Pre-Holiday Beauty Essentials

Less than three weeks until our holiday! 

These are my pre holiday beauty essentials to make sure I look and feel my best!

 

 Soap & Glory The Breakfast Scrub £9.45/300ml

 I've been using this twice a week on my legs and upper arms to buff away dry/dead skin. One day I'm going to lose control and just eat it as it smells sooo good! Just an amazing product, it leaves no greasy residue on my skin and it gives a great exfoliation without being harsh on my skin.

 

 Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula £3.77/250ml

Another amazing smelling product! I've been using this every morning after my shower mainly on my legs and they have never been softer! I've got a few marks on the bottoms of my legs from some mosquito bites I scratched a bit too much and this has actually worked on fading them - they are much less noticeable and I'm a lot happier to get my legs out now!

Botanics Detox Brush £5.72

I'm quite lucky that I don't suffer from the dreaded cellulite (yet!) but prevention is better than cure and I've been using this brush every morning for the past two weeks to get my circulation going! I don't know if these have actually been proven to work, but it feels nice to give my legs a five minute brush before my shower every morning!

 VO5 Treat Me Right Hair Mask £4.97/300ml

My hair gets a bit frazzled from using too much heat so I though a hair mask might sort it out. I've only used this twice so far - its lovely and thick, smells very summery and has left my hair feeling nice and soft. I'm going to keep using this two or three time a week and hopefully my hair will be in better condition come holiday time. I've also decided to have a good inch chopped off the ends before we go, eek!

Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash £7.00/100ml & Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator £8.00/75ml

My skin was in a terrible state last week, I think the humidity paired with my heavy foundation caused a breakout and left me pretty depressed. I had a 50% discount code from the Body Shop website so I bought these products to sort it out! 

I also bought a Seaweed Clay Mask but in the five days between placing my order and it being dispatched (five days!) it sold out and I never received it. In the few days I've been using these products though my skin has seen a massive improvement so all is well!

Do you have any pre-holiday beauty recommendations?

A Day In The Life Of My Face

At the moment I'm not using loads of facial products but my skin does seem to be behaving so I don't want to risk upsetting the routine!

This is what I am using on a daily basis.

7:30am Dirty Works Wake Up Call Face Wash

I've been using this face wash for quite a few weeks now and I'm really liking it. I'm not so keen on using exfoliators in the morning as they just encourage my skin to become oily throughout the day, so I find this gentle wash to be perfect alternative as it leaves my face feeling thoroughly cleansed. 

8.00am No7 Toner & Shiseido Moisturiser

I use this toner out of habit more than anything else, but I do like the soft, refreshed feeling it gives my skin. 

I only use a tiny amount of this moisturiser over my face in the mornings - probably about half a pump. You can read my full review here, but basically I love it as it doesn't make my skin oily and it acts as a pretty good primer for make up.

8:15am Make Up
I don't tend to wear loads of make up to work and I like to keep it quite natural. I also wear glasses in the week so I keep my eyes very minimal - literally only eye liner on my top lid and mascara - and either focus on a pop of colour on my cheeks, or a bright lipstick.

1.00pm Make Up Touch Up 

Lunchtime! This is the time to whip out the mirror and check how my face it holding up! Usually I don't need much - just a dusting of translucent powder and another coat of lipstick if I'm wearing any.

5:30pm Baby Wipes & Body Shop Vitamin E Cleanser

If I see my boyfriend after work I'm a bit naughty/lazy and just layer some more make up on over the top of what I've had on all day. However, if I'm going to the gym after work I need to make sure all of my make up is removed. People at the gym are probably the only people (apart from family and the boy) who see me make up-less. Lucky them! I love these baby wipes - they remove the vast majority of my make up, but I do like to make sure its all gone with a quick wash using The Body Shop's Vitamin E cleanser. This is also great for hydrating my skin, full review here.

7:30pm No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser

This cleanser has only recently become a daily part of my routine. I used to only use it once a week but after seeing people have amazing results with daily use I decided to up my game with it! I've already noticed my skin feels so much cleaner and softer for using it. The gentle exfoliation with the muslin cloth seems to be a lot better for my skin than a scrub so I'm going to continue with this daily.

7:45pm Avon Toner & Shiseido moisturiser

 When I first got this toner I was bit reluctant to try it but I'm glad it's part of my routine now. It's slightly harsher than the No7 toner but leaves my skin refreshed without drying it out.

I like to use a full pump to a pump and a half of this moisturiser at night to ensure my face is well hydrated. I never used to like moisturising at night as whenever I did I would wake up with skin so oily I would just end up getting upset over it. This sinks into my skin overnight and I wake up with a soft, smooth, healthy looking face!

So that's my daily routine - I'm glad I've found one that is working for me and manages to keep my skin under control!

2 Weeks To Pretty Feet! Moisturisers & Butters

Are you wearing your flip flops yet?

I am, but I'm still working on making my feet even prettier for when we really get into the summer months!

This week, along with my Ped-Egg, I have been slathering my feet in a range of lovely moisturisers and butters in a bid to soften my heels and get beautiful glowing feet.

Here's what I have been loving this week:

Boots Gorgeous Feet Rapid Cracked Heel Repair 100ml £5.10

They Say: "Simply massage this balm into cracked heels for an overnight improvement. Continue for three days and you'll see a real difference as the special rejuvenating formulation works to repair damage and promote soft smooth heels once more."

First of all, the floral, vanilla smell of this cream is so delicious I could eat it! This is my newest foot purchase and I have been using it twice a day as directed. Maybe my heels were in quite a bad state, but it took between 5 and 7 days to see a noticeable difference, rather than the stated 3 days. Despite this, I really recommend this product! I usually apply quite a thick layer in the evening and pop some socks on overnight (does anyone else love wearing socks in bed? Just me?) and use a thinner layer for the daytime, and it really has worked wonders - the skin on the back of my feet looks a lot softer and smoother.

Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion 60ml £3.00

They Say: "Fights odour causing bacteria, and promotes a cooling sensation on the skin to leave feet feeling refreshed."

I tend to use this after my post gym shower as running often leaves me with weary feet and this is a pretty good pick me up. I'm not a great fan of the smell - peppermint is a bit too overpowering for me, but it doesn't linger too much and once I've put my cotton socks on the smell is pretty much covered up anyway. At £3 for 60ml this little tube is a bargain - I only use it three times a week so it lasts well.

Avon Foot Works Heel Softening Cream 75ml £2.50

They Say: "Cracking up? Give you heels some sanity. Relieves extremely dry, cracked skin on feet, providing 24 hour moisturisation. Helps heal and guard against skin infection in tender, cracked skin."

I purchased this a couple of months ago and despite the price, and the not so pretty packaging, it actually works quite well - just as well as the Boots Heel Repair in fact. I find that I don't reach for this as much now that I have a Boots version, but it's definitely a handy backup to have.

Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter 50ml £5.00

They Say: "An intensive creamy all over body moisturiser, offering up to 24 hours moisturisation with a sweet berry fragrance."

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter 50ml £2.35
They Say: "Smooth, creamy and velvety. With skin softening shea butter and aloe vera to attract moisture."

These are my weekend luxury treatments! I love the thickness of these body butters and on a Sunday night I like to slather a thick layer of one on before covering up with cotton socks and my feet are left feeling gorgeous on Monday morning. A real treat for the feet!

Which foot creams have you been using? Do you mind wearing socks in bed?!

Vitamin E Moisturisers For Dry Skin

I've had to take the day off work because of my cold and my poor skin is suffering badly. It feels dry and congested and my regular cleanser is just too harsh at the moment. I've been moisturising at night but still waking up with dry patches in the morning - luckily I remembered that I have these Vitamin E products from the Body Shop. They were presents last year but they hardly got used but I've been so glad of them today!

Body Shop Vitamin E Sink-In Moisture Mask 100ml

£11.00

This mask 'helps restore skin's optimum moisture level.' I applied this mask for ten minutes this morning before gently wiping it off with a muslin cloth. After only one use it has made all the difference and the dry patches around my chin and on my cheeks have gone. It doesn't leave my skin greasy and it's not matte either - just somewhere in between and it feels a lot less tight.

Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Cleanser 200ml

£7.00

This cleanser is just lovely. It 'leaves your skin clean, soft and supple.' I have avoided using cleansers like this in the past because I don't feel they are effective as facial scrubs, but today I was desperate! The cleanser is not too thick and it's incredible creamy. I massaged it into my face and it did sting a little bit because my skin was so tight. After I rinsed it off I have to say I was surprised at how clean my skin felt. It also felt a lot softer to touch.

I think I'll continue to use these products until my cold has cleared up - they are both very gentle and effective and I'm so glad I have them! They might seem a bit pricey but a little goes a long way and they work after just one use; definitely worth the money.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day drinking plenty of hot tea and playing with my new BlackBerry!

Enter My Giveaway! NOW CLOSED!

I've reached 50 followers, so to say thank you I'm doing a tiny little giveaway!

1 pack of Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps in Pink Velvet Leopard

1 tube of Soap & Glory Hand Food 50ml

1 pot of Soap & Glory Flake Away 50ml

and

1 pot of Soap and Glory Righteous Butter 50ml

1 pot of Body Shop Body Butter in Wild Cherry 50ml

1 bottle of Barry M Nail Paint in Bright Red 10ml

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(let me know if you do any of these!)

Giveaway open until Monday 28th February 8pm!

The winner will be chosen at random.

Good luck and thank you for reading my blog!