Evening Skincare Regime for Combination and Sensitive Skin

Spring/Summer Skincare Regime

Hello my darlings!

Summer is just around the corner and I am trying to ensure that my skin is ready and rearing to go. When it comes to skincare I try to keep it simple and fresh, and generally stay clear of fragranced products.

I have incredibly sensitive skin – almost anything and everything seems to irritate it – and if that wasn’t bad enough, I also have the annoyance of a combination skin-type. So, as you may expect, I struggle to find the perfect skin-care products. It can really difficult to find the perfect products because you need to maintain moisture but at the same time you need to ensure that you don’t cause your skin to become too oily.

So, this is my current evening skin-care regime. I start with the Clinique Take the Day off Cleansing Balm (here) to remove all of my make-up. This is one of my favourite products and has well and truly converted me to cleansing balms. Read my full review of this product here. I then use the B. Pure Micellar Water (here) to further cleanse and to leave my skin feeling refreshed due to the cucumber extract. This product  is perfect for sensitive skin as it is incredibly gentle.

After I have removed all traces of my make-up and my skin is thoroughly cleansed, I move onto my toner. I am currently using the Clarins Toning Lotion with Iris (here) which ticks all of my boxes. It is ultra sensitive so it doesn’t irritate my skin and the touch of iris leaves your skin feeling amazingly refreshed and rejuvenated. It is also tailored for combination skin types – perfect – so leaves my skin toned but not dry, nor does it leave any residue that makes the skin seem oily.

My final step is to reach for the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion + (here) I cannot swear by this product enough – I absolutely love it. This moisturiser is wonderfully light and feels cooling on the skin, leaving it moisturized until morning – a dream to use. Clinique products are perfect for those of us who suffer from sensitive skin, offering effective but incredibly gentle products, packed full of moisture but that never leave your skin looking greasy so are perfect for combination skin types.

Have you tried any of these products? What is your evening skin-care routine? 

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Treat your hands to ‘Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream’

Bert's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (buy it here)

Hello my darlings!

I had some time to kill the other day and I inadvertently found myself browsing the aisles of Boots, when I stumbled across the ‘Bert’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream’. My cuticles are in a rather dire condition at the minute and I have be meaning to pick up something to rescue them and make them look slightly less distressed. So, as I have been meaning to try the Burt’s Bees range for a while now, I couldn’t resist picking up this product when it caught my eye.

First things first … I love the packaging! It reminds me of retro food tins and is just so cute, and – I’ll admit it – I am a sucker for some good packaging. This product also smells phenomenal! I know it is described as a ‘lemon butter’ but, until you have the pleasure of smelling it for yourself, you can not contemplate how amazingly lemony it is – if you close your eyes it is as though you are holding a freshly cut lemon.

Anyway, that is quite enough of my rambling about my love affair with this product’s scent – time to move on to whether it actually works -it does! I have only been using it for two days and already my cuticles are looking and feeling great. The skin feels noticeably softened, and they look nourished and refreshed.  I am loving everything about this product: the packaging, the smell, and the results it produces – basically I love everything about it. It is safe to say that this is my favourite impulse buy that I have purchased for a while and I would highly recommend if your cuticles are in need of a little TLC, or even if you just fancy treating your hands to a little pamper.

Have you tried any the Bert’s Bees range?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

 

Elf Mini-Haul

Elf Min-Haul

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Hello my darlings!

I love ELF (Eyes, Lips, Face) as it offers some great high-quality products at incredibly reasonable prices. I paid their website a visit the other day and just could not help ordering a few of their amazing products. I ended up with quite a few items but I still have my eye on the Daily Brush Cleaner, the Brush Shampoo and the Corrective Concealer – I may have to pay them another visit soon! Here are a few of my first impressions of all the products I ordered:

I love the Chubby Lip Sticks from Clinique (here) so when I saw the Jumbo Lip Gloss Sticks on ELF I knew I had to test them out. I went for the colour Flirty & Girly which is a purple-pink shade. I really like this product as it gives a relatively matte finish with a slight glossy look. There is a touch of shimmer which I would prefer not to be there, but it is subtle. The colour is slightly lighter on application than you would expect but it is still beautifully vibrant. I think I still prefer the product from Clinique but for a cheaper alternative I would recommend this product from ELF.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Caffeinated Mineral Eye Shadow. I thought I was going to hate it when I opened the packaging because it looked incredibly shimmery, but on application it is actually quite matte. The product is a powder to begin with but when you apply it to you skin it becomes more of a cream-like consistency. It is a beautiful colour and I will most certainly be repurchasing this product. The only grumble that I have about this eye shadow is the packaging, because you have to shake the powder out onto your hand before you can use it. I would much prefer an open pot, in which I could dip my eye shadow brush.

I’ve wanted to try the ELF Mineral Infused Primer in Translucent for a while now but it always seemed to be sold out when I went online. On application the primer feels silky to the touch and leaves your skin feeling incredibly smooth. The product promises to reduce redness but I didn’t notice much difference in this respect. The primer also comes in other colours, such as green to further correct redness, which may be more successful at correcting skin tone than the translucent primer. My make-up applied evenly and smoothly over the primer, and stayed in place all day. Overall, I would recommend this primer but I would advise considering the other colour variations if you want it to target redness or generally even skin tone.

The Clarifying Pressed Powder is a throw-in-your-bag type of product. I would not use the powder in my morning make-up regime but it is perfect to use as a powder to touch up any shine that may appear throughout your day.

I am really disapponted with the Tone Correcting Powder. It doesn’t seem to noticeably even skin tone and the powder sits quite heavily on the skin so that it looks slightly caked on. ELF also do a concealer (find it here) in the same colour palette but they are more creamy than the Tone Correcting Powder, which I think I will be trying next.

I am in rather desperate need of some new make-up brushes as mine are most certainly on their last legs. Although I think MAC brushes are probably my favourite I really begrudge spending that much, so I have been on the hunt for alternatives at a more reasonable price. My friend recommended Real Techniques and Zoeva, but when I saw the above brushes on ELF I thought I would check them out. All of the brushes were incredibly soft but I still have mixed feelings about them. I was disappointed with the stipple brush as it was not effective in applying my foundation and it did not hold the powder well when I was trying to apply my blusher. However, this brush was good at blending my blusher after I had applied it with a different brush. The Bronzing/Blusher brush is an average brush. It applies blusher perfectly well and the slanted edge allows you greater control, but it is not the best brush I have used nor is it the worst. At such a low price I would recommend this brush as a good budget buy but it is not anything to write home about. I love the concealer brush – it is perfect! It is definitely my star buy from this ELF mini-haul.

During April if you spend £15 or more you will receive two free gifts; my two free items were the lip gloss and the eye-shadow.

Check out ELF here.

Have you tried any Elf products lately? What is your favourite budget beauty brand? What brands would you like to see a review of?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Friday Favourites // #7

tarte Maracuja Oil 50ml // £35.16

tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation with Brush // £32.00

tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hr Waterproof Full Coverage Concealer & Brush // £22.50

tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eyeliner with Double-Ended Brush // £20.00

tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick Trio // £29.50

Hello my darlings!

Tarte cosmetics have hit the UK and are available via QVC and so I thought it was only fitting to include my pick of best Tarte products i  this week’s Friday favourites. I am going to keep this post short and sweet as I have yet to sample these products, but all I can say is that I am loving the packaging, especially of the eyeliner and the Maracuja oil.

Hope you all enjoy your weekends!

What are your favourite Tarte products?

 Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Manuka Doctor // Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare First Impressions

Manuka Doctor // Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare

Manuka Doctor // Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare

Manuka Doctor // Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare

Manuka Doctor // Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare

Hello my darlings!

The other day I stumbled across Manuka Doctor while I was searching for new beauty products. As I had never tried this brand before I was slightly apprehensive, especially because the products contain bee venom which I was worried would be too harsh for my skin, so I was so excited when I saw that Manuka Doctor were offering a free ApiNourish starter kit (click here to be linked to offer). I don’t know why I don’t order samples more often as it is such a good idea. I have, over the years, wasted so much money on products which end up not working for me … So why not try before you buy?

They even throw in with your free sample 25% off your next order, which I may just have to make use of very soon!

Manuka Doctor ApiNourish Rejuvenating Face Mask // £49.99

Like the other two products, the rejuvenating face mask doesn’t have any scent. I usually prefer my beauty products to be fragrance-free as they are more sensitive on the skin, but I do prefer my face masks to smell good so I was slightly disappointed. The face mask is more like the consistency of a moisturiser than your typical facial mask, and as a result it is soothing  and doesn’t feel tight on your skin for the 30 minutes you have to leave it on. Due to its consistency, it is really easy to rinse off and it doesn’t feel caked on your face. My skin didn’t feel as soft afterwards as it usually does after using other facial masks, and I think it is too soon to tell if helped to restore my skin, but on first impressions I think that I don’t think I will be purchasing this product because it is quite expensive and I didn’t feel that I saw noticeable results.

Manuka Doctor ApiNourish Restoring Night Cream // £24.99

I am not a fan of the night cream. When I first applied it all seemed well, it felt soothing and nourishing, but as the night went on it felt increasingly tight on my skin and it even started to sting my skin slightly. I ended up washing the night cream off halfway through the night as I was aware of the product on my skin, which I do not like as a product should be lightweight enough that I am unaware that I am even wearing it. I think that my skin is just too sensitive for the Manuka Doctor Night Cream and I won’t be purchasing this item.

Manuka Doctor ApiNourish Age Defying Serum // £24.99

This product is meant to nourish and hydrate your skin to leave you with a youthful complexion. I can’t testify that it does this but on first impressions it did seem to make make skin look smoother and brighter. Although, I feel this is a product which would only yield results after a longer period of usage which makes it not the best choice for a sample product.

I don’t think I will be purchasing any of these three products but I am still keen to try some of the other ranges that Manuka Doctor skincare offer as I feel that ApiNourish was not the range for me. I really want to try the ApiClear and the ApiRefine ranges from Manuka Doctor, especially the Manuka Doctor ApiClear 3-in-1 Purifying Facial Wipes and the Manuka Doctor ApiRefine Flawless Primer.

Have you ever tried any Manuka Doctor products? Which is your favourite Manuka Doctor product?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

High-Street Beauty Haul #1

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Daisy Perfume

Body Shop Vanilla Spray

Nivea In-Shower Moisturiser

Superdrug Strightening Balm

Beauty Haul #1

No7 Eye Makeup Remover & Hot Cloth Cleanser

Clinique All About Lips

Beauty Haul #1

Max Factor Mulberry Lipstick

Max Factor Mulberry Lipstick

Benefit Gimme Brow

Maurice Beauty Haul #1

Maurice Beauty Haul #1

Maurice helping with the beauty haul #1

Hello my darlings!

Here is a round-up of the high-street beauty items that I have purchased lately. It is quite a mismatch; there are some new purchases and some re-purchases purchased from either Boots, The Body Shop  or Superdrug. I was planning on posting this on Thursday but life got in the way as it has a tendency to do. But here it is – we got there eventually! This is quite a long post – it was meant to be a video but again life got in the way – so hope you like it …

New Purchases

Nivea In-Shower Body Moisturiser // This is the one if you love lazy perfect beauty products. You just simply use it like a body wash – apply it in the shower, rinse it off and then get dry – easy! I love this product as it saves time and energy, whilst the almond oil leaves your skin beautiful soft.

Superdrug Style Expertise products // These are so cheap – less than £2.00 each – you can’t argue with that! I really like the the straightening cream, it isn’t as effective as similar products that I have tried in the past but it does the job and for that price it is the perfect budget buy. I wasn’t as impressed with the curl cream but I will give it another whirl …

Una Brennan Products// I had missed feelings about these but I feel that the Una Brennan range is a high-street gem. I have reviewed these two products for this blog previously – links can be found at the bottom of this post.

N07 products // I haven’t had a chance yet to try the hot cloth cleanser but I will be writing a review of it soon so keep an eye out for that. The eye make-up remover is one of those products that does what it says on the tin – it removes all of your eye make-up, even stubborn waterproof mascara and heaps of eye liner. I find a lot of products I have tried overly harsh on my eyes but this was so sensitive and soothing – it definitely gets a thumbs up from me! 

Clinique Take the Day off Cleansing Balm // I absolutely love this product – read my review via the link at the bottom of this post. 

Botanics All Bright Hydrating Night Cream // This was another budget buy. I am not sure how I feel about this product yet – sometimes I like it, others I am like errmm! It does leave your skin moisturised but I do not think it as effective as the moisturiser from Clinique. Anyway the jury is still out on this one so I will keep you posted.

Lips // The Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in Mulberry has a lovely vibrant colour and is luscious on your lips – I will be returning to Boots very soon to invest in a few more. I wasn’t as keen on the Body Shop Lip Gloss as although I liked the colour, it was too sticky and too shiny!

Benefit Gimme Brow // This is my new go to product for my brows – read the review via the link at the bottom of this post!

Re-Purchases 

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser + // I love this moisturiser! Although I occasionally experiment with other products, this is one product that I cannot be without. It moisturises and hydrates your skin without leaving it feeling oily, and that soft-skin feeling lasts all day. If you are looking to buy a new moisturiser I would definitely recommend this. 

Clinique All About Lips // I have been purchasing this product for around a year now and I do not know what I did without it. It is a kind of exfoliater for your lips, buffing away any dry skin (sorry I know that sounds slightly disgusting) and leaves your lips feeling beautifully soft. To achieve the best results, apply this product before bed with a cotton bud, then moisturise and add a layer of vaseline. The moisturiser will absorb into your lips now all that nasty chapness has gone and the vaseline will seal in this moisture.

Fragrance // I am quite boring when it comes to fragrance and I really should branch out. But I just can’t help loving my old faithful scents – Daisy by Marc Jacobs and the Madagascar Vanilla Fragrance Body Spray from The Body Shop. I just feel that both smell divine and are perfect for spring/summer!

Maurice decided to help me with photographing or just get in the way – it is hard to tell!

I have already reviewed a few of the items listed here – all the links for which are below:

Superfacialist by Una Brennan // Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask & Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil Review

Clinique // take the day off cleansing balm

Benefit Gimme Brow // Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Friday Favourites // #4

Happy Friday my darlings!

So here we are again, another week done and dusted (that means over by the way – my friend read this post before I posted it and had no-idea what that meant- oops!). As always here is my weekly favourites of the things that I have been loving this week. It is a slightly mismatched selection today but – hey – you can’t help what you like!

New Clinique Cheek Pop // £16.50

The New Clinique Cheek Pop comes in four colours; Ginger Pop, Plum Pop, Peach Pop & Berry Pop – all of which look amazing! I think what drew me to these Cheek Pops is the flower design but I also read many favourable reviews, so they are not just unbelievably pretty but a beautiful natural-looking blush. I haven’t decided which colour it is I want yet – I may just have to get them all!

MAC 188 Small Duo Fibre Face Brush // £27.00

MAC 116 Blush Brush // £27.00

MAC 193 Angled Foundation Brush // £27.00

Real Techniques Foundation Brush // £7.99

Real Techniques Stippling Brush // £9.99

Real Techniques Blush Brush // £7.99

I have had a major dilemma lately! All of my make-up brushes seem to have decided to fall apart at the same time – thanks for that guys! I have been looking into replacing them and I am seriously torn. I was all set to purchase these three MAC brushes as MAC never disappoints, but then the sensible side of my brain kicked in. I am trying lately to not spend so much as my recent transaction history is a tad over the top. So, I paid a visit to All Beauty because they over a wide range of brands at discounted prices which keeps a few pennies in your purse. They had quite a lot of make-up brushes to choose from but I have settled on the ones from Real Techniques. Although they are probably not as good as those from MAC, all three only come in at a grand total of £25.97 (less than what one brush costs at MAC) compared to the total of the three MAC brushes which comes to £81! So … I am torn between quality and price!

Hope you enjoyed my weekly favourites even though has turned into my endless mutterings about my brush choices. I think I will have to do a brush review soon as I want to see if the more expensive a make-up brush is the more effective, or whether there are more budget ones out there that can do the job just as well.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Superfacialist by Una Brennan // Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask & Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil Review

Una Brennan

Una Brennan

Una Brennan

Una Brennan

Super Facialist Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask 125ml // £8.99

Superfacialist Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil 200ml // £10.99

Hello my darlings!

As you will now if you have read some of my recent posts I have been trying to perfect a new skincare regime as my skin has not been playing ball lately. I have the really annoying combination type of skin which means that it gets both dry and oily, and to top this all off it is hyper-sensitive with most products causing me great irritation. So, while I was recently prowling the aisles of Boots trying to find some new products to save my current skin disaster, I discovered the Superfacialist range by Una Brennan, which promises to provide you with ‘healthy, beautiful, youthful looking skin.’ As I haven’t tried this range before I decided to just purchase two items just in case I didn’t like it. After some thoughtful deliberation I decided on the Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask and the Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil.

The Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask

Claims to: “Boost skin moisture levels and radiance with Superfacialist thirst-quenching Intense Moisture Mask developed even for the most sensitive skins. It expertly blends White Willow extract, known to enhance skin cell turnover, Vitamin E and Urea with soothing Marshmallow extract to effectively hydrate, plump and replenish skin. Complexion appears calmer and visibly renewed, glowing with a healthier radiance.” 

I really like the packaging of the Una Brennan range as it simplistic and looks a lot more high-end than it’s price tag. On application the Rose Intense Moisture Mask seems more like a moistouriser than a facial mask, you simply apply a generous layer to your face, leave for five minutes and then wash off with a warm muslin cloth. After I had washed off the mask my skin felt incredibly soft and moiturised. I preferred this mask to other facial masks I have tried, especially the clay ones, as it didn’t feel tight on my skin and it was also a lot easier to wash off as it becomes a milk-like consistency when you apply water.  I usually try to stick to fragrance-free products and I wasn’t 100% keen on the rose scent of the mask as it reminded me of the drawer liners that you would find in an outdated B&B. But on the bright side the fragrance isn’t long-lasting and I couldn’t smell it once I had washed it off. As this is an intense moisture mask it is best to only use this product once or twice a week, I use mine on a Sunday night so that I am ready to face the week ahead!

Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil

Claims to: “The ultimate cleansing experience for fresher, more revived skin starts with this unique lightweight cleansing oil. Infused with Vitamin C and nourishing Olive, Grapeseed and Rosehip oils, this highly soluble oil transforms itself, upon contact with water, into a light milky texture. Boosted with Rosemary oil, Vitamin E and soothing Cucumber oil it gently dissolves face and eye make-up and removes daily impurities.Skin is left cleansed, refreshed and softer to the touch.”

The cleansing oil ‘does what it says on the tin’ – it effortlessly dissolves and removes your make-up and feels soothing as you massage it into your skin.  Unlike the Intense Moisture Mask I quite like this product’s scent as it is quite subtle with only slight hints of cucumber and rosemary. I did like this product as it leaves your skin cleansed, refreshed and considerably softer, but I found it irritated my eyes (even though it said it was suitable to remove eye make-up) and caused me to break out. 

I think that I will repurchase the Superfacialist Rose Intense Moisture Mask as I was pleasantly surprised, but I I won’t be re-purchasing the cleansing oil. I will be returning to Boots soon to pick up some other Una Brennan products as I feel they are great budget gems that do exactly what they set out to do. 

Have you tried any Superfacialist products by Una Brennan? What is your favourite product in the range?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Percy & Reid // Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Balm Review

Elle Magazine

Elle Magazine

Elle Magazine

Hello my darlings!

My boyfriend’s mum generously got me an Elle subscription for Christmas and it is always a treat when it arrives at my student house in Leeds. This month there was an added bonus – a  free sample of Percy & Reed’s latest product addition, Perfectly Perfecting Wonder BalmElle hosted the cover launch for this new product on the Wednesday 5th March 2014 (this was the first time they have done a cover launch for a beauty product) and I am so glad they did!

The Wonder Balm is a hair primer and works much like a face primer. It helps to seal your cuticles on your head and give you a great base with which to style your hair. There are two options with the balm; you can either apply it to towel-dried hair to prep it for styling or you can apply it once your hair is dry to, according to Percy & Reid, ‘maximize definition.’

I firstly applied a small dollop of the balm to towel-dried hair and worked it through my hair, roots to ends. Once dried it was noticeably softer and there was no frizz, plus it added natural volume so that my hair didn’t look limp and lifeless. After I styled my hair I also added a small squeeze of the balm to add extra smoothness and definition. The balm is incredibly light-weight and doesn’t weigh your hair down when you apply it to dry hair, nor does it make it look greasy. It simply gives your hair a beautiful shine and keeps it looking smooth, no-matter the style.

Once I have worked my way through this lovely helping of the Wonder Balm I shall definitely be purchasing a replacement. To sum up this product, it is an affordable, no-fuss hair treatment that delivers wonderful results – what more could you want!

P.S. excuse all the flowers! I suddenly seem to have really gotten into the Spring spirit and I just can’t keep away from fresh flowers – I think you may be seeing a lot more in upcoming posts very soon!

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx

Benefit Gimme Brow // Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel

Benefit Gimme Brow

Benefit Gimme Brow: Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel // £17.50

I have always stuck to using eyebrow pencils but lately I find them too harsh and blocky. I have been wanting to move on to an eyebrow gel for quite a while now but I couldn’t decide on which product I wanted to purchase, so for the last two weeks I have been going bare – eek! 

But do not fear! The promise of good eyebrows was restored when I discovered Benefit’s Gimme Brow: Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel which has recently hit the Benefit counter.

The Benefit Gimme Gel does not simply add colour but also texture, definition and hold. The fiber-brush shapes the brow, while the gel adds colour and holds the brows in place. The result is beautifully subtle and natural looking brows, that look lusciously thick. The brush-on-fiber gel allows you to gradually build up the product so that it is not too heavy. The brush is tiny (about the size of my pinky nail) which means that it doesn’t miss any hairs and you don’t end up with gel where you do not want it. It is long-wearing as once the gel has dried it doesn’t smudge and is water resistant (I tried just washing it off with water and it did not work). 

The only criticism of this product that I have is that after application you can feel the gel in your brows, but once it has dried (which only takes a minute) it does feel more lightweight.

The Benefit Gimme Brow is available in two colours; light/medium and medium/dark. I went for light/medium which you can see in the picture above.

I love this product and I am so glad I have made the transition from brow pencils as this creates a much more subtle and natural finish. I would recommend asking the counter assistant to try the product on you before you buy, because I thought I would need the medium/dark but instead the light/medium worked best for me.

Have you tried the Benefit Gimme Brow: Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel? What is your favourite brow gel?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx