Liv's Beauty Spot

The benefits of using coconut oil on your skin and hair, and ways you can use it.

25/11/2018

Fairly recently I discovered how beneficial and effective using coconut oil on your skin can be. I was shopping in the city when I saw a pot of coconut oil in one of the promotions and I’d heard that it can be good for adding moisture to your hair so I picked it up and thought I’d give it a try.

Before I used it I decided to do a bit of research as to why it was good for you and how it can be used. Turns out it has loads of purposes and can be very beneficial to your hair and skin.
Firstly were going to look at what coconut oil is and what are it benefits. Coconut oil is simply a type of fat, it is a highly saturated oil and at room temperature it is solid, however when heated up it becomes a liquid. It has many benefits not only for your hair and skin but it can also help with various health conditions, in particular it can be used to help lower LDL cholesterol levels as well as many other health benefits.
Some benefits that coconut oil has on hair and skin are:

Can help to treat acne. Many people assume that because coconut oil is, well… oily that it is a bad idea for people with already oily and greasy skin to use as they think this can worsen their acne, this however doesn’t appear to be the case as studies have shown that lauric acid (found in coconut oil) has been found to kill the bacteria linked to acne, in fact it has been shown in another study that it can be more effective at clearing acne than benzoyl peroxide (a popular ingredient used to clear acne). It’s anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties also help to clear acne.
Studies on animals have shown that coconut oil has anti-inflammatory properties. It is not certain that we can translate this onto humans as the research that I found on this was performed on rats, however it does give us an indication.
Coconut oil has anti-microbial properties, making it great for fighting against infections on the skin, it is has been found effective for killing fungi and bacteria.
It maintains the hydration of your skin, causing you less prone to develop skin conditions such as eczema and providing a barrier for your face to keep out bacteria.
Coconut oil has been found to stimulate the growth of hair, it can also prevent hydral fatigue, this basically means keep your hair hydrated.

So now we know a few of the benefits, but how do we use coconut oil and where can we use it? Here are some ways coconut oil can be used:
First of all, moisturizer, I cannot stress enough how amazing this stuff is when it comes to keeping my skin hydrated. I just scoop a small amount of it out of the tub, rub it between my fingers to melt it and massage it into my face, since I’ve been doing this not only as my skin cleared up drastically, it feels softer and much more hydrated. I apply coconut oil to my face every morning and night after washing. It also works as a brilliant moisturizer for your body, you can literally cover yourself head to toe in it! A good tip is you can also give yourself a mini facial with coconut oil, just apply it to your face in circular motions and massage into your skin for 5-10 minutes, you will notice the difference I promise!
Another great use for coconut oil is removing make-up, sometimes I find it difficult to remove all of my makeup after I’ve washed my face, especially when it comes to mascara. If you have this issue too then look no further, all you have to do is take a generous amount of coconut oil, rub it onto the area that you want to remove the makeup and wipe over with cotton pad, guaranteed you will be able to remove it all.
Coconut oil is great to put on your lips, I carry around a small pot throughout the day with me because I’m always on the go and whenever I need to top up on my lips I just get a little bit of coconut oil and it helps with hydration.
Sometimes I put coconut oil on the ends of my hair before going to sleep and wash it out in the morning, I find that my hair looks more shiny and feels softer when I’ve done that, however I don’t do this too frequently as my hair isn’t particularly dry, but this would be great for someone with dry, brittle hair to incorporate into their routine.
Once of my favorite uses for coconut oil, which I think is brilliant is using it as a highlighter. Sometimes I use coconut oil as a highlighter when I’m going for a more dewy effect and it really does work and look great, the one thing I will say about this thought is that I find that it tends to fade fairly quickly, maybe this is just because the skin has absorbed it, maybe it’s just me, I’m not quite sure but I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.

In conclusion, I'm glad that I bought coconut oil as I have noticed the difference in how bright and healthy my skin looks and I am definitely going to continue to use it. One of the best things about coconut oil as well is that it’s widely available and it’s very affordable, so most people have access to it! Have any of you tried coconut oil before, what do you think of it if so?

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MY EXPERIENCE SHOPPING ONLINE WITH H&M.

10/11/2018

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Ok, so today is a bit of a different post to my usual, the other day I downloaded the H and M app onto my phone because I liked the concept that you could shop on your phone for items of clothing from high-street brands. So I piled up my basket, made my order and waited for the delivery.

First thing I’m going to say about the delivery of the item is that I was impressed with the fact that I was e-mailed by Hermes (the delivery company) when my package was going to arrive and that I was able to track my order, however the company did not manage to deliver my parcel that day and I received an e-mail saying that the delivery was attempted, I thought this was strange as I live at college and there is a 24/7 security guard on the main site of the college and the package was meant to be delivered in the daytime anyway so there definitely would have been somebody to receive it. Anyways, I wasn’t particularly bothered by this so I just waited until the next day as I received an e-mail again saying that it would come the day after… No delivery, great! By this point I decided to e-mail H and M costumer services to express my confusion about why the delivery company had been having problems delivering. I received a quick response the next morning apologizing about the situation and they told me that they had contacted the delivery company and it should arrive that day, luckily it did and I was finally ready to see my new goodies!

The clothing was packaged nicely and each individual item was in it’s own bag/ box. One thing that I didn’t see coming that I probably should have expected was the fact that some of the items did not fit, of course this for me is the main risk when it comes to online shopping because I usually try on clothes when I am shopping on the high-street, however with H & M I found that their sizing was a bit off, personally I think that their sizing is a tad on the large size, I’m a size eight and I found that most of the clothes were a bit big, this isn’t a massive issue as they weren’t humongous but not really up to my expectations. Some of the items were of a good quality however other items were quite flimsy and thin even and these weren’t necessarily the cheaper items either some of the pricier things that I had ordered were quite frankly bad quality items however I do need to remember that H and M is a cheap clothing brand and most of the items I was satisfied with when it came to quality.

Unfortunately one of my items of clothing was faulty, the most annoying thing is that it was my favorite item when I placed my order, it was a white fluffy jumper and I was really excited to have it because I was planning what I could wear with it and how to make it a look, it was quite a bit too big as I did order a medium but I managed to fix it with a belt and some heels. Unfortunately after I had salvaged the jumper and made it into a sleek, comfortable outfit I noticed a big hole in the stitching of one of the sleeves at the back, so annoyed. I called H and M costumer services and they were helpful, they told me that they could organize a courier to come and pick up my order but I really didn’t want to go through the whole process again with the delivery company, I was a bit put off because the delivery company struggled to deliver my order, let alone pick up a faulty item. The other option was that I could send it back myself or go in store to get a refund and so I just decided that I’d take this into my own hands and said that I would go in and return it myself. The man on the phone was very helpful, polite and gave me a lot of options so overall I was satisfied with the costumer service.

In conclusion I would give my shopping experience online with H & M a 5/10, the delivery was more complicated than it needed to be, there was a faulty item and the sizing wasn't perfect, however the costumer service was good and helped with the situation effectively and some of the clothing was still nice. I think next time I shop at H & M it will be in store.

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L'OREAL HYDRA GENIUS REVIEW.

19/8/2018

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A few weeks back I was shopping in town and I remembered that I needed a moisturizer and so I decided to pop into Boots and have a look for one, when I was looking around I noticed the L'Oreal Hydra Genius, the reason why it caught my eye was because it was in a glass, all- blue bottle with a pump dispenser, I though it looked different and it was on sale for only £6.66 so I decided to buy it and give it a try!

What interested me the most was that the Hydra Genius is not a cream formula it is more like a thick gel and so I thought that I would prefer it because I don't really like putting thick creams on my face because I feel like when I do I am not allowing my skin to breathe as much whereas if I used a thinner formula I would still be able to keep my skin hydrated whilst allowing the air to get to it.
The Hydra Genius is said to provide 72 hour moisture, penetrate deeply for a healthy looking glow and immediately absorb into the skin.
I do think that the formula absorbs very quickly into the skin, I also think that it soothes the skin very well and helps to cool it down, this could be due to the aloe vera in the product as aloe vera is known for its cooling and healing properties. I would also agree that it does give my skin a healthier glow, I haven't been wearing much makeup this summer especially when it comes to foundation, this is partly due to the fact that the weather has been to hot, however the other reason is because my skin has been so good most days I haven't felt the need to.

I think that overall the Hydra Genius is a very good alternative to moisturizer, especially for those who do not like to use thicker formulas on their face, it is also very cheap for what it is, the prices do vary depending on where you purchase the product, mine was £6.66 on sale from £10 in Boots and it is a good size at 70ml. The instructions say to use one pump for face and neck, however I use two because I don't think one is enough. I have been using the product for a couple of weeks now and am so impressed that I am considering making it my permanent moisturizer.

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A SURPRISING FIND, GEORGE MAKEUP

25/6/2018

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Hello everybody, I know it's been a while but i'm back and am keen to be writing more over the summer as I have all the time in the world right now.
Today I am going to be talking about the George makeup range that they are selling in ADSA. The other day I was out shopping and as always found my way to the beauty isles and I noticed that George (the ASDA clothing brand) had a makeup stand, I was surprised because i'd never seen any makeup from George before. When I went to go check some of the makeup out I couldn't believe how pretty the packaging was and some of the powders actually looked gorgeous so I had to pick up a couple of bits.

Lets start with the powders that I picked up, honestly they're beautiful, and i'm really not one to obsess over every makeup item I see or shiny thing that catches my eye however I feel like both of these powders have a warm glow to them and they work perfectly together.
I found that the highlighter corresponded very well with my bronzer because it still has a slightly bronzed effect however it is lighter and it shimmers, a small amount of the blush also worked well with my makeup because it has a slightly more rosy tone, however it is not too overpowering, I like this because I prefer to have a very subtle blush when I wear blusher.

As far as pigmentation is concerned I was very happy with the colour payoff, above you can see the the difference between how they look in the shade compared to in the sun and I must admit the highlight is popping in the sun it looks amazing.
When it came to the durability of the powders I wasn't either impressed or disappointed, as the day came further to an , end they did begin to fade, however this isn't unusual of course your makeup is going to start to fade so for me this wasn't an issue.
Another thing to take note of is that the George makeup range is incredibly cheap, especially for the quality, these powers both cost me £4 and I would definitely buy them both again.

I was impressed with the concealer straight away as soon as I saw that it was one of the concealers where you click the bottom and the product comes out of the brush at the end, I don't know why I just find them so much easier to use.
When I was in the shop I noticed that there were three different shades for this concealer and they were light, medium and dark.
I found that the product went on well and it was easy to blend in, however one thing I would take note of if you are thinking about getting this concealer is that the coverage is not the best, don't get me wrong it helped me to cover up some of the darkness under my eyes however it is more of a dewy concealer, hence the name 'Illuminating Concealer'.
If you are one of those people that are just looking to completely conceal as much as possible I think that George do other concealers however I have not tried them so am not sure what they are like.
This concealer was fairly durable, not the best but it stayed on for the day and I was happy with that.
This concealer cost me £3.50 and at a price like that who can complain.

My final thoughts are that George has a lovely makeup range with a total of 156 different products, they make near enough any makeup item you can think of and their products from what I have tested are fairly good quality. If you are on a budget George makeup is the way to go because you can still get some pretty, durable makeup for really cheap prices.

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The benefits of using coconut oil on your skin and hair, and ways you can use it.

MY EXPERIENCE SHOPPING ONLINE WITH H&M.

L'OREAL HYDRA GENIUS REVIEW.

A SURPRISING FIND, GEORGE MAKEUP

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