Skincare Hauling

So I may have gone a bit skincare crazy in Superdrug and Boots, oops. I actually bought more skincare than I did makeup which is something that NEVER happens, but I can see it happening more regularly now, uh oh.

Superdrug was riddled with skincare deals. Everywhere I looked there were deals and if I had the money, I would have bought a lot more than I did. The first 2 items I picked up were from Superdrug's Tea Tree Skincare range. There was a 2 for £4 offer on and considering both of the products I bought were worth £3 each, I couldn't say no, could I?

I desperately needed a new tea tree oil but the Superdrug I was in didn't have any pure tea tree oil in stock so I picked up the 'Blended Oil' which is targeted at fighting spots, whereas pure tea tree oil is just marketed as an antiseptic. I also picked up some of the Tea Tree Nose Strips as I was also in desperate need of new pore strips and I've used ones similar to these before and they've worked really well.

The next two items I picked up were two of the Superdrug own brand face masks. I already own the Detoxifying mud mask (review here) and as I love it so much I thought I'd pick up the Witch Hazel Purifying Mask. There was a 2 for £3 deal on so I also got the Cucumber Peel Off Mask, but I have no reasoning as to why I bought it, I just wanted to make the most of the deal. That's the normal thing to do, right?

Surprise surprise, I bought another Witch Blemish Stick. It's my holy grail skincare product and I think this is my 10th or 11th one that I've bought and I'm never ever without one. Need I say more? Although if you'd like to read more on it then you can read my review here.

Finally I picked up the 'Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturiser'. I did a bad thing and bought this because the packaging looked nice. Ooops. But I did also like the claims it was making, so it's not all bad. I've been needing a new daytime moisturiser and as I have been burdened with the oiliest skin known to man, the promise of mattifying my skin was very appealing, very appealing indeed. I will be doing a full review of this product in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled. 
I think I have enough skincare to last me a good few years now but buying skincare is rather addictive. 

On another note I'd like to apologise for my lack of posts recently. It's that time of year again where we have all our end of year exams and blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat for a few weeks. But fear not, fear not, I will be back posting twice weekly as of next week *cheers*. 

I hope you all have a lovely week and school or work isn't too stressful.  
(PS, thankyou all so much for 400 Bloglovin followers and 100 GFC followers, it means the world! *internet hug*)

What's in my Travel Skincare Bag?

If you read my last post, you will know that I'm currently in Italy. This is one of those ever so fancy scheduled posts, I still get confused by them. Today I shall be sharing with you what I've taken with me in my travel skincare bag. I thought whittling down makeup was hard, but then I realised that I had to shrink down my excessive skincare collection to fit into one small bag, what a task that was *wipes brow*.

Cleansers and Face Washes

This was by far the hardest 'category' to cut down. In terms of cleansers I'm only taking one and that is my Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion as it does a great job of removing both face and eye makeup and it isn't drying on my skin at all. For face washes I've packed my Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean Purifying Cleanser, as although it's marketed as a cleanser, I use it as a face wash/mask. I've also packed my Simple Kind to Skin Refreshing Facial Wash and my Tea Tree Exfoliating Cream Wash.  

Toner and Moisturisers

In terms of toner I'm taking my good ol' Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner as it's what I've used for years, and it does the job perfectly. I'm taking a few moisturisers but I do need them all as the sun does dry out my skin, so I end up with oily skin that is dry at the same time, confusing. I've packed my Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser, my mini No7 Protect and Perfect Night Cream and my mini No7 Protect and Perfect Day Cream as it has SPF 25 and I want to keep my skin protected from the sun.

Treatments

Having super duper oily skin means that I do get my fair share of spots and blackheads so I'm taking as many treatments as possible with me to keep my skin healthy and spot free whilst I'm away. The first item that is a must in my bag is the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo +. This is just a miracle in a tube and if you want to read my full thoughts on it, I have a review here. I'm also taking my beloved Witch Blemish Stick (review here), a bottle of tea tree oil and the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Treatment.

So there you have it, my 'whittled down' skincare that I'm taking with me to Italy. I'll have already taken it by the time this post goes up though, ah the confusion of scheduled posts.

My New Skin Saviour

You've all probably read at least one review on the skincare world's Beyonce, the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo, I'm sure many of you probably own it. But as great as it sounded, I just couldn't justify spending £15 odd on a cream. But then, La Roche Posay only went and released a new, upgraded version of the Effaclar Duo called the Effaclar Duo (+). After reading some glowing reviews on it by bloggers that had been gifted the product before it was released, I really couldn't resist snapping it up when it was on introductory offer in Boots for just over £10.

Many of you will be sitting there thinking 'what's the difference between the two?' Well very much like the original Effaclar Duo it helps to prevent and clear blemishes and breakouts, targets redness, unclogs pores and controls the appearance of shine but the Duo (+) has been formulated to help reduce red marks and scarring left behind by blemishes. I've been using this for almost 2 months now and I can safely say that this does everything it claims. I think for that, La Roche Posay deserve a big round of applause *claps*. 

I have a lot of old scarring from bad breakouts but I have seen a massive difference in how noticeable the scars are, so much that some have completely gone. In terms of preventing blemishes and clearing them up, it works wonders. I haven't had a full on breakout for a good few weeks now, and for my incredibly oily, quite blemish prone skin, that is pretty great for me. Any blemishes that I do get though are cleared up in around 2 days, depending on how big they are. 

Having this little gem on my bedside table has just been skin saving. My skin is nowhere near as bad as it used to be and I only get a few occasional spots nowadays. At £15.50 this may not be the cheapest skincare item on the market, but for what it does and how well it does it, I reckon it's 100% worth it.

A haul will be up on Sunday along with the usual 'My Weekend in Pictures'. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.

Boots & Superdrug Haul

Soooo, I accidentally found my way to Boots and Superdrug last weekend and I bought a few bits and bobs that I thought I'd share with you all.

I'm going to start off with the Superdrug side of things. All the things that I bought from Superdrug are skincare related with one nail care item thrown in.

The first thing I picked up was Superdrug's Detoxifying Dead Sea Mud Mask. I picked this up because I read a review of it here on Lauryn's blog and she made it sound fabulous.

I have used this twice already and wow, I'm impressed. It really cleans out your pores and leaves your face feeling soft and refreshed. 

I leave this mask on my t-zone for 15 minutes, until the point where I can't move my face, and in the time that I have this mask on, you can see where all the impurities are being drawn out as the mask goes dark green in them areas.

The mask is the typical mud mask colour, a sort of greeny-brown. It smells really refreshing and the smell does linger on your skin for a little while after, but it's not overpowering or anything.

The next product I picked up whilst in the skincare aisle was the Deep Action Nose Strips.  I have purchased these about 4 times now and they never fail me. They are about a third of the price of Biore pore strips and they work just as well, if not better.

They apply the same as Biore strips. You just dampen your nose with water and leave it on until it's stiff. These really clean out your pores and you see all the grime from your nose on them when you've pulled them off (yuck, I know). 

Whilst there, I also grabbed another Witch Blemish Stick as my current one was running low.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know how much I love this so I'm not even going to write about it here as I did a post a while back all about it. I'm just going to say one thing, buy it.
Once all 3 skincare items were securely in my basket, I headed over to the nail care stand as I was looking for a nail strengthener. Being a nail biter, I was on a mission to find something that would grow my nails back, and make them stronger. And I found just that with the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth nail varnish. Of course, in the shop I had no idea how good it would be, but Sally Hansen are a brand my granny has sworn by for years, so I thought I may as well give it a try.

The nail varnish looks has a pink tint to it but when applied to the nails you can't see it at all. I've had this on since the night after I bought it, I reapply it every second night, and after just one week my nails had grown longer and stronger than they've ever been. I'm delighted with how well this has worked so far and I will continue to use it religiously.

Next I paid a visit to Boots, and it was 3 for 2 on all cosmetics.. uh oh.
I was like a vulture swooping down on its prey and I had a good idea of what I wanted.
The first thing that quickly made its way into my basket was the Maybelline Baby Lips in 'Cherry Me'. I have been wanting this for ages, and I'm glad I finally picked it up.

From how it looks in the tube, you'd expect this to be super pigmented but it's not. That isn't a bad thing at all though because it's perfect for the days where you can't be bothered with bright lipsticks or just the days where your lips need hydration but you still want to have colour on them.

I really love this colour and I've already worn it a lot. I may have to accidentally on purpose purchase a few more from the Baby Lips range.

Then, another lip product somehow made its way into my basket alongside my Baby Lips. 
As it's Winter and bold, berry lips are very much the trend, I thought I would hop on the bandwagon and get my first berry/plum coloured lipstick. The lipstick I chose (after genuinely swatching about 30) was one from Collection's Gothic Glam collection in the shade 'Seduction'.

As soon as I swatched this, I knew it would become a firm favourite of mine. It is so so so pigmented, and it lasts ALL DAY. I wore it from 7am-8pm one day, with 3 meals and numerous snacks throughout the day, and at 8pm, this looked the exact same as it had when I first applied it. Impressed? YES.
When first applied this lipstick is really glossy but I find that it dries to a sort of matte finish and it really doesn't budge.

This is my new favourite lipstick and I'm so glad I picked this little gem up.

The final thing that ended up in my basket was a blush. I've never owned a blush, so this was a first for me. I decided to go for a cheaper option as I didn't want to get an expensive one and then end up not liking it.
The one I got was Natural Collection's Blushed Cheeks in  'Peach Melba'.

I read about this blush absolutely yonks ago on someone's blog and I've had my eye on it ever since seeing it.

This blush is a really nice, natural peachy pink colour which when applied gives a really natural look. I haven't worn this much yet but I'm sure I'll get more use out of it in the New Year.

And that is all for my Boots & Superdrug haul. Please let me know if you would like to see  full reviews of any of the products mentioned. Or if you've tried any, let me know also:)

My Bedtime Skincare Routine

Whoaaaa, 2 posts in one weekend, what's going on? Well in all honesty I wasn't really happy with yesterday's post and I was itching to write a blog post with my own pictures etc so I thought, why not treat everyone to two posts in the space of 2 days? And that is exactly what I'm doing. I also thought that this could be a little '600 page views' surprise post.

As you can probably already guess, today's post is going to be about my bedtime skincare routine (the routine I do every single night). I don't know about you, but I personally love reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos about people's skincare routines so I'm hoping you'll enjoy this post.

Firstly before I do anything else, I remove all my eye makeup using my Nivea Daily Essentials Double Effect Eye Makeup Remover (wow that was a mouthful).

This is actually a relatively new addition to my skincare routine as when I went into Boots a couple of weeks back to get my usual Garnier one, they didn't have it so I picked this one up, and oh boy I'm glad I did.

This is one of those eye makeup removers that you have to shake to mix the 2 solutions together. 

I have 1 word to describe this; incredible. I seriously couldn't believe how quickly and effectively this took my eye makeup off the first time I tried it. I wear a lot of eye makeup, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow and all the other shibazz (new word there oooh), but this just removes it all like a dream without leaving an oily residue (as some have done for me in the past). A little really does go a long way as I've had this for 2 weeks, I use it every night and there's hardly any product gone. I am so impressed with this and it will continue to be a staple in my routine. I would recommend this to anyone who wants an affordable, really effective eye makeup remover.

After removing my eye makeup I remove my face makeup. For this is use my Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion.

I have used this cleansing lotion for about 3 years now and I don't plan on changing any time soon. It's just so soothing and calming on my skin, doesn't irritate it and removes all makeup fantastically. I used to use this on my eyes but it wouldn't always remove all my mascara and I would usually wake up with panda eyes, it would also irritate my eyes a little bit. 

This is, as the name suggests a lotion. It has no scent and as Simple products are suitable for all skin types, I would recommend this to anyone who wants an affordable, gentle, effective face makeup remover.

Next, I wash my face. On a Wednesday and a Sunday night I use an exfoliator and on every other night, I use a regular face wash.

The exfoliator I use is the Tea Tree Exfoliating Cream Wash. 

This face wash has tea tree and peppermint in it and is an absolute joy to use. It also has added aloe vera in it so after use you're not left with stiff, tight skin, but soft, smooth skin. 

The crushed walnut shell (as you can see in the photo above) exfoliates my skin really well without scratching my face and without making my face feel like I'm rubbing sandpaper all over it. I much prefer this to any other exfoliators I've ever used. The morning after using this I also notice a huge reduction in the number of spots I can see forming under the skin (them little bumps). I have also noticed a reduction in blackheads on my nose, I'm seriously impressed by this and I would recommend this over any other exfoliator I've tried, and believe me, I've tried A LOT. Also it smells amazing, so that makes me love it even more.

The face wash I use every other night is Clean and Clear Fast Action Daily Wash. This is my favourite daily wash ever and I don't plan on changing any time in the foreseeable future.

This is just my holy grail face wash. It does everything it says on the tube and I just can't praise it highly enough. It definitely helps keep spots away and helps clear them fast, and it most definitely doesn't dry out my skin. It's seriously amazing. 

The face wash comes out as a gel like consistency but it lathers up to a foam on your face. I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone that has spot prone skin or is suffering from acne. This is the best product I have ever tried from Clean and Clear. 

Once I've washed my face I pat it dry with a clean towel and move on to toning my face. 

For this I use my Simple Kind to Skin Soothing Facial Toner. I love this toner. It leaves my skin feeling really refreshed and removes any dirt or anything that may have been left on my face, even after washing.

I don't exactly know what a toner does, but I do know it makes my skin feel really nice and clarified. I've been using this for about 3 years and I don't think I'll stop using it as it's served me well and it's just a great addition to my skincare routine. As it's Simple it has no unnecessary perfumes, no alcohol or anything to irritate your skin and is perfect for all skin types.

I then move onto moisturising my face, because everyone wants baby soft skin right?

For moisturising I use my Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturiser. This moisturiser is meant to prevent spots and blemishes but I really don't know if it does or not. The main reason I use this is because it is oil free and is amazing at moisturising. 

This moisturiser has something like 0.2% salycilic acid in it (don't quote me on that) which is one of the best spot fighting ingredients you can find. As it has such a small concentration I don't know how effective it is but I certainly don't experience any irritation when I use this. I've been using this for about a year and I've been loving it ever since I got it. If you have very dry skin though, I would look for a more moisturising moisturiser as this does moisturise just not as well as some.

If you have oily, combination, normal, or spot prone skin I would recommend this moisturiser as it's oil free and it does make you feel a little better that it does have something in it that helps fight spots, even if maybe it actually doesn't, it's nice to have that there.

Finally I use my Witch Blemish Stick. This is just my favourite thing ever ever ever and oh my word I just love it so much. I love it so much that I actually did a full blog post on it here.

This little savoir has literally changed my life. No more foundation, and only concealer under my eyes. I seriously can't believe I never found this sooner. I just dab it over any spots that are appearing/have appeared and by the morning, you usually would never have known they were even there. I could ramble on about this for ages but just check out the whole post where I declared my love for it;)

Once I have done all of this, I jump into bed and watch YouTube videos, why not?

I hope this post has been helpful and has maybe encouraged you to buy some new products to add into your skincare routine? I hope everything was explained clearly and I'd like to thank you all again for 600 page views, it means the world.