Tuesday 31 January 2017

Deciem - The Ordinary


Hello everyone!

Today's post is one I'm a little apprehensive to post as it is going to feature some pictures of my skin at the end of last year when it was the worst it has ever been, so please be nice or I'll cry!
If you saw my 2017 New Years Resolution post then you would have seen the first thing I wanted to do was sort out my skin. I was so self conscious about it, and even though now it is is not half as bad as it was, it still makes me feel a little vulnerable putting up pictures when it was at its worst.

That being said, I am going to be showing the products that transformed my acne skin back to being way more manageable and that is exciting, so I hope you enjoy this post and it helps you if you are having skin issues and feeling a little low too.

So I'll just go right ahead and show you my skin before.



I know I look miserable and my hair is a mess but I felt so ugly with bad skin, it just made me want to give up on everything else. Although I didn't have lots of spots, the ones I had were huge, painful and impossible to cover up. I was getting them a lot on my cheeks too, which is such an obvious place and I felt so so down about it.

I did a lot of research about face mapping and how to decipher what was making my skin so bad and improve it. Cheeks for example can be down to having a dirty phone which rests against your face a lot of the time, so I was cleaning my phone more regularly, and trying to drink more water. I do believe you should listen to your skin, as it is a good indication of what is going on inside your body. However when you read things like 'stress can make you break out' that is a little harder to control.

I stripped back all my skincare to basics, with just a cleanser and moisturiser which I know had worked for me in the past, however it still wasn't clearing so I decided to take matters into my own hands and try a new brand I had heard so much about.

Enter Deciem, and in particular the Ordinary range.

I had read so much about this range, as it provides top notch skincare but at a quarter of the high street price and is sold at cost price. This sounded perfect as I did't want to splash out on a product that I wasn't sure would work for me.

I had a scan of the The Ordinary range and read every single description of what each product did.
It is also worth mentioning that I purchased my products from victoriahealth.com and Gill who runs the site puts out a newsletter each month which is so so helpful so shes is worth subscribing to because she wrote some amazing stuff about The Ordinary which was really insightful.

They sell lots of different strengths of retinoids at a really low price, and they are great for acne, however my skin is very sensitive and although my spots were bad, I didn't think they were acne worthy. After a long think, I decided that the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% was the treatment I needed to sort my spots. It reduces congestion and the appearance of blemishes and can be used as an acne treatment. For just £5, I put it in my shopping basket and then looked for the Pure Rosehip Oil. I knew they sold this and for the very lovely price of just £9. Organic rosehip oil can be as much as £40 because the process of creating it is so delicate and slow. How they can justify this price tag I don't know, but rose hip oil is great at targetting redness as well as reducing scarring, and as I am someone that can't leave my spots alone, I do tend to have a lot of scarring.

When they arrived, I was so excited and started using them straight away.
The first thing I should say is that I love the packaging. It is clean and simple, and I think it looks really professional.


I use the Niacinamide every morning in replacement of my serum as it soaks into the skin and allows me to put my moisturiser on top.
I will admit that the consistency of this product is really strange! when it first goes onto the skin it almost goes a little foamy, but once it is rubbed in it soaks in and leaves a dry sort of residue.

After just a couple days of use I could see it improving my skin, and I was so happy. The only thing I would say is that it does dry my skin out a bit but that is expected of treatments designed to look after spots, so I have upped my moisturiser to a super quenching one and it is absolutely fine now.



Combating the dryness is the Rose Hip oil as well, I use this at night as it is a bit unsual walking around with a thick layer of oil on your face in the day. It is so hydrating and it is slowly but surely reducing my red scars and blemishes. I also love that they have dark glass to preserve the oil as sunlight can ruin oils like this. As I said before, this product can be so expensive so I love using this little slice of luxury for the small amount of money I paid for it.

So how is my skin now?




Well it is far from perfect and you can see my scars are going to need longer to heal, but as for the spots, they may look raised in pictures but I can assure you my skin is even, and smooth. The redness can be easily covered by makeup and it is something that takes a while to heal so I am not worried about that.

I am so happy with the results of these products in just a short space of time. I've been using these products for about four weeks now and the results are amazing.

If you are having problems with your skin and you don't want to break the bank, the The Ordinary is the way forward. They are also launching so many new products so keep an eye out!

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Papaw Ointment




When I went on my travels, I wanted to make sure I kept up blogging by trying different beauty products from around the world. From shampoos made from plants, to moisturisers made from coco beans, I still hadn't found the product that I would want to import and use for the rest of time. That is until now.

Australia being a very western country has a plethora of beauty products. I wish I could have tried more but my backpacker budget didn't allow me too! One affordable item I could purchase was this Lucas Papaw ointment. This $6 cult product that all Aussies have in their handbag, is this little multipurpose wonder balm.


Made from papaya extract, this natural balm is great for everything, and I have used it for a multitude of issues.
Number one mainly being for cracked lips. I always find muti purpose items like this are a great alternative to lip balm. This one isn't tacky and doesn't really taste of much which means it stays on for a long time! I can put it on before bed and still feel it on there by morning time.

Secondly, it is great for any little cuts. Although I think its meant to be pronounced pa-paw, my boyfriend and I have lovingly called it 'paw paw which is great for sore sores'. That's a bit gross and cutesy sorry.
But in all seriousness, this balm keeps moisture and bacteria out, and allows any wound to dry up and heal itself.

And one thing that I think papaw really excelled at curing? Bites!
One thing that you never see on the #wonderlust instagram posts is bright red bites all over your body which are sadly a hard reality of travelling. Not only have I been bitten by mosquitos, I had the horrible experience of being bitten by bed buds in one particular hostel (not at all glamorous!)
I went to the shops to buy a multitude of anti itch creams to sooth my crazily itchy bed bug bites, however the thing that worked best was my paw paw! hurrah!

I understand that we have Pawpaw in the UK now which is great, although I would fly to Aus again for more of this miracle cream!

Sunday 1 January 2017

New Years Resolutions for 2017

I have said it once, and I will say it again. I LOVE New Years. Not just because it is the perfect full stop to a party riddled season of over eating and gifts, but because I always become really reminiscent about my year and I think it is healthy to have a point where you start a new chapter with new goals.

2016 for me was a transition period. I finished the huge one year travelling trip I always wanted to do, and had to adjust back into reality. Just in the last half of 2016, I had already forced myself to try new things, such as moving up to London and trying to find myself a career path . Mostly, I had to get into the mind set of trying to start being a proper adult (about time as I'll be 26 by the end of this month)

I never try and set myself unrealistic goals, but that being said, I always do try and give my self a challenge. I like to set myself lots of small manageable goals rather than one big one, and I try and spread them across different aspects for my life, so without further ado, here are my New Years Resolutions for 2017.

Beauty

Now this may seem like a silly or 'vain' goal, however it is something that has recently taken over my life a bit recently so I want to sort it out ASAP. I have never had problems with my skin as a teenager apart from the odd pimple here and there, but recently, I find every morning when I wake up my first reflex is to check my face for anymore spots. I don't know why I have suddenly developed some kind of adulthood acne, but it is something I really want to sort out soon, as it is affecting my confidence and I find I can't leave the house without makeup on, which is a stark contrast to when I was away travelling and went a year without a speck of foundation.
I don't know whether I need some more of that sweet Vitamin D to restore it, or perhaps some dietary changes, but it is something I want to fix soon so I can start the year feeling good about myself.

Health


This kind of brings me onto my next point of healthy living. Now if healthier living hasn't been the golden New Years Res of all time, then I don't know what is. Everyone becomes a gym bunny in the new year with hopes and expectations of shedding pounds and all that Christmas weight. Unfortunately I have never been one of those people who enjoys healthy eating and exercise. Believe me, I would love to get addicted to going to the gym, but I just get no pleasure out of it whatsoever. That being said, I'm not going to set myself an unrealistic goal that will only disappoint me in the future, so rather than giving myself a set weight I want to lose, I just want to set the goal of being comfortable in my own skin. If I could put on a bikini and feel confident, that would make me really happy. It's not that I really want to lose weight either, I just want to eat better to reflect in other areas (such as my skin!), and I should probably drink more water too.

Career



As I said above, I have already started to get myself on the career path, however I am still slightly unsure of what I definitely want to do and feel I still need to try out a few more things before I dive in head first. I know that I want to work within beauty for certain, however which part of it, I'm still not entirely sure. Over the next few week I will be looking at more internships so start of my New Year, but by the end of 2017, I'd love to be earning a wage, in the job I can see myself staying in for a long time.

Blogging


Although I will be on the hunt for my dream job, I really above all else want to keep blogging. I really do love doing it, and if I could forge a career out of it then that would be a dream come true. However, blogging is such a competitive world now, and you really have to stand out to get noticed. That being said, I am more than happy with where my blog is at, however I would love for it to develop more. I'm not saying by this time next year I want to be the next Zoella, however I will be setting myself small manageable goals to improve. I think I will have a bit of a blog redesign as I feel at the moment it looks a bit shabby, and I would love to grow my social media following especially on Instagram as I struggle so hard to grow that as I don't think I have the sleek blogging theme and it is not a very attractive feed (https://www.instagram.com/whatalooker/ go follow now, shameless plug). So expect a more chic and polished What A Looker in 2017.

Charity



There are a couple of things I would like to do for charity this year. The first thing that I will absolutely be doing is donating my hair to a Cancer or hair loss charity. My hair literally grows thick and fast, and I don't really like my hair long but have persevered as donating it is something I really want to do. With my Mum having chemotherapy and losing her hair, it made me realise how something we take for granted everyday can mean so much to you. My Mum has often felt really ugly without her hair, and although she is rocking a Natalie Portman style buzz cut, I know her confidence won't fully be restored until it is at least shoulder length.
Now her hair is growing back, I am in the clear for being able to cut mine, as she is becoming less precious about my hair.
Another thing I would love to do is to help the elderly more. This requires a bit more time, and with being on the job hunt it is something I can't fully commit to doing at the moment, but once I have a normal schedule, I would love to start visiting care homes or seeing older people, as I have always had a soft spot for the elderly and hate the idea of someone being alone. The charity 'Silver Line' allows an older person to call you in order to have a conversation which I would like to do, however I think I would rather see someone face to face to truly get to know them.
In the future I would also like to open my home to a lonely elderly person at Christmas.

Hair Donation Links

(these are only for UK residents)

Travel



Finally is travel, and as I said earlier, I had my fair share of travelling last year when I visited nine countries over the space of a year. I absolutely loved the experience, however it took me travelling to the other side of the world to appreciate what I have right on my doorstep. By no means do I want to go on a globe trotting tour like that (for now), but this year I would love to see more of Europe, and even the UK. The great thing about a stay-cation is that you can do them little and often. You don't have to book off a whole week at work as you could go on a long weekend jaunt or even just an overnight stay. They are also much cheaper as the UK is so tiny in comparison to the rest of the world, you can pretty much drive to wherever you want to go without having to dig out your passport.
I have shamefully never been up to Scotland, or ever been to Ireland even though I have blood relatives from those places, so 2017 I want to see a bit more of my homeland, as they do say 'Home is Where The Heart Is'. I have started to curate a Pinterest board for some places I'd like to see so feel free to pop over there if you're looking for some UK weekend retreat ideas or even a little Eurotrip.


If you have any suggestions/ hints/ ideas or just want to share your resolutions I'd love to hear!
But I'd like to say thank you for reading and continuing to support my blog, and I wish you a healthy, prosperous and happy 2017.