Lily Lolo Natural Eye Pencil Review

Slowly but surely I am beginning to transition my make-up bag from mainstream cosmetics to more natural ones. It’s been slightly frustrating, and quite hit and miss so far. I battle a touch with mineral foundation powders preferring a liquid based one if possible. It seems to suit my oily combination skin better.

When the opportunity to try out natural make-up presents itself therefore, I jump at the chance to try a new brand to see what they have to offer and when they are British too, well even better.

I was recently given the opportunity to try out Lily Lolo’s natural eye pencil in black which retails at £6.99. 

Lily Lolo is a British brand offering high-performance, high quality mineral makeup and the range spans foundation, blusher, eye shadows, eye liner, mascara, lipstick, lipgloss and make-up brushes.

Their products are free from parabens, synthetic perfumes or dyes and they are BUAV approved.

Lily Lolo was launched in 2005 by Vikki Khan and is named after her two sisters Lisa (Lily) and Lorraine (Lolo). They have recently revamped their packaging which seasoned users would know about but as a virgin user I cannot comment about this other than to say that I like the simple, stylish look and feel of the product.

The first thing to say is that this eye pencil is highly pigmented and is ideal for defining eyes. I wear very little make-up normally; a foundation base, eye liner and mascara. I only ever wear eye shadow, blusher and lipstick when I go out for the evening. Gone are the days when I went to work suited and booted. It’s now normally little Jess and I, so the need for being made up is not there in the same way. 

I used this eye liner on my bottom lash line and because it is so dark I had to be quite careful how I applied it as it could make my eyes look smaller if applied incorrectly. If you watch the video Lily Lolo have on the eye liner product page, it does mention this. On the lower lash line it can smudge a touch but I found that over time I was able to get my application just right. It is a very soft pencil so very little effort is needed to apply the colour.

I would love to see this eye liner in a charcoal grey. I don’t normally use black or brown for eyeliners; for me it’s always a dark grey. I am blonde and blue eyed so this colour suits me better. So far I’ve yet to find a natural brand offering this. Shame.

Having tried this one product over time I’d be interested to see how the rest of the range performs. I like the look of the mascara, particularly the brush. I find that with natural brands the brush used is key for me. I have shorter eye lashes with little volume so a good brush can work wonders for my eyes.

I also like the fact that the eye shadows are lovely subtle colours. I may be investing in one of their eye duos to try as well.

So all in all I like this eye liner. It took a while to get used to it and make it work for my needs but overall it gets a thumbs up from me.

Have you come across Lily Lolo or used any of their make-up range? Leave me a comment if you have. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You can find out more about Lily Lolo’s product range on their website, and you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time x

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Disclaimer: I was given a natural eye pencil in black to try out for review. All opinions are my own honest thoughts and feelings on the product I used.

miaoo – Natural Skincare for Babies and Children

It’s the Bank Holiday weekend and I’ve decided to dedicate today at least to catching up on some well over due blog posts. Life seems to have gone from busy to madness in recent months and I have to say I’m finding it hard to keep up at the moment :)

So, if the next few blog posts seem very PR sample focussed, I apologise, but if I don’t catch up on myself a little, they will never get written. I’ve had some fabulous opportunities to try out some great products as potentials for my boutique in addition to more general pr samples in recent months.  And in addition I also have an array of posts for products etc I have purchased too, so loads waiting in the wings to be shared with you.

One of the first to share is the natural skincare range for babies and children from miamoo. Miamoo was founded by Saira Khan who was runner up on the first UK series of The Apprentice.

Saira had suffered from extremely dry, sensitive skin for many years and this led her to start researching ingredients and formulations in skincare products. What she found were a host of synthetic ingredients used in so many products on the market targeting people like herself with dry, sensitive skin conditions. This personal journey like so many before her, led Saira to formulate her own natural skincare products and miamoo offer 6 key products for babies and children which can also be used by adults too.

I was given the opportunity to try out their travel set which has all 6 items in mini sizes and retails at £15.00:

• Splashy wash 30ml – refreshing citrus shower/body wash
• Fresh locks 30ml – soothing shampoo for shiny bouncy locks
• Baba oil 30ml – heavenly oil, great for hair, body and baby massage
• Huggy lotion 30ml – a non greasy daily moisturiser
• Spritz and wipe 30ml – a refreshing citrus spritz packed with minerals that has multi uses
• Cheeky cream 10ml – a natural barrier cream great for adults and babies

The first thing to say is that I love the colourful and fun packaging. The girls loved using these products and bath time was lots of fun whilst using this set of goodies.

Splashy Wash 

I really love the names of the product items in this range. This was one of the elements that the girls picked up on and enjoyed asking for splashy wash and huggy lotion in fits of giggles when being bathed. The splashy wash was a lovely citrusy smell and the girls used it to wash with as well as a bubble bath. It lathers up well and the girls enjoyed using it.

Ingredients on miamoo’s website are listed in categories:

Natural ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Lemon oil, Aloe vera gel, Soya bean extract, Jojoba extract, Chamomile extract, Tocopherol, Limonene, Citral, Linalool, Geraniol,

Naturally derived ingredients: Disodium cocoampho-diacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Coco glucoside, Citric acid, Glyceryl oleate, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Tocopheryl acetate, Hydrolysed silk,

Synthetic preservative ingredients: Benzyl alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium sorbate, Tocopheryl acetate, Sodium Benzoat

Fresh Locks 3 in 1 Wash

This 3 in 1 wash for the face, body and hair and contains aloe vera, jojoba, soya bean, rosemary, silk and vitamin E extracts to moisturise the skin and hair.

This again was lovely to use and washed the girls’ hair well leaving no residue behind. It smelt good and the girls were keen to use it until it ran out – much to their disappointment.

Natural ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Aloe vera gel, Jojoba extract, Geranium oil,

Rosemary extract, Lavender oil, Soyabean extract, Tocopherol, Linalool, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene, Citral

Naturally derived ingredients: Disodium cocoampho-diacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl betaine, Coco glucoside, Citric acid, Glyceryl Oleate, Hydrolyzed Silk

Synthetic ingredients: Benzyl alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium sorbate, Sodium Benzoate

Spritz and Wipe

Sprit and Wipe has 4 uses. Made with limewater and minerals, this spritz cleanses, moisturises and freshens the skin. Spritz and Wipe is made with bitter orange extract to freshen, vitamin E to moisturise and the minerals of magnesium, copper, iron and silicon to help tone the skin.

As they share on their website, you can use Spritz and Wipe as follows:

As a toner - spritz onto a cotton wool pad and wipe over face to remove traces of make-up after cleansing. Leaves skin clean and toned.

As a cleanser for baby - mucky hands and bottoms? No problem, spritz onto a cotton pad, face cloth or wipe. Leaves hands and bottoms clean, moisturised and fresh.

As a detangler for hair – spritz onto hair after shampooing and comb through to detangle, no need to wash out. Use on dry hair to freshen up and condition.

As a cooling spritz in the summer – Keep in the fridge to cool and spritz whenever you need an instant cooling down. Great in the summer as an after sun on delicate young skins.

Great for travel- Skin saver whilst flying. Use the spritz on your long haul flight to keep the skin on your face, legs and feet, hydrated, fresh and moisturised.

Natural ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Chamomile extract, Tocopherol, Small leafed lime extract, Aloe vera gel, Orange flower water

Naturally derived ingredients: Butylene Glycol, Citric acid, Alcohol denat, Copper ferment, Iron ferment, Magnesium ferment, Zinc ferment, Silicon ferment

Synthetic ingredients: Benzyl alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium sorbate, Sodium Benzoate

Huggy Lotion

In addition to splashy wash, this was the other product that my girls loved both for its ease of application and also for its name. Applying the lotion was interspersed with fits of giggles and lots of hugs for Mummy which was great fun.

The lotion is made with orange flower water, sweet almond oil, marshmallow extract, wheat protein, silk and jojoba seed oil providing intensive moisturisation for dry skin. A little went a long way and the skin was left feeling lovely and nourished.

Natural ingredients: Aqua, Orange flower water, Sweet almond oil, Glycerin

Grapeseed oil, Maize starch, Jojoba oil, Marshmallow extract, Tocopherol

Naturally derived ingredients: Cetearyl alcohol, Olivoyl hydrolyzed wheat protein, Ethylhexyl palmitate, Glyceryl Oleate, Hydrolyzed Silk, Glyceryl stearate, Alcohol denat

Synthetic ingredients: Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl alcohol, Ethylhexyl-glycerin, Potassium sorbate

Cheeky Cream

This cream was thicker than the huggy lotion as the name would suggest and would make an ideal nappy cream. It was ideal for really dry patches and although takes a while longer to do so, absorbs well into the skin. If it full of sweet almond oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, wheat protein and castor seed oil to help provide deep moisturisation coupled with zinc, beeswax and carnuba wax which provides a waterproof barrier for the skin.

Natural ingredients: Water, Almond oil, Zinc oxide, Shea butter, Glycerin, Cocoa butter, Xanthan gum, Beeswax, Castor seed oil, Tocopherol, Chamomile extract, Carnuba wax, Rosemary extract, Calendula extract

Naturally derived ingredients: Glyceryl stearate SE, Cetearyl alcohol, Ethylhexyl palmitate, Stearic acid, Olivoyl hydrolyzed wheat protein, Glyceryl Oleate, Glyceryl stearate, Retinyl palmitate, Hydrogenated castor oil, Zinc Oxide

Synthetic ingredients: Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl alcohol, Ethylhexyl-glycerin, Potassium sorbate

Baba Oil

And the last product in our travel pack was Baba Oil. This was a life saver for little Jess as she was suffering quite badly at night with leg cramps whilst we were trying the products out. I used it regularly and it was easy to administer with the spray bottle, easily absorbed with a light lavender scent, nothing overpowering.  It’s made with sweet almond oil , sesame seed oil, lavender oil and vitamin E.

Natural ingredients: Lavender oil, Sweet almond oil, Sesame seed oil, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol

Naturally derived ingredients:  Isopropyl myristate, Vitamin E acetate

Overall I liked the miamoo range for babies and children and miamoo give lots of uses for their products on their website plus other useful information for those with dry, sensitive skin issues.

Their full size products retail from £5.00 - £7.50 each which makes it affordable for most people too.

If you’d like to find out more, then you can pop across to their website, connect with them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Have any of you used this range on your children or yourselves? If you have then please do leave me a comment below. I always love to hear from you.

Until next time x

********

Disclaimer: I was given a travel size set of all 6 of maimoo’s products to try out for possible inclusion in my boutique. All opinions are my own honest thoughts and feelings on the products concerned, no one else’s.

UPDATE: Sadly Miamoo Skincare are no longer trading. 

In My Back Yard

Back in April, Bodhi & Birch tweeted out asking what percentage of our skincare was British. Now if you’ve not been staying abreast of what’s going on out there in the green, natural, organic beauty world then you really are missing out on some amazing brands which are gracing our shelves and screens with some “must have” items and even more exciting is that a large proportion of those are British. Just take a look at this year’s entries for the Skins Matter Awards. It’s exciting times !

I never knew when I started blogging that there were quite so many small, medium and large British brands out there offering you everything from pure oils and balms to therapeutic blends to enhance body and mind.

So when Karen from “In My Humble Opinion” took this tweet one step further asking us to see which British brands we had in our back yard, I just knew I had to join in. And you know it’s only when you actually start looking do you find some fabulous small, artisan brands just waiting to be discovered.

Image Courtesy of Good For Me Good For You

 

So what is ‘In My Back Yard’?

If you’ve been reading my blog recently then you will know that one of the brands I am blessed to have literally 5-10 minutes down the road from me is Circaroma. Circaroma was founded by Barbara Scott, an aromatherapist and their range spans skincare, bodycare and candles. If you’re interested in finding out more then you can read my post here.

Now, I live in West Dorset but I’m very close to the Dorset / Somerset border so I have decided to look within what would be about an hour’s drive of me here and I’ve found a treasure trove of British Brands some of which I knew about and others I didn’t.

Just down the road from me in the Bridport area is Oleo Bodycare run by Olivia Chapman, again an aromatherapist who I now see regularly on our Saturday market in Bridport. I really must pop by and purchase one of her range because as yet I haven’t indulged. If you’re holidaying in the area this summer then you should say “hi” to her. Then, there is Natural and Nourishing a small, artisan brand with a small, handmade range of products who are again in the Bridport area. I often see their range in some of our local shops which is lovely to see.

Have you been watching Master Chef recently? Then you would have seen the lovely Angela Langford from Somerset who is about 20-30 mins from me. She makes gorgeous, award winning formulations and one of the brands I will be posting about soon. And like so many brand founders I have had the pleasure of either meeting or talking to, she is a really lovely person to boot.

Then we have one of my favourites, Lyonsleaf and then Milla Maddern also in the Mendips. Annie from Hello Purple Clouds shared OV Naturals from Ilminster, all in Somerset which also made me realise that Annie from the blog, Hello PurpleClouds and I live pretty close to each other too.

 

Then we head back into Dorset and we have Love the REAL You in Bournemouth run by Lara Williams, who produces natural skincare for teenagers and who I stock in my online boutique, Herb and Hedgerow founded by Lorraine Dallmeier, who also teaches skincare formulation. There’s Naturally Nourished in Iwerne Minster, White Lilac Bodycare and Herbal Harmony in Poole, Chilly B Soap Company in Bournemouth, Anousta in Wimborne and Green Herb Angel in Glastonbury.

And last but by no means least is the lovely Neal’s Yard Remedies in Gillingham, Dorset at their Peachmarsh headquarters.

So there you have it. That’s what’s in my backyard and I have to say I feel truly blessed to have quite so many small British brands within an hour of me here. Some of their products I have used and others are yet to be discovered, so I think I’m in for some real treats in the coming months.

I wish I could have gone into more depth for each one, but with so many this post would have been very long. I’ll therefore leave you to have a browse of their website’s yourself and perhaps we can all start giving these small brands some love.

It’s fair to say that the natural, organic skincare market is pretty saturated at the moment but what’s exciting is that there are so many British brands making their presence felt, winning awards and producing some stunning product ranges. Long may that continue.

And what percentage of my skin and bodycare is British. I’d say it was currently about 80%. Can I get it to 100%? Well, with what’s in my backyard I feel there’s no excuse for me not to try !

There are some other green bloggers who have linked up to this linky, so I have mentioned them below. If you’ve blogged about what’s ‘In Your Back Yard’ then let me know and I’ll add you to this list below.

Have any of you tried any of the Brands I mention above? I’d love to hear from you so leave me a comment below.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend everyone. Until next time x

********

Here are the links to other green, beauty bloggers who have written about what’s in their back yard:

Within the UK:

Karen's original post inviting people to join in here

Karen's post from In My Humble Opinion here

Hephzibah's post from Good For Me, Good For You here
Annie's post from Hello Purple Clouds here

Ana's post from Ana Goes Green here 
Sarah's post from Sugapuffish here 
Amber from Amber's Beauty talk here

Outside the UK: 

Caitie from Naturalla Beauty here
  

Therapi Honey Skincare; Buzzing with Goodness and Love

December and January were good months for making some fabulous connections with like-minded souls within the natural skincare arena and Twitter is always one platform where I often find those connections the strongest. It seems weird that you can make such strong links with people you’ve not physically met before but somehow over a period of time and through other introductions you can actually get to know someone quite well.

The lovely Galina from the blog, A Curious Russian in London, introduced me to Tanya Hawkes from Therapi Honey Skincare following her review of their range in December 2013. I was taken by the passion Tanya has, not just for the skincare she makes but also for the bees she keeps. Tanya is a beekeeper and her deep love of them is evident from chatting to her.

My husband is very fond of bees too; always has been and would love to keep them if only we had enough space to do so. In fact he has a great respect for the insect world in general, always fascinated by them and how they live. I on the other hand (until meeting my lovely husband) have always had a love-hate relationship with insects. I wasn’t really encouraged to explore them as a child; rather I grew up with a bit of a phobia of them. I’d be the child flapping their hands and arms around like a mad thing whilst under attack from a wasp or a bee ! And that fear didn’t really leave me until I met my hubby.

When we first began our relationship may years ago, he had a bedroom which shared a bee hive ! Yes, you read that correctly. He had a fireplace in his bedroom and the bees had decided to take up residence in the chimney ! Oh great. Just what this gal needed. The bees would often get confused and pop out of the chimney to say “hi”, and yes, you’ve guessed it, out of bed I’d leap flapping around like a mad idiot, shreaking at him that “there’s a bee, there’s a bee!”

I think he seriously thought me mad as a hatter at first, but then realising that I genuinely had a fear of them, he helped me to understand what bees were really like and how they genuinely weren’t interested in me – particularly when flapping my arms about – and that I really just needed to “chill out!”

Over time I came to understand their gentle nature; that they weren’t up for stinging me unless I posed a threat to them. Why would they? They would die! Wasps on the other hand are another matter, but what’s wonderful about my husband’s attitude to bees, and insects in general is that I’ve grown to respect them and haven’t passed on my fear of some of them to my children. They have a deep fascination for the insect world and we actually made a masonry bee house in an Upcycling challenge with Groovebulb last year.

As I’m sure you’ll know, honey is exceptionally healing and has been used for thousands of years in natural medicine. It is liquid gold and the worry now is that our humble bee is deeply under threat. For the gal who started off scared stiff of these creatures, that thought concerns me particularly as I’ve become more and more endeared to these lovely beings. I’m also more interested in conservation now, not living beyond our means, and living a more sustainable lifestyle, so my interest in protecting our wildlife gets stronger over time.

I think there’s lots we can all do to help whether that’s planting more bee-friendly flowers in our gardens, sponsoring a bee hive or making sure we support the work organisations like the Soil Association are doing to protect our native bees. If we don’t and they are wiped out we would be without much of the food we have come to rely on. The picture without bees is a very bleak one indeed.

So when I hear about natural skincare brands who are utilising the healing power of honey and propolis, I get quite excited. And when that range is made by a bee keeper herself, I feel doubly so.

Tanya kindly sent me their Lemon Myrtle Gel Cleanser and the Lemon Myrtle Moisturiser for my combination / oily skin. The Lemon Myrtle range contains honey, purifying extracts of citrus, witchhazel and antibacterial lemon myrtle to regulate oiliness and condition the skin. Each product has been carefully formulated to promote a clear, soft and smooth complexion. So what did I think of the products I was sent to try out?

The first thing to say is that their range comes in beautiful white glass bottles. They look exceptionally chic and I loved using them. In addition to the Lemon Myrtle range, Tanya popped in a sample size of the Balancing Orange Blossom cleanser and moisturiser for me to try out too. They have 3 ranges; Lemon Myrtle for oily / combination skin, Orange Blossom for normal skin and Rose Otto for dry / normal skin.

Lemon Myrtle No.1 Honey Gel Cleanser, 50ml, £25.00

I love a facial wash cleanser particularly in the morning and this one was lovely and refreshing to use. Although it says it gently foams, I didn’t really find this. It is a lovely consistency and is gentle yet deeply cleansing on the skin. Your skin is left clean but soft and hydrated. I was very impressed with it and over time I noticed that my skin really appreciated the products and my pores appeared smaller again.

It smells lovely; fresh, citrusy and reminds me of summer. The orange blossom cleanser is stronger smelling and I felt that Tanya could actually up the aroma in the Lemon Myrtle cleanser without issue, but that’s just my opinion.

Ingredients:

Aqua, Mel (Honey)*, Lauryl Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Gluconolactone, Xanthan Gum, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Oil*, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Yucca Schidigera (Y. Vera) Extract, Backhousia Citriodora (Lemon Myrtle) Peel Oil*, Leptospermum Petersonii (Lemon Tea Tree) Oil*, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil*, Juniperus Communis (Juniper) Fruit Oil*, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil*, Sodium Benzoate, Calcium Gluconate, Parfum*, Limonene+, Linalool+, Citronellol+, Geraniol+ * Organic   + Naturally occurs in essential oils

Lemon Myrtle No.3 Honey Moisturiser, 50ml, £30.00

This moisturiser is a lovely consistency. Light yet creamy. It sunk well into my skin leaving is feeling deeply nourished but not greasy in any way. It was a lovely base for make-up too. I loved the subtle smell of Lemon Myrtle and it woke up the senses in the morning. I would love to try the toner with the other two products in the range to see how they perform together, but in this instance I just used the other spray toners I had at the time which worked well.

Ingredients:

Aqua, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witchhazel) Water*, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil*, Polyglyceryl-3 Rice Brannate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Cera Alba (Beeswax)*, Alcohol*, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil*, Mel (Honey)*, Lecithin*, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract*, Myrtus Communis Leaf Extract*, Olea Europaea Leaf Extract*, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil*, Amorphophallus Konjac Root Powder, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder*, Backhousia Citriodora (Lemon Myrtle) Leaf Oil*, Leptospermum Petersonii (Lemon Tea Tree) Oil*, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil*, Gluconolactone, Sodium Benzoate, Calcium Gluconate, Parfum*, Limonene+, Linalool+    * Organic   + Naturally occurs in essential oils

Once again this natural and organic skincare range which is Soil Association accredited is a fabulous find. Unless you are vegan, this range would be a perfect addition to your bathroom cabinet, particularly if you are prone to sensitive skin no matter what your skincare type. I’ve really enjoyed trying out the range and I’m tempted to try out the Orange Blossom range too as I loved the smell. Gorgeous !

If you’d like to find out more about Therapi Honey Skincare, you can pop across to their website. You can buy direct from them or their range is stocked by Content Beauty. Therapi are on Facebook and you can follow them on Twitter.

Have any of you experienced the fabulous Therapi Skincare range? If so, do leave me a comment below. As always, I love to hear from you.

Until next time xx

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Disclaimer: I was sent a 50ml bottle of Lemon Myrtle Gel Cleanser and a 50ml pot of Lemon Myrtle of their Honey Moisturiser to try out. All opinions are my own thoughts and feelings on the products I have tried. I genuinely love this range of skincare.