radiance Advanced concealer which suits my needs much better than the Ellis Faas concealer.  I'll end on a high saying the list of ingredients is really lovely with vitamins E and C to hydrate and rejuvenate the skin so you're getting an even wear of this product with decent coverage and added skin care benefits. 

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Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation- £58

I've raved about this enough here and it is still LOVE *swoons*.  I have gone through 2 jars in 2 years so that tells you just how long wearing this product is. (It may also tell you how many other base products I have in rotation but Im sticking to the first portion of this sentence- in my defence this is still and will always be my favourite foundation of all time *drops mic*). 

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Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil- £19.00

This ran out so quickly and for the price I cannot justify that.  It is a lovely product and sped up my makeup routine considerably as I just popped a bit of this on me brows and was out the door.  The thin lead meant I could draw tiny little strokes and create 'faux hairs' in the sparse areas.  I havent repurchased this as there are so many other brow products out there that Im willing to try, although the ones I have my eye on are in the same price bracket or cost even more...me and my expensive taste eh. 

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What are you currently using/used up? 

REVIEW: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Diffused Light

Imagine having your own lighting crew traipsing around with you all day with the sole purpose of capturing your best light. 

Hourglass cosmetics have made the dream a reality with their Ambient Lighting Powders, available in 6 shades for the perfect flawless finish. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder- Diffused Light £38

Hourglass Ambient Powder Brush £30

I picked up the shade diffused light- 'a soft, warm, pale yellow powder. Light your skin with it to reduce redness and give skin clarity, like a soft ray of morning light'.

I use this on my cheeks where I get a lot of redness and post acne scars to diffuse the appearance of my imperfections and somewhat even out my skin tone.  This is NOT a setting powder, don't expect this to control oil instead use this finishing powder on top of your setting powder to get the best effect. The powder is very finely milled and looks best laid on the skin- no buffing this in as you won't be able to see the full effect, that's where the nifty brush comes in. 

I had no intention of picking up the brush but once I had used it in store, marching up to the Hourglass counter in Liberty, I knew it was coming home with me.  The brush is tightly packed and more dense than I imagined, but it picks up the perfect amount of product to apply wherever you want your desired lighting effect.  The brush is not a necessity so I would suggest a flat not too tightly packed brush like the MAC 116 blush brush or 150 powder brush as an alternative- basically anything flat to lay the product on will do.

Its only been but 2 weeks since I picked this up but I am eyeing up Dim light and contemplating Radiant light.  I tried on the latter in store but failed to see the same great results as I did with the diffused light.  The powders are marketed as universal however, we all know that isn't always the case for ladies with deeper complexions, but I can vouch that this will work for ladies with a similar complexion to myself or 1 or 2 shades darker.  For even darker skin tones I think radiant light would look beautiful, but as always try before you bleeding buy!   You may end up making an expensive mistake if you don't like what you see, these powders ain't cheap after all. 

Have you tried the Ambient Lighting Powders? Which ones are your favourites? 

Empties: Skincare Edition

These empty containers have been gathering some serious dust and I was so happy to trap them, snap em and then bin them all to write this post.

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Melvita Eye Makeup Remover*- £14

This is a lovely non greasy eye makeup remover that worked wonders at removing stubborn eye makeup too.  I used to use the boots botanics 2 part eye makeup remover with no real gripes but this works much better in my opinion because it didnt leave a greasy film around my eyes after use. Its not cheap but it works however, I'm still on the lookout for something more affordable and just as effective. 

Melvita Apicosma Ultra Nourishing Body Balm*- £22

The beauty of this is in the name ultra nourishing body balm, that it most certainly is and I used this religiously in the summer to keep my skin supple and really nourished.  There is 150ml which should last a fair while as it is a rich, firm cream so you don't need a lot but if you're excessive like myself when it comes to body moisturisers you may well find yourself scraping from the bottom of the tub much sooner than you anticipated.  It sinks in quickly too which is a plus if you're in a hurry.

Caudlie Beauty Elixir 100ml- £28.80

This has been repurchased (albeit in the smaller size) because its just THAT good.  This works for me when Im having a breakout which has been happening more often these days than not, flipping hormones...I spritz this on the offending areas at regular intervals during the day with or without makeup applied on my mug and it soothes, tones and refines my skin to somewhat of a more manageable state.

Nude Moisture Balance Moisturiser Sample

Slightly disappointed in this so I'm thankful it was a sample or I would have been annoyed.  At first we enjoyed each others company and it was pretty much a match made, then the sneaky bugger had obviosuly had enough of me and my changing skin mood and began to irritate my skin.  The result was a not so pretty breakout all over my cheeks and chin which resulted in a unceremonious break up between myself and the face cream.  If you really want to check this out you can get it from here. All in all, I didn't like it....NEXT.

Joico K Pak Intense Hydrator- £13.95

If your hair is dry or damaged, if you sport an afro, hair with kinks and curls or thick, unruly locks then this is for you.  This is essentially a protein treatment so you don't need to leave it on for too long (3-5 mins according to instructions) but the results afterwards *swoons* soft, really smooth hair which is really easy to style whether you want to straighten it out or sport your curls which by this time will be more defined and shiny.  I proper love this stuff and it works really well on my naturally curly hair. Will be repurchasing.

Liz Earle Eye Bright Soothing Eye Lotion*- £10.75

After I had laser eye surgery this eye lotion became my saviour.  It is a really soothing and revitalising cool water that I soaked on cotton pads and pressed them to my really dry and sore eyes a month or two after surgery.  The result was refreshed and less dry eyeballs, lovely!  I would recommend this if you suffer from really dry eyes or want a general pick me up in the morning if you have tired eyes, although the latter is a bit fancy and I think there are cheaper alternatives towards achieving that (cold teaspoons anyone?).

Has anyone tried any of these products? What are your experiences or recommendations?

Food Files: Bibimbap Soho

Likkle price, food nice.








Bibimbap pronounced (pibimpap) is a cult Korean dish and translated it means mixed rice. Bibimbap is also the name of a restaurant in London's Soho- whether veggie or a solid meat eater like myself bibimbap is a pretty safe option if you're stuck for what to eat and want something healthy, filling and delicious.

I love an all in one meal.  Give me carbs, meat and veggies cooked up together, serve it up with a fried egg- the cherry on top if you will and I'll be a happy lady.  I like to eat my bibimbap with a cold glass of Korean beer and a hungry friend.

If you find yourself in the center of London with a grumbling gut, head over to Bibimbap in Soho.

11 Greek Street, London, W1D 4DJ.