May Favourites 2018

Hi everyone!

This is my first skincare / product post that isn't nail varnish based for a long time and it feels good to be back. The reason I haven't posted any product reviews in such a long time is because I have really been battling with my skin recently so have been quite hesitant to try anything new on my skin until I found a routine that meant it wouldn't flare up.

I don't know whether it is just the winter months cold weather, but I had a similar situation last year where my skin just deteriorated over the Christmas months (probably due to bad diet and alcohol) and just carried on being grim until the Spring time. This year it has taken me a bit longer to pin point the cause and also a remedy. A few products along the way made it much much worse (ahem, Glossier Solution) and so this month I have put together the products that have made my skin feel normal again, and some other little luxuries that have made me feel grand!

First up is the product that I can pretty much hands down say transformed my skin from red spot remnants to *almost* clean and clear. Just a few short weeks ago, my skin was sprouting new spots each day, and leaving behind really red marks that were almost worse than the spots themselves. I read online that Vitamin C is a great ingredient to reduce redness so picked up the first thing I could lay my hands on in my vast "to try" pile of skincare, and I honestly woke up the next day with transformed skin.

This bliss Triple Oxygen Radiant Protection Energizing Serum, £52, lookfantastic.com cleared it up so well that even my boyfriend commented that my skin was "amazing". It is a pearlescent thin formula which absorbs really well and smells of zesty oranges. It is illuminating, and gives your skin a natural glow, and of course that added vitamin C evens out skin tones and dark spots.

It is also worth nothing that my skin dramatically changed after being outside. I know this sounds silly, but actually when I look back I was barely going out on my lunch breaks because it was cold and spent 95% of my time indoors. I went on holiday to the Lake District a few weeks ago, and spent all day outside in the fresh air, my skin felt clearer and cleaner and I do honestly think this combined with the serum helped so much.

As you can see by my virtually empty bottle, I have really loved using the Pixi Rose Tonic, £10, pixibeauty.co.uk which is a huge contrast to how much I used the cult favourite, Glow Tonic. Having had such a bad reaction to their number one selling product, I was a little apprehensive to try more skincare from Pixi, especially a Tonic. I am so glad I did though as I have found this so gentle on my skin and felt it really soothing my skin after cleansing. It reduces redness and adds hydration and calms the skin.

I went to a Pixi event at my local department store Fenwicks Tunbridge Wells a few months ago where their regional make up artist Amanda Bell was doing a demo and walk through of all their products. She clearly had so much passion for the brand and the fact that she is best mates with Caroline Hirons also made me want to drink in everything she was saying.

She also convinced me I had to buy the H20 Skin Tint, £24, pixibeauty.co.uk, which I am so glad I did as I hate using foundation in the warmer months and this gives me enough coverage and confidence to go without. I am the lightest shade 'Cream' but as it is just a tint, it wouldn't matter too much if you were to match yourself wrong online.

Whilst in the Lake District we also experienced some uncharacteristically sunny weather, so once again I went to my 'to try' pile and picked up this Skin Laundry Advanced Protection Daily Moisturiser SPF 35, £24, cultbeauty.co.uk. I am SO glad I did. This has become a staple in my skincare routine now as it is really creamy and luxurious, but the added protection of the SPF makes it great as a daily moisturiser for Summer. It is really light and absorbs really fast making it feel like a moisturiser and not a sun cream.

Skin Laundry is fairly still slightly unknown in the UK as it is a L.A brand, but if you want to find out how you can get a FREE light facial with them then read this post here

Whilst I have been using sun protection, I would be lying if I said I haven't been caught short a couple of times and been a bit burnt in the last few heat waves we have had. Whilst I use this Vitamin E Sleeping Mask, £11, thebodyshop.com a couple of times a week, this works absolute wonders if you have had a little too much sun. It is a really cooling gel consistency and locks in moisture so well. Vitamin E protects the skin and wheatgerm oil intensely hydrates. It smells like baby wipes which may be the one thing I would change about it, but otherwise it does it's job very very well!

Something that has been a little strange for me is my love for plain nails this month, especially sophisticated nude nails! I got these two colours in my Ciate Advent Calender.

'Maybe Baby' is a lovely coffee colour and 'The Naked Truth' a pretty peachy pink which looks great with a tan!

Speaking of tans, I have loved using these products by Tan-Luxe to prepare me for showing a little more skin this summer. This brand suddenly blew up on Instagram a few months ago and I saw a few of my favourite smaller bloggers talking about it and I knew I had to get involved. The Sleep Oil, £34 , Tan-Luxe.com is such a fab product. Like a facial oil, you apply this before bed and wake up with a natural, gorgeous glowy tan that hydrates your skin. It does smell a little buscuit-y, but the results are too good I can't complain. You must make sure wash your hands afterwards or you'll wake up with brown palms!

The other product I bought form them was The Water, £33, Tan-Luxe.com purely because I hadn't of this kind of tanner before. I LOVE using this water though as it is so quick and easy. You spray onto the skin and then use a mitt to diffuse and the end result is a ridiculously natural looking tan which absorbs really fast and with no streaks. I got shade light to medium and find it makes my skin the exact colour it would if I had been out in the sun.

Lastly is hair care, and I have been trying a few new styles and styling methods on my hair recently. I have completely given up my hair straighteners as I want bouncy beach waves that don't go flat. I am also trying to keep my colour healthier as my blonde hair can go quite dull really fast.

I first heard of Josh Wood when I interned at their PR agency, but since those days the brand has had a dramatic rebrand which focusses heavily on hair colour and care and I think it looks so amazing, chic and fresh. I love the way these products look in my bathroom.

Before buying any Josh Wood products, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the website and doing their online hair consultation. I answered a few simple questions and ended up buying the Uplifting Shampoo and Conditioner, £10 each, joshwoodcolour.com as they are for my type of blonde hair and also targeted to hair prone to frizz which is definitely mine. 

The products contain no nasty ingredients, and work better with more water meaning you save money on product. They have UV filters to help fading colour . I love how light they make my feel after washing like it hasn't been overloaded with product. The smell is really subtle and fresh and I also bought the Everything Mask, £15, joshwoodcolour.com to use once a week and really nourish.

So those are my favourite products for May, I hope you enjoyed reading about them, and if you have any suggestions of products you think I'll love in June then do let me know!

Bliss Mask A-'peel'

Hi all! Today I will be talking about this new face mask just in time for #FaceMaskFriday

The latest mask from Bliss comes in the form of 'Mask A-'peel', a rubberizing peel off mask that exfoliates, brightens and tightens. The box itself contains 3 little pots of the powder so you can get 3 uses out of each box costing £20. Each pack also comes with a handy spatula to help you apply the mask, especially in the hard to reach areas such as nose creases. Make sure you wash the spatula off after each use as the mask will harden and ruin it.

To mix the mask into a paste, there is a water line on the inside of the pot, and you fill it up to that line and then mix the powder until it becomes a really thick bouncy paste.

Once the paste is mixed, I would recommend applying this to cleansed skin as soon as possible as it does dry out quite quickly.

I applied the mask on quite thick, but after about a minute or so, the paste started to dry up and became crumbly when applying so this was my end result.

As you can see the right side of my cheek area is applied thickly and resembles the front of the packet, however my forehead and left temple area is where the paste started to dry up again, so maybe apply a little more water after a while to keep it bouncy.

From here, you leave the paste on for about 20 minutes until it becomes rubbery and starts to feel as if it trying to detach from the skin. The actual mask itself contains detoxifying seaweed to rid impurities and deeply cleanse. It also contains Bilberry extract to quench and hydrate the skin, and finally vitamin C to brighten the complexion as well as gently exfoliate using fruity enzymes. As well as this, the actual peeling motion of removing the mask, will lift all the dead skin cells, revealing a brighter complexion underneath.

I found the mask naturally started to become loose when I moved my face around, so you then have the incredibly satisfying job of peeling it off. My boyfriend also did this mask with me, and he found a few facial hairs came out in the mask too, but other than that, it is a very gentle mask and won't pull skin that isn't ready to be lifted.

The result afterwards was really, really touchable smooth skin, as well as glowy and bright. I found I did have to put a little moisturiser on afterwards as I felt a little tight, but only because my skin is very dehydrated at the moment.

This bouncy rubbery mask is great as a general skin service, or if you want to look especially bright for an occasion, so perfect for the pending Christmas party season.

 This mask is so much fun to do and will leave you with a spring in your step!

Lip Care Regime featuring Lush and Bliss

Tis the season to wear red lipstick! I love red lipstick and have been wearing so much recently that even when I take it off, my lips are still a little bit stained and it looks terrible when my lips are dry cracked.
I have had a few lip treatments lying around so decided to finally try them out.

Firstly, I used the Bliss Fabulips foaming lip cleanser. It makes sense to cleanse your lips seeing as you cleanse your face everyday. This cleanser is made to lift impurities from the lips and to leave them clean. I would not apply this straight onto lipstick as it just smudges it round your face, so I'd suggest wiping of the lipstick best as you can, and then applying it after to remove the last stained bits. The foaming action of the lip cleanser gives you a tingling sensation, and once wiped of with water, there is not a trace of lipstick. I used this when wearing one of my darkest lipstick and it worked a treat!
The Fabulips cleanser retails at £12.

Next in my lip care regime, I used the Lush Santa lip scrub. Lush have lots of different flavours in the lip scrub such as popcorn and bubblebum. This festive flavour is meant to taste like Cola, but I think it smells slightly like that banana medicine you used to get when you were a child, which I loved so I'm not complaining. As Lush is a natural company, the scrub is nothing more than sugar, and is gentle enough to be used on the more delicate area.

This product is applied to dry lips, and then any excess should be washed off with water. This product tastes really nice, so you can afford to go to the inner bits of lip. This is a perfect product to gently remove dry flakes of skin on the lips. It doesn't hurt at all, and afterwards your lips feel so so smooth. This little scrub is only £2.75!

 The other product I have from Bliss is the Lip plumper.  This is just a clear gel form that has a peppermint taste and leaves a tingle on the lips to make them appear plumper. I've always been a bit skeptical about lip plumpers. I don't think lip plumpers actually work, I think the tingling feeling makes you pout slightly making them appear fuller, but they actually don't physically plump up the lips anymore. That said, this product leaves a nice gloss and feels very hydrating which makes the lips feel fresh and looking healthy. This retails at £16

Finally, the Lush Santa lip tint. This is perfect for giving your lips a rest from lipstick, but still gives you a bit of colour. The pigment in this product is actually really strong, and it can be built up to have a denser colour. A big fan of this product and at only £5.75 its perfect for the handbag.

Are there any lip products that you swear by? I would love to hear from you!

*one of the tags in this post is 'natural ingredients'  which only applies to the Lush products!