Face Masks To Renew & Hydrate

I have to admit I'm not a big lover of face masks, I have to be super careful because of my sensitive skin and I always find that I'm forever being let down by them. Never the less I'm a sucker for good publicity and these guys have had nothing but. I don't have a great deal of specific skin problems so all I really need for a good pamper sesh is a hydrating mask when my skin is a little dehydrated, and a good exfoliating mask to rejuvenate.

What I love the most about these two is that I haven't been disappointed by them, they've served me well and for that I bow down to them. The Origins Drink Up-Intensive Overnight Mask is a thick and luxurious treat. I tend to stick with this in the winter when my skin is really dry and needs a little help, but occasionally I'll whack it out in the summer for a little pampering (that whole sentence didn't sound appropriate, I apologise). It continuously gives me plump and hydrated skin the morning after and in the colder months it's an essential in the nighttime routine. 

The REN F10 Smooth and Renew Mask is a great way to get exfoliating if you have very sensitive skin and find scrubs a bit harsh. This gel mask is extremely thick and sticky but leaves the skin looking brighter and renewed after use. It has a strange citrus smell to it, which some people may love but I'm not overly keen. But in the cases of facemasks it's how they work not how they smell that is the main factor. 

What face masks are a must have in your skincare routine? Do you care about the smell of masks or is it substance over style? 

Winter Skincare Essentials ❄

During the summer months my face turns into an oil slick, my cheeks always stay a little drier than my T-Zone, but generally it's fairly oily. When the winter months roll around, my skin gets super dry and flaky. This means I have to have some emergency products in my cupboards to pump my skin full of lovely moisture. 

The Mask

This year I've been loving the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask. This not only smells heavenly, but really gives your face the moisture it's craving. I always wake up after applying this to plump and hydrated skin. It doesn't completely erase the flakiness, but it definitely helps.

The Night Cream

On days when I don't use the overnight mask, I love to use the Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Night Cream. This also smells amazing but is also nice and thick and nourishing, perfect to give your face a bit of night time loving. My skin drinks this up and my skin always feels happier in the morning. 

The Body Moisturiser

I make no secret of the fact that I am one of the laziest humans you will ever encounter, the Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser is therefore my body moisturiser of choice. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to get sleepier in the winter and therefore I need a quick hit of moisture before I collapse into bed. This smells amazing and gives my skin that little bit of extra moisture it needs. 

The Hand Cream

I'm a bit of a connoisseur of hand creams, I pretty much have a different hand cream in every bag and pocket and on every shelf. The L'Occitane Hand Cream in Passionate Jasmine has been the one I've been reaching for the most this winter, it smells divine and soaks in super quick, so no greasy hand issues. 

The Lip Treatment 

The Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Skin Protectant has been my choice of intensive lip treatment for about 2 years now. Elizabeth Arden also do a specific lip balm version in the 8 hour collection, but I love this for a really intensive night treatment for the lips. It's super thick but the next morning your lips look and feel more plump and hydrated.

What are your skin care essentials to survive the winter months?

Soap & Glory No Clogs Allowed

I am currently on a mission to find the best product for fighting the little pore clogging evils that are blackheads. I have always had a massive amount of blackheads, especially around my nose, but over the past few months they seem to be completely taking over. I cleanse twice a day and always make sure I take my makeup off, but alas I have pores bigger than the grand canyon, and nothing seems to be keeping them clog free. 

I've got a lot of love for Soap & Glory products, and I've found their skincare products to be pretty impressive, so I thought I'd try their No Clogs Allowed mask. This is a self heating mask that claims to clean deep down into the pores (don't they all). It contains teeny tiny beads to give a light exfoliation and is aimed at Oily/Combination skin. Then once you wet your hands and have given it another scrub, it will turn blue, you then leave it on for 5 minutes and wash off.

After using this the first time, I noticed that my skin looked a lot brighter and cleaner, I haven't noticed a decrease in my blackheads though. After using it once a week for a good couple of weeks now, I have noticed that my sensitive skin is starting to dislike it. I find that around my nose, the skin becomes red and irritated. It does state on the packaging however that it should not be used on sensitive skin, which I obviously ignored because I'm too lazy to read the packaging, my own fault.

The smell is very chemically, it has a slight menthol scent with a hint of fruity tang. I know, a very strange description, but it's the best I've got. The actual product is pretty thick and slightly gritty, it's very easy to apply though and doesn't go everywhere like some clay masks. 

In the past the No Clogs Allowed has come with a facial sponge, however with the new packaging re-vamp by Soap & Glory, I've found that you no longer get one. The new packaging, much like with my Peaches and Clean, is unbelievably plain and boring. One of my friends described this as looking like a supermarkets own brand of toothpaste, and she's not wrong. I don't know what's going on with Soap & Glory packaging lately, but it seems to be a pretty strange direction to go in. 

I think if you have normal skin that isn't prone to sensitivity, this could be a great exfoliating, brightening mask for you. But those of us with very sensitive skin and masses of blackheads, we will have to keep on the hunt. 

RRP: £7.67

What products do you love for combating blackheads? 

Save My Locks! | Pantene Colour & Smooth Masque

  I recently had highlights put in to try and get rid of some of my remaining ginger shade, this has of course caused my hair to become very dry and mega frizzy. There was a 3 for 2 offer at good ole' Boots, so I thought I'd pick up a few hair rescue essentials and this was one of them. 

I've used Pantene products in the past and I always love how they smell. They have a really strong perfumed fragrance that lingers on the hair and just makes you smell lovely and clean throughout the day. 

I really love the actual tub of this as well, it is super easy to get into when you have wet slippy hands in the shower. The lid flips open and closed so you don't have to struggle to twist it open or resort to trying to open it with your teeth. The actual product is pretty thick but not so thick that it's hard to get a  good even coverage of the hair. It also only takes 2 minutes to work it's magic, so no waiting around in the shower trying to think of other things you can wash in the mean time.

I noticed a massive difference in how silky soft my hair was after using this, it just felt so healthy and nourished and it really made the blonde stand out more. It does contain Bisaminopropyl Dimethicone which is a silicone, but to be perfectly honest I always expect drugstore hair products to contain some sort of silicone. 

This is a really affordable way of getting silky soft nourished hair and Pantene is a brand I have a lot of history with, they haven't let me down yet so this a must try.

Have you tried the Pantene Colour & Smooth Masque? Do you prefer drugstore or high-end hair masks?

REN F10 Smooth & Renew Mask

I have very sensitive skin so exfoliators, which contain beads, can be a little too harsh on me. I therefore decided to look into other forms of exfoliation. 

This mask by REN was being raved about by so many other sensitive skinned beauty lovers, that I thought it would be rude not to give it a go. I'd never tried anything from REN before but I will definitely be checking out more of their products after testing out this and a few samples they sent me with my order. 

The packaging is simple yet classic and tells you exactly what you need to know without confusing you with medical jargon e.g. 'Gently exfoliates and renews the complexion'. Pretty straight forward, plus it does what it says on the tin!  It also comes with a very handy cap to pop over the pump after every use; I hate having product smeared all over the packaging. The mask itself is a very thick orange substance which feels pretty sticky, I have to say it's not the most pleasant feeling product and feels really heavy on the skin, but it is a mask so I don't mind. After leaving this on for 10 minutes I wash it off with the small muslin cloth that comes included with the mask.  This just adds that extra bit of exfoliation to make sure you get all those nasty dead skin cells off. 

The first time I used this I immediately saw a difference in how bright my skin was, and it definitely exfoliated without any irritation or redness occurring. The F10 mask is the sensitive skin counterpart to the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal mask (which I got a sample of but have yet to try out) and I have to say I am very impressed with how gentle it is on my skin. 

I like to use this 1-2 times a week to keep my skin feeling fresh and renewed and find it fits nicely amongst my normal skincare routine. This mask is a great alternative for those of us with sensitive skin who find normal exfoliators too harsh, no more red blotchiness and sensitive cheeks!

RRP: £20

    

It's Time For June Favourites!

It is the end of June already, the English Summer appears to have come and gone, hopefully not for too long though. But here are my monthly favourites for you all to hopefully give you some products to add to your beauty-shopping list.

First up we'll start with hair as I've been having a bit of a change this month. I'll start with shampoo & conditioner. I've been loving the Herbal Essences Bee Strong shampoo and conditioner, which I have done a review on already. It smells divine and really makes my hair feel fuller and softer. I can't say for sure if it prevents breakage when combing because I don't really suffer with that specific problem. I do feel like it gives a bit more life to my hair though which is always a bonus. 

Next up is a little product called Colour B4. This is supposed to dissolve the hair colourant particles (very sciency I know) to get rid of any dye in the hair. I've been dying my hair since I was 14 and as a result, can't really remember what my natural colour is (I know I'm a sort of a blondey-gingery colour). It also means I have a large amount of colour build up. But I used this stuff anyway to try and get rid of my latest red dye. It stripped a great deal of the colour out and I was very pleasantly surprised with the results. I'm going to be doing a separate review post about this so I'm going to leave it there for now ;)

The finally for hair, we have a high-street/drugstore alternative to the Moroccan Oil. This oil is by Organix and is available at Superdrug & Boots. I like to take a small drop of this, rub it all over my hands and then run it through my hair focusing on the ends. It makes my hair feel so healthy and soft and really has helped get it back to good condition after using the Colour B4.  * UPDATE 28/07/13: Read here why I've changed my mind about this stuff, I'm non too happy let me tell ya!

The next product I've been loving is the Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask. This says that it's not suitable for sensitive skin, which is exactly what I have. It does sting when you first apply it but I've never had a reaction to it. It really help with any blemishes and definitely clears out those blackheads. You even get two handy little facial sponges with it! 

Finally onto makeup. I bought the NYX blush in Taupe after reading a bazillion blog posts on how it's excellent for contouring on pale skin. I love this! It is indeed great for contouring pale skin and the pigmentation of it is excellent for the price. NYX aren't as readily available here in the UK, so it is the first NYX product I've tried and I'll definitely be getting more.

And my last favourite is one I've talked about in my videos before; it is the Laura Mercier Silk crème foundation in Soft Ivory. I'm starting to love this foundation, the coverage is amazing and the shade is almost perfect, just a touch on the yellow side. The finish is more matte then glowing but I love it on my combination skin.

So that's it! All the products I've loved this month. What products have you loved during June?