Sunday 22 June 2014

Review of Eucerin DermoPURIFYER Cleanser



Recently my skin has been somewhat more oil-prone than usual, I'm not entirely sure why but this oily spell came at a time when Escentual were offering bloggers the opportunity to try out a cleanser targeted at tackling oily skin, so of course I jumped at the chance to give it a whirl.

What arrived in the post a few days later was Eucerin's DermoPURIFYER Cleanser (RRP £9). I must admit what first struck me about the product was how 'basic' the packaging looked, superficial I know. However, on further reading up on Eucerin, I soon realised this wasn't a brand you buy for how its packaging looked but rather its effective results. Eucerin claims to be 'the dermatologist-recommended skincare brand based on honest skin science' that contains 'active ingredients' in order to create high quality, effective products.

This soap and fragrance free, gel type cleanser works by removing excess sebaceous-gland lipids and reduces growth of bacteria, while gently removing make-up and dirt.

I've been using this product for the past month now every night before going to bed and I can honestly say this product does remove make-up and dirt effectively, while being extremely gentle on the skin. I lather it with water, which creates a  gentle foam.

Alongside the cleanser, I have stuck to my usual skincare routine which comprises of a micellar water before this cleanser, then followed up by a serum and moisturiser.

Post use I like how my skin feels, it leaves my skin thoroughly cleansed and feeling soft, and I have noticed a reduction in my skin's oiliness.

Those of you who suffer with oil-prone skin I can't recommend this enough and until June 30, Escentual is offering up to a 1/3 off French Pharmacy brands, so what are you waiting for?

Alongside this cleanser, Escentual also kindly send me an array of other goodies and two that I'm looking forward to trying is Eucerin's Even Brighter Day and Night creams. I will have to let you know how I get on with those.

Have you tried any Eucerin products before? Were they effective for you?


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Wednesday 18 June 2014

My (uber belated) May favourites



I know, I know it's June 18th and I'm posting my May favourites. Poor effort from me but number one -working full time and blogging doesn't always go hand in hand, number two - my laptop went in for repair this month and number three - my OCD just wouldn't allow me to miss a monthly favourites post! Oh and Alix from I Covet Thee only posted her May favourites the other day, so it must be acceptable! *wink Emoji*

So now I've done my explaining, I shall proceed with what beauty products in particular I enjoyed using throughout May. This is a slightly smaller favourites post than usual but as we get into the summer months, I try to use as little amount of products as possible... Nobody likes a hot mess!

Right, enough rambling, here are the products:

Clarins The Essentials Eye Make-Up Palette - £35

Ah, The Essentials Palette, or as I lovingly dub it: "the Naked Palette's older, more sophisticated sister". This came out last winter and I've tried my hardest to play down my love for this palette because I know it's going to end in tears...You see it's sadly limited edition and I don't think you can purchase this anymore *Sob*. On the surface this palette looks like your standard neutral eye palette but trust me it's so much more than that. This 10 shade palette is just divine, I adore the Naked Palettes I do, but this palette is just so much more chic, due to its sophisticated array of (mostly) metallic shades. All shades are extremely wearable day or night. I'm a shimmery eye shadow girl but I've got to say I even love the two matte shades here which is unlike me.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow - £15.50

Another neutral, metallic eye product Naomi, really? Yes really. Throughout May I reached for this little beauty, whether I was wearing this alone all over the lid or as a base for other eye shadows. It's a lovely product and the colour is gorgeous too. It's a champagney, gold colour with a frosted finish. This lasts all day on me. Lovely, lovely.

Superdrug Coconut Oil - £2.29

I picked this up from my local Superdrug in May after noticing Coconut Oil was doing the rounds in the blogging community and I decided I wanted in on the action! Despite Coconut Oil being renowned for being an excellent multi-use product I've only used it on the ends of my hair so far, post wash. It's keeping my ends looking, feeling and smelling great, and I'm hoping it delays my next trip to the hairdressers by at least another fortnight! Another added perk, it's cheap as chips!

Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paint in Lychee - £3.99

I don't need to say too much about this product surely? If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll have seen this Nail Polish formula and this particular shade appear in a number of my posts. I painted my nails in Lychee a number of times in May. Overall, I love the formula, it leaves my nails looking glossy and it remains chip-free for a good number of days, and I love the colour, it's a highly wearable nude-grey.


That was short and sweet but it's good to be back. I've got plenty of ideas lined up for upcoming posts, including some venturing into new Better Ni than Never territory... It won't all be beauty, look out for some fashion posts and maybe even a non-beauty favourites post soon! Thanks for reading!



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Monday 2 June 2014

Brand focus: Forever Living facial regime




Yesterday was my four month "blogiversary", however I've been avidly reading beauty blogs for a number of years now and I find the more I get into blogging, the more interested I become in finding the perfect skincare routine to suit my skin.

If you're a regular reader of mine, you may remember I reviewed the Forever Living Aloe Scrub just over a month ago and I'd also mentioned that I'd been given the opportunity to trial out a few other Forever Living products and as promised, I said I would report back my fndings.

I was kindly given a facial kit which consisted of an Aloe Hand and Face Soap (RRP £10.84), the Aloe Scrub (RRP £12.92), the Aloe Activator (RRP £11.53), the Mask Powder (RRP £16.43) and the Aloe Moisturising Lotion (RRP £12.24).

In order to get the best out of the products, you are advised to follow the following routine two to three times a week:

The instructions were as follows, wash your face with the Aloe Hand and Face Soap, use the Aloe Face Scrub, mix the Activator with the Powder to create a face mask, and finally moisturise with the Aloe Moisturising Lotion.

I followed this routine twice weekly for a month, which I feel gave me enough time to get a feel for the products and discover whether they were right for me. I will give you my verdict on each product individually.

First up is the Aloe Hand and Face Soap. I must admit I had my reservations into using the same product on my hands and face, and I was right to. As a hand soap, it's rich and moisturising, and left my hands clean and smelling lovely. However, as a facial cleanser, it just didn't suit my skin. It was a little heavy for my sensitive skin and broke me out for a number of days afterwards. This product is highly concentrated with aloe, which is probably what contributed to the breakout.

Next up is the Aloe Scrub, which I won't go into too much depth on as I reviewed this on its own in April, if you haven't seen that post already, check it out here. This is a lovely product that changed my negative outlook on using facial scrubs. It isn't harsh or gritty on my skin. After use, I'm left with bright and awakened looking skin. My favourite product of the bunch!

Now for the time consuming part of the routine, which comes in the form of the face mask, which is the Aloe Activator and the Mask Powder used in conjunction with one another. I've got to say despite this part of the process taking the longest, the results are worth the wait. To create the mask, mix one teaspoon of Mask Powder with one teaspoon of the Aloe Activator until the mixture has the consistency of a lotion. You then apply to your face and neck, before relaxing for 30 minutes, then removing and rinsing with warm water. The mask left my skin feeling soft but also tightened. Post use, I felt like I was unveiling a bright, new face. An added bonus of the Mask Powder for me, was that it contains Chamomile, which soothes and calms sensitive skin. I did get a little fidgety having to wait for 30 minutes but in fairness I was impressed with the results.

The Activator can also be used alone as a cleanser or freshener with cotton pads, however I didn't feel as though it did as much for my skin by itself, so I continued to use it with the Mask Powder.

The final step in the Forever Living facial regime was the Aloe Moisturising Lotion, which contains collagen and elastin, which keeps skin soft and smooth. This is a face and body moisturiser, and personally I preferred using this on my body rather than face. I found it too thick to use on my face. However on my arms, legs and the rest of my body, it left my skin in tip-top condition. I must also add I rather liked the product's scent - which I thought was a slight "banana-ish" smell... Maybe my nostrils were confused but I liked it all the same!

Overall, these are a good set of products and being fairly multi-use, if they didn't work for me one way, they certainly did another way. My quest for the perfect skincare routine is still ongoing but individually these are good products.

The products 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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