Go-To Skin Care Products ♡

Hi there,
As you may have seen, I tested out some samples from Pai skin care a while back - and as much as I loved the products I tried, my purse really isn't stretching to those kind of prices at the minute, so I had to search for alternatives.  I've now reached a combination of products that I'm very happy with - most of which are all from the same range at the Body Shop.  I was fairly new to Body Shop skin care, and I walked into the store, took a look around, and choose these products.  It also helped that they had a 3 for 2 deal on!

The first product I use is the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water (buy here) - a hugely talked about product in the beauty blogging community!  I use this to remove my make up at night, and I also use it in the morning before I apply my make up, just to make sure there isn't any dirt that may have built up in the night on my face.  I like to work with a totally blank canvas!  This is kind of the UK drugstore version of Bioderma.  Bioderma is such a pain to get hold of for those that reside in the UK, and as much as I wanted to try it, when I saw this, I thought it's probably just as good.  I'm very impressed with this, and since I started using it my skin has improved a lot.  I used to take my make up off with face wipes (a bblogger sin, didn't know that before!!) and I can see that using cleansing waters is a much better alternative!

As for exfoliating, I have two go-to products that I'm currently loving.  For the morning, I use a gentler product, and at the moment I'm really enjoying the Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator (buy here).  This is the first product I tried from the Vitamin E range, and after this, a few more popped up in my routine!  I love how gentle this is on my skin, and isn't too grainy, but my skin still feels super clean and refreshed after use.  I feel like this really preps my skin for my daily make up, and keeps my face feeling fresh.  This contains jojoba beads, similarly to the Pai exfoliator I tried.  This is the main thing that drew me to this product, as the Pai one worked so well for me, but is a little out of my price range at the minute!  I would recommend this if, like me, you have sensitive skin.  I find a lot of drugstore 'sensitive' skin brands, such as Simple and Nivea cause me problems, but this gives me no trouble at all, and it also smells great!

For my evening exfoliator, I tend to go for something a little bit more heavy duty.  At the moment I'm really enjoying the St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub (buy here), and this is product I always end up going back to after trying others!  For just under a fiver, it's a total bargain, and after a day of wearing full make up it really does a great job of lifting all the dirt out of my pores and combating any blemishes that might be ready to form!  It also leaves my skin smelling fruity and feeling fresh.

When it comes to moisterising, I go for two products I got from the Body Shop Vitamin E range.  For day time use, I got for the Vitamin E Illuminating Moisture Cream (buy here).  I absolutely love this moisteriser!  It keeps my skin from getting dry under my make up, and it also has a pinky shimmer to it.  At first I was unsure about the shimmer, and thought it might make me look a bit shiny - I wasn't actually aware it had this feature until I applied it!  Now I've been using it for a while, I actually love the shimmer to it, and once I've applied my make up, it gives me a lively glow - something my skin has been crying out for!  It sinks in really well and I'm a big fan of this product!

For my night moisteriser, I go for the Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream (buy here).  I don't have a bad word to say about this product!  It's a brilliant night cream - as someone who suffers from dry skin, I find this to be a brilliant solution for keeping any flaky patches at bay.  Sinks in quickly and isn't at all sticky.  I don't even know what else to say about this product - all you need to know is that it is the best night cream I've ever come across!

I was never big on eye creams - I'm not sure why, since my eye area seems to be a problem area for me.  I suffer from bad dark circles and also a lot of dry skin around this area.  Because it was 3 for 2 in the Body Shop when I went in, I just happened to pick this up on a whim, and wow! I'm so glad I did.  It's the Vitamin E Eye Cream (buy here).  I did warn you I'd fallen in love the Vitamin E range!  This reduces puffiness and dark circles - both of which are problems for me.  I will definitely be buying this again, as now I can't imagine life without an eye cream!  I don't really know why I never thought to try one, it's definitely an essential for me now.

If any bad spots appear on my face, I just pop a bit of Skinology Tea Tree Anti-Spot Stick (buy here).  It literally costs 98p, and does a great job of making any zits disappear.  What a bargain!  I find I don't get a huge amount of spots anyway, as long as I keep on top of my exfoliation routine!

As for a bit of lip care, I've never strayed away from your basic Vaseline Lip Therapy (buy here).  It keeps my lips from getting chapped, and I honestly can't fault it.  The little tins are also super handy for keeping in my handbag!  If I'm going for a natural look in the day, I love the Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips (buy here), just to introduce a little bit of colour to my face.

I hope you enjoyed this post!  I'm obsessed with skin care at the moment!

What are your favourite skin care products?

See you next time!

The Base-Off ♡

Hey you!
It's a rainy Easter Sunday, and I should do some college work, but instead I'm eating chocolate and reviewing foundations.
I'm hoping the title makes sense... it's meant to be a play on 'face-off'.  It's probably been done before, I'm just trying to keep my titles a bit interesting.  Anyway, I've recently been trying a lot of new bases.  I kind of had a base crisis.  I didn't have a huge amount of bases to choose from in my collection, and I used to always opt for Rimmel Match Perfection - a cheap and cheerful foundation choice (buy here).  I was content with this for quite a while, but in the past few months, my skin got truly terrible - not acne or spots, but patches of redness everywhere, and my skin tone was horrendously uneven.  My trusty Rimmel go-to product just wasn't up to the job anymore!  It also couldn't handle a long day of college, then a shift at work.  I have no time to touch up my make up during the day, so I need a base that's going to keep my skin looking good all day, and will fight the oil to some extent.  I've been testing six bases over the past few weeks, and now I'm going to share my thoughts on them for you!  I'd be interested to her what you thought of these products if you've tried them!

The first one I want to talk about is the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation (buy here).  I have this in the shade 010 Light Porcelain.  This costs about six pounds, which is fairly cheap for a foundation.  I didn't expect this to be the best foundation ever, but the it was the advertising that drew me to it.  It is advertised as a non-cakey foundation, that will stay matte (as the title suggests) all day.  I am a fan of a matte finish for the colder months, and I do get quite shiny in the day, so this seemed like a good one to try.  I was super disappointed though!  I don't understand how this can be advertised as not cakey, when it is probably the cakiest foundation I've ever tried!  It's so thick - kind of like a mousse, but it just didn't blend well on my skin at all.  It really highlights and clings to any dry patches you might have, and overall is just such a let down.  I like my foundations to blend into my skin, so it looks like I'm not wearing make up, but with this, it was obvious there was a layer of make up on the top.  I think the idea of this foundation is really great - a light weight matte foundation, that keeps the shine at bay - but in reality, it just did not do any of what I wanted it to, and I really wouldn't recommend this foundation at all!  I suppose for six pounds I shouldn't complain too much though!

Another foundation I've been trialing is the No 7 Beautifully Matte Foundation (buy here).  I went a bit mad for matte foundations at one stage, as you may be able to tell.  This is a slightly pricier option at £13.50, but I felt like it was worth a try.  The bottle says "for an all day shine free look with a soft, even finish", which I would agree with, and I do like this foundation.  It is definitely a better option for a matte finish than the Rimmel product.  This goes on like a liquid foundation, and sets quickly to a matte finish - but not too matte.  I think with some matte-ifying products, like foundations and powders, they can go to an extreme, and make your skin look a bit too made-up.  This product covered my flaws up nicely and evened out my skin tone.  It didn't keep the oily patches at bay all day, but kept me looking presentable through most of my day.  The shade I got is a little dark for me at the moment, but once the summer rolls in and I get a little bit more tanned, it'll be just right!

Next up is the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation (buy here).  This product claims to last for twenty-five hours.  Now I have long days, but never quite twenty-five hours.  I think this foundation is a pretty good all-rounder.  Fairly similar to my ex-favourite, the Rimmel Match Perfetcion, but with better staying power.  It isn't the greatest for coverage, and I do need a fair amount more concealer than I would with most of the other foundation I reach for.  A benefit to this foundation though, is that it's very moiusterising, and I suffer from dry skin, but this doesn't dry me out at all.  This doesn't highlight my dry patches, and blends really well - it feels very light on the skin.  My main criticism though, is that it isn't brilliant at fending off oily, shiny patches during the day.  When I wear this, I feel like I'm going to need to carry a powder with me, which I don't normally do.

Now it is the turn of a CC cream - the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (buy here) in fact.  I've mentioned this on my blog before, and it's definitely made a splash in the beauty blogging world!  Wonderful coverage, whilst being incredibly light at the same time.  The different colour correcting pigments work a treat for me, and this gives me a very natural yet even looking complexion.  I think this is going to be the perfect summer base for me, as it's quick to apply and blend, and keep my skin looks fresh and awake all day.  It's not the best product for combating shine, but with a small amount of powder on problem areas, this base is a definite treat for the skin with wonder lasting power.

Next is another Bourjois base, this time it's the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation (buy here).  I'd seen  Estée of essiebutton talk about how good this foundation was on her YouTube channel, and I had been desperate to try it ever since!  This definitely does not disappoint, and it smells so fruity!  It glides on, and it so easy to blend.  My go-to brush for applying foundation is my Real Techniques buffing brush, and it really works a treat with this!  This product contains radiance-boosting ingredients and keeps me looking lively all day.  Even when I'm super tired after a day of college and work, my skin is showing no sign of this.  It stays on really well, and keeps any wild shiny patches at bay.  Out of all the products I've tried recently, this one has to be my favourite, as it's such a wearable everyday foundation.  It looks very natural and I've had a lot of compliments about my skin when I've been wearing it.  The first time I tested it out, I asked my boyfriend how my skin looked and he described it as a "radiant beacon of skin", which is the most ridiculous way to describe skin ever, but normally he claims my skin always looks the same to him (I don't understand males), so this one must be doing something right!

Last but not least is the most expensive product I tried.  A product I was completely unfamiliar with, a bit of a curve ball in my make up collection, but something I'm glad I've invested in.  It's the L'oréal The Minerals True Match foundation (buy here).  At about fifteen pounds, it's fairly pricey for a drugstore foundation, but I wanted to take the risk and try it.  I'd never tried mineral make before either, but I love how light it feels on the skin.  It starts out as a powder, but quickly blends nicely into the skin as a liquid would.  It does come with a brush, but I prefer to apply it with a powder brush, as otherwise I feel like I get took much build up of product, resulting in weird orange patches on my face.  When I use this I don't need a powder, as this keeps shine at bay, and also stays on my face all day.  The coverage is brilliant, and evens out my skin tone an absolute treat!  My main criticism of this product has to be the fact that it is fairly messy to apply!  Like any loose powder, you have to be careful not to cover your clothes in make up - this doesn't brush off that easily.  This is very quick to apply, and I always reach for it when I'm running late for college or work in the mornings!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and found it helpful.  Finding a new base is always tricky, but I suppose now I have a fair few to swap around for my day to day life!  I love testing out new make up products, so this post was a pleasure to write.

What's your go-to base at the moment?

See you soon!

       

My Easter Break! ♡

Hi there!

It's been a while, but I did explain the lack of posts in my last post, if you were wondering where I'd been!  I've actually just had two weeks off work and college, so I went to Edinburgh to see family for a few days.  I thought it'd be nice to share some photos and a bit of what I got up to - I don't know if you're actually interested, but personally I love reading journal-like posts!  Maybe I'm just nosey...  This post will probably contain more photos anyway.

Anyway, my relatives live in a place called Dalgety Bay, which is on the outskirts of Edinburgh - about a half an hour bus ride into the town center.  There's so much beautiful scenery around the area, so we went on a lot of walks, and I got a fair few photos - take a look!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get photos of Edinburgh itself, since it's so busy, and having a big camera out isn't ideal!  Edinburgh is such a beautiful city, and if you get the chance to go and see it you really should!  We went to the Edinburgh Royal Museum, which is brilliant - a place within Edinburgh I'd recommend.  It has a huge amount of exhibits on all kinds of things under one roof!  I didn't take many photos here either - but I'll put some below.  The museum also is home to the Millennium clock tower.  If you haven't heard of it, it's worth a google!  It's a very haunting piece of art, and I'm glad I've seen it up close.  

I am so obsessed and fascinated by religion, and I loved the exhibits on ancient Eastern culture.  I am hopefully doing a degree in religious studies next year, and I can't wait to look study faiths from this part of the world!  

It was actually science week at the museum, and they had this hands on thing called 'Smart Phone Microscopes'.  I had a go, here's a photo I took!  I think it looks super cool.

We did actually go shopping in Edinburgh, but I didn't buy anything!  Very unlike me, but I just couldn't seem to find anything that I really loved.  The shops in Edinburgh are great though, and I'd love to go back when I'm in more of a ~shopping~ mood.  Here is a photo of me eating a pizza though.  I'm allergic to gluten and wheat, but Pizza Express do really good gluten free bases!! I was never a pizza fan, but I cannot get enough of Pizza Express right now!

On the last day we walked across the Forth Road Bridge and back.  Definitely a work out!  It doesn't look like a massively long walk, but once you're on the bridge walking against strong winds - believe me, it is!  I got some cool photos though!

The next day I took a seven hour train journey (yes, seven hours) by myself to get to Ipswich, where my lovely boyfriend lives.  We're in a long distance relationship, but that's another topic for another day!  The journey was so tiring, but I got to spend the week with Sam, which was great since we don't see each other too often.  I don't have too many photos, but we spent the week going on walks and saw friends a couple of times.  We went to Felixstowe, which is a very pretty beach town, and the sun was out - making for a very nice afternoon out!  Here are a few random photos of the week.  

And of course I couldn't go a whole post without mentioning anything fashion-beauty related, so take a look at these adorable nails I picked up from Boots!  They are press on ones, and lasted way longer than I expected!  Will definitely be picking these up again when I need a cute nail look!

I got home yesterday - back to planet earth with a crash!  I went back to work today, and I also really need to get on with all the college work I neglected over my break.  I do have a lot of upcoming beauty and skincare posts I'm excited to share with you though!  I'm transitioning into spring/summer make up at the moment - always a tricky road for me!  

Let me know if you enjoy these kind of lifestyle posts!  I'd like to start doing 'week in Instagram' posts, but I need to start Instagraming a bit more... 

Anyway, I will chat with you all soon!  Enjoy the bank holiday weekend!

A Quick Update ♡

Hi there!
I just wanted to do a little update so you don't start to think I've abandoned blogging.  I'm actually not at home for the entire Easter break.  I'm currently in Edinburgh seeing some family, and on Thursday I'm off to Ipswich to see my boyfriend for a week, then home a week later on Friday.  I'm really enjoying Edinburgh, it's such a lovely city, and I'll be sure to do a proper post about it, as I've taken lots of photos I'd like to share!  I am going to be shopping in Edinburgh tomorrow, so a haul might be on the cards.  I also have been trying a lot of different skin care products, so a post will be up about that in the near future!  I might try and do a proper blog next week from my boyfriends laptop.  I'm sure any A Level student will understand that also blogging can't be my main priorty at the moment since I'm studying hard to get the grades I need for uni!
If you want to keep up with me on social networks, I'd love it if you followed me on Instagram or Twitter!

Sorry if this post doesn't look quite right, I'm blogging from my iPad!
See you soon,