Wednesday Wishlist: Skincare

If there's one this that can be said for blogging, it's that it's one of the worst enablers I've known. A mere 10 minutes of blog browsing can lead to me writing a list of skin care wishes that's longer than my arm. I've had a thing for buttery cleansers since I tried the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm, and the Antipodes Grapeseed Cleansing Butter has been catching my eye every time I go into Whole Foods. It smells really wonderful and has a thick and creamy texture. I also was given a teeny tiny sample of the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate when I was out shopping the other day. I've been using it for the last couple of nights (over the REN AHA Resurfacing Concentrate - a review of that coming soon) and my skin feels divine. It's so soft and clear and I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to do when my sample runs out!

I saw the Origins Ginzing Energy Boosting Moisturiser on Anna's blog the other day, and knowing how good the Ginzing eye cream is, I get the feeling this will be high on my list of wants too. At the moment, I'm using the Origins Mega Bright range - it's taken my skin from a dire mess to silky smooth in under a week, so expect a rave review of that sometime in the near future. Lush's Synaethesia Spa Treatment has been high on my wishlist for years now. I very almost ended up having one, but sadly I was too busy being ill with seizures and I had to cancel my appointment. Hopefully one day I'll get round to it. It's a completely tailored multi-sensory spa experience and sounds divinely magical.

Another thing I gave a try when I was out browsing the beauty halls of London the other day was the Caudalie Beauty Elixir. Obviously, every blogger seems to have tried this at some point or other and falls in love. I noticed a definite difference to my skin when I spritzed it on and loved the refreshingly minty smell! And last but not least, it's another product from Antipodes, this time the Aura Manuka Honey Mask. This smells incredible - it's sweet but not sickly or cloying. Manuka honey is jam packed with antioxidents and good things and I'm really looking forward to treating myself to this at some point.

What are you lusting after at the moment?

Wanted: Skincare Recommendations

Aloha!

Today, I'm looking for your skin care recommendations. My skin has basically been completely neglected, unloved and forgotten about for the majority of the last 12 months, barr the odd week or two where I've been a bit more sensible (like the gorgeous month when I was using up an Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm sample or the 6 or so occasions that I managed to use the sample of REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask).

Basically, I feel completely out of the loop with all things skin care and that makes me both excited and terrified. My skin is dehydrated but on the hole, pretty normal. It's a bit dry and rough across my cheeks and my t-zone is a little oily but nothing to write home about. I get the very occasional blemish, but this is probably mainly down to the face that my skincare routine is a pile of rubbish. I have a wee bit of money that I've squirrel away just for skincare, because it's important and makes me feel lovely.

I'm looking for:

Cleanser - I'm a big fan of balm/cream cleansers - I love being able to give myself a nice massage and then scrub everything away with a lovely soft cloth. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish no longer agrees with me. Emma Hardie was good on the whole (although my sample did separate and then dissolve it's own lid....). I'm intrigued by the Antipodes Grapeseed Butter.

Toner I'm thinking Pixi Glow Tonic at the moment. Any other recommendations?

Moisturiser I literally don't even know. Answers on a postcard please.

Mask I love The REN Glycolactic but I'm thinking about the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey one too. Any other ideas?

Other bits and bobs: recommend me your favourite lip balms, serums, treatments (the REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate looks great) - whatever skincare has reached holy grail status for you that I haven't already mentioned.

Love xxx

REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask Review

I think REN might be stealing my heart a little bit. I got a sample of their Glycolactic Radiance Renewal mask in one of the "exclusive" Glossyboxes a while back, and oh how I love it.

This marmelade-esq mask from REN is packed with Papin (papaya extract) and natural fruit acids to exfoliate the outer layer of skin and create a beautifully glowing complexion, and it really does what it says on the tin (well, bottle). I don't think I can remember a face mask that has such a wonderful affect - although this isn't an explicitly moisturising mask, it always leaves my skin feeling softer and more hydrated. 

The "peel" effect isn't super strong - there's a very gentle tingle but it's never painful or uncomfortable. That doesn't seem to have a negative effect on the results though. One thing it is pointing out is that this is a facial peel, not a peel off mask. I've seen a few reviews expressing confusion at the lack of ability to peel this off (like the cheapo superdrug masks I remember from my teen years) - this mask stays a sticky gel like substance throughout. The peel refers to its gently acidic exfoliating effect which comes from the glycolic acid which helps to stimulate new skin cells and give you a radient glow (hence the name Radiance Renewal!)

My sample has finally run out, and this REN mask high on my list of goodies to replenish soon. I'm eyeing up the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey mask with hungry eyes too.

REN Glycolatic Radiance Renewal Mask £30 from renskincare.com

What are your favourite face masks right now?

My Current Skincare Regime (aka a Liz Earle Love-in)

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're all having a wonderful day. Today I thought I'd share with you my current skincare regime... you might notice that it contains one brand and one brand only, and although technically all of these products were sent to me free for review purposes (and I'll be giving you a mini review of each and every one), I'm already making plans to repurchase my Cleanse and Polish as I'm down to the very last pump and know for certain that I'll be sticking with this long term.  Since starting to use Liz Earle bits and bobs, my skin has dramatically changed - my skin is never dry or flakey (something it has always been, regardless of how intensive a moisturiser I've used), my blocked pores and blackheads are pretty much gone and my skin itself is just much more radient, less dull and grey and less prone to redness.

Cleanser - Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

I've done a full review of this before just here and I'm still just as smitten. This takes every little scrap of makeup off and gentle exfoliates too thanks to the muslin cloths. The essential underpinning of my entire skincare regime and I really can tell the difference if I don't use this. 

£11.95 for 100ml, £13.25 for 100ml Starter Kit - lots of other sizes availiable too.

Toner - Instant Boost Skin Tonic

I'm a complete and utter toner addict.... well, alcohol free toner addict. Anything with alcohol in sends my skin wild and some toners are just evil (looking at you Clinique 3 Step). This, however, is beautiful and I love having it in spritzer format (it's also available in a regular bottle) to give my skin a nice quick blast of rehydration post cleansing or just to perk it up in the day. It contains lovely skin softening Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, as well as lots of yummy soothing things like cucumber, calendula and chamomile. The fab thing about a spritzer is that it eliminates the need for cotton wool - saves money and the planet!

£12.00 for the 200ml Sprizter, £11.75 for the 200ml bottle (other sizes also available)

Moisturiser - Skin Repair Moisturiser (Normal/Combination)

I've never really thought of myself as a normal/combination girl before, but in the Land of Earle, I'm just that. This is a truly luxurious cream that's rich without being overpowering - less is more ladies and with this you only need the smallest amount on the end of your finger. I use this morning and night and really do adore how it makes my skin feel. It sinks in quickly and you're not left feeling tacky or sticky for hours on end. It's also full of yummy treats like avocado oil (mmmm hello natural source of Vitamin A and E), borage oil which is a fabulous natural source of the fatty acid GLA to keep your skin plump and soft (also, I recommend googling Borage - it has such pretty flowers that you can actually eat!) as well as lots of other lovely skin treats. 

£17.60 for a 50ml jar/tube

Eye Cream - Daily Eye Repair

Eye creams are something that I'm always a little unsure about - do I really need one? Really? I figure that as I inch my way closer towards 30, I should probably start investing a little more into my eye area so I decided to give this a try. It's lovely - nice and light and I love the fact that it's in a tube rather than a pot to reduce any risk of contamination or infection (no-one wants a scabby eye). It also has an SPF 10 and light reflecting pigments to help conceal dark circles.

£13.25 for 10ml

Serum - Superskin Concentrate

This is another product that I was utterly skeptical about - oil.... for my skin... to go under a moisturiser? Eyebrows were very much raised but the lovely Louise managed to convince me to give a try when I was at the opening of the Leeds flagship store. Oh my goodness, I'm so glad that she did. I think that this is one of the moist important parts of my entire skincare regime and is probably the thing that's helping with the tightness and dryness that I used to experience. On the few days when I haven't used this, I have definitely noticed a big difference in the way that my skin feels and how well my moisturiser soaks in. Ladies, you need this. I use it every single night after toning and before moisturising. It is literally packed with goodies - avocado oil (see above), rosehip seed oil for locking fatty acids in, Argan Oil for vitamin E and general skin restoring goodness, Neroli oil (my favourite essential oil) to help uplift and revive you and tonnes of other treats. It's also an excellent way of reminding you to give yourself a daily facial massage - even if it's just for a minute or two, this can dramatically improve the condition of your skin. Also don't be fooled into thinking that this is just for us dry, sensitive types - this is perfectly fine to use on oily skin (so I've been told). Also, don't be put off by the price - I use 1/2 to 1 pump a day... that's nothing! It will be a long lasting investment :)

£37.80 for 28ml bottle or £18.40 for 10ml roller ball.

Exfoliator - Gentle Face Exfoliator

I don't know about you but I love exfoliating - there's just something so satisfying about knowing that you're scrubbing off all those dead skin cells and knowing that you'll be left with lovely, soft, refined skin. This is very gentle but surprisingly effective as well - normally I go for facial exfoliators which are the equivalent of a sand blaster, but this is much kinder to my face and much more effective. It's got a lovely fresh eucalyptus scent which will help to rid your skin of any impurities (it's also a natural antiseptic), skin softening treats like cocoa butter, beeswax and sweet almond oil and jojoba beads as a natural exfoliant. Fabulous!

£12.50 for 70ml pump

Face Mask - Brightening Treatment Mask

For the first time in my life, I use a weekly face mask. Why? Because one of the most fantastic things about this mask is that it's speedy to get to work - anything between 30 seconds and 2 minutes is acceptable time for it to work its brightening magic making it perfect for those of us that can barely find 10 minutes to sit down let alone 10 minutes to mask up our faces. I use this after exfoliating (which apparently doubles its effectiveness - who knew?!) and come away with radiant skin.... my dull skin days are very much over. It's got a very errrr exhilarating smell (read as "a little bit antisepticy medicinal but in a nice natural way" but don't let that put you off. This is a fantastic mask for those of us looking to brighten up tired looking skin and give it an extra boost. 

£12.25 for a 50ml pump

You can buy Liz Earle products here

Phew! Blimey - well done if you've made it right to the very end. You really are a trooper. There you have it - my current skincare regime which I truly and utterly adore. What are you using at the moment ladies?

*Disclaimer* These products were provided as PR samples for review purposes however my opinion is my own. These are products that I love and will be buying again in copious amounts with my own money :)

My 5 Minute Face/Morning Routine

Hey Lovelies :)

I've been thinking of doing this video for a little while and I've finally got around to doing it - it's basically just a little video of my morning skincare routine and the make up that I normally pop on for work. It's nothing fancy or revolutionary, but I thought you might enjoy it anyway! xx

Daily Skin Care Routine

Everyone knows that if you want your make up to look anything better than ok, you need to be underpinning it with a fairly decent skincare routine. Back in the day, I used to use Lush and Lush only on my skin, but when I left Lush I felt like taking a break so I did nothing much for quite a while, then went back to a really simple routine of Breath of Fresh Air toner with Afterlife moisturiser. Sadly, Afterlife got disconned and in all honesty, my skin wasn't really looking fantastic. All I knew was that I was getting married, my skin looked dull and dry and I wanted something reasonably ethical... one thing led to another and I found myself at the Origins counter in Boots.  It was pretty much love at first sight (or maybe first touch as it was when I started using things that I really fell in love with it). I've been using this skin care routine for over a year now (with the odd patches of lazyness where I do literally nothing) and my skin is looking so much better! Anyway, on with the products themselves.

Cleanser:
Pure Cream

One of my biggest problems with cleansers is that they often require washing off or at least for water to touch your skin at some point. My skin is never going to look good with a water based cleanser - why? When I have a shower/bath, I come up with huge red marks all over my body that make it look like I've been hit and my skin goes completely and utterly dry. It's not as bad as it used to be, and I can tolerate it every now and again , but if I use water on my face daily, it ends up screaming out for mercy. Hence my love of Pure Cream. It's quite a thick cream cleanser, which you can wash or tissue off. I generally find that I only need a pea sized amount of this to do my whole face, so a little goes a long way! It's completely soap-free and enriched with lovely things like carrot oil and coconut oil and glycerine to keep you skin lovely and soft. I use this to cleanse morning and night and it does a brilliant job at getting rid of even the most glittery and complex of eyeshadows, although it does have slightly more problems with my waterproof mascara (but then again, even eye make up remover seems to have a tough job with that one - Lancome really do know how to make them stick!). All in all, a great all rounder!

Toner:
A Perfect World

Wow. Just wow. I actually love this. I used to be impressed with the Breath of Fresh Air by Lush for its moisturising and gentle nature, but this is divine. There's no alcohol and no oil so it doesn't leave you feeling tight or greasy, but it does leave you feeling soft, clean, refreshed and smelling yummy. It has many nice sounding ingredients which I'm sure do great things, and apparently it's good for providing your skin with a healthy boost of hydration and also helps to stop deterioration and oxidation, which is never a bad thing. I find a bottle of this lasts ages and is great for those times when you're in a hurry - I find that if I skip cleansing, this still picks up a fair amount of grim, leaves my skin looking perkier and gives a good base for moisturising.

Moisturisers:
Have a Nice Day

Who doesn't want a moisturiser that encourages them to have a nice day?! This is available in two consistencies and I've used them both at different times. I currently use the cream, which is the thicker of the two and more suited towards dry/combination skin. I started off with the lotion, which is a little lighter and aimed more at combination/normal skin. I'd probably recommend that if you're oily, you steer well clear of both of them. The main thing that drew me towards Have a Nice Day over anything else is that it has an SPF 15, which none of their other moisturisers have. As my skin chooses to skitz out at the slightest thing, I can't really use suncream on my face, so I use these instead. I actually prefer the way my skin feels with another of their moisturisers (which I'll maybe talk about in another post), but on the whole, this does quite nicely. It's got a nice, fresh smell (as does pretty much all of the origins range... they seem to stay away from sweet, sickly and synthetic smells, which for me is only ever going to be a good thing!) and is packed with lovely ingredients like birch extract to firm, soybean oil to nourish and a healthy dose of vitamin E, amongst other lovelies. It's SPF comes, in  part, from titanium dioxide, but fortunately you don't get left with any noticeable big, white streaks. My skin is really silky and gorgeous after using this. I spent the first week or so constantly telling people to touch my face. *ahem*

High Potency Night-a-mins

So funny story... I actually bought this by accident. I didn't really see the point of a night cream, but this was when I was using the Have a Nice Day lotion and I needed something a bit thicker for the drier parts of my skin. I'd been given a sample of another Origins moisturiser (I think Make a Difference - also, I should point out that origins have always been really great at giving me little samples of things, especially their Peace of Mind on-the-spot stress reliever when I was engaged... I think the ladies at Origins basically kept me sane in the run up to my marriage) and I was planning on buying said moisturiser. Somehow whilst I was chatting to the counter assistant, I ended up buying this instead. As in as far as we both knew, I was buying the other cream. She hadn't even tried to talk to me about night cream. We'd picked up what we though was the other one and put it through but when I got it home, it was this instead. Weird. But, being typically English, I didn't want to take it back so I decided to use it anyway. I flipping love it. How did I survive without a luxurious night cream like this? It's like dipping my finger into a really thick tub of creme brulee (but it smells better) and the feeling on my skin is just nummy. Again, definately not for oily people. I find this quite rich and heavy, but it sinks in really well, never leaves me feeling greasy and leaves my skin really soft. Here's what Origins say about it:

Let the hypnotic aromas of nature's nightcaps summon the sandman. Newly-formulated with extra Vitamins (including B-complex, C, E and A), extra minerals and exfoliating extracts, this mega moisture cream fortifies skin's own nocturnal nature to help it repair the appearance of damage done by day and rebuild itself to face tomorrow. Worn out surface cells are gently released to reveal brighter, more youthful texture and tone. Skin awakens rested, renewed and richly replenished.

It's amazing, and I actually think I've been sleeping better since using this! It's full of nice sleep inducing essential oils as well, so it's a multi-purpose product. Huzzah!

I think I'll stop there. There are a whole host of other products I use at various points in the week, but I'll save them for another time. Just to finish though, a little from the Origins website about their ethical stance and all that jazz:

Origins products are powered by nature and proven by science using:• Natural & Certified organic ingredients
• 100% natural essential oils
And formulated without:
• Parabens
• Phthalates
• Propylene Glycol
• Mineral Oil
• PABA
• Petrolatum
• Paraffin
• DEA
• Animal Ingredients (except cruelty-free honey and beeswax)
At Origins, our conscience has always been our guide. Since day one, our commitment has been: Preservation of earth, animal and environment. Origins was the first major cosmetic brand to choose not to do animal testing on our products and not to use animal ingredients (except cruelty-free honey and beeswax).
In addition, we ask our suppliers not to test on animals on our behalf, except when required by law. We evaluate our finished products in clinical tests on volunteer panels.
Origins Natural Resources fully supports the development and global acceptance of non-animal testing alternatives. To this end, the Company works extensively with the industry at large and the global scientific community to research and fund these alternatives.

*all pictures taken from the Origins website.