Beauty Pie round-up

I've been a member of Beauty Pie now for just over a year. In that time, I have tried loads of products. My favourite category is serums. I have tried all of these.

It's almost impossible to pick my favourite. The Uber Youth maybe wins but they are all excellent and worth membership alone. Serum is expensive and I seem to canter through it. 

I ordered the sunscreen in my last batch since our summer seems to keep on giving. This is also very good, lightweight, no chalkiness, no greasiness and you can easily put make up over it.

The sheet masks are also really very good. Although they come with a weird layer you need to peel off and this is not made clear except for the fact that trying to put it on with the layer is awkward. I like all sheet masks and these are no exception.

I tried a couple of cleansers and was less impressed. This Japanfusion is acceptable, it smells lovely and works well but I probably wouldn't buy it again. I want them to do an oil-based cleanser as those are my favourite.

This eyeliner in Envy is truly excellent and lasts all day long with no travelling. I got the blue one as well which I like less as it's a bit too blue for me but the quality of these are excellent.

I have also tried the candles (fine but not a patch on my beloved Diptyque), the lipsticks (perfectly nice without being memorable), foundation samples (the jury is out, maybe ok but I prefer to buy my foundation properly at a beauty counter), primer (ok but there are better primers available), retinol hand cream (excellent), five minute facial (reviewed here) and the fabulous Awesome Bronze.

The service is very good, everything comes in a nice box and all in all, I think Beauty Pie is worth the hype. It's exceptionally good value. I really want them to do shower gels as I am obsessed with shower gels.

Sunshine!

This summer seems to be serious. I've become so used to English summers that I tend not to bother with self-tan since it's usually too cold to wear anything to show it off. But after a glorious May, June and July (so far), I decided it was time to move from milk bottle white to off white.

First of all, I tried this.

St Tropez Gradual Tan In-Shower. It's a bit odd as a concept. You wash in the shower, turn off the shower and apply this lotion. Wait three minutes and rinse it off. I went with 'light' and yes, it's for the timid because it took several applications for me to notice anything. Eventually I decided my legs were showing some very natural looking colour. This is great if you don't want any mistakes and want to go slow. It's annoying waiting in the shower for three minutes. I found myself thinking it needed a good clean which isn't very relaxing.

Then last week, I ordered this.

Beauty Pie's Awesome Bronze mousse. This has changed my life. You need a tanning mitt which is no great disaster but it doesn't come with one. You apply this with the mitt and it glides on, it has some colour initially so you can see what you're doing and where you've missed. It dries in seconds. Wait a few hours and then you have a tan. A proper tan. This is quite full on, it's not messing about. I don't mean you are Love Island bronzed but you know you've done something. I've been applying it daily because SUNSHINE. I absolutely love it. It's the best self tanner I've ever used. It doesn't smell, it's not fiddly, you don't get your hands all orange because of the mitt (you do need to wash them afterwards just to be safe) and it's truly awesome. I am not being paid to say this (I wish).

That just leaves the face. I purchased this.

Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster. You add a few drops of this to your moisturiser, mix it up and slap it on. This is subtle and all the better for it. I am still scarred by my St Tropez sheet mask orange face from last summer. This does what it says it will do, it gives you a glow and makes you look sun-kissed. You can do as many drops as you like, I go for three. Again, no biscuit smells and a cinch to apply.

Fake tans have come a long way. I wish you all a safe tanned Summer.

La Roche-Posay Hyaluronic Acid Serum

I've been using this for a couple of months and I really like it. I've become a bit obsessed with serums as you may have noticed. I still rate the Beauty Pies ones as well (more on them in a future post). This one requires one drop, it's almost unbelievable that one drop is enough but there you go. It feels very refreshing and sinks in immediately. It's £37 which is expensive but it lasts for ages because of the one drop thing.

La Roche-Posay is a great brand, I've yet to buy something that disappoints me. I am using the Anthelios SPF 50 fluid in this glorious heatwave we've having and it's brilliant. Non-greasy, easy to apply and light as a feather.

Function of Beauty

I love this idea so much. Function of Beauty allows you to create your own formula for shampoo and conditioner, pick your colour, pick your scent and it puts your name on it.

Obviously, the very moment I heard about this, I was all over it like a rash. You answer a hair quiz, then you select five hair goals, then you pick colour and scent and finally you add your name so they can put it on the bottle. If you use more shampoo than conditioner, you can order a bigger bottle of shampoo and vice versa.

After all that excitement, the only question is, is it any good? I am delighted to tell you yes, it really is. My order arrived quickly (it comes from the US), it comes with separate pumps (which I only found after raking through my recycling) and it smelt divine (I picked feeling (f) ineapple). An important hair goal for me is anti-frizz. Frizz is my mortal enemy and if I can find something that keeps it at bay, I am happy. This does that. And it makes my hair very shiny. I really do love it. It's very concentrated so a little goes a long way.  There are a selection of sizes, my order was £29. Which is not cheap but it's also not eye watering.

It's such a great idea that you wonder why nobody has done it sooner.  It's fun and it works, what's not to like?