Light Up Skincare Review + Discount code! | Autumn Skin Survival Kit

Hello everybody, it feels fantastic to be sitting here and writing another blog post for you all! This one is about a subject dear to many of our hearts', it is on skincare, and not just any old drugstore brand mind you, but a beautifully natural organic brand which has really caught my attention the past few weeks. When the owner of Light up skincare, reached out to me on instagram to review their autumn skin survival kit, I was more than a little bit excited. Products made with zero chemicals, plenty of oils and promising to help my dry dehydrated skin as the weather changed for the worse? Yes please! I've been testing these out for a good couple of weeks now and I'm ready to share my thoughts.

So first of all, this kit was so beautifully packaged, it really did feel like a gift for my skin, and I LOVE it when brands go the extra mile to perfect their customers' experience! Talking about superb packaging, the kit also contains an adorable, yet super handy, mini booklet which has important info about each and every product - from ingrediants, to use-by date (since there are no chemical preservatives in any of the products). I was really impressed by this, and I wish other brands would do the same. The autumn skin survival kit contains five of their products and it literally has you covered from forehead to toes. You get the following:

Lip balm (2 ml)
Heel balm (30 ml)
Patchouli Hand Lotion (30 ml)
Sugar scrub cube
One mini lotion bar

So I was happy to be able to test out so much from the range and get a real feel for their products.

I'll start off with my absolute favourite from this kit, the lip balm! It has been my absolute go-to in the past couple of weeks and I've been choosing it over previous favourites like my blistex, and it performs much better than the over-priced nuxe one too. I apply this at night time and it doesn't feel greasy or sticky in the slightest, it just makes my lips feel very hydrated and when I wake up in the morning they have retained that hydration which is pretty much all I can ask for! I also love popping this on when I moisturise my face, so that by the time I'm ready to put on my lipstick, my lips are prepped. It contains cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil and vitamin E oil, so theres no wonder my lips have been a huge fan. But best of all? No chemicals at all! And it's only £3.50, which is fantastic value for a really really great balm. This has impressed me so much more than I expected and I've already shown it to you all in my October favourites video - in which I said I would repurchase this again! It's one of the best I've tried!

You can purchase the balm separately here.

Moving on to a newer kind of product for me, their lotion bar is another item I am a huge fan of! First of all, I can't believe I've never tried anything like this before, but thats the beauty of smaller independent brands you get to trial out newer things that the giant companies have made yet. The idea of this lotion bar is that you literally rub it into the hands and body and it melts into the skin, providing much needed hydration. I particularly liked using this for my elbows, knees and areas which are quite rough and not best looked after, because the blend of oils and butters were perfect for my dryer skin. This is recommended for people with dry and sensitive skin, but also for those who have eczema and I think that's fantastic, to have a product which has such gentle ingredients but still does what you need it to do, and in a more fun way than the conventional bottle! The beautiful varity of flowers available also makes me happy ^_^

If you want to purchase this individually for £5, you can do so here.

Another unique product from this autumn kit is the sugar scrub cube, which is this funky green colour! I have to say, the amount of uses this cube has is fantastic and for just £2 it is one of the best body care items I have tried in a while. This bar moisturises, exfoliates AND cleans. It contains brown sugar, poppy seeds, and an abundance of essential oils which leaves the skin feeling and smelling delightful. I am very picky with my exfoliators because I do have very sensitive skin on my legs especially, so anything with large granules can irritate and aggravate my skin. This stuff works really well and I'm guessing its a combination of the natural ingredients and the texture overall combined, which allows it to work so well. The only thing is, you'll need to store it in a tin (similar to the Lush shampoo bars), otherwise it'll most likely dissolve/get over other products.

You can purchase the sugar scrub bars individually for £2 here.

Now I'm pretty sure this is the Patchouli hand lotion, although the cute little booklet above says this is the regular one! Anyway this is probably the only product in the kit that I'm not crazy about. It's a solid balm in a nice cute little tin, so portability wise it's fantastic. However as it is so solid, I find myself spending much more time 'warming up' the product to get some onto my fingers and then applying it to my hands...its just a lot easier to use a balm in a bottle! If this had a creamier texture, I'd love it, as like I said the ingredients are fantastic and the size of it is super handbag and pocket friendly. It's just too much of a firm texture for me personally.

You can purchase the full size for £7.99 here.

And finally, a similar looking product, but one I definitely prefer - the heel balm which contains: Coconut oil, Shea butter, Beeswax, Vitamin E oil as well as Wild orange essential oil and Peppermint essential oil is just lovely. This has a slightly more creamy texture and this is what I've been using for my dry hands, cuticles, heels and elbows. Again the packaging is fantastic and I love how there are no mineral oils, animal preservatives, artificial fragrances or colours. It's just naturally great stuff which the skin LOVES!

And that's the full autumn skin survival kit summed up! I am so happy with my experience of this brand and I think that some of the products will replace my typical drugstore ones for sure. The price of this autumn survival kit is £18.50, which in my eyes is a bargain because you get to try out so many goodies for a subsidised price. The things that you then end up loving you can repurchase individually, and to make matters even more fantastic the lovely owner has kindly given my readers a discount! If you use the code BLUSH15 purchase anything over the next two weeks you will receive  15% off 🎉🎊🙌🏽 which is soooo kind of her ^_^ So you can pick up the autumn skin survival kit for just over £15, which is SUCH A BARGAIN! Alternatively you can get any of the other products and still apply the discount, I know I'm going to be stocking up on some of those lip balms and scrubs myself hehe😍.

Please make sure you check out their site here: https://www.lightupskincare.com/ and also have a read of the owner's blog here. She has posts on skincare tips, as well as myth busting which made for very interesting reads.

A massive thank-you to light up skincare once again for the generous discount code, and for sending me this lovely kit to review ☺️ All opinions were my own as always, and I really am pleased you found me on insta, because otherwise I'd have never discovered the beautiful products you have so carefully handmade!

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Thank-you for reading ♥

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Light Up Skincare Review + Discount code! | Autumn Skin Survival Kit

Hello everybody, it feels fantastic to be sitting here and writing another blog post for you all! This one is about a subject dear to many of our hearts', it is on skincare, and not just any old drugstore brand mind you, but a beautifully natural organic brand which has really caught my attention the past few weeks. When the owner of Light up skincare, reached out to me on instagram to review their autumn skin survival kit, I was more than a little bit excited. Products made with zero chemicals, plenty of oils and promising to help my dry dehydrated skin as the weather changed for the worse? Yes please! I've been testing these out for a good couple of weeks now and I'm ready to share my thoughts.

Another Beauty Haul | ABH, Huda Beauty, and The Ordinary

Hello everyone, I'm back with yet another haul post today, ranging from single eyeshadows to interesting new skincare. I have quite a lot to share with you all, so I'll keep this part short and sweet!

 v

FINALLY Anastasia Beverly Hills have a U.K website! Which makes me so happy because before I could only order their single shadows from Sephora and have to deal with customs which was such a headache. Their liquid lipsticks are also not easily available in the U.K, but now we have access to her WHOLE line from their U.K site here. Now although its a .co.uk website, the warehouse is based in Europe, so it takes a little longer for it to arrive I believe around 4-5 days. I had picked up a couple of shadows in a few past hauls and I KNEW ABH single shadows are some of the best on the whole market, totally smitten with them! However individually they cost £10 a pop, which is kinda intense 😦 and also a price I personally am not willing to pay. So when I saw Furnaz sharing her haul on snapchat, I was amazed to hear that when she picked up 8 shadows, not only did the price decrease to £6.25 per shadow but she also got a free sturdy palette too! So I totally found it justifiable to treat myself to a palette too and I am really impressed, especially since the new price for MUG shadows is £6, so basically they're on par - as long as you spend £50 in one go on shadows.

The palette is lovely, it is very sturdy and has a clear plastic window so you can see the exact shades you have in it. I also find it really easy to remove the shadows and its magnetic, so I often pop some of my MUG shades in here and switch it up. I'm currently working on a single shadow series and the first post should be up next week, I want to review every single shade I own for you all, but of course that's gonna take some time because I need a decent testing time for each shadow. So anyways I shall be explaining more about the series when the time comes. The shade selection above doesn't necessarily go well together, but they're all shades I felt were missing from my MUG/ABH collection already.

The shades in this palette from top left: cream, orange soda, birkin, dusty rose, moss, henna, comfort and fudge! The photo above does ZERO justice to the shades and I promise my single shadows series will include photos that are crisp and clear.

Moving on to some exciting new skincare now! Unless you have been living under a cosy rock, you will definitely have heard of the ordinary brand, which is relatively new. It is renowned for providing high quality skincare for a fraction of the price, many of the ingredients that they sell are found in much more luxurious brands such as Sunday Riley. I had seen a number of good reviews popping up around the net, and since that week I had broken out (which I honestly never do, so it was quite a shock), I decided to pick up four products and I've been using them consistently for about a week now. Before I share exactly what I purchased, I will say it is VERY confusing trying to understand which products you should pick up from the line, due to their long scientific names and also because it's not the easiest thing to work out which product works well with which! They do actually have a chart on their site here, which tells you what products clash. This brand is available on a number of sites, I chose ASOS because I got them for slightly cheaper through the use of my student discount ;D.

I found this site here, which has a super helpful person named Shabir, who tells people which products they should incorporate into their own skincare regime. I skimmed through the suggestions and hand picked which ones would work for me hopefully and I am going to try and explain what I have and WHY - though be warned its not going to be very scientific!

Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 | £6 | 30ml

This acid is well known for providing hydration to the skin and I have had good results with using products that include this ingredient in small amounts. My skin used to be dry/dehydrated and it was partly due to using hyaluronic acid in my skincare routine, which helped my skin get out of that phase. I picked it up in a stronger form because my cheeks can sometimes be a little dehydrated so I'll literally just use it in the area. So far so good, although the smell is SUPER STRONG. You apply this in the AM and the PM before moisturising the skin.

Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA | £7 | 30ml

This product also has some hyaluronic acid in it, however the main ingredient - alpha arbutin targets hyper-pigmentation and dark spots. I have been using this on my scaring from the breakout and also some older scaring left inbetween my brows and I have noticed a very small difference after a few uses! I will definitely keep you all posted on if it really helps, but previously I was using rosehip seed oil which is my favourite multi-purpose face oil. I've also been using this around my mouth and the side of my face, where I have hyper-pigmentation and honestly I'm impressed with the results so far. My skin feels brighter and more evened toned and I've spent the majority of my half term makeup free, which is SO NOT ME. I love wearing makeup, especially when I have the time, but seeing my skin look more even and brighter just helped me to ditch the makeup and give me skin some real breathing time.

Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% | £5.00 | 30ml

The next product I purchased probably has the most trickiest to pronounce name ever! They have described this on the box as a 'high-strength vitamin and mineral blemish formula'. It also says it regulated sebum, so I'm currently using this day and night on my T-zone area which tends to get oily. Plus it says it minimises pores - so where I do have visible pores right near my nose, I've also been putting a little bit on that area, haven't noticed a difference yet but like I said it's only been a week so far. I have also heard that zinc is fantastic at healing the skin and reducing breakouts. If you are acne prone, I highly recommend picking this up and giving it a go. 

Advanced Retinoid 2% | £8.00 | 30ml

Now this is the most expensive product I purchased, which is crazy cause its only £8! Retinoid is essential for any anti-ageing regime so to get it for less than a tenner is amazing. This is also the only product I am yet to try, I think I'm a little nervous incase my skin starts peeling. I wanted to inroduce the above products into my skincare routine first and then bring in this stuff. Also whilst I'll be using the other three on a regular basis, I think I'll only be using Retinoid maybe three times a week maximum. It's also known for improving skin texture, reducing the appearance of pores and preventing breakouts so quite a useful product!

And that is the end of my skincare haul from this brand which probably could have a been a whole post on its own. Obviously its early days yet, but I will say that if you're sensitive to smells you might want to research on which ones have a strong scent. They all have fragrance free written on the box, however that is just not the case, I have a poor sense of smell but if I am hit with it then it MUST be strong! Also the bottles are very clinical looking and quite easy to mix up! I have since used my sharpies to write the names on the side and what they are for, which helps when I'm bleary eyed in the morning trying to get ready haha.

My arms and legs have been extra sensitive in the last few months and they have been getting VERY dry, to the point where if I simply itch my skin they start to bleed D: It's been really stressful and painful too, so I finally decided to get the strongest body moisturiser I could buy without having to visit the doctors. The E45 intense recovery body lotion (£6.50) really does a good job at providing a LOT of hydration and although my skin on my arms and legs still look like they've been attacked by a crazy cat, I not long am needing to scratch at my skin which is a HUGE relief!

I restocked on my beloved Embryolisse (£20.00), which is the best moisturiser and base for makeup I have ever used. I've picked up multiple bottles of this stuff and haven't looked back!

The only hair related product I've purchased lately is the Superdrug hair therapy oil with argan (£3.99), which was on special offer. My hair like my body skin has been suffering lately and I'm sure its correlated with the stress of teacher training and lack of sleep throughout the week. Anyway this oil looked promising and I love how it has a little pump, making it very easy to apply to the hair. Usually I apply this to damp hair after showering and it does a good job at reducing frizz. Nothing ground breaking but it works well.

From ASOS I purchased a gel adhesive to use with my cute little certieye glitter pots - the paintglow glitter me up fix gel (£3.00) is very affordable and pretty easy to use. In the past I've used lash glue or a gel liner as a base, however when I want to put glitter all over the lid this is what I have been using and it does the job nicely!

And finally last but not least, I had to treat myself to the Huda Beauty Liquid Matte minis in nude (£33.00) when it finally came to cult beauty! I've been following Huda's blog for years, but was yet to purchase anything from her growing makeup line. Whilst I saw the rave reviews about this liquid lipstick line, none of the colours screamed at me or stood out massively, plus the individual price is rather expensive AND the liquid lippies are only just now becoming easier to get a hold of. ANYWAY I love the idea of mini liquid lipsticks and I'm so happy to be able to try out her formula. So far I really like two of the shades, though they're not quite as opaque as I prefer. However in terms of feeling weightless on the lips, Huda has nailed that to the T! Look out for an indepth review and swatch post on the blog soon ☺️.

My wrists are aching after all that typing! I hope you found this post useful, especially if you're looking to pick up some gorgeous ABH shadows cause now you can with a handy discount. Also I know a lot of you were wanting to know what I purchased from The Ordinary, do check out that link where Shabir is recommending various products for different skin concerns - he is super helpful!

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Another Beauty Haul | ABH, Huda Beauty, and The Ordinary

Hello everyone, I'm back with yet another haul post today, ranging from single eyeshadows to interesting new skincare. I have quite a lot to share with you all, so I'll keep this part short and sweet!

Best Skincare Purchases 2016

Hello everyone, I hope you're all well. I was really hoping to get this post up a few days ago, but I've been having a break in London with the family, so it's a little late! Anyway, the second part of my 'best of 2016' is focusing on skincare, and its been a good year for it! I have a lot of products to share with you all so I won't ramble on in the intro, on to the goodies.

Una Brennan Super Facialist Vitamin C Oil Cleanser 200ml | £11.00

An oldie but a goodie on my blog, this is my absolute favourite way to remove my makeup because it quite literally melts it away. Although its kinda pricy for an oil, I find a little bit goes a long way and it really helps to hydrate the skin, whilst removing the majority of my makeup. Plus I only pick it up when its on special offer (which it is right now). Occasionally in the past few weeks I've been too tired to go through my proper cleansing routine, so I've resorted to using face wipes and my skin has really felt the difference. Without fail I have woken up with dry, tight skin that lacks any sort of hydration or glow. Honestly switching to a double cleanse routine was the best thing I have done and this oil plays a big part in that. I did recently pick up a cheaper oil cleanser though and if its as good, you'll be hearing about it soon, but for 2016 Una Brennan kept her crown!

Vanity Planet Spin For Perfect Skin Brush | £80 £25!

This brush has changed my skincare routine for the better, it is wonderful! I first saw it on youtube and so many vloggers were talking about it that I decided to give it a go - especially at the discounted price. I have the cheaper set, which includes 4 attachments, a cleansing, exfoliating, pumice stone and body brush. For the price that is fantastic and the depth of cleanse you get from this brush is EVERYTHING. Seriously its a game changer and I recommend for you all to purchase this, its worth twice or three times the price. I am currently not an affiliate for them so I can't offer you a discount code, however I believe in the brush so much that I've got in contact with them to hopefully become one, which speaks volumes cause I only back brands I am truly impressed by. Also luckily for you all they have a sale on right now, so no need to hunt down a code ^_^ Also cleansers that work best with this are cream and gel, my favourite to use is the manuka honey one, which I have raved about plenty of times so refrained from really including it haha.

Lush Ultrabland Cleanser 100g | £12.95

A well loved product that I finally decided to try at a Bloggers event this year. Now at first I wasn't mad about this, because its not your typical cleanser. It has a balm like texture, which is pretty waxy to touch and due to this whenever I tried to remove it, I always felt like there was a light layer left which would really annoy me. It also doesn't work very well with the skin brush, another thing that put me off a little! However if you use a warm flannel or soft cloth and gently remove it in circular motions, the skin is left feeling so incredibly soft, smooth and hydrated! The cleanser is created from lovely natural ingredients such as almond oil, rose water and honey too. I totally see the appeal now and tend to use it twice a week when I'm not using the facial brush, if you have sensitive skin I highly recommend it.

B. Revealed Glycolic Cleansing peel 125ml | £7.99  £3.95

This product is pretty new to my skincare routine, but it just about made it to my 2016 faves because I really do love it! A 2-in-1 product which contains glycolic acid, I find this cleanser really works well at brightening my complexion and leaving my skin looking fresh and feeling smooth. Mostly I'll use it as a typical cleanser, with either the face brush mentioned above, or a flannel (it comes with a muslin cloth by the way). However if my skin is looking particularly dull and tired, which has been the case when teaching and working long hours, I'll keep it one for the recommended three minutes as a quick mask. Don't leave it on for longer because I did once by accident and felt my skin start to sting. A fantastic budget cleanser (especially when theres an offer on!) which I recommend everyone to pick up and incorporate into their skincare routine a couple of times a week.

Good Things Manuka Honey Refining Scrub | £5.00 £3.33

Again another product which is relatively new to my skincare routine, but I love it! I wasn't actually surprised in the slightest that I would end up loving this because you might know that the cleanser in this line is a firm favourite. This scrub is gentle enough for sensitive skin, but it really does leave my skin feeling smooth. Although cleansing is an important step, using a softer scrub like this is what leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean. It really gets into the skin and removes impurities, plus the magic ingredient - manuka honey has so many skincare benefits, as well as the sweet almond oil and oats! Also this brand is usually on special offer, so not only is it effective and free from nasty stuff like mineral oils and parabens - its very very affordable too!

Alpha-H liquid gold 100ml | £33.50

Well 2016 was definitely the year that I discovered the benefits of using AHAs in my skincare routine! I picked this up as part of a special offer and instantly saw results after a couple of uses. I do think this is worth the hype, although I will say that there are affordable options out there now on the highstreet. However nothing has given my skin the same results as liquid gold, it evens out the skintone and makes my face look brighter. I did stop using it when I was using my IPL machine on my face, but recently I broke out quite badly (for me), so I'm excited to get back to using it and hopefully seeing my dark marks fade away.

Caudalie instant detox mask 75ml | £22.00

My favourite 'easy' clay mask by far! This was a recommendation by a lovely friend and reader of mine, and I'm sooo glad she let me know about it, because its the good stuff.  Although its a clay mask, its very comfortable on the skin and I love how detoxed my skin feels after using it! One of those masks that definitely do something great with one use and I will be repuraching this as soon as its empty, its just that good.

Embryolisse Lair Creme Concentrate 75ml | £20.00

Back to products I use everyday, I have fallen head over heels with this moisturiser. Initially I purchased the 30ml because I didn't want to spend such a large amount on a base, however I soon realised that it is worth all the hype and more! Nothing prepares and hydrates my skin better and a little goes a long way, so one tube will last me months on end. I have tried other moisturisers here and there, but always come back to this. Theres a reason why makeup artists swear by the stuff!

Mario Badescu Facial Spray 118ml | £7.50 | Review

I've written a whole review dedicated to this, so I won't go on and on but in short: ESSENTIAL. I spray my face with this every day, makeup or not. The past few days I spent in London with my family and I was recommending it to everyone, aswell as giving their faces a healthy spritz too. Not only does it hydrate and add a subtle glow, but it gets rid of all powderyness too! Yes its way better than MAC Fix+, but anyway I have properly reviewed it linked above, so have a read if you want to find out more.

What have been your standout skincare products from 2016?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Best Skincare Purchases 2016

Hello everyone, I hope you're all well. I was really hoping to get this post up a few days ago, but I've been having a break in London with the family, so it's a little late! Anyway, the second part of my 'best of 2016' is focusing on skincare, and its been a good year for it! I have a lot of products to share with you all so I won't ramble on in the intro, on to the goodies.

Beauty tips for busy ladies

Hello everyone! A short and sweet post today from yours truly, I wanted to share a couple of tips I've picked up since my life has shifted dramatically from a uni student to a trainee teacher. I was used to one 9am a week and about 10 hours of compulsory time spent at uni, about 8 hours of work a week and the rest of the time I was pretty much a lady of leisure. Not to say that Uni workload is a walk in the park, because it most certainly is not! However shifting from a pretty relaxed weekly schedule, to 7:30am - 5/6:00pm days FIVE DAYS A WEEK is incredibly exhausting and it took me most of the autumn term to get used to it, plus three weeks of being bunged up and filled with cold. That's just a standard part of teacher training I hear though, so onwards and upwards haha.

Brushes, washing and time saving! 🚿

I have far too many brushes to justify for one person and on top of that, I used to actually stand and wash my brushes every two weeks which would take up hours of valuable time. This sounds so simple, but since I split my brush collection in half and used one pot each fortnight, I have found it so much easier! This way I spend less time washing them all and I only ever wash them ONCE a month, however - I still have clean brushes to use every two weeks which is so important for the skin. Continuously using brushes that have been caked in makeup for days on end is horrendous for the skin, so this way I'm able to have clean brushes and cut down the hours I spent washing. I feel like this was clearer in my head🙈, but basically split your brush collection in two and use the second lot as reserves for when the first get too mucky. Also I use this cheeky and very affordable brush mat dupe, which saves sooo much time - winning!

Moisturising and Sheet Masks 💧

It's no secret that water is the answer to the majority of life problems. Congested skin, headaches and a slowed down brain can all be helped with a litre or two of H2O. However often when we're super busy, we forget to drink enough water and so many times this term my skin has suffered as a result. It has felt and looked so tight, dry and dull.  Since then, I've started sleeping in moisture masks twice a week because it just is a little hack that gives your skin the TLC it needs, without much effort on your part! I have a whole post dedicated to my favourite hydrating masks here, which you should totally have a read of ^_^ Similarly applying a sheet mask whilst watching some telly is a very easy way to add some hydration back into your skin. These ones I've been loving and they're not too pricy either!

Keep your go-to products in a small acrylic container 💆🏽

I wrote a post about this storage system I created from Muji a year ago (post here), and since then it has been fantastic for keeping my core everyday products all in one place. I now keep my corrector, concealer, eyebrow products, lip balm and my NARS sharper in the two drawers. Not only does this mean that I can get my makeup done in 5 minutes tops if need be, but I can also scoop everything back into the drawers in 30 seconds and leave my dressing table relatively tidy. A must for busy ladies, cause when you're getting ready in a rush EVERYDAY your bedroom will end up looking like a mini tornado hit it!

Incorporate glycolic acid into your skincare routine ✨

This stuff, if you didn't already know is essential for keeping your skin looking brighter and more even, which as you know from the points above my skin was/has been lacking since being so busy! There are many forms of glycolic acid you can try, I firstly purchased a value set of Alpha-H Liquid Gold, which I still use but stopped for a while due to IPL. It's fantastic and I can see results within a two uses, its certainly lives up to it hype! However you can also spend a lot less on this superdrug version, which isn't a dupe because this is more of a gel and less of a liquid, however you do see brighter skin in the morning and I think it's one of my stand out skincare discoveries of 2016! Currently on offer for less than £3...winning! I also purchased a cleanser which contains glycolic acid as another cheat way of incorporating it into my routine, now I must point out here that I only use one of these products at a time and I'd never use glycolic acid consecutively - skip a day or two each time you use it because it can make the skin too sensitive! G.A is the ingredient you need if your skin is looking dull and lacklustre.

Leave the lips for last 💄

I tend to go for quite a natural lip colour for day-to-day, or a balm so I make sure I have at least one in my handbag and one in my car. This means that I can pop on my concealer, maybe some tinted moisturiser, brows and run downstairs for some breakfast before I jump into my car. The lips are often the finishing touch, I'd rather have SOMETHING on them than nothing at all. But keeping a reliable product in the car/in my bag means I can quickly swipe on a lil something and leave my car looking ready to roll.

A bit of a random post, but some little things that have made my beauty routines a tad bit easier since I've become a busy 🐝  of late!  Do you have any tips and tricks for hectic days?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Beauty tips for busy ladies

Hello everyone! A short and sweet post today from yours truly, I wanted to share a couple of tips I've picked up since my life has shifted dramatically from a uni student to a trainee teacher. I was used to one 9am a week and about 10 hours of compulsory time spent at uni, about 8 hours of work a week and the rest of the time I was pretty much a lady of leisure. Not to say that Uni workload is a walk in the park, because it most certainly is not! However shifting from a pretty relaxed weekly schedule, to 7:30am - 5/6:00pm days FIVE DAYS A WEEK is incredibly exhausting and it took me most of the autumn term to get used to it, plus three weeks of being bunged up and filled with cold. That's just a standard part of teacher training I hear though, so onwards and upwards haha.

Introducing Joan Collins Timeless Beauty | Makeup Spray and Dry Oil Body Polish

Hello everyone, today's quite an exciting blog post because I'm going to be sharing two products from a brand that is very new to me. Joan Collins Timeless Beauty, is a brand owned by the Dame herself. She created it with the vision of it being an international luxury brand. Within the range it covers fragrance, makeup and skincare! Today I'll be reviewing a skincare/makeup item and a body care item too.

“Beauty is not just for the young. I believe with a little care and attention any woman can look good through her 40s, 50’s, 70’s and beyond.” - Joan

When I received the email with the press release I was super excited to see that there was a makeup setting spray in this range, because if you're a long time reader of my blog you know that I love makeup sprays! I've been testing out both the Ten effects skin treat and makeup fixer*(£18.00) and the I am woman dry oil body polish* (£16.00) for a few weeks now and I'm ready to share my thoughts.

Staring with the Ten effects skin treat and makeup fixer (£18.00) this was the item I was most excited about and it has not disappointed in the slightest. Now I'm definitely one to ignore huge claims that manufacturers make, because often they don't live up to them. This particular spray has been claimed to:

Super Hydrates

Firms

Refines Wrinkles

Minimises Pores

Improves Tone

Adds pH Balancing Layer

Softens

Calms Redness

Locks Makeup

Cools

And aside from 'firms, refines wrinkles and minimises pores' I can vouch for the other claims! It's quite a strong spray, not really a mist but I don't mind that because I hold the bottle far enough from my face. I have been applying this before my makeup (or on no makeup days) and it instantly adds a glow to the face. I then spritz my beauty blender/mini primark sponges before blending in my concealer and finally I finish off my makeup by spraying this a couple of times. The result is a beautifully dewy, hydrated base which lasts a long time. I have been enjoying using this so much and the fact that it gives the skin such a glow makes it well worth the price tag for me!

It's also packed with beneficial ingredients such as rose water AND 'glycerin', which is the key to keeping makeup in place. If you've tried the Nivea mens post shave balm, glycerin is also an ingredient which is high up on the list and again it's what keeps makeup in place. I'm really finding it difficult to not use this spray these days, which says a lot!

The second item I've been trying out is the I am woman dry oil body polish (£16.00), which I have been LOVING! The skin on my body is very sensitive so I'm always a little apprehensive to use new products in case my skin flares up. I didn't have anything to worry about with this however, which again comes down to the great ingredients in my eyes. It contains kiwi seeds and avocado oil, olive oil and jojoba oil so it is super kind to the skin, whilst also buffing away dead skin and leaving my arms and legs feeling silky smooth! The granules of salt aren't too big or rough, again making it fantastic for my sensitive skin and you get a HUGE 300g, so its great value for money too.


*This post contains PR samples or products gifted to me. All opinions are my own. For more info check my Disclaimer 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Introducing Joan Collins Timeless Beauty | Makeup Spray and Dry Oil Body Polish

Hello everyone, today's quite an exciting blog post because I'm going to be sharing two products from a brand that is very new to me. Joan Collins Timeless Beauty, is a brand owned by the Dame herself. She created it with the vision of it being an international luxury brand. Within the range it covers fragrance, makeup and skincare! Today I'll be reviewing a skincare/makeup item and a body care item too.

Review | Organza Natural Skin Care Silk Cream & Lemon and Blackseed Scrub

Hello everyone, today I'm going to be reviewing two products from an Instagram business. The lovely people at Organza Natural Skin Care, got in contact with me a couple of weeks ago and sent me the Silk Cream* and the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub*. I've been using them both for quite a while, so I'm ready to share my thoughts. You may know that skincare is actually the key to makeup success, as when the initial base is looked after properly, anything you apply over the skin goes on smoother and lasts longer! I don't mind spending a little extra on skincare, sometimes it really is an investment, however aside from the price of the products, one thing I am becoming exceedingly careful about is the ingredients in the products themselves.

No skincare item is going to claim bad thing y'know? They're all going to promise 'brighter' 'glowing' 'youthful' skin, or something along those lines, but when you turn the product over and check out the ingredients and there are over 20 things there and a handful of items you can't even pronounce HMMMMMM 🤔 that just doesn't sit right with me. So as much as possible, I try to chose brands that cut out the excessive chemicals. The first thing I noticed about the Organza products, is there is no back label with the ingredients on! Both tubs have the ingredients written clearly on the front, and they are indeed all natural which feels great when you're applying products that are totally kind to the skin. That's a big reason why I'm a huge supporter of all natural brands, especially when they're created by individuals who are passionate about delivering skincare suitable for all skintypes.

The Organza Silk Cream (£12.00) contains seven ingredients in total, with the first being shea butter. Shea Butter is well known for it's ability to help heal the skin, reduce itchiness, sun burn, insect bites and blemishes if used regularly. The texture of the silk cream is very different to your standard face cream, it looks very solid in the tub, however when you dip your finger in the cream almost melts onto the skin. It blends easily, however it does leave a bit of a sheen and I've found that for busy mornings it takes a little too long to properly sink into the skin before I apply my makeup. Because of this I've been using this on no-makeup days only and after I've worked it into my skin, my face feels very soft and hydrated. This will soon become my night cream as it is the ideal 'heaviness' I need for the night and I think you get a really good amount of product for the price. Other ingredients in this cream are: Apricot kernel oil, Almond oil, White poppy seed oil, Jojoba oil, Argan Oil and Natural vitamin E.

My favourite product from the two I have though, is the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub (£12.00). As I've mentioned here and there, the stress of third year left my skin in a right state and I just felt very uninspired to bother with makeup when it kept clinging to dry patches, left from blemishes. i don't currently have a facial scrub in my stash, so I was so relieved to remember I had this scrub. The actual exfoliants in this scrub are 'epsom salt' and 'Nigella sativa seeds'. There are a bunch of other natural ingredients used, which actually form and scrub and one of the key ingredients is lemon extract, so it does have a lemony scent. I was a little worried that it would be super messy to use, but you just take a pinch and rub it into damp skin. It is not irritating or rough in the slightest, but to my absolute delight, my skin is left feeling super smooth and soft when rinsed off. I'm used to having my skin looking and feeling a little red after exfoliation, but it must be the natural ingredients which prevent that from happening with this one! Ingredients: Shea Butter, Apricot Kernel oil, Almond Oil, White poppy seed oil, Jojoba oil, Argan oil, Epsom salt, Nigella sativa seeds (blackseeds), Natural vitamin E, Lemon extract and Lemon essence.

Both items are dermatologically approved and I've had good results so far. From the two products, I would definitely repurchase the scrub, it's gentle yet effective treatment is awesome ^_^ If you're interested in purchasing either of these products, or checking out Organza skincare, head over to their Instagram page (here). They are working on a website, but for now you can order by sending them a message, they're super quick to respond. You can either whatsapp them: +44 7932568036, or email them: organza_natural_skincare@outlook.com.

Have you ever tried all natural skincare? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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*This post contains PR samples or products gifted to me. All opinions are my own. For more info check my Disclaimer 

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Review | Organza Natural Skin Care Silk Cream & Lemon and Blackseed Scrub

Hello everyone, today I'm going to be reviewing two products from an Instagram business. The lovely people at Organza Natural Skin Care, got in contact with me a couple of weeks ago and sent me the Silk Cream* and the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub*. I've been using them both for quite a while, so I'm ready to share my thoughts. You may know that skincare is actually the key to makeup success, as when the initial base is looked after properly, anything you apply over the skin goes on smoother and lasts longer! I don't mind spending a little extra on skincare, sometimes it really is an investment, however aside from the price of the products, one thing I am becoming exceedingly careful about is the ingredients in the products themselves.

Introducing Earth Kiss - 100% Natural Face Masks!

Hello everybody! Todays post is an introduction to an exciting new brand called ‘Earth Kiss’. Their story is based around the impact that intensive farming methods are having on our planet. (You can read more about that right here). The key ingredient in all of their masks is the himalayan Shilajit which is energised with 85 plant micronutrients, which sounds amazing! Again you can read more about that in the last link if you’re interested.

Earth Kiss currently have 6 face masks in their line, which are all 100% natural - incredible right? That in my experience, is very rare to find, as a lot of skincare companies pack their products with tonnes of chemicals and fragrances. It is such a nice change to find a brand which actually cares about the earth and is committed to ensuring their ingredients are natural. When I received an email asking if I would like to review some of the facemasks, of course I jumped at the chance! BUT I wanted to ensure that they would be easily available for me and my readers... and to my absolute delight I was told that you can pick the brand up at : Holland and Barrett, Alara Health Stores and Natures Healthbox. YAAAY. (Also sidenote, how cute is the little bag! Thankyou Earth Kiss!)

With each of these masks you are instructed to first cleanse, then apply and leave it on for 15-20 minutes and then to rinse off! Now on to the reviews…

1. Earth Kiss White Thai Clay Rejuvenate Mud Mask* | 17g | £1.99

This mask (and all the clay masks) has enough in the packet for between 2-3 applications which is great for a family face mask session, or you could simply snip the corner, take what you need and snip more off the next time! Anyway, this was the first clay mask out of the whole bunch that I used and on this particular day I was feeling pretty blah and in need of some TLC. My skin was not looking so good and I was in the mood to sleep all day because I had had such a busy week. The clay on my skin felt super cooling and the colour is completely white when dried. It also dries very quickly and it kind of crumbles a little too. I left it on my skin for twenty minutes and as soon as I washed it off I noticed a difference straight away! My skin was brighter, cleaner (obviously) and literally glowing. Like I said I was having a really crummy day, but seeing such a difference in my skin was very uplifting and kind of pulled me out of my slump. Its the little things right! It is aimed at combo, normal and oily skin which I would agree with, any excess oil on my face was gone but my skin also felt pretty plump and not dehydrated at all. 

Repurchase? Yes, I haven’t experienced many masks that leave my skin feeling so ‘rejuvenated’ (literally living up to its name) after one use!

2.  Earth Kiss Miracle Clay Facial Hydrate Bamboo Sheet Mask* | 27g | £1.99

So this mask was pretty exciting for me because I have heard of sheet masks for a while but I’ve not gotten around to trying any before this. Now according to youtube sheet masks are pretty thin, so I expected this one to be thin too. However as you can see from the weight of this mask it was pretty thick/heavy on the face! I think the reason for this is because it is natural bamboo sheet mask WITH organ clay and the clay itself most likely makes it heavier. The clay and the baobab work together to cleanse and nourish the skin. Now my experience with this mask unfortunately didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked, although I’m not entirely sure how much of that has to do with my mask. The day that I used this mask my eyes were already pretty sore and sensitive as I may have been crying a little bit (again we’ll address that in my January update soon, it’s been quite a month!). My skin again was feeling pretty bad and I thought this sheet mask would be a good pick me up. However when I put it on my skin, my eyes started watering a lot and they felt more sensitive than usual, to the point where I had to take it off after 5 minutes! I can’t say that my skin looked much different after such a small amount of time and unfortunately my first experience of a sheet mask wasn’t quite what I thought!

Repurchase? No, I can’t be sure if it was my sore eyes or the mask that made them react that way, but I won’t be repurchasing this particular one.

3. Earth Kiss Detox Pore Cleanse Mud Mask* | 17g | £1.99

The pore cleanse mask was an absolute pleasure to use, it is made from glacial mud and it was the most cooling from the four that I tried. Cooling and refreshing are two words that came to mind straight away, as the mask dried I felt the most pleasant cold sensation. I totally understand why this mask is labelled as ‘detoxing and destressing’ and it amazed me how quickly and effortlessly this mask too me to a more zen place. All I needed were two cucumber slices and a towel turban wrap and I would be a real life cartoon spa-aholic stereotype. The cooling properties in this mask are probably also attributed to the fact that it has spearmint in it and I wrote in my blogging notebook ‘this one feels incredibly cooling and like it is actually doing something!’ Once I had washed it away with warm water, my skin felt wonderfully refreshed and like it had been truly cleansed,  right down the smallest pore. Again like the rejuvenating mask, this clay mask really lived up to its name and I could easily see it being added to my weekly skincare routine, especially these days as I am going through a fair bit of final year stress!

Repurchase? YES! I still have two uses out of this packet, but I am definitely stocking up on this mask, its the perfect detoxing mask and I’ve never tried anything quite like it.

4. Earth Kiss Moroccan Clay Pore Refine Mud Mask* | 17g | £1.99

I wondered what would be the main difference between this and the pore cleanse mask and I found out as soon as I started applying it to my skin. It has the smallest gritty bits in it which are made out of crushed Apricot seed and Argan shell! How cool is that? I absolutely love how these masks are 100% natural and the idea of an exfoliating mask is so revolutionary to me. The clay in this mask is called Rhassoul and it is found in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, which are naturally enriched over a million years with mineral goodstuff. I love the colour of this mask too, its a brown shade and dries down to a lighter colour, I know how you look in a mask isn’t really relevant but I deemed this mask to be very IG selfie worthy (if you were up to taking one of those that day). ANYWAYS back to the mask review, I left it on my skin for 20 minutes and then went to wash it wth warm water. The lovely thing about this mask having the tiny tiny apricot shell bits is that as I washed the mask away in circular motions I also gently buffed away dead skin cells and any drier patches. My nose area at the moment is behaving very bizarrely, it does produce oil throughout the day but in the last week or two the tip has also been dry meaning any makeup has looked highly unflattering because its been bunching up there and flaking off (ewww!). This mask, though gentle enough for the whole face was also effective enough to help me deal with that dry skin and it really didn’t feel stripping at all.

Repurchase? Again because I have never used a mask that is exfoliating before and more to the point such an effective yet gentle physical exfoliator I will definitely be stocking up on this soon.

All in all I have had a fantastic experience with this brand, mainly with the clay masks. I feel like they have been named accurately and you get what is written on the packet. You can tell that a LOT of effort has gone into thinking about each mask and the ingredients which have gone into it. They are so effective and the results on my skin are almost instant which honestly doesn’t happen often when I use face masks. The purity of the ingredients speak for themselves and again the uniqueness that each and every product in the Earth Kiss line is 100% natural is so brilliant! I think the price point of £1.99 is such good value, especially as one packet holds at least 2-3 uses. 

Will you be checking out the Earth Kiss face masks?

*This post contains press samples or products gifted to me. All opinions are my own. For more info check my Disclaimer.

Thank-you for reading ♥

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