Bring Veganuary into Your Skincare

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“Veganuary is a name for going vegan, or not eating or using animal products, for the month of January”

For many people, Veganuary is a time to try to make the transition to a plant based diet and wean yourself off of animal products. It’s a great place to start if a cruelty-free lifestyle is something you covet, but there’s actually a lot more to it than just changing the food you eat, as many products also contain animal byproducts or rely on animal testing. With this in mind, we’ve curated a list of five of our favourite cruelty-free, vegan beauty products which can replace your usual skincare items for Veganuary and beyond. 

Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Renewing Rose Cleanser

This cleanser from Aromatherapy Associates is a  vegan and nut-free blend of essential oils which combine to create an ultra-gentle yet supremely effective facial cleanser. Damask rose, jojoba and geranium help to brighten, hydrate and cleanse the skin, melting away impurities and leaving the skin dewy and fresh. 

Bloom and Blossom And Breathe Relaxing Shower Oil

Bloom and Blossom products are all 100% vegan and cruelty free made here in the UK from naturally derived ingredients. This shower oil is a great option if you’re trying to go vegan and the blend of frankincense, ylang ylang and lemongrass help relax and calm the skin and mind before sleep. It can be used in the shower or bath, depending on your preference.

Dermalogica Biolumin-C Serum

If you’re looking for a product which is vegan friendly and takes care of fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin and hyperpigmentation then this is the serum for you. It contains a stable vitamin C complex, as well as lactic acid, sophora japonica flower extract and chia seed oil which will brighten, firm and prevent damage to the skin. Make sure you use an SPF while you’re using this serum as it can increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun. 

Elemis Superfood AHA Glow Booster

AHAs, or alpha-hydroxy acids, are super-hero ingredients in skincare, using natural acids and enzymes to give lacklustre skin a boost. This glow booster from Elemis uses AHAs from cherry and pumpkin to create a formula which is instantly absorbed and offers a completely vegan, cruelty-free option for brightening your complexion. 

Orly Breathable Fresh Start

You may be surprised to learn that there are ingredients in many nail polishes which are decidedly NON-vegan. From pearl essence, which is derived from fish scales and can give nail polish a shine, to carmine, which made from boiled and crushed beetles, and oleic acid, made from animal fat or tallow, it can be hard to find a nail varnish which is even close to cruelty free. Fortunately, all of Orly’s polishes are vegan and cruelty free, so you can still enjoy colourful nails without the worry.

Dermaplaning – A Beginner’s Guide

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acne, chemical, chemical peel, damage, Decleor Thyme Gentle Peeling Cream, Decleor Ultra Protective Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF50 Face, Dermalogica UltraCalming Serum Concentrate, Dermaplaning, doctor, dry skin, dull skin, exfoliate, exfoliation, face, fine lines, hyperpigmentation, inflammation, irritation, Keratosis pilaris, nurse, peel, practitioner, professional, protect, protection, rosacea, scalpel, sensitive skin, skin, skin condition, SPF, SPF50, sun, sun damage, wrinkles

Photo by Antonika Chanel on UnsplashDermaplaning – A Beginner’s Guide

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 6 months, there’s a good chance that you will have seen the videos doing the rounds where it looks like people are using a knife to scrape their skin off. What you’re actually witnessing are videos of dermaplaning, something that is considered the next big thing in the beauty world. We thought it was time that we took a look at what dermaplaning is and give all of the details you need to know before taking the plunge. Read on for more information:

What is it?

Dermaplaning is an exfoliating treatment which should only be done by a doctor or licensed practitioner and involves gently scraping the surface of your skin off with a surgical scalpel to remove dead cells and the fuzzy hair that most of us have on our faces.

What does it do?

Dermaplaning is said to have many benefits; as well as making your skin feel baby soft, it helps foundation to apply smoothly and is also said to be useful for acne, rosacea and people with hyperpigmentation.

Who is it good for?

The answer to this is basically anybody who feels that their skin needs a boost. If you have dull skin, dry skin, sun damage, fine lines, keratosis pilaris, sensitive skin, rosacea, acne or any other skin condition which causes you you bother dermaplaning is probably worth a go.

Is there anything I need to bear in mind?

Dermaplaning is considered safe for all skin types, however, if you do have highly sensitive skin it’s worth bearing in mind that dermaplaning might cause you added irritation. As we mentioned above, dermaplaning should only be carried out by a professional so we definitely do not recommend going out and buying scalpels and trying this yourself. Scalpels and faces really do not mix!

Which products should I use before and after?

If you have sensitive skin, it’s worth bearing in mind that dermaplaning can cause a little irritation. We’d recommend adding Dermalogica UltraCalming Serum Concentrate to your daily skin routine in the run up to your appointment as this will help to keep irritation and inflammation to a minimum.

Lots of people also opt for a chemical peeling treatment immediately after dermaplaning as the newly revealed skin is more receptive to strong treatments. If you want to do this yourself, we recommend Decleor Thyme Gentle Peeling Cream, a gentle cream exfoliator that removes dead skin cells for a clear and radiant complexion.

Finally, you’ll need to protect your skin from the sun for a few weeks after treatment, so make sure you start using Decleor Ultra Protective Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF50 Face on a daily basis, too.

Reboot Your Routine for 2020

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Photo by Kim Carpenter on Unsplash

When it comes to a beauty routine, it’s really easy to get stuck in a rut. You’ve invested in products and you want to make the most of them so you stick with them steadfastly, even if they’re not the best thing for your skin. Rebooting your beauty routine means taking a look at what your skin needs in the here and now, rather than what it needed when you bought the product that you’re currently using, and gives you a chance to assess what would be best for your complexion. Here are five ways in which you can can you reboot your routine and give your skin a much-needed boost.

Keep it Simple

Something we see quite often is people building a beauty routine and adding in more products as they go along, so that by the time they decide to reboot they’re using far more products than they really need to. Stripping back your routine and looking at the basics of what your skin really needs will help you to form a baseline which you can add to if you really need to to or just stick to a cleanse, tone and moisturise routine if that’s what’s working for you.

Think About the Here and Now

As we said in our introduction, rebooting your routine is very much about what your skin needs right now. Skincare needs change throughout the year; you may have invested in your current routine at a time where your skin was super dry whereas now you’re dealing with excess sebum production or a time when breakout to a problem when now anti-ageing properties are more of a concern. Keeping your skin care air current is one of the most important things that you can do for your skin.

SPF is Non-Negotiable

If you asked us what the single most important product in a daily skin routine is, you may be surprised to hear the answer always will be SPF. Even with our relatively weak English sun, protecting your skin from its harmful rays is the most important thing you can do on a daily basis, even above and beyond the cleanse, tone and moisturise routine. Invest in a sun cream which is both lightweight and broad spectrum, and make sure you use it every single day even when it’s grey and rainy outside.

Use Complimentary Products

While we would never suggest that skincare only works if you use every product from the same range, you do often find that products from the same range are formulated to work well together. If you find the product which works well for your skin and there are other product which compliment it, there’s a good chance that these will work well for your skin too. Pure Beauty offers several different skin kits which contain miniatures of full-sized products, which allow you to try a range of of beauty treatments before you invest in the larger version.

Ditch the Wipes

We know how simple it is to reach for a packet of face wipes, at the end of a long day, especially when the last thing you want to do is take your makeup off instead of sinking into bed a couple of minutes earlier. However, aside from the fact that face wipes are doing horrendous amounts of damage to the planet, they’re also not that great for your skin either. Using a face wipe basically allows you to transfer the makeup and grime around your face, and doesn’t really cleanse your complexion very well at all. Instead we would suggest opting for the double cleanse, using an oil or balm to melt away makeup and grime, followed by a gel mousse or cream for a deep cleanse. This is especially important if you wear heavy makeup up and a daily SPF as it will help to lessen the risk of breakouts.

How to Keep Your Make Up in Place in a Heatwave

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Okay, lets be real – summer hasn’t exactly hit us with much in the way of a heatwave, despite what the tabloids keep telling us. However, it’s only the beginning of July and we’re hopeful that things will get a lot warmer in the coming weeks. With this in mind, we thought we’d share a few handy tips on how to keep your make up in place once the British Summertime decides to switch on the heaters!

Prep Your Skin

The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure your face is totally clean, but without inflaming your skin or making it hotter than it already is – the cooler your face is when th make up goes on, the better staying power it will have. Dermalogica UltraCalming Cleanser is a soothing, pH-balanced gel/cream that glides easily over face to cleanse and cool sensitised or highly reactive skin.

Tone it Down

Next, you should opt for a toner which will cool and calm your skin; we’d recommend Dermalogica All Over Toner. This little spritz will refresh and purify your skin and contains cooling ingredients which will purify your skin before your next step. Allow it to really sink into your face before you move on.

All About the Base

Once you’ve got your skin cool and clean, adding a base for your make up to cling to will increase your chances of getting it to stay put. A high-quality primer such as Dermalogica SkinPerfect Primer SPF30 is remarkably lightweight but very effective in terms of keeping your makeup in place. In addition, it cools your face when applied and even offers sun protection, which is an added bonus on sweltering days.

Think About Your Products

You can apply all the magical stuff in the world UNDER your make-up, but if you choose the wrong make-up products to begin with, you’re going to be on to a loser. Opt for oil-free foundation as this has a tendency to slide off of even the driest faces in the heat, and try to use waterproof eye products if you don’t want them to be affected by sweat.

Go For an Up-Do

You may want to wear your hair down in nice, beachy waves during a heatwave, but wearing your hair up and off of your face is far better for keeping your face in place! Hair around your face will not only increase your body temperature, and therefore your tendency to sweat, but will will also increase the amount of friction around your face, carrying your make-up away with the sweat.

Five Summer Beauty Hacks

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Photo by Tamara Bellis on Unsplash

Now that we’ve has a stretch of half decent weather which has lasted for more than a week, we’re finally confident that we can say “summer is on it’s way!”. With the changes in weather and longer days, most of us like to change our beauty routines at this time of year, so we thought we’d give you five hacks that you can use in summer to make your life easier and more comfortable.

Cling Film

If you live alone but need to apply fake tan or sun lotion to your back, there’s a simple solution that you won’t believe until you try it…head to the kitchen and grab some cling film! Cut a piece around one metre long and apply a blob of your sun cream or fake tan to the centre of the film. Then take both ends of the film and use it to rub the lotion over your back as if you were drying off with a towel to evenly spread the lotion.

Get Chilly in the Fridge

A lot of beauty products work better in the summer when you keep them in the fridge – thinks like foundation, nail polish, after sun and lip balms all stay in better condition and work more optimally when they’re refrigerated during the hot weather, and keeping them safe will protect your investment, too.

Multi-Functional Products

If you’re anything like us, you won’t feel like layering a dozen products on your skin on a hot day, so finding products which do more than one things is a good idea. Decleor Green Mandarin Sun-Kissed Glow Cream is a day cream to moisturise, help to prevent fine lines and wrinkles while giving an immediate even sun-kissed glow to all skin types.

Overnight Magic

Night creams are great for rehydrating your skin while you sleep, but if you want your hair looking its best all summer, using some dry oil before bed is a good way to do it. Decleor Satin Softening Dry Oil is scented with a subtle, delicate and beautifully feminine fragrance, and leaves your hair nourished and looking shiny.

Lighten Up

A lot of facial products feel too heavy when the sun is shining, so changing your foundation for a BB cream will help you to achieve a flawless finish without foundation. It contains an SPF and offers 24 hour hydration, as well as a natural looking tint which illuminates and evens out the complexion.