Luscious Looking Lashes!

They're a girl's secret weapon , they can be used to get her own way , get herself out of trouble and get helpless boys to tend to her every whim.

I am of course talking about eyelashes . . sometimes all a girl has to do is flutter her lashes in a demure , beguiling way and otherwise hardy men just melt and give in to whatever the girl in question may be demanding.

Great lashes can make us look more youthful, feminine and open up narrow or tired looking eyes.

Now with such a great secret weapon we must keep our lashes looking tip top and I will share with you my all time favourite treatments that'll have everyone cooing at how gorgeous they look, not to mention putty in your hands!

My own lashes are long but poker straight and were quite fine until I started using RapidLash , an amazing serum that uses cosmetic ingredients to help promote the appearance of healthier looking natural lashes and brows. It is dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested, cruelty free, Paraben and fragrance free and safe for contact lens wearers like myself. I first started using this serum two years ago, a few months before my wedding, so that they looked great on the day, without the need for extensions and was amazed and delighted with the results.

I applied it daily, just before I went to bed, along my top lash line ( the same place as you'd apply a liquid eyeliner ) with the fine brush in the tube and ensured my lashes were completely clean and dry first. They take a couple of minutes to dry and you can also apply on your brows too if they have sparse patches in them where the hair refuses to grow. After several weeks I noticed a difference - my lashes were thicker, longer and more curly than straight, which they'd always been. The longer I used it the healthier, shinier , thicker and longer they became and I had so many comments from friends and strangers including beauticians who didn't think they were my own lashes. I have gone through periods where I haven't applied it for a few months and my lashes started to go back to how they were before so you do have to continue using to get the results but at £39.99 rrp a tube it is well worth it because it lasts for about 4-5 months. Once you get the desired results, which you'll start to see after about 6 weeks, you can use 3-4 times a week instead of every day just to maintain.

I would thoroughly recommend this product if you have short, fine or sparse lashes you'll be really pleased with the results!

RapidLash say: RapidLash® Eyelash Enhancing Serum is specifically designed to help improve the appearance of fuller-looking eyelashes. Utilizing our exclusive Hexatein™1 Complex, RapidLash® targets the eyelash needs from every angle: from moisturizing factors and nourishment, to boosting the appearance of more voluminous-looking lashes. The clinical studies indicate an improvement in the appearance of lash length by up to 50% and in the appearance of lash volume by up to 75%.

The second treatment that I am absolute hooked on is called LVL Lashes ( this stands for Length, Volume and Lift ) by Nouveau Lashes. It is the first non-invasive lash treatment that offers an alternative to using mascara and extensions by enhancing your own natural lashes without damaging them in any way. It thickens , lengthens , curls and darkens your lashes and the results last about 6 weeks. I have been regularly visiting salon owner Sandra Sheikh at beautiful salon Ibrows etc ( 16 Seymour Place W1H ) for the LVL Lash treatment for the past 10 months and now cannot live without it! The treatment takes about 45 minutes where you lay on a comfortable therapist bed with a cushion underneath your head and neck. They use a disc instead of a roller to curl the lashes and there are 3 sizes of discs to choose from depending on the lift you wish to get, ranging from subtle to super lifted. A special volumising solution is applied to lashes which swells them to at least double their thickness and also a tint which gives depth to fairer lashes or lashes that are lighter at the ends from the sun, etc. When I look in the mirror after the treatment I'm always amazed at how fantastic my lashes look even though I've had it done many times! They're beautifully lifted, separated , full and glossy as though I'm wearing the world's best mascara, except the beauty of this treatment is that I don't need to wear mascara at all once I've had this done, which saves me precious time in the mornings and getting it off at the end of the day. I've never enjoyed wearing mascara particularly as it can flake , make my contact lenses dry and itchy and is a pain to remove so this is such a great option for me. If however you are a mascara lover and won't be without it, fear not you can still wear after having this done (after the initial 12 hours because it's still developing during that period).

I find I need less eye makeup and when I wake up in the mornings I look more wide eyed , awake and fresh even if I've not had a lot of sleep or risen early and my lashes do not feel dry or damaged in any way so you don't need to leave any down time after the 6 weeks before booking in for another LVL Lash treatment. I could rave on about this treatment for ages or I could just show you a before and after of my lashes after my last treatment and you can see for yourself , I cannot recommend this enough if your lashes are straight , fine or fair or all of the above!

The third product that I've noticed a real difference using is the LVL Eyelash Conditioning Serum. I started using it just over 2 months ago and I find it really helps to keep my lashes well conditioned and the treatment lasting longer . It's special formula coats and seals each eyelash, which locks in moisture and it makes my lashes look really shiny and healthy. I apply twice a day as recommended, it's got a curved wand which helps to really get into the lashes and separate them  and is a brilliant primer for mascara or to use just on it's own. We use serum on our hair to make it look and feel glossy, conditioned and smooth so why not on our lashes which are washed twice a day when we cleanse our face and are slept on,,rubbed and all sorts things that can dry or weaken them. They definitely benefit from some TLC and you'll notice a difference.

I'd love to hear your results and see your photos from trying any or all of the above because I know how they've changed my lashes from so so to wow!

 

 

Wax On, Wax Off

What does every mother tell their daughter when they hit puberty ?? "Darling don't make the same mistake as I did and shave your legs because they'll grow back thicker and  feel horrible and prickly. You'll really regret it!" 

Right?? That's what my mum said to me and what all my friend's mothers beseeched them, followed by "I'll book a leg wax for you at a salon and get it done properly. You'll thank me". 

And did we listen? Did we heck! No, as soon as those unsightly hairs appeared on our shins we went straight down to Boots, against our mother's better judgement, and bought the razor we'd seen in the tv ad with the girl with the long, lean, tanned limbs, convinced that using it would somehow transform our legs not only to silkily smooth but to those of the models. Our heart racing at the till at the excitement of doing something we weren't meant to be doing and feeling all grown up, just like the time we were bought our first bra. We raced home, the Boots bag stuffed inside our school bag (lest our mothers should suspect what we were up to) with the razor and the last minute decision shaving foam inside, desperate to lock ourself in the bathroom and get on with the task.

Some girls were blessed enough to have fair hair that one could hardly notice and others cursed with thick, black, coarse hairs that screamed to be removed-I fell somewhere in between these two camps-but whatever we were given we were determined it was going to go!

So having lathered up the thick white foam all over our shins (and some were bold enough to go above the knee onto the thigh) we copied what we'd seen in the razor tv ad and did big sweeping upward movements with the razor, yelping slightly as we inevitably nicked the skin in parts, until all the shaving foam had gone. A quick rinse and a pat dry and a dollop of moisturiser later and beneath our fingertips were silky, smooth, hair free legs! Wow, they felt and looked amazing! We were almost tempted to run into the living room and declare our mothers feel our smooth leg but quickly remembered that she'd be furious and just sat admiring them for an age ,thinking how we couldn't wait to tell our friends at school the next day.

Within the next couple of days the hair grew back prickly and darker and eventually we told our mothers what we'd done who then gave us the "I told you so" lecture but by then it was too late and we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Shave every day to keep the silky smoothness or grow out and then go and get them waxed. But what teenage girl could go through the embarrassment of letting them grow out, particularly if we'd begun the shaving process in summer when we wouldn't be able to hide the hairiness under the obligatory opaque school tights. So the chore of having to shave every day commenced and we rued the day we ever bought the damned razor and wished we'd paid heed to our mother's advice.

This went on for a few years until epilators became all the trend and they sounded like the perfect solution. Weeks of hair free, smooth legs sounded like heaven, all done in the comfort of your own home with no costly salon visits. My mother had bought one (I cannot recall which brand it was) and suggested I try it. Well I certainly was not prepared for the utter pain that ensued!! It was like getting a fine blade and rapidly jabbing it into my skin over and over-horrendous is an understatement! I couldn't finish even half a shin, it was so painful and that swiftly put an end to any hopes of perching elegantly on the edge of a chair and gliding an epilator along my legs in a dainty fashion whenever the hairs reared their ugly heads, without having to spend a bean (after the initial lay out obviously which I recall being quite considerable at the time) or leave the house.

Since then I have had varying experiences waxing -from slick in and out jobs at nice salons including the strip wax treatment at Urban Retreat in Harrods, to regularly visiting Katherine Jenkin's personal waxer , to tea tree waxes-I've never had a sugar or chocolate wax mind you, although I'm sure they would smell heavenly! I've been in salons that shouldn't really be in the beauty business, one salon in particular  springs to mind, a small beauty parlour in Oregon, Washington State where the therapist (or should I say butcherer) did a horrific job of trying to wax my legs that it nearly put me off waxing for life. I've been surrounded by countless bits of cloth and towels on the floor of my living room for almost two hours, repeatedly having to heat a pot of wax I'd bought from Sally's Beauty Supplies, a million times in the microwave because it never got quite hot enough. After all that I couldn't even reach the backs of my legs! On the whole though I must say I find waxing relatively quick and painless and I've found a good therapist and salon locally ago who charge £12 for half a leg wax which I think is pretty good going. The down side is that I don't always have time to get to an appointment. 

The perfect solution to my lack of free time would you believe, is epilating. Yes, after my horrendous experience as a teenager I never thought I'd be saying these words but a few years ago I happened to be watching a show on the QVC Shopping Channel, while I was in the studio for another show, and there waxing lyrical (no pun intended) about an Emjoi Total Concept Epilator were two female presenters and a model demoing the product. The main consensus that they kept repeating time after time was that it wasn't as painful as the epilators of the Nineties used to be and how it was so quick and easy to do yourself at home. Plus it came with a very reasonable price tag of £29.99. They had me convinced I needed this in my life so I rang up the number on the screen and days later this little baby did in fact change my life. It sounds a bit dramatic but it had exactly the same results as waxing ie I could go for 6-8 weeks between using, my legs felt smooth afterwards and the hairs grew back finer , it was slightly uncomfortable but certainly very bearable after a shower when my pores were open. But the main beauty of it was that I could do this at ANYTIME or any place which was fantastic for someone who was always working and couldn't keep salon appointments. I have taken this away with me, used in my bathroom, bedroom, hotel room, sun lounger (no one else was there!) and outside on the terrace. It takes 20 minutes (if you're really anal about getting every last hair like me) per leg, is small enough and lightweight enough to carry and takes just 2 AA batteries.

So to summarise (yes I am aware I have waffled on somewhat) I would say waxing and epilating both have equally good results but one is for when I have time to go to a salon and the other is for when I don't. It's that simple and if like me you are a busy bee and barely have time to tie your shoes laces let alone sit in a salon then I would go online now and order an epilator! It'll change your life.