May favourites

This month has definitely been one of trying new products and getting to grips with older ones or testing new combinations.

T-B- NYX cream blush in "Natural", Beauty UK blush in Royal Rose.

My NYX cream blush has become an everyday staple for a dewy finish to an everyday face. It adds a healthy tint whilst remaining in place pretty much all day. I've been using one of the new baked blushes by Beauty UK which I'm a big fan of, it's very pigmented with some fine shimmer to it, and it complements the NYX blush well enough to use on top just to add a bit of extra kick to the colour or keep it on for longer.

Ooh la la Naked is a wonderfully creamy moisturising body wash with a heavenly scent that makes me want to eat it and produces mountains of creamy lather when used with a shower scrunchie (buff puff/ mesh-thingy... Everyone calls them a different thing!) 


Naked's Perfect Getaway cream cleanser is something I've been using everyday for the last week and a bit and so far it's pretty much perfect. I don't use it quite as the directions suggest (smoothing on and removing with a cotton pad) but use it like a hot cloth cleanser which seems to be working well. Full review on this to come once I've been using it for longer! 

Max Factor Experience Weightless Foundation - I'd seen Fee @ Makeup Savvy rave about this foundation and I love, love, love it! The coverage is amazing, for general blemishes I don't need anything extra but spots do require either a tiny bit extra foundation (which can be built up without looking at all cakey) or a dab of concealer. It visibly perks up my skin leaving it looking smooth and perfect whilst not looking like I'm wearing a heavy foundation or feeling as though I'm wearing anything on my skin at all! It lasts all day, doesn't need any powder on my normal-combination skin and is what I'd describe as a satin finish. This is definitely a must have and something I'll be sticking with. I actually got hold of this for £6 including postage on ebay instead of the Boots £10 price after swatching instore for a colour match.

elf Studio cream eyeliner- after quite a number of months of this being my only used eyeliner the top of this started to dry up and made application difficult and a bit messy. Having started to burrow down past the top layer of drier eyeliner it's got a new lease of life and I'm back to using it every single day without fail. Such an amazing product for the tiny £3.50 price tag. 

elf Studio stipple brush- perfect for cream blushes and for a quick swirl in pigmented powder blushes too. 

Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzer- a tiny price for a lot of bronzer! This smells delicately of chocolate which in my books can only be a good thing, it's just about totally matte though there is the odd bit of shimmer thrown in. It's great for evening out my chest and neck if my fake tan is starting to fade or for a bit of all over colour on my face, this is a really buildable powder ideal for us paler girls (mine's number 51 which is the lighter colour I believe). 

Nivea Daily Essentials oil free moisturising day cream is another new product, I was running low on my Simple oil balancing moisturiser and this was on offer in Tesco for £1.50 (usually £3) so I thought it was worth a try. If anything I prefer it to my Simple moisturiser, it's scented, which I like, and it's possibly a little more moisturising too, the formula is more creamy and less gel-like. Does a great job of keeping my skin from getting oily through the day and moisturises too!

17 Wild Curls is definitely my favourite everyday mascara (and that's not to say it doesn't deliver fierce curled lashes!) but with No7's exquisite curl mascara layered over it I'm left with even bigger lashes that are both volumised and lengthened. 

A long favourites post this month! Anything outstanding that you've used this month? Let me know!

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Naked Haul (!)

I recently took advantage of the amazing Groupon deal for Naked, £20 of Naked goodness for £8 (plus P&P of £3.99)... Overall costing me £13-something as I clearly couldn't stick to the £20 budget!

Naked have been a company I've admired for some time now, their products are interesting and very well priced for natural ingredients, paraben and SLS free goodies.

This is what I picked up...

Ooh la la naked Coco de mer body wash, Melt away naked starflower bath foam, bare faced cheek softening face wash, perfect getaway cream cleanser and up tone girl gentle toner! 

The body wash has become my new favourite, I already have the body butter and I've had the bubble bath too so I knew that the scent of this is just amazing, it's so rich and gorgeous and it stays on my skin afterwards too. It is really creamy and moisturising too which is so unusual for my skin to actually be moisturised by a body wash! (£3.99 from Naked)

The bath foam is also incredibly scented (again, I've had products in the starflower scent before, a long time ago!), the whole bathroom and upstairs area just smells gorgeous when I've used this, and the bubbles last for at least an hour in the bath. (£3.99 from Naked)

I'll be doing a separate review for the skincare, but so far I'm really enjoying it, particularly the two cleansers.

Have you discovered Naked products? What are your favourites? Let me know in the comments :)

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Taking control.. of Spotdom

Recently my face has decided it doesn't like me and must punish me with spots and clogged pores despite having  normal/dry skin. I decided enough was enough and went to search out some solutions to rid my skin of pesky blemishes!

I got my hands on T-Zone's antibacterial pore cleanser, which reminds me of the first cleanser I ever had, it's just like water in consistency and it smells of tea tree and generally clean and fresh, I personally really like the scent to it! I've been using it for about a week either before cleansing in the morning and before I wash my face in the evening/after facewipes. It does nothing to exfoliate my skin and little to look after it so I don't fancy using it all on it's own. I have to admit though it's not been drying and I've had no problems with my skin reacting badly in any way.

You literally squirt some onto a cotton pad and wipe it over your face and that's it. It's doing a good job of keeping my skin balanced and it's definitely made a big difference to the congestion and blackheads in my pores, especially on/around my nose. It's also got on top of the spots I had which left much quicker and the amount of blemishes plaguing me has dramatically reduced

I picked mine up from Home Bargains and I can't see it online in either Boots or Superdrug.. Definitely worth having a look for it though if you're after something to keep spot-prone skin under control!

Are you a fan of no-water cleansers? Any suggestions for me?

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Skincare: Toner and moisturising!

Following on from my post on my skincare routine: cleansing ...here's what I'm using for toners and moisturisers right now...

Witch Hazel- both distilled liquid and in gel form are my current favourites, they do a fantastic job of keeping my skin's tone and texture even, keeping oil at bay and generally boosting my skin condition, my pores are also much much smaller too, take a look at my full review to find out more!

Also in use is Liz Earle's Instant Boost Skin Tonic which softens and soothes my skin with a wonderful scent as a bonus!


I know for some people toner is a step that's seen as pointless but it's really made all the difference to my skin and if I wasn't going to do anything else with it then toner's what I'd reach for.

Moisturising is a bit of a mis-match depending on what my skin's up to. Sometimes leaving my No7 hot cloth cleanser on an extra minute makes all the difference to the moisture level of my skin whilst for others' Liz Earle's Superskin moisturiser does the job in one application, bringing my skin back up from neglected and dry to smooth and supple. 

Simple's oil balancing moisturiser is generally the one I reach for in the mornings whilst Boots' Botanics moisturiser does an amazing job of settling my skin whilst reviving when I've been slack with the nurturing my skin needs.


Currently my face isn't the picture of perfectly cared for skin, but generally when I stick with the above routine I have soft, happy skin! 


What are your top toner and moisturiser favourites? Always good to know for future reference! 


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Skincare routine: Cleansing

After I ran out of my beloved Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish a couple of months ago I decided I'd not go back for it straight away, simply because I get bored easily and fancied playing about with some other cleansers for a bit.

I received the Neal's Yard Chamomile Cleanser (I plan to do a proper review of this very soon.) as a gift for Christmas and got on with it relatively well, it's taken some getting used to as it doesn't massage into the skin as easily as some cleansers but it does leave my skin soft and smooth. I don't think it's the best at deep cleansing though so I was needing something more suited to that to add to my routine.


So with my £5 off No7 voucher in hand I went in search for the No7 Radiance Boosting hot cloth cleanser. I've only been using it for a few days but I'm really liking it, after use my face feels clean and soft without any hint of tightness. It is missing the scent of the Liz Earle one- the No7 one smells more.. soapy? and it's not quite as luxurious feeling, but then it's normally £9 for 200ml instead of £11 for 100ml, and with a voucher a bargainous £4 for 200ml!


Soap and Glory's Greatest Scrub of All is my current exfoliator and has been for a while. It's the perfect amount of scrubbiness but I just don't feel it's working for me anymore, so any suggestions are most welcome!

I'm using deep cleansing sponges as well as a muslin cloth to remove my cleansers at the moment, I find it's quicker and easier and something I can see myself sticking with. They seem to do their deep cleansing job well whilst still being really gentle too, they're from the Botanics range and they were around £3 for two.


The Body Shop's facial brush is another favourite accessory, it's great for transforming a normal cleanse to a really thorough exfoliation, it is something that's likely to make you break out at first though, as everything gets settled down and your skin gets a really good deep cleanse, so not one to start using right before a big event!


The rest of my skincare routine will be coming up soon!


What are you using for cleansing at the moment?


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Witch Hazel Wonders!

As previously mentioned in my favourites post I've been using distilled witch hazel on my face for the last month or so. Normally I apply some to a cotton pad (or re-usable cloth face pad) and swipe it across my face after cleansing and before moisturising morning and evening. I sometimes use it in the mornings alone, and shock horror, instead of cleansing a make up free face too.

The first thing that surprised me was the smell. Although I'd seen it mentioned before I didn't expect this... It doesn't smell like a witch hazel stick at all, and I can't describe it because I've never smelt anything like it! The only thing that comes to mind is burning, which isn't really what it smells like at all(!) Anyway, it's not horrible and you do get used to it, so for me it's a pretty minor point.

One slightly more major point is that the first time I used this I thought I was having an allergic reaction to it, my face went very red and felt hot. It was also the first time I'd used my favourite Simple moisturiser so I was very confused! It turns out that it was the two combined that was the problem, and I've since found the same problem with other things including my Good Things creamy cleanser. As long as I leave around 10 minutes between applying the witch hazel and the things I've identified as something that reacts with it, it's all fine. If I'm in a rush in the morning then I apply one or the other and save the witch hazel for bedtime (incidentally, I've had no problems with either of my Liz Earle moisturisers).

Onto the effects! I really didn't have much idea of what to expect. My skin is mid-crisis and being rebellious and at the moment I've just about always got a few unwanted spot friends on my face who refuse to leave, I didn't really expect the witch hazel to totally solve that and it hasn't but it has:

• evened out my skin tone quite a bit, lessened the general redness in my cheeks
• helped aforementioned unwanted friends leave a little faster
• done WONDERS for my pores, particularly the ones around my nose, they're practically invisible and are much less congested. Same goes for my nose and chin too! 
• Less blackheads on (or should that be in?!) my T-zone. 
• Helped regulate moisture levels in my skin, keeps oil at bay whilst going quite a way to moisturising other areas of dry skin. Even if I forget (oops!) to moisturise in the evenings my skin feels far softer in the mornings than it would do without the witch hazel. I also wake up to a much, much less oily face which is nice! I've even used it on my arms- dry skin- and it's definitely made a reasonable difference to the softness there too!
• made a very good toner, removing last traces of make up and making my skin feel refreshed and clean but soft.

This is now an essential item for me and I'll definitely be repurchasing, it's something like £2.19 in Boots and that will last me at least 2 months. The bottle does say that it's not suitable for sensitive skin so do bear that in mind :)

Have you tried witch hazel before? Tempted?

x

Review- Nellie's Patch

I don't like soap. Particularly bar soap. Up until now I've only been able to associate it with the horrible plain white soaps that you get in public places. It's either totally solid or nastily slimy and it leaves your hands dry and tight with a not particularly pleasant smell.... I've always avoided using solid soap at home in favour of the excitingly coloured, prettily scented, relatively moisturising pump soaps.

However, the beautifully scented Rose Geranium soap from Nellie's Patch is well on it's way to changing my mind. It's smooth and creamy and it leaves my hands feeling soft and supple instead of the dry and rough mess they've normally started turning into at this time of year.

Nellie's Patch makes hand made soaps here in Shropshire (a.k.a. The home of grass, cows and the Muller dairy!), they're free from nasties including Parabens, SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate), artificial colour and palm oil (which destroys the home of Orangutans). They're vegan and not tested on animals plus the flowers and herbs are grown on site without the use of artificial fertilisers or sprays! 

Unlike many products that don't contain SLS the soap lathers up really well, a soft creamy lather that reminds me of a smoothie(!) and feels really luxurious and it rinses off without feeling tight afterwards. 

The soaps are reasonably priced, especially for something handmade- £3.75-£4.00 for a 100g block- they last forever, I've had mine for what must be at least 6 weeks now (to be honest, it's probably much longer than that by my memory is not good!) and the stamp on top of the soap (a cat!) is still easily visible and the bottom is just rounded off, not really lost much of the soap at all, so they do last well. They also make lovely presents and do a really great job of making clothes smell nice if you keep them in a drawer (random testing there...!)

The only minor problem I've had with it is that if it's left in water it goes smooshy (technical term) because hand made soaps are more prone to going soft in water, so you do need to make sure that your soap dish drains, or that the soap's not left in any water. Once I'd (accidentally!) left the soap upside down for a day it dried out to it's non-smooshy state fast and I've not had any problems since. It's so worth it though for soap that's nice and is friendly to skin and orangutans alike! 

You can find out more about the ingredients used, the lack of palm oil, and purchase the soaps here!

Overall, loving the change from liquid soaps, my hands are definitely doing much better in how dry they are and I'm enjoying using soap that's free from nasty ingredients!

Nellie's Patch rose geranium soap is available on the website for £4. It's also available in guest size soaps and in a "Send a Soap" giftbox on their website.

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Liz Earle Essentials range- Instant Boost Skin Tonic

The second item in the essentials range is the Instant Boost Skin Tonic which Liz Earle say "revitalises, soothes and tones for instant radiance".

This is unlike lots of toners as instead of just stripping your skin the Vitamin E and Aloe Vera leave it feeling soft and smooth at the same time as giving that clean feeling that I love from a toner. It also smells absolutely amazing, as the skin tonic contains calendula, cucumber and rose scented geranium. 

I love the bottle design, the top twists up rather than twisting off, so it's much easier to control how much toner comes out at once and it's really secure once it's twisted down again, it even gives a reassuring click. Mine lives lying on it's side and I've had no leaks or anything.

As well as being a great toner it's also brilliant for setting make up. I have a little 30ml spritzer bottle that I pour the toner into to use to set my make up and leave my foundation looking fresh and without a hint of cakey-ness in sight. Even after my foundation being on for 7 hours a quick buff with a kabuki brush and a spritz of this and it was back to looking like it had when it was just on earlier in the day.

I love love love this, and will be repurchasing once this is finished.. Although that may be a while as I get through about 30ml of this a month, using it morning and evening as a toner and once or twice a day on my make up too, so the 200ml bottle should last me for about 6 months, and I use it pretty liberally! 

A 200ml bottle of the Instant Boost Skin Tonic costs £11.50 from the Liz Earle website. 

What is your favourite toner? Have you tried the skin tonic? Impressed? 

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