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?

Skin perfection?

L'Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution 

There's been a lot of blogs written about Micellar Water and they are the reason that I NEEDED to get my hands on some to try some for myself. The Boot's near me didn't have any (much to my distress!).  I was delighted when I popped into a Boots in London and found the L'Oreal version. You know that you're a beauty addict when you get this excited about cleanser!!   I've been using this for a couple of months now so I thought I would add in my tuppence worth....

The L'Oreal version wasn't the version that I was planning to buy, however I didn't have a lot of options so L'Oreal it was.  Plus it was less than £5 so I didn't feel guilty buying yet another cleanser. 

I don't have another water to compare to but I've been pretty impressed with this.  I've found this really handy to have in my cleansing armour I really like the natural feel of this and it's more soothing than my normal lazy day fall back on face wipes. The water is great as an addition to my normal cleansing routine  and I'm still on my first bottle, which is a bonus for my wallet too!

I did get lazy for a few days and only used this as a cleanser, for my skin this isn't good enough to keep my skin clear and I still found traces of make up even after 2-3 cleansing pads worth.... and I don't wear a lot of foundation! In that respect I don't think it lives up to "skin perfection".

 I will be keeping this in my routine as an addition to my cleansing routine to freshen up my skin/ sort me out on late nights and the perfect way to remove mascara!  I will be buying this again & I can't wait to try other versions. Have you tried this version, how does it compare?

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

Hero Products

If anyone ever asks me what my absolute must have skin care products are, this is the answer:

Elemis SOS Emergency Cream & Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. I have  the type of skin that seams to react around once per week to something or other. I swear sometimes it just does it for no reason. These are always my go to products to solve the problem!

Elemis SOS Cream has been a staple in my make up drawer for the last year or so. I started using it after  it was recommended for my break outs during an Elemis facial. It's not cheap but for me it's worth every penny. Plus, I normally buy it on QVC so you get a few mini testers along side the actual cream, makes it seam more affordable....

Although it was recommended for breakouts I think this covers a lot more than just that, it really soothes my skin. I use this every time my skin starts to freak out. Sometimes that means days on end when I just replace my normal moisturisers for this.   I can slather this on and know that my skin won't react to it leaving it nicely smoothed and moisturised.

The consistency is really balmy, which I wouldn't normally like but for some reason I like this. Maybe because it feels very luxurious & I can still put my make up over the top of it.  You only need a little bit, once its warmed up in your hands it goes quite a long way and it normally sorts out what ever mini drama my skin is having!

8 hour cream is also AMAZING. I use this for everything, really everything! dry skin, cuticles, lip balm, rashes, dry eyelids, eyelashes....

I know that my use of it is perhaps a little OTT but I LOVE it and it's sooo good for try patches of skin. I always keep a tube at work and at home. I've also got this cute little tin to go in my handbag - I picked it up at duty free when I was last in the airport. Much better than decanting it myself!

Elemis face wipes

Hello!

I've been using Elemis face wipes recently, when I'm feeling lazy! When I saw these Superdrug I couldn't leave them behind. I normally have cheapy wipes to hand for when I need to remove my makeup quickly or if it's been a  very late night!!! The Elemis brand had the same effect that it normally has on me... I must have them. At around £5 per pack they are a lot cheaper than normal Elemis products, even if they are a double my normal wipes.

 

I do feel guilt when I use face wipes, plus I pay the price for skiving my skin routine a couple of days later. However, I love anything Elemis and hopefully this means they are a little better for my skin and I won't pay the price of lazy days.

So far so good, I've used these a few times before the gym to remove my makeup and they do the job and I like the smell too.

The Elemis skin fresh range appears to be aimed at teens to twenties so I'm not really in their target market for this produc but the range is defenetly attractive, with cleansers for less than 12 quid. I think I'll be having a look at the ingredients in the cleansers, if they are as good as the standard Elemis products (which I doubt) it might be time to try them out too.