Origins Ginzing Foil Face Mask

I am fairly new to Origins as a brand as I have only tried products from the Ginzing Range, however I absolutely loved the revitalizing range. The mix of coffee beans and orange zest really invigorate the skin and make it brighter and more radiant.

I saw via social media that there was a new mask to the GinZing range, and I wanted to try it straight away. I went to my local Origins counter in Boots and asked for a sample of the mask where the lovely lady gave me one to try as well as a mini sized GinZing moisturiser #megababe.

From what I'd seen online, it looks like a gold piece of foil on the face, so I was skeptical to think it actually looked like that, and thought maybe a little bit of photo editing had been used. Sure enough though, the mask appeared to have a metallic consistency, so I was impressed that it could live up to the expectation.

To apply the mask, I used an old foundation brush. I wouldn't apply the product with your hands as it is really thick, and feels like what I can only describe as melted down gold (whatever that feels like). The mask had a really citrussy smell, and when going under the eye area, it felt like the fragrance was wafting into my eyes so felt a bit stingy temporarily.

The lady at the counter said to leave it n for as long as possible so it hardened. I left it on for about half an hour which was really comfortable, and I knew when it was ready to peel due to that cracked feeling when I used any expression.

So next was the fun bit! With the help of my 9 year old sister who was itching to peel off the mask, we peeled it off in large chunks.

It took about 5 minutes to peel off, and it came of in bits rather than one whole mask. I needed to wash off any excess at the end, but it was really easy and not messy at all (provided you have a bin nearby). When peeling off slightly hairier areas near the eye brows and hairline, it felt a bit tender but other than that it was a really enjoyable and satisfying event!

Afterwards my skin felt unbelievably smooth, and appeared brighter due to dead skin cells being removed from the mask.

I would highly recommend this mask. At £24 for 75ml I think that is a good price for a mask that shows instant results. I used my whole pot in one go, but I imagine you can get at least 10 uses out of one tube. Is is suitable for all skin types and is a fun way to spend a Friday night!

Origins Set

For once in my life, I can finally say my skin is normal. It isn't too dry, it is pretty well balanced, and it feels comfortable. Now I am not targeting a particular problem, I feel I can concentrate on the general look of my skin, rather than catering for a particular problem. My skin is very pale and dull. Without makeup, I often get referred to as a zombie, and regularly get asked if I'm feeling ok. 

Back in December on my beauty Christmas wish list, the Origins GinZing range was something I wanted to try out, as it claims to add radiance to the skin, and energises it for the day.  I read a review of the GinZing moisturiser on a blog long ago, and it has always stuck in my mind and been one I've wanted to try ever since I read it. I nipped to Boots on one of their Christmas discount events, and snapped up this set which contains a mixture of products from Origins, including the GinZing moisturiser I wanted to try.

The set contained The GinZing moisturiser with the matching eye cream, an overnight mask and a night cream. The Gin Zing range is made with coffee beans which is what gives your skin the ZING it needs for the day.

The moisturiser has been everything I wanted and more. It's really lightweight, almost jelly consistency absorbs really quickly, and the smell of oranges makes it the perfect wake up call every day. Although it doesn't focus on hydration, my skin has maintained its healthy balance with this, and I do feel like my skin appears less dull (personally anyway). I love using this every day, and use it over my Caudalie radiance perfecting serum to add more radiance. The moisturiser retails at £23.00 on its own.

The eye cream is something that I hadn't particularly wanted to try, but I have found it marries my moisturiser so well that I now can't stop using it. The eye cream comes in a very light pink cream, and I swear it has tiny speckles of glitter or something! It really brightens the eye area and I have seen a huge reduction in my dark circles from tiredness. It doesn't actually put glitter on your skin, maybe it's just so good at adding radiance it just looks as if there is glitter in it?! Again this retails at £23.00 on its own.

The drink up intensive mask is one I haven't used as much as the others due to its intensity. I would have preferred to try the GinZing mask to come in the set, as it is a cool gel that awakens the skin, but I really love this though, and use it when my skin feels dry. It is an overnight mask and is a clear film that goes over the skin, using Japanese seaweed to lock replenish moisture lost throughout the day. It doesn't feel greasy at all, and it allows your skin to absorb just as much of the product it needs. This also retails at £23.00.

Finally, The night cream that came in the set isn't from the GinZing range and it isn't something I use as often. This is personal choice as I like my skin sort itself out at night rather than put on lots of creams. Never the less, I do use this if my skin looks particularly dull or feel a bit parched, and its rich formula perks it up very quickly. It contains all the vitamins your skin requires to wake up refreshed, and it gently sloughes away at dead skin revealing fresh skin in the morning. By itself this retails at £34.50.

I really love these Origins products, and it is a natural brand formulated without synthetics and parabens which is another thing I really value in my skin care! I really want to try more from Origins, particularly the Mushroom range as I've read great things, and also the GinZing mascara that uplifts your lashes!

Have you tried any Origins products? Would you recommend them?

Christmas Wish List 2014

It is that time of year again where I share with you my Christmas list for 2015! My '12 Days Of Christmas Beauty Wish List' post I did last year turned out to be really popular so I thought I would do another one. I am also posting it early so I have a chance of getting them before they sell out as I tend to buy it all myself because I'm too impatient to wait!

Advent Calenders

So first on the list, you have to have a great advent calender on the countdown to Christmas. Last year I desperately hoped someone would feel generous enough to buy me the Ciate advent calender, but alas, no one got the hint haha. This year, beauty advent calenders have absolutely gone wild. You can now buy beauty advent calenders by the likes of Jo Malone and Selfridges that cost up to a whopping £300. My unlikely choice, is actually the Tesco beauty advent calender, which is a slightly more realistic £50. Now Tesco isn't the usual go to beauty brand, but this contains products from Korres (my fave!), blogger Tanya Burr's makeup range, perfume samples and many more highstreet brands.

This is a much more highstreet friendly beauty advent calender, and I like the fact that there is something different everyday rather than just one brand. Since I found this, I now can't find it ANYWHERE online, so think it now be out of stock ;(

In that case, if anyone would like to buy me this years Ciate one, I would certainly not say no :)

Wah Nails

On the theme of nails, I can hardly contain my excitement as my favourite brand in nails and nail art, have brought out their own range of polishes! Wah Nails have now launched a selection of polishes, exclusively to Boots. They also have nail art pens, press on nails, manicure tools and little kits.

Obviously I would absolutely love to own all of these glorious products, but one thing that really pops out to me is the Dreamy Days Nail art Kit. This cute kit has two gorgeous colours, adorable little palm tree and peace sign decalls, and a nail art pen. It also contains 3 sponges so you can perfectly ombre the two colours for a cool sunset look.

To peruse the whole Wah Nails range, take a look here

Origins

Next I move onto skincare, and this Origins moisturiser has quietly popped up on a lot of blogs I've read, and its one I'd like to try. The GinZing range is designed to wake up the skin and add radiance. Perfect for our dryer dull skin in these winter months. This moisturiser contains Coffee Beans, GinZing, lemon, spearmint, and grapefruit. How awakening and zesty does that sound?!

£23.00

The whole range  is designed to be a skin care hangover cure, and whilst having a look on their website, I found this limited edition kit which contains the moisturiser, a lip balm, mascara and de-puffing eye cream, all squeezed into this cute bag!

This is something I may have to rush down and get before they sell out!!

MAC

This is a bit of a cheat wish product, as the Miley Cyrus Viva Glam Lip products don't actually launch till early 2015, but as my birthday is in January I can always plant the seed! No matter if you love her or hate her (I personally love her), Miley Cyrus has stepped up and joined a lot of other split opinion personalities such as Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lady GaGa, to be the face of Viva Glam next year.

Although the lipstick looks red, my research leads me to believe it will actually be hot pink, and there will also be a matching lip gloss in their ultra shiny lipglass formula. Both will hopefully be lick proof as she is renowned for that famous tongue wag. The proceeds from both products will go towards the Viva Glam charity which supports people who are suffering with HIV/Aids.

Living Proof

I have recently been enlightened to the hair care range Jennifer Aniston co founds, Living Proof. Made infamous on Friends by her ever changing hairstyles, and even having people heading to hair dressers asking for 'the Rachael', Jen certainly hasn't missed a trick here creating her own hair care brand, as everyone wants her perfect hair.

The brand consists of 4 ranges. Styling, Full, Restore and No Frizz, the latter being the range my hair desperately needs. The range contains a shampoo and conditioner, an alternative leave in conditioner and then two styling products specifically for de-frizzing.

Frizzing is due to moisture getting into the cuticles in your hair, allowing it to puff up and become unmanageable. This range smooths down the hair so there are no gaps for moisture to get in. I can't leave the house after I've straightened or blow dried my hair. CERTAINLY not if its just been washed, so my hair often looks like a giant frizz ball. I'd love to test this range out, especially in the wetter seasons we are coming into.

Nails Inc

Onto another celebrity inspired product (jesus we really do buy into these people don't we!) and that is fashionista Alexa Chung. Alexa has been the face of Eyeko for her famous cat eye flicks, and now the effortlessy cool 'it girl' is the face of a cool nail brand. Nails Inc have been ahead of their game in the nail world, creating leather textures, and lots of fun top coat ideas. They have also had a brand makeover which looks SO much better and sleeker. Step in Alexa Chung, to finish of the brands cool revamp.

This latest set contains a cute little bag and a nail file with three really wintery colours. A pale pink and pale blue, and a stunning deep navy colour. The real excitment is with the other three polishes though. An uber shiny holographic glitter coat, a gold and silver star infused clear coat, and then a heart embellished clear coat which I have tried on and is so unbelievably cute.

This retails at £45.00 but is worth about £95!!

Sleek Eye and Cheek Palette

Sleek is a brand that I first discovered in a Glossy Box, and recently my wonderful friend Sophie has been telling me that it is a really affordable brand that has some good bits! I went to have a look at the isle in Boots and this eye shadow palette caught my eye. I think because it has that pomegranate colour I'm obsessing over at the moment, but it also has some really pretty colours like, the gold shade, and the deep purple. It can also be used as a cheek palette but I think at a push I would only want to use the dusty pink colour on my face! The best thing about this palette? it is £10.00. TEN POUNDS. This will make a perfect secret Santa present that someone will actually like, or a great stocking filler for someone AKA me.

Frank Body Scrub

This is one of the products I have discovered over Instagram. As I follow a few beauty trends and bloggers, this kept popping up on my news feed so I want to see what all the hype is about! Frank Body Scrub is basically coffee, and exfoliates the whole body and face as well as adding radiance and energy to the skin much like the Origins Ginzing range I was taking about. What a winning combination present that would make!

They have three scrubs mixed with different ingredients to do different things. They have one for moisture, one for skin pigmentation and cellulite, and one for clarifying cleansing, all priced around £12.00. I'd probably go for the original scrub, although it will do all of the above just less intensified as it doesn't have the certain specialised ingredients.

For more information, visit their site here

Zoella Beauty Line

Zoella is one of the most subscribed to Youtubers, and has a massive following on her beauty blog. She's having a book brought out, she (weirdly) featured in the new BandAid30 song, and has appeared on adverts. It would seem odd if she didn't have her own range of products, and recently she did just this! Her predominantly bath and body range is only small, but I will imagine it will grow. It consists of a choice of two cosmetic bags, a candle, fragranced body mist, shower gel and body lotion and finally a fizz bar for the bath. Most reviews I have read have said younger girls have loved it, which I guess is the market it is aimed at, but no one can say no to a pamper night so it's something I'd like to try. It's reasonably priced as well as the whole range is £10 and under! Again, another good secret Santa present.

Revitalash

The next product on my wishlist is this miracle growth eyelash conditioner by Revitalash, that helps your eyelashes grow and become stronger. I'm a really bad eyelash puller, and find myself pulling out quite a few at a time! I don't know why I do it, I just like the feeling of pulling mascara off my lashes but obviously my eye lashes come out with it sometimes. This product was recommend to me by my friend Jade who swears by it. I will let you read her instagram post for yourself to see her experience. (she is also a very talented make up artist so like her Facebook page here)

This product doesn't come cheap, at minimum for a 3 month supply, your looking at $98.00, but to have fantastic long natural lashes, really would be a Christmas miracle.

L'Occitane Almond Range

French brand L'Oocitane specialise in Skincare and Bath and body products. As a huge lover of marzipan, I am a sucker for the smell of Almond, and this range smells so so tasty. I didn't actually know, but Almond is a very toning ingrediant for the skin, so not only does this stuff smell delicious, it also helps firm and tighten skin which is is always a good thing. I am especially drawn to the shower and body oils, just because I love how well oils hydrate my skin. The range also does scrubs, soaps and hand creams.

Bondi Sands Tan

This may seem like an odd item on my wishlist, as in a post only this week I said I'm not a great lover of fake tan, but if you red my post, you will know that if its good enough, then I will cave in and use it! 

Bondi Sands Tan is another Instagram hyped product that I've seen posted everywhere. As I like a mousse, I would opt for the light/medium tanning foam, which costs £14.99. Compared to the other fake tans I've been using, that is actually really cheap, and from what I've read online, it has the same flalwess results without the fake tan smell. An Australian looking tan and coconut scent sounds like something I want to try!

Are there any products on here you'd want to try? 

What is on your Christmas list this year? let me know!