What's new….

I've decided I needed to inject some new and exciting products into my makeup routine. I've come to the end of my trusty The Body Shop mattifying seaweed moisturiser so decided to try a purse friendly version of this day cream from Garnier and so far I'm really enjoying it! I also needed some lashes for a few events coming up, and thought I'd be brave and branch out from my usual Demi Wispies and try the Ardell 117's which are a bit longer (slightly scared at the length of these!) and not quite as, well, wispy! 

My Rimmel Stay Matte is coming to the end of it's life so thought I'd give into the hype and pick up the Soap and Glory Kick Ass powder that I've hear many a beauty guru raving about. It's extremely yellow based but it really suits my skin tone and is such a perfect under eye setting powder. Can anyone say Kim Kardashian?!

I was extremely intrigued by the concept of the L'Oreal Intense Matte Glosses. A matte gloss? Hey? They apply like a really opaque gloss and try to a matte texture (which is my current lip product finish of choice) and I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews on these. They don't wear that well over a long period of time but the colours I picked up (coral denimista and fuchsia flare) and so beautiful. 

I'm not going to go on about this one too much as there's a review coming up on this soon, but I may have found a Benefit They're Real dupe. I know, right? The 17 Falsifeye HD mascara makes promises that it manages to keep, and then some. Stay tuned for more on this. 

Lastly I needed a new liquid liner - I think I eat these in my sleep I get through them so fast. The 17 Tattoo Liner promised semi permanent, up to 48 hour wear. If you intend to wear this for a short period of time, don't bother. It's a royal pain in the ass to apply, it's so thick and gloopy, and if you're a beginner in the winged eyeliner game I'd avoid this at all costs. If you deal with the application process and love a long wearing liner that's really going to put the hours in, go and buy this immediately, if not before. This does NOT move. No flaking, smudging, moving, transferring, or any sort of annoying eyeliner behaviour in sight. When it comes to removal, set aside a little bit of time for this one. 

Spring Empties….

It's pretty much Summer now, right? Here's a bunch of products I used up throughout the Spring (some of these have been ongoing for quite a while!)….. and a couple of thought's on my loves and hates!

I've actually dyed my hair twice this spring, but Berry Red from the Casting Creme Gloss range has been my favourite and I'll be going back to this one next time for sure. The L'Oreal Mythic Oil is my forever holy-grail favourite… this is my second bottle of this and I've already started number 3!

Collection Lasting Perfection concealer…say no more. Love this, and I have 3 back ups ready and waiting for me. I used to love the Bobby Brown corrector for under my eyes but my Body Shop Illuminating pen in shade 1 has overtaken this as my favourite and it's a lot less likely to settle into the fine lines around the eyes.  

My Clean & Clear deep action face wash is a staple in my skincare routine and I'm already half way through my back up! I also really enjoyed the Soap and Glory Scrub Your Nose In It scrub and can see me purchasing this one down the line somewhere. Now I've heard a LOT about the REN skincare line and was excited to have the day cream to test out. You can imagine my disappointment when I hated it with a passion. I found it sticky and the smell was just unbearable. Not a winner, sorry REN!

I can't even begin to talk about how sad I am to have finished the D&G 10 perfume because it's discontinued and will always be known as 'my scent'. I have one bottle left and is getting seriously rationed! Another holy grail product that I actually haven't re-purchased yet (too many others to use up as you can imagine) is the Superdrug Vitamin E body cream. Such a bargain and sinks into the skin perfectly. 

I love reading empties posts because I think you get a really honest, true review of products so hope you guys enjoyed this!

Loves

xxx

The best of The Body Shop...

First up we have skincare - something that I'm quite minimal with as my skin is extremely oily so doesn't need too much fuss and product overload. My most recent purchase is the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil. I'd been using cream cleansers previously and found they were a real struggle to take off makeup with. This is an absolute dream; just one pump for eyes, another for skin, massage into dry skin until it turns milky and rinse off. Another night time product I've been loving is the Serum in Oil. I love using both serum AND oil on my face at night time but the combination of the two sometimes freaks my skin out, so finding this really light weight oil that combines the benefits of a serum was a dream! 

My favourite face mask of all time, in the history of face masks, is the Warming Mineral Clay mask. This warms up as you apply it and doesn't dry hard like a lot of clay masks tend to do, so there's non of that dry, tight feeling after you've taken this off. I've been through about 4 tubes of the Vitamin E eye cream (which I have a review on here), I love this stuff! It doesn't try to do everything, it just keeps the area hydrated and makes eye makeup apply so much smoother. Finally, another much re-purchased product is the Mattifying Seaweed Day Cream. Oh lord I love this stuff. I can sometimes even just use this without a primer and my makeup just sits so much better. Any oily skinned girls out there… you need this one in your life!

For makeup, I recently caved in to the hype and bought the Honey Bronzer in shade 03 medium matte. I love it almost as much as Benefit Hoola, and lord knows I'm a big fan of that bad boy! It doesn't have any shimmer, and is a very natural bronze colour - you won't see any nasty orange face streaks with this one! I also love that they come in such light shades, perfect for the paler ones among us! My Nan picked up the Body Shop Shimmer Waves highlighter in Blush for me as a present when I came back from Australia and, whenever I've been sporting a pale to mid toned pink blush, I'm also wearing this without fail. It's a gorgeous subtle shimmery highlighter that can be built up to look quite dramatic, and can even be worn without a blush underneath if you take the colour from the top of the palette. The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes are a bit of a cult product and for very good reason. I mentioned them in my recent shopping my stash post and have used them almost every day since - especially the copper colour all over the lid and underneath the lower lash line. 

Lastly are the Body Shop Lightening Touch pens; an absolute gem of a products and one that I think should be talked about a lot more. I have shade 03 which is perfect as a highlighter anywhere on the face, and my new discover in 01 which is a peach colour that I find counteracts my dark eye circles like a dream. 

What other products should I try from The Body Shop? Any other cult products or underdogs that I need to get my hands on?

Loves

xxx 

Holy Grail Skincare picks...

I don't tend to talk about skincare on here much, mainly because I'm really a budget skincare kind of gal, and I feel like a bad blogger not loving brands like Oskia, Kiehl's and Eve Lom. But realistically my view is that, if something works, why change it? So here's just a quick sneak peak into some of my holy grail skin care items, that I've been repurchasing since the dawn of time in some cases….

Bioderma. Not much needs to be said about this really let's face it; it's a cult favourite for a reason. I do quite like the Garnier offering and when I finish this (which won't be any time soon) I may pick that up again but really, my heart lies with Bioderma. 

The Body Shop Warming Mineral Mask. Any mask that warms up on contact with the skin has a place in my heart, and on my bathroom shelf. Clay masks are a firm favourite with me and my oily skin, and this one really draws all the impurities out and makes my skin feel tingly clean. 

Clean and Clear Deep Action Cream Wash. Speaking of tingly clean, this is one of those products that you KNOW has worked because you're face tingles and feels cold. I never feel like this is actually doing anything, until I stop using it. And then all facial hell breaks loose. So I've learnt to just keep this in my everyday routine, which is where it's been for about 8 years. 

The Body Shop Vitamin E eye cream. Nothing crazily special but this is light enough to apply makeup on top of, unscented and there fore my eyes don't swell up at the sight of it (which is what usually happens between me and eye creams). 

Nivea Daily Essentials Regenerating Night Cream. It's thick, it's moisturising, it feels like it's doing something. It doesn't smell offensive, it sinks in nicely, and it doesn't break me out. Add to that the fact that it's less than £5 and really….why would I spend upwards of £30 on a night cream that isn't guaranteed to work like this one??

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo +. This is another one of those that doesn't seem to do anything magical when I use it, but when I stop is when I see the true extent to it's fabulousness. This is my third tube of this and it's my absolute dream skincare product. On a side note….I can't see a difference between the original and the + formula. 

What are everyone else's skincare holy grail products?

Loves

xxx

Rosehip Oil...what's all the fuss about....?

Having ran out of my serum and face oil within the same week (why does this always happen) I was looking for a cheaper alternative that I could use as a substitute (I didn't see the point in buying a load of expensive skin care when I've only got a month left in Aus and will only have to pack it to come home!). I'd heard a lot about Rosehip Oil and all it's supposed benefits so picked this little bottle of joy up for $17 in the chemist to see what the fuss was all about. 

According to http://www.rosehipoil-benefits.com:  

"Specific benefits of rosehip oil include:

- great natural skin care moisturiser

- research has indicated that it may have benefits for reducing some scars

- aids in reducing redness associated with facial rosacea

- improves appearance of psoriasis scars

- many acne sufferers find that it can be improve the quality of their skin

- reduces the appearance of premature aging skin as it can reduce wrinkles, crow's feet and fine lines

- great treatment for dry skin

- good for your after sun skin care regime."

I've been using this particular rosehip oil, available here, for almost a month now (as has my boyfriend...) and would say in terms of wrinkles and fine lines I haven't seen too much of a difference but then I'm blessed with fairly un-lined skin. I've got some pigmentation around my eyes which I have seen a huge difference in after only the first use or two. It hasn't done much for my scarring on my chin from old blemishes but I'm happy to give it a few more weeks trial and report back on that one!

My boyfriend started using it hoping it would take his redness down (he has slight facial rosacea) and said "after using it every night I wake up seeing a difference in my face the next morning. It doesn't irritate my skin like most products do; I'll keep using this as long as you buy it"! Rave reviews there then.

So, in all, a great natural substitute to a facial oil/moisturiser that has lots of skin benefits depending on what you want fixing! This will forever be a part of my skin care routine. Also, for you fellow oily skin girls out there, don't worry about putting oils onto your skin...it needs oils in order to repair itself! Just apply it at night time so it has time to sink into your skin. Dryer skin girls can get away with a thin layer in the morning before makeup to hydrate skin for the entire day.

Has anyone else tried Rosehip oil? Noticed any other benefits?

Loves

xxx

Weekly review....Clarisonic Refining Skin Polish....

I'm the first one to admit I'm not wildly into skin care, if I find something I like and it's a cheapy then I'm thrilled, and luckily my current skin care is all very reasonably priced and suits me perfectly. I got this in a GlossyBox a few months ago and it got pushed to the back of a draw with me thinking it wouldn't be any different to my current skincare. HOW WRONG I WAS...

This claims it's for all skin types. I have combination to oily skin and it suits mine perfectly. It's a polish rather than a scrub, and contains Jojoba beads that really gently polish and soften the skin. It's not harsh, has a really light scent, and foams lightly on the skin. They advise using a Clarisonic Body Brush and I guess this would really enhance it's foaminess (if that's a real word) but personally I fine it really effective just using my fingers. 

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now, you only need a tiny bit so it's lasting ages, and my skin really has cleared up from any little breakouts I was having, it's brighter, and I find my foundation and makeup going on a lot better after I've used it.

I've not yet looked at the price of this for a full bottle as I know for a fact I'll be repurchasing when my sample has run out, but I don't think I'm ready to know how much it's going to cost me!

Has anyone else got this as a sample and tried it? 

Would you recommend any other Clarisonic products?

Loves

xxx

Weekly Review....Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser....

Now I'm the first to admit I've never jumped on the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish bandwagon. For me and my highly sensitive skin, I didn't want to risk spending that much on one single product that was going to achieve nothing but a break out on my face. I'd seen and heard quite a bit about this little wonder and as I'm a religious purchaser of the Vitamin E body moisturiser I thought for £3.99 (it was on offer, I think it's usually £4.99 but I may be wrong) I'd give it a go. 

First off, I love that it's not scented, not greasy, and you get a lot of product for your money. It removes 90% of my makeup and leaves my skin feeling clear. I would recommend a good moisturiser after this as it did dry my skin out a bit, but other than that I have no complaints. It's a good, basic staple skin care product and, as with most of this Vitamin E range, does what it says on the 'tin'. So no, OK, it won't look glamorous on your bathroom shelf but if it does the job and is reasonably priced, who cares really? 


Just massage onto skin (I do it immediately after I've showered) the buff it off in circular motion with the cloth provided that I run under the warm tap. I just rinse my face with cold water and I'm done! For me, this is my little skin miracle. It's helped to calm down the redness I was having and has really made my skin feel a lot fresher. I don't think I can recommend this enough!

Has anyone else tried this and loved it?

Loves

xxx

Back to basics...

I'm in mourning for the loss of my normal, glowing skin! I went through a phase over the last few months of being so happy with my skin, but I think something has irritated it and I seem to have gone back to being 15 years of age again with spotty, uneven blemished skin. I originally thought it might have been a change in face wash or my facial tanning stuff I've been using, but I've also been using a new mineral foundation from Elf, so it could be one of any causes! 


The only sensible thing I could think is to literally go back to all my usual makeup (Mac Studio fix fluid, Witch primer etc) and go back to a trusted face wash so when I popped to Superdrug and spotted this on the shelf, I knew I was onto a winner...

I used to use this YEARS ago, I think it might even have been the first face wash I used. I wasn't sure to start with what good it would do, because of course your skin changes as you got older, but it did exactly as it says on the bottle, leaves your skin tingly, refreshed, and really clear - all my spots have gone and my skin feels so much smoother! I know face wash really depends on peoples skin type but if you fancy trying something new that's just a simple, no frills products, this gets a VERY high recommendation to me!

Have you got any other products like this that you tend to go back to year after year?

Loves

xxx