Mapril favourites

Since we're now half way into April and I've still not done March favourites I thought I'd squish them together (hence the oh-so-clever title) and maybe do a mini favourites at the beginning of May if anything's changed..

So, Mapril favourites...

Soap and Glory's Scrub Your Nose In It. Love this! Great for an oil-free face all day and can be used as a mask as well, lovely minty scent and feel to it, this will be great especially as the weather gets warmer. Full review to come.

Topshop blush in Flush remains a firm favourite, because of the cream-to-powder finish I've been using it over powder mineral foundation (shock!) without any disastrous results too.

Please excuse the ridiculously grubby packaging, although pretty it seems to be like a magnet for staining! I've been using my Lily Lolo mineral foundation with my Liz Earle Skin Tonic for better, more flawless coverage and extra staying power.

L-R Mac Laugh a Lot and No7's Power.

 Mac's Laugh a Lot is a Lustre finish and on my lips doesn't look that much different than my normal lip colour, except with a lovely glossy finish that generally makes a simple face of make up look much more polished. Power is a gorgeous raspberry colour that I tend to blot down to leave a pretty stain, it's perfect for spring and it's not drying either! 

NYX cream blush in Natural. I have finally worked out how to make this work for me. A very, very light hand and my ELF stipple brush, I buff it in and it leaves a wonderful fresh finish and a perfect natural colour, just as the name suggests! 

What are your new spring favourites?

x

Review: Good Things Fresh Start Creamy Cleanser...

... Superfruit extracts Grape and Pomegranate.

Good Things is a brand designed specifically for young skin, free from parabens, mineral oils, SLS and animal ingredients. The pricing's really reasonable and the packaging's attractive without looking like it's been designed for an 8 year old as some younger skin brands have a tendency to be.

I had high hopes for this cleanser having read wonderful things about the face mask and night cream but it's been a minor disappointment really. Having said that, one of the main things I dislike is the sickly sweet smell that for me really doesn't conjure up fresh-face thoughts, more mega amounts of sweets and sticky small people, but of course scent is definitely one of those things in which people's taste can vary hugely!

Good Things say:

"Regular Cleansing is the first step towards fabulous skin. This gentle creamy cleanser is enriched with moisturising mango-seed oil to clean and comfort your skin without drying it out, while skin calming cactus extract and skin boosting anti-oxidants from grapes and pomegranates give your face a fresh start."

Directions for use are similar to hot cloth cleansers in that you apply and rub in for a minute before removing with a flannel (I use a muslin cloth) dipped in hot water. I love cream cleansers, the texture, the softness of my skin after and the way you can dual cleanse and gently exfoliate...But whilst this doesn't claim to be a cream cleanser the way they suggest you use it, and the expectations I had of it's results having read the back of the packaging could easily lead to confusion....

After use I personally find that my face can feel quite dry and tight and there are still visible amounts of eye make up left on my face so this is definitely something you'd need to use an additional eye make up remover with.

I think that this would probably be more suited to an oilier skin type than my generally dry/normal combination skin and to someone who's not put off by sweet smelling skincare. I'm definitely still intending to try out the 5 minute face mask and dream cream but will be just be keeping this as a back up rather than everyday use. Have you tried any of the products from Good Things? What did you think?

Good Things is available from Boots and the cleanser is priced at £5.10.

x

Liz Earle Essentials range- Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

At the beginning of the month I got an email from Laura at Liz Earle asking if I'd like to try their full size essentials range, a very kind offer and one that I was very excited to take up! 

I've been using the range twice a day since then and I love it! The Essentials range includes Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, Instant Boost Skin Tonic and Skin Repair Moisturiser. 

I'm going to be reviewing each of them separately to avoid a giant post and today is the turn of the Hot Cloth Cleanser!

For anyone who's somehow missed the Hot Cloth Cleanser before, it's a cream cleanser that includes ingredients such as eucalyptus, rosemary, chamomile and cocoa butter that you massage into your (dry) face and then remove with hand hot water on a muslin cloth which helps to gently exfoliate and remove all traces of dirt.

I received the 100ml pump starter kit which comes with 2 muslin cloths in a little zip up bag. The pump itself is great, it dispenses the perfect amount of product and it's not an "all or nothing" pump, if you press it down just a little bit then you get just a little bit, and the amount you get from 1 full pump is perfect for even my whole made-up face at night! 

The cream cleanser is wonderful, thick (but not too thick!) with a really lovely texture that feels natural (unlike you, Fab pore cleanser!) it's just the right consistency to smooth over your face and eyes to cleanse them perfectly. It is absolutely amazing at removing eye makeup! It's gentle enough that you can rub it into closed eyes without any sting or watering- bearing in mind even plain water hurts my eyes if it gets in them!- and it removes every last trace of eye make up.. You do like like a panda though, so just make sure the bathroom door is shut ;) 

I doubt I'll ever find something that does as good of a job as this does when it comes to my skin being smooth, it's amazing! I'm not even using primer anymore as all my little invisible-till-you-put-makeup-on-them dry patches have once again been banished completely and I can't stop touching my smoooothy soft face. Even my pores look smaller in size and blackheads are significantly reduced. 

Overall I love it and will almost definitely repurchase this when it's finished. 

Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is available from Liz Earle's website where the starter kit is £13.00

Have you tried Hot Cloth Cleanser? What did you think?!

Rach x

Soap and Glory's Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser!

"It cleans, it smooths, it melts away makeup!"

Image credit: Soap and Glory

I cannot get over how gorgeous the packaging is for this, it's so pretty! 

Soap and Glory had 1/3 off some of their skincare products a month or so ago (they currently have 3 for 2 on "Indulgent bathing") so this cost me around £6 instead of the usual £9. There's 100ml of product and I'm predicting it'll last me around 3 months so it's good value. It also comes with a free muslin cloth, which has PINK stitching all around the outside which makes a nice change from the usual green. 

Soap & Glory claim this is a 3 in 1 concentrated "Deep Purifying Formula" with.. Panthenol, sweet almond, orange and lavender oils.. And yet despite all this I'm not overly keen on the smell.

It does an impressive job though! Bearing in mind that the last cleanser I used before this was the one and only Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, I think this isn't that far away from being up there with that as one of my favourites. I'm not keen on the texture though, when you first get the cream out of the tube it feels a little plasticky, which isn't something I'd choose in a cleanser! 

Anyway, once you've got a bit out of the tube Soap & Glory say you should... "Divide it between the pads of your fingers and then massage onto your face and neck for at least sixty seconds. (Concentrate most on your nose, chin, or other clog prone spots.) Leave on for another minute... Then press it all off with a warm, wet muslin cloth."

I wack it all on, rub it into my eye area (considering my eyes are pretty sensitive I can get all my eye make up off using just this, without any stinging or anything!), nose etc. and then I brush my teeth whilst it's on, I can't stand hanging around waiting for things, and this way it doesn't take any time at all really! The muslin cloth step at the end makes all the difference as it helps to gently exfoliate the skin to give the super smooth feeling that you get after using this!

If you can't bring yourself to pay the slightly more expensive Liz Earle price (plus postage!) or you're just hugely taken with the packaging! Then this is definitely worth a go :)

Rachel xx

Uh-Ohh...

After unreservedly squawking my love for L'Oreal's perfect wash and it's cute little scrublet I've run into something... Spot City.

I'm putting this down to the perfect wash as it's also a problem my mum's having since using it, and my skin's already feeling better having quietly gone back to Lush's Angels on Bare Skin. 

Seems it's just a little too harsh for my skin, so beware! x