Beauty update

I've had some fantastic new additions to my beauty kit recently that I thought I would share my thoughts on.

I know that every man & his wife have the Naked shadows... however I had to join them &  yup I love them too! I picked up the Naked 2 palette as I think it's the best colour mix for paler skin. Since I've had the set all of my other shadows have been made redundant. I can't recommend this enough! I also think this makes a great present.

I've recently replaced my trust St Tropez for the Cocoa Brown 1 hour tan. This has a lot to do with my last minute decisions to do a tan. I think this is fantastic & have even been known to put this on before going to work! I personally don't think the developing smell is too strong. It's also good to know that I only need to leave it on for one hour before I can shower of the top layer.

On one of my more rushed days I actually put this on before a gym class and showered after. Although I wouldn't recommend it, it did actually work and saved me from showing off my pale Scottish skin! 

Finally, when i was in america I picked up this ultra repair cream. I picked mine up in Sephora. This is a really handy cream to have around, I have been using this whenever my skin flairs up. It's done a good job of moisturising and calming down my irritated skin. Considering my skin was at it's worst when I picked this up, I was really impressed. 

Have you used any of these products? What did you think?

Moisturiser switch up

After finishing my latest Elemis Pro Collagen  moisturiser I decided (again) to try to find a more affordable substitute. 

I've been through this process quite a few times but I always return to Elemis slightly disappointed in the rivals. This time I ordered Emma Hardie AM/PM moisturiser to see if it was up to the challenge!

The 50ml size was much more resonable than my normal 30ml Pro Collagen moisturiser. I ordered this from Feel Unique and got the normal super quick delivery. Time to get testing!

So far I am really enjoying using this moisturiser. It's thicker than Pro Collagen however I don't find it too thick on my skin. The moisturiser absorbs quickly making it easy to wear under make up. I tend to put on a little more at night. Plus, the smell is Devine!

Now that I've tried this I'm not surprised I've heard a lot about Emma Hardie. I certainly want to try her cleansing balm now.

So will AM/PM moisturiser replace My staple Elemis Pro Collagen? I'm not sure that I would go that far ....but I am sure I will be using this in between my ProCollagen  splurges!! 

Skin Bliss Indeed!

First of all I promise this will be my last Elemis chat for a while ..... In case you hasn't guessed I'm going through an Elemis phase at the moment. This little phase is mainly thanks to birthday and Christmas presents of lovely Elemis gift sets.

I don't think I've talked about skin bliss capsules yet... I have been talking about them so much in the real world (!) that I find it hard to tell! 

For those of you who haven't tried them yet, you get two sets of capsules in the tub one for day and one for night. It looks like you are supposed to use these as a course but I use them as and when my skin needs them. 

I really love the daytime ones & tend to use them up quicker. You only get a tiny bit in each one but if you rub it through your hands first it's plenty for the face. It even goes under make up well. I do try to match the day and night ones when I use them but to be honest I often forget ...I'm not very good in the evening, I just want to go to my bed!!!! 

It feels a bit oily but when my skin is dry that's ok with me. I wouldn't want to use it all the time they feel like a little luxury and that's exactly how I use them. I will be gutted when I finish these, not sure I could justify more .....unless they are a good deal! 

Xxx

December Faves

I have to say I love love love monthly favourite posts on other blogs so I'm trying to do it too. It's a also the posts that make me want to buy the most too!!! Here's My December Faves.....

Firstly my Mia brush! It is fab and makes all cleansers better, my skin has got better and better since I've been using this. It's amazing seeing all the make up coming off. When I don't use it I end up with so much make up on my face cloth. My skin freaked out recently & between this removing the nasties & my trusted SOS cream I was sorted ASAP!!! It is well and truly on my Favs list.


A long with my Liz Earl cleanser I have been using this Elemis Balm Cleanser. I maybe use this once or twice a week as a treat! I really like it, it has quite a thick luxurious consistency which in my opinion smells amazing. It came with a face cloth to use with it, which I do. One of the tips I picked up is to put the balm on and the warm cloth on top to allow it to sink in. It makes me feel like I'm having a lux facial even when I'm just in the shower. I love this so much that I've got my next tub ready!!!! Elemis seam to be putting this in a lot of their beauty sets at the moment, so look out for good deals, best ones I've had have been trusty QVC, the airport and I've seen a couple of sets on Feel Unique (not sure if they have the balm tho).

My Yankee Candle is my non beauty contribution, I think these give off a great smell. Since moving into our flat we have acquired around five new smells!!! This is my bathroom fav which as you can
probably see is nearly burnt out :-(

I have been using both the Frangipani shower cream and the Frangipani Oil (hiding behind my Mia brush in the pic!!). Both of these are travel size and I really like them! I can see why some people don't like the smell but for me I really like it. Again it reminds me of being at a spa.

As winters been taking its toll I've been keeping my skin fresh with a Clinique scrub, I've gift a full size verision of this in the cupboard!!

 Finally on a day to day basis I've been using the Elemis skin nourishing cream, it has lasted for ages and doesn't have a strong smell so great to pair with the above. I got this in a set which is a treat, not sure I would splash out for it on its own tho!

November Faves

I can't believe we are at the beginning of December! How did that happen? I've had a few things this month that I've been loving. Here's my Nov Faves:

Avene Water Spray

I've been loving this whist I have been on holiday and travelling. I had heard lots of good reviews so I bought the mini bottle for the plane and a big bottle for beside the pool. I really liked using this and I will make sure I have this on planes from now on. It's so nice and refreshing when your skin is super dry. I also used this over the top of my mineral foundation since it looked quite dry, I really liked the dewy look that it gave. I think I'll keep this as a back up when my skin is looking dry this winter.

Elemis Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm

I've been using this on top of my normal moisturiser as a primer. It feels great on my skin and it seamed to do a great job under my tinted foundation. It will be good to see how well this works undee my normal mineral foundation. I think it's quite light as a moisturiser on its own but I love it as a primer. 

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser

I got this in one of my birch boxes. I'm totally hooked on my mac mineral foundation so I wasn't sure if I would like this, however I have been loving this. It's got enough coverage for me at the moment... my normally crazy skin is much better after using my Clarisonic brush daily!! Anyway, back to the point. This is really the only tinted moisturiser that I've enjoyed using, it looked very natural on. I'll be using it as part of my more chilled out make up, normally my Sunday face. I'm sure I'll be ordering the full version of this.

Elemis Frangipani Oil

This has to be my absolute favourite this months. I've been using this on my dried out skin and it works a treat. I love the smell which hangs around all day, it's quite a strong smell so I could see why people wouldn't like it but I would  reccomendations giving it a shot. It's solid in the bottle and turns to oil when popped into warm water, on a practical note makes for easy no leak storage & short trips away!! 

Instain Blush

Another Birch Box  treat that has been great, I'll be buying the full size of this for sure. It's a blush stain which applies well when I use my blusher brush. A great natural flush which lasts for hours!!

Have you used any of you used these? What do you think? 

Xxx