Product review - Neutrogena PureGlow daily cleansing cushions

Hi everyone :)

While I was babysitting my mum's house I came across this interesting box of goodies - Neutrogena PureGlow daily cleansing cushions. I've tried to look these up online but not with much luck. I think they retail around the £5/under mark (22 cushions in a box).

These cleansing cushions are basically one smooth (I say smooth, but really it has little tiny bumps on it, rougher than a cotton pad) and one ridged/ textured(?) cotton pads stuck together with room to put two fingers into - like cleansing cushion finger gloves?!

You slightly dampened the cushion and gently scrub your face (I like circular motions). The cushions release a creamy lather and cleanse and gently exfoliate. I must say they were really nice to use. Left my skin feeling clean, fresh and not dry. 

I went round my face once with the stripey/textured side and then again with the smooth side. 

These are probably gently to use everyday but I just used it 3 times in the week I was there. No problems with it at all, it was particularly satisfying around the nose area!

Even if these were readily available I am not sure if they are worth £5 as you could easily recreate the effectiveness yourself, but if it was 2 boxes for £5 I may reconsider for the convenience and  novelty. They'd also be a handy product to take on a trip.

Have you tried this product before? Do you know of anything similar I could try?

xoxo

Product review - Botanics' cleansing cream and toner

Hi Guys!

Last month I was at my mum's house for a few days and instead of taking all my skincare products with me I decided that I would use whatever she had. Spoiler alert - I regret not taking my products with me.

I didn't take into account that she would have taken her favourite products away with her (the family were on holiday and I was technically squatting, but I see it as housesitting without permission) and so I was left with randoms on the beauty shelf.

Botanics:

The Botanics range is exclusive to Boots and I've always been meaning to try out thir products, as they are marketed as "natural and organic" and come at an affordable price point. Today I'll be discussing the "all brightening" gentle cleansing cream and the cleansing toner. Both were £3.99 each (and on offer for £1.99 each omg!!!)

There are products for different skin types: normal, combo, dry, senstive, oily, and aging.

First off, I must say, I really like the packaging. I just really like how clean and simple the bottles are. Some beauty products come in fancy packaging that is not always practical. My hands are wet, I've got soap suds in my eyes, I ain't got no time for some rocket science lid contraption. Give a girl a break!

Cleanser:

The cleanser was....blah. Ironically, nothing to write home about. Personally, I would not be able to use this on a daily basis, it would take years to remove my make up. To be fair, my make up does need industrial strength stuff to budge and I never have hope that this type of cream cleanser would do me any favours.

But - it was gentle, my sensitive skin did not feel like it was burning, and it did not sting my eyes. It was really refreshing on my skin and I can imagine for someone would wore no/minimum make up that this would do a decent job. 

[Big up my photography skills!]

Toner:

Toners are weird.

I guess toners are one of those products that you need to use for a while to see its outcomes. This toner was nice and refreshing and like the cleansing cream, there was no burning sensation. Was that the most useless sentence I've ever written? Probably not, but it makes the top 100 I'm sure!

So?

I won't be purchasing the cleansing cream and toner for myself, but I am interested to try out other products in the Botanics range.

Have you tried anything from Botanics before? Anything that you think I must try?

I'm really interested in the "super balm", for elbows, lips, hands, everwhere else. I love a multi purpose product.
Of course I will let you know if I give it a go :)

Hugs xoxo

StriVectin-SD Eye Concentrate for Wrinkles

Hi Guys!

This is a bit of a crap and useless post because I'm writing about something I haven't used but but but !!! You may still appreciate what I have to tell you.

Quick back story - my mum basically wanted StriVectin-SD Eye Concentrate for Wrinkles for Mother's Day. I said "no problem mummy, whatever you want, you shall get".  I looked it up online. It was rrp £55. I called my mum and said, ""£**%&$^"&"*£*"&"%" FFS jesus" and she said to forget about it and get her whichever cheaper eyecream.

Then I felt bad so I did a bit of google magic and found it for £20. Twenty friggin pounds!!!!! For the full size tube. PAY NOW!

My mum has been using it for a while now and really likes it. And actually for the £20 its an absolute bargain if you consder that most (higher end) eyecreams are about 15ml and around £20-30, and this tube is 30ml.  Not sure what I'll do when she's finished it and wants another one. Fine if I can find another bargain but still feel sick paying £55.

Really tempted to buy one for myself but don't think my face is worth this much lol

Review: Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm

Hi Guys!

Around December/January I picked up the bloggers favourite cleansing balm - Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm.

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to blog about - I love it.

I got the 100ml and I have about 3 uses left - I love it so much that I went and got myself a 200ml tub because I couldn't imagine not having this in my life.

What it does - you basically mix it with a tiny bit of water and rub it on your dirty face and it melts away your make up and leaves your face clean and moisturised. A face cloth/flannel type thing is usually used to removed this gunk, as that  motion acts as an exfoliator too.

What I use it for - now...I've tried to research this and I'm not sure why I do this but I don't often use it as a cleansing balm. I wear a ton of make up and don't find a cleansing balm too effective for me (I'll use it as a second cleanse to leve my face nice and soft) but what I love this for is......as a night time moisturiser!!!!! Seriously. I wash my face and pop this on. I'll do this about 2 times a week as I'm worried I'll break out, but it has been a good few months now and I think it's been great for my skin. I don't know anyone else who does this. I emailed the website to ask if it would kill me but no one got back to me so.......it seems ok to me.

Is this worth? - hhhhhmmmmm I can't think of any negatives aside from the price. If this was £10 I would bulk buy. It's easy to use and it leaves me with good face. 100ml is about £35rrp. I got my 200ml off of ebay. Soooo risky but rrp for 200ml is £55, and I got mine for £45. (Some people don't like the moringa smell....I can't smell it so I'm all right).

It's the sort of product that I know in my heart is so amazing but I don't feel comfortable recommending it to my friends (because of the price). Even though Hydraluron was pricey for the small tube, the effects were so wow that, as I said in my post, I would pay £100 for it and so I was happy to recommend it. With the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm it is amazing and if you love trying out skincare and don't mind throwing money into it then give it a go! If you're the sort of person who usually uses soap and water then maybe you won't appreciate this product. 

Review: No7 Cleansing Brush

Hi Guys!

As I showed in my Christmas 2014 haul my mum got me (and my brother hahaha) a cleansing brush from No7. Basically a rip off clarisonic; an electric toothbrush for the face!

When the Clarisonic was first getting hyped on youtube and on beauty blogs I was interested - I do love to manually exfoiliate but then I didn't think it would be too wise to test it out on my face, especially for a price point of way more than £100. 

But now I own this nifty little thing so I thought they'd be no harm in giving it a go. I don't know the price but considering mummy got two and also two packs of extra brushheads I am assuming No7 (Boots) gave her a good deal. 

In the box was.....exactly what you see, plus an instruction manual (press start and move it around your face!), plus 2 batteries. 

The thing I searched out for on the instruction manual was the whole water issue. I didn't want to risk electrocuting myself! But this is safe to use, even in the shower, but it says "don't submerge in water". I use mine at the sink anyway so unless I drop it in the toilet, we're a-ok here.

So....I remove makeup and cleanse my face as usual, and use this once a week for a deep cleanse. Wet the face, blob on my face wash and then press the 'start' button and gently (don't press down - I assume your face is softer than your teeth!!!) move it around your face.

I like that this is really easy to use and considering how sensitive my skin is the brushes are the right combination of soft and firm. It's been about a month and I have no complaints. I love washing my face and am tempted to use it all the time but even though I've had no bad results I don't want to tempt the skin Gods!

Rave Review - Hydraluron

I LOVE HYDRALURON!!!

I have so much love to give to this product that I am feeling slightly overwhelmed. I want you to understand how great this product is and am worried I won't do it justice.

*deep breath*

Ok, this is Hydraluron by Indeed Labs and is available exclusively at Boots. It rrps for £24.99 for 30ml. (I got mine while it was on a promo for £16).

Let's just deal with this now - it is pricey for 30ml but knowing what I know, I wold pay even more for it. In fact, after 3 days of using it, I got myself 2 more tubes of the stuff. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know then I don't know how else I can show my love. Putting my money where my mouth is!!!

It's a moisture booster. On all the reviews I read prior to parting with my money had basically copied and pasted the whole official spiel and it's like who cares! I am not a scientist, I am not trying to make it myself at home, WTF is it supposed to do and does it work!?

What does it do? MAGIC! On my face I have some broken skin and cracks from when I had an allergic reaction that literally tore my face a part. Thank god it is managable nowadays, no weeping or bleeding (jeez, sorry) but it is bone dry. I am constantly rubbing vaseline and 8 hour cream on it. I just thought it was dead skin. I put Hydraluron on my nose/mouth area and BAM! after 3 days I notice that my skin is....getting better. I don't want to say it's healing, but it hurts less, looks less angry/raw and it's not as discoloured. So that's basically why I love this and stocked up. It boosted life into my skin! (And it's silicone free which is great for me.)

It's a colourless watery gel type texture (serum!) and when you apply it on your face (I also use it on my whole face a few times a week - I'd use it everyday but it is pricey lol) it feels slightly tacky for about 2 seconds. You then put on your normal face cream (this is important, Hydraluron is not a moisturiser) and that is when you feel the magic happening.

Like I said before, I am not a scientist, and there are loads of great reviews/information out there if you are interested, but I think (very very very very) basically that hyaluronic acid can hold 1000 times its own weight in water. It is already in our bodies/skin? but hey extra help is always a good things. So anyway, you put it on your face and your other stuff and it just holds moisture. It's like a supercharger. Gummy bear juice for your face (if you get that reference then you are old enough to be using this regardless of the state of your skin!).

A little of this goes a long way. If you have dry or dehydrated skin you need this in your life. Apply it to your whole face, problem areas, whatever. Even if you buy this just to have for days when you're having a not so great skin day, or you've been partying too hard - it is worth it.

If you buy it, tell me what you think!

Day 23 – My Skincare Regime.

Hello Guys!

I'm not doing too bad catching up with the challenge if I do say so myself!

So Day 23's challenge was 'my skincare regime'. This is pretty simple for me:


AM

I wash my face using a teatree exfoliating scrub from superdrugs. (About once a fortnight I use Lush's lipscrub as well.)

Once my lenses are in and face is dry I slap on the 'natural source vitamin e cream' and then I start my make up routine.

PM

(Take out my lenses...) I wet my face and use some johnson's baby oil and cotton pads to remove my eye make up. I then use 2 wilkinsons facial wipes to get rid of my make up and then I use wilkinsons gentle facial wash.

Once I dry my face I put on my vitamin e cream (same as AM) and then I put a layer of sudocreme on my cheeks and chin (I avoid the mouth, nose and eye area). If I have a proper spot then I put on a mountain of sudocreme on the problem area.

Once in a while (when I can be bothered) I put on my eye cream and and moisture surge. I use to do this everyday but I think it might be a bit much for my skin.

Vitamin e and sudocreme kick ass! And it's so cheap!!!