Musings, Articles, Thoughts

True Blue Spa Raspberry Scrub & Cream Gel Review

Well time flies when you haven’t blogged. It’s certainly not for the lack of products to review that are overspilling in the bathroom as we speak but for time – the ultimate blogger’s lament. Anyway I have in my possession the newest (well a few months old now) True Blue Spa goodies from Bath & [...]

The post True Blue Spa Raspberry Scrub & Cream Gel Review appeared first on Skin Scrubs Beauty Blog.

Well time flies when you haven’t blogged. It’s certainly not for the lack of products to review that are overspilling in the bathroom as we speak but for time – the ultimate blogger’s lament.

Anyway I have in my possession the newest (well a few months old now) True Blue Spa goodies from Bath & Body Works. When I sent Momma Scrubs on a shopping mission to acquire said goods, the salesperson at B&BW was amazed that she knew about the range as it was literally put out on the selling floor that day. My mom laughed and said you don’t know my daughter – she can’t hunt down a scrub like bloodhound tracks a criminal. That is true and I learned from the best didn’t I mom?

Raspberry Mojito Cream Gel

Now I’ve used cream/gel moisturiser hybrids before and I found them to be sticky and tacky but this glides on and sinks in.

Good points:

• Great scent, not too sickly sweet although it smells more like a basket of fruit rather than a cocktail
• Thicker than other cream/gel moisutrisers so it doesn’t run or flake off
• Easily absorbed and glides on, contains jojoba oil
• Gives your skin a cool refreshing feeling so great for summer

Bad points:

• If you have rilly rilly dry skin this will just sit on top of it, so best to use a scrub beforehand to get all your scaly bits off. 

Raspberry Margarita Body Scrub

This is the replacement for their previous citrus scrub ‘Need a Margarita’.

Good points:

• Contains salt & sugar for a really scrubby experience 
• Thicker so it makes it easier to use
• Leaves a moisurising oily sheen on the skin

Bad points:

• The scent on this one is a bit funky – it reminds me of bubble gum rather than a margarita
• That moisurising sheen can also leave the bath like a death trap so be careful!

I’m glad Bath & Body Works has finally given more attention to their True Blue Spa range, they seem to ignore it for ages and then get a wave of inspiration and come out with some interesting new products. This range also contains a Raspberry Yoghurt Shower Smoothie and a Raspberry Moisturising Body Bar both of which have had good reviews on the B&BW website.

This and other TBS items are currently buy 2 Get 1 Free which never helps to reign in the spending. This is why B&BW is evil to the core!

Purchased

The post True Blue Spa Raspberry Scrub & Cream Gel Review appeared first on Skin Scrubs Beauty Blog.

Beauty Sleep products seem to be getting more and more popular – perhaps we’re all finding it harder to sleep! No wonder what with all the technology buzzing around our heads at night – hands up who sleeps with their iPhone nearby, using it as an alarm clock? I’m definitely guilty of [...]

Beauty Sleep products seem to be getting more and more popular – perhaps we’re all finding it harder to sleep! No wonder what with all the technology buzzing around our heads at night – hands up who sleeps with their iPhone nearby, using it as an alarm clock? I’m definitely guilty of that one, though I do try to leave it out on the landing…

Anyway, latest sleepy-product to hit the shelves is the Neal’s Yard Remedies Beauty Sleep Body Butter. Very appealingly named, I must say. It smells gorgeous, too, as you’d hope – very relaxing and not even a whiff of that awful synthetic lavender fragrance that sometimes gets shoved into “bedtime” home products.

The texture is quite unusual – it’s a dense, rich butter upon application but it very quickly melts into a light formula with very little slip. This isn’t a balm that takes an age to massage in – it’s surprisingly non-massage-able. Because I always expect my balms to be very oily and rich, I have to say that I was quite surprised by this turn of events, but I can imagine that it would appeal to the many people who hate getting into their pyjamas covered in beauty products! I personally don’t mind it – I see it as a larger-scale version of putting socks on over foot cream – but I know that it’s a common complaint.

Neal’s Yard stores seem to be popping up in lots of places now, so have a little browse when you next pass one. My friend Lauren has just announced to me that she adores their Frankincense Cleanser so I suppose I’ll have to try that, next, or she’ll never leave me alone!

The Beauty Sleep Body Butter is £22.50 from Neal’s Yard Remedies – online here.

You can find a few other sleep-treats that I’ve written about here

For complete story, click here.

Sunday Tittle Tattle (noun?): everything from the week that I have forgotten to post about, in easy brunch-sized chunks…

 What’s been going on this week, I wonder?

1) I have decided to write my dissertation for my Masters Degree on Wolf Hall. (Above,) If you haven’t read [...]

Sunday Tittle Tattle (noun?): everything from the week that I have forgotten to post about, in easy brunch-sized chunks…

 What’s been going on this week, I wonder?

1) I have decided to write my dissertation for my Masters Degree on Wolf Hall. (Above,) If you haven’t read this book yet, and you love historical novels, then DO! It’s absolutely brilliant. But set aside about four years of your life, because it’s a chunky old sod. I lost my original hardback copy (it probably fell through the ground and into the centre of the earth) so I had to buy a new one the other day. If you want to read along with me (well, you read it and I’ll read-it-and-make-notes-on-it-and-analyse-it) then you can find it on Amazon here: Wolf Hall. I don’t even know why I’m telling you about my dissertation, because surely this is as boring as news can get; I suppose I want you to feel my pain.

2) I had a bit of a lingerie splurge on Friday. I realised that some of my bras were getting a little bit worn in the underwiring department and the sharp bits were sticking into my skin. Not good, not good. I hate throwing things in the bin and will hoard for decades, so I was quite impressed with myself for putting them out with the food rubbish. They were completely unfixable so they would have just gathered dust. I put them in the food bin so that they would smell if I tried to retrieve them later! (That’s how badly I hoard….) Anyway, after the success of my last Stella by Stella McCartney set, I thought I’d invest in a couple more. I went for the new tiger print set and also a cute one that’s been out for a while called Marguerite Riding. I’ll let you know how I get on with them – it’s the weekend so I am bra-less! I like to gad about in a crop top and many layers of cotton, no underwiring in site. The fact that I have to hold onto my breasts when I run down the stairs is a small price to pay for such luxurious comfort! If you want to have a look at the new undies then the Stella Smooth Bra is £42 here and the Marguerite Riding is £45 here. I wear a 32DD in this brand and a medium in the knickers, FYI.

3) More purchasing (I promise I don’t spend my life buying things!) – I tracked down a new pair of LK Bennett Idina shoes on eBay. Fifty quid!! They still have the price label on the bottom and, though unboxed, are in pristine condition. What a coup – one hundred pounds off! eBay is a good old chap when he behaves, but I have been stung in the past. I now have three pairs of Idinas but the first lot are about to go to the recycling bin because they are totally, irreversibly knackered.

4) Useful beauty product of the week: Liz Earle’s Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion. This is one of those beauty products that I wheel out each and every spring/summer when my eyes begin what I like to call their Gammy Cycle. Gungey and itchy in the morning, tired and itchy before I go to bed. It only happens when the pollen count increases – I don’t get any other hayfever symptoms at all, but the eyes are enough! I either use the Liz Earle Eyebright as a tonic, sweeping it over my eyes to freshen them up, or on cotton wool pads as a soothing compress. I am a “snooze addict” – I can’t get up until I’ve hit the snooze button at least once – so what I sometimes do is pop the soaked cotton wool pads over my eyes, hit snooze and relax for nine minutes. You can find full ingredients list and more info on Eyebright here.

5) The obligatory Mr Bear photograph (note I’ve put it last so that people who are bored of cats don’t have to read if they don’t want to. I’m nice like that!). This is Mr Bear’s twice-weekly face clean. Always executed by Mr AMR, always followed up with a Dreamies biscuit, just the one. Mr Bear just sits there are purrs as his eyes and nose are cleaned!

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Freelancers! How to avoid losing all your earnings…
Hello dear readers, are you still there? It’s been so long since I’ve posted a blog, but I finally have a moment to myself so it’s time to explain my absence.… Over a month ago, one of my oldest, most regular clients went bust and cancelled a confirmed trip to L.A to shoot leaving me [...]

Hello dear readers, are you still there? It’s been so long since I’ve posted a blog, but I finally have a moment to myself so it’s time to explain my absence.…

Over a month ago, one of my oldest, most regular clients went bust and cancelled a confirmed trip to L.A to shoot leaving me very short financially, both in the short and the long term. Then, a few days later, in fact the day before my 40^th birthday, I received a short email from the owner of my agency, Balcony Jump, stating that he’d decided to cease trading with immediate effect. It seemed his bank would no longer extend credit to his company due to it’s long-standing debts.

In total panic, I called my booker, who was in a state of shock herself and knew little about the possible outcome of the company’s closure. What became clear over the coming days, was that it would be highly unlikely that I would see much of the £10,000 still owed to me by the agency. A liquidator was appointed, and I was told that the owner of my agency would not be personally liable to liquidate his own assets (a London home, a country pile, an expensive car) in order to pay his hard-working artists because he’d been shrewd enough to make himself a Ltd company.

I don’t mind admitting to you that I was in such a state of shock and despair over this turn of events that I fell apart for a week or so. I even cancelled my 40^th birthday celebrations because I just couldn’t face anyone. It is every freelancers worst fear, to have your livelihood destroyed, your income effectively stolen by an unscrupulous agent and in some cases, by clients. I have basically worked my ass off for the last 3 months for free.

And what makes this even harder to swallow is that I’d only joined the agency 8 months prior to it’s closure, so 90% of the money I lost was from my existing client base. In fact, in 8 months, the agency booked me just 7 new jobs, everything else I worked on was my own client base. So much for my agent’s claims that he would double my income within a year.

I’ve since found out (and boy, there’s nothing like a bit of hindsight to make you feel sick) that the owner of my agency used to have an office in New York, which also went bust. Funnily enough he omitted to mention this when he offered me representation. But, as they had been trading for 17 years, with a good reputation in the industry, I felt I could trust him with my livelihood. How wrong I was. My agent lied to my face, telling me that he was still awaiting payment for my work, when in fact much of it had been paid as long ago as January. Quite how he manages to sleep at night is a mystery.

I have discovered with great pain, that there is NOTHING in place to protect freelancers from losing all their money in circumstances like this. By law, I’m not even able to re-invoice my clients for the work I did for them, because the liquidators have a legal claim on all work that the agency invoiced. So, MY money is out of my reach, even though the agency only has a contractual right to 20% of it. And the government lets this happen to hard-working people, offering them no recourse. It’s despicable. Furthermore, 9 times out of ten, the owners of agencies that go bust wait a few months and then set up under another name, ready to con other people out of their earnings.

As a result of these huge financial setbacks, I had to give notice on my lovely flat in Hackney where the majority of my work and all of my friends are and move to the other side of London to a much cheaper flat, in order to give myself some financial breathing space. This experience has been one of the worst of my life so far, shaking my confidence and my ability to provide for myself and my loved ones. It has led me to question the point of spending years building a career and a reputation, when it can all be compromised so easily. Thankfully I have some savings to live on, because I’ll have no income for the next couple of months.

And I’m not alone. All the stylists, make up artists, hairstylists and photographers are owed sums varying in extremes. All those lives affected by one man’s inability to manage his company finances.

I am writing this post as a warning to all make up artists out there, in fact to all freelancers. Think VERY carefully before you seek representation, do your research as thoroughly as possible, check Company House for financial reports, try to speak to other artists repped by the agency to see if they feel their finances are being handled well. Call your clients from time to time to check whether they have actually paid or not. Most importantly, ask whether the agency has a separate holding account for their artists money, in fact ask to see proof of this. Then at least you can feel safe in the knowledge that your hard-earned cash is not being spent on your agent’s expensive taste in holidays/cars/fine dining.

On a more positive note, I heard today that BECTU, the union for artists and workers in the film/TV industry has agreed that it will soon extend it’s Union cover to workers in the fashion industry. Membership will cost £90 a year, and that will also give you access to discounted Public Liability insurance and kit insurance. I don’t yet know what other benefits Union membership will provide as it’s still in discussion, but this is a big step in the right direction for freelancers in fashion. Check the BECTU website for more news.

Hopefully this will explain why my little blog has suffered from such a lack of attention. I aim to get back into the swing of things soon, but in honesty, most of my time and attention for the foreseeable future will be on finding new clients and settling into my new home. Please bear with me!

Best wishes, Aly

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Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara Review

I was positive that I’d already reviewed this mascara but it seems not – I’ve included it in lots of videos, but no individual page. So here we are. The Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara, a proper little surprise of a product. From the sleek, expensive-looking packaging (and the fact that [...]

I was positive that I’d already reviewed this mascara but it seems not – I’ve included it in lots of videos, but no individual page. So here we are. The Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara, a proper little surprise of a product. From the sleek, expensive-looking packaging (and the fact that it’s Guerlain) you’d think that this would be a very refined, subtle mascara concentrating, perhaps, on lengthening the lashes and good separation. You wouldn’t expect a gutsy little number with a brilliant ability to bulk up after just two coats, immense buildability and incredible hold. I used this without curling my lashes and I felt almost as though I was wearing false ones – with one coat you just get a perfect, polished finish.

One of my favourite things about this mascara is the size – it’s much, much shorter than your average mascara “unit” and so, obviously, the wand is shorter in the handle too. I find it so easy to use – it really makes a difference when I can get right into the roots of the lashes and not be wanging the wand about everywhere. You get 8.5ml which is less than what you’d get from Dior (£23, 10ml) but much more than a YSL (the Shocking Volume costs a pound more and you get 6.4ml). For me, this is right up there with Dior’s Overcurl (review here) but by a smidgen, I prefer this one because of the wand practicality. I also like that the little package fits snugly into a smaller makeup bag or handbag. Very cute, very chic, all very good.

Guerlain’s Maxi Lash Mascara is £22 with free delivery from FeelUnique.com or counters nationwide – and if you want to see it in action then there are a few videos here.

Source: www.amodelrecommends.com

Refreshing My Wardrobe…

I was going to start this post by working out how much it would cost to replace all of my coat hangers with Jo Malone’s English Pear & Freesia scented ones, (£2520!), but no need. Because you only need TWO hangers to beautifully scent your whole wardrobe. Thank God. I don’t know how long the scent [...]

I was going to start this post by working out how much it would cost to replace all of my coat hangers with Jo Malone’s English Pear & Freesia scented ones, (£2520!), but no need. Because you only need TWO hangers to beautifully scent your whole wardrobe. Thank God. I don’t know how long the scent will last for, but at the moment it’s doing a pretty powerful job of making my whole world Freesia! So long as you keep the doors shut, I should think that the effects would be long-lasting…

I’m doing a full wardrobe clear-out and tidy at the moment – lots of things going onto eBay and big bags full of stuff being carted down to the charity shop. Precious things that I’m keeping are getting new garment bags – breathable cotton ones, got them from Amazon (5 BREATHABLE DRESS COVERS GARMENT CLOTHES SUIT BAG ZIP 60″) – and I have refreshed my cedar moth ball supply (Wooden Mothballs Pack of 50) because I do tend to have a minor problem with the munchy little gits. Mr Bear has been “helping” by catching them and eating them and then spitting them back out, wet and still (just) alive, but I find the best thing to do is to use the Rentokill Moth spray and close the bedroom door for the day so that all the fumes are locked in. Works a treat every time…but curse London and its moth population!

Back to Jo Malone’s Pear & Freesia Collection – if you’re looking for a home scent that’s not too “linen fresh” or soapy then give this a try. It’s quite straightforward, a blend of mild fruitiness and light floral, but it isn’t sickly or twee. As usual, Jo Malone hits the scent nail on its head with something fresh, modern and altogether pleasing.

You can get the hangers and the scent sachets from all Jo Malone stores and counters (£40 for two hangers or two little scented cushions) and also from Selfridges.com. Great as a wedding gift, I think, and ’tis almost the season for those…

Source: www.amodelrecommends.com

Silent Sunday – Bubble Bath with Lilly the Guinea Pig

Lilly hopes you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend! Team Scrubs

The post Silent Sunday – Bubble Bath with Lilly the Guinea Pig appeared first on Skin Scrubs Beauty Blog.

Source: www.skinscrubs.co.uk

A’Kin Pure Creamy Cleanser & Toner In One

This cleanser is utterly gorgeous. I bought it whilst trawling the internet for sensitive skin products that I could use after beauty shoots (my skin tends to get very sore) and it was an instant hit. I usually use Pai’s cleanser (excellent, see

This cleanser is utterly gorgeous. I bought it whilst trawling the internet for sensitive skin products that I could use after beauty shoots (my skin tends to get very sore) and it was an instant hit. I usually use Pai’s cleanser (excellent, see here) when my skin’s feeling fragile but it’s good to be able to write about a variety of brands and price-ranges, I think. Choice is a beautiful thing!

 The A’kin Pure Creamy Cleanser & Toner in One jumped out at me because it claimed to be for normal, dry and sensitive skin yet the “finish” was “fresh, dewy skin”. So a cleanser, in effect, that’s comfortable on skin that’s perhaps a little tight or dry but that doesn’t leave any kind of waxy film or greasy residue. And this cleanser does exactly what it says on the bottle: it’s sumptuously creamy and a joy to use yet it rinses completely clean. I think that pretty much any skin type would get on with this – I can get quite oily in the T-Zone but it seems to leave my skin very well balanced. 

I’m tempted to ignore the “toner” part of the description – I rinse it off and so I can’t imagine there’s much toning going on! But I suppose if you were tissuing it off you might have a different experience… I think it’s a brilliant rinse-off and so that’s how I use it but do let me know if you have this and use it as a cleansing lotion instead…

I’m not overly familiar with A’kin as a brand but I shall most definitely be popping a few more bits on my list after this success – let me know if you have any suggestions!

A’kin’s Cleanser costs £18 for a large bottle (225ml) with free delivery from LookFantastic.com

For more cleanser reviews, please click here

Source: www.amodelrecommends.com

Quick review – Skinetica Anti-Blemish Skincare Treatment

A lovely former colleague of mine named James agreed to be a Skin Scrubs guinea pig for this review, not that I gave him much choice. I noticed a difference in his skin which in turn made him more confident. As a young man, I find it important to feel good in my own skin. [...]

The post Quick review – Skinetica Anti-Blemish Skincare Treatment appeared first on Skin Scrubs Beauty Blog.

Source: www.skinscrubs.co.uk

Win: BAFTA TV Awards Red Carpet Experience

Have you ever imagined yourself walking the red carpet, a hundred paparazzi flashbulbs going off as you slink along in your floor-length, bias-cut silk dress? If that’s your idea of a nightmare (perhaps you have recurring dreams about such walks where you realise that you’re naked, or that your shoe [...]

Have you ever imagined yourself walking the red carpet, a hundred paparazzi flashbulbs going off as you slink along in your floor-length, bias-cut silk dress? If that’s your idea of a nightmare (perhaps you have recurring dreams about such walks where you realise that you’re naked, or that your shoe gets stuck in a drain-cover, or that your dress blows up to reveal terrible knickers) then look away now. If, however, you’d give your right arm to walk the red carpet with your hair beautifully coiffed and your skin lit by dozens of camera flashes, you might want to listen very carefully!

I have a pair of incredibly desirable tickets in my possession; tickets that will allow one reader and a friend to attend the BAFTA Television Awards Ceremony on Sunday 12th May. The lucky winner and their friend will get to walk the red carpet, their hair expertly styled by celebrity hairdresser Mark Hill’s team and then attend the awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House. The winners will also each receive a gorgeous set of Mark Hill’s latest products from the MiracOILicious range including Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner, Moroccan Argan Oil and the 2 Minute Intensive Treatment.

I’ll be attending the awards too and nosing about backstage, so I’ll be checking in to see how the hairstyles are coming along with the Mark Hill team and making sure that there’s no diva-ish behaviour. I can’t wait – what a fabulous thing to do on a Sunday!

Serious stuff: to be in with a chance of winning, you must be signed up to A Model Recommends: Exclusive (just pop your email below. It’s a quarterly newsletter, though at present it seems to be an annual newsletter) and you must be over the age of 18. You must be free on the 12th May (obviously!) and able to get yourself and your plus-one to and from London as travel is not included in the prize. There’s no monetary equivalent or other substitution and the prize cannot be transferred. The prize of TWO TICKETS will go to ONE WINNER so that they can take a friend to accompany them.

How to enter: leave a comment on this post with a sentence about one of your fears. I’ll start you off: I have a great fear of all my teeth suddenly falling out.

Entries in by Friday 3rd May, please, at noon (UK time, BST) and please don’t enter if you have no way of attending or I’ll spend an age chasing up non-starters! Thank you so much to Mark Hill for providing this prize – his new MiracOILicious products will be available from June exclusively through Boots. The Arqiva British Academy Television Awards will be broadcast on BBC One on 12 May.

Source: www.amodelrecommends.com