Beauty gifts – The Review Studio

Omnilux Mini Skin Corrector

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Fashion, Gifts for Her, health, REUSABLE, Summer, Tech, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

What I’m about to show you is a new gadget that is revolutionary in skincare. You might have heard of infrared LED light being used to correct flaws on facial skin, but the Omnilux Mini Skin Corrector takes it to a new level with the ease and versatility of this new product.

At first, I wondered where the actual Skin Corrector was. In this tiny box, a round, malleable disk with a tiny 2-pin charge point was in a box all on its own, with a USB 2-pin charger and a box of hydrocolloid Skin Corrector patches. I struggled to see where the actual appliance was but if you watch the video online (link below), you not only see how the device works but what it can do.

The Omnilux Mini Skin Corrector is a portable, very lightweight device which emits near infrared LED light onto your skin. It doesn’t need a lead, it charges from a USB port using the lead provided then once the charge light goes green, it’s ready to use. By placing one of the Skin Corrector patches over the 6 LED lights on the back, it attaches to your skin to emit healing light to work on the layers of your skin. You don’t plug it in, you don’t need to sit still with it. The light does its thing and all you have to do is sit with it on!

You only need between 3 and 5 treatments a week, with each treatment lasting 10 minutes. The lights work on the layers of your skin to boost collagen and reduce fine lines, inflammation, redness and pigmentation. The red wavelength (633nm) reduces inflammation, pigmentation, and redness and helps prompt cellular repair and circulation for a more vibrant complexion. The near-infrared wavelength works on the deeper layers of your skin to help produce new collagen and elastin products to help lump and firm the skin.

It’s completely painless and has no side-effects and gets to work straight away. I sat with it on in a targeted area under my eyes whilst I was typing or watching TV. It’s very slightly warm from the LED lights but that’s it, you don’t even notice it. The Omnilux Hydrocolloid Patches keep the device adhered to the skin so that you can move around easily (no one wants to sit there holding it!) but they also feed the skin with the infused Vitamin C and azelaic acid. Once the 10 minute session is up, it turns itself off so you don’t even have to worry about how long you’re using it for.

The Omnilux Mini Skin Corrector is 100% natural, using the power of light waves to generate collagen in the skin. Safe to use, it’s been cleared for use by the FDA (in the USA) and is brilliantly portable and able to be used by all skin types. I particularly like how small and lightweight it is so that it can even go on holiday with you or you can wear it without having to worry about the weight on your skin, which no doubt would damage the elasticity over time.

How did it work? Well, I’ve been trying it for a few weeks now and I can see plumper skin! There’s a luminosity to my skin that I wasn’t expecting and I really enjoyed being able to sit and have this painless, intervention free method to help me feel like I’m doing something productive with my skin care. Once I took the device off, there was a little redness from the adhesive, but I’m aware that it was also penetrating products into my skin. The area felt slightly warm, like I had been sleeping on that side of my face and turned over but underneath you could see the skin was plumper. Using it several times a week, you can see a slight difference after just 4 or 5 sessions and you feel a difference when you touch your face. It can be used under eyes, for pigmentation and for fine lines, so I have been moving it around and getting my mini-facials in whenever I’m sitting indoors. It’s genius!

More Hydrocolloid Patches can be bought on the Omnilux website as they’re one time use only, but the Omnilux Mini Skin Corrector works a treat, and feels like a real treat on the skin too. I can’t wait until the winter months when I can brighten my skin even without a holiday!

Available from £96.80: https://omniluxled.com/products/skin-corrector

Annabelle Minerals Lipstick, Jumbo Lip Pencil and Refill

beauty, Birthday Gifts, cruelty-free, eco friendly, Fashion, Gifts for Her, health, Home, Mother's Day, Stocking Fillers, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

What beautiful Mother’s Day gifts! Annabelle Minerals have been around since 2012 and founded in the UK to provide handpicked ingredients that are both minimalist and natural. The idea is that the ingredients pamper your skin so that you don’t have to suffer unnecessary layers of heavy chemicals just to look your best. The theme of the ingredients being natural also carries across into the style of make up – natural and understated but still with a flare for style.

We were sent some lovely lip make up for Mother’s Day. Annabelle Minerals have both lipsticks (with refills available online) and jumbo lip pencils which can be used as both lip liners and as a lipstick. There’s several colours online too, including these shades; Apricot for the lipstick you can see and Brown Fig for the refill.

The Shear Lipsticks are presented in these gorgeous gold swizzle sticks and come in Apricot, Brown Fig, Coconut, Dragon Fruit and Strawberry. The names of the colours give away the type of natural ingredients Annabelle Minerals strives for! The Apricot colour I received is a slightly darker shade of my lips, so it’s very natural and glides on superbly. The colour stays all day too, as I discovered when I went out one Friday night wearing it. Only a small amount of the middle of the lips was missing at the end of the night, and probably as a result of drinking.

Once you’ve bought one lipstick, you can buy refills in either the same colour or a different one, and saving not just the packaging but also a bit of money! I was sent my second choice of Brown Fig, a slightly darker shade with a touch of red in it. This was a great colour for when I was wearing a darker outfit and wanted my lips to pop.

The Annabelle Minerals Jumbo Lip Pencil is probably my favourite of all the lip products. I was sent the Marigold colour which compliments all the other lipstick colours in the range. I used it as a lip liner, then you can fill in your lips with that colour, or dab it on as a base before you add a lipstick on top to vary the colour. You can also do the opposite and put the lip liner on top of your lipstick and seal it in and also change the colour.

With each of the lipsticks and the lip liner, they glide on perfectly, don’t come off easily and keep a constant colour. I didn’t notice them on my lips as they’re not greasy at all and in fact, I didn’t even need to blot with each application. They travel really well too, with a pencil lid to the liner and magnetic locking lipstick cases. I’ll be exploring more of the range at Annabelle Minerals, and looking at what Mum would like for Mother’s Day.

Annabelle Minerals Lipstick: £12.90 (Apricot)

https://www.annabelleminerals.com/en_gb/lips/1368-sheer-lipstick.html

Annabelle Minerals Jumbo Lip Pencil: £11.90

https://www.annabelleminerals.com/en_gb/lips/1268-1922590-jumbo-lip-pencil.html#/364-jumbo_lip_pencil-marigold

Annabelle Minerals Lipstick refill: £9.90: (Brown Fig)

https://www.annabelleminerals.com/en_gb/lips/1368-1922976-sheer-lipstick.html#/478-lipstick-brown_fig/485-options-refill

Retreev SMART Tags

Birthday Gifts, Days Out, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, REUSABLE, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I have thankfully never lost luggage on a flight. I’ve had most of my luggage damaged and even ended up with an empty holdall because the airline company ripped a hole in the side and everything fell out, but so far, not lost anything. It’s one of my fears though; going on holiday and not being able to relax because I have nothing to wear but also that my belongings aren’t personal any longer and could be anywhere in the world. Maybe, never to be seen again?

There are a lot of items on the market for tracking down your luggage, but most of then are very expensive and difficult to set up. The Retreev SMART Tag is a credit card sized tag which you affix to your luggage in case your bags get lost. On the back there is a QR code and it has a chip inside too for any of the airlines who can read them. If your bag is lost, anyone can scan he QR code or chip to register it as lost and you receive a message via text and email to say it’s been found. Retreev SMART Tag is recognised by 3000 airports and 400 airlines and is available in multiple languages.

To set it up, tap or scan the card which you are going to attach to your luggage. Complete all your contact details online and activate your tag. There’s no subscription fee, your card is covered for life. If your bag is found, the finder either taps the card or scans the QR code to bring up the ‘found’ form. They fill in the details of where your bag is and how to retrieve it and you as the owner receive a text and email with the finder’s details. There’s no need for them to know your personal information and the tag doesn’t display anything to show that the bag belongs to you.

We were sent a Union Jack and a Lion tag, but there are many to find online at the www.retreev.com website. They have solid metal tags to them too so that it’s difficult to break them off of your luggage and the plastic cards are made of 100% recyclable packaging. Not only are there no subscription fees, but they have a lifetime guarantee and there’s no batteries to have to replace!

Setting up the cards was easy. I just scanned the QR code and filled in a simple form with my name, email and mobile number. The form is set up to be accessible from anywhere in the world so it doesn’t matter where you call home. Retreev send you a login and you activate the card on a dashboard. That’s it! Adding the second tag was easy because you just scan the QR code again and open your account to activate it.

So far I’ve not had any lost luggage to be able to test how it works, but from what I can see it’s a really good idea and keeps your identity safe too. Here’s hoping I won’t ever need to use it but if I do lose any luggage, I’ll be much happier knowing I have the Retreev SMART Tags on them!

Available online from £14.99 at:

retreev SMART Tag – Great Britain / United Kingdom

The Kind Edit Co. Spa Botanique Garden Glove Set

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, Home, Mother's Day, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Calling all of you who need a Secret Santa this year… or who are struggling to find that little gift for Mum or Gran! The Kind Edit Co. have this beautiful Luxury Garden Glove Set and Hand Cream in a gift set, which any garden enthusiast will both love and need.

The set includes a pair of green and pink gardening gloves with elastic fit and finger grips and 125ml hand cream of bergamot, ylang-ylang, lily and sandalwood. The hand cream formula is 95% natural, hence the Kind Edit Co endorsement. You can either put the hand cream on before the gloves when you work in the garden, or apply the cream after working in the garden although you could use it at any time. The hand cream has a lovely floral aroma which is not lost on the fact that this is part of a gardening set!

I like the gloves especially because they’re very heavy duty but made of cotton, so they’re not waterproof but they are softer on the skin. They’re hand wash, which is easier when you’re working outdoors and can just leave them to soak. The hand cream is nice and rich and has a lovely fragrance so if you do put it on under your gardening gloves, it leaves them smelling so sweet!

This is a great gift for the price of £4.99 for anyone who enjoys gardening, and I especially like it as a Secret Santa gift for someone at work.

Available from £4.99: https://well.co.uk/the-kind-edit-co-spa-botanique-garden-glove-set/

Chit Chat Nail Varnish Colour Wheel

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Stocking Fillers, Toys, Vegan, Women

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

This lovely gift set is aimed at girls but with the ten different colours, including pinks and red, it could be a lovely gift for anyone!

Chit Chat’s Nail Varnish Colour Wheel is also vegan, which is not something you find very often in beauty products especially nail varnishes. There are 10 colours (including pink and red but also blue, green and yellow) which are 3.5ml in size each. In the centre of the wheel there’s 12 different glitter colours to add to your nail colour. Whether you use the corresponding glitter and varnish colours or do something outlandish and mix up the complimentary colours, the combinations of glitter gems and nail varnish are endless, and so much fun!

The gift set doesn’t say what age range it’s aimed at, but I would guess children aged 6-10 years old, and not much younger due to the smaller parts. The wacky colours are great to experiment with but also teach children fine motor skills with the application of the brush and then the tiny gems which go over the nail varnish and stock to the surface. To make them really secure, you can use a top coat nail varnish over the top, although that isn’t provided with this set.

Even if you don’t have children in the house, this is a great kit for the colours and nail art, especially as the varnish pots are a smaller size and you can take them on holiday with you. The quality of the varnish is good too. This kit is great as a bonding exercise with an adult and child.

Available from £ 7.50 at: https://well.co.uk/chit-chat-nail-varnish-colour-wheel/

Baylis & Harding Royale Garden Luxury Pamper Keepsake Tin

beauty, Birthday Gifts, Christmas, Gifts for Her, secret santa, Women

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

There has been talk in this office this week of our annual Secret Santa and with a limit of £15 the Royale Garden Luxury Pamper Keepsake Tin Gift Set from Baylis & Harding fits the bill perfectly.

It is one of a number of gifts from the Royale Garden range that contain products scented with a beautiful Rose, Poppy & Vanilla fragrance. The products are beautifully packaged in a keepsake tin and all the products are all individually wrapped in tissue paper, making it feel like an extra special gift.

Inside the tin are

Soap 50g

Body Wash 50ml

Body Butter 50ml

Hand & Nail Cream 50ml

Body polisher

The soap and body wash lather up well and if you layer up the products it helps the beautiful fragrance linger on your skin all day. The body butter is nice and rich, melting into my skin leaving it lovely and soft and fragranced. The hand cream was a delight to use, it was just the right consistency, not too thick where you need to rub your hands a number of times to help it absorb and not too thin where it runs through your fingers. It left my hands feeling soft and smooth without any greasiness. The 50ml tube is perfect for keeping in my handbag too.

As well as being a great Secret Santa gift it is perfect as a stocking filler or a thank you gift for teachers.

RRP £15