Skincare of the Week 6th March 2016

I didn't really have a theme for skincare this week, except "get back on track", because, after a week away and a weekend in Paris my normal routines have gone a little to pot, I have to admit.  

On Monday I trialled used May Lindstrom's Honey Mud in the shower, as a protective mask against the shower water (I do find that water irritates my skin hugely), and it worked well, I think.  This might be the best way (for me, at least) to use it, because I find it very confusing as a "proper" cleanser.  It smells of chocolate though, and, if you do happen to get any in your mouth, it's possibly the nicest tasting cleanser on the planet.

I have also added in the new Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Supreme, which I find myself really liking, so you can expect a fuller review of this coming up - I'm a big fan of the Liftactiv range generally tbh, and, as it's one of the <ahem> more affordable ranges I like, it's high praise!  I'm also trialling the New Omorovicza Omoressence, which is another very likeable product, and again, more about that soon.

The rest of the week was me just re-acquainting myself with my favourites old and new, and re-introducing Alpha H Liquid Laser Cleansing Oil, which I had pipped into my stash basket for some reason.  It's well and truly out and with the everyday essentials now though! 

What's been on your face this week?  I'm so happy to be back into a routine - even though I'm moving house soon, and god knows what's going to happen then ...

 


The Fine Print: PR samples and purchases


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Skincare of the Week 24 January 2016

 This week was another Tata Harper-heavy week, I've totally fallen in love with one of the products, and I *like* the others, but for me, the Refreshing Cleanser really is the outstanding product of the range so far.  There's a full review of just why I like it so much coming up later this week.  I also went for a Tata Harper facial, at the always-excellent Content Beauty and Wellbeing in Marylebone this week, and you can look out for a full review of that later this week too.

It has been a very cold week this week, and I've found that the Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturiser, whilst being otherwise excellent, hasn't given quite enough protection from the weather as I would like, so I've been using the wonderful (again, a full review upcoming this week!) Omorovicza Miracle Oil as a base for my foundation, which adds just a tiny extra boost of hydration, and weather protection, without adding an extra layer of skincare.   I'm still formulating my thoughts on the Dr Dennis Gross Ferrulic + Glycolic Eye Cream, but thoughts are mostly positive so far. 

Even though I've mostly dropped acids from my routine this week, skin has been quiet and smooth and less red.  Result!  Just a short roundup this week, because I'm doing a few in-depth reviews to supplement in the coming days.  How's your skin been?

The Fine Print: PR Samples and purchases.


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Skincare of the Week 17 January 2016

Well, as if you can't tell, I spent this week acclimatising myself to the Tata Harper products I treated myself to over Christmas!  Inital thoughts are positive so far, extremely positive in fact, but I need a little more time with them before I review them in full.

I wasn't too sure about the Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser at first, it's a little outside my cleansing comfort zone, if such a thing could be said to exist!  It's a lightly grapefruit-scented cream cleanser, which utilises enzymes and clay to cleanse your face, and it's the one said to be most suitable for sensitive skin. It's an unusual texture - completely unlike my usual (beloved) balms and oils - but it genuinely does clean the face, and I think it has a slight exfoliating effect, which hasn't - so far - caused any irritation.  I wouldn't use it for removing makeup though, I prefer oils for that, but for a morning cleanse, or a second cleanse in the evening, I really like it.  Now.

I was cautious about adding the Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence and the Rebuilding Moisturiser, because the essence contains essential oils (something my skin always has a bit of trouble with), and because moisturisers are always my troublesome area, so I added them into my routine on separate days, seemingly with few ill-effects.  Overall, the introduction to a "proper" Tata Harper routine has gone pretty well! I'm heading off to Content Beauty this week for a Tata Harper facial, and I can't wait!  I will, of course, report back.

On Saturday, I trialled May Lindstrom Honey Mud on Saturday, and again, my experience was a mixed one,  It's quite sticky (and smells of chocolate, which I can't bear at the moment), and I found my skin was a little "tight" after, but I suspect this was down to user-error than anything else.  It needs, for example, wetter skin that I am used to.  May herself was kind enough to comment on the Instagram post I put up with some suggestions, and I'm looking forward to using the Honey Mud again, with some more specific ways to use it.

What's been on your face this week? 


The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and purchases.


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Skincare of the Week 10 January 2016

 I took a couple of weeks off blogging over Christmas, which was fabulous, but I still kept at the "cleaning my face" thing.  It being a new year, I thought trying out some new products would be a good idea, but I think I tried too much new far too quickly, and my skin fairly quickly let me know it wasn't entirely happy with the idea.

Top left, Monday, I tired the Murad Correcting Moisturiser, which has a slight green tint to help neutralise redness. It's a nice moisturiser, and I'm looking forward to trying it again properly in a couple of weeks time.  On Tuesday/Wednesday I introduced some Kiehls skincare to my routine, beginning with Kiehl's Calendula Herbal Extract Toner, and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. Now, I have to say, I absolutely loved using these products - the moisturiser in particular made my skin feel velvety, rather than oily, and left a semi-matte finish that was a great base for makeup.  However, the effect of trialling three new products in three days (not something I'd normally do, but I got a bit excitable!) made it's mark on my skin a little bit - bumpy bits around the edges of my cheeks and temples - and so I pre-emptively swapped to my SOS skincare kit to head off any breakouts or irritation.  I've written about my SOS Sensitive Skin kit before, and you can read that if you click the link. 

The second half of the week was spent trying to soothe irritation, and (as I took delivery of a massive skincare order from Being Content last week too) being desperate to try MORE new products!  I'm my own worst enemy sometimes, I really am.  Nonetheless, Thursday found me trying a new cleanser from Tata Harper - one designed for sensitive skin, natch - the Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser.  I haven't come to any firm conclusions about it yet, it's a cream cleanser, and I'm always somewhat ambivalent about cream formulas, but it hasn't cause any irritation, so hoorah for that!

So, what's been on your face this last week?  

The Fine Print: PR Samples and personal purchases, as always.


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Skincare of the week: 31/10/2015

A (slightly) different format for Skincare of the Week this week ... Also, I've decided to introduce a little Product of the Week award too! 

This week was busy and stressful, and coupled with a bout of insomnia, it wasn't really fun.  I did have a good facial this week at the Askinology Facial Bar in Leadenhall Market, which is where I discovered Medik8 Red Alert Skin Serum. You can see it in every picture from Wednesday onwards. 

As many readers of this blog know; I'm prone to redness, and sensitivity is one of the banes of my existence.  I was a bit worried after my facial that a rather, ah ... enthusiastic scrubbing with a physical exfoliant (something I would never, ever do at home) was going to leave me red and sore for the rest of the week, but a few drops of the Medik8 before going to bed, and a few drops in my facial routine the following morning seemed to sort it right out.  I've stuck to blander cleansers since though, just in case a flare-up was imminent, but a pinkness crisis seems to have been averted, so far. Just in case though, I've been at pains to avoid essential oils for a few days too - as, with a very few exceptions, they all irritate when my skin is inflamed.  This is a shame, as I am loving the Votary range of oils at the moment and, especially, the cleanser, but they are essential oil-heavy, and delicious with it, but are something I need to wander away from when I think my skin is a bit irritable.

But, the real miracle product in my routine this week has been Pestle & Mortar Pure Hyaluronic Serum, and as such, it's my inaugural "Product of the Week"!  I picked this up on a whim when I was in Liberty recently - my Hydraluron stocks are running low - and I kind of fell in love with it.  A slight bout of insomnia this week (funny thing, I've been interviewing auditors all week, you'd think that would be a cure, not a cause, but I digress) means that I've been aware I've been looking tired - so very tired - when I wake up in the mornings and a quick swipe with two or three drops of this has had my skin plumped up and happy-looking even on the shortest of sleep-cycles.  With one of the shortest ingredients lists I've ever seen* in a skincare product, Pure Hyaluronic Serum is vegan and free of things like phtalates, parabens and silicone.  It costs £33 and is currently exclusive to Liberty in the UK.  If you're a bit tired, snap some up. I'll write about it in a bit more detail soon, but it's great stuff.

*Ingredients list in full: Aqua, *Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice,  *Sodium Hyaluronate,  *Cucumis sativus fruit extract,  Butylene Glycol, *Tocopheryl  Acetate,  *Glycerin,  *Xanthan Gum,  Phenoxyethanol,  *Caprylyl Glycol (all ingredients marked with a * are plant-derived)

The Fine Print: Mixture of PR samples and personal purchases.


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Skincare of the Week: 17.10.2015

 

I've been beauty blogging a long time, well over six years now, and in that time my interests have changed. From basically wanting to catalogue my lipstick collection (where the name came from), to learning to love (and grow) my fingernails, then COLOURS, COLOURS, COLOURS, and finally to where I am now, which is obsessed with skincare.  Mostly I'm too lazy to spend hours every day applying my face - though I do wear a different lipstick every day still - so my skin needs to be tip-top at all times, hence the obsession.

My skin is combination-oily, prone to redness and sensitivity, and it is full of pores.  I suffered horrendously from adult on-set acne in my late twenties too - which I mainly cured through getting my skincare right. I'm in the "mature" skin category these days, but a lot of anti-ageing creams are too heavy for my oiliness, so I'm constantly on a quest to deal with my redness rather than my wrinkles (of which at the moment I have thankfully few, but the ones I do have grow slightly more entrenched every day - I'm learning to love them).  These Skincare of the Week posts are my way of diarising what I'm trialling, what I really love, what works - and if you see it disappear after just one use or two - what doesn't work at all.  So read on to find out what's been on my ugly mush this week.