Empties NO.4

I thought for this week, we would go for another empties post because I've not done one in agesssss.

Lush Imperialis Facial Moisturiser £13.50

This was my favourite moisturiser that I went through tubs and tubs of last year but recently, I've just forgotten about it, so when my Simple one ran out, I thought I'd try this again. I honestly forgot how good it was, it's got coco and shea butters for sensitive skin, vegetable oils for dry skin, grapefruit for controlling oily skin, basically a great all rounder if your skin can't make up it's mind. And because it's lush, it has all natural ingredients.

The Body Shop Satsuma Shower Gel £12

I actually finished this shower gel within 2 weeks, which seems a long time but it was 750ml (!) The main reason is because it smells AMAZINGGGG, satsuma is my favourite scent from the Body Shop range.

L'Oreal Paris CC cream £9.99 (CC CREAM has rubbed off; its the tube)

This is an interesting one: it basically comes out as a green pigment which then breaks up and turns into your skin colour when you rub it in. This one is green because it is anti-redness, I think there is also an anti-fatigue one too. This does such a great job at evening out skin tone, so use it as a primer or, like me, use it on its own with a bit of powder. If you have unwanted redness, definitely try this out.

Goat Milk Brush Shampoo £16

I think I've mentioned this on my blog before but this is a great brush shampoo that cleans the brushes but leaves the bristles nice and soft. It's quite a simple concept really, just warm up the brush in water, swirl it around in the solid shampoo, rinse and then just leave to dry. It's a great one that's not too expensive like some others out there and it's guaranteed to give your brushes a good clean.

Clarisonic Refreshing Gel Cleanser £21 

(for 177ml- almost 6 times the one of the sample above!)

So I recently purchased a Clarisonic Mia- very exciting news- I will probably do a post sometime soon. Anyway, this little mini came in the pack and I've been using it, this only lasted me a week and a half, but that's after using it night and day and it was only 30ml to start with. I'm not sure how great this is, probably not the best but it did the job fine. 

Have any of you got a Clarisonic?

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

Perfect Winter Lip

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the up and coming season of WINTER. And what better way to welcome it with the perfect soft lip to warm up your smile.

This is the L'Oreal Colour Riche in 302 Bois de Rose £6.99 and the Rimmel Exaggerate lipliner in Eastend Snob £3.99

I love that these products are both so affordable on the high street. I actually bought these two separately, but one day, while rummaging through my drawers to decide what lip colour to indulge in that morning, my fingers fumbled across this heavenly duo. I have been wearing this everyday since last week.  

The lipstick from L'Oreal is a deep, rosy nude-y pink, which goes great with a warm or darker skin tone. The lipliner from Rimmel is really great because it's got a tiny tip that can give you the precision you need when lining your lips. I mainly just enhance my cupid's bow and then the corners of my lips to create an illusion of fuller lips.

I like to use lipliner because, I dunno, my lips don't end, they kinda just bleed out- anyone else with me here? no, okay, well even if lipliner's not really your thing, try this and you'll completely be converted.

In fact, I really want to scout some more, any suggestions?

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

First Impressions: Revlon Colourstay Foundation

Last week, I stumbled across this rather popular beauty product that I had never seen in Boots before. I've scoured the Revlon counter times-a-many but I never thought to try this before. 

So, anyway, here we go, first impressions:

I've been using this for a couple of days, and I've not really worn it for longer than 12 hours, but from what I can tell, it's going to stand a firm favourite on my makeup table.

This is a great colour match; it's also on the yellow side which counteracts any redness that I have. It's quite thin but I would say it's medium coverage. The only annoying thing is that it doesn't have a pump so everything just POURS out ... 

This says it's specially made for combination/oily skin, and I agree that it applies generally matte with just a hint of dewiness to add back that healthy glow. Sometimes i find that throughout the day I have to re-powder but otherwise I find it stays quite well.

I think they do a dry/ normal skin type and the different types so I think I'm going to try those as well.

Have you guys tried any of them?

Revlon Colourstay Foundation £12.49

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

How to Control Oily Skin: Tip #4

Tip #4: Astringents as deep cleansers as exfoliators

Astringents are really great because the contain strong cleansing ingredients like salicylic acid which will leave your skin super clean. Even on my rather irritable and sensitive skin, I find that I can just about stand this if it's a small amount on a cotton pad. I do,  however, recommend to use this sparingly; on a nightly basis. Cleansing with this in the morning might be a bit harsh and it would be stripping away all the good stuff your skin has worked so hard to rejuvenate over night! 

I know what you're thinking: "astringents as exfoliators?" 

Well, if some of you rather common types had read my last post, it was about exfoliating to unclog pores. That was a great way to prevent blackheads, but if you, like me as well as many others, have allowed your skin to get just a smidge on the bad side of things, then a physical scrub probably isn't in your best interest. Advantages of a liquid form means that it will unclog pores and chemically make new cells come to the surface without irritating spots or spreading bacteria.

I would definitely recommend using this regularly, even if it's just for prevention- don't leave it till it's too late- right? I mean, I've used a whole bottle, as you can see, and I plan to purchase more. It's affordable and easily accessible in Boots.

Clean and Clear Blackhead Clearing Cleanser £3.50

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

How to Control Oily Skin: Tip #3

Hey everyone,

Here we go into another post on How to Control Oily Skin...

If you haven't read the others, this is basically a series of posts telling you how I deal with my oily skin which can lead to problems like acne or shininess.

This week: EXFOLIATORS

If you have oily skin, an exfoliator will make a world of a difference. It will take off the layers of oil and dead cells that build up on the surface which will allow the skin to breathe and it will unclog the pores of any dirt; meaning less blackheads to deal with. Using an exfoliator often will reduce the oil build up on the skin leaving clearer, brighter skin.

This is the St. Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub. £4.29 This one is one I recently bought but it's great and affordable so would definitely recommend.

*Word of Warning: if you already have a lot of spots, try not to use a gritty exfoliator because it might irritate blemishes, causing more spots or redness, leaving scars and it might spread bacteria around. *

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

Stick around for my next post where I address exfoliating but without the physical headiness of the St Ives ones.

Disappointing Product: Garnier Micellar Water

I don't normally write posts like this; I had originally planned to write a "rave" post about this much hyped product, but here I am, unfortunately, rather disappointed.

Many high street brands have to tried to formulate a "dupe" for the Bioderma, for example, the L'Oreal Micellar Water. I absolutely LOVED the L'Oreal one, and maybe thats why my expectations were higher for this one, but I just did not enjoy using this at all. Maybe it's because I've used better makeup removers since the L'Oreal but still...

I haven't used much of this at all, I have found that this is far too stripping and leaves my skin feeling tight and I get that stingy feeling when I used harsh chemicals on my skin; not like a water at all. This doesn't remove eye makeup very well; I've found that I've had to rub really hard to get my mascara off. When I do use this, I feel like I have to use another cleanser after to really clean my skin, because even not wearing makeup, this does not clean your skin at all.

Wouldn't recommend this- and I had such high hopes for it :/ ah well

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

October Favourites

The end of yet another month, and almost the end of my favourite season :(. Wow I'm going to have to do something special before the end of autumn...

For now though, lets talk about what I've been loving this October:

 

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Moisturiser £4.99

This has been my moisturiser of the month and although I got it recently, I've been saying differences in my skin. This is oil-free so doesn't clog my pores overnight but still moisturises my skin enough that I don't get dry patches. This leaves a kind of velvet/matte finish, so it's great to put makeup on top. This has grapefruit extract and salicylic acid which helps fight acne so I would recommend this to anyone with oily and acne-prone skin.

Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip balm £9.50

This lip balm has been much loved throughout the entire beauty community, in fact, I don't know anyone who doesn't like this, and I can see why. Since the days turned colder, my lips had been so chapped and dry but then I used this and saw results overnight. This is nice and thick and kinda tastes like lemons...

L'Oreal Telescopic Clean Definition Mascara £10.99

This mascara is AMAZING. It builds volume and length without leaving any clumps at all , and stays on all day. Trust me, I've worn this for the whole day, not even remembering that I had mascara on and it didn't judge one bit. Definitely definitely try this out!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Mineral Foundation £22.52

I used to love this back in Spring but since I've been using liquid foundation for ever, I thought I'd try this out again, and I have to say that this does not disappoint. I still love this, it gives a natural finish but makes the skin look that bit healthier and has brilliant coverage that lasts the day. The only sad part is that I think I'm running out, I need to get some more, and fast.

Bath & Body Works French lavender candle £13

This half-term, I've been hiding out in my bedroom, watching netflix or reading my book, and this candle tops it all off. The lavender scent is so relaxing and basically makes you want to sleep but it's really strong, so don't go for it if you don't love Lavender...

...that is, if you can find it, i can't seem to find it anywhere. the link is to the website but I think that it might have been limited edition because I've had it a while. Bath and Body works candles are all amazing so definitely go try one of the other scents, especially the Christmas ones :o

Lots of Love,
Sophie
xxx

Clinique Anti-Blemish | Skincare

So I went in to Boots, as one does, in search of a new cleanser, and I was approached by one of those Clinique counter girls in their immaculate white coats. They asked me if I wanted to take a skin quiz and find out what Clinique recommends, and i thought " why not? "

It was really quick, about 2 minutes and basically asked me things like: what's your biggest concern for your skin? (acne blemishes) how often do you get blemishes? how does your skin feel in the morning/after a shower/ throughout the day? etc...

As I said, acne is one of my concerns for my skin, especially those red irritated spots and whiteheads. (I might do a post on the different types of breakouts) And so it only made sense for me to try the anti-blemish solutions. They actually have a 3 step-system but the "questionnaire" said that I don't actually need step 2, the toner/exfoliant. Anyway, enough rambling, this is what I bought on the recommendation of the "questionnaire"

This is the anti-blemish solution cleansing foam. £17.00 I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with this. In fact, when I first started using this, I swear it made my skin more blemish-y but after about two weeks, my skin started to clear up and haven't had any major breakouts since. This is a nice foam that leaves the skin nice and clean. (this is step 1 in their 3 step system)

This is the anti-blemish solutions all over clearing treatment. £19.00

This is step 3 for this treatment and so, you're not supposed to put anything on top of this, but after using this and the other products day and night, my skin felt really dry and dehydrated. Under makeup, this takes all excess oil off my face and at night, makes sure that the skin stays clean and bacteria-free at night. This is okay, but I don't know if I'm going to purchase this again.

Clinical clearing gel £14.00

This is my top favourite from their range, even though, technically this is outside of the "3 step system" that I've not really been following anyway. The lady said that I should take some of this and put it all over my face to treat spots but also to prevent spots. This kind of stings my skin, so maybe just concentrate it on the forehead and nose and not the cheeks. I also use this in the mornings because it sits really well under makeup and does have that weird peeling texture that you get with other spot treatments. With this, I have noticed a definite difference and improvement in my skin and would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for spot treatments or prevention. 

I really want to try more Clinique products and I think their new skin-type questionnaire is genius so I suggest that you all try it. Just casually stroll into a Boots, and see what you end up buying.

Lots of Love,

Sophie

xxx

Lost and Found #3- Cleansing butter

Well hello and welcome to another of my LOST AND FOUND posts.

In case you're new around these parts, this is a chance for me to explain to you what I'm looking for and what I've found. 

In the last edition, I mentioned I was looking for a cleansing butter because I was trying to get into them without splurging on the expensive ones. 

This is the Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter. £12 This is one of the first I tried so it took a bit of getting used to. The idea is that you take some of clean fingers and massage into a dry face. You can immediately see it breaking down your makeup and I think it does a pretty good job at removing mascara too. I suppose if you're using EXTRA waterproof mascara then something like BIODERMA might be useful as this requires you to rub at you eyes and lashes. 

I really like this because it's a good one step makeup remover and doesn't strip the skin of any moisture. If you're a heavy makeup wearer, you might like to repeat the steps. Of course, after this, i still use an astringent or deep cleanser to keep my blemishes at bay.

Overall I really like this and would definitely repurchase until I found another one. Any suggestions?

Lots of love,

Sophie

xxx

Goat Milk Brush Shampoo

NATURAL BRUSH SHAMPOO £16.00

Don't worry, we aren't brushing goats or any of that type of thing- just merely a new discovery for me. Now, in terms of Brush Cleaning, i had never been much of a fan, until I heard a few beauty bloggers talk about this.

This is £16 if you purchase from Liberty online, is this expensive for a brush shampoo? I wouldn't really know, but at least this is more expensive than I expected. Anyway, I accepted the small splurge to try and test this out. 

This says it is a pure goat milk solid shampoo. The basic idea is that you wet the brush, swirl it round in here and work it into the brush, then, you just rinse it off. Simple, easy and quick. I find that this really cleans the makeup of my brushes and even my forever foundation stained, used-to-be white brushes have shown their true colours again- and boy, is it satisfying...

The goat milk is meant to soften the brushes and keep the bristles conditioned and strong and I use this for spot cleaning she I need a clean brush, or a whole day of brush cleaning. Either way this is great to use.

I recommend cleaning your brushes often: obviously it depends on the type of brush- foundation brushes probably need to be cleaned at least once a week and then maybe powder or eye brushes once every two weeks.

I think I might want to try a liquid cleanser. Any suggestions?

Lots of Love,

sophie

xxx