The Black Pearl Blog - UK beauty, fashion and lifestyle blog

Homemade avocado and banana face mask

Have you ever tried homemade face masks? They are brilliant and easy to make. My favourite one is avocado and banana. Both fruits are full of goodness for your skin, avocado is highly moisturising and nourishing and banana is full of precious minerals that will benefit your skin. You can also add egg yolks, olive oil, yogurt or vitamin E. It is up to you, be adventurous! If there is any leftovers, freeze them and thaw anytime you need a face mask. This little skin treat leaves my face soft and nourished, gives it a lovely glow and it is 100% natural! Use organic ingredients to make sure there is no nasty preservatives in them! I usually keep it on for 10-15 minutes for best results. Are you going to give it a go?

JULY EMPTIES

I really like writing my empties posts and the whole idea of using up products, to narrow down the product selection in my beauty cabinet. This month I managed to use up 4 full size products and 2 samples (foundation and a bb cream). Let's hope I can do better next month and use up more body products.

I already reviewed Jasons Super-C range, so if you would like to find out more click here. I really enjoyed using both products, they smell lovely and are perfect to use in the morning, to give my skin a boost of energy.

The no7 makeup remover is one of my favourite products ever and I also reviewed it before here. It is very gentle and removes all traces of makeup with minimal effort. Amazing! I already repurchased it :) and I will keep buying new bottles until it is discontinued. Let's hope it never happens :)

Vichy Normaderm anti-imperfection concentrate is my saviour! the 15ml tube lasted for over a year and it works wonders on breakouts! I need to buy a new one asap! I can't live without it, especially when my skin is going through crazy changes when I am losing weight. I tend to get more breakouts when I exercise and eat less calories :/

The UNE foundation is quite good, it is very light, gives medium coverage and a nice, healthy glow to my face. I don't need a new foundation at the moment, so I won't be buying the full size, but I will consider it for the future. You can get it from Boots for £12.49.

L'Oreal BB cream is ok, nothing special to be honest. It gives light/sheer coverage and doesn't cover any imperfections. I thought that BB creams are meant to make your skin looking flawless...

Candy striped nails in white and blue

What do you think about candy striped nails? I tried blue and white this time and I quite like it. The stripes are not perfect, because I used the normal nail polish brush :)

If you would like to find out how I'm doing with my weight loss click here.

ASOS, Forever21 and topshop haul

I am addicted to jewellery and clothes and I can't stop buying new stuff... I really need to stop, but it is so hard! I have got no space left in my wardrobes, drawers etc... but here is another haul :) haha
I will try to link the items that are still available on the bottom of the post from Asos and Forever21.

White bedroom furniture

When it comes to interior design, I can spend hours looking on websites with beautiful furniture and dream about redecorating the full house again :) The room I am working on at the moment is the master bedroom. The colours I picked for it are white and gold and I really like this combination. If money was no object I would definitely splurge on new furniture, because the wardrobe I am using at the moment is far too small. I would also like to replace my dressing table with a new one and redecorate the guest bedroom.

I have been browsing through Oldrids & Downtown website and I picked my dream bedroom furniture. I like simple designs in white, because they look really fresh and make the room look more spacious. What are the colours you picked for your master bedroom?

1. Signature Mirror £179

2. Cameo Dressing Table £269

3. Cameo 3 Door Wardrobe £499

4. Paris Double Bedframe £299

5. Cameo 3 Drawer Bedside Chest £99

Snow Sprinkled Nails- Velvet Manicure in White

I am totally in love with this manicure! It looks like snowflakes sprinkled allover my nails. It is really beautiful in real life and hopefully on the photographs too :) I have never seen anything like this, I have seen other velvet manicures before, but not a white one. I will be trying other colours in the future. So far I used pink (here) and purple (here).
I have been asked many questions about this manicure, so here is a quick Q&A.
Doesn't it feel weird? No, it feels soft and fluffy.
How long does it last? About 3-4 days
Does the velvet fall off after you wash you hands? No, it stays on until you remove it.
Is it hard to remove? It takes about 10 seconds to remove the flocking from one nail, with normal nail polish remover.

POUNDLAND BARGAIN ALERT!

I had to let you know about these bargain makeup buys from poundland. I don't know what's available in your local stores, but the one I went to had shelves full of Stila spf30 tinted moisturiser and powder foundation. What a bargain!!! The RRP is over £20, so you can't go wrong. I also picked up Rimmel lipglosses. Amazing value for money! Have you been on a poundland bargain hunt recently? What did you get?

Coziness For Beginners: How To Make Your Home More Embracing

Unsplash - CC0 License

A cozy interior isn't something you can throw together easily. It always takes time to get it right.

With that said, there are plenty of principles out there that help you get closer to that goal. Here are just a few of them.

NOTD: Essence Vampire's Love in True Love + she Glitter Top coat 255

I very rarely paint my nails with dark colours, but sometimes I can't resist it :) I love dark purple shades and I am sure I swatched this one already. I added a glitter top coat this time to give it a bit of sparkle. It looks really nice and the specks of glitter reflect the light beautifully.

My Nail Polish Collection

Hi everyone!
As promised , I finally got to photograph most of my nail polishes. I couldn't find all of them, I really don't know where they are. My house is huge and I have got far too much stuff, so it was impossible to find all of them. I photographed 120 and here they are. My favourite brands are: Barry M, Essie, Models Own, Deborah Lippmann, Essence, OPI, Ciate and Mavala. I managed to squeeze all the nail polishes into one drawer and organised them in empty beauty boxes. Most of my accessories are stored in a separate drawer in a small box. I think I will build a nice display unit for my favourite nail polishes and if I do I will definitely blog about it :)
What are your favourite brands and how big is your collection?

Barry M

Caudalie Beauty Elixir Review

Hi everyone!

I know, I know.... Another Caudalie Beauty Elixir review. Well, I just wanted to share my thoughts. It is meant to have some magical ingredients/powers to make your skin look absolutely amazing. I think that the hype started when Victoria Beckham mentioned that Caudalie Beauty Elixir gives her a glowing complexion. Anyway... Many bloggers raved about it and I decided to get a small bottle from Feel Unique and see if it works for me.

CAUDALIE BEAUTY ELIXIR 30ml £9.90 link

"Inspired by the "elixir of youth" used by Queen Isabelle of Hungary, Caudalie Beauty Elixir smoothes features, tightens pores, and gives the complexion a burst of radiance. An excellent base for make-up, this water awakens the skin in the morning and livens it up before a night out. Caudalie Beauty Elixir is a favourite of Victoria Beckham's - she uses it on top of her make-up for a glowing complexion! For all skins lacking radiance. Caudalie Beauty Elixir is an exceptional anti-dull complexion treatment and a wonderful after-shave for men. Directions for use: Shake before use. Avoid contact with the eyes. Mist onto the face before your moisturiser and at any time of the day. Apply between your foundation and powder to perfectly set make-up."

At first I was absolutely amazed by this product! You probably seen me tweeting about it with excitement :) I used it 10 times a day!!! I just kept spraying it onto my face. It made my skin looking really fresh, tightened pores and gave me face a nice glow. I used it on top of my make up as well and it actually helped to keep it in place. It is great as a toner in the morning and gives a nice tingling sensation. The peppermint scent is lovely and refreshing. I know that it is too strong for some and I've heard people complaining about it, but I like the scent a lot.

After one week of using the elixir a couple of times a day I decided to only use it in the morning after washing my face and once again after putting makeup on. I am already halfway through the bottle, because I was really addicted to it at the beginning :)

It isn't a miracle product, but it gives impressive results if used a couple of times a day and I really like to use it to set my makeup. I am thinking about buying the full size. Let's hope buyapowa does a co-buy :) so we can get it cheaper.

Have you tried the Caudalie Beauty Elixir? What are your thoughts?

My denim picks from Trilogy Stores.

If you are looking for good quality denims, Trilogy Stores offer a wide selection of styles and colours from established brands you can trust. At the moment there is a big summer sale with a 70% discount on some styles. You can choose from brands like: Acne, J Brand, Paige, Current Elliot, Hudson, MIH, Citizens of Humanity and many more.
Skinny jeans are my favourite type and the most popular cut at the moment. You can get any colour you can think of, from neons to pastels and neutrals. The colorful designs from J Brand, Paige and Current Elliot would be perfect for summer days, especially the gorgeous flower print ones. If you are a bit scared to wear disco pants, a pair of black coated jeans from Citizens of Humanity can be a solution. There is many designs to choose from and you can really grab a bargain, the grey Acne jeans are reduced to £50! If you want to go straight to the summer sale here is a link.