Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir

Ahhh yes, the infamous fragrance. Purchased and adored by many, this heady scent comes in the form of a Cologne, Hand & Body Wash and Lotion, Bath Oil, Candle and more. Jo Malone doesn't do this for just any fragrance now, but one worshipped around the world as much as this simply deserves all the bells and whistles...

To me, Pomegranate Noir is a sexy woman in a red dress, with hair pinned to the side in the 1930's. She's in her prime, fresh off the stage and heading into her dressing room to powder her face and freshen up before meeting her lover in a quiet cocktail bar down the road which plays jazz into the early hours.

Of course the heady scent would evoke different images to different people, but it is my go to scent for this time of year and nights out on the town. Go take your senses to another world by having a whiff of this at a counter near you.

Where am I?

I'm over on wordpress: www.kennedycaptures.wordpress.com

If you're keen. It's more of a lifestyle blog. Of course there will be beauty posts thrown in, but this was a project to myself on my last birthday to take a picture and post something every day.

Six Empties...

There's something so satisfying about using up a product. I think part of my chimes that I've now got space on my shelf, both revealing things I'd forgotten about and leaving room for something new to slot in. The other part of me is pleased knowing that I must have really liked said product as I used up every last drop/glob/spritz of it!

1. La Roche Posay Serozinc - The raved about anti-bacterial, calming mist to fend of irritated skin and break outs. I've written a post on this before here so wont go on. In summary - before it I was dealing with a rather bad series of breakouts; now, I have clear skin. IT IS EXCELLENT!

2. Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet - This was a sample that came with a purchase of the Caudalie SOS serum (which I wholly adore). I've used this before and it's fantastic. I would recommend to sensitive, dehydrated combination skin types due to it's light, whipped texture and soothing properties. My only issue is that it isn't rich enough for me this time of year, however in the summer it is brilliant!

3. Burt's Bees Almond & Milk Hand Cream - Gorgeous, thick, greasy and smells amazing. I work in a lab and my hands are in terrible condition from the repetitive cleansing, however this is divine at night time and really puts the moisture back in. Plus, if you like almond scents then this will be right up your street! I equally adore the banana hand cream in a pot, which I repurchased when this one died on me.

4. Garnier Hand Repair Intensive Restoring Hand Cream - This is my absolute favourite drugstore/high street hand cream. It is not greasy at all, but deeply moisturises the skin and contains no mineral oil. It has fantastic ingredients all-round, so for £4.50ish it's a total barg. I will repurchase again and again!!

5. Naked Coco de mer Body Wash - I have lost count of how many of these I have gone through. I always have the body wash and body butter in my stash and never get sick of the scent. Naked is a fantastic natural brand that you can buy in Boots for a reasonable price. Their collection is small but well-thought-out and  this is honestly one of my favourite scents in the world - very heady and sensual. No animal testing, no crap ingredients - wonderful ethos.

6. Baylis & Harding Sweet Mandaring & Grapefruit Indulgent Moisturising Hand & Body Lotion - (longest name ever?!) This was given to my by a a friend and it was handy to keep in my bag and use throughout the day on my poor, crusty mitts. I would simply describe it as average. It smells ok, moisturises adequately and has nice enough packaging. But that's about it really...I wouldn't purchase because it doesn't do enough for my needs, but for the average pair of hands then I'm sure this would be fine.

PHEW! You know, I'm really realising just how much hand creams are taking over my life. I hope this has been helpful. If you know of any amazing hand creams that you think I should try, please let me know!

You create your own reality.

I wanted to write about something that has become very important to me in my life over the past year or so. Or rather, something I've become AWARE of in the past year (it's always been present). And that is the idea that I and I alone create my own reality. Let me elaborate...

Look around at your life: the people in it, the house you live in, the job you have, your finances and all the rest. They are the way they are (aside from unfortunate circumstances, of course) because you manifested them that way. Now, this whole issue of manifestation is a wee bit controversial, to say the least, but if you're a believer or want to know more - read on.

A few years ago I heard about a book called The Secret. I'm sure many of you have heard of it too... the idea running through it being that like attracts like and positive thinking, in particular thinking as if you already have all the things that you long for, will attract them into your life. The concept, I agree with; the book, I didn't like. But that's personal preference. So I just sort of forgot about it until about a year ago.

About a year ago I was going through a terrible break up, left broke and moved into a random shared house just wanting to start fresh. I met an incredible woman that deeply inspired me and was very spiritual. I wasn't particularly spiritual myself, but had an open mind and was eager to learn from her. She's twice my age and has lived an incredible life. She lent me two fantastic books, Write it Down, Make it Happen and Anatomy of the Spirit; the first being a light and easy read and the second a much more in-depth and medical-style prose. However, I persevered and learned RIDICULOUS amounts in those few months in that house. And I started thinking about what I wanted in my life and actually telling myself that I already had them...

Before I knew it, I had met an amazing group of like-minded friends, a wonderful boyfriend who is very spiritual himself and lent me his favourite read, The Celestine Prophecy and was jetting to The States to have the summer of my life - get this - with one of my other housemates who happened to be American! Things just started happening... it was incredible.

Fast forward to now; I got back from America about a month ago and knew the job that I wanted and projected to the universe how grateful I was to have found it. Guess what? Two weeks later I got invited to the interview and the following day given the job. Even weirder, the one person I know in the city and will be staying with I'm moving to lives down the road from my workplace.

Two books that I've ADORED over the past month have been Barefoot Doctor's Manifesto & Liberation. I thoroughly recommend giving them a read. I ordered my copies off Amazon for about £1.50 each - bargain! Manifesto is, would you believe, about the idea of manifestation and Liberation is about setting yourself free of all the barriers we place on ourselves every day.

So my tip for you: firstly, accept that your life is the way it is because YOU wanted it that way (even if that seems wrong; we often don't allow ourselves the things we truly want believe it or not!). Secondly, understand that you can have all the things that you truly want; all it takes it really believing that!

A bit of a different post, but one that I hope can help at least one person. Please let me know your thoughts!

La Roche-Posay Serozinc

OK, so it's time for my personal input on this rather hyped up product in the beauty world. I was back from a summer in the desert and dealing with a really bad breakout and putting together an updated routine in the hopes that I could combat said breakout. This was one thing I was very certain I wanted to include...

 

I'll start by saying that I absolutely adore it. I use a moisturising toner, followed by a spray of this over the face before my serum and moisturiser. It was designed to soothe irritated skin as well as offer anti-bacterial protection - great for a breakout! I like that the formulation is alcohol free. It doesn't evaporate easily, thus doesn't dry out the skin.

INGREDIENTS: Water, Sodium chloride, Zinc sulfate - that's it!

Originally, this little sucker could only be found in France, but some clever ebayers have jumped on the bandwagon and started selling it, which is where I got mine. I paid about £13 plus p&p for the 150ml bottle and, although pricier than what you'd pay if you were across the Channel, am very happy with my purchase. The spray is very light and airy, dispensing a delicate layer on the skin and this has definitely helped clear up my spots. I would definitely agree that it's worth all the hype it has been getting!