Monday 23 September 2013

Dark circle fix - a review of Priori Coffeeberry Eye Radiance serum

Hello Lovelees,

Today I would like to rave about my new eye serum. - Priori Coffeeberry Eye Radiance serum 15mL.



If I had to pick something that I believe is my biggest flaw if I go out with a "naked" face, it would be my dark circles and bags around my eyes.

I may not be the cutest giant panda around but I'd make that red panda a good run for its money.

I choose to compare myself with an animal instead of showing a picture because I don't know if my portrait will show it enough...It has like a purplish/grey undertone to it. Not very flattering. My mum has on one occasion said it was my makeup (presumably smokey eye look) gone wrong when I fought back defiantly with the line "You're WRONG cos I didn't wear any makeup today and cos all the other days I DID and it was so good you couldn't tell!"
The rest of the occasions she believes I didn't take off my makeup properly. Also wrong.

If you would like to see how I cover my flaws please check this post on concealers (tips and tricks here  ) and here (massive review here).

Cut to the chase :I LOVE Priori Coffeeberry Radiance Eye Serum !!  I found it off watching youtube of Avaliu (an HK singstar and beauty guru).  She speaks mainly in Cantonese and she has an online beauty store that sells the brand Priori so she was recommending and promoting the stuff. There may be vested interest but you have to give it to her when she talks she sounds extremely knowledgeable and convincing and believes in the products she stocks.  I bought my serum from amazon though haha.

Basically from what she said (in rough translation) was that coffeeberry stimulates the circulation of the fine capillaries around your eyes to reduce the puff and darkness.  Why stimulating circulation is important is because the darkness is basically from the bloodcells gathering in the capillaries and breaking down under your eyes and lingering there producing dullness.  When you apply the serum it produces this kind of heat around your eyes that also helps circulation.  The worser your circulation, the warmer it is so after prolonged use this heat should be less because your eye circulation should be better.

There are other gurus that talk about what causes the dark circles and the most often causes pointed out are:
  • allergies (rubbing eyes)
  • poor diet
  • lack of sleep
  • genetics 
  • UV 
For me I'm going to say ALLERGIES are my main enemies.  My right eye circles or worse than left, because I rub my eyes more on the right. Bad Connie.

I have no "before and after " pic sorry that will do enough justice as the difference is subtle at this stage and it's only been a month.  This stuff is not cheap but anecdotally I have already bought a second bottle because I think it has made a marked difference in the one month I've been using it!

I love the super light silky texture - it absorbs quickly, easy to spread.  Another plus about this serum is that it is so light in texture and absorbs so well I could be blending my eye makeup over it and it does not "roll up" like other eye creams and gels might.

The colour is not the most flattering as it comes out brownish (does not stain skin from what I can tell personally), and the smell is unusual as it is not the usual light fragrance we encounter in skincare products, but strongly smells of the coffee/coffeeberry extract.  Takes some getting used to overcoming these prejudices but it is not major!  They say it is fragrance and colorant free (I assume that meant no SYNTHETIC fragrance/colours).

I don't have many fine lines YET for it to be my chief complaint to monitor it's other capabilities...but it hasn't gotten any worse that i've noticed in that time?

From the Priori website and official stockists it says it is 99.2% natural and fortified with 0.5% coffeeberry extract providing one of nature's most potent antioxidant protection.  This fights free radicals which cause skin ageing.  They say it suits all skin types.

That last claim I might debate about suiting all skin types, it can suit - but I think if you need more moisture and have mature skin you might need to have something else to supplement it to be BETTER.

In conclusion - it is an unusual product in that it also "warms" up your eyes, not necessarily cheap but I have bought a second bottle already because I think it is effective in reducing dark circles!

What's your favourite eye serum /cream and why?

Till next time!
;)Connie
Follow on Twitter @makeyoulovelee and Facebook 




Friday 20 September 2013

DIY Knit Shorts

Hey Lovelees!



I don't have any new DIY tutorials today because I was working on these awesome knit shorts! Yep, I knit these babies all by my self. It took quite some time, but the actual knitting pretty easy. I followed this simple pattern from Scarffaces and I parked myself in front of the TV for the whole week. Pretty time-consuming, but I think they're worth it. They turned out even better than expected and they are perfect for the fall weather right now! What do you guys think of these?



- Rachelle
@MakeYouLoveLee @RachelleMLee

Thursday 5 September 2013

DIY Spherical Earrings

Hey Lovelees!



I'm back from an amazing experience interning in New York, and I thought of so many new projects while I was there! This particular project was inspired by these earrings from European brand & Other Stories. The only way to buy them was to fly to Europe, so I came up with this DIY instead. I saved a lot of money, and now you can too!

Materials:

- silver-plated plastic beads in varying sizes (I stuck to 2 sizes, but it's completely up to you!)
- 2 silver earring posts
- 2 earring backs
- e6000 glue

Instructions:

1. Arrange the beads into whatever pattern you like. I took a picture of the order to reference later on.

2. Glue the beads together. Make sure the holes of the beads are facing inward to get the full spherical effect.

3. Leave to dry.

4. Glue the earring posts. For stability, attach them to a larger bead in the cluster. Let dry and add on the earring backs.






And that's it! So simple and easy, but they end up looking so elegant and classy. You could also use copper beads to imitate the original ones, or try gold beads too! If you try this out, please send us a picture!!

Rachelle
@RachelleMLee @makeyoulovelee
And like us on Facebook