Loads of Lifestyle: Favourites

Skincare: Current Routine 2018

I think I have now officially done more skincare posts than anything here on Loads of Lifestyle.. Skincare has been super important to me for the last 2 years or so, to the point where I have mostly packed up my beauty room.. Only using the bare essentials (and not even on a daily basis!)

My skincare products have morphed from using so many different products from different brands, to almost exclusively using only a single brand. If you follow my Instagram (you really should... @loadsoflifestyle) you will know about my love affair with Medik8.

"Medik8 skincare products & treatments are developed and formulated by a team of biochemists and pharmacologists in an ISO audited, specially-built research facility located in London, UK. Our serums are handmade in small quantity to ensure freshness potency of actives. Medik8 skincare products & treatments are specifically formulated to target: skin-ageing, skin blemishes, redness, pigmentation and dryness. The 100% professional-only range was launched in 2008."

As I said before, I am only using a select few non-Medik8 products because I know they work for my skin, and work well together with my Medik8 products! This may sound silly and totally obvious, but products within a brand are designed to work with each other. Whereas other products from different brands may cancel out any benefits of that other item (does that make sense?). So sticking to a brand-specific routine may be better for your skin (please note - I am not a skincare professional, I have just found this is what has worked best for my skin).

Sheet Masks:

Occasional - Medik8 Ultimate Recovery Bio-Cellulose Zinc Mask*
- MediHeal Collagen Smart Mask (Fave Korean Sheet Mask)
- Tony Moly I'm Real Sheet Masks (any of the flavours!)

Eye Cream:

Morning & Night - Mesoestetic Energy C Eye Contour

Facial Oil:

Night - Dermalogica Phyto Replenish Oil*

Sunscreen:

Morning - Medik8 Physical Sunscreen*

Are you more of a One-Brand or a Multi-Brand kinda person skincare?? Let me know in the comments below!

Note: Products marked with an asterisk(*) have been sent to Loads of Lifestyle for consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

11Comments

, by Mel R

In beauty, Favourites

August Round Up

August has come and gone and September is almost half way through too.. But this post is better late than never right?

I just want to start with a bit of an update. You guys may have noticed a definite absence here on the blog and across my social media platforms. With work, travelling for work, coaching gymnastics twice a week, the upcoming (already started) silly/social season and my birthday, blogging has definitely taken a backseat over the last month. I am so sorry about that guys. I am going to drop my commitment down from 2 posts a week to 1 and see if I can manage that for the rest of the year! It is school holidays at the moment so I don't have gymnastics for 3 weeks, so hopefully I can get some planning down and get back to it!!

August was an exciting one, because I got to attend a very special event. It was the Benefit Australia Brows On Tour event! It was held at the Benefit Counter at the Brisbane City Myer in Queen St Mall. We got to meet Benefit's National Brow Artist Hannah Terrett. She was absolutely lovely, and so knowledgeable, Hannah told us she has been working in the brow industry for over 15 years. She showed us how to create a beautiful fluffy brow (that is so on-trend right now - aka the Cara Delevingne brow) using all the new brow collection from Benefit - of course!!! We were kindly gifted a few products, plus I couldn't help picking a few extra too! I grabbed a new Rollerlash (my HG mascara), Watt's Up! highlighter and 3D Brow Tones.

That same weekend, I also attended a Hen's Party for my friend Sally! We had a long lunch at Pony at Eagle Street Pier followed by a few drinks there too. We then headed "Johnny Ringo's" a country rock saloon, for a laugh and because they have a mechanical bull! A few drunken girls had a ride on the bull before we moved onto "Alfred & Constance" in Fortitude Valley. Then lastly we ended up at the "Sportsman Hotel" a bar in Spring Hill for a Drag Show! It was such a hoot and I would happily go to another. We danced up a storm inbetween shows and tasted the best espresso martini I've ever had!!

The rest of the month was pretty quiet, thankfully! As the rest of the year is shaping up to be very very busy!! I also had the dreaded flu last month and had about a week off work! Plus another week to finally get over it! I kept it pretty minimal for most of the month make-up wise, but I did pull a red lip a few times..

Faves for August

Tarte - Tartelette In Bloom palette - I am going to say this. Yep. Definitely saying it. HOLY GRAIL STATUS. There. I said it. You have replaced my continuous love for the TF Chocolate Bar palette. I loooove you In Bloom Palette!! xxx

BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop Collection Face Palette - Soooo many goodies, in one palm sized palette! I love love love the mineral blush shade Amaretto, so much so, that I bought a split pan with it and Prosecco Pop in it. I definitely didn't need it, but I still bought it anyway...

Too Faced Melted Matte lipstick in Lady Balls - the best true red liquid lipstick I own. I still need to test it out a little more but definitely loving it, since one of my besties bought it back from the US for me!!

Benefit - 3D Brow Tones in 02 Light - its like a highlighter, but for your brows! What more could you want? It gives your brows a more 3 dimensional look, creating highlights on the brow. If you have darker brows, it is suggested to get the light shade to create highlights and if you have lighter brows, it is suggested to get the darker shade to create lowlights.

Benefit - Watts Up! - I have been lusting over this cream-to-powder highlighter every time I walked past a Benefit stand, and finally caved and bought it whilst at the Benefit event! Oh Em Geeeeee! Such an intense highlight. I have been using this non-stop. Cannot get enough!!

Benefit Mirror* - we were gifted this beautiful mirror at the Benefit event along with some other goodies, and I cannot stop using it! It is such a great sized mirror and the handle moves so you can sit the mirror upright so you don't have to hold it if you are trying to nail your winged liner!! #winning

A few non-beauty related faves:

Rhodia A5 Dot Grid Notebook - In August I got into Bullet Journalling with a few of my fave beauty babes! (I have since given up, but I am getting back into it for October!!) Bullet Journalling is a designed as a analogue system for the digital age. You can read all about the foundations of Bullet Journalling here. One of the beauty babes who (unlike me) has kept it up and now makes it a part of her everyday routine is Kate from The Minted Blog, she recently did a post about starting a Bullet Journal, you can read it here.

Two of my favourite pens for Bullet Journalling are, the Fabre Castel Artist Pitt Pen in Fine and the Tombow Dual Brush Pens. The Artist Pitt Pen, is so fine and is great to use and it doesn't smudge (leftie here!) The Tombow Dual brush pens are absolutely beautiful and I just wish I had prettier hand writing to do them justice. They are beautiful for hand lettering and faux calligraphy. If you can't tell by the name of them, they have two ends. One is a beautiful sturdy but flexible brush tip and the other is a felt tip marker.

Note: Products marked with an asterisk(*) have been sent to Loads of Lifestyle for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

6Comments

, by Mel R

In beauty, Favourites

July Round Up

2Comments

, by Mel R

In beauty, Favourites

Faves: Primers

I thought I would start a new little series here on Loads of Lifestyle called "Faves". It will be kind of like a "My Top 5..." style post, but I will be posting them regularly as my tastes and seasons change! So for the very first one, I thought I would start with the bottom layer and work my way up!

Primer

My current fave primers on rotation (or sometimes a combination of all three) are:

BECCA Backlight Priming Filter - A super luminous (but definitely not glittery) primer. It gives you that gorgeous lit from within glow, that is so very in right now. If you have dry to normal skin you can go ahead and slather this all over your face, however if you tend to lean a little more on the oily side, I would use this with a light hand, or like I do, focus using this on the cheekbones and out perimeter of your face. As it can be a bit too much sheen combined with your natural oiliness. You can also mix this primer with your foundation for a bit more glow!

Dermalogica Redness Relief Primer SPF 15* - A green based primer used to help reduce redness in the skin, with soothing extracts to help fight irritation throughout the day and SPF to help defend against UV rays. I use this primer generally across the middle of my face - across my nose, upper lip and apples of my cheeks. It has a silicone-y feel to it and helps fill in pores too.

Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equaliser Mattifying Primer - The king of mattifying primers! This primer is serious stuff. A professional grade primer that does what it claims. I can get about 6hrs of shine free wear before the oilyness starts to appear. It is super thick and I only use it on my T-zone because it would just be too much to wear it all over, unless you seriously love that matte look!

Have you tried any of these primers? What are your favourites?

Note: Products marked with an asterisk have been sent to Loads of Lifestyle for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.