A quick little beauty post to break up the contact lens content. I mean, I’m verging on becoming an eye blogger at this point. There are two or three posts on laser eye surgery to come yet and who knows what eye-related things I’ll find to write about after that?

Sunglasses? Lash growth serums? I’m sure the world is my proverbial oyster.

Anyway, here are a few of the things that are nearly always in my travel bag – bits and pieces I find useful or that save space. Most of my travelling is domestic and for one or two nights at a time and so it becomes almost a competition against my own self to see how small and light I can make my luggage. If I can fit everything into one large handbag (ie a spare pair of knickers, cotton nightdress and some toiletries) then I feel really very pleased with life. Here we go then – there’s a video further on down the page, too, for those who like to have a voice on in the background while they do the dishes…

Ad info: no paid or sponsored content. Contains press samples and affiliate links are marked *.

Elizabeth Arden Retinol Capsules

These are the biggest space-savers – serums in capsules. Throw two into your makeup bag and you have the treatment part of your skincare routine sorted. Arden do these in various forms; Vitamin C, Retinol, Hyaluronic Acid and a barrier strengthening one so there’s something for all concerns. I love these. The retinol ones are currently on offer, quite spectacularly, here*.

Sali Hughes Daily Exfoliant

A new fixture in my travel bag, this daily exfoliant is ever so gentle but used regularly gives a great glow and helps to keep my skin clear. The big bottle is brilliantly priced. Find it online here*.

Soft Silicone Ear Plugs, Noise Cancelling

Not a beauty item, or a mini, but I forget myself once I start filming! These ear plugs (orange weird-looking things in the photos above) are very well-priced compared to the Alpine ones that I use for sleeping. They’re not noise-obliterating, but I like them for muffling ambient sound if I’m trying to work and I’m on a train or in a hotel bar or something. I don’t like listening to music or podcasts when I work because I find them distracting so these are always on hand. Find them here*.

Le Labo Santal 33

Possibly the most expensive travel mini known to man, but it’s my favourite perfume and I wouldn’t ever get it as a small size again, I’d buy big (or put it on my Christmas list!) and refill from that. It’s just one of the loveliest, sexiest perfumes I’ve ever smelled – warm, woody, slightly smokey but with a light touch. Find it at Liberty here*.

Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils

You only need to buy these in a small size once: it’s more to discover and find out which oil blends you love, then you can invest in a full-size bottle and know that you will always have spa-level, mind-transporting bathroom moments gloriously on tap. I have been a mega-fan of AA oils for as long as I have been beauty blogging –  Deep Relax and Equilibrium are my favourites – and they truly do what they say on the bottle. You only need a teeny bit at a time and so the little sampling bottles are perfect for holidays or short breaks. Just top up from the big one when you’re home! Find the discovery set (and full sizes) here*.

The Sisley Phyto Teint Nude foundation is here* – I use 2N. The Elf contour wand is brilliant, I use shade “medium” here*.

The post What’s In My Travel Bag? appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

I’ve been meaning to add to my collection of cacti for a while now. I have two big window ledges at the front of the room known lovingly as the “Oil Baron’s Sunken Lounge” and though one of them was filled with a row of the cacti I’ve been lovingly killing since 2007, pictured above, the other was completely empty.

And so I wanted to fill it with more cacti.

My sister calls my special south-facing window ledges “the torture garden”. Basically, anything that gets placed on it is condemned to a life of repeated near-death experiences – plants are taken right to the brink of expiration and then pulled back to life at the very last viable moment. My existing cacti, in their little stone pots, have been waiting out their torturous sentence for the past sixteen or seventeen years. Bless them.

But it’s not intentional, obviously – I’m not a horticultural psychopath. It’s just straightforward forgetfulness. They get the same treatment as all of the other plants, indoor and out, which is neglect for 98% of the time and then 2% manic overwatering when the inevitable sense of guilt spurs me into action.

With the cacti, I’ll usually give them something to drink when they’re so dehydrated that they sound hollow when you tap them. I’m pretty sure I once heard a cacti sigh in The Torture Garden sigh with relief when I held the watering can over the top of it. It then it made a strange glugging sound as the soil around it darkened with moisture as though it was desperately sucking up the water from the soil*.

It’s shameful and I’m telling you: if AI doesn’t take over the world and punish me for my mistreatment of the household Alexa (post upcoming) the cacti will definitely rise up and have their revenge.

Anyway I’ve bought some more. Bigger ones, so they should be hardier. (?) Hopefully they’re not used to a life of luxury because BOY will they have a shock coming to them!

I bought my new plants from a website called Hortology and this entire post is basically a massive waffle around the fact that I really enjoyed the whole experience. The Hortology site popped up when I Googled “large cacti” and I quickly price-checked them against a few other places to make sure that they weren’t extortionate. They seemed to be in the same ball-park, cost-wise, as most other sites, but the thing I loved was that they were very clear about what pot size you needed for each plant and then they also had the right pots to fit! 

My God, I cannot tell you how many hours I wasted, a few years ago, buying plants from a local place and then not being able to get the right pots. I ended up buying them online and then still getting the wrong sizes. And these things are heavy – you don’t want to be paying for returns on a 25cm concrete pot, I can tell you that for free. So you end up keeping them all and then having to buy more plants to fit them and before you know it the inside of your kitchen is like Kew Gardens and your walls are covered in weird aphids and you have creeping vines edging their way across the units and curling around the door knobs.

Hortology Discount Code*

Anyway. I thought that the ease of plant-to-pot matching at Hortology was great. I know that some other sites do this, but I had never been very impressed by the look of the pots before. It always seemed to be a simple offering whereas Hortology had loads and loads of different shapes, styles and colours.

Most of which, I have to say, were right up my strada.

I ordered two “Blue Columnar Cacti” and an aloe vera plant, which actually has to be re-sited from its new home already because it shouldn’t be in direct sunlight. Apparently. (“Oh you don’t like these conditions, huh? It’s too sunny for you here, huh? Get used to it kid. It’s survival of the fittest.”)

I then ordered three pots – two “earth cement” ones, which are very robust and heavy and grey and then one called “Alice” that looks like a supermarket creme caramel or an old French jelly mould. I love it.

I made my order on a Monday and got free delivery on the Thursday, which was more than speedy enough for me. I don’t think there was an option for faster delivery but I can’t imagine a situation where you’d desperately need a cactus or cheese plant for the very next day…

Wow, my imagination is running wild on that one.

If you want £5 off your first order then use the link here* – it’s not a special affiliate code, they just give it to you when you sign up, but I do get some sort of loyalty points in return. Feel free to ask friends and family if they have a code before you use mine, it’s just there if you need it.

*as usual, I exaggerate for comic effect. The plants are doing alright. Most…of the time. I mean keeping cacti alive for fifteen years and through about seven house moves has got to be worth something, hasn’t it? Hasn’t it?

The post I Ordered Plants from Hortology: Here Are My Thoughts appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

OK, this is how it works: as I potter along doing my beauty research stuff, testing everything in the world from eyewateringly expensive face creams to the cheapest brow gels, I make note of any brilliant bargain beauty finds I come across. Until I have five of them listed: and then I make a video. That’s the general gist of it.

I should do the videos more often than I do but time runs away from me and then something else new and shiny from the beauty labs comes along and you all know how that story ends. With a backlog of amazing products that could get away with being far more expensive than they are – high-performing, slickly-formulated skincare and luxurious-feeling makeup gems – but that aren’t. They are very much cheaper than their luxury equivalents and very often on offer.

In this video we have a lipstick that’s much cheaper than the one I bought from Gucci, a great new shampoo that’s good for those prone to dandruff and three other brilliant beauty buys. It’s an excellent mixed bag of well-priced goodness! Let’s go:

Revlon “Pink in the Afternoon” Lipstick, £7.99 at Amazon here*.

After the Gucci lipstick experiment (here, if you missed it on Instagram) I made it my mission to find the nicest pink lipsticks on the high street. In all honesty I haven’t been hugely successful so far, mostly because when you try to find lipstick testers on the high street they are all missing, or covered in melted lipstick, or they have rolled under the stand. But this pink from Revlon, Pink in the Afternoon, is a very good start indeed. It’s only slightly more muted than the Kimberley Rose from Gucci (here*) but somehow it is infinitely more wearable. Less in your face. Not quite so scary.

It is comfortable to wear with a sheeny finish to start that wears down to an almost powdery pink. I love it. And £7.99? A hell of a lot more palatable than the Gucci version, even if I did get a free (uselessly small) canvas bag from Gucci…

Sali Hughes Placid 5 Acid Daily Exfoliant, currently £9.80 at LookFantastic here*

I’ve always been partial to an acid exfoliant – AHA for glow, BHA for keeping my pores clear and spots at bay. Sali’s 5 Acid Daily Exfoliant covers both bases – glow and clarity – but the best thing about it is its supreme gentleness. You really can use this daily and I have been – every morning as a lazy swipe after my lazy micellar cleanse.

If you have been toying with the idea of introducing an exfoliant into your skincare routine but have been confused about how to use it, when to use it and whether it will play nicely alongside your retinoid addiction, this is an excellent place to start.

L’Oreal Revitalift Clinical SPF50, currently £10 instead of £19.99 at Sainsburys here*

This is a knockout product from L’Oreal; a high protection face sunscreen with a really lightweight, sophisticated feel. It disappears immediately and you can’t feel it once its on the skin, brilliant beneath makeup and easy to cart about. What’s not to love? Excellent for oily skin, dry skin will want a solid moisturiser underneath as this is light on the plumtious front. Currently less than half price at Sainsburys.

Mitchum Cedarwood Stick Deodorant, currently £4.04 here*

Mitchum recently launched a Gel Cream deodorant and though I love the texture, the smell and the efficacy it felt slightly messy to apply. I prefer their cream stick and they do it in the same Cedarwood scent, which is just gorgeous. Slightly green, slightly woody and a far cry from some of the soapy smells that deodorants often have. The cream stick claims 24h hour protection – I never need that much and would shower it off anyway, but it definitely works its magic over the course of a normal day. Though if I partake in a spot of cycling on the Peloton then it is tested to its very limits and there’s definitely some…moistness.

Head & Shoulders Bare Shampoo, currently £6.66 at Boots here*

This feels like a very new lean for Head & Shoulders; a shampoo that looks more premium than anything they’ve made before and with a stripped-back ingredients list. It still contains the signature H&S anti-dandruff agent, so I think it’s as effective as you’d hope it would be, but it feels so gentle on the scalp and my hair wasn’t at all dry or stripped after rinsing. It’s free from sulphated surfectants, silicones and dyes and even the lather feels soft and luxurious. In a blind test I would have had this down as a pricey buy so it’s an absolute steal, especially at the current price.

That’s your lot: now watch the video and hear me say the whole thing all over again…

The post 5 BEAUTY BARGAINS YOU NEED TO TRY! appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

I went to a lovely beauty dinner organised by Sainsbury’s and it reminded that I was, at one point, doing some sort of supermarket beauty series. I can’t remember the title of this particular series but I’m sure it would have utilised a pun, because I can’t resist them, or there would have been some kind of alliteration going on, like Supermarket Skincare Savers or Best Buy Beauty for your Basket…

Oh wait: just searched my own archives, something I should have done before I started writing the post. It was called – drumroll please – Best Supermarket Beauty Buys. Well I’ve decided to reinstate this series because there are some pretty amazing products in the supermarkets these days – far more than there were when I first filmed.

But back to the Sainsbury’s dinner, where they had recreated their beauty aisles in the restaurant so that it felt as though you were sitting inside a real supermarket. There were mini shopping baskets as placemats and the menu was printed on a Sainsbury’s till receipt and I absolutely loved it. Top marks for inventiveness and just plain old good fun.

More importantly, I had the chance to scan the aisles for new launches. I do this regularly anyway (I do my food shopping at Sainsbury’s 98% of the time) but it was nice to be able to see new launches grouped together and it also reminded me of some favourites I’ve not shown you before.

So here are five top beauty buys from the UK supermarket, brilliant bits to pick up with your beans and your broccoli and your biscuits.

L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara (£8.80 from Ocado here*)

I know I’m at risk of boring you with this one but it really is one of my all-time favourite makeup products with no sign of being usurped at any point in the near future. Fine, flexible comb that gets right to the lashes, good length and separation and easy to remove. It doesn’t tend to flake or smudge on me but note that it is not waterproof. There is a waterproof version but I have no need for it and would rather have speedier removal than additional smudge-security!

No Knot Co The Gentle Detangler (£15 from Sainsbury’s here*)

I’m a big fan of detangling brushes. They’re special brushes designed to slide through hair – wet or dry – to detangle without breakage and they are miraculous things – you’ll no doubt have heard of Wet Brush and Tangle Teezer. I like this offering from new brand No Knot Co; they make tools for waves, curls and coils and this brush is genius in its simplicity. It’s the lightest brush I’ve ever held, so perfect for travel, but it’s just one moulded piece with bristles and so you can wash the entire thing and there’s nothing to trap water in the bristles or handle. It’s massively flexible so really comfortable to use, even when you hit tangles, and it’s a matter of seconds to get the hairs out and bin them. There’s nothing I don’t like about this brush, it’s a holiday must-have I’d say if you usually battle with post-beach hair-washing.

Q+A Grapefruit Cleansing Balm (£7 at Sainsbury’s here*)

Finding cheap cleansers with good ingredients and a luxurious, rich feel is surprisingly difficult. Most lean towards the “face wash” texture, so more of a gel to be splashed off, whereas I almost always go for a sumptuous cream or an oily balm. This Grapefruit Balm from Q+A is excellent – removes all makeup, even eye makeup, massages in beautifully and then removes cleanly without greasy residue. It doesn’t strip or dry the skin, at all, and the fragrance is pleasant (fruity, as you’d expect) but not overwhelming. If you love a balm but want something much, much less spendy than the Emma Hardie and Elemis offerings then this won’t be a disappointment. I also find tubes handier than tubs as I can chuck them in my overnight bag if I’m travelling. Pots and jars feel more cumbersome!

Altruist SPF50 Face Fluid (in store at Sainsbury’s, online at Amazon £9.15 here*)

This is good. I’ve given it a fair old try now and no breakouts (surprisingly common for me when I’m SPF-testing), just solid sun protection from a non-greasy, near-invisible face fluid. It’s lightweight and has top UVA and UVB protection, probably because it has been created by a UK skin cancer specialist. I need to get back on it with my high street SPF trials because every year sees new contenders for the best budget buys and the standard just gets higher and higher – please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions or favourites.

Hello Toothpaste in Unicorn Sparkle (currently £2.50 at Sainsbury’s here*)

One for the kids. Both of mine love this. The packaging is bright and cute and the toothpaste is bubble gum flavour, which feels very illicit to my kids. They’ve never had real bubble gum because they’re still too little and also we’ve decided to follow on in our respective parents’ footsteps and tell all kinds of overblown lies about bubble gum to put them off it. Why did our parents do this? It’s hilarious. I’m definitely coming out with more and more absolute bollocks as the kids get older and the majority of this claptrap is directly from things I heard in my own childhood. I need to do a list. Not turning on the car interior light because we will get arrested is a favourite fib of mine. I actually did believe it was illegal to have your interior light on when driving. Until relatively recently, which is embarrassing. Such a convincing lie did my parents tell me.

Anyway, I’ve eaten a load of this toothpaste as a taste test (which you should never do because [insert lie your parents told you re eating toothpaste]) and it passes with flying colours. Don’t say I never do anything for you.

Here’s a video of me saying all of the above whilst standing in my bathroom:

The post 5 Top Supermarket Beauty Buys appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

Arriving in London with a makeup bag that had apparently been packed by a drunk baboon forced me to be a bit creative with my products. I honestly have no idea how I ended up with four bronzers and two foundations but absolutely no brow stuff, no lipstick and only one (quite dark and punchy) eyeshadow.

But here’s what I did with what I had. It’s been a few weeks since the “WTF did I pack?” incident but I’ve actually kept up with the same routine, because I like it, and here’s the video to prove it. I’ve written a description with product links below.

Ad info: no paid or sponsored content, contains press samples and affiliate links are marked *.

So: in with the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation. For a full review with before and after photos, please click here. I won’t repeat myself – it’s virtually faultless for a longwear, grown-up face base.

I then used Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow to contour and bronze myself up, applying far too much and then having to buff it out for approximately twelve minutes. It was the makeup equivalent of making a toddler meal: heat it for two minutes, cool it right down again for ten. Go forwards and then almost right back to the start.

Bronze & Glow is an excellent investment if you can possibly make it. There are many “dupes” but none give quite the instant glam this contour and highlight duo does. You can find it online here at Charlotte Tilbury* – I use shade Light-Medium.

A touch of blush – this one is from Valentino (shade 9, here) and is lovely, but there’s no massive need to spend so much. Just a good flush of something optimistic and pinkish will do!

And then eyes. Here’s where it gets revolutionary. I use the same Tilbury Filmstar palette on my eyes – the contour to, er, contour and the highlighter to gild the lids. It works so well! It really helps to shape the eye, subtly, and the highlighter gives lift and brightness to the eye area. I’m so impressed with this and I like that it keeps all of the tones on my face very uniform and tied together.

I then stuck a Vieve Eye Wand in Coffee* into the corners of my eyes and dragged it up towards the eyebrow end a little bit, to give myself the customary “eye lift”. If you’ve never done this before then you’re in for a treat. It’s not necessary to put the product into your eye socket in the way I do, which is borderline violent, but the Vieve Eye Wand is chunky and soft and just seems to lend itself to fitting right in the outer corner. It’s very malleable and blendable so I use a small amount, I don’t apply to the upper lid, but I take a small smudge brush and blend the little line of product out so that it’s soft and hazy and what leftovers I have I smudge into the lower and upper lashline, just at the outer edge of the eye.

Rather than me explain it in a thousand words, it’s probably better to take a look at the video, if you’ve never seen me do my little eye lifting trick. It properly, properly works – you just have to make sure you follow the curve of your lower lashline to get the flick in the right direction!

The mascara I use here is the faithful L’Oreal Telescopic, which I just think is one of the best mascaras you can buy, regardless of price. I rate the one in the dull gold tube and it’s usually about eight quid when you catch it on offer, which is almost always and it has a fine, narrow comb that’s flexible and mess-free. You can wiggle right to the base of the lashes and then pull through to coat each one and they are left looking chic and separated. I very rarely deposit product onto my lids (happens with just about every other mascara) and I don’t get fallout or smudging. I buy this mascara constantly – usually from Amazon Prime, see here*, but you can get it in Boots and Superdrug and it’s always in stock.

At time of writing L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara is £7.07 here*

I use hairspray and a brow brush for my brows because I’ve misplaced all of my brow products (I sorted every single one of them into a small bag and then promptly lost it within the office avalanche) and I do my lips with a simple lipliner outline (Rare Beauty liner in Creative, see here*) patted in and topped with lip balm.

And that’s it. It’s quite a pared-down routine, product-wise: I wish I had a fancy little picture of the products but I don’t, and anyway the Tilbury palette is almost finished so it’s not looking its photogenic best. I’ll finish with a few extra links for bits and bobs featured in the video, including the skincare prep and the blouse I’m wearing. I say, what a lovely blouse!

Olay Retinol Eye Cream is currently 60% off here*

Aveeno Calm and Restore Serum is here*

Skin Rocks The Moisturiser is online here

The Francine Floral Blouse I’m wearing is from Wyse London here

The post Current Makeup Routine: Spring 2023 appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

I was slightly nervous about the fact that the epic Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear foundation had been reformulated. And I say epic with not even a hint of irony because it was just that: very few high coverage, ultra longwear foundations came close to it in terms of the quality of finish, ease of application, shade range and longevity. The original Teint Idole covered every blemish and imperfection – no concealer needed – but it somehow managed to not obliterate all of the life from your skin at the same time. It looked flexible, comfortable, slightly juicy, but also gave that perfect, flawless, airbrushed sort of finish that completely removes redness, dark circles, areas of pigmentation. And it had a subtle glow, an expensive luminescence, yet the finish was velvety-matte.

Ad info: no paid or sponsored content. Contains press samples sent with no obligation to review and affiliate links, marked *

And the feel! Oh the feel of the thing. It was cushiony, it didn’t settle into lines, it moved with your skin…if ever there was a full coverage foundation for grown-ups then this was it. And so: my nervousness over the reformulation. What would Lancome tweak? What aspect of the original formula would us diehard fans sob over? How could Lancome improve upon perfection and a face base that had been around – successfully – for decades?

Well, let me tell you; they have. Lancome have taken their Teint Idole Ultra Wear foundation and made it just as comprehensive in coverage, just as cushiony to apply and just as long in wear-time, and they’ve somehow added a load of skincare ingredients into the mix along the way. And do you know what? You can actually feel the difference.

Buy Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear*

After a week of daily testing, with the old formula on one half of my face and the new formula on the other (how I suffer for my art) I can categorically tell you that the new side of my face feels continuously hydrated throughout the day. More plumptious. The other side doesn’t feel dry, as such, it just feels…normal. There’s a definite difference. I was sceptical beyond all polite reason about the hydrating skincare element of the relaunched formula but it’s there. And it works. My new face side is juicier and more springy to the touch but with the same amount of coverage on the skin.

I really don’t think that many (if any) Teint Idole users will be disappointed with the new version. It’s the same marvellous foundation, plus a (very) slightly more hydrating feel. I personally welcome the additional plumptiousness because I still get the same coverage but now it feels even more comfortable and flexible on the skin.

This newly reformulated Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear is not to be confused with the new Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care & Glow. It’s incredibly confusing and I wish that Care & Glow was just a totally different product line, in a way – it’s less coverage, more dew – but you can easily tell the two foundations apart by looking at the lids. White for the lighter coverage Care & Glow* and black for the higher coverage Idole*.

Interestingly, I prefer the feeling of the high coverage Idole on my skin to the Care & Glow. But Care & Glow does give an exemplary level of high-wattage luminosity – it’s the sort of glow level where I personally feel I don’t need a highlighter. (Though as a disclaimer, I do feel as though highlighter is one of the most overused and misused products in the entire makeup world. Looks great for the gram but honestly, in real life, some people look absolutely wild. Like robots. At the very least it just looks incredibly unnatural, which is surely the opposite of the desired effect.)

I should add, because it’s pretty important, that I use very little product when I’m applying Teint  Idole. It really doesn’t need to be trowelled on and I think it looks best when it’s applied very lightly, from the centre of the face, and built up only if needed. One light coat is enough to knock back most blemishes, dark circles and areas of redness – take a look at the before and after photos:

The single layer of foundation, applied very wispily with a small powder brush and not a flat-topped foundation brush, even part-conceals the glasses marks on my nose. Those are always a nightmare to disguise, when I’m filming, because they are red and indented and just a general pain in the arse to deal with. No problem for the Teint Idole. And if I’d gone back over with another little light coating then I’d have obliterated them completely.

The photos do a pretty good job of showing the finish too: it looks quite velvety-matt but there’s a real luminescence that isn’t glittery or shiny but just…expensive looking. It’s the kind of base that really is a base, coming into its own as the bronzer goes on, then the blusher… it’s the perfect starting canvas, flawless and smooth.

You can find new Teint Idole Ultra Wear online at Lancome here*, LookFantastic here* and Selfridges here*. There’s a whopping range of 45 shades and Lancome have also improved on the pigments to create tones that are always flattering and enhancing on the skin. No ashy undertones. I use shade 220C – I used to use 02 in the old formula which was ever so slightly warmer in tone. I’ll do some experimenting next time I’m near to a counter!

It suits all skin types and doesn’t slide from oily patches or settle in fine lines. Here’s a little quickfire video if you’d like to see application:

The post New Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation Review appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

Eye cream really divides opinion in the beauty world. Some people swear by it (the usual argument being that skin around the eyes is different – thinner – than elsewhere and so you want a dedicated formula to suit) and some people think that you should just use whatever you’re using on your face and take it right up around the eyes. Why spend on a separate product that is going to do virtually the same thing, especially when eye creams are notoriously more expensive per ml than the equivalent face version?

I have now been in both camps. I started off very firmly in the Eye Cream Supporters Team, defected to the other side for a while and then meekly crept on back to my original people hoping they’d never notice I’d left.

I had been a solidly pro-eye cream since my modelling days. I used to love the way that the makeup artists would pat-pat-pat it in, give it a little de-puffing massagery, take it lightly onto the lids, push up the eyebrows to waken you up and give everything a little lift. And of course they could have done this whole routine using a face cream, and often did, but it was notable that they gave such care and attention to the eye area. And that’s because if there’s one place that’s going to look haggard/hungover first then it’s around the eyes.

The skin is thinner, the area is altogether more delicate – prone to puffiness, to circles, to sensitivity. Which brings me onto my next pro-eye cream argument: formulation. The eye needs are significantly different to the face needs, a lot of the time. You can have puffy eyes when the rest of your face looks fine. Why would you de-puff the whole thing with a cooling gel? The eyes will be fine but the face will feel tight and uncomfortable. You might want to blast your face with high-strength retinoid, but that same product under the eyes might be drying or too strong to tolerate.

And so there you have, in a nutshell, my two main reasons for using a dedicated eye cream: application, formulation. If I use a separate product then for some unfathomable reason it does make me pay particular attention to the way that I pat-pat-slide the product on. If I just treat my eye area as another part of my face then I don’t tend to do any sort of special love, I just sweep over it at the same time as my cheeks. It’s a cheek extension.

And if I have an eye cream with the perfect formulation, day in, day out, for my eye area then why would I not use that? Then the rest of my face can do what it wants – be radically exfoliated, be filled to bursting with hyaluronic acid, be self-tanned or retinoided – and my eyes will have a steady, appropriate treatment that tackles whatever the concern might be. For me it’s fine lines and, er, deeper lines. Lines, basically.

The reason I defected to the anti-eye-cream camp, momentarily? Research. And laziness. I was honing my routine (morning: vitamin c serum/moisturiser/SPF, evening: retinoid every other night, or hydrating serum/moisturiser on the “off” days) and the eye cream seemed a step too many. (Never mind all of these mists and essences that are all the rage: I simply cannot see how they could have much more benefit than a good serum and moisturiser combo. Maybe that’s my next bit of research.)

So I started using whatever face stuff I had to hand all over rather than using an eye cream and then the serum, moisturiser, whatever. But I’ll tell you what started happening, and I noticed this after around three months or so: my eyes were significantly more crepey and dry. It was a marked difference. And I realised that not only was I not really taking the products into the eye area with the same thoroughness as I would a separate eye cream (really tired of typing eye cream at this point, please make it stop), if I used a strong retinoid or an exfoliating face product then I was missing out the eye area almost completely!

And so, without really realising it, I had gone from giving my eyes a twice-daily mini-facial of their own to giving them…not much at all. My eye cream routine was a (little ten second) workout, my “eyes as part of a face” routine was the equivalent to doing no exercise whatsoever. Walking to the car from the front door. Some effect, but really, negligible.

I’m back using an eye cream, safe to say. Every night, at the very least. Sometimes in the morning I skip it, because I am far more pressed for time and my eyes tolerate vitamin c serum very well anyway, so it’s not so much of an issue. But in the evening: eye cream ahoy. And it’s almost always one with retinol. Why? Well. It’s pretty much the top rung of the ingredients ladder and, when it comes to eye creams, you can almost guarantee that the retinol will be easily tolerated and the formula gentle. So if you’re seeing fine lines creeping in around the eyes, the skin is starting to crease or go fine and papery, then retinol is your friend. Smoothing, firming, plumping. Won’t help massively if puffiness is your problem, but there are great eye creams for that, too. That’s a whole separate post, when I’ve recovered from having to type out “eye cream” so many times.

Here are three retinol eye products worth the spend:

[Ad info: no paid or sponsored content, featured items may be press samples and affiliate links are marked *. I have an ongoing partnership with Beauty Pie.]

Olay Retinol Max Eye Cream – £44 but currently £19.55 at Amazon here*: a beautifully formulated, non-greasy eye cream that absolutely does the trick if you want to see a difference in skin texture. Olay test to the high heavens to make sure that products are easy to use and suitable for the mass market so you can be pretty sure you’re not going to make your eyes fall out with this one. Though start carefully – once every few nights – just to ease yourself in.

Beauty Pie Super Retinol Eye Cream, £13 with membership here*: this contains slow-release retinol and loads of hydrating ingredients so it’s a comfortable cream that’s nourishing in feel but – like Olay’s – non-greasy. Use the code RUTHSENTME for money off annual membership – you can find out more on how the membership works here*.

Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum, £82 here*: the priciest option, but Murad really go to town with their retinol range, combining three types of retinol and formulating a product that is as effective as humanly possible whilst minimising adverse reactions. The eye serum (which feels more of a light cream) can be used all around the eyes and on the lids. Seems slightly weird and scary, but I have tested that claim thoroughly and it’s fine and it works. Bravo. It’s a very good investment, if you can make it.

Here’s a video of me saying all of the above:

The post Why I Use An Eye Cream (Again) appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

It’s favourites time, but this time they’re supercharged. The first favourite thing has changed my life and I’m not being dramatic and clickbait-y about it, either; the second favourite is a book that had me audibly cheering as I read it (in just two sittings) in bed last week. The rest of the favourites are also brilliant but it was the first two that inspired my latest video (bottom of the page) and therefore this, the accompanying post. And so without further ado:

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Waterfall D-Mannose Peppermint Tablets

I’m sick of saying and writing the word Waterfall; the video took me three attempts, then I spent an hour editing it, now I’m writing about it. I’ve said Waterfall more times in the past day than in the entire rest of my life. But all is forgiven because honestly, these little chewable D-Mannose tablets have changed my life.

Waterfall D-Mannose Peppermint Tablets*

You know how I had constant cystitis? You can read the odd post here and there, I think I tailed off with talking about it because it was frankly depressing and I had a cystoscopy which was horrible and I just didn’t want to share anymore, but – in short – it’s something I had suffered with since late teens. Triggers include winter, sitting down for long periods, not sitting down for long periods, getting a cold back, sex, any alcohol, no alcohol, no sex, holidays, breathing. You get the picture.

After numerous tests, both NHS and private and with no discernible outcome, I had just resigned myself to a lifetime of antibiotic bouts and not being able to drink wine and/or have raucous sex. But two of the things I had been recommended by both consultants was to a) up my fibre and b) try out regular intake of D-Mannose. I tried with the upping of the fibre but the D-Mannose intake was one of those things I – for unknown reasons – resisted. I think it was maybe because the cheap tablets I had were SO big (I have to break them in half) and when I wasn’t actually getting any cystitis warning symptoms I’d simply forget to take them.

Well after my third consecutive cystitis knock-down before Christmas I was desperate to find a way to reduce the occurrences. Also one of the courses of my usual antibiotics had failed to work, which terrified me, and so I ordered a whole load of different D-Mannose products to try them out. Powders, pills and these: the Waterfall Peppermint chewable tablets (here*).

Now I don’t really know whether they are any better than the others out there on the market, in terms of strength or ingredients, but it’s the pure fact that they are like a sweet that keeps me eating them. I have six a day and increase it on the rare occasion I’m going to be doing one of my “cystitis danger activities”, and because I have them on me, whether they’re in my handbag or on my desk or in the car, I know I’ll remember to take them.

They are very pricey compared to my usual ones but – touch wood – I haven’t had a problem since mid-December. Not only that, my usual “irritable bladder” symptoms, – ie always feeling I need to go for a wee, a constant feeling of dread, etc – have almost entirely disappeared.

All of this is completely my own experience and obviously I’m not even remotely a medical expert or advisor, but it’s actually not an expensive outlay to give D-Mannose – regular and consistent taking of D-Mannose – a go. You can get far cheaper options than the Waterfall peppermint ones, it’s just that they make me take them more regularly. Because it’s like chomping sweets. Which has been the gamechanger, I think.

(Realise suddenly chomping six more sweets a day has its own drawbacks but they’re not big. And anyway, preferable to constantly feeling as though your bladder is about to self-combust.)

Anyway, give D-Mannose a Google. There’s plenty of NHS stuff about it – it’s basically a sugar that stops E-Coli bacteria from growing in the urinary system. I wish I had taken it more seriously years ago, it would have saved me a hell of a lot of aggravation and upset!

You can find the peppermint tablets here*.

Enough of my bladder and urethra, though – let’s talk books!

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Rarely have I read a book that resonated with me more. Which is weird because (mild spoiler alert) it’s about a mother who is turning into a dog. But of course that’s not really what it’s all about: it’s about losing your identity in stay-at-home-motherhood and (whispers!) boredom in stay-at-home-motherhood and it’s also all about the trade-offs and anxieties and losses of identity for mothers who don’t entirely stay at home, or who are barely at home. It’s a raw, almost feral examination of transformation after childbirth and also of inequalities in relationships with regards to childcare and nurture and – oh God, just read it.

There were parts that didn’t resonate with me, of course, but there were entire passages, pages, chapters that just had me agog with how accurate they were and how in any other hands the subjects being discussed would perhaps make the protagonist sound ungrateful, spoiled, self-indulgent, mad, all of the above. But you just know what she’s about. It’s great. I loved it and have been recommending it to all of my friends, even if most of them have given me an odd look and said ‘wait, you’ve only just read Nightbitch?’

Nightbitch in paperback is online here*

We Norwegians Cardigan

Alas, sold out now in black but there’s an incredibly funky lighter one here*, I’ve found my perfect chunky winter cardicoatigan. It has distinct seventies ski lodge vibes, which is a vibe I can get along with, and it was from The Outnet so had money off. Always a bonus.

You may recall that I’m on a constant search for good long cardis – just found this post from years ago! – because they are so versatile and a dream for lazy dressers like me. I think my love of cardigans will follow me to the grave.

My Haircut

I’m massively pleased with my latest haircut. And I know I’ve said this for the past few, since it’s been shorter, but it’s something of a new era for me. I’ve finally managed to get past my obsession with having to tie it up all the time. I’ve become accustomed to the feeling of it hanging loose and the odd tickle around my face no longer irritates me quite so much. Interestingly I’ve also had less stress headaches since I’ve stopped pulling my hair back into a bun for 90% of the time.

Curing my own ailments, one favourite at a time!

I get my hair done at The Suite in Bath – usually by Mathilde but currently with Cassie Permial, if you’re in Bath and want to ask for her! Both are brilliant.

Support Equilibrium Bath & Body Oil

Final favourite, or “fave” or “favorite” depending on your age and geographical location: the Support Equilibrium Bath & Body Oil from Aromatherapy Associates. It’s just gorgeous. I’ve always been a die-hard Deep Relax blend person (and so is my Mum, we both find it so effective when we need to de-stress and get a good sleep) but recently I started experimenting with other blends and Support has almost immediately placed itself right up there with Deep Relax on my leaderboard.

It’s far more floral and optimistic than Deep Relax but still with a very grounding, deep sort of base. Ooh, I’ve just Googled: it has Frankincense in it! No wonder I bloody love it. Anything with Frankincense usually worms its way into my stash quite quickly.

Harrods currently have this on sale, for some reason – no idea why as it’s full price elsewhere but I’m not complaining! It’s £38.50 instead of £55 here*. AA oils are expensive but for a reason: I haven’t found any better for the bath and body yet and I’ve been testing hundreds of them over the course of thirteen years.

Added to my bargain basement Epsom Salts (here*) it’s the best luxurious bathing experience money can buy! I like to think that the savings on the salts justify the price of the oils, but in fact the oils are so good they need no justification and you need the teeniest bit each time.

Marvellous: here’s the video for extra info and enthusiasm and drama.

The post You Won’t Believe How Much I Love These Things… appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

I’ve made some little tweaks to my makeup routine and committed them to video: one of the changes involves my eyebrows, and you might already know about that one, but the other four are relatively new and snazzy. I know that the suspense will be killing you, so let’s get cracking.

Ad info: no paid or sponsored content. Refers to press samples sent with no obligation to review and affiliate links are marked *.

Tweak One

My first makeup tweak is so puny and weird that I’m almost embarrassed to be writing about it, but seeing as though social media’s USP is people sharing things so mundane it makes you want to lobotomise yourself with a corkscrew, I’m going to go right ahead. The makeup update, if you could even call it that, is that I’ve only been putting foundation or tinted moisturiser on the centre of my face rather than all over it.

See, I told you it was fascinating.

It’s more of a convenience than a tweak and it has evolved from my habitual wearing of roll-neck or high-necked jumpers. For who wants foundation all the way down their neck when their neck is going to be smothered in wool? Equally, who even wants foundation on their chin, when their chin is permanently rubbing on the woollen roll-neck? Not I.

So I use the face base sparingly and lightly and only in the central part of the face rather than right up to the edges which, in truth, is the only place that tends to need foundation anyway. Facial perimeters rarely have a lot of bothersome bits going on.

This approach to skin-perfecting is best done with a sheerer foundation or tinted moisturiser, something forgiving and ultra-blendable. If you try to do it with a longwear opaque base then you’ll probably run into trouble. My tint of current choice? Still ILIA Skin Tint (I use shade ST7) with it’s mega-glow. You can find it here online*.

Tweak Two

My next little fancy twist to the makeup tale is using blusher on my eyes. I know! What’s come over me? I saw Katie-Jane Hughes (amazing makeup artist) do it on Instagram to tie her eyes in with the blush and it was just so easy and fun and fresh, and the pink isn’t actually directly around the eyes so you don’t look like a rabbit from Watership Down… It’s just a quick bosh with the brush at the outer edges and then blend – watch the video below to see this in action.

You can use whatever’s left on the brush from doing cheeks. Doesn’t matter particularly whether it’s a cream or powder blush but I used the amazing Freshfaced Cream Blush from Beauty Pie here*. (Remember to use RUTHSENTME if you’re a new customer signing up and you’ll get a bit off the membership.)

Tweak Three

Not even a tweak, so I’m starting to feel as though this entire exercise is a lie, but I’ll plough on. It’s just a clumsy, crayon-y splodge of dark eye colour at the outer corners in an upwards-facing wedge, blended in, to lift the eyes and make them look less tired. All this does (and again, you need to watch the video for the how-to) is bend the lashline upwards so that the outer corners look as though they sit a few mm higher than they did before. Tiny, subtle change but it’s vastly effective. If you want a stronger optical illusion then do it with a solid line of eyeliner but it’s trickier to get right than the splodge-of-wedge-and-blend-it method. I used the excellent suit-all Vieve Eye Wand in Coffee, here*.

Tweak Four

I genuinely can’t even remember what this was and have to go back and watch the video. Please hold. I only had five bloody things to remember! I’d be rubbish at Kim’s Game now. Used to be almost champion-level.

OK the fourth tweak is the gluing of the eyebrows using Brow Freeze. You know about this already, if you’ve read the previous makeup post but you must watch them being laminated and waxed and glued into place in the video. This Brow Freeze stuff is amazing – my eyebrows end up about half an inch further up my face! Some might think this is a bad thing, I quite like it for a change. It’s a bit like when you move your bed to a different wall and it’s as though you don’t even know who you are anymore. But reordering your facial features instead. Facial Feng Shui.

You can find Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze here* – I would, and I surprise myself here, recommend getting the dedicated applicator that you have to purchase separately. Because my way of dunking the brow brush at an awkward angle is not massively convenient.

Tweak Five

The gloss in a stick. Apparently these Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine lipsticks have gone viral on Tiktok. If I could use Tiktok without crashing Tiktok, having to log out of Tiktok and having to then reset my Tiktok password each and every time, then I’d spend a lot more time on Tiktok, but as it stands I just don’t have the energy for it. I’m constantly told I need to use it and upload videos there but it’s just so…chaotic. And noisy. Everyone is pointing at things on the screen, or talking loudly, or dancing. It feels like being stuck in an arcade game.

So I’ll take everyone’s word for it that these lipsticks are the new craze – it also makes sense, because they really are excellent. As glossy as a gloss but without the stickiness, they actually do properly plump and shine the lips without any effort whatsoever. And they’re moisturising. Genuinely. I felt the effects long after the colour had slinked away.

My favourite shade is the Strawberry one – find it at LookFantastic here* and just about nowhere else because everywhere seems to be out of stock!

Marvellous, we raced through those tweaks didn’t we? Now you just have the video to watch. Get to it…

I have my hair cut and coloured at The Suite in Bath (not an ad, I have always paid, just like to give them a shout-out and I always get asked!).

My pink jumper was a kind present from my friends at Scamp & Dude

The post I Updated My Makeup Routine: 5 Favourite Changes appeared first on Ruth Crilly.

First post of 2023 and it’s straight in with my current makeup routine and some incredible new makeup discoveries. I don’t use the word incredible lightly, either: some of these products have completely changed my makeup routine and had my husband asking questions such as “what have you done to your eyebrows? I mean, why are they pointing upwards like that? Like bird’s feathers stuck on?”

“It’s the fashion,” I replied.

And it is. Or was, at least. Feathery eyebrows: I have grown to like them. Just in time for them to seemingly slide back out of fashion in favour of the nineties groomed-and-narrow brow. I like that the featheriness takes the weight out of the brow and lifts my eye area but equally I can see why that’s not for everyone. But that is the beauty of makeup – you can simply change your mind and do something different the next day.

New discoveries then – and do watch the video at the bottom of the page to see these in action. Very briefly.

AD info for the following feature: no paid or sponsored content. Contains press samples sent with no obligation to review and affiliate links are marked *.

ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF30

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many compliments on my skin since using this tinted moisturiser (for that is what it is). It has such a heft of illuminator in it that you cannot fail to glow. The coverage is light but capable, making skintone look more even and the finish is dewy and feels comfortable and flexible on the skin.

The ILIA skin tint is massively hydrating and I apply straight over serum (ironically, because this is also called a serum) for a one-stop daytime low-key look. A bit of cream bronzer and blush over the top and a lick of mascara and I’m good to go, if I’m after the bare minimum. The skin tint really does give a superstar sort of finish that looks perfect, but real, but glowier than real, but also undone, but still polished. I suppose what I’m saying is that it looks effortless but is actually working really hard on the light-reflecting front.

If you have lots of fine lines or quite crepey skin then be aware that illuminating products tend to also illuminate lines (usually not so much of a problem with dedicated highlighters as you would apply them both sparingly and in targeted areas) but I’ve found that a bit of pore-filling primer on the forehead and around the eye area does wonders. (Benefit Porefessional is always a good one.)

This Skin Tint sits at a premium price-point – it’s £46 at Sephora here* – but I’d say that you’re absolutely getting a premium product. This is the sort of face base you can rely on to always look good and make you look fresher and perkier. I’d say it’s slightly better for drier skin rather than oily as it doesn’t set completely and I do get a little movement in the t-zone if I don’t powder but you could always use a primer, as mentioned.

If I had to compare it to another product then I’d say that it’s quite similar to NARS Tinted Moisturiser with perhaps less coverage and more glow. I’m not mad-keen on the pipette dispenser but it’s so good that I forgive that.

Find ILIA Skin Tint here* – there are 30 blendable shades (this isn’t the sort of face product that requires an identical tone match) and I wear ST7.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze

Let’s return to the feathery brows and this, the Anastasia Brow Freeze, is the ultimate product to make them with. It’s a wax but also a gel – sort of like one of those eighties hair gels that came in the big sticky pot – and it coats the brow hairs so that they are instantly shapeable and moveable. If Dali had seen this stuff he’d have been in his element – God only knows what his tache would have looked like. He’d probably have been able to shape whole words out of it. Sentences!

You’re supposed to use a special applicator but I don’t have that and I don’t feel I need it. The wax does clog up all of my brow brushes but a quick wash in boiling water melts it off and leaves them as-new. Ish. Maybe I should get the applicator!

I haven’t found another brow product that can shape and hold like this one; it’s like using glue, but a friendly one that won’t make your brows clump together and then fall off. On my very fair brows it gives them massive definition without needing to add any colour and I love the way I can feather the hairs upwards so effectively – I’m a big promotor of using hairspray on brows for a quick fix and I stand behind that tip… but honestly, Brow Freeze takes things to a new dimension.

You can find Brow Freeze online here* – it’s £23.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Kajal in Coppper

Every time I mention the Kajal eyeliners from Victoria Beckham I get asked if there are dupes. And understandably, because the price is pretty punchy for an eyeliner. (£26 at VBB here.) Yes there are other soft liners that hold fast (one of the best is the Avon one in my opinion, Gel Paint Eyeliner here*) but if you’re after the on-trend shades that VBB brings out then it’s more difficult to find them on the high street, especially with the right texture and staying power.

I’m using Copper in the video below and I think that it’s a really lovely alternative to plain brown if you want to add some sparkle and zing. I don’t think that it looks over the top as a daytime effect, either. The Kajal is really soft and so you get enough time to blend the lines out if you want a smokier effect, but it’s not out-of-control smudgey and it sets fast without budging until it’s time to remove it. The Olive shade is also marvellous and slightly more unusual, FYI.

Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotising Pop Shots

New from the ever-expanding Tilbury makeup empire: Pop Shots. These are more about the glimmer than imparting lots of colour – think of the glittery “top coat” you get in her eye quads that you press onto the lids as a final light-reflecting hit. That’s what these are, but without the rest of the quad. I use Sunlit Diamond which is a very warm, coppery gold and slightly more modern than the classic yellow version. I thought that these would have limited appeal after the festive season was finished (and they are limited edition) but I’ve been enjoying adding something fun and frivolous to my makeup routine. You have to get your kicks where you can in January.

Find Hypnotising Pop Shots online here*.

Ruby Hammer Lip Serum Balm

Final new find: Ruby Hammer’s Lip Serum Balms. They’re utterly beautiful. Buttery soft and spreadable and comfortable and you feel the effects even when the colour has disappeared. Possibly Red isn’t the wisest choice for a soft and buttery balm – it can be a disaster on the teeth! – but I couldn’t resist this one. It’s glossy and rich and such a true, true red – you wouldn’t want to wear it for kissing under the mistletoe as it would be everywhere but you’ve missed that boat anyway. And for all other situations, it’s just cheery and great. You can blot it down to a more muted lip stain if you like, but it’s just such a good shade I think it’s a shame to clip its wings.

Ruby Hammer Lip Serum Balm is £18 at Sephora here*.

Right, here’s the vid (if you can’t see it then you’ve managed to land on this page whilst it’s uploading!). I also used Charlotte Tilbury Cream Bronzer in Shade 1 (here*) and Beauty Pie brown mascara and red lipliner (here*). The cream roll-neck jumper is Wyse London but seems to have sold out!

The post My Makeup Routine: January 2023 appeared first on Ruth Crilly.