Anne Semonin Skincare

Anne Semonin is a French skincare brand founded over 30 years ago and works on the philosophy that ''each skin is unique''. When you read that iconic beauties such as Grace Kelly and Catherine Deneuve went to Anne Semonin for facials, I am wanting to know what products from the range caught their attention.

The first product within my stash is the Anne Semonin's Express Radiance Eye Cubes. Described as being perfect for soothing stressed, irritated eyes whilst firming and nourishing the delicate eye area, I pretty much need these in my life right now. Outside of blogging, I have an incredibly busy and stressful job and I spend many hours looking at a computer/laptop screen merrily typing away. 

Enriched with Marine spring water and hyaluronic acid hydrate and condition, ginkgo biloba come together to help stimulate micro-circulation as gourd extract alleviates inflammation and puffiness. Then with the use of Bioflavonoids which dramatically improve the appearance of dark circles, your eyes instantly appear brighter, tighter and well rested.

If you are a fan of using cucumber slices on your eyes as a method of soothing, then these Express Radiance Eye Cubes are going to blow your mind. Designed to be stored in the freezer, these Eye Cubes not only soothe and refresh tired, puffy eyes but the freezing temperature really helps to accelerate drainage to eliminate toxins whilst at the same time maximise the skin's absorption of topical products, for optimal efficacy and immediate benefit.  What's more, they are really easy to use.  Remove them from the freezer and wrap the tube in the supplied gauze bag and then simply apply it around the eye contour area as well as directly over the eyelid.  As you do so, the coolness is so incredibly refreshing and soothing.  Priced at £45 for a pack of 6, you can find them at Cult Beauty here.

The second product I have been using from the Anne Semonin range is the Exfoliating Mask which is designed to rid your skin of dead skin cells, excess oils and bacteria. Restoring the skin’s natural balance, the face mask will gently smooth the texture of your skin and reveal a bright, radiant complexion!

This mask is enriched with red seaweed which exfoliates dead cells, absorbs impurities and sebaceous secretions alongside the use of kaolin which absorbs excess oil and mattifies the skin.  Bringing these ingredients together, this mask is described as being a double-action mask which removes dead skin cells and brightens the complexion.

So you can use this product in two ways - as an exfoliator or as a mask.  To exfoliate you simply only need a very thin layer which you leave on your face and neck for up to 2 minutes before wiping away any excess using a damp cloth.  As a mask, again you repeat the process above but leave on the skin for up to ten minutes before wiping away using a damp cloth.  What I love about this mask is that it can be used in one of two ways depending upon how much time you have, used either way it leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth to the touch, it isn't dry or taut.  Priced at £43 for 75ml here.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

ByBi | Natural Skincare - Buffer and Plumper for the Lips

BYBI Beauty, which stands for By Beauty Insiders is a 100% natural skincare from the founders of Clean Beauty Co and not only are they Cruelty-free and vegan but they are also microbead-free too. Having tried a few products from the range already (review here), I have also been lucky enough to try two lip products, which happen to be pretty fantastic too.

Buffer and Plumper come together as such a great little kit, enclosed inside a linen bag and priced at £16, they are described as follows:

Let your lips do the talking with the BYBI Lip Kit - the adorable duo Buffer lip scrub and Plumper lip balm, packaged up in an exclusive BYBI pucker pouch. If that don't say I love you, then we don't know what does.

I am one of those people who exfoliates their lips a few times a week to ensure they are as smooth as can be and I am also a lip balm addict too.

Buffer is described as being ideal for lips that suffer from severe dehydration and with the constant change in weather, I find my lips need as much protection from the elements as the rest of my face.

This scrub uses sugar and strawberry extract which work to slough away dead, dry skin and as it does so, you can really feel the small particles work their magic. It isn't overly abrasive but with a little bit of pressure, it can help to loosen and then remove those stubborn bits of dry skin. Adding to those ingredients is Sweet Almond Oil which helps to restore moisture as well as priming the lips ready for the application of balms, glosses and lipsticks. Finally, there is the addition of Cinnamon works to perk up the lips.

Having buffed the lips it is time to add some balm and I love that these two products work so well together.  Plumper is described as being a balm which is not only a hydrating lip balm but one which both restores and protects, whilst adding a touch of plump and shine.

Using Peppermint and Blood Orange essential oils which come together and work to stimulate circulation in the lips. The first thing you notice when squeezing some of this out of the tube is the peppermint scent, as it is applied, the lips feel instantly cool. There is also the addition of Shea Butter and Grape Seed Oil which together seal in moisture and add a smooth, subtle gloss.

Together this duo are the perfect combination to look after and condition your lips and because the tubes are 10ml, they are perfect to having in your bag, taking on holiday and having on the bedside table.  You can find them and the rest of the ByBi range right here.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Love Me Beauty X Phase Zero: Eyeshadow Palette

Last Month Love Me Beauty kickstarted their new subscription service with some amazing lip products which I featured right here. If you haven't come across the collaboration with Phase Zero Makeup it works like this: Phase Zero is exclusively available to Love Me Beauty and it works in a similar way to the Beauty Box Subscription. So, for a £5 monthly membership fee, you as the subscriber gain access to the Phase Zero Makeup collection at those much-discounted prices. The brand promises that they will deliver high quality, cruelty-free makeup products that contain luxury formulas but instead of costing exorbitant amounts, you will instead get them at factory prices, for example, retail for £12 but members pay only £3.50. If you don't want to be tied into a contract, then you don't have to be, you can still buy the products for their RRP. 

This time Phase Zero Makeup X LMB project features eyeshadows and the most amazing palette. Available as a build-your-own-palette you can buy an empty magnetic palette, which can fit up to 12 shadows inside, but with a selection of 23 different shades available to choose from, there really is quite a choice and even better is that those shades can be bought individually, as a pair, in a trio or even as a set of six.

The palette itself is both holographic and multi-tonal in shade, so depending on which way the light shines, depends on what colour it is.  Out of direct sunlight my palette is a mixture of blues and purples and in direct sunlight it is a mixture of yellows, pinks and red shades. It is a perfect size for having in your handbag, hand luggage and for talking away with you on holiday.  It is a really well made palette which comes with a mirror which fits the entire top side of the palette and each one of the eyeshadows fits snuggly into the magnetic bottom, firmly in place.  I have taken my palette with me on an overnight stay and simply packed it freely in my overnight bag, not one shadow moved, fell out onto my clothing or ended up smashed and damaged.

I was kindly sent a palette and 12 eyeshadows to play around with and test and as you might have guessed already, I am really impressed with what I have been using. I am a nude/neutral eyeshadow shade kind of girl and I love each and every one of the shades here.  Formula wise there is a mixture of Sheer Satin or Shimmer available.  For me the Sheer Satin shades are the best ones for blending as they are much creamier in texture and have very little fallout whereas the Shimmer shades have a bit of fall out and for me, work better on the top of the other shades rather than being worn alone.  

As mentioned already, there are 23 shades to choose from and they cost just £2.90 each for those who are LMB members or they are priced at £5.90 for the regular prices. The shades I was sent include:

• Bright Light - a bright highlighting shade
• Nude Newbie - a beautiful pink nude, perfect for a base shade
• Velvet - a warm purple with red undertones
• Cocoa - a lovely warm brown shade
• Warm Taupe - a super-soft taupe with a golden sheen
• Mush-A-Boom - a warm shade of grey
• Coffee Cup - a rich brown shade 
• Banana Beige - a shimmer shade with undertones of yellow
• Snowball - a shimmer which has is bright white, perfect for highlighting too
• Cashmere - a dusty rose shade
• Pearl - a shimmer which has pearly pink undertones
• Party Dress- a deep black shade with quite a lot of glitter

What I love is that there is everything here to take you from a lovely neutral daytime look as well as a few shades, such as Party Dress or Velvet to transform your makeup to a smokey eye nighttime look.

As you can see from my finger swatches, each one of the shades is totally different to the other and with just one swipe of my finger into the pan, there is a huge colour payoff.  I love how blendable the shades are and that they all work so well together.  

If you have never tried Love Me Beauty before or want to try Phase Zero makeup for yourself then I have a unique code which will give everyone £5 off their first purchase.  All you have to do is enter the code Rachel5 at the checkout, so essentially it is a free one month trial of what is on offer.   If you do take advantage, I would love to know what you buy!

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here