Glow
The Skin Care Edit: Glossier This is the first ‘episode’ of our new monthly skin care edit, each month we will be reviewing a skin care brand and letting you know which products you need to get your hands on and which ones you should steer clear of (if any!).
The brand we have tried for the past 4 weeks is the highly talked about – Glossier. Two of us here at Cosmopolitan with totally different skin types have taken on a glossier beauty regime, helping to guide you towards the products best for your skin type. Some background on the brand... Glossier have both a skincare and make up line, providing every beauty product you need. The brand was created by a group of beauty editors – the queens of trying and testing cosmetics. Their aim for the brand was to develop the best formulas, taking into account real-life usage they have produced a chic skin care line that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
FARRAH STORR,
Cosmopolitan
Editor-In-Chief, @Farrahstorr Skin Type: Oily/ Combination
EXFOLIATING SKIN CARE SOLUTION, £19 The stand out product for me was the exfoliating skin perfector solution. If you’ve never heard of skin solutions before they provide a chemical exfoliation rather than a face scrub, glossier claim that their product will smooth skin and even skin tone. I have never used a skin solution before as I have always been a little scared about them irritating my skin, but after seeing positive reviews on the solution I decided to bite the bullet and I can safely say that I have no regrets – my skin has been transformed. When I first used the solution I had been suffering from some minor break outs – probably junk food related, but even after a few days I could see my skin looking smoother and brighter. Now at four weeks my skin looks so clear, my pores are smaller and I am glowing! The skin perfector solution will be going into my own skin care regime without a doubt.
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Glow (BIRTHDAY) BALM DOTCOM, £10 I will not be taking this lip balm out of my handbag, it feels so moisturising on my lips and adds a nice gloss on top of lipstick. I got this in the shade ‘birthday cake’ a clear balm with specks of glitter and of course – birthday cake scent! Not only does it smell amazing but it really did keep my lips hydrated. The balm claims to be multi-purpose and can be applied anywhere on the body, however due to the glitter I avoided this – no glittery T-zone for me, thanks. I would purchase this again when I run out and would like to try their tinted versions.
INGEBORG VAN LOTRINGEN,
Cosmopolitan
Beauty Director, @Cosmobeautyboss Skin Type: Dry
MILK JELLY CLEANSER, £15 Okay, can we just talk about Glossier’s packing? SO cute. My favourite product by far was the milk jelly cleanser – there is no need to double cleanse with this product as it just dissolves your make up so fast, I found myself reaching for this cleanser rather than a makeup wipe at the end of the day – that’s how easy it is. This was the first face wash I have tried that you apply on to dry skin, out of habit I did once apply it wet and noticed that my make up didn’t melt away as easy. After washing my face with this my skin felt refreshed and super clean, avoiding the dry and tight feeling I often get from using facewash.
PRIMING MOISTURISER RICH CREAM, £29 I hate to say this, but there is one product that I wouldn’t waste my money on. Unfortunately this moisturiser was definitely not my best friend, perhaps it just didn’t agree with my skin type. I usually go for a thick hydrating moisturiser as my skin can get dry when I wear makeup but this one was too much, I felt that it sat on top of my skin rather than sinking in. This also created problems when I wore make up because I felt that after a couple of hours wear my whole face of makeup had just slid off. I did like the consistency their moisturising moon mask so I will consider to use their lighter moisturisers in the future, however this one was a no from me.
Overall we both feel that the Glossier skin care line is a hit and worth the money, we will be reaching for some of the products for our skin care routine once the edit series is over! Next month’s skin care edit: The Ordinary Skin Care
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Wear 707
SOMETIMES IT’S WHAT’S ON THE OUTSIDE THAT COUNTS
FINDING THE PERFECT WEDDING (GUEST) DRESS With wedding invitations pouring through our letterbox, this can only mean one thing – wedding season is approaching and leaves everyone with the question – What should I wear to a wedding? Without the obvious rule of no white (unless you want the bride to hold a grudge against you forever), what is considered wedding appropriate attire? Even if you haven’t received any invitations, everyone is invited to the royal wedding, right?
This months wear edit will answer all your wedding attire questions and provide you with dresses for every taste and budget.
Wear
Dress, £65, Topshop Dress, £130, Jarlo at House of Fraser
The little
Dress, £165, JCREW at net-aporter.com
lace dress
A little lace dress is always a staple in your summer wardrobe, and with broderie anglaise and eyelash lace being a key summer material, you achieve a pretty and innocent look whilst staying on trend!
Dress, £290, Self Portrait at farfetch.com
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Dress, £65, Topshop
Dress, £150,
Dress, £300, Self Portrait Clutch, £735, Proenza Schouler Sandals, £165, Kurt Geiger
Dress, £550, Saloni Bag, £310, Simon Miller Sandals, £260, DVF All at net-a-porter.com
Wear
Dress, £335, Missonia at net-aporter.com Dress, £180, Karen Millen
The
Dress, £49, Topshop
midi/maxi With midi and maxi dresses still being a hot trend in 2018, we have chosen our top picks for a summer wedding. This season we have seen midi lengths in vibrant colours and clashing patterns, as well as pretty pastles -leaving you room to experiment.
Dress, £120, Reiss Dress, £85, Ghost
Dress, £70, Oasis
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Wear
Dress, £170, Gianni at Selfridges
The
floral dress
Dress, £220, Coast
Dress, £270, Joanna Ortiz at net-a-porter.com
Of course, floral dresses come back around every summer – and winter to be exact. Whether you prefer a bright palette or a neautral pallett, you can’t go wrong with a cute floral dress and a pair of heels.
Dress, £70, Karen Millen
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Dress, £42, Topshop
Dress, £110, Reiss
Dress, £535, Push Button Shoes £260, Ellery
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An Interview with an Influencer
As we know, 2017 was named the year of the influencer and influencer popularity is not slowing down in 2018. I have always been intrigued as to what the reality of being an influencer really is – and more importantly how people become influencers. I reached out to Instagram influencer and blogger Hayleigh Jade McCullough and asked her my burning questions about living the life of a fashion influencer. Hayleigh started blogging from her home in Manchester in 2013 after her Instagram started to gain attention from people wanting to get her look, she had never even heard of blogging at this time but after her Instagram had gained further interest she decided to expand and create her own blog. Five years later she has gained an Instagram following of almost 50,000 followers and her blog has interaction statistics of over 300,000.
“In no way did I set out to try and be a blogger it all sort of all fell together” she explains, however it has brought her some amazing travel opportunities and enabled her to work with huge brands such as Superdry and Christian Louboutin.
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At the start of 2018 at just 20 years old, Hayleigh quit her job and started to work on blogging full time however she does try to look at the situation realistically. “I would love to be able to adapt blogging with the changes that will occur in my life. This is something I would love to happen, but I know I have to remember that it might not,” she says. “If I had to stop, I would want to take the skills and experience I’ve gained and apply it to something else. I would just hate to spend my life doing something I didn’t enjoy or have a passion for.” Blogging and influencing is shown to be a glamorous and sometimes easy job, as we as consumers don’t see the work that goes into a single Instagram post. Hayleigh expresses her frustration about being self-employed and relying on brand deals to come her way, “The amount of little
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outfits, but the way I shoot my pictures and edit them, you are so much more likely to stand out.
“People will notice you for being yourself, not for blending into the crowd.” exasperated tears I have shed over almost securing paid work to take a weight off my shoulders for it to come tumbling down with a few lines of email.” She adds “But that’s the game of being self-employed, it’s my responsibility to get the payments then chase them.” As many girls and boys are aspiring to achieve a blogger lifestyle, I asked Hayleigh for her tips for someone who is trying to gain an online following. Admitting that it’s a hard question to answer Hayleigh expresses how much harder it was become to naturally grow in within the blogging industry, leaving her feeling at a very loose end. She says
“The best advice I can give you is to keep up the regular content”
“and try to get a feel of what works best for you and your audience for good engagement.” However, she advises that you should remain true to yourself and not alter your style in order to get a brand deal. “Maintaining a loyal and consistent following that will engage with your content is far more important than having more followers who don’t engage in the long run.” A burning question of mine was how does a fashion blogger find their own personal style? Hayleigh explains that she believes that you should find your personal style for yourself and not just for blogging and that you should avoid changing your style due to other peoples influence. “I’ve become really comfortable in my style, and in turn have become so much more comfortable with my online presence. Not just my
This interview with Hayleigh has really opened my eyes to the influencing community, making me see that perhaps it isn’t all as glamorous as it seems and like any other job it has many stressful moments. So, if becoming an influencer is something you are trying to achieve, remember that you probably won’t gain success overnight but if you stay true to yourself you are more likely to gain a following gradually!
Follow Hayleigh on instagram - @hayleighjm Read her blog at www. hayleighjm.com Written by, Heidi Beasley at Cosmopolitan
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