More summer consumption and my thoughts on music, fashion, film.

As a twenty-five-year-old teenager, some things have changed, my skincare being one of them. As I wrote about last summer, I started implementing retinol into my routine. Not every night, but most nights. Okay, like three nights a week I'll smear a collective £100's worth of my various Paula's Choice retinol serums all over my face. My eyes burn a little if the product gets too close, but eye wrinkles are my biggest concern, so the stinging is usually inevitable.

Come the daytime, I use that basic Kiehl's moisturiser because it never lets me down. But my most recent addition is a skincare-beauty hybrid, which I hear are incredibly popular at the moment. Though, that is only a coincidence. I don't keep up with trends. I'm far too unique and stubborn for that!!

Over a year ago now, my favourite tinted HydraLuminous moisturiser by No7 Beauty was discontinued. Luckily, I stockpile the makeup I love out of fear that this very thing will happen. I've lost too many great products to the eye-watering fate of being discontinued. The Benefit Easy Smokin' Eyes palette being my biggest loss. As well as a fair quarter, if not half, of their product line to be honest... Remember the Hydra Smooth Lip Colour Lipsticks in their kitschy, fluted, cream column-esque case that they used to sell? …Gone! I still have the one I wore as a teenager, in a garish purple-pink. Those lipsticks smelt like crayons in the best possible way.

Well, it has taken me over a year to find an adequate replacement because I hate how most foundations / foundation—adjacent products look irl. In selfies, I think foundation can make you look gorgeous, almost AI. But in real life, heavy skin makeup, (in my opinion!) is not only often unnecessary, but can veer into mask-like uncanny-ness. This isn't at all a judgement of women, just my opinion on foundation as a product. Though, admittedly, some women can apply it with such artistry that it looks incredible; unreal even. But that sort of illustrates my point! Haha.

However, for me, the older I get, the less makeup I want to wear, and the simpler I want my routine to be. So when a product has multiple benefits, that is literally the best-case scenario.

So I was incredibly pleased to find the L'Oréal Paris True Match Nude Plumping Tinted Serum. —That’s a mouthful! Though I don’t recommend you eat it, haha.

For the first time in my life, I didn't habitually purchase the palest shade without testing the rest and, to my surprise, the second palest shade is actually a perfect match to my skin. Like, an insanely perfect colour match. The shade is called Rosy Light.

Habits die hard, and I did also pick up the palest shade too, to use as a highlighter under my eyes or in the winter when I am, perhaps, paler. Considering the last few months I was in Thailand, Australia and, worse still, London’s insane heatwave! My skin undeniably is more tanned than it would usually be.

I remember last year, when I was trying to find a suitable replacement, I tried the Rare Beauty tinted moisturiser in the lightest shade and was aghast when it made me look pale and ill, like a ghost. I returned that product and was so put off by the whole experience that I gave up searching altogether... Until now.

Move over tinted moisturiser, because this product is a tinted serum. Which not only means it glides on like liquid silk, but it also contains skincare ingredients such as 1% hyaluronic acid, a proven skin-plumper, especially with extended use.

It performs like a gentle veil of extremely light-coverage foundation, covering any blemishes and discolouration, while my small freckles still remain visible. Which is great, because I'd hate for my skin to look flat and one-dimensional, with all personality erased. This really is a your skin, but better product. It isn't too matte, it isn't too shiny. I'd say it is almost undetectable and performs exactly like natural skin.

It's hardwearing for a product so radiant and lightweight. I've been wearing it through the muggy London heatwave and it has never once looked melted or sweated off. That really is a testament to its small but mighty integrity.

I really wanted to gatekeep this product, as I have very high standards and it actually ticks every single one of my boxes. Dare I say, it's better than my old, trusted favourite. However, I'm so excited by it, I just had to sing its praises, so hopefully it too doesn't get discontinued!!

I've actually been very busy this past month... Spending money.

It was the site-wide 20% off Space NK sale that really put the nail in the coffin because, over the last couple of days, I caved and bought a perfume I have been coveting like prey for years now: Creed Wind Flowers.

Oh my God.

This perfume has got to be the sexiest, most beautiful, delicate, vintage powdery floral that manages to be classier and chicer than your typical grandma-ish floral. —And I love a grandma-floral! Don't get me wrong.

But I appreciate most people don't. Lol. And it's not my prerogative to give everyone a heady, nauseating floral headache on the Tube, or in the bedroom alike. Hehe. 

With floral notes of jasmine, orange blossom, rose and tuberose (all my favourites!!), alongside juicy peach, and warm, cosy base notes of praline, sandalwood and musk. This perfume smells like the sexier younger sister of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle— which was the first luxury fragrance my mother bought me. So naturally, I love it tenderly.

Although a lot of people online compare Wind Flowers to Coco Mademoiselle, it certainly has its own unique character. Smelling, dare I say, more unique and expensive. Which it clearly is.

At £275 for a 75ml bottle, the price had been putting me off from biting the Creed bullet for years. Not because I'm afraid of spending money on perfume— believe me, I'm not. But because there was always something else I loved that was (significantly) cheaper. Such as Tom Ford Café Rose, which I'm forever referencing in this blog! 

However, as stated earlier, Space NK advertised a 20% off site-wide sale and, once I established this included Creed perfumes, I realised spending (sale price) £230 (minus another £5 because I had reward points to spend, plus the £15 cash-back in reward points I’d get ) meant the girl math was absolutely mathing! I’m basically saving £75 by making this purchase! That’s real value for money that makes me open my Apple-wallet!

I also added to my basket a couple of nail treatment polishes by The Manicurist, a French nail care brand that I'm sure I've written about before, too?

Positioning themselves as “skincare for nails”, I really love their products. They function like a hard-wearing armour for your nails, enriched with nail-caring ingredients and come in a number of flattering finishes. From sheer glossy colours to shimmery-sparkles and pearlescent! Transparent enough that you can still see your natural nail through the polish, but substantial enough that they glaze your nails in a way that is both protective and attractive!

At £16 a bottle, they are more expensive than your average Boots nail polish. However, they're not so expensive that it's unreasonable. Their results, and added benefits genuinely make them worth the price.

But in this current sale, reduced to £12.80, it felt like the perfect time to pick up a few more bottles.

I chose Active Plump in Ballet Slipper Pink, Active Plump in Aqua Glazed and Active Bright, a pearlescent white. I also received an Active Glow in Raspberry as a free gift with purchase.

These are brilliant because my nails naturally grow long, and these help stop them from breaking. I also prefer how low-maintenance they are because, although they're incredibly hard-wearing, if they do chip it's practically unnoticeable unless someone is really staring.

I repaint my nails every two weeks, and they genuinely last that long. So although the price point concerned me at first, I can guarantee they're worth it.

I use the Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover and have become surprisingly talented with an emery board over the years, so I find giving myself manicures both easy and rewarding.

Pedicures, on the other hand... I will always pay for professionally. 

Recently, I've really enjoyed writing about the beauty products I've become romanced by. But you know what else has me smitten?

The new Charli xcx album; Music, Fashion, Film. 

Oh my goodness. I mean, I knew I was going to love it... But even so, I was delighted. Especially Camera, 2007and I'm Afraid. Interestingly, that's the order they appear on the album; a great little trilogy midway through.

The album is transparent, dear-diary songwriting: self-aware, funny and always in on the joke. Charli xcx is relentlessly meta. She has a knack for describing picturesque, hyper-specific details that feel both emotional and resonant, while also perfectly apt to steal for your next insta caption!

She understands the value of saying something outrageous simply because you'll remember it.

"I used to lick cream off strawberries in the summer / And maybe I fucked your dad /
Just kidding, I'm only saying that for effect."

It's camp and deliberately provocative. The point isn't whether she actually means it, but that you’re left thinking about it. 

I've seen people online criticise lyrics like

"Sometimes we cry / We kiss each other, real incestuous vibes (I knew you'd like that)."

Which is dumb, really. They're doing exactly what Charli wants them to do: taking the bait she has so generously dangled. The parenthetical "(I knew you'd like that)" is practically winking at the listener. Personally, I think it's hilarious song writing. And I mean, clearly, she is not endorsing incest. 

Parts of I'm Afraid reminded me of Courtney Love's songwriting, particularly:

"I'm a wife, I'm a kid, I'm destroyed, I'm a bitch / I'm too drunk, I can't sleep, I can't feel, I'm afraid."

There's something about both the cadence and relentless inventory of identities and emotions that brought to mind I'll Do Anything, and even Hole's Doll Parts.

The technique of piling confession upon confession until it becomes incantatory and compulsive feels distinctly Courtney to me. Whether the influence is overtly intentional or not, I can hear it, and I love it.

My only gripe is that the album is too short. Eleven songs total just thirty minutes, which is annoying because it finishes far too quickly. Like sex without foreplay, it whets my appetite, but I'm left wanting more.

I believe 2024's Brat was around forty-five minutes long, and it's amazing what a difference fifteen minutes can make to a project feeling more complete.

However, this is hardly a criticism. It's more just me being greedy and wanting more! A quality that is applicable to most, if not all facets of my life!

What do you think of the new album? —And have you been splashing the cash in these summer sales recently, too? Or is that just a me problem? I cry.