FRIDAY FAVES: Heat, Hair, and The Handmaid’s Tale…

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Friday faves post. I skipped a few while I was on holiday as my faves would have been: cheese, wine and sleeping in… not very interesting! And since I’ve been home I’ve either been catching up with work (my email inbox is a nightmare!) or have been unwell. But enough excuses! Onwards!

Let’s get into my Friday faves…

If any of you heard an incredibly high pitched squealing on Wednesday night then I apologise. It was just me opening my post and finding the new Urban Decay Naked Heat* palette waiting for me. While everyone else goes bananas over the other Naked palettes, I’ve never been a huge fan just because I’m not really one to go wild over nudes. But this palette…oh my. We all know that I’m a fiend for warm-toned orangey eye make up so I cannot wait to have a proper play with this. I’m thinking of doing a post with a few different looks, would that be of interest?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXEASZ4D6X9/

I took so many books to France with me, aiming to read all of them and failed massively. I don’t really know what happened. I am now 3 books behind in my Good Reads challenge (50 books in a year). I’m really trying to go to bed earlier so that I can read more, as I don’t have a commute. At the moment I’m reading The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy which I’m really enjoying – it’s such an unusual concept for a story and so beautifully written. On holiday, of the books I did finish, my favourites were When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (which made me ugly cry) and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (which I’d read before but couldn’t really remember). I really recommend both, especially the latter which feels terrifyingly pertinent at the moment.

I’m still a podcast addict and the newest one I’m bingeing is Generation Why. It’s yet another crime/murder podcast and it’s great – it’s not funny and silly like My Favorite Murder or Last Podcast On The Left, and it’s not as in depth and graphic as Sword & Scale, so if you’re looking for a middle ground then this will be right up your street.

I finally cracked open my nail art drawer this week and am so pleased I did. This pizza nail art is so cute and has had lots of positive comments which is lovely. Let me know if you’d like to see more nail art from me!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW-zJOLjuWc/

This week I had a wonderful facial but it was also possibly the strangest one I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried some very weird facials!) When I read the description of the Skin Aspirations DMK Enzyme Therapy Facial*, it specifically mentioned its suitability for rosacea, which is quite rare. It’s perfect for treating signs of ageing, pigmentation, and acne due to its peel-without-peeling system. Three different mask stages are used to ‘help increase circulation, lymphatic drainage, increase free water levels in the skin and enhance collagen production and improve skin functioning’. So let’s get onto the unusual format of the facial… It starts out with the standard cleansing of the skin and then the first cleansing tonic is applied which some people find a little tingly but it was fine for me. The second mask stage was a peel and this came with a handheld fan for me to use which I thought was odd but as soon as the mask is applied it feels extremely warm and so the fan is essential! As I have rosacea anything ‘warming’ makes me panic but the whole point of this stage is to increase blood flow to the skin so I trusted Simona and went with it! This section only lasts about four minutes and as soon as the mask was removed, my skin felt warm but not angry or as though it was flaring up. The final stage was the enzyme mask and this was the strangest part: a thick clay-like mask was applied over my face and neck and as soon as it started to dry, I could feel the blood pulsing in my face. As the mask dried to a hard finish, it felt like my head was inflating and the mask was getting smaller and tighter, then a part of the mask would crack and it would feel less tight… and the inflating feeling would start again. Then the mask started to pulsate in different sections – I described it to my husband like when a cat kneads your legs when it’s getting comfy, that’s exactly what it was like! It didn’t hurt or irritate my skin, it was just a really odd sensation. If you needed any more proof that it wasn’t painful or uncomfortable: the mask was left on for 45 minutes and I had a bit of a nap!

Here are some photos of me immediately after the facial. As you can see the redness is focused around the areas my rosacea is worst: cheeks, temples and right side of my forehead. It didn’t feel warm or sore at all.

And here is what my skin looked like by the time I got home (even after the rush hour tube!). My skin was pretty much back to normal levels of redness, it felt soft and smooth, and looked plump and healthy. As with the photos above, I have remnants of eye make up on but no other make up:

The facial is £150 but I was in there for 2.5 hours and the results are seriously impressive. Simona really took the time to find out about my skin and skincare routine, and talked me through each stage to make sure I was comfortable and informed. The facial’s focus is on smoothing and plumping, reducing inflammation, strengthening capillaries, improving the skin’s healing capacity, and boosting lymphatic drainage. These are wonderful things for all skin types but especially for rosacea and sensitive skin – I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a skin overhaul.

And the final Friday Faves item… last week I decided to dye my hair purple, because why the hell not? It’s only temporary and I just applied it over my natural hair colour so it’s very subtle, but I love it! I used the Crazy Colors dye in ‘Lavender’. It’s already faded quite a lot (as you can see in the picture above) but I quite like the grungey look as it washes out so I’m really pleased with it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqSpR5DgRt/

A bit of a mixed bag for this return to Friday Faves, I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to let me know your Friday faves in the comments: books, films, TV, podcasts, make up, skincare… anything you love, I want to hear about it!

Lex

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