La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo + Plus

I'm one of those people that lives by the old saying: "If it ain't broke don't fix it" - I had been a huge fan of La Roche-Posay's original formula, Effaclar Duo for around 12 months. I even repurchased the stuff - a beauty addict's way of saying: "this is some pretty good shizz". So at the start of the year when I'd heard that the much-loved spot treatment had been discontinued BUT replaced with a revamped version, the Effaclar Duo + Plus I've got to admit, I was a little anxious but I had heard it did everything that the original did, on top of helping to reduce and prevent scarring.

About a month ago, the kind people at La Roche-Posay offered me the chance to try out the new formula, which was fantastic as I was keen to see whether the Effaclar Duo + Plus lived up to its predecessor.

I've never really had particularly problematic skin but I found that using the Effaclar Duo daily helped to keep my skin clear. It claimed to 'reduce the appearance of imperfections and unclog sebum-blocked pores' - which it did.

Does the new version do this? Yes, it does. Like the original, it helps to keep breakouts at bay. It's a preventative treatment, so with that in mind, remember it won't clear up current outbreaks on first application but it will reduce the frequency of them in future. This is a product that you have to persevere with - but not for a terribly long period of time, I found it to be effective in around a fortnight.

Now for the 'newness' - this updated version claims to prevent red and brown marks. La Roche-Posay claim that the new formula not only targets blemishes, clogged pores and excess sebum, but it also eliminates acne marks from the moment they start to form, thanks to an exclusive anti-marks active ingredient called Procerad.

Do I believe this updated version does anything in tackling the marks that come after blemishes? Yes I do and in fact, I feel that the product has done wonders in reducing the overall redness of my skin, so much so that this month, I've gone many days without wearing any foundation at all! Don't get me wrong, my skin has always been okay but it's rare that I feel confident enough to leave the house without any sort of base on my skin.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the results of the revamped formula and like I did with its predecessor, I will certainly be repurchasing this stuff when it eventually runs out! The original Effaclar Duo was great, however the Effaclar Duo + Plus just goes that step further for your skin.

You can get your hands on La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo + Plus (RRP £15.50), from Boots or via online beauty and skincare hotspot, Escentual.

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Essie Button made me...

The title of today's post speaks volumes about me. Firstly, I'm a beauty addict but an easily led beauty addict at that. A product can sell itself to me but occasionally I do need the gentle nudge of fellow beauty bloggers to inspire a purchase... or eight.

This post features eight products I bought largely off the back of glowing reports from one of my favourite beauty bloggers, Estée from Essie Button. If you don't know who Estée is, she's a Canadian blogger, vlogger and YouTuber, who lives in London. She blogs under the name of Essie Button. Her blog is a joy to read and her videos are equally brilliant to watch. She's utterly hilarious, has superb taste in all things beauty, skincare and life in general, oh and she's ACE! Right, enough of the Essie Button love fest and onto the products:

Barry M Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Polish in Lychee - £3.99

With their vast array of colours and reasonable price tag, Barry M's nail polishes are some of the best offerings on the high street. However, their Gel Effect Nail Polish formula really is something special. In two coats, you get wonderfully shiny nails that don't chip easily. Last year, Estée (and the rest of us, including myself) fell in love with the shade, Lychee, which is a lovely nude-grey shade. Ideal for daily wear.

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner - £13

Like most women out there I have a real love/hate relationship with liquid eyeliner. I hate applying it, however when it does go on well, I love it. Who doesn't love a good winged eye after all? Estée has sang this product's praises no end, she claimed it was the best liquid eyeliner she's ever tried. With that kind of review, how could I leave Boots without this? Unsurprisingly, this has lived up to her rave reviews. It's the perfect black liquid liner, the pen makes for easy application and it doesn't budge throughout the day!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain in Honey - £7.99

Estée’s readers know her love of Revlon's range of lip products. These Clinique Chubby Stick dupes took the high street by storm around two years ago and I do see why I suppose. I found these products okay but just that unfortunately, I have the shade Honey (Estée's fave), which is a lovely, 'your lips but better' kind of pink. My gripe with this product is it fades so easily, which is fine for some but I don't tend to reapply my make-up too much throughout the day, so it's a little annoying for me. Thankfully this kind of shade isn't too high maintenance, so it doesn't look silly once it has faded but it is just as though nothing was ever there. A plus point however, is the minty scent. I love mint scented lip products!

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake and Tutti Frutti - £7.99

More Revlon lip products here. The beauty blogging community went mad for these, including Estée, of course and I can totally see why. These are somewhere between a lip balm and a lipstick and they are lovely. They're extremely hydrating and there are a brilliant variety of shades to choose from. I opted for Strawberry Shortcake, which is another one of those 'your lips but better' pinks, and Tutti Frutti, which is an orangey coral. These go on sheer, which means their staying power isn't incredible but having such a balm like formula, I was expecting that really.

Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow in On and On Bronze - £4.99

A product that Estée and every other blogger adores, including myself! This cream formula eyeshadow is excellent worn alone or as a base for other eyeshadows - it makes a wonderful companion for Urban Decay's Naked Palette I've got to say! Despite its low price tag, its longevity and quality mirrors that of a high end branded product. Estée's signature shade is On and On Bronze or Bad to the Bronze, as its named in the States and Canada.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque - £18.50

I love this, Estée loves this... (Did you read that to the tune of the Barney the Dinosaur theme tune...? No, sorry, I will carry on). I love this little wonder, as you will know if you read my February favourites post. This works fantastically to combat that sometimes dark under eye area of mine. Its slight pink tint cancels out the darkness and with it having a creamier consistency than most concealers, it works a little better for me in my under eye area. A total gem, thank you Estée for introducing me to this.

Dior Hydra Life BB Eye Creme - £30

Last year, Estée and I had something in common, we ventured into the wonderful - albeit expensive world of Dior cosmetics and we fell for them, hook line and sinker. A BB eye creme sounds ridiculously extravagant and quite frankly unnecessary, and yes it is BUT this is a lovely product. The coverage is by no means heavy duty at all, which may not satisfy some but I'm all about the no make-up make-up look and this works great for me. The price tag is the product's only real snag but it's Dior, need I say anymore? (Poet and I did not know it)

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Are there any beauty bloggers that inspired some of your beauty purchases? If so, what products were they and what bloggers tempted you into those purchases?

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Eat Up, Shrewsbury

This post may come as a bit of a shock to you all as there isn't a mascara or cleanser in sight! Today's post centres around one of my favourite things to do in my sparetime - dine out!

One example of Eat Up's fun decor - the bike on the wall.

Photographic evidence of how well my outfit suited the decor (haha).

This week I've had some long overdue days off and one of my afternoons was spent window shopping and enjoying a late lunch with my boyfriend at a lovely restaurant in Shrewsbury called Eat Up.

He'd had lunch there not so long ago and really enjoyed it, so based on his high praise, this place had to be good surely? And was it? Why, of course.

The first thing that struck me about the venue was the fun and super cool decor. The restaurant is filled with big tables and benches, as well as other stand out features to add to the fun and relaxed atmosphere - such as a bike on the wall and the 'naughty table', which is packed with calorie-laden goodies.

Speaking of calorie-laden goodies, I shall get onto the important bit... the food.

After we ordered and were served our drinks (I went for the Cloudy Lemonade, Michael went for a Beer, of course), I ordered the 'Most Amazing Steak Sandwich' (that's what it said on the menu), and it was actually the most amazing steak sandwich I've ever had! It was gorgeous! It was served alongside some salad leaves, on toasted bread, with red onions and unlike many steak sandwiches I've devoured in the past, the steak wasn't tough at all. Michael opted for the Sweet Potato Falafel, Halloumi Crostini with Chantaray Carrots, Tzatziki, Houmous and Salad stuffed Pitta, which he'd had before and once again really enjoyed. We also had a side of Wedges to share with sour cream and a sweet chilli dip. The wedges were BEAUTIFUL - I only wish we'd have had a bigger portion but that's just me being greedy!

The 'Most Amazing Steak Sandwich' and the Wedges.

 The Sweet Potato Falafel, Halloumi Crostini with Chantaray Carrots, Tzatziki, Houmous and Salad stuffed Pitta.

Despite both being more than satisfied with our lunch, both having a real sweet tooth, we couldn't resist a visit to the 'naughty table' - it took me quite a bit of 'umm-ing and arr'ing' but in the end I went for a generous slice of Carrot Cake, while Michael opted for a slab of Rocky Road. The Rocky Road was superb!

The desserts, back, the Carrot Cake, front, Rocky Road.

Other points I must comment on are the friendly and welcoming service and the price, all this came to around £30, which I think is reasonable for both our lunches, desserts, drinks and coffee.

Delicious food, served in a fun and friendly atmosphere - what more could you ask for really? I will definitely be returning here!

To check out Eat Up's menu, visit: www.eatupshrewsbury.co.uk

The Cloudy Lemonade looked too pretty not to take a snap of!

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A naughty and wholly unnecessary drugstore haul

As the title suggests this is a bit of a naughty post. This documents a recent half an hour I spent in Boots and I just thought I would show you what ended up in my basket.  After a busy working week not so long ago, I fancied a couple of cheap and cheerful drugstore pick-me-ups.

A number of these purchases are inspired by some of my favourite bloggers who have been raving about some of these products recently and a couple are products I've tried before. Anyway before I ramble on any further I will crack on with telling you what I bought:

Nivea In shower Body Moisturiser - £3.56

I first tried this stuff ages ago but this is only the second time I've bought this. It's lovely, it contains almond oil, so it leaves my skin feeling extremely soft post shower. It smells delicious too. However, the real selling point for me is that it saves you moisurising after you've showered and as I'm sure I've probably stated on the blog before, I'm all for corner cutting products!

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation - £6.99

I haven't tried this yet but this is a purchase inspired by the wonderful Faye from Faye's Fix. She's been raving about this recently and I decided to see what the fuss was about. She likens this to Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation. Ever since using and LOVING, I hasten to add, Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation, I'm more open minded towards drugstore foundations and expect big things following on from my recent Rimmel experience. Rimmel says this foundation is enhanced with Sapphire Radiance for an illuminating glow, which sounds pretty lovely to me. My only concern with this is I think I may have bought a shade that's too light for me! Yep, you read that correctly, a pale Prudence like me may have found a drugstore foundation too light for her. This is actually a big deal and even if this is too light for me, kudos to Rimmel for catering for paler complexions. FYI - I have this in the shade, Light Porcelain. 

 VO5 Smoothly Does It Tame and Shine Spray - £3.89

This is one of the few purchases that isn't a naughty one. This is just a really good heat defence spray and a product that I repurchase time and time again. Nothing more to say on this really.

Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Wash off Deep Purifying Cleanser - £8

Another product that I'm yet to try but extremely looking forward to using is this creamy cleanser, which contains supposedly 'super' T-zone decloggers, antioxidant-rich Peach and Gojuice extracts and detoxifying Oxyginseng technology. This smells exactly how you'd imagine, peachy! I can't wait to get stuck in with this as my past experience with Soap & Glory skincare has been pretty good.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara - £8.99

I'm looking forward to livening up my lashes with this mascara. This was mostly an impulse purchase but it was also partially inspired by my love of a L'Oreal mascara, the False Lash Telescopic, which is my holy grail mascara. The Miss Manga mascara is all about the volume, whereas I find the False Lash Telescopic to be more lengthening really, so this could mix it up a bit for me.

Simple Kind To Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion - £2.99

This may well be the unsexiest product you will ever find. That sentence may sound bad to you but trust me it isn't, this product has been good to me. This is a product I will always repurchase without a second thought, it's reasonably priced and does what it says on the bottle and it's kind on my sensitive skin. It's loyal to me and I will always return that loyalty by repurchasing. After all, you can't go wrong with a bit of Simple really can you?

Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer - £7.99

I bought this in the shade Light. This was an Essie Button inspired purchase, so surely that means I don't need to elaborate any further? If she loves it, I'm sure it's excellent. I also like the look of the sponge applicator. I'm hoping this hides away those pesky dark circles of mine, which I do suffer from occasionally.

Collection Cream Puff Lip Cream - £2.99

Cheap, cheerful and another Faye from Faye's Fix inspired buy. I have these in the shades Cotton Candy, which is a 'your lips but better' pink, and Fairy Cake, which is a bright but not too bright pink. Despite applying creamy, these have a matte finish, which I love and I don't find them to be too drying like many other matte formulas can be. Another plus point is how sweet these smell. Lovely!

Look out for full reviews of these products in the future!

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Review of Forever Living Aloe Scrub

Hello and happy Saturday all - today I will be reviewing Forever Living's Aloe Scrub.

Not so long ago I was kindly given a number of Forever Living products to review and one of the items that has really stood out to me while testing them out so far is the Aloe Scrub.

First and foremost, I've got to say I wasn't expecting to enjoy using this product much at all. I've had a few so-so experiences with facial scrubs in the past. I've found many of them to be much too harsh on my sensitive skin. I've always found that the beads in many facial scrubs irritate my face, leaving my skin sore and in a worse condition than it was prior to using them.

However, this scrub has totally changed my perception on using scrubs as part of my skincare routine.

Forever Living's Aloe Scrub contains 'micro-spheres' of jojoba oil suspended in pure aloe vera. These two natural ingredients are meant to clear the way for the skin's renewal process.

It claims to be gentle enough to use everyday, a statement I was dubious of based on my previous experiences with scrubs.

Despite, my reservations I decided to see whether I could use this product on a daily basis and I can confirm over the past week I've used this product everyday prior to moisturising and it's left me with bright and radiant looking skin. Result!

This scrub isn't harsh or gritty on my skin at all. It's cooling and extremely refreshing.

I apply it to wet skin, before gently massaging it for around two minutes in a circular motion, which 'transforms' the scrub's texture - I find that it becomes creamy once massaged in. A real plus point for me is the smell of the product, I think some people may find it perhaps a little too clean if that's possible but I like it, it smells wonderfully fresh.

I'm not left with any oiliness, dryness or redness, just soft, plump looking skin. Overall, a good product.

Forever Living's Aloe Scrub (RRP £12.92) can be purchased at www.foreverliving.com or from your local independent distributor for Forever Living, mine is Susan Boag and her site can be found at bellavera.my.flpbiz.com.

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Review of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and Express 2 in 1 Eye Make-up Remover

You cannot step into a Boots or Superdrug these days without seeing a brand's take on micellar cleansing water. Over the past year or so, micellar water has started appearing from all corners. They're a super fast way to cleanse your skin and remove your make-up. They contain micelles which act like magnets that gently lift away make-up.

The craze started with THE 'big mama' of micellar waters, Bioderma.

(Forgive me for my sins, I have a bad beauty blogger confession to make: I've never tried Bioderma - anyway moving swiftly on...)

With the cult following behind Bioderma, of course it was only a matter of time before drugstore brands caved and started producing their own versions as Bioderma hasn't always been the easiest product to get hold of in the UK. When L'Oreal brought out their version I was excited, I repurchased time and time again but a few bottles down the line my skin was starting to disagree with it. It ended up drying out my skin, as well as leaving it a little red, accompanied with a slight stinging sensation. Nicht gut! So when I heard that Garnier had released their version of micellar water I had to have it right away!

Firstly, the packaging of Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water really drew me to the product. It's fairly similar to Bioderma with its round bottle and pink lid.

Secondly, it's excellent value for money. At 400ml it's double the size of L'Oreal's cleansing water but they're priced the same. (RRP - £4.99) However, I must say both Garnier and L'Oreal are on offer most of the time in Boots and Superdrug.

Now to the crucial bit, does Garnier's version work for me? And the answer is yes it does. I use this as my pre-cleansing step, before I use a cream cleanser. It removes the bulk of my make-up without drying out my skin. It's extremely gentle, soothing and hydrating. I'm thoroughly enjoying using it so far and intend to repurchase it. However, I do not use this for removing my eye make-up, which leads me onto Garnier's Express 2 in 1 Eye Make-up Remover. (RRP - £3.50)

This stuff is excellent. This biphase eye make-up remover is enriched with Arginine, which helps to care for your lashes - meaning I don't lose half my lashes while removing my mascara. Most other eye make-up removers (I'm looking at you L'Oreal Absolute Make Up Remover Eye & Lip) leave my eye area quite oily, whereas Garnier's doesn't. My only criticism is a 125ml bottle of this stuff does not last long, I'm going through it fast!

Overall, I must applaud Garnier on this new cleansing duo of theirs - both of these are brilliant products that require no harsh rubbing to remove your make-up, just simply hold down with a cotton pad for a few seconds and voila - make-up gone. I will certainly be repurchasing both of these in the future.

Have you tried this duo yet?

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