Beauty Pie Skincare

If you have been following me or reading my blog lately, then you will see that there is one brand predominantly taking over my feed at the moment. Beauty Pie is the new innovative creation by Marcia Kilgore, and if you want to read more about what it is, how it works, or why you should get involved, then read here

The latest addition to the membership service shop, is skincare! As a huge lover of skincare, I knew I wanted to continue my membership in order to reap the benefits of this amazing brand.

With high end products at an affordable cost price, I really don't see why you wouldn't want to get involved!

I waited until everything was in stock as I like to use a skincare range as opposed to just the one product here and there. I really do believe skin care ranges are designed to work together, so I like to commit to the whole collection so I see the full benefits.

 

Talking about them in the order I use them, the first product is the Double Phase Daily Deep Rinse Off Cleanser £4.92* which is a cream consistency and comes with a cloth. Whilst I don't like using cloths unless it is for a particularly balmy cleanser that leaves residue, the cloth is very soft material.

This cleanser smells of luxury and is a really lovely consistency. It smells of glamorous chocolate orange however I have to say it isn't fantastic at removing eye make up. I like something that gets the job done, but I feel I have to work this product a little harder. Nevertheless I think it is a really beautiful product.

Next is my absolute favourite product which is the Super Stem Cell Moisture Shot Serum £6.84* and oh my god this has changed my life. From the first use, I actually saw a dramatic improvement in my skins moisture levels, and I genuinely look forward to putting this on my face everyday. The consistency is almost like a primer, with a smoothing effect on the skin, but since using this my skin has been the best it has been for a while. 10/10 for this!

Next is the Super Healthy Skin Daily Moisture Lotion £5.73 and whilst this doesn't have the dramatic hydrating effects of the serum, it is still a lovely product to lock in that moisture. The smell is fairly plain and actually a bit like an E45 cream, but it isn't too thick and it soaks in really fast.

 Lastly is the Plantastic Youth Guard Eye Cream £5.22 which is always out of stock on the website! It must be popular and I can see why, as this light eye cream is really hydrating and leaves a slight glow in the under eye area. It makes the area feel really comfortable and this little pot will last a life time!!

If you want to see more products from Beauty Pie skincare or look at the make up too, go to

beautypie.com

*Prices are at membership prices

Caudalie New Vine [Activ] Range

I think it is safe to say that Caudalie is one of, if not my very favourite brands of skincare. I think there is nothing else like it out there on the market, and the simplicity and freshness of the brand makes it such a pleasure to use. 

The newest addition to the brand is their new and improved anti ageing range. The Vine [Activ] range has been repackaged and improved, as well as the actual products having a bit of an update too. The range contains vitamin C, to help add radiance and brightness to the skin. A lot of people don't know when to start using anti ageing products, and to be honest, there is no specific age. Someone once told me that when it starts to become a concern for you, that is when you should start using them. I am now 26 and would say it is starting to play on my mind, so I may start to look at more anti ageing products. Starting early won't do any damage!

I managed to get a little sample box of the new stuff to show you!

To start the routine I use this energizing and smoothing eye cream £27.50.The consistency of this cream is light so it doesn't block the pores around the eye as it is very delicate skin. This cream can also go around the lip area (not the actual lips) to help firm around the mouth. As the name suggests, it really cools the eye area, eliminating dark circles and hydrating skin to banish fine lines

 Next is the glow activating anti-wrinkle defense serum, £36 which has that beautiful fresh smell that I love so much from Caudalie. It sinks into the skin really well and hydrates and prepares the deeper layers of skin for when they are ready to surface. 

Next is the 3 in 1 moisturiser £32 which is anti-pollution, anti wrinkle, and glow activating which is achieved by the vitamin C in to brighten your complexion. It also has a slight smell or oranges which is really fresh. Again, it absorbs into the skin really quickly, and my skin feels instantly hydrated and fresh as soon as it is on.

 Finally the over night detox oil £30. My only complaint with this little size was that it was hard to get out and there wasn't enough! I really wanted to gorge on the stuff! The real product will obviously have enough in it though, but this overnight oil is a dry oil meaning it won't leave your face greasy or shiny. It absorbs into the skin really well and leaves your skin really smooth and soft. It repairs your skin from the pollution, stress and UV rays you are exposed to in the day and it detoxifies your skin ready for the next day. Infused with anti-oxidant grape-seed, regenerating rose hip, purifying neroli, soothing lavender and detoxifying carrot oils, this 100% plant-based formula promotes cellular renewal & toxin elimination.

I really love this range and think I think it is a great option for starting an anti ageing journey, as Caudalie products are really gentle, and the fact they also hydrate and add radiance is a bonus. One thing I really love about it are the words used to describe the products. Glow activation, energizing, smoothing and detoxifying all sound like such strong and protective words. It maybe a mental thing, but those words make me feel a lot more confident about the products I am using.

My skin is always the absolute best it can be when I use Caudalie products, and it is a brand I always come back too. Caudalie is a natural brand that contains no parabens or mineral oils, so overall, this range really ticks all the boxes for me!

The best part? Caudalie are offering 20% off this bank holiday weekend, so get online now and stock up!

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!

Korres Skincare

Hi everybody! Today I will be doing a post on Korres, a Greek brand that is doing everything right! Back at Christmas I bought these two gift sets as they were an absolute bargain and I thought the travel sizes would be perfect for my travelling toiletry bag. 

I'll do a separate review on the lovely body care set, but today I am going to focus on the Rose collection.

If you've read my blog before then you will know that I'm a big fan of natural skincare. Korres is a natural brand that keeps out all chemicals and nasty ingredients that damage the skin. Rose is probably one of the best natural ingredients for your skin, as it helps hydrate, reduce redness, and just generally look after your skin.

Another bonus of Rose is the lovely smell you get in all your products. The Japanese Rose body care smells of roses, but on a whole new sophisticated level. The shower gel and body lotion have lasted me an absolute age, and have been on my round the world trip with me up until recently. They have been the perfect duo to transport me back into the world of luxury when I've needed my creature comforts whilst travelling.

The other two items I got in the set have been equally as luxurious but also handy. The rose moisturiser has been the perfect lightweight moisturiser to wear everyday, and the added SPF 6 gives me slight protection whilst adding a summery faint sun cream smell to my moisturiser. 

As well as this, the brightening mask has been another luxury to add into my routine making me one of the most pampered travellers people have come across. This brightening mask just helps brighten the complexion when I've been tired from over travelling, or had some late nights.

As I said, these products have lasted me about 3 months which is fantastic for these sizes. The Korres range is one I really want to try more as their skin care looks beautiful. Keep your eyes peeled for the post on the body care set!

Ren Glycolactic Mask

Ren's radiance range biggest seller is this Glycolactic renewal mask. It contains the natural citrus of fruits to exfoliate and invigorate the skin, helping remove the dead skin cells from the surface, and to reveal soft, bright skin underneath with reduced wrinkles.

I used this product a couple of years ago and found it gave me a slight rash where my skin was more sensitive. But as I said in my last post, my skin has now normalised so I'd like to focus more on brightening the look of my skin. I used this mask for 10 minutes and had no problem this time. As it's quite an active mask, I wouldn't recommend this for skin that is undergoing treatment or is sensitive. I found this time round, my skin looked a lot more luminous, and it felt really soft afterwards.

This is fairly similar to the 1 minute facial they have recently launched, but this is more of a luxury treatment than a quick fix. I would highly recommend this mask for anyone who wants more luminosity to the skin whether it's for an occasion, or just for general maintenance.

Lush Face Mask

Friday night is perfect time to prep for the weekend, and what more could you want that a super duper, complexion reviving, antioxidant packed face mask? I was bought this Lush face mask called 'The Sacred Truth' by a good friend for my birthday, and I love to use it when my skin is feeling a bit drab and grey. This mask protects from ageing as well as enhances your skin's vitality.

It may look like green gunk, but the wheatgrass gives it a chunky feel to it, and you can really smell the green tea and ginseng, which gives it the aromatic smell. The fresh papaya also helps to give radiance. You apply the mask on to clean skin and leave for 5 to 10 minutes. The natural ingredients mean you can leave it on for longer if you want as they aren't going to do any damage. The mask lightly hardens on your face, and you simply wash away with warm water to reveal fresh, radiant, glowing skin. I love this mask and the tub will last you ages as long as you keep it in the fridge for freshness (as well as giving you a cooling sensation when you pop it on your face!)