Beauty Night Out at the Melita Health & Beauty Clinic

In celebration of International Women's Day yesterday, Melita Health & Beauty Clinic invited us over for a fun night surrounded by top makeup and skin care brands. 

Melita Health & Beauty Clinic boasts a wide range of skin care and makeup services, all carried out by professionals in their respective fields. Furthermore, the premises cater for bachelorette parties and baby showers - both occasions that celebrate women at their best :)

We were offered a 15% discount on the night so I bought a Sleek MakeUP Eye & Cheek Palette in the shade A Midsummer's Dream and a Matte Me Ultra Smooth Matte Lip Cream in the shade Birthday Suit. They were also very kind to give us a makeup bag filled with loads of samples - I always love minis as they perfect to take on travels :)

Thank you Melita Health & Beauty Clinic for this fun beauty night out!

Melita Health & Beauty Clinic is located at 72, St. George's Street, St. Julian's. Like their Facebook page to stay in the know :)

Monthly Favourites | February

This month was probably the most hectic I've had in a while and since we didn't go out much, makeup wasn't really something I spent a lot of time on - I lived the absolute majority of the month in joggers doing housework (except when I was working obviously) so I didn't really get to experiment.

Somehow, I do have some new favouites. First off, my fresh hair cut! I really needed a change and around the middle of the month I decided to go for the chop! My hair is now in a short bob style which took some time to get used to again but I'm really loving it!

I have also tried out some new skin care, mainly Teoxane Eye Contour which deserves a full review and I am planning on publishing that soon. All I am going to say for now is that I have seen a remarkable difference in my under eye circles. Sadly though, I accidentally dropped it once and the metal head detached itself from the rest of the bottle :(

Next is this Victoria's Secret Scandalous perfume which I got from my last trip to London. Now that I have all my perfumes organized again (another thing I am loving this month), I thought of trying this one out and I'm in love! This perfume really does give me a confidence boost and it won't be long before I buy the full sized version.

I finally got the chance to try Flormar and my favourite products so far have been the Calcium Nail Gel and the Twist Up Lipstick in the shade Raspberry. The latter has a very nice shade that I think will suit most skin tones and it lasts for a very long time on the lips. Lately my hands and nails have been in need of a lot more TLC and this Calcium Gel has been God-send. My nails have started regaining their thickness and strength from the first use so this product will definitely go down in my must-haves list. Another nail polish that I have worn quite a lot this month is Essie Chinchilly which is kind of a dark taupe that goes with literally everything.

Speaking of TLC for my hands, The Body Shop's Frosted Plum hand cream is once again my hand cream of choice when on the go; and when I'm at home, especially before going to bed, I switch to the richer formula of Planter's Natural & Young Aloe Vera cream and wake up to soft hands.

So I guess I did get to experiment to a certain extent this month ;) Which products have been your favourites this month?

Review | Onsen Purifying Facial Peel

While shopping at Westfield Shepherd's Bush during my last visit to London, I was introduced to the skin care brand Onsen. I had never heard of the brand before but the beauty blogger in me was intrigued by the prospect of a new brand and curious to find out more, I let Danielle, the brand representative, show me some of their products.

While she applied a little of the Purifying Facial Peel on the back of my hand, she began explaining that Onsen means hot spring in Japanese, the healing properties of which are well known all around the world. However, the miracle cures of the onsen have been discovered during the 10th century by Japanese women to keep their skin looking healthy and youthful.

After a while, Danielle asked me to rub the peel and I was in awe at the little bits of dead skin that formed and she explained that the peel works by drawing out impurities and dead skin cells from the pores, hence the little bits.

I am a little apprehensive of harsh peels because 1, my skin is super sensitive and 2, with the sun that we get here in Malta, it is not ideal to impose such treatments on the skin then expose it to UV radiation. However, I was pleased to learn that Onsen Purifying Facial Peel is a very gentle type of peeling treatment and due to the nature of its ingredients, it is also suitable for sensitive skin.

Let's have a look at the product packaging first and then I shall relay my experience after using this product for a month.

Onsen Purifying Facial Peel comes in a metallic blue box which contains the pump dispenser bottle that holds ml of product. To open, you have to twist the silver cap part and the pump is exposed. I like this sort of packaging as it is very practical in terms of travelling as the product will not spill.

The product per se is a clear gel-like fluid that turns watery upon massaging it into the skin - the secret is the which I witnessed right before my eyes as Danielle applied a little of the powder on the back of my hand and asked me to massage it and see what happens!

Application of the product is very straight forward - apply a thin layer onto cleansed, dry skin, leave to act for 20 - 30 seconds and gently massage in circular motions to help the skin get rid of cellular debris. Repeat once or twice weekly.

I used the product religiously for this whole month (starting that same day I got it in our hotel room!) and I really like the results - my skin looked smoother, brighter and more refined from week to week. The only issue I had, which was expected is that I got a few spots after the first couple of uses as the skin takes the opportunity to get rid of all the dirt once it gets a chance (unluckily for us, the opportunity comes in the form of pimples); but other than that, I only have words of praise for the product and so does the boyfriend ;)

The downside to this product is the price - £99.99 which is plain expensive and in no way I am justifying it. On the day that I got it, they were selling the products for £59.99 which is still expensive for a product which I didn't know what to expect from but I got it just so I can try it. Then again, we spend a lot of money on useless stuff so might as well invest in our skin. The plus side is that you only need a small amount (I use two pumps to cover my whole face) so it will last you for a good amount of time.

Bottom line, if you are a skin care fanatic, this is a very good product to try out and I look forward to my weekly treatment with it.

Review | Born Pretty Store Gel Nail Polish (new line)

Born Pretty Store have once again introduced a new line of gel nail polishes and they have kindly sent me one of them to review.

The new gel polishes come in a square shaped bottle with a black cap and a completely opaque, white bottom part. The only downside to this packaging is that you don't know what colour the polish is and how much is left in the bottle.

I used the silver one in this fish scale nail art and I must say it was very easy to use. All you need is to apply it and cure under UV light for two minutes and seal with a top coat. It lasted me for five days and it came off easily after soaking my nails in acetone polish remover. This particular shade dries matte but you can always add a glossy top coat to add shine to it. To create the fish scales, I used vinyls from Born Pretty Store.

These gel polishes come in a large colour variety and they retail at $3.95 for 10ml of product and you can claim 10% off your purchase when quoting the code EBABK31 at checkout.

PR Sample

Monthly Favourites | January

Ok so I know we're in the middle of February but I still want to share with you my favourite products from last month as there are quite a few new products that I want to share with you all. Starting off with the KIKO Lip Scrub which so far has bee the best one I have ever used. It is gentle enough to be used everyday and keeps lips feeling soft and supple. I prefer to use it before going to bed followed by some lip balm to wake up with plumper lips.

Next, I have the Onsen Purifying Facial Peel which I have been using religiously on a weekly basis ever since I got it. I shall go into more detail in a review I have planned for this weekend but I all have for this product as words of praise as it really does deliver great results and even better looking skin.

On to makeup, I only have two products for this month, the first of which is the Make Up Store Smoothing Primer Powder which is god-send for days when I'm in a hurry and just need a thin veil of something for my skin to look good to go. It's got a very fine texture and can be used as a primer or worn alone. I sometimes also use it as a setting powder and for baking and it also works well in that regard.

Lastly is my MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipstick in the shade Oh Lady! I have worn this a couple of times and I always got good compliments on the colour. I have to say that this passes the eat & drink test, the kiss test and the time test! It is really that long lasting and I admit, it is a bit of a pain to remove completely.

Do you have any favourite products you would like to share? Write them in the comments!