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?

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

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!

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

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.

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Summer blushin'

From left, Crochet, Guipure and Chantilly.

Hello all - before I get started I must quickly apologise for being a bad blogger of late, I haven't blogged in just over a week and I have felt a little bit guilty about it but it's been a combination of me being extremely busy at work, accompanied with having an uninspired blogger blip - blogger's block, we've all had this from time to time, right?

Anyway, enough of my rambling and onto my latest post, Summer blushin'... The title probably gives away the fact that I'm having a 'I love Grease phase' and also the fact that I'm wanting to tell you all about a blush palette that's sure to get you in the mood for summer. It's not quite June yet but this palette really has me looking ahead to the summer months.

Sleek's Blush by 3 Palette in Lace (RRP £9.99) is a thing of orange-toned beauty. Yep, orange. Totally out of my comfort zone but I'm totally fine with it.

The palette contains, as you'd expect, three shades. These include: 

• Crochet: a matte orange
• Guipure: a warm, coral-toned pink with a metallic gold shimmer
• Chantilly: a matte, reddy coral

My favourite shade in the palette is Crochet, which comes as a total surprise to me, as I tend to stick to pretty pinks or shimmery corals. My love for this orange shade comes as a complete shock, especially as I'm so fair skinned but surprisingly it suits me, it totally warms up my complexion and teamed with a subtle contour, adds definition to my cheekbones.

Guipure is also a winner but that's because it's one of those pinky coral shades that I would usually go for. In fact, I think it's the exact same blush that's in Sleek's Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette.

Chantilly is the only shade I'm not 100 per cent sold on... yet. On first application I looked like I'd been slapped, not good! It needed a great deal of blending out before I looked okay again. I plan to try this with my Real Techniques Stippling Blush, which should hopefully do the trick. *fingers crossed*

Despite my fair complexion I feel this palette actually works well for me, and as I've mentioned does wonders in warming up my pale face, so I have no doubt that this trio will look fabulous on darker skin tones.

As I've previously mentioned on the blog, Sleek's Blush offerings are up there with the best of them, the selection of colours is superb, the pigmentation and lasting power is excellent, and accompanied with the small price tag, they're a total winner and this palette is no exception.

What beauty products are getting you in the mood for summer?

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Beauty products that didn't live up to the hype

This post may come as a bit of a shock to some of you today, as I'm not bigging up products that I love like I usually do. Instead I'm going to give you the rundown on a few products that have disappointed me somewhat in recent months.

Before I get started, I just want to make it clear, that I'm not saying these products are dreadful, they just didn't work for me... Some of you are going to read this post and think: "NAOMI, WHAT THE HELL?!" because most of these products are adored by a multitude of beauty lovers and have a cult folloing but sadly they just didn't cut the mustard for me... That doesn't mean they won't work for you, everyone's different and I enjoy reading these types of posts, I find it interesting to discover what other bloggers just didn't "get on with". 

Right enough rambling, here goes:

NARS Blush in Orgasm - £21.50

Yep, your eyes aren't deceiving you people. This is probably the most talked about shade of blush around, it's "that blush with the funny name". NARS blushes are renowned for being just, well fantastic, and trust me it's not a bad blush by any stretch of the imagination. The formula is good, it lasts throughout the day, and Orgasm is a lovely peachy, golden pink shade but there's 501 cheaper alternatives out there. My favourite dupe being the blush in Sleek's Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette. That nifty trio contains a contour, highlight and blush, and the blush is VERY similar to Orgasm. The only difference being it's accompanied by the contour and highlight, and the overall product costs £9.99. Sorry NARS... Sleek wins it here for me this time.

Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara in Medium Brown - £4.99

After reading many a glowing review on this product, I thought I'd give it a go myself and boy, was I disappointed with this. I've read many posts where the reviewer claims it gives them a natural looking brow, I sadly cannot vouch for this. The strange ball brush just would not allow the product to apply neatly to my brows, it just made them look messy and odd. It's a no from me...

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Black - £12

I had a sample of this free with a magazine a few months back and I was SO excited to give this a whirl, especially as it's renowned for being the liquid eyeliner behind Alexa Chung's famous cat flick and who doesn't love that look? I had such high hopes prior to using this but sadly I found that it smudged terribly. Instead of the cat flick, I got the panda flick... Not a good look! I'm just thanking the liquid eyeliner Gods for Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner!

Maybelline Baby Lips Balm in Pink Punch - £2.99

Following its Stateside success, the UK launch of this product was a highly anticipated one. I couldn't wait to get my hands on these lip balms, being a total lip balm fiend. Once they landed in the UK I purchased Pink Punch and Mint Fresh. I love Mint Fresh, it's one of my all-time favourite lip balms, I love any mint flavoured lip products anyway but the formula is just so hydrating. However, Pink Punch does not feel like the same hydrating product to me, it dries my lips out terribly and I also don't like the hint of colour that this has. Mint Fresh applies clear, while Pink Punch goes on like a sort of bright pinky colour but sheer too, which is fine but perhaps it should be a more muted pink if it's a sheer lip product. In my opinion, Pink Punch can't decide whether it's a balm or a tint... Disappointing but thank goodness it was dirt cheap or I'd feel a lot worse about it.

Benefit They're Real Mascara - £19.50

*gulp* I'm nervous about including this in the post but well... The UK's best selling mascara just didn't do it for me okay?! I'm sorry! Every beauty lover and their mother (poet and I didn't know it ;)) loves this mascara, and honestly I wanted to love this mascara so badly but I just don't... I find it so heavy on my lashes, so much so that it makes me feel uncomfortable and when I've had this on, I've felt paranoid of it smudging. The lash look that I tend go for is one that has the right mix of length and volume, but more so on the length side. This sadly has too little length for me, and far too much volume. I'm glad I've finally got this off my chest!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this post, it's good to mix things up a little every now and then, and it's a post I've contemplated doing for some time now. Like I said, just because a product doesn't work for me, doesn't mean the same applies for you, I just thought it may interest you to know what products I just haven't taken to. I'd love to find out what hyped up products didn't really float your bloat, let me know!

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Pore blimey, you can't beat a good freebie!

You can't beat a good magazine freebie every now and then, and this month Elle Magazine have really pulled out all the stops as they are giving away a free sample of the POREfessional Pro Balm by Benefit.

This freebie could not have come at a better time for me as I'm currently running out of my full sized POREfessional and despite being a total POREfessional devotee, at £24.50 for 22ml, I'd been putting off parting with my hard earned pennies, so Elle's "pricey for a magazine" £4 price tag really didn't sound so bad in comparison to that.

The magazine sample offering's size is 7.5ml which I think is pretty good, and will last me around two months.

This is one of the most talked about products in the beauty blogging world, it's a real "marmite" product - you either love it or hate it, as stated I'm a total devotee, I love it.

But why do I love it you ask? Well, first and foremost, it's described as a "silky, lightweight balm for translucent pore coverage and smoother-than-smooth skin", and I can confirm it does a sterling job in "blurring" the appearance of my slightly enlarged pores around my nose, which I think is largely due to it being a silicone primer.

(FYI - Silicone primers provide a smooth base for your foundation, as the silicone fills in any pores and fine lines.)

As well as that, it's not heavy on the skin at all and applies ever so smoothly. This can be used over or under your foundation. I always use it under, as it smooths out my skin tone, giving me a flawless base, that helps my make-up to last all day/night.

When I first used this, I was a little taken aback as it does have a slight beige-y colour to it but fear not, as that disappears once you've blended it in.

For me this product does everything that it claims to do, and I do feel it warrants the hype that surrounds it.

I highly suggest you head over to your nearest newsagent and pick up this month's copy of Elle, if you haven't tried the POREfessional yet - this product should be on every beauty lover's list of products they must try!

I may even buy another copy of Elle for this...

I would love to hear what primers you swear by, as I'm in need of some suggestions. Thanks for reading!

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Having a moment with... Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints

My nails in Sugar Apple .

My nails in Lychee *swoon*.

Looking down at my brightly painted nails today something occurred to me... I'm having a real moment with Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints.

Last week I wore one of last year's shades, Lychee for a number of days. Anyone that knows me/reads my blog, knows my love of this beautiful nude-grey shade. It's incredibly versatile, it goes with just about anything. It's a practical daytime shade but it also adds that little something to a 'night out' outfit.

Moving on from the colour, I must now praise the formula because I've got to say it's up there with the best of them. In two coats, you get glossy nails that remain chip-free for at least four days.

After enjoying wearing Lychee again and resisting the new spring shades for SO long (well March BUT two months is a long time and hell of a lot of willpower for a beauty blogger *wink emote*), I decided to treat myself to one so I went for Sugar Apple, a bright yet muted (does that make sense?), pastel turquoise mint.

I've been wearing it since Saturday and it's still chip-free and looking lovely. I've now got my sights set on another spring shade, Huckleberry, which is a pale baby blue. I believe the summer shades are now out too, however I am yet to see those in the "flesh".

Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints can be purchased via all the usual outlets, such as Boots and Superdrug, and at £3.99 a pop, you can't really go wrong can you?

Follow me on Bloglovin':

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11870233/?claim=7hx5e9ntq8w">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>