In which Demi loves White Glo!

Who wants whiter teeth with no muss, no fuss? *raises hand*

My teeth have been super sensitive recently - maybe with the change in temperature? - so even though I was tempted by the Tea & Coffee option, I went for the Sensitive Forte +. Most whitening toothpastes are too strong for my sensitivity to deal with - but this is one of the only toothpastes on the market which has been designed to cover both issues.

Within two weeks you can see a real difference. It's subtle (you're not going to be looking like Ross from Friends after he had his teeth whitened, that's for sure!) but I'm not the only one to have noticed. It's just a regular toothpaste, but twice-daily use has lifted the minor stains which have been my badge of a caffeine addict. No weird gels, lights or gum trays - just switch up your toothpaste.

AND that's not even the best bit. Each pack comes with a free toothbrush included! So every time you reach the end of a tube and restock, you have a timely reminder to throw out your old toothbrush too. I think everyone has been guilty of not changing their brushes regularly - this saves you both the cost and the effort of a new one!

It's available from Morrisons, ASDA, Superdrug, Boots and Amazon. They have a variety of formulas, all targeted towards dealing with a specific dental issue - whether that be Smokers stains, Tea & Coffee yellowing, fresher breath with a 2-in-1 option, including mouthwash freshness, Sensitive teeth, or the original Professionals Choice for all-around whitening. The packs cost just £3.99 or £4.99 - bargain.

Definitely worth keeping an eye out for! xo.

In which Demi goes there and back again.

A belated happy 2014 everyone!

(...pauses for odd stares)

Ahem. I realise I am beyond late, but quite how we're nearly mid-February I'm not sure. Last time I blinked it was New Year, and I was stood in the wind and rain and cold as close to the South Bank as I could get (not very, since we got waylaid by a pub and had to make do with watching the fireworks through gaps in the London skyline).

Now I'm home, home home, back in the North, and my London life feels like a dream. August to the end of November, as well as a hefty chunk of January - gone in a flash. I had the busiest and best, best, best time, making new friends and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people from University. There was an immediate shift daan Saauff (that's 'down south' for those who don't understand my pretty accurate imitation of my dire southern accent) in September 2012, after graduation, but I was part of the second wave - people who, like me, had been figuring things out for a year, or had been tied up in a four year course.

Jumping in at the deep end, I stayed with a friend of mine for the first week while I checked out potential rooms, and ended up living in the quiet area of Raynes Park with three complete strangers, who turned out to be ridiculously nice. Bonus! For a city-phobe like myself it was perfect - a fast train route straight into Waterloo, enough shops in nearby Wimbledon and Kingston for me to spend my non-existant income, and my best friend close enough for after-work visits. Yes, my darling Elf made the jump down in the September, and together we explored Clapham (Infernos and Aquum owe me some of my dignity), ate incredible food in Balham (and most other places actually) and spent a ridiculously fun afternoon meeting one of my writing heroes in Kensington at a film and comic convention.

Oh Aquum...

My adoptive southern family

Elf (R), her friend Natalie (L) and myself

My adorable little Raynes Park room

A family trip to Kew Gardens in the summer, when my parents brought down (more of) my stuff

Yes, yes he does. One of my favourite PR stunts, I moved down only a couple of weeks after Murray's historic Wimbledon win, to find that the local Morrisons had replaced their name to acknowledge his achievement.

I couch-surfed for longer than I probably should have in January - it's a good job Elf's housemates have practically adopted me at this point - until I had to realise that my drained bank account spelled out only one thing: H-O-M-E-T-I-M-E.

So with two more solid PR placements under my belt, I must admit I was disappointed to leave London empty-handed in terms of a job. A couple of near misses and several 'let's keep in touch' open endings have me furiously applying while supplementing myself with freelance work for my first placement.

[FYI, if you're interested in beauty and want to get some amazing behind-the-scenes interviews with top make-up artists, from Bourjois and Bobbi Brown to the legend behind The Lord of the Rings (I genuinely nearly died of excitement when he wrote back to me), then check out Warpaint, which I write for!]

SO, while I recalibrate myself and dust off the ol' blog (and journal, and writing notebooks - they've all been in a drought too), I'll leave you with a couple of songs which are currently being repeatedly blasted from my room, much to my family's frustration joy.

They've missed me really. xo.

'Can't Remember to Forget You' - Shakira ft. Rihanna. Two of the sexiest ladies on the planet, and two of my favourite female vocalists. Joy!

'SuperLove' - Charli XCX. Bubblegum pop perfection.

'Girls' - The 1975. I caught these guys at Dot to Dot Festival last spring, and they were amazing, even though they were suffering with sound tech problems.

'Happy' - Pharrell Williams. Because who doesn't love this song?

In which Demi is Bloglovin'

Not sure why it's taken me this long, but I can finally stop saving links of all the blogs I follow since I've joined Bloglovin'!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Updates to come soon, I promise! I've moved to London for some PR internships, and life has been non-stop since! xo.

In which Demi plays with primers and talks beauty confidence

Primers are my secret weapon when it comes to make-up.

I've been using primers ever since I started to seriously use make-up, making the switch as an early teen from 'Oh God, pile some foundation and powder on my face to stop it looking so shiny!' to 'Hey, if I'm a bit more careful about all this, I don't look half bad.'

It sounds silly, but getting Sky TV was the factor that changed everything. Mum and I started to watch QVC, and their live product demonstrations taught us all sorts of tips and tricks, while their 30 day money back guarantee meant that we could try products out on our reactive skins (I have no doubt in my mind where I've inherited mine from!) and send them back if we didn't have a good experience. We were also introduced to a whole range of brands which we had never seen in shops, whether they were American or more boutique. My mum fell in love with Liz Earle, Elemis and Gatineau, and I found Smashbox.

Smashbox original Photo Finish Primer - Source

This product changed how I applied make-up. And, although it may sound silly, it helped me to change how I felt about myself and my appearance. I no longer felt like I should go out wearing a paper bag to cover my oily skin.

It continually astounds me how few of my friends are aware of the benefits of primers. But then again, they all have naturally better skin than I do, or don't care about make-up in the same way that I do. I love make-up and beauty products because of the confidence they instil in me. With the right face base on, I have no fear about trying out a vampy, dark lip, or electric blue eyeliner. It even extends to my clothes - as long as I feel like I have natural-looking, even-toned skin, I have the confidence to try out different styles, or wear pieces that I maybe don't think I could get away with - but try anyway. My confidence in my exterior is able to match my interior confidence of myself, as a person.

A couple of my close girl friends have pulled me aside before now, to ask me why I feel like I have to wear 'so much' make-up - are trying to make yourself more attractive? You're not trying to change yourself just to try and attract boys are you? You know you don't need to wear so many products? You look fine already!

And the answer is always no, I don't - I don't feel like I have to. I just like to. I like applying the layers, putting the pieces together. Layering products, I've found, gives a more natural look than one thick swath of foundation anyway. Male friends have commented that they don't even realise I'm wearing make-up most of the time, unless it's obvious. I apply make-up for myself, and whenever I challenge my girls in response, asking them if they can honestly say I look better without make-up, I'm met with guilty silences.

But I digress. Smashbox Photo Finish was my primer of choice for many years, helping to fill in my pores and smoothing out my skin tone to a soft-focus sheen. One thing I will say is that it wasn't very good at keeping me oil-free; the high-silicone content stifled my skin and I had to keep powder handy to deal with the effects.

Smashbox then changed to formula of their Photo Finish, and within a couple of days of using the new batch I had worse skin than I'd had in years. I mourned the loss of my staple product, but instantly set about finding a replacement. For a while I used a Maxfactor foundation, which had a second half to the bottle which held a primer (the name escapes me now), which eventually became discontinued. I then settled on Philosophy's Poreless Flawless.

Philosophy's Poreless Flawless Tinted spf15 - Source

I loved this product. Weird apricot colour aside, this spongey, gooey, creamy substance made my skin as smooth as a baby's bum, and controlled my oily skin much better than Smashbox's offering. Plus it has the added benefit of SPF, and to this day remains one of the few SPF products which didn't make me break out into spots within minutes.

Unfortunately, after a few happy years, Philosophy stopped bringing this product to the UK market, and I couldn't face shipping it over from the States. This was only a couple of years ago now and primers had swept the beauty market, and were now being offered by both high-street and high-end brands. So I tried a few out, from Rimmel's cheap and cheerful version to Laura Mercier and MAC - the latter of which, I am sad to say, I hated! Laura Mercier's deserves a shout-out though, because I did really like it, but I just kept breaking out into spots, so I sadly retired it.

My search ended when I came across NARS. I'd never bought anything from them before, but the lovely sales lady at Harvey Nichols gave me small sample tubes of both the Pore Refining Primer and the Multi-Protect Primer (where the SPF inevitably made me break out, dammit! Are you noticing a pattern here...?) and I soon returned to pick up a full-sized version of the Pore Refining version. I've been happily using this for a few years now.

My well-used, slightly mucky tube... niiice.

It's a lot lighter than the primers I'd previously used, and the first time I used it I was sure that such a thin liquid wouldn't be able to do anything! But it held my make-up well, and acted more like a super-moisturiser than a high-silicone primer. Due to its lower silicone content my skin also improved, as it was much more breathable - so I got the best of both worlds!

However, disaster struck on my trip to Nottingham last month, and I forgot to pack my primer! It sounds silly, but I really did panic! It's the first thing I apply to my face after moisturiser, and with a festival to attend the following day I didn't want to have to worry about my make-up running. So I dashed to Boots to find a cheap replacement, and emerged with L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Primer. Having switched to a L'Oreal foundation about a year ago (reviewed here) I figured it would be a safe bet - plus I got to use the 3 for 2 offer on make-up to pick up another Rouge Caresse lipstick (previously featured here too)

Left: Nars      Right: L'Oreal

Awkward hair tie mark on my wrist: Accidental

As you can (hopefully) see, the Lumi Magique primer is slightly shimmery and luminescent. The shimmer, which is not visible when rubbed in, creates a lovely dewy, bright finish to the skin. My skin looks and feels like satin - plus it smells like chocolate! Divine. I was really chuffed with this primer, and now often find myself reaching for it on a daily basis - maybe because it's summer, and I want a lighter look for my make-up. For nights out and a more polished look I reach for my NARS. But I love them both!

Do you bother with primer? Do you have any recommendations? xo.

In which Demi loves the Good Things in life

Good Things Stay Clear Purifying Cleanser

I don't swap and change my skincare routine, as a general rule. I prefer to play with my make-up, to switch up my style through my lips or eyes. My skin has been the bane of my life since the age of about twelve - uneven skin tone, oily, red patches. It took me years to find a routine that worked (or semi-worked at least), and when I did I clung to it like a dying woman to a raft.

My traditional skin-saver was this cleanser from Boots. It has served me very well over the years I've used it, and I still switch back to occasionally if my skin is particularly bad.

Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash (nearly empty!)

But over the years, my skin has changed, and I realised that my skin as a twenty-one year old was not quite the disaster that it was at the age of twelve. And so I started to carefully look around at possible changes to my routine. Just out of curiosity, of course....

I stumbled across this cleanser on a list of superfood skincare products on a magazine website - Vogue I think. I'd never heard of Good Things, but the surprising low price and the philosophy behind the brand caught my attention, leading me to do a bit of research. Here's the low-down from their website:

'Good Things Skincare has been developed by award-winning beauty writer Alice Hart-Davis. With superfruit beauty boosters in gentle and super-effective formulations, specially designed to make the most of your skin.' (Source)

Yes please! The line of products is designed for young skin, and while my skin may be better than it was, it's still fairly juvenile and likes to play up a lot. So I high-tailed it to Sainsburys and picked up the Good Things Stay Clear Cleanser and the Bright Eyes Eye Cream. Both are loaded with superfruits (Mango and Blueberry/Raspberry and Lychee respectively) and smell fantastic.

The Stay Clear Cleanser is a clear gel, and the packaging recommends massaging it into wet skin for a full minute. As it is missing many of the extra chemicals which help froth up cleansers, it does need this time to get going and lather up. It works absolutely perfectly with my trusty Clarisonic (which, handily, runs for about a minute - perfect for buffing this in!) and makes my skin feel lovely and soft, smell like a handful of blueberries, and feel less tight than my previous cleanser. I follow this up with Simple's Light Moisturiser and the Bright Eyes cream - voilà!.

My skin has been better than it has been in a long time since I started using it about two months ago, and I love that the products are missing a lot of the junk ingredients of many other brands. It feels like I'm giving my face a daily detox!

I'm super impressed with the Good Things brand, and I'm looking forward to trying out more of their products when I next see them on the shelves.

Have you tried Good Things? What's your skin saver? xo.

In which Demi doesn't entirely believe in the green light.

I should probably state here, for the record, that The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books, and I don't believe a cinematic version of the tale will ever truly be able to recreate the subtlety and beauty of Fitzgerald's words. Nick's first person narrative issues aside, I think that such a wordy book will never have a fully successful film adaptation, as what we are delivered on screen will almost never match, or indeed outmatch, our own imaginations, unlimited as they are.

Nevertheless, when I heard that Baz Luhrmann was taking up the novel as his new project, a little thrill of excitement went through me. Surely, if anyone could do a decent job of matching the extravagance of Fitzgerald's 1920's world, it would be Baz.

It was certainly close, but no cigar.

Source

I monitored all press news, photos from the set and rumours incessantly. The more I saw, the more I liked. The cast seemed perfect, with my only concerns saved for Leonardo Di Caprio. It wasn't that I didn't think he would do a good job, as I think he's an amazing actor. I was simply intrigued as to how he would craft the titular character; the rest of the cast fit smoothly into their roles in my mind, whereas Di Caprio was like a puzzle piece which I knew would fit into the whole... I just hadn't worked out how yet.

When the soundtrack was leaked I was fizzy with excitement. Baz made such a fantastic call by getting Jay Z on board, with the music sounding both fresh and nostalgic; jazz and modern rap or dance seamlessly blending.

 Some of my personal favourites from the soundtrack, but the whole thing is amazing.

When it was announced that the film was going to be delayed so that it could be engineered into 3D, internally I reacted like this:

I hate 3D films. It ruined The Hobbit for me. I hate that when you watch a 3D film in 2D (or even in 3D) how inherently false it looks; you can practically see the green screen behind the actors. It jars with the believability of films, and I just wish the whole trend would go away.

So, with hesitant feet, I made my way to my old local cinema during my last trip back to Nottingham, with two equally trepidatious friends.

And, inevitably, felt my heart sink whenever the shots revealed the unnecessary 3D green-screen effect, which in turn affected the lighting quality of the actors and threw several key scenes off-balance for me.

BUT, 3D-hate aside, I was fairly happy. It seemed to take a long time to get going, but once it did the film fizzed into life like an uncorked bottle of champagne - all bubbles and sparkle and light and airiness. The party scenes in particular were great, but the big show-down in the New York hotel scene was the highlight of the film. With no green-screen, no scene-stealing props or gimmicks, we were graced with terrific performances from all of the actors. Leo did an incredible job, even if his 'old sport' catchphrase was slung onto the end of every sentence - but having re-read the book since, he really does use it that much.

Which brings me onto my joy and delight at seeing how much of the actual text of the novel was quoted. I liked the framing of the narrative, the reasoning behind Nick telling the story. While I could have done without the weird floating words in the sky occasionally, I liked that Luhrman tried to tie the book in as much as he possibly could.

However, there were niggles, and many of them. The green-screen aspect and the unnecessary composite layering. The flashy flashbacks. Some strange camera angles. All of these things kept me from sinking into the film, into wrapping its decadence around me like a fur stole.

Baz gave it a solid effort, one which drew out excellent performances from his actors, and certainly beats the Redford/Farrow version in my opinion. But it is a film which ultimately falls short - and not just for the fact that he was never going to be able to match Fitzgerald's unearthly prose.

Did you catch The Great Gatsby? What did you think? xo.

In which Demi shares her arty finds #4

Aaaaand here's some more that caught my eye!

Kyle Thompson

Kyle Thompson's self-portraiture is stunning in ways which I can't fully verbalise; visceral, human, ethereal yet tortured. Or, better put:

'His images have a beautiful sense of movement to them, especially in the recurring presentation of the fluidity of windswept fabric, which often complements his serene expression. Many of the photographer's images alternate between presenting a visual interpretation of inhaling a breath of fresh air and being suffocated by some unnatural force. However, both of these approaches offer something surreally exquisite.' (Source)

For more, you can visit his website.

Lisa Tomasetti

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Lisa's photography is an uplifting contrast between busy city streets and the delicate elegance of ballet dancers. Perfectly poised against the urban elements, the ballerinas seem even more vibrant and serene.

For more, you can visit her website.

Olivia Bee

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Olivia Bee may only be 19 years old, but her distinctively dreamy, verging-on-trippy use of colours and refractions caught my eye - as well as the eyes of high-profile brands such as Hermes, Levi's and The New York Times. Her pictures remind me fiercely of the word 'vitality'. And the 90's.

For more, you can visit her website.

Joanna Lemanska

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 Joanna Lemanska has produced a portfolio of stunning photos which captures the essence of Paris perfectly - and the addition of water reflections push her images to a new level of detail and beauty. I wanted to share every last photo, but there would have been too many, so I heartily recommend you click here to check the whole portfolio.

That's all for my arty round-up (for now!) I've got some beauty posts in the pipeline, so keep your eyes peeled my lovelies! xo.

In which Demi shares her arty finds #3

How stunning are these photos of ballerinas tumbling into sleep? I'd love to buy the first one and frame it. Vanessa Paxton's whole website is full of gorgeous photography, I highly recommend checking her out - here. 

The subtleties of the details and shades of white bright against the dark background are what catch my attention the most. Dreamy. xo.

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In which Demi shares her arty finds #2

Carrying on from yesterday's portraits are a collection by Sayaka Maruyama. A clash of Eastern and Western styles, her portraits are moody, haunting and slightly surreal in an attempt to explore "contradictory contemporary understandings of Japanese notions of beauty, from both Western and Eastern perspectives." I think they're absolutely beautiful. xo.

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Want to see more? Visit Sayaka Maruyama's website.

In which Demi shares her arty finds #1

I spent half of Sunday poring over mymodernmet.com, which has some seriously cool and quirky finds on it. I became entranced by the pages and pages of photography and art - something I really wish I had a talent in. As my photos on my blog attest, I have just about mastered a simple point and shoot camera. Smooth.

I've got a whole host of artists I wanted to share as a result. First up is Alberto Seveso, who achieves absolutely beautiful portraits with his mix of photography and ink-in-water. Take a look for yourself. xo.

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Want to find out more? - Alberto Seveso's Portfolio