I've realised just recently that my skincare routine has taken a backseat. I was once that goodie two-shoes who would triple cleanse before bed to make sure every last scrap of makeup had left my face before hitting the hay, but all of a sudden I've found myself reaching for a pack of makeup wipes and totally disregarding any form of acid toner. I've moaned during the past month at the state of my skin; it's been patchy, blemish-y and shiny in all the wrong places. Feeling fed up of the state my face was in, I headed straight onto the Boots website in the hope of finding some super skincare products to give my skin the love (but also the kick up the backside) it needs to get back on the straight and narrow.

Boots have some incredible deals online at the moment, which gave me all the more reason to stock up on some of the products that I used to use time and time again until I forgot to repurchase them. One of those products being the Boots 3 Minute Clay Mask. Priced at £1.50 this is an absolute steal. I find it really helps to calm down my skin thanks to the extract of cucumber in the ingredients and it seems to make it appear much smoother and softer to the touch.

Rimmel's Hide the Blemish concealer has been around for years, and it's one of the first makeup items I ever owned. I remember liking it because it's very yellow-toned and has great staying power. I rediscovered this in my makeup collection the other day but it had worn right down to nothing more than a stump so I threw it out, but I'm glad I've ordered another one and look forward to giving it a go!

There's no better eyebrow pencil than Archery by Soap & Glory. I've tried so many drugstore/highstreet brow pencils and I always find they're too dark or too red-toned, or the nib breaks and never re-sharpens! This one has a super-fine tip so it leaves your brows looking soft and natural and it even has its own spoolie on the other end - perfect for saving that all-important space in your makeup bag.

Ah, the Clearasil pads. Whilst I'm aware i'm no longer a hormone-fuelled teenager, I grew up using these and they seemed to save my skin in times of desperation when a horror breakout occurred. I thought I'd give them another go as I have a few stubborn under-the-skin spots on my forehead and I've completely skipped using any sort of acid toner on my face for yonks. I figured these would do the trick and then some, claiming to not only even skin tone but also exfoliate, reduce shine & oil, unblock pores and remove dirt.

When I think of facial oils my initial thoughts are just "nope". I hate the texture for a start, but after reading the endless list of benefits I gave in and ordered the Botanics Organic Facial Oil. So many people have raved about this in the reviews section on Boots and I figured they can't all be wrong, so I pray this will be a product I fall in love with and banish my dislike of oils for good!

Last but not least, the Botanics Radiance Balm. Not something I necessarily need, but I tricked myself into thinking that this may just I've me the radiance i'm after, and I'm all for looking like a glowing sun goddess. I guess I just envisioned myself being hand-fed grapes while lounging on a sunbed in the mediterranean and, well, that was enough to get me to order it. 

Have you picked up any great beauty bits recently?

Chloë
x


(Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All of the products mentioned above were purchased by myself). 

I always find myself unable to resist buying Soap and Glory products. I mainly put this down to their cute, girly packaging that catches my eye whenever I go into Boots, but I suppose my terrible lack of self-control doesn't help either. Today was no different, and despite only buying a few products, I still felt somewhat guilty handing my money and Boots Advantage Card over to the cashier. I figured I wouldn't be feeling this way if I actually needed these items in my make up collection, but the 3 for 2 offer was on so you can hardly walk away with just one item... right?

For a while now I've found myself having a love/hate relationship with my eyebrows. For starters, I find it almost impossible to get them looking remotely similar on both sides, and I must spend a good 20 minutes on them some days which really isn't ideal. Today I decided enough was enough, and after spending hours last night watching endless beauty gurus rave on about the Soap and Glory Archery Bow Tint and Pencil, I decided I had to go and purchase it.

Having medium to dark brown hair, I always struggle to decide what colour brow products to buy, but luckily for me this pencil only comes in two shades; Love is Blonde and Brownie Points, so you can probably tell which one I opted for. The thing I like most about this product is that it is double ended, consisting of a fine-tipped brow tint on the left and a pencil on the right. The packaging instructs you to use the left side first, using light, feathery strokes to fill in any gaps in your brows. To add more 'oomph' and definition you can use the pencil over the top. I've found that combining the two is definitely the most effective way to achieve perfect brows, and after just one use I feel like I may have finally found my Holy Grail brow product!

Before discovering this little gem, I was convinced that the only way to have perfectly defined brows was to jump on the bandwagon and buy a Mac 266 brush and fill my brows in with a powder. Of course this doesn't come cheap, which is why I plummeted for the £10 option from Soap and Glory. I'll admit that for a brow product it is priced a little steep, but it's incredibly difficult to find a decent brow product for anything less, so for me it's definitely worth it.

I must already own close to a trillion-and-one concealers, but I've heard so many things about this one that I simply couldn't not try it out for myself. I may have only used this once so far, but I already feel that this really lives up to it's name- it honestly does kick ass. First of all there are two shades; one peach-toned designed for under-eye circles and one yellow-toned to use for concealing spots. Not only this, but there's also a secret compartment at the top containing a translucent setting powder to set everything in place. The concealers have a creamy consistency making them easy to blend and so far I've found that a little goes a long way. With many people comparing this to the £29 Laura Mercier Undercover Pot, this is definitely a great alternative at a fraction of the price! (Available here).

Having swooned over the Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks for quite long enough, I decide it was finally time to try one out. I picked Bashful- a super-glossy light pink shade. I used to shy away from lip glosses as I used to find them quite drying, but if anything, this is the exact opposite. It glides effortlessly onto the lips leaving them feeling instantly moisturised, and it smells incredible. With the warmer weather coming, I think these would be a perfect alternative to ordinary lip glosses as they provide moisture as well as a pop of colour.

What are your favourite products from Soap and Glory? :)

 

Despite feeling quite content with my skincare and make up products at the moment, I simply cannot walk past Boots without popping in and having a little nosey around to check out the latest offers and bargains. Over the past week alone I must have gone into Boots more than a handful of times, and of course I couldn't walk away empty handed when there's a 3 for 2 on. I thought I'd compile a few recent purchases into one blog post instead of reviewing everything separately, so here we go!

If you've read my first ever blog post, it'll come as no surprise to you to know that I am slightly obsessed with making sure all traces of make up are successfully removed from my face. When I was prowling down the aisle in Boots I came across this: the  Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I believe this may have been on offer when I bought it but I'm not 100% sure, although at full price it retails at £4.99 for 400ml which I think is very reasonable. The bottle states that it removes make up, cleanses and soothes, which I definitely agree with. It's incredibly gentle on the skin and it doesn't leave your face feeling dehydrated afterwards, which I used to find with other 'water-like' cleansers. I cannot compare this to the likes of Taaj or Bioderma as this is the first Micellar Water I have used, but I'm pretty sure it does the same job at a fraction of the price. It's interesting to note that if you use 2ml of product at a time, you'll get a whopping 200 uses from just one bottle... perfect if you're looking for an effective make up remover on a budget!

Another skincare product I bought was the Eucerin DermatoCLEAN Calrifying Toner. I've owned a number of different toners in the past as I really like how they leave your skin feeling refreshed after cleansing. This was a bit of an impulse buy as I do already have a Garnier toner stashed away in a drawer somewhere, but recently my skin has gone rather dry in patches so I wanted something gentle enough to cleanse my skin without causing further irritation. This has been doing the job perfectly, it soothes your skin as opposed to stinging it and leaves it feeling super clean and refreshed, what more could you want?

This last skincare-related product was placed on the clearance shelf in Boots for the extraordinary price of £1... and of course I just couldn't resist. After having a quick browse on Google I've come to the conclusion that Boots no longer sell this or it's unavailable; it isn't being sold on their website any more which perhaps explains why it was reduced in-store. Anyway, this is the Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer. I've started using a primer more recently to prevent any oil building up throughout the day, so I thought I'd try this one out to see how it compares to the one I've been using from Seventeen (featured in this blog post.) Consistency-wise, it feels more like a moisturiser than a primer, but that could be because I'm used to the feel of silicone primers. It absorbs quickly into the skin leaving your face feeling smooth and ready for foundation, and I particularly like that it's oil and fragrance free meaning there are no nasty chemicals going to irritate your skin. In all honesty, I have only used this once or twice since I got it so I don't really have an opinion on it as of yet, but i'm sure it'll grow on me the more I use it. Despite it being unavailable at Boots, it is still being sold at Superdrug and I believe at full price it costs around £6.99.

Ahh, now onto the 3 for 2 beauty bargains. First of all, I really LOVE the plain old pressed powders from Collection. I'll admit they don't look anything special, but for the price of £1.99 they do a pretty good job of reducing shine. I'm particularly fond of the shade 'Translucent', as it's very yellow-toned and I like to counteract some of the pink in my skin. Funnily enough I actually picked up the wrong shade in this, as I thought their other shade 'Candlelight' was the one I was looking for with the yellow undertones, but for some reason it contrasts entirely with the name and is in fact lighter than the one in 'Translucent' (verrry bizarre). 

The next thing I bought was this Collection 'Intense Colour' eyeliner  in the colour 'Birdy Song' (how cute is the name?!) I was after a brown eyeliner for a while, as I think it really compliments blue eyes and isn't as full-on and dramatic as black... perfect for days when you want to wear less make-up. I have to say, I'm actually very impressed with this. I've had hundreds of inexpensive eyeliners in the past that have all felt scratchy, so I didn't hold out much hope for this one. It's pleasantly surprised me though, as it's very pigmented, applies smoothly and can be blended out easily for a more smoky look. (£1.99, available here.)

Last but by no means least is this Natural Collection Colour Corrector. I've never tried one of these before, but it caught my eye while I was mooching around looking for something to make up (excuse the pun) my 3 items in order to only pay for 2. From what I know, the green counteracts the redness in your skin, so I've been dabbing this over any areas prone to redness and blending it in, adding a little bit of concealer over the top before applying foundation. Now, it is a little scary at first, (I looked somewhat like Casper the Friendly Ghost the first time I used this) but after adding some concealer over the top and blending it in, I do think it makes a difference in reducing redness, and at £1.99 it's an absolute bargain.

Have you bought any beauty bargains recently?

L-R: Soap & Glory 'Night in Shining Armour' Night Cream, Tangle Teezer, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo, Essie 'we're in it together', Jemma Kidd Front Cover Concealer, Seventeen Photo Flawless Primer, Elizabeth Arden Green Tea & Honeysuckle EDT

As a self-confessed shopaholic, I'm always on the lookout for new products to try. So when I found out my mum was due to place an order with Fragrance Direct, I couldn't resist having a little nose around on their website myself. To my surprise I actually found some pretty good bargains, the Essie nail polish pictured above was just £1.99!! As well as that, I thought I'd give the Jemma Kidd Front Cover Concealer a try, so before I knew it the online basket was bulging full of things for myself rather than for my mum.. whoops!

Of course the spending didn't end there. Whilst in town I thought I'd just quickly 'nip into Boots', but as you can probably guess that didn't quite happen... consequently leaving my purse empty but my shopping bag full of more beauty goodies.

The first thing I spotted was this; the Soap & Glory Night in Shining Armour night cream. When it comes to Soap & Glory products I always find it's the packaging that entices me, and this was no different. I love the mixture of pinks with the black & white photos; it gives off a real sophisticated, vintage vibe. Priced at £13 it is a little pricey if you're used to buying cheaper products available on the high-street, but you do get a 50ml jar and as you'll only be using this at night time it should last longer than your average 'use whenever you like' cream.

Tangle Teezer, £10.99 available at Boots

Ahh, the Tangle Teezer. This is something I've been wanting to try for a while now, so when I stumbled across one online I just had to go ahead and buy it. 
My hair isn't particularly long, (I'd say it was just past shoulder length)- so generally I don't find knotty hair to be a huge problem. Although combing through my hair when it's just been washed always proves to be a challenge, I seem to end up with just as much hair in my brush than on my head (ouch). But alas, the Tangle Teezer has entered my life and WOW, I LOVE it. The bristles glide through your hair effortlessly which in turn makes it so much easier to keep your hair in pristine condition with minimal breakage. When I first used this it felt as if I was brushing through my hair with a piece of velcro; it's so light-weight it doesn't feel like you're even brushing your hair! And best of all, it's the perfect shape and size to carry in your handbag for any hair-related emergencies you might encounter during these autumnal months ahead.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo

This is something I've heard SO much about from online reviews and various beauty bloggers and vloggers. It's the Effaclar Duo by La Roche-Posay; the 'dermatologists brand of choice recommended by 25,000 dematologists worldwide.' Of course this persuaded me to take the plunge and buy it.. 25,000 people can't be wrong, can they?
I've been using this product for a few weeks now and so far, so good. I've been applying it all over my skin in the mornings and at night, particularly focusing on areas where I have spots or where I'm prone to blemishes. Upon first use, it was if I could feel the product working as a few seconds after applying my skin felt a little stingy (though personally in a strange sort of way I do quite like to feel some effect from the product... at least then I feel like it's doing something and it isn't just a load of watery nothingness). 

Priced at £13.00 it is a little steep compared to other spot treatments on the market, but my skin was in such a state I felt I had no choice but to give this product a go, and I'm so glad I did. I've also noticed that applying this before my make-up has made a huge difference in how my skin looks during the day. I used to notice my skin start to go oily around midday, but this product seems to really help in reducing the appearance of shine... something that was always a huge bugbear of mine ..(who wants to keep reapplying powder all day?!) Thankfully this is much less of an issue now I have this product in my life, so I'd definitely recommend this for those of you who suffer with oily or acne-prone skin.

Essie 'We're In It Together'

Next up we have this lovely little nail polish from Essie. It's a really gorgeous baby pink colour with a slight glittery shimmer, perfect for those days when the sun is shining and you want to feel a little bit girlie. This is the first Essie nail polish I've ever bought, but I highly doubt it'll be the last. The brush is a lot bigger than most other nail polish brushes I've used which means you can cover over your nails a lot quicker. As with most pastel nail polish colours, I'd recommend you went over your nails a couple of times to make sure you have a really even coverage, as I didn't find one coat of this to be enough.

Jemma Kidd Front Cover Concealer in colour 01, Fair

Now I'm going to be completely honest here, I don't really know why I bought this, but I'm the type of person who can't only have one concealer... although that being said I now have five- (I guess you could say my obsession is becoming slightly out of hand). Anyway, I decided to give this a go as it promises to help 'soothe and hydrate skin', with added vitamins A and E. I opted to use this mostly under my eyes to hide those dreaded dark circles, and after a few hundred twists of the bottle later the concealer decided to make an appearance and seep out onto the little brush. 

Coverage-wise it is pretty good, my under-eye circles seemed a lot less noticeable but I can't help but think that the packaging is made to make this product appear a lot better than it actually is. At the end of the day it's just a concealer, does it really need to be in a bottle that you have to keep twisting in order to even get a glimpse of the product? (The more you twist the more you hear little clicking sounds.. it does get a bit monotonous). Apart from that, it does do the job and is streamline enough to take with you on nights out so there are a few plus points at least.

Seventeen Photo Flawless Primer

Next we have one of my favourite products so far. I came across this when I was mooching around Boots, and I'm so glad I did. The gel-like texture feels a bit odd at first but as soon as you apply it to your skin it makes your face feel super soft and silky. When I first used this I applied it before my concealer, which lets just say didn't work out too well as the texture of the primer meant the concealer didn't have anything to 'grip' onto, so it basically just slid back off. Then again that was probably down to my inexperience of using primers... this is the first one I've actually gone out and bought (after sampling many on the back of my hand!) Anyway, this product did make my make up stay on a lot longer than I would've originally thought, and like I previously mentioned I tend to get a little bit oily around my nose and after using a primer it did make a difference in reducing the amount of shine.. meaning I could go longer without reapplying powder, yay!

Elizabeth Arden Green Tea & Honeysuckle EDT

Last but by no means least I have this; the Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Honeysuckle Eau de Toilette. I bought this around the beginning of August as I was on the lookout for a light, summer fragrance- and this ticked all the boxes. To start off with it cost around £15 and that was for 100ml which I thought was extremely good value. The scent itself I would describe as very light and fresh- (emphasis on the 'light'... it doesn't last very long so you need quite a few sprays) but I do really like it; it's very clean and nowhere near sweet and sickly like many other 'summery' fragrances out there in the shops. 

Top notes: bergamot, lemon, green tea, tangerine and boysenberry

Middle notes: honeysuckle, jasmine sambac, ylang ylang, green tea and Tunisian neroli

Base notes: peach, musk, birch and ambrette.