Dream Creams

I think we can safely say we Winter is here. Its nearly minus degrees outside and I am literally freezing all the time. Luckily I can wrap up in dozens of woollen layers, but what about my skin? My face, hands and lips become very dry and sore this time of year, which is never a great look, especially with the party season right round the corner. I don't know what it is, but as soon as we bye to the sun, I say bye to my lovely soft skin. Well this year, I have been extremely prepared and have invested in some key cosmetics to keep my skin glowing throughout December! 

My Lips

There are some amazing products out there for your lips, some with a hefty price tag, but my remedy is pretty simple. 

I use an exfoliater twice a week to get rid of any excess dry parts. I usually do it while chilling in the bath, so I can leave the scrub on for 5/10 minutes after too. The one I use is from Lush. It costs £5.50, but it literally lasts all year. Plus if you return your 5 pots, you get a free product. I buy the bubblegum flavour, as it's so sweet and I can't resist licking and eating some of it. I love Lush products as it's fresh, natural ingredients. 

 Lip Scrub .... £5.50

                   Claudia Stevens Lip repair... £1.50

As well as using a lip scrub, I try and use a lip balm or moisture stick everyday. My favourite is the Nivea lip care pearly shine. Its £2.45 and really keeps my lips moist. It has a slight pink shine, so when applied it looks like a dusky pink lipstick! But sometimes, I want to wear a strong lippy for work, in which case, I make sure I use a lip cream over night to keep my lips moist like Claudia Stevens overnight lip repair. This is £5.99, but I get mine from Fragrance Direct for £1.50

My Face

When it comes to skin routines, we are bombarded with products. Cleansing, toning, moisturising, day cream night cream, ointments, gels, face masks, eye creams etc... but if we're honest No woman uses them all. But in Winter, our faces are forced to endure, bitter cold wind, freezing torrential down pours and icy chills. If your going to use one thing in winter, make sure it's a good product that keeps your skin moisturised, whether it an oil based ointment or a thick cream.

                               Simple... £2.50

 I use simple moisturiser daily and then three times a week I use a moisture serum, which is literally fantastic. It's from The Body Shop at £11, but you only need the size of a pea amount, so it will last a long time. Obviously try and ex foliate once a week, to get rid of any dry flaky skin, but my advice... invest in a moisture full serum! it really works a treat. My skin has never been so soft. It also helps if you wear a foundation that contains minerals and works with the oils in your skin, not dry it out. I use Mac liquid fluid and I'll never go back. 

My Hands

I think we tend to forget about our hands. We might moisturise our body and exfoliate, as we all know it helps with the fake tan, but our hands? We use them everyday for everything. They need a bit of TLC in Winter. Obviously if the weather is awful, I wear gloves to protect my hands (and because I'm freezing), but at work I don't and when I pop out or drive, I don't. The trick is to keep a little tub of cream with you in your bag. I use O'keeffes working hand cream at £5.99. I think it is supposed to be for people who work hard with their hands, not necessarily in an office, but its moisture rich and works a treat! 

OK, so I hope that's given you a bit of extra beauty knowledge and try these products. They're really good!!!!

Signing out

Becky 

xoxox

Make-up Review

Hello, my lovelies...

I don't if any of you remember, but a couple of weeks ago, I went on a little shopping spree to find some new beauty products that were cheap in price, but expensive in quality. 

The blog post was:  New Goodies Blog.

To quickly recap, I bought :

Blusher: Max Factor, colour 223 natural glow. aka Rose pink! £5.99

Transluscent eyebrow highlighte: Rimmel, colour 100 glam ice. aka white £3.99

Bronzer: seventeen, colour light bronze £4.99

Concealer: 17, colour medium dark. £3.99

Eye brow pencil: Maybeline, colour soft brown. £2.99

I said that I would review the products and give you my feedback and here it is....

Ok, so I've had the new products for 3 weeks, so I've got a pretty good basis on how they work, look and last.

Max Factor Blusher:

This has been my favourite product out of my new bits. The original blusher I was using was Estee Lauder, but I wanted to find another brand that was similar in quality, but half the price. Max Factor didn't let me down. The colour is a rose shade, which stays true to it's colour when applied. Sometimes you find with cheaper makes, the colour when applied fades and looks powdery and translucent, but this wasn't the case. Yes it wasn't as intense as my Estee Lauder, but the result was the same. As you can tell from the photo, the blush is intact and has hardly made a dent in it, even though I have used this every day and regularly in the evenings also. 

Marks out of 5? 

I give it a 5!

Would I buy again? Yes

Eyeshadow/ eye brow highlighter:

I wanted this to use as a highlighter below my eyebrows and would blend with my eyeshadow also. I went for Rimmel Glam Ice. Again, my usual brand is Estee Lauder, but unusually for this brand, the highlighter ran out quite quickly. But Rimmel has lasted a treat. I've used this everyday and the palette doesn't even look like it's been used. I admit, it is a very intense white, opposed to a milky shade, but if you are sparing with it when applying, it becomes a translucent white, which is just enough to life the eye brow. If you apply a lot of this product, your eyes will literally look like a transvestite... not a good look.

A BIG NO

YESSSSS

Marks out of 5?

I give it a 4!

Would I buy again? Yes

Bronzer

I don't need to say much about this product... a picture says a thousand words. After 3 weeks, the bronzer from 17 had crumbled and almost half gone. Whenever I dipped my brush into the bronzer, it would pull away with too much powder on. The powder is very loose, therefore a lot of it gets wasted. On a better note, it applies well and leaves a matte, flawless finish, but it just doesn't last long enough. I might as well buy a MAC bronzer which lasts months and months. 

Marks out of 5?

I give it a 1!

Would I buy again? No

Concealer

In all honesty, I haven't used this product daily like the others, only when I have had blemishes to conceal. However, when I have applied it, the concealer does what it says... conceal. It blends well, hides the blemishes and doesn't result in a shiny face either. It has lasted all day as well... no need to reapply. 

Marks out of 5?

I give it a 4!

Would I buy again? Yes

Eye brow pencil

As you can see from the above piccy, the eye brow pencil hasn't lasted very long. I have literally had to sharpen it every time I do my brows... in which case is... every day! This is because when you apply it, the substance is quite waxy and coats your brow instead of defining it. It takes a while to comb out the excess "gunk". Not a fan!!! It does last all day, after the hour it takes to perfect your brows, but I'd prefer to spend a bit more money to get a better quality product.

Marks out 5? 

I give it a 2!

Would I buy again? No

Well girls, I hope this has been helpful for you. Now you have a better idea of yays and nays for cheaper beauty products.

Signing out

Deep Conditioning

Hi ladies, just a quickie today. I've just bought a new product that has worked wonders with my hair and just HAD to share it with you. As you know, it's all about the luscious locks and all the rubbish we coat are hair in keeps are hair looking fierce, but feel good? NO! After a couple of days of back combing, salt spray, hair spray, dry shampoo, curling, straightening and god knows what else, my hair is literally craving an intervention... a detox! 

!!!!HELP!!!!

I bought a tube of deep conditioner from boots and to be honest I was a bit sceptical  I've tried deep conditioners before and they've never really worked, but I thought I'd give it a go. I bought the little tester tube (75ml) of "AUSSIE, 3 minute miracle constructor". This brand does a whole selection of other treatments and in different sizes, but keeping it safe, I just bought this. 

My little miracle worker! From Boots at £1.59

I've used the whole tube up now, which is the equivalent of three washes and my hair feels super soft. You literally use a small amount and rub it into the most damaged strands of hair, which in my case were the ends and round my face. Run a brush, comb or fingers through your hair to de-tangle it and leave it for three minutes. I left it for 5 just in case, then wash off. 

I'll give you a tip, wash it off with cold water... well as cold as you can stand. This closes your pores and stop any products getting into your scalp, which can cause dry scalp or itching. It also leaves your hair with a sheen once it's dried. And that's it.

My hair feels in really good condition and smells lovely. I don't know if any of you remember L'oreal kids shampoo and conditioner they did? It smells like that... really sweet and sugary. 

It smells just like this... blast from the past

I am definitely going to invest in a larger bottle and use this regularly... maybe once a week. After such a good result, I think I'm going to delve into some of AUSSIE's other products. I will let you know how the searching and testing goes! :)

Aussie's the way forward.

Signing out