Current Cleansers

I definitely haven't got to the high- end cleanser point in my life yet. To me, if I'm washing it off my face, I don't really want to spend a lot of money, and I'll stick to drugstore options.

These are the two I'm using at the moment; I've definitely  spoken about the Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil before, and to be honest even though this is probably my third bottle, I'm not really sure that I love it. It definitely gets my make up off, and feels a lot nicer than a stripping/foaming cleanser. As price goes, it's fairly up there for drugstore, but the Body Shop constantly has a 30 or 40% discount, so never buy anything full price.

Secondly, the Boots Botanics Hydration Burst Triple Action Cleanser has quickly become a real favourite of mine, after I purchased it on impulse a few weeks back. When I bought it, it was half price at around £2.70 (?) so I'm guessing at full price it'd be around the £5 mark. This is really nice for morning cleansing, which is what I've been using it for. It's a gel-like texture, really light and a little goes a long way.  No offensive smell and I'm hoping that the whole "botanics" thing means it has nice ingredients.

Other than these two, I still love the Superdrug Hot Cloth Cleanser which I keep a couple of under my sink as back ups - you just can't go wrong with that one.

Thanks for reading! x

5 Things I do when my skin goes mental | Sunday Chat

Yesterday morning, I was feeling smug. Smug about how great my skin had been for over a week.
Today, I felt annoyed. I could feel it coming on last night; the tiny patch of pain that tells you the inevitable... a spot is coming. 
This evening, I have four. For some reason, when my skin gets bad, it gets really bad, and I pretty much just have to ride out the storm and wait for it to settle down again. But, there are a few things I do whenever it gets to bad, to try to make myself feel a little better about my face.

1. Fake tan. Not just on my face, everywhere. I feel like when I have giant red blemishes on my face, if I'm a little tanned, it makes them stand out less against my skin. Am I crazy? I might be crazy. But yay for Clarins Glow Booster: you are life.

2. Masks. My mask of the moment is the Body Shop Seaweed Clay Mask, which is pretty heavy duty stuff. It is quite drying, but I do feel it really helps to heal the blemishes I already have, and smooth out my skin elsewhere. Lav it.

3. Stay away from pink lipstick. This is something I swear by. If you have pink dots on your face which you don't want people to see, don't wack a pink lippie on and expect it not to draw attention to them. I try to lean towards browner nudes or more orange tones to draw attention away from the blemishes.

4. Ditto above, but blushes.

5. Take make up off whenever possible. If I have crappy skin, as soon as I get home I want to wash my face. Spots just heal faster if you aren't constantly re-covering them with concealer and poking them around to try to make them disappear. Make-up off, tea tree toner on (thanks Lush), and hopefully it'll sort itself out soon enough.


So yeah! As a side note, I have to say that I have applied straight up tea tree oil onto blemishes, but I find that I just got a huge rash... maybe I am allergic. I prefer using Effaclar Duo from La Roche Posay as an on-the-spot treatment.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

3 Body Shop Skincare Favourites

The Body Shop really is a one-stop shop for skincare for anybody's face. As a brand, I really trust them, and have very rarely been disappointed with their products, so I thought I'd share my three current must-haves.

1. Vitamin E Moisture Cream. 

This is such a lovely all rounder for either day or night. I tend to wear this as a light night cream over the Overnight Oil, or during the day if I'm staying inside and don't need SPF. What I love the most about this moisturiser is that it sinks in really quickly and makes a really nice base for make- up, as well as such a good night cream. Love.

2. Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask.
Having combination/ dry skin with blemishes, using a purifying mask can sometimes be unpleasant, but this one is just great. It's definitely a heavy-duty mask; it really clears out your pores and makes your face feel so cleansed and purified in a non-dried out way. Its very thick and clay-y, so I do only use it on my oily areas- pretty much on my T-zone, nowhere near my cheeks or delicate eye area, because I just don't need it there. My skin loves this stuff, I think it really does the job.

3. Vitamin E Overnight Serum- in- oil.
Most of my skin needs a lot of moisture, and this is an amazing overnight oil. I did write about this recently in a post about using oils on your body, skin and hair, and basically I stand by what I said there- it's fantastic, smoothing and nourishing. I find that I can use this without a moisturiser over the top at night, but if I need a boost, I'll add a little of the moisturiser on my dry areas- forehead, cheeks and around my nose. I love this stuff, give it a go.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Budget Skincare ~ My Skincare Routine

I know that it's really hard to find skincare on a budget. Your skin is so important and it's really hard to understand what works and what kind of routine is good.

I've made a video on my budget skincare recommendations/ starter kit if you're just trying to settle into a skin routine, or you fancy a refresh.

Head over to 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZW4tzDFLhg

if you fancy a watch, I'm sorry about the open wardrobe in the background, it really annoys me too. Subscribe to keep up with my videos, and I hope you like what you find there :)

Thanks for reading!

Lou xx

Face of the Day ~ 15 minute make- up

Everyone has those mornings when you have to get up and out really quickly, but you don't want to scare the world with your naked stressed face (I don't have the best skin, especially at the moment), so you need a make- up routine which is quick and failsafe, and this is mine. Enjoy :)

So that's my face up above- (I'm really not the best at selfies), and here is everything which is AWN MA FACE. It looks complicated, but it's really not. You might wonder why I have three concealers, but all will be explained...

Face

(Top to bottom: Rimmel Foundation, Collection concealer, Maybelline Concealer, Collection cover stick- see below for more details)

So, I think it's really important for bad- skin days or mornings when you don't have much time, to take more time over skin care than make up. I started my morning with an ex-foliating pad from Nip and Fab, then the Effaclar Duo from Roche Posay to try and calm my skin down, and then some moisturiser. I used Olay's Anti Wrinkle 2 in 1 Instant Hydration and Radiant Glow which is lovely and fresh.

Once your skin is looking a bit more perky and nourished, I would normally go ahead and apply primer. I really recommend the Rimmel Lasting Perfection Primer if you need your make up to last the day. I didn't have time this morning (/ I forgot), so I just went right ahead with my foundation, which I applied with my fingers because I didn't have time to buff it in with a brush. I used Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude in Porcelain, and just applied a thin layer all over. Ma face. This is a really nice foundation in general- very light and fresh looking- and I think it's best to go for a lighter coverage foundation if you don't have much time in the morning. I then went in with my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair over my blemishes and around my nose. I did use a brush for this, and buffed it in to make sure it was nice and even across my skin. I used the Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 15 on my eyelids and under my eyes to prime for eye make up and to conceal my under eye circles. (This is where I needed a third concealer because my under eye circles were serious- I went over with the Collection Cover Stick in 01 and pressed that in).

Boring bit over. 

Now, colour in your cheeks is something you need if you are in a rush, or you need to look more awake. I used my Make Up Revolution Blushing Heart in Peachy Pink Kisses which is so shimmery and illuminating that you don't need to faff around with a highlighter.

Eyes 

I kept the eyes super easy and super neutral.

First, I filled in my eyebrows with my Kiko eyeshadows, in 237 and 239 mixed together to get a good shade. It would definitely be better to use an eyebrow pencil because it is quicker, but I'm currently between eyebrow pencils because I can't find a good blonde one. I then brushed my brows through with the Natural Collection Clear Mascara which is such a cheap version of a brow gel, and it's really good. Brows done and onto eyes.

The star of the show has to be the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Creamy Beige.I applied this allover the lid with my finger tip, just smudging it in to make sure it's even. It literally takes 10 seconds to get a layer of colour. This isn't what I would call beige, it's definitely slightly darker, but it's a great base colour. 

At this point, you have two options. Go darker, and find a dark shade to quickly smudge through the crease. OR (as i did), find a lighter shade to press over the centre of the lid to brighten the eye up. I used a Kiko eyeshadow in 236 which is a shimmery peachy/brown/nude. 

Liquid eyeliner is something you shouldn't attempt if you are in a rush, unless you can do it quickly, in which case, I bow down to your superiority. I just smudged a thin line of dark eyeshadow- I used Undone from the Naked 2 Basics palette, but you can use any dark brown or black colour- along the lash line to make the whole look more defined. 

Mascara is also hard to do quickly. I will normally do at least two coats of mascara because my lashes just don't hold up with just one coat, as you can see here. I used the 17 Va Va Voom Mascara in Black, which is the BEST mascara. You need to try it.

Lips

Having lipstick on immediately makes you look more put-together and a little fresher. Wack on some lipbalm if you really have no time, but if you have 5 seconds, go for a sheer wash of colour which is easy to apply and isn't too bold. I went for  a sheer peach lipstick from the Body Shop- Colour Crush in 315. Really easy and fresh looking, perfect for spring.

Powder is optional at  this point. I'm not a huge powder fan, I find it always makes me look cakey - and believe me I've tried applying it in every single way- but i actually did put a little bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent on my under-eye concealer to make it stay- put.

So, I hope you enjoyed this fifteen minute make up for a really natural easy look.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Budget Bronzers

Even ghost white girls like me want to bronze up a bit, and I've found its quite hard to find bronzers in general,  let alone cheap ones.

These four are my four favourites, all really affordable and really really good.

Firstly, here's the Body Shop Matte Bronzer in 01 light matte, and if you are pale and you need a bronzer or a contour powder, go and buy this right now. I think it's £12 but the Body Shop often do 40% off so its easy to pick it up for seven or eight pounds. To me, this is fairly expensive, but I can assure you, its worth the money. So silky, such a nice colour, pigmented but not too harsh so you can built it for a more cheek-bone-y (?) look. The packaging is also really nice, sturdy with a nice mirror which makes it really good for travel

This is a slightly darker matte bronzer, its from MUA and its Bronzer Shade 3. I think it's fairly universal as a bronzer shade, but I can get away with this even with my pale skin, so good for all skin tones. Really pigmented, and I'd use this for contour in the summer when I'm hopefully slightly more tanned. The picture above shows the body shop bronzer on the right and the MUA version on the left. It is slightly darker but if you're looking for a more budget option than the Body Shop bronzer, this MUA one is really good, and i think it's one or two pounds- amazing.

 Onto Shimmery Bronzers, and this is slightly different because its bronzing pearls, which I feel like aren't really a thing these days. The swatch makes it look quite orange,and I suppose it is, I'd use it if I wanted a shimmery golden bronze look. Really easy to build or use lightly, definitely good on all skin tones because of the buildability. This pot is from Avon and it was around £4- really affordable, and this has lasted me for YEARS.

If you're looking for a shimmery budget bronzer, this three tone 'Bronze, Shimmer, Highlight' from Revolution is definitely one to look at. I love this product so much. It's not glittery, it's a really nice shimmer. On a normal day, I'll sweep the middle tone over my cheeks or under my cheekbones, depending on the look I'm going for. If you had darker skin, the darker bronze colour is amazing too, I can only get away with this shade mixed with the middle shade but it's so lovely. The highlight is amazing, basically a light skin- coloured powder which is really nice mixed with the bronzers just to add glow, or on top of the cheekbones by itself for a really subtle sheen. Lovely. This was £4 and I think this is such a good product. It  feels very similar to the Body Shop bronzer in it's silkiness, and it is beautiful and buildable.

I hope this helped if you're looking for a bronzer to help you into Spring/ Summer!

Thanks for reading :)

Lou x

Winter Hand Hero

So it's winter and it's England, and my hands are very dry. 

If you're looking for a heavy- duty handcream to fix all the little dry patches between your fingers or on your knuckles- which I had, gross- this is the one. Big thank you to the guy in the Body Shop who helped me.

This is the Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector. I bought it on Saturday, it's Tuesday today and my dry bits, which were getting so bad I thought I had eczema, have almost completely healed already. It's really thick, and I wouldn't recommend putting it on your palms as it leaves behind a bit of an oily residue when you leave it places which don't need loads of mositure..like your palms. Unless they do, in which case, go for it.

I rub it into the spaces between my fingers and onto my knuckles in the morning and before bed, and maybe once during the day. I swear, it's amazing. Unlike other handcreams, it doesn't seem to come off when I wash my hands during the day, and sticks around, protecting your hands- hence the name I suppose- all day.

If you're looking for a serious hand cream for this ever lasting winter, I would have a look at this one. This tube was £5 but there's a 40% off code at the moment which made it really affordable. Plus you only need a tiny bit so it's going to last For. Ever.

Lou x