Essential Oils

When sleep eludes me ThisWorks Deep Sleep Night Oil helps Mr. Sandman do his job better

February 22, 2019 Paris B 8 Comments

Every time I look at my nephews who refuse to nap or go to bed at night, I tell them “Wait till you get older! You might not even be able to go to sleep when you want to!”

Hello sleeping problems.

I am not a chronic insomniac, but I do go through bouts of having trouble sleeping. I try to manage it, but sometimes it hits you late at night, when you find yourself staring at the ceiling, willing sleep to come, and it eludes you.

I’d recently been going through such a bout, when digging around my skincare cupboard yielded a surprise find – This Works Deep Sleep Night Oil. I’d forgotten I had a bottle!

Can and should Essential Oils be used directly on the skin? I say NO

May 3, 2017 Paris B 20 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using essential oils. I know, it’s all very New Age woo-woo. I’m not really that invested in the New Age movement, but I like my essential oils. Always have for years and years. I like them primarily because they smell so good, and well, to a degree, I believe that some oils can work on my temperament better than others. Lavender for one, soothes me and helps me sleep. Peppermint rejuvenates me and makes me feel refreshed.

But I think people have been lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to the use of essential oils, because of the fact that they’ve been around a long time and they are natural. This was brought home to me when I came across a piece of news on Twitter this week.

No, it’s not just any piece of news on Twitter, it was reported in the Independent (UK), which I’d like to believe isn’t fake news :P

In a nutshell, the lady in the piece of news, applied essential oils directly to her skin, before going for a hot yoga class and then using a tanning bed. She suffered second and third-degree burns on the parts where she applied the essential oils which was attributed to the exposure to UV light. As much as I sympathize with her predicament, I felt that it was also timely for us to remind ourselves, with essential oils enjoying a bit of a renaissance, that essential oils aren’t play things.

Let May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon envelop your skin in its intoxicating iconic balm

August 1, 2016 Paris B 49 Comments

These days I’m a little obsessed about skincare, and that’s rather dangerous because a lot of what I’m obsessed with isn’t available locally. That’s fine, with the invention of the internet, except that a lot of what I’m obsessed with tends to cost a pretty penny as well. Now, that’s the true nub of the problem.

I’d been eyeing the May Lindstrom brand up and down for quite a while, but was too afraid to take the plunge for a very long time due to the high pricetag. However, some time last year, I saw that one of the iconic products – May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon – was included in one of the Cult Beauty boxes, and that’s when I decided to take a chance on it. If it didn’t work for me, at least I didn’t pay full price for it, since there were other items in the box I could enjoy.

Well, it’s only taken me till NOW to give it a go and to tell you about it! To be honest, I only remembered I had it, when my skin was going a little nuts not long ago, and thought a simple skincare routine with just this would help. At the time, because I hadn’t identified the problem, it wasn’t a lot of help, and I mentioned on Instagram that I was disappointed. When I solved the issue with my skin, Blue Cocoon helped my skin recover and I was SOLD! I lapped it up, all £126/US$160 (RM680 approx) of it. OUCH!

It’s all about the Base: My Skincare Routine in 2014

December 24, 2014 Paris B 62 Comments

Hello hello peeps! :D

What’s this PB doing, you may be wondering. Just blogging once a MONTH now instead of almost daily? Well it almost seems that way doesn’t it? There’ll be changes aplenty going on but I’m slowly trying to make that comeback so bear with me :)

What with 2014 coming to an end, and having gone through a lot of ups and downs myself this year, physically and emotionally, towards the end of the year, I found I’d let myself go. My skincare routine was shot to pieces, I was a slob and all I was doing was keeping to the basic cleanse, tone, moisturise and while my skin didn’t go crazy (I do believe I’d left a good enough base that it managed to withstand my neglect) it wasn’t looking at its best.

One day, when things were starting to look up (as they always will because when you’re at your lowest ebb, the only way left to go is up!) I realised that I was just being really shitty to myself and I didn’t see why I should be. So I picked myself up, dusted off the ol’ skincare and got stuck in and within a week, I reaped the benefits.

Dull skin I didn’t quite notice before took a backseat and turned into a clear skinned glow, minor clogged pores especially around my chin unclogged and smoothed out and I just didn’t need very much foundation. The best compliment was being told that my foundation was looking great and I only had the most minimum of base on! When you look good, you feel good, clichéd as it sounds, and putting makeup on was a cinch because everything looks good! :)

Incidentally I also got a few requests to share my skincare products that I’m using now. So I thought it would be nice to share not my skincare products because those change a lot from time to time, but my latest skincare ROUTINE which doesn’t. This way, you get to use the products that suit your skin because you and I may not have the same skintype would we? :)

So, as the year closes I’d like for you to think about not chasing after that new and latest makeup obsession or product for a while, or looking for the highest coverage foundation in the market to mask your skin. Instead, remember that good makeup starts with good skin and as we close the year and step forth into a new one, make it your resolution to better your skin above all else. Here’s my routine and I hope it will help you get started.

Remember, it’s all about the base! ;)

Essential Oils

I tell stories on Instagram @parisbmws