BOB: Beauty blogger

Dear diary,

This is our final #BOBBlogChallenge post y'all, I hate goodbyes so I'll just skip that part and dive right into this week's topic: Beauty blogger/s.

I'm fairly new to the blogger community and I didn't follow any bloggers before I started writing myself. I'm afraid I don't have a favourite blog/blogger but I try to follow as many as I can to reciprocate those that follow me.

Somewhat different are vloggers/youtubers, I follow a few since I got into make up 3 years ago and I could leave you a complete list but I think I'm going to downsize this for you and only choose 5 and list them in no particular order:

1. Estée from Essiebutton, it soothes me hearing her speak, I really enjoy her ramblings.
2. Tanya Burr, her cheerfulness is contagious, she brightens my day.
3. Sineadycady from The Make-up Chair, I love her short and to the point tutorials.
4. Claire Marshall from heyclaire, just because I have a girl crush on her, I think she's just perfect.
5. Maru from mugumogu, he's my hero, always perfect without ever using make up.

Thank you Sam for setting this up and being a perfect award winning-host, you are an inspiration for us all. I also want to thank all the other participants, you really made me feel like I belonged. We'll keep in touch ;)

Please enter my little giveaway before saying goodbye, just skip to the end of the post.

BOB: Beauty treatment

Dear diary,

We're almost at the end of Sam's Best Of Beauty Blogger Challenge, only one more to go and I'm having the best of time getting to know all the amazing bloggers that participate.

This topic is quite difficult for me to talk about from experience as I'm very weird as in like I'd rather go to the dentist than visit my hairdresser's. Everybody else seems to enjoy or even fall asleep when they are getting a scalp massage while with me it's like: are you done yet? I really don't like people touching me.

Luckily I have a friend who owns a salon and I just pop in twice a year for a quick cut and let my hair air dry, I don't have the patience to sit for hours while they style my hair.

I've only once gotten a massage, it wasn't that bad but it's not something I like spending money on. As for facial treatments I've never had any, I just don't see the point. I've always been very good with my cleansing routine (morning and nighttime) and I exfoliate and use different treatment masks once in a while.

So instead I'll talk about a different kind of beauty? treatment: IPL (Intense Pulse Light) hair removal.

Image taken from Wikimedia Commons

I started by getting my legs done about 4 or 5 years ago, I only had 3 sessions in the winter time and I immediately noticed a difference. The second year I had 2 sessions and was good to go for the whole summer needing only to shave my legs a few times. After that I started having my armpits and my bikini line done as well. Now I only need to go once a year as you barely can see any hair growing back.

I'm not very hairy so that has been key in me not needing that many sessions to get to this stage, it really depends on different factors like skin and hair colour, hair texture and such. They adjust the temperature depending on the area your getting done and they'll test the setting by asking if you feel something more than a tiny little sting. The moment it hurts you just ask them to lower the setting.

As for the price, I started paying 30€ per area. I used to buy some 6-sessions ticket for the price of 5, paying 25€ per area. Areas being: 2 for both legs, armpits, bikini line and 2 for both arms.

This year I switched over to a different salon as they have a special offer on Thursdays where you only pay 20€ per zone being both half-legs one zone. I don't have any hair on my upper legs so that saves me some cash, well not really: I'll normally persuade myself to spend the 40€ that I saved with this deal. It usually goes toward some make up or cosmetics, because I always need more, of course.

See y'all next week for the final post, I hope. I'll be posting from Jerusalem if the wifi from the hotel works properly. Is it GMT+2 over there? I think so.

Have a great day tomorrow and a better weekend!

Best of beauty: budget product

Dear diary, 

It's 7:15 GMT + 1 so less than an hour to post this entry and I'm having major problems with my internet connection and I'm writing on my iPad aka disaster blogging day.

This week's #BOBBlogChallenge is about featuring our budget product.

I've decided to choose an item I've not seen mentioned before in a blog, it's not very budget friendly you could say but I could argue that, if I had the time to.

This is my eye lash curler, it's the heated kind, sorry but I haven't had the time to check the correct name out. As some of you may know my mother tongue is Spanish so I sometimes find it difficult to translate to English.

It's supposed to be used after you've applied your mascara but before it has completely dried so when it does dry your eyelashes remain the way you've curled them and it will hold that curl forever, well for a very long time at least.

The important thing to bear in mind is to not brush it through your lashes as you would with your mascara or they will clump up, you only need to hold it in place for about 10 seconds and you're done.

It works with a AA battery and it has an on/off button with a red lamp that lights up to tell you it's on. You just have to wait a few seconds (while you put your mascara on) and it's ready for use. 

It's sold for around 10€ and you may think it's not that budget friendly but it will last you for ages. The regular eyelash curlers are more affordable but they say you need to replace the rubber pad every 3 months with daily use and replace the whole curler after 6 months to avoid damage to the eye or lashes. I'm well aware nobody follows that rule but eventually you'll have to purchase a new one whereas this curler will remain in good condition forever, well almost.

As it heats up you may find this uncomfortable to have near your eyes but I can assure you it won't burn your lashes or your lid. I can only vouch for this brand and my personal experience as every person is different in terms of heat sensitivity and such.

I really hope you've found this useful as it is 6.59 GMT and I need to post this STAT...

For the love of sharing (30 minutes later: damn you DSL connection)

Best of Beauty: Princess product

Dear diary,

This week it's time to talk about our number one princess product for the #BOBBlogChallenge.

I've been finding it very hard to choose an item to feature this post as I don't find I own any super special product in terms of high retail price although some of you with tighter budgets probably won't agree with me.

I consider this serum my princess product, not because of its price but because it leaves my skin silky soft. It has some really tiny shimmer-like particles that reflect the light and it makes you look like a vampire from Twilight glistening in the sun.

Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator

Copied from Estée Lauder's website:

The first fast-acting serum from Estée Lauder research proven to dramatically reduce the look of uneven skintone:

• redness
• acne marks
• dark spots
• sun spots
• discolorations

Instantly: redness is reduced, skin looks fresh and radiant.
In just 2 weeks: 62% of women showed an significant improvement in skintone in a clinical test.
Over time: skin looks noticeable clearer and brighter, vibrant and more even-toned.
This intensive, yet gentle oil-free serum features powerful technologies to address the look of every key sign of uneven skintone:

• Triple-Optic Technology provides skin with a brighter, more luminous look from the very first application.
• CorrectTone Technology visible reduces uneven skin tone in 2 weeks, while anti-oxidants help prevent its re-appearance.

Even though it normally retails for just below 100€ it was on offer when I purchased it and only paid 64.50€ at my local Douglas store. Just last week it was on offer on Strawberrynet for 51€ but since I'd just opened my current bottle a few days ago and have a different serum to try out, I let the offer slide. Yay for me!

Please press the hashtag link given at the top of my post to check out which products the rest of participants have chosen this week or follow the twitter discussion going live at 7:00 GMT.

Best of Beauty: Pamper products

Dear diary,

First of all I'd like to congratulate the lovely and talented Samantha for winning the Blogger of the year award, you go girl!

After having said that I'll dive right into this week's #BOBBlogChallenge: Pamper Products.

Glamglow is a youtube made me buy it product, I heard so many youtubers raving about it that I finally caved and ordered it from http://www.feelunique.com. I haven't used it that much so I can't really tell you if I'm noticing any improvement. 

What I like doing on sundays is light me some Yankee Candle and draw me a nice hot bath using some Lush products. I purchased a huge gift box called WOW in the sales and I'm hoping it will last me a whole year. 

Back to sundays: I start with taking off all my make up and then I use my Dermanew Dermabrasion system, after that I'll put on some kind of mask. I have a whole bunch as I like to alternate them. 

Mary Kay TimeWise moisturizing mask, this one I leave in until the next morning. I like that it's a gel texture, it feels cold on the skin when applying so I tend to use it more in the summer.

SkinClinic Velo Resfill regenerating mask, I got this from a friend of mine but I haven tried it yet.

Caudalie Vinopure purifying mask for combination skin, I love using this in the summer time to fight off my super oily skin. 

Lancôme Blanc Expert, used this a few weeks ago and I got a lot of compliments the following day. They said my skin looked youthful, very glowy and radiant. I'll have to repurchase.

Glamglow Supermud, I've only used it three times so I'm not sure it's that life changing.

Glamglow Youthmud, just used it once for the sake of this post.... I can only say that it really tingles

Shu Uemura Deepsea moisture, I used this yesterday after taking off the Youthmud. I really needed an extra special pampering treatment after having received some bad news. After this I applied the Beauty Flash Balm by Clarins as a night cream.

Moisturizing mask from Deliplus (Mercadona): blah, super cheap but not worth it.

I'm very curious about what my fellow bloggers will feature this time, you can find a complete list of participants with their blog links here.

Make up must have

Dear diary,

It's Thursday again, this means it's time for another post for the #BOBBlogChallenge hosted by the very talented Samantha. This week's topic is going to be about our make up must haves but I can only think of one item that I really couldn't be without.

The Urban Decay Primer Potion.

When I started wearing make up (not so long ago) I got really annoyed at eyeshadows and eyeliners moving around freely without my permission. When I heard about eye primers I immediately went on the hunt. At first I tried some drugstore brands: NYX, Deliplus (Mercadona), Beyu, Mary Kay, none of these helped so I thought: lets go high end. In came MAC's Prep + Prime Eye and the Stay don't Stray from Benefit: no luck there either. One day while at Sephora they recommended me the Too Faced Shadow Insurance but it was sadly out of stock.

Then I thought about purchasing the UDPP as a lot of bloggers raved about it but I didn't want to splash out again for nothing. Then the Smoked palette was released and it came with a sample sized primer potion, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I've never gone back to another primer, it works perfectly and it makes my eye make up stay in place for the longest time ever. I never ever thought that was possible or I wouldn't have gotten rid of my few MAC eye shadows.

When the anti-ageing formula came out last year I went online and ordered the regular size tube. It works as good as the original one and if it really has some anti-ageing ingredients, the better. At 41 you need all the extra help you can get...

My next task is to find an eyeliner that will hold for more than half an hour on my waterline, any recommendations?

Best of Beauty: Haircare heroes

Dear diary,

It's that time of the week when we try to stir things up in the blogosphere with Samantha's  #BOBBlogChallenge. This week the chosen theme is all about sharing our haircare heroes.

My hair has always been my achilles' heel, it's very sparse, fine, oily and I get a mountain of split ends only by looking at it. I've always tried to take good care of it but nothing works, there's no way to get around genetic inheritance.

As I'm currently in the middle of another Challenge (no poo), I'm leaving you some other hair-related must haves:

1. This Hot Oil Treatment  leaves my hair silky soft and weightless. I use this in the summer time, like once a month or month and a half.
2. The Batiste dry shampoo is great to get rid of any unwanted oily shine in your hair so you won't need to wash your hair that often. Spray it to the roots, massage scalp and brush the excess off.
3. A microfiber towel is much softer than the regular one. I just loosely wrap my wet hair and after a few minutes take it off and wrap again using the drier side, this way it gets most of the moist out of my hair before blowdrying it. I never ever rub my hair dry. 
4. Before blow drying I put a bit of oil between my fingers and apply it to my damp hair ends, this one here is from Macadamia and I love it.
5. After applying the oil I gently comb my hair using the Macadamia oil infused comb.
6. Three times a year I take a hair-targeted supplement for a month.
7. I use a boar-bristle brush on my dry hair to distribute the oils from root to ends.
8. The Tangle Teezer is supposed to be better than any other brush to use on wet hair, you apparently get less breakage. True to its name it is the best detangler brush in the market.
9. A satin pillowcase is said to prevent hair breakage and wrinkles -seriously hoping this is true, lol.
10. Hairbands made from old tights. They are softer so they should cause less breakage. I purchased some Twistbands but these are much softer and cheaper, plus you get to recycle which is always best.

Other important hair care related steps I follow are:

1. I clean all my hair brushes and combs regularly letting them soak into luke-warm water with some soap or shampoo for a few minutes, then take a comb and get all the hairs out of the brushes, rinse them with clean water and let them air-dry on a towel with the bristles facing down.
2. A great detangler is some apple cider vinegar, don't worry, the smell will go once you've given your hair the final rinse. I've known this for ages but it's just recently when I started using it.
3. I turn my shower to the coldest water I can manage for the last rinse.
4. I use a leave-in UV-protection serum in the summer.
5. When at the beach I wear a hat or a scarf to fully protect my hair.
6. In the summer time I always let my hair air-dry and during the winter I stop when my hair is about 80% dry and let the rest air-dry. Anecdote: I blow-dry my hair in the car when driving to work, I put the air vents on high speed and medium temperature. Anyone else does the same?

See u next week for another great topic!

#BOBBlogChallenge: Skin Care Saviours

Dear diary,

For the first topic of the Best Of Beauty Challenge we have to write about our Skin Care Saviours.

I hate to be repeating myself over and over again but here goes my most loved skin care product: the Nivea in shower body lotion with almond oil for dry skin.

It really makes the world of difference. I started using this day and night but after a few weeks I noticed my skin was getting sticky from using it so often. I then went to apply it once a day and I also reduced the amount as you only need the tiniest bit. At first I thought you needed to apply a lot of product as you are going to rinse it off afterwards and that seemed like it wouldn't be hydrating enough but I was wrong. It really sinks into the skin and stays there after the final rinse.

What I really love about this product is the fact that it's so easy and quick to apply, you don't have to wait until it dries as you just jump out of the shower and pat dry your skin with your towel like you'd normally do. Makes getting dressed a lot easier this way: no sticky residue on your skin. You can hop out the door in no time at all. I'm really a bed person so I like to stay in for as long as possible. This lotion gives me a couple more minutes of Zzzzzzzzzzz.

What about you? Are you a morning person or, like me, you have a hard time getting out of bed?

Thanks to Samantha Johnson aka All the Buzz for setting up theses series of beauty related posts.

See y'all next thursday for the second post,