Skincare

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Winter hydration with Shiseido

We always love Shiseido for their skincare products and have always been impressed by their skincare launches. This season, Shiseido releases their new Bio-Performance Skin Filler Serums. This serum duo consists of two serums, that are meant to complement your nighttime and daytime routine to boost your skin's firmness and suppleness. The Infill Serum (blue) is designed to bring a deep hydration to your complexion during the night, through a high hyaluronic acid formula, while the Full Expansion Serum (white) is designed for daytime use, to fill in fine lines and wrinkles you may have on your face. In a matter of days, we found it left our skin feeling soft and supple, which was a pleasant surprise for such a short time of use. Throughout a week-long use, we found our skin to showed a more radiant look and firm texture. This may be a splurge but it is definitely worth it.

Shiseido's Revitalising Eudermine Essence has long been a favourite among skincare lovers and is a prized skincare product in Japan for over a century. The essence, also believed to be Shiseido's first skincare product, is legendary for the softening qualities it delivers on the skin, which is perfect in a colder winter climate. For Shiseido's 150 year anniversary, the essence is released in a celebratory new bottle, though maintaining its iconic red glass. The bio hyaluronic acid enriches the soft lotion, leaving a moisturising quality on the skin. We use the essence for a week long as part of our morning and evening routine, after cleansing the face. The essence is applied best with a cotton pad, spreading the essence all over the face with gentle and round motions. The essence left our skin feeling smooth and moisturised. And using the red bottle every day was like a little spa moment.

A bit more of a splurge, but one of our winter skincare recommendations, comes from the Future Solution line. This line comes in a stunning pearl packaging that stands elegantly on the night stand. The Future Solution serum is meant to improve skin quality and is formulated with the enmei herb from the lush gardens in Japan. After a week-long use, we found our skin to have become visibly supple and radiant in the morning. We recommend dispensing only a tiny pump in the palm of your hands, rubbing your hands together to warm up the product and spreading the product all over the face. Complement the serum with the Future Solution Cream — a face cream meant to help target signs of ageing and regenerate the skin. We found this cream to be highly effective to soften and hydrate the skin. Not only is this a rich formula, it felt luxurious to use as well. Use the cream with the spatula and scoop a pearl-sized drop or two onto your fingertips. Apply all over the face in a gentle and circular motion. This line is quite a splurge but it is worth it (and also makes for a great gift for family and friends).

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Energised with Hermès

While a face spray may be an unnecessary item to some, those who do have it in their bags swear by it. For this season, Hermès releases the new H24 Energizing Face Spray from the H24 line. The face spray is not only a fresh and pleasant blend of aloe vera, moss and ginseng, it is also the ultimate refresher after a long day. The ingredients in the spray act as an anti-pollution shield on the skin while leaving a trace of the H24 scent lingering on the skin. This spray also makes for a great luxurious gift for your friends and family.

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Eyecare with Drunk Elephant

This season Drunk Elephant releases a new Ceramighty AF Eye Balm — an eye cream that restores skin elasticity, giving your eyes a more refreshed and well-rested look. The formula consists of strengthening ceramides, vitamin F and omega-rich plant oils and butters, working to nourish as well as strengthen the skin barrier while hydrating. We always love Drunk Elephant for their vegan and cruelty-free brand philosophy. We tried the eye cream for a week and it was a revelation to use. The skin around our eyes felt soothed and soft. Our eyes look brighter and more awake. We found it's used best by pumping one time and gently patting on the balm on and under the eyelids with our fingers in the morning and evening.

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A flawless glow with Charlotte Tilbury

Charlotte Tilbury has been expanding their skincare line more and more in recent years and we're here for it. One of our picks for this season is the Glow Toner — an acid-free toner that gently removes impurities from the skin. The toner exfoliates the skin, leaving a soft and hydrated surface. It's the perfect prep for your skin every morning! Use this in combination with the Flawless Poreless Primer to create the ultimate glow filter on the skin, for a beautiful and flawless look every day.

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Brightness with Trinny London

This was the first time trying Trinny London for us, even though the brand has been around for some time now! The new Energise Me moisturiser comes in a bright pink cilinder shaped package. It is meant to recharge and rebalance the skin. We used the moisturiser for a week and found our skin felt hydrated and wide awake every morning. We look forward to trying more from the brand!

Haircare

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The Maria Nila bestsellers

Taking care of your hair is essential in this cold winter season. The cold weather can leave your hair feeling dry and lifeless so treating your hair with care is not just a treat but necessary to keep it healthy and fresh.

We've been meaning to try Maria Nila for a while now. The vegan haircare brand is much beloved in the beauty community so we couldn't wait to try it out. We tried out some of Maria Nila's bestsellers. Starting off with the iconic True Soft Shampoo and True Soft Conditioner duo. We tried both for a week — the shampoo left our hair smooth and radiant while the conditioner added a pleasant shine to our hair. The shampoo and conditioner both had a lovely floral scent and felt rich through the use of argan oil in the formula. From the True Soft line we also try the True Soft Hair Mask. A creamy and soft treatment that is best applied once a week on the hair. This was definitely luxurious to use and perfect for any treat yo self moment. The last product from the True Soft line we try is their Argan Oil. The argan oil is designed to moisturise as well as strengthen the hair. We love how quickly the oil was absorbed into our hair, reducing frizz but also adding a soft layer or floral fragrance. Best applied on damp hair!

For the holidays, you might want to take out that curling or straightening iron out of the closet and start getting creative. Having a good heat spray is no unnecessary companion on those days. We tried out the Cream Heat Spray. Most heat sprays we've used are in liquid form so this is the first cream-based heat spray we try. We have to say — the cream formula actually works better to protect your hair from the heat. Our hair felt naturally healthy with this heat spray and almost untouched by the heat of the iron! To further style the hair, we enjoyed using the Minerals Gneiss Wax — a thick molding paste that provided fullness and texture to the hair.

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The Moroccanoil hydration holiday set

From Moroccanoil, we love their new limited edition Hydration Holiday set — a perfect gift for your friends and family (and yourself) for the holidays. Released in a shiny metallic pouch, the set includes four of Moroccanoil's bestselling haircare products. There's the Hydrating Shampoo — a rich and hydrating shampoo filled with argan oil, vitamins A and E and red algae. After a week-long use, we felt it left our hair soft and shiny. There's the Hydrating Conditioner — a gentle formula that leaves your hair feeling silky smooth. The set also includes Morocconoil's iconic treatment; one of our personal favorites already. This Treatment is an oil-infused hair product that boosts shine and leaves your hair nourished and smooth. We like to use this by applying it on towel-dried hair, from mid-length to ends. And lastly, the set comes with a large bottle of hand wash in the Originale fragrance. With hints of amber, magnolia and woods, this is a luxurious hand wash to keep in your bathroom!