Author: detailorientedbeauty

The Ordinary – How To Create A Skincare Routine

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 326 Comments

After writing my article The Ordinary – The Definitive Review, I knew there were going to be lots of questions asking for recommendations due to the sheer number of products. With so many options available I realized many of you would (and did) find it confusing and overwhelming when it came to picking the ingredients that would suit your needs. This is why I also wrote The Ordinary – A Recommended Routine For Every Skin Type as I wanted that article to serve as a general guide to help you find the best products for each skin type and while that helped, a new question started being asked, which lead to me writing this one. Continue reading →

The Debate: The Problem with Instagram

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 4 Comments

This article has been a long time coming because Instagram has changed a lot over the past several months and not just by design, but in how we use it. This year I have noticed a pretty big shift in how we behave, post and interact etc, and I know I am not the only one who’s picked up on this. In particular, the skincare community is not quite what it used to be. What started out as a fun way to share a burgeoning passion for skincare and connect with others has morphed into some sort of social media high school with cliques, gossiping and even bullying. I have been surprised, shocked and saddened by a lot of what I have seen recently and it has been so disappointing. There have been times when I have felt anxious over something that has happened on Instagram, wanted to cry over what has been said to me and even considered deleting my account more than once. Continue reading →

The Ordinary – A Recommended Routine For Every Skin Type

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 231 Comments

(This post is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products sent for review unless otherwise stated.)

Ever since The Ordinary launched my number one question is now “what should I buy?”. People are excited and somewhat confused, which I can completely understand. Choosing the right products for your skin type and needs can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many options. In the beginning it was pretty easy since there were only ten products, but now there are over fifty (with more on the way), so it has become even harder to not only know which ones to buy, but how to use them. I wanted to create this guide of recommended regimens and example routines in the hopes that in addition to my review, it will make it as easy as possible to use these products and get the most out of them.

Continue reading →

The Ordinary – The Complete 27 Product Review

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 78 Comments
(Disclaimer: This review is not an ad or sponsored and does not contain any affiliate links.)

We have come a long way since the original 10 launches from The Ordinary back in September and what a whirlwind these past few months have been. There seems to be no stopping this industry revolutionizing right now and they just won ‘Best Anti-Ageing Brand’ at this year’s The Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards to top it all off. This is an incredible achievement for such a new brand, but completely speaks to the powerful impact it has made on the industry and on consumers like me and you.

I have tested every single product for months now and want to not only share my experiences and results with you, but also give you an in-depth look into how each ingredient should work for you and what each product could do for your skin. This is an exceptionally long review, but it includes all 27 products currently available in the lineup. I wanted to have all the information in one place so you can keep it as a reference to learn more about an ingredient, specific product or decide which products to include in your own skincare routine. I hope this article will help you find the right products for your skin and make it easier to understand what you might need to be using and why. Continue reading →

NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 5% Review (Discontinued)

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 28 Comments

(Disclaimer – this review is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products PR/Brand/Retailer sent unless otherwise stated.)
Ingredients: COPPER CONCENTRATE – Glycerin, Copper Tripeptide-1, Aqua (Water), Methylglucoside Phosphate, Copper Lysinate/Prolinate, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol. ACTIVATOR – Aqua (Water), Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Glycerin, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Ethoxydiglycol, Decapeptide-22, Ogliopeptide-78, Palmitoyl Decapeptide-21, Zinc Palmitoyl Nonapeptide-14, Myristoyl Nonapeptide-3, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Pentylene Glycol, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Phenylpropanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol.

I love how some things come full circle. Two years ago Victoria Health debuted the Copper Amino Isolate Serum 1% from NIOD, Deciem’s (at the time) newest skincare venture in the 2015 May Newsletter and on Tuesday I was featured in this year’s May Newsletter talking about my love for the 5% version. The honour of being featured on The Podium (alongside the Wayne Goss no less) was exciting and humbling, and led to lots of messages in my inbox asking all about CAIS 5%, so I thought it was time to get my thoughts and experiences out there because I could not love this wonder product more and you need to know why. When CAIS 1% first launched (review here) I immediately bought it, fell in love and pretty much started this blog a few months later so I could write a post about it because I was that impressed, and now almost two years later I have been blown away all over again. Continue reading →

My Top Blemish/Congestion/Inflammation Fighting Nighttime Routine

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 11 Comments

(Disclaimer – this post is not an ad, sponsored or paid for and does not contain any affiliate links. All products PR/Brand/Retailer sent unless otherwise stated.)

When I posted this routine on Instagram a few weeks ago it got a lot of questions, so I thought I would break down the entire lineup on the blog and explain how and why I used each product. One of the reasons I wanted to do it is because it worked so well for me. Even though skincare can only do so much, I am still very grateful for what it can do because in this case, it saved my skin from a full on meltdown. The other reason is that a lot of the questions were about some of the newer products in my stash like CAIS 5%, the Mahalo and Siam Seas balms and then others simply wanted to know about the “FM 5-day cycle”. I know I have mentioned my own personal 4-day routine cycle (that post is coming soon) but this is completely different to what I did here because it was based around using NIOD’s brilliant Flavanone Mud for five nights in a row. Continue reading →

Mortar & Milk: One Of The Best Facials I’ve Ever Had

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 3 Comments

(Disclaimer – the treatment was complimentary but this post is not an ad, paid for or sponsored and does not contain any affiliate links.)

As with every post that will come this month, this one is painfully overdue. My personal life took a bit of a turn after the summer (more on that here) and anything extracurricular went out the window, including writing about this, which I had been so excited to do. I have hinted about this review on Instagram for months now (so sorry!) and included the shop in my recent Top 10 Niche Retailers post, but now it’s time to dive into the details of the best facial I ever had. I am so happy to finally be sharing this post with you because Mortar & Milk is a true hidden gem in the London beauty world and Pamela Marshall (co-founder and Aesthetician) is a skincare legend in the making. Continue reading →

Best of British: Top 10 Niche Retailers

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 19 Comments

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(Disclaimer – this post is not an ad, paid for or sponsored and there are no affiliate links.)

This post has been long, long, long overdue on the blog. As you will have read from my 2017 #SkinGoals, a family emergency lead to an unexpectedly long hiatus from blogging and this write-up (which I had been working on for months) never got finished. It was originally scheduled to go up over the summer, then on Small Business Saturday (both US and UK dates), then before Christmas (then after) and now here we are. I have been so excited to talk about this for such a long time now and I can’t wait to finally share all my favourite places to shop with you. Continue reading →

The Debate: 2017 #SkinGoals

~ detailorientedbeauty ~ 20 Comments

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One of my favourite things to do in the new year is make lots of fun lists with my goals/plans/resolutions/intentions (whatever you want to call it). I find it so helpful and exciting to look back on the previous 12 months and see what I want to change, achieve and work on. I find having that sort of guidance and direction gives me something tangible to focus on and I do it for everything from places I want to travel to and books I want to read. I’m a secret list lover at heart, so here is one of the 5 #skingoals that are my primary focus for 2017. Continue reading →