Top Winter Skincare Products

Coming into the Winter months can be quite harsh on your skin, and here in Northern Ireland, it is very cold and wet and just horrible at this time of the year - so I need products that can help reduce my dry skin, hydrate my skin and add a bit of radiance - and with these products I achieve that.

No7 Beautiful Skin Radiance Exfoliator 
 I have only been trying this product for maybe 2 weeks now maybe every other day and I really like it. Everytime I use it my skin feels so much softer and looks so much healthier adding a really like natural glow to my skin - it's also quite gentle on my skin so it doesn'y affect my sensitivity and there is little to no fragrance.
Soap and Glory Scrub Your Nose In It
I've been using this product for a good few months now, maybe 2 or 3 just as a more intensive exfoliating treatment as compared to the No7 one - it is quite strong and almost has a tingling sensation to the skin - but I've noticed that when I do leave it on for a few minutes it really helps to clean out my pores, especially around my nose and leaves my skin feeling baby soft and clean. On the downside though, it does leave my skin feeling quite tight but once I moisturise my skin is back to normal.
No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask
I've has this mask for a good few months now and it's still going strong - I really love this product, it's probably the best facial mask I've used. Its quite thick and creamy in texture and it has almost a cooling effect which really helps to tone down on my redness and it leaves my skin feeling and looking so soft, healthy and hydrated - especially coming into these winter months this is exactly what I need, I would highly recommend it!
No7 Beautiful Skin Overnight Radiance Boost
I would use this product only maybe once or twice or week, it really depends on how my skin is looking and feeling, but I would apply this before I go to bed and a few minutes after I have moisturised just to ensure that I don't layer it over and it can't be absorbed properly into my skin. I really love how this product makes my skin look in the morning - its really radiant and fresh and exactly what I need for my skin.

My Summer Essentials/Tips

We all know that once June hits, everyone goes a bit summer mad, and living in Ireland, it's pretty hilarious to watch and see. The majority of people here don't protect their sun when out in it, and to be honest I don't really blame them because, we don't get a lot of it - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful with what you wear, and what you put on your skin. 

And for me, being so pale and only having a tendency to burn, it is very important - so here are my...

Summer Essentials/Tips

1. Some Form of Sun Protection

The reason why I didn't write sunscreen was because you can have SPF in a number of different products, such as your foundation, primer and even moisturiser - I will admit though, that it is pretty difficult to find a product of these that have SPF, they are pretty limited but with that being said, it doesn't mean you shouldn't look. The product I use on a daily basis is my Simple Kind to Skin Illuminating Radiance Cream (SPF 15). I love this product and I would use it nearly everyday as a primer for my foundation - it just gives such a nice and healthy glow to your skin without making it look shiny.

2. Appropriate Clothing

This breaks my heart saying this... *deep breath*.. but black during the summer for me, is a big no no. As I'm sure you's know, black attracts and white reflects heat, and for me personally, when I get too warm I tend to feel physically sick, crazy right? But not even that, black is just an incredibly dark colour and is far better suited during the winter because in summer everything is bright and colourful, and so should my clothes. Although in saying that, a small part of black is okay, like just say a crop top or vest, I wouldn't advise black skinny jeans or something like that. But from now on during the summer I intend to wear bright, colourful clothes that really emphasise the season such as; yellow, green, sky blue, lilac, pink and white etc etc. and even just really bold and colourful prints or floral print clothes.

Clothing that is too tight is also a no no, I want my skin to be able to breath, I don't want to drown in my own fluids :) so nice loosely fitted jeans, shorts, skirts, wavy tops etc are all in my wardrobe

3. No Make-up Make-up

The worst thing that could happen during summer, is your face melting off. So light make-up is one my most important essential for summer and in order to achieve this, I use my Bourjois Happy Light foundation along with a beauty blender. I love this foundation in general, but in summer it's just my holy grail, this is because the foundation is incredibly light feeling on your skin (clues in the name) and gives really good coverage even with only one application. Its also very luminous and gives a really nice glow to your skin. Using this product with the beauty blender also means that you don't use nearly as much as you usually would as a little goes a long way and the beauty blender really helps to cover all of your face and blend it really well :)

Excuse the dirty beauty blender haha, it's being washed today :)

4. Hydration
Staying hydrated is key to having good skin, and during the summer we all know that sweat tends to just come out of everywhere, which dehydrates your body and your face, so staying hydrated is super important and you can do this by drinking water or using skin products that are designed to rehydrate your skin. I'm not a big lover of water I'll admit, the only way I can drink it is if it's flavoured or with diluted juice, but I have discovered a product which I am in love with and is really good and rehydrated my face even over my make-up and it is the Simple Kind to Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist. I would definitely recommend this product, and as it's decently sized I can carry it with me in my bag :)

I hope you like this post :) If you have any questions then drop me a comment
:)

My Skincare Routine

Skincare is one of the most important part of our daily activities, no matter how old you are, what skin type you have and where you live. These are actually some of the main factors which influence what type of skincare regime you have. For example - people who live in colder climates would tend to have quite dry skin, and because it's cold, they would have the heating etc. turned on. But having the air conditioning on, drys your skin out more and can even make it dehydrated so it's imperative that people who live in colder climates drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water a day and moisturise their skin in order to keep it healthy and moisturised. 

My skin type is Combination and I also have Sensitive skin so it's important that I use products that don't contain oil but have enough moisture to keep my skin nice and lubricated and that won;t be too harsh on my sensitive skin. I'm also quite prone to comedones (which are blackheads) so I need a few products to help minimise those.

The products which I use don't change that much because they're suited to my skin whether it becomes more dry, oily or both. But in Winter, my skin tends to be more on the dryer side so I use products which would help ease that and keep my skin moisturised.

As you can probably tell, I love Simple. It's great for people with sensitive skin and it also contains no oil so it won't make me more oily but at the same time is very moisturising. On my more oily days I tend to get quite a few spots and blackheads so for those I would use my Garnier Pure Active Anti-blackhead scrub which I have a post on if you want to check it out here along with my Clean&Clear blackhead clearing cleanser and for spots I would use my Tea Tree Oil which I also done a review on if you want to check it out here. 

On my dryer days, I would use my Simple Foaming Cleanser and it is quite moisturising and really gives you that squeaky clean feeling without leaving you dry. I would also use my Simple Oil balancing Exfoliator as it helps to balance the level of oil on my skin whilst also getting rid of any dry patches of skin I may have. For days when I'm staying in the house I would use my Simple day moisturiser and for days where I'm going out or heading to tech I would use my Nivea Express Hydration Primer for normal to combination skin which I have also done a review on if you want to check it out here and for my lips I would use my Carmex lip balm in Cherry flavour.

  

To remove my make-up I would use these Nivea wipes for dry and sensitive skin especially coming into the Winter months as they help to moisturise my skin.

Here are some tips to help you decide on what kind of skin regime you should have;
1. Skin Type - is your skin dry, oily or a combination?
2. Skin Condition - is your skin dehydrated, mature or sensitive?
3. What are your problem areas - blackheads, spots, eczema, milia? 
If you answer these, then you'll now what type of skincare routine you should have, and what products you'll need 

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know about your skincare routines, I'd love to read them! :)

The Beauty Show 2013

So yesterday, the beauty classes within my college, and every other college within Ireland, along with professional make-up artists and companies went to the Beauty Show which was held in Dublin. The Beauty Show is an event where different companies such as Dermologica and Hd Brows are able to promote their businesses to people who are in that field. They were all really nice and answered any questions and also gave demo's and some people gave free samples which was really good! There was also a few make-up and nail competitions which was really exciting to watch.

 It was really good and the venue was huge! I've never been to that part of Dublin before so it was a new and exciting experience! Here are a few pictures of the businesses which were there...

We were also allowed to bring spending money - because I didn't know what all was going to be there, I didn't want to bring too much because it is pretty hard to change the euros back into sterling so I only brought 50 euros.. which I know may seem like a lot - but it really didn't last! Here are the products I bought :)

This nail was actually given to myself and Rebecca as a sample. It's basically a machine that prints any image you want, and even has a camera so you can take pictures of yourself, or friends and then print it onto the nail which is what me and Rebecca done. The machine is going to be sold to shops like Debenhams.

I hope you liked this post anywho, and don't forget to follow or comment!
Rachel

Kit Number 2 :D

Yesterday when I came home from college, there was ANOTHER package waiting there. I was so excited because I knew it was going to be my Eve Taylor Skincare Kit 

I personally, have never heard of Eve Taylor products before - but from looking at the products and testing them out in college - I'm now a huge fan. They each have different ingredients which each add something different to your skin and each have different properties and effects. 

The kit was £47.99 - which for a professional, high end brand and for 6 things, I though was pretty good.

The kit came with (from left to right)

- A soothing Cleanser with Cucumber and Lettuce 

- Soothing Toner with Lavender and Chamomile

- Soothing Masque with Aloe Vera and Camellia 

- Soothing Moisture Lotion with Comfrey and Lavender

- Facial Cleansing Brush

- An Eve Taylor bag to hold the products

First Impression - Nivea Express Hydration Primer

So I was in the boyfriend's house watching TV when I an advertisment came on about the new Nivea Primer - I was instantly intrigued as I love finding new primer that will make my make-up last as long as I need it to. 

I bout it from Savers when it was on sale for an amazing £3.49 for 50ml - which I thought was a total bargain! They have two types, one for normal and combination skin and one for dry and sensitive skin - I got the normal and combination one.

Initially when I read the package, I immediately had good expectations as it stated "moisturises and provides a smooth base for effective make-up application with effective hydrators" Some more information about the product;

NIVEA PHILOSOPHY 

 Nivea uses ingredients inspired by nature to create high performance products that work in perfect harmony with your skin - to help you look and feel your most beautiful 

NIVEA Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer enriched with Vitamins & natural Lotus Extract;

• Provides an even and smooth base for effective make-up application and helps your make-up stay put
• Absorbs instantly thanks to it's light texture
• Uses an effective hydrator for long lasting moisturisation and a soft skin feeling 

I also really like the packaging - it's simple and clean which I really like :)

Time for the Results! :)

My initial thought when I first applied it was that it was very light weight, which I liked because it didn't feel heavy or thick on my skin, and it also absorbed really well into my skin and didn't leave any kind of greasy residue.

After 2.5 hours - I first applied this with my make-up at 11.30am as I was getting ready to head into town, by the time 1.30pm came, I decided to have a wee check in the toilets to see how my make-up was doing. I was really impressed - not one bit had budged or worn off! I was really impressed because it was pretty warm and walking around the shops etc I was getting a tad sweaty, gross I know but it happens, and none of my make-up had smeared off!

After 4.5 hours - When I was leaving town, I decided again to run to the loo and check my make-up, I did notice a bit of my make-up had came off around my nose, granted I had been rubbing it etc. so that was pretty acceptable, but overall my make-up was still looking good!

After a total of 7 hours - Once I got home and changed into comfy clothes etc. I had another look at my make-up and overall, I am super impressed! Only the make-up around had came off during the whole day and that was mostly because I was rubbing it! 

Overall, I really love this product. Not only did it keep my skin hydrated without looking shiny or oily and it also made my make-up last! And for the price it was an absolute bargain. I would highly recommend this product, and because it has two different types, it's suitable for everyone! :)

Blackheads?

If you're like me and suffer from blackheads - you know how frustrating it can be looking for products to actually get rid of the problem but all you find are products that claim to be the cure but yet... don't work. 

Well, after searching for I don't even know how long, I have finally found a product that actually works! *jumps up and down*

And this miracle product is..

..

..

..

Garnier Pure Active Anti-Blackhead Deep Pore Wash

I bought this product about four days ago and I've been using it everyday since. It. Actually. Works. I couldn't believe it. After the first wash I noticed there were far less blackheads and even the pores looked smaller. This product is different to others I have tried because it has exfoliating micro-beads which cleanse and effectively unclogs pores which helps to clear blackheads and remove any impurities. It is also enriched with Zinc and Salicylic Acid because of it's purifying power - it helps to control shine and protect against the appearance of blemishes, blackheads and impurities. 

I bought this from superdrug for only £3.99 which I though was an absolute bargain as I've heard so many good things about Garnier. If you do suffer from blackheads and have oily to combination skin - I would highly recommend this product! I will definitely be trying a few more of their products :)

Got Spots?

The past week or so my skin has went nuts! I'm constantly breaking out in spots due to a change in my contraceptive pill. 

I have never been one to break out or have bad (spotty) skin - if I do break out it would've been once in a blue moon and I'd never have more than two spots at a time so when I started to break out, and I'm not exaggerating, I have them on my face, neck and back, I decided to try and look for a product that would help. Initially I was going to go for the Witch blemish stick but I changed my mind when I seen this product - It is one of Superdrug's own products and is the Tea Tree Spot Stick

The main reason this caught my attention was because it was Tea Tree. Tea Tree oil is made from the leaves of the Melaleuca Alternifolia which is a native plant in Australia. 

Tea Tree oil has strong antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. When it's applied to the skin it has the ability to kill the bacteria which develops in spots/acne.  

Benzoyl Peroxide is the main ingredient found in the majority of acne treatments because it helps to reduce inflammation and get rid of the dead skin cells. It does however leave behind nasty side effects such as peeling, itching and burning - so Tea Tree oil is a great alternative!

The spot stick has a sponge applicator tip and comes in a decently sized bottle - the colour is green but and I know that when I first seen it I was little wary but when it's applied to the skin it doesn't come off green

 Another bonus is that it's wallet friendly! I bought this from Superdrug for £2.99 which I thought was a bargain! 

I have been using this for a few days now and I can already notice the difference! My spots have already decreased in size and the redness has also reduced. I would highly recommend this product :)