Rant or Rave?

Emma Hardie Natural Lift Moringa Cleansing Balm

My name is Frankie and I am a balm-a-holic. Once you go balm you never go back. My face just doesn't feel as clean using a gel or milk based cleanser as it does with a luxurious buttery balm. 

The newest one I have been trying is Emma Hardie's Natural Lift Moringa Cleansing Balm. And I love it. So much I'm half tempted to throw away my Eve Lom so I can start using it daily. I would have to check myself into a mental institution if I did this though, I ate baked beans for weeks to afford my latest pot. 

Whilst I loved Eve Lom's rich, heavy texture in the Winter now that the sun has (finally) come out I want to get into the Spring swing of things with a lighter consistency. Emma Hardie is a dream to apply. The balm feels like freshly churned butter, takes off all my makeup and throughly cleanses my face, without weighing it down with an oily film. Just rub a pea sized amount between your fingers, massage into your face and remove with a flannel or muslin cloth. Simples. I sometimes even leave it on my face for 10 minutes when I'm in the bath for the ultimate hydration boost.

The ingredient list reads like a botanical buffet for the face; Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and wild sea fennel to name a few. And no mineral oil (Eve Lom I do still love you but mineral oil is one of THE cheapest filler ingredients around). It smells divine too. All spa like and lovely. 

The all natural ingredients make the balm a perfect partner for any, even sensitive, skin types. 

It leaves my skin feeling soft, hydrated and clean, oh so clean. Can you tell I'm in love?

And at £34 pounds it's £21 cheaper than my Eve Lom, sorry Eve.

What's your favourite balm cleanser?

How to.....

How To Clean Makeup Brushes

So I just made a new new years resolution.

To clean my makeup brushes more.

At work we spot clean our brushes after every use and give them a thorough wash at the end of every day. Yet when it comes to my own personal collection my brushes are lucky if they get a bath once a month. 

Gross I know.

It just always seems like such a laborious task. However this morning I finally mustered up the energy to get down and dirty with my stash, and boy was I shocked. I knew my brushes weren't going to get an A* in the cleanliness stakes but I had no idea they would be that ORANGE. The colour just kept coming and coming and coming. My makeup cleaning station looked like it had been tangoed. No joke.

The Jodie Marsh perma tan hue on the end of my brush really should have given me some indication to just how bad it was gonna get.

Ensuring your makeup brushes are clean is really one of the most important things you can do. Brushes are a breeding ground for bacteria. Think germs on heat. Makeup brushes are often expensive and keeping them clean will help prolong their usability. Using dirty brushes is detrimental in more than one way. Brushes are not only used just to apply makeup but also to blend. It is hard to blend successfully when your brush is home to more colour than the rainbow. Ever tried blending your smokey eye with a dirty brush? Disaster waiting to happen! Perhaps more importantly dirty brushes are hot beds for bacteria. The dirt and debris that is allowed to build up on your brush is not only transferred to your skin but also to your makeup, thus infecting that as well. Circle of doom. Don't be surprised by the regular appearance of breakouts if you are not regularly treating your brushes to some good ole fashioned bathing.

One way to keep your brushes spick and span is to spot clean them after use. I use Shu Uemura brush cleaner. I simply pour the liquid onto some of your kitchen variety loo, swirl my brushes around and watch the colour lift off. The formual instantly removes colour, grease and germs in seconds. 

Spot cleaning after every use is sure to keep your brushes clean and clear. However sometimes it is nice to go for a bit of a deep clean. This you really should be doing once a week, or once every two weeks- depending on how much you use your brushes. Here I use a brush shampoo I picked up in Sephora, but any regular shampoo can be used- baby shampoo works a treat. Simply fill a cup with warm water and a squirt of your chosen shampoo. Then swirl your brush around, making sure the water doesn't reach the part the bristles join the handle (if this gets wet it can cause the brushes to shed).

Then make sure to lie your brushes flat and allow them to try naturally.

Shu Uemura Brush cleaner is £11 from Space NK

Say Bye Bye to Bacteria and hello to hygiene.