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!

Skin Laundry Express Laser Facial

You may have seen on my Instagram story that on Tuesday, I was lucky enough to be invited into Liberty to try out the Skin Laundry Laser Facial.

As the brand has only just launched in Liberty, I was excited to see what it was about.

I have never had laser on any part of my body, so to have it on my face for the first time was a little intense.

The brand itself is American, and is meant to be about the perfect Californian glow-y surfer girl complexion. Aesthetically, I love the image of the brand, and the clean sharp packaging looks like something I would love to have in my bathroom. They also have some really cool tote bags which I have my eyes on, as not only is it a handy bag, but the brand logo doubles up as my initials too so I fancy carrying one of those around.

The 'Skin Laundry' counter itself is really nice. I love the earthy driftwood style the counter has, and the facial menu is up on the wall so you can see what you're letting yourself in for.

Like any treatment, there are contraindications to the facial, especially one which features laser, so make sure you turn up early to go through the checking in process for first timers, as there are a few questions to answer.

After that, you're good to go, and your therapist will escort you up 2 floors to the treatment room.

The rooms reflect the counter with a driftwood wall, and also a cool personalised skin laundry surf board.

As with most treatments again, you will have to remove your face makeup, however you can keep on any eye make up as you wear goggles throughout the whole treatment.

The first part of the treatment is the YAG laser, which dissolves any dirt on you're face and clears any congestion. It also reduces pigmentation  and promotes collagen so you get a more youthful complexion The feeling was like hot spitting rain on my face, or almost a bit like intense pins and needles, but it didn't hurt at all. She tested it on my hand before so I knew what to expect. The only time I felt most sensitive was on the upper lip and around my nose where I have sensitive skin due to eczema.
The only other disconcerting factor during this part is the burning smell, but the lady confirmed that it happens to everyone and it is simply the smell of the dirt being removed from your face and dissolving.

After this, you have the IPL light, which even with eyes shut and through the goggles, is like a little fireworks display. This is what gives your skin an instant glow, and the therapist holds the light over your face, with intervals of bright flashes which you can't feel at all.

After the light, they wipe on a cooling gel and leave it for a few minutes. After that, they wipe it off and that's it! You're done! 15 minutes later you leave with a glowier, cleaner, and more youthful complexion than when you went in.

Despite the sensitivity around my nose and mouth, I feel the treatment actually worked best on that area, as the red blotchiness I tend to get around my nose was completely gone straight after the treatment. In fact any redness or discoloration was completely gone, which is one of the desired effects from the treatment.

Left: before treatment with pigmentation and red blotchiness.
Right: After treatment a day later with a more even skin tone.

Not only this, but another instant effect I saw was that any congestion or spots I had were instantly brought to the surface and especially the remnants of hormonal spots I had on my chin had instantly turned into white heads, so if you're thinking about getting the treatment, make sure you aren't going anywhere afterwards, or you bring your makeup bag with you! The woman who did my treatment was lovely, however she did refer to my few spots as acne which I thought was a little harsh!

So my verdict?

 A 15 minute facial you could get done in you're lunch break (provided you don't mind going back to work a little spotty and bare faced) is great, especially if you're going on a night out or to an occasion and need a boost to get you a fresh faced glow.

The facial has instant results which is good for someone who likes to see instant results.
If you like a relaxing treatment where you can unwind then you probably won't like this treatment, The tag line to the treatment after all is "No downtime. Just results"

It's not a typical luxe treatment, it is results driven and a quick in and out. At £50 a go, it is quite an expensive luxury, but the results have been rumored to be addictive, and people have been favoring the treatment over botox.

You can buy treatments in bundles which reduces the price to soften the blow, but the icing on the cake, is that your first treatment is 100% completely and absolutely FREE!
I certainly hope to return in order to get that LA perfect glow.