I had to “pop” into the city on Sunday afternoon to drop my eldest off at his latest geek club and so I took the opportunity to have a good mooch around Superdrug. When we lived in Bangor Superdrug was more handy to me than Boots but since I’ve been in Belfast (3 months… wowzers) I hadn’t set foot in one.

I was pleasantly reacquainted. Sure, Boots is fabulous, who doesn’t LOVE those advantage card points?! but Superdrug is quite exclusive in a way. I got my fix of Gosh Cosmetics, Bloom, MUA and Sue Moxley. Different is almost always good in my book.

My main focus was on the “Famous” by Sue Moxley range. I always wanted to like this range, after all what’s not to like about a range created by a real life Make-up Artist. However first impressions were poor. Every single time I went to a Superdrug her brand stand (oooh it rhymes) was clearly unloved and unreplenished. The tester make-up was a mess, everything was covered in dust and things that I did find of interest were inevitably broken or smushed (technical term…).

I think over the 18 months I’ve been aware of her brand I’ve bought one thing that wasn’t in a complete state, a fan brush and it was amazing so I hoped they’d get their act together.

It finally looks like they have done just that.

On Sunday I was pleased to find that her stand was clean, tidy and reinvented. My eye was immediately drawn to the solo shadows which were on 2 for £6. Some really dreamy metallic shades. Then I clocked the 4 pan palettes which were priced at £9 and since I was having trouble deciding which singles to opt for I went for the palettes instead.

This particular quad of brown tones is called Cafe Culture.

Under Flash

Under Natural Lighting

The back of the palette assures me that these can be applied dry as well as wet, depending on the impact you desire. Today I went for dry.

Face – Diorskin Nude Foundation + Topshop Bronzer
Lids – Sue Moxley Cafe Culture Palette
Lashes – L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black
Cheeks – NARS Deep Throat
Highlight – Mac Shimmer
Lips – Mac Modesty

Overall I love the result, all the shades work really well together and are comparable to a few main Mac shadows.. second left is a more subtle Satin Taupe for instance.

Bad points, well there are a few unfortunately…

• All 4 colours are high in the shimmer/ sheen stakes. I’d have thought that as they are apparently designed by an MA that the nude shade at least would have been matt. I had to take a touch of Mylar and blend that up towards my brow to avoid the drag queen look.

• Not all the shadows are of the same consistency, the second from right (a warm brown) is very bitty. It separates more than the others and can be quite messy, however it is a very pretty colour.

• The packaging. At the moment I have quite long/ strong nails (how and why is a mystery) but even I struggled to open the palette. It has a good groove to get your grip on but for some reason it’s still an absolute bitch to open.

So all that’s not so positive, however I have to say I’m still really glad that I bought this.

In fact I love the 3 brown shades so much that it’s a definite must have in my going away make-up bag this weekend (wedding anniversary… YAY!!). There is no denying that each colour compliments each other perfectly. The blendability is superb and nine hours later is still looks like this…

(OMG… look how much my foundation colour has oxidised)

Ok so there is definite wear but significant shape and colour remains so I am MORE than happy.

£9 well spent in my opinion

xo

We all know it makes sense don’t we? Yet for some reason when we see that new MAC Collection pop up online we can’t help ordering somewhat blind.

Recently I’ve really wised up and put the foot down. I dread to think of the hundreds (maybe thousands eeek) I’ve wasted on make-up that I thought looked gorgeous on a computer monitor/ in a bottle/ on a sticker!?!  but of course is actually completely different IRL.

I’ve no one to blame but myself. Testers are everywhere. Granted some of the high end counters can be “funny” (and no, not in the haha way) about giving them out. However I’ve come to the conclusion that if a sales assistant truly believes the product is as good as she is claiming, then she won’t blink twice at giving you a sample. After all, logically you’ll be back to purchase the full size bottle/ shadow/ cream etc.

This has worked really well for me recently. Estee Lauder in particular displayed excellent customer service by refusing to foundation match me on a dull day under artificial lights in Debenhams, Belfast. Instead she gave me generous samples of both the shades she felt I would fall into and told me to “try them, and see how they wear for you in the next few days”I did exactly that, and went back just under a week later and bought the full size from her. Now that’s smart business.

The other place where you can perhaps “try before you buy” a little more freely is of course your local Boots/ Superdrug. Not all of them provide wipes to remove said testers from the back of your hands tho, so my advice is to carry a travel size pack in your handbag.

I can spend over an hour in my local Superdrug and I don’t have any pushy MA looking over my shoulder, trying to force a sale. I swatch and wipe, swatch and wipe. If I try something I like, I leave the store, go do something else (….shopping!!) and then re-evaluate an hour or so later. Does the colour still look good? Has it worn off? Is it creasing? A lot of the times it will look rubbish and I’ll have saved myself £5 – £12 ish. Not to be sniffed at in the current economic climate!

The most recent example of victory for the “try before you buy” thinking was yesterday. GOSH cosmetics have a whole new smokey collection in Superdrug. Part of which is the stunning “Night Passion” Nail Polish you see below. Look how sumptiously gothic and rich it is in the bottle…..

Now look at my thumb nail…. not so beautifully black and beautiful looking is it? Granted the glitter shavings are lovely, and they really do catch the light. However the polish formulation is like dish water. I applied a second coat and it was little better. Needless to say I walked out without purchasing and £6 better off.

How utterly crap it actually is was confirmed again later that evening when I glanced down to see it all but chipped off! How disgusting is that colour? Yuck! Narrow escape.

So the moral of the story is “try before you buy” and if they refuse to let you try, chances are it’s probably a bit rubbish anyway! xox

Well….. It’s October… and did I lose a stone in September? Did I heck!

I did however lose 2 full inches off my waistline thanks to my new love of running
Yes, I’m addicted. I’ve found my exercise. Four weeks ago I could barely run 45 seconds without feeling like I was gonna to die, and now I can run 15 minutes!!!! and feel amazing to boot.

I’m still using the same iPhone application “Get Running”, and I think this has been key to my success. It focuses on gradually building up time and stamina. It doesn’t even look at distance (until the very end).
Once I’m running 25 – 30 minutes comfortably, then and only then will I start thinking about time and mileage together.

So….. all this running means a lot more showering!!

Not that I didn’t shower before (that would be gross)…. but whereas previously I could have maybe got away with washing my hair every other day, after running that’s NOT an option. I didn’t realise I could actually produce sweat until I started running, but produce it I can, and by the bucketload…… Washing my hair daily is now a necessity.

With more hair washing, comes more hair drying, and this is extremely damaging at the best of times, never mind daily. I also find that my hair loses body quicker the more often it is washed. So I started to look for leave in products. Things I could use to add texture and allow me to leave it to dry naturally.
I’m rotating use of a few at the moment but this is my current favourite:

“Lee Stafford Beach Babe”

A Sea Salt Spray with a Pro Mineral Complex & 26 Minerals

I simply apply a generous spritz of this all over lightly towel dried hair and leave to dry. It smells utterly amazing, as with all of the Lee Stafford range. Musky and very sexy, the husband approves!

It is slightly sticky, but as its drying I run my fingers through it every so often to separate. My hair is naturally poker straight but it adds volume and a slight wave throughout. This is low maintenance Sunday hair at its best!

I got it in Boots on a 3 for 2 Promotion or you can buy it for £5.99 but it’s definitely worth it. Check it out xox

Yesterday I went to my local Boots Chemist in search of the St Tropez Gradual Tanner.
I love this branch, its so odd, they always have random things discounted, normally by loads more than other shops. It’s very odd altogether but also great!

I ended up coming away with a couple of things, namely….

• St Tropez Everyday Gradual Tanner in Medium to Dark £13 – pleased to report it smells non offensive and was easy to apply. Will take a few applications for colour to build so will report back on this soon with a Yay or Nay.
• Prestige Loose Transluscent Powder £1.52 – this branch of Boots doesn’t even have a Prestige stand but they seem to get all the reduced items from other branches. Love this, gives a really smooth flawless finish on top of my liquid foundation.
• Prestige Dramatic Minerals Eyeshadow in 02 Copper £1.50 – What a find, this is a dupe for MAC’s All That Glitters with a more peach undertone rather than pink. Gorgeous finish.

L: MAC ATG R: Prestige Copper

• Dove’s Summer Glow Gradual Facial Tanner in Medium to Dark £2.99 – This is a re-purchase as my bottle has run out (I actually got this in the Alliance chemist down the road). This smells really good, very citrussy and fresh. I honestly can never smell the tan element from it, even as it develops. It gives a lovely colour without being overly dark and it doesn’t settle into my pores. I can’t use any of the body tanners like St Tropez on my face, I break out immediately but this has never irritated my skin. Highly recommend.

Definitely check out Prestige’s range of eyeshadows if you like MAC but you’re maybe wanting to tighten the purse strings, the formulation is really very good and this lasted 8 hours on my lids yesterday without creasing!

xoxox

I was up in Belfast on Sunday and did a little bit of premeditated unplanned hauling. Among the bits & bobs I picked up were two of the Prestige Skin Loving Minerals.

Basically these are dupes of the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish which I already <3

I think I have purposely avoided picking these up until now because I am such a devotee of the MAC MSF’s, my So Ceylon is definitely one of my holy grail products….. or should I say was…. Eeeeeeeee

First things, packaging. It could just be me being all fingers and thumbs but I find the Prestige compacts difficult to open, however I’m willing to put up with this because of what is inside.
I purchased 03 Pure Shimmer, a gorgeous highlight and 01 Rich Bronze, such a flattering warm tan but not quite as deep in colour as So Ceylon.

L: Pure Shimmer R: Rich Bronze No Flash

As before but under flash

In my opinion these are unbelievably good. The actual product formulation is very finely milled and therefore requires practically no buffing, unlike the MAC MSF’s, where the art of application can be hard to master! I use the 181 with my MAC and it takes a good 30 secs of continuous buffing until I feel happy it isn’t just sitting noticeably on the surface of my face. With the Prestige I use a very narrow Chilli Pepper brush and simply sweep on as I would blush, it takes 5 seconds max.
It gives superb instant skin brightening. Glowing & healthy looking skin. Already I’ve had numerous compliments from the other mums at the school gates about it, and believe me, they’re a tough crowd.

However the end result of both is so so similar its hard to call, but the fact that prestige is so quick & easy to apply makes it the ideal choice.

L: Rich Bronze R: Pure Shimmer

Please excuse the bumpy skin above, still in recovery from the Liz Earle incident, and bare in mind I have applied a bit more than I would normally for the benefit of pics

MAC weighs in at a pretty steep £17.13 for 10g, while Prestige rings in at a much more purse friendly £8.80 for 8g.

I would definitely check the Prestige range out, you’ll find it in any large Boots within the UK.

xoxo

Even though I used a good base coat with my St Patricks Day Nails, the Rimmel Green Grass Polish has stained the nail bed and surrounding cuticle a gorgeous yellowy green hue. Not very attractive!

In an effort to hide the horror I broke out my latest Revlon Nail Polish “Tropical Temptation”, its a gorgeous vibrant pinky coral, bordering on neon in some lights!

I really can’t recommend Revlon Polishes enough, the colour choice is fab, the price is affordable (around £5 per bottle, currently on 3 for 2 in Boots) and one coat is normally more than up to the job of achieving the bottle colour. The lazy gal in me loves this!

xoxo

…..has been the oddest day, in a good way

About a half hour ago I had to head into Bangor town centre, the postman called earlier with a recorded delivery item and I wasn’t in. I assumed it was an Ebay purchase and left it until later to collect.

I pulled into the car park near the PO, and got out of the car to buy a pay & display ticket, a lady leaving rolled down her car window and called me over, she gave me the ticket she had bought earlier which still had an hours parking left on it. I was touched by this random act of kindness #1

I then went into the PO and signed for the package, I tore it open as I wandered down to Boots and started to smile. Inside was the sweetest note from my old friend Emma who used to live down the street when I was a child. She had been reading my post on budget teeth whitening (with horror) and had said she would send me a syringe of the good stuff. She had done that which I was already so touched by, but she also included 4 gorgeous Chanel testers namely, Mat Lumiére Powder and 3 of the nail polishes Cobra, Paparazzi & Electra. I can’t wait to try them out. Random act of kindness #2

As I grinned my way into Boots (just for a wander) I noticed that they had reduced a lot of their No7 Limited Edition goodies and some of the regular foundations which they must be discontinuing. I have been after the Petal Blusher, the one advertised by Keeley Hawes for the last few weeks. They always seem to get so little of these LE things in. I was just having a general gripe about this with the girl at the counter who agreed me with me (in a good humoured way) when she simply ripped up the one stuck down on the display and said “take it”, I was a bit shocked and offered to pay for it as it was barely tested, she just pressed it into my hand and told me to have it as it would likely be binned anyway in another week. Random act of kindness #3

So thank you to Emma and to the two very kind strangers, within half an hour you all made me smile, brightened my day and restored my belief in human nature xoxox

I wash my hair EVERY day. For no other reason than I don’t feel properly clean unless I do. I don’t have overly greasy hair, and it certainly doesn’t require the amount of washing it gets but I do it out of habit.

Last Wednesday I decided I was going to try and get it down to 3 times a week max, basically every other day. To achieve this apparently you need to re-train your hair which involves dealing with a spot of dirty hair for a while. I thought some kind of dry shampoo would be good for those inbetween days, however Superdrug didn’t have anything except a product by Richard Ward called “One More Day”

Title sounded spot on, description on the back even more so “Restyle & refresh your hair in between washes – my unique floral fragrance instantly leaves your hair feeling purified and uplifted”

I applied it to my fringe area and crown, it smelt pleasant enough, consistency of a hairspray. I ran my fingers through and restyled, surveyed in the mirror and was distinctly unimpressed. It made the hair it was applied to hard, as a hairspray would. I sighed and thought ah well, £4 down the drain but no harm done….. that was until I went to wash my hair as normal the next morning.

I washed it twice, gave it a good scrub to lift the product out, all seemed fine, it was only as I blow dried it that I noticed my fringe and crown were still dirty, lank and greasy. My hair wasn’t fluffy and really looked still very much dirty and unwashed. I blamed myself, convinced that I hadn’t rinsed the shampoo out well enough…

Next day (Friday) I washed my hair again, realising there was an issue I used different shampoo and no conditioner, I gave 2 washes and rinsed far better than I normally would. Went to dry it off and you’ve guessed it, fringe and crown still looked wet and greasy???!! Even my husband noticed! The picture below is my greasy crown yesterday morning approx an hour after being washed twice again

Finally this morning I got a minute to look for a cleansing shampoo, I had intended to go to Sallys and get something specialist, however Boots was closer and time was tight. The only thing I could find specific to my issue were the 2 products below.

I was sceptical, I’m such a packaging snob and these just looked a bit valuepak to me, however I was in the middle of a Hair Mare and couldn’t afford to be picky. Altogether they cost around £5.

I’m very pleased to tell you that though they look crap they are both actually really good products, I used the build up shampoo this afternoon and my hair is ALMOST back to full power. I also used the dry shampoo on the crown to try and dry up any excess oil left and its worked a treat. I think my hair colour looks a lot healthier too. Would recommend both if you use products a lot and find you get a build up issue.

The proof is in the pudding….

In regards to the Richard Ward product I’d avoid (obviously), I noted today on the list of product ingredients that it contains “hydrogenated castor oil” and I’m guessing this was the main culprit to my woes. It literally was like someone had dumped cooking oil on my head, and I only used a tiny amount!!

Steer Clear is my advice

xoxox

I feel a little sick as I type this…… recently I have found it increasingly difficult to get a hold of L’Oreal’s Voluminous Mascara in both Boots & Superdrug, there was always an empty space…
Alarms bells only started to ring loudly when I noticed the actual space for Voluminous and the shelf ticket was replaced with other offerings from within the brand.

So I emailed their UK Customer Services department and got this response back a few minutes ago…
I have cut & pasted the email to maintain my email confidentiality.

Reference: C86520844

www.loreal.co.uk

Data Protection: Your personal information and that of any other person upon whose behalf you are making your query or complaint may be retained (which may include being held electronically or in our databases) by the L’Oréal Group and used for the purposes of addressing your query or complaint and for internal monitoring, adverse event reporting and auditing requirements. In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 you may write to us to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Is anyone else freaking out?? This is my favourite mascara ever!! I’ve already been on Ebay and stocked up on any I could find. There are plenty of the US one but no UK listed right now.
On that note, be aware that the Voluminous from the US has a slightly different wand and doesn’t perform as well. You need the L’Oreal UK version, see pics below for packaging detail differences.

US Version

UK Version

*cries*

Yes, thats right folks, another mascara…. wouldn’t be like me eh?!!

Boots No7 Lash 360˚ RRP £11.26

The driving force behind this purchase was actually panacea81, she was using it on YouTube a while back and I homed in on the unusual looking wand. It is quite pricey but I used the No7 £5 off voucher. I got it just before Christmas, but times must be tough, as they are STILL running the £5 off promo.

Marketing material for this mascara promises “Up to 7 x more volume with No7’s breakthrough new lash 360 mascara”. I bought it in Black, the only other colour available is Brown/ Black.

This is a GOOD mascara, not great but good. There is no doubt in my mind that this macara gives a lengthening effect, as you can see from the pic its really very impressive in that department, however it is marketed as a volumising mascara? I don’t feel it adds volume at all. It does however curl the lashes quite effectively. I don’t use eyelash curlers, simply because my eyelashes are already poor and I want to avoid any damage to what I do have.

Left Eye: Lash 360˚, Right Eye: No Mascara

The brush is really a very good design, get it right into the base and wiggle it through back and forth, coverage would be good IF the actual mascara formula was just slightly wetter. Unfortunately it isn’t. This is a real bug bear with me in regards to mascara. Either they are too dry and coating the lashes is an arduous task, or they are too wet and you get transfer onto the skin if you look up etc.

My other problem is the colour, Black, not Blackest Black, not Carbon Black, just plain ole Black. I’m sorry but for those people that say Black is Black, thats rubbish. I’ve been spoilt with rich kohl pigmented mascaras lately. They give a dense glam black finish. This is simpy a dull black, when swatched on my hand beside L’Oreal Voluminous it looks positively grey.

In summary, this is a well designed mascara wand that doesn’t quite have the formula to compliment it. IMO it certainly doesn’t warrant the price tag, there are much better mascaras out there that curl and lengthen for a fraction of the cost ie: Rimmel London’s Sexy Curves.

Hope this is helpful if you have been considering this mascara xox

Just before Christmas I picked up a couple of fake tanning products that were reduced in Boots (original post here), I’ve now had a chance to try all 3 of them and the firm winner for me is the Quick Dry Foam.

For some reason my little branch of Boots had this on clearance for £2.87, however it is still full price in the larger Boots in Belfast and online at £11.75 so all a bit odd, in hindsight I do wish I had bought a few more! Typical

I like to wear vinyl gloves and apply fake tan with my hands rather than a mitt or sponge, just a personal preference as it cuts out the middle man which I think wastes product and makes it all a bit more awkward.

This is colourless which initially always panics me, purely because it makes it more difficult to see where and how much you have applied, but as the “foam” is more of a water consistency I just make sure the whole arm/ leg/ chest area is glistening wet and I know I’m cooking on gas

It does dry super quick but without feeling tight or drying to the skin, smell is minimal and a little goes a long way. Colour develops over a few hours.

This is a before pic, taken 2.20pm

And just before I went to bed that night, approx 9 hours later….

Even at the full price I will definitely be re-purchasing this, I think it gives a fab even colour for half the cost of the likes of St Tropez & He-Shi, both of which I love but are much messier applications for me… think mud wrestler…..

Why don’t you give it a try xox

I have relatively clear skin again thanks to a good skin care regime (and no thanks to Boots No7 Protect Range) which I’ll share with you soon. However the dreaded blackhead problem persists… aaaarggghh!

If you haven’t just eaten or you’re not likely to in the next hour then by all means check out the lovely close up of the offending/ offensive blighters below….

It is a really frustrating problem as everywhere else my skin is overly dry but my nose is a rather crooked looking oil making factory. I realise that its not as problematic as acne as it is easily disguised with make-up, however for those days when I want to go slap free I am aware of them and they do make me feel slightly dirty if that makes sense.

I have just started using this…

The main reason for purchase was that it was the only specific blackhead product I could find. My question is, what works for you?
Is there a miracle cure out there??

Thank you in advance xox

Running low on your Revlon Colorstay foundation?? Or perhaps you fancy trying it out??
Now is the time!

Buy any Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Boots the Chemist and get a Revlon Fabulash mascara worth £8.31 absolutely FREE

Totally off on a tangent here, but can I just take a moment to have a little rant about Boots and their god awful security tag system for cosmetics. Why, god why?!!!

Not only do they stick an adhesive alarm on, but they then use a metre of sticky tape to a) keep the alarm on and b) insure I can’t open said cosmetic and c) make me cry when the tape removes half the pretty packaging or ingredients/ instructions.

I hate your tags and tape Boots, I also hate people who steal, you made Boots apply these crappy stickers you filthy criminals.

Rant over

Did you know that Boots is repackaging their 17 range?
Well it is, and in the interim all 17 products are Buy One Get One Free, even if you use your Boots points to buy (like I did gratis rocks)

Its quite a young brand and I rarely purchase from it myself these days but I do like their Colour Corrector Cream. One for me, one for my kit

I like this one because its relatively runny in form and easier to blend than many of the corrector sticks. I use it a lot at the moment, due to being stupid and using sun beds in the run up to my wedding last year. Doh!
Tanning has totally messed with the pigmentation on my face and I have a lot of redness and blotchiness to conceal. My own fault but I won’t make that mistake again. Fake tan FTW! xox

P.S Hope you all had a fab New Years, I did end up doing a bit of drunken dancing around my living room but luckily didn’t suffer for it the next day.

Not sure if this is a reduction across the board in all Boots stores, but …….

The Bangor, Northern Ireland branch has reduced all their No7 self tanning products to under £3 each.

• Firming Gradual Tan Moisturiser £2.26 each, normal RRP £9.00!!
• Quick Drying Tinted Lotion £2.87, still for sale on their website at £11.26!!
• Quick Dry Foam £2.87, still for sale on their site at £11.75!!

I can only presume that they are about to change the packaging and thats why they are reducing the present ones, as in general their Sunless Tanning range gets good reviews. The girls of kissandmakeup.tv even gave the Gradual Tan Moisturiser five stars!

I’m going to have a lovely bath/ pampering session later and test one out. Probably the Tinted Lotion… Has anyone tried these before??

I have done a look today for the upcoming Christmas party season. It is quite daring and not for everyone, but I like to have fun with make-up and especially love green against my eyes. I have used a mixture of products, but most are very inexpensive and available from Superdrug or Boots.

All the coloured pigments I used were from Barry M, Superdrug is currently running a promotion of 3 Dazzledusts for £10 which is great value. I covered my lid with MAC paint in Bare Canvas to give a nice sticky base for the pigment. Then using homemade mixing medium (1 part glycerin to 3 parts water) I made a nice paste of each pigment. Far far easier to work with and no annoying fall out. Yay!!

I then took it a bit further, couldn’t resist!
I added a splash of red to the corners to make the look really young & fun
Please excuse the eyebrows, I have ruined my tweezers by using them to perform a number of non tweezer related jobs (ie DIY things that actually required pliers). Ooops

Eyes

• MAC Paint in Bare Canvas (all over eye to prep)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust in Emerald 72 (lid & up into crease)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust in Lime 75 (inner third of lid)
• Barry M Dazzle Dust in Cherry Red 84 (outer third of lid)
• MAC Eyeshadow in White Frost (Brow bone)
• Rimmel Exaggarate Eye Liner Intense 001 Black (top lash line)
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil in Covet (under lower lash line)
• Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Gel Eye Liner in Pizzazz (over the 24/7 on the lower lash line)
• MAC Plush Lash Mascara in Plushblack

These are my 2 favourite Shine products ever. Neither are overly expensive but with the credit crunch hanging over us (bleurgh), I think everyone appreciates knowing about good buys. The first is Toni & Guys Finishing Shine Spray and I picked it up a month ago at good ole Boots when they were doing yet another one of those £5 off brand name haircare promotions (love those).

I can’t honestly recall how much it was, I think around £7 before the reduction.
I use it after straightening my hair, it gives the most fabulous shine without any greasiness (which is my bugbear with finishing serums), I think this is because it is a spray formula. Did I mention that it also smells gorgeous? Well it does, a very musky scent without being overpowering. I would definitely invest if you like to straighten your locks, about 3-4 sprays gives the desired effect, so one bottle will also last you an age.

The second is Schwarzkopf Gliss Shine Tonic for Dry/Damaged Hair (they also do one for coloured hair).

I cannot fault this either for its Shine ability, I use this mainly when I curl my hair (which is a lot lately), the only slight downside is that because it is essentially a shine “hairspray” the smell initially can be quite a catch in the throat. However don’t be put off, it has quite a sweet smell once it settles. This comes in at £1.99, such a bargain. It can be quite hard to find, Semi-Chem & Gordons Chemists normally stock the range. Extra bonus – its a perfect size for your handbag!

Unfortunately I suffer from combination skin, but in this wintery weather it leans dramatically to the dry side. I wouldn’t say I have sensitive skin, but sometimes it gets so dry I guess it unavoidably falls into that catergory too.
For the longest time I used the Simple range of products to cleanse/ tone/ moisturise. They definitely get the job done, but I always felt some luxury was lacking. “No perfume, no colour, just kind” can get a bit boring. So when Boots No7 Protect and Perfect range was on 3 for 2 I thought I’d give them a go.

They are well priced even when not on offer, each item retails for under £10. They look more high end though, the packaging is very classy and minimalistic. I used the Purifying Cleanser, Purifying Toner, Day Cream & Night Cream. At first all was well, my skin was dramtically smoother and I thought I was onto a winner. After about 2 weeks though, I noticed that around my eyes was very tight and the skin looked sore. I put this down to some eye make-up and continued my routine. Cleansing was fine. Toning was grand. Moisturising was like my skin was on fire.

I had to revert to the Simple range to calm everything down again which took a few days and lashings of eye gel. Out of the need to be 100% sure I did try the moisturiser once more and the burning was instant. This product does not agree with me, neither the Day or Night cream, I can only assume the formulation is far too strong and unfortunately both are destined for the bin. The cleanser and toner are fine but I have found something ten times better!!

Voila

Now I’m not sure about anyone else, but I always kind of associated Clarins with the more “mature” womans market, not anymore. This product is a winner. Recommended by a friend, it is a One-Step Facial Cleanser with orange extract. Basically it cuts out the need for a seperate cleanser & toner. This baby does it all. It smells divine and is very cooling on the skin and refreshing without being an astringent.
I rarely re-purchase items like this as they are a good bit more expensive than the likes of the drugstore brands (£16.00 for 200ml), but I will definitely be buying this again and again and again. It removes everything without the need for harsh scrubbing, including waterproof mascara!

Clarins are very good at letting you try before you buy so head down to your nearest counter and ask for a sample of this, I guarantee you will not be disappointed