SKIN MONTH | LAND OF SOAP AND GLORY

You can't spend a month reviewing skin products without delving into the wonderful world of Soap and Glory now can you. (As shallow as this sounds) one of the main things that attracted me to Soap and Glory originally was the cute and vintage-looking packaging, both of which I am a sucker for, I can't help but want something if it comes in a pretty packaging.

Everyone knows Soap and Glory to be quite an expensive brand so my excitement was obvious when I came across the Boots miniatures section and found a mini Righteous Butter and Hand Food for only £2.50 each! Granted these tubs are tiny, but it means I have to avid spending over £10 on a massive tub that I may not even like. I decided to get the Righteous Butter as everyone raves about it and that appears to be what they are most famous for and my mother already has a bottle of Hand Food.

Soap and Glory Hand Food (normal size- £5 for 125ml, miniature- £2.50 for 50ml)- I am normally not much of a hand cream lover as I really hate my hands to be greasy or sticky. The first thing I noticed about this hand cream is it stinks. Now I don't know if this is because my tube is quite old but it smells horrible and I have already washed it off (I am praying that it's because it's old). The good points are that it sinks into your hands really quickly so you don't feel greasy, but it didn't really make my hands feels any softer and it almost made them feel worse. I will not be buying this again due to how bad it smells and I can easily buy an overall nicer hand cream for much cheaper.

Soap and Glory Righteous Butter (normal size- £10.50 for 300ml, miniature- £2.50 for 50ml)- Every Christmas and birthday I am always given masses of Body Shop body butters so that is what I have been using for the past few years; I rarely remember to use body butter but, when I do, I use it in the evenings after a shower or bath. I was a bit worried about trying this after my disappointment with Hand Food as I believe they have the same formula or scent or something, so I was super glad that they do it in a miniature size for relatively cheap. One of my favourite things about this product before even using it is that it was technically free as everything in Boots in currently on 3-for-2 and I'd bought some face wash and toner so this was my free thing which I love. I like this product but I really don't see all that much difference between using this and a Body Shop one. I'm not sure if I will repurchase this as it is quite expensive and there are cheaper options out there which work in the same way.

With the most expensive item costing £3.50 and the permanent 3-for-2 offer, I will definitely be taking advantage of the Soap and Glory travel range at Boots- fantastic bargain.
The one thing I am slightly regretful about not being able to try this month is a hot cloth cleanser but I will be on the look out to hopefully try one soon.

SKIN MONTH | THE WIPE COMPARISON

I reviewed the Body Shop Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes earlier this month and I completely fell in love with them, HOWEVER, I am nearly running out and Body Shop is rather expensive so I thought I'd try another (and slightly cheaper) brand of wipes and see the comparison...
(Read my Body Shop wipes review here)

Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes (£2.99):
These come to half the price of the Body Shop wipes (they cost £6) so for starters I am pleased. Simple claims to remove waterproof mascara but, as I don't wear much mascara and when I do it's non-waterproof, unfortunately I cannot review that for you (I am very tempted to get my best friend to try one out for me but that might be a bit weird). These wipes also claim to be good for sensitive skin which is great for me, but, when I was testing out super dark foundation on my brothers hand as a joke- poor boy, he scrubbed a bit too hard to get it off and his hand came out a bit splotchy for a while, however I did not find this to be the case on my hand when removing lipstick samples so I suppose it is different for different people (?).
Once I actually tried these on my face I completely fell in love with them, I believe that they even work a little bit better than the Body Shop ones which is fab. The Simple wipes are also so much more gentle on my skin (which is what it says on the packet), I find that under my eyes gets quite sore if I rub too hard with the Body Shop ones but that doesn't happen with Simple. After removing my eyeliner with the Simple wipes there was actually nothing left and it had even removed two day old makeup which was brilliant.
I feel very unfaithful to my Body Shop wipes that I have loved so much but I do think that I will be repurchasing the Simple ones over them as I think they work a little bit better and the Simple ones are half the price of the Body Shop ones (see above for prices).

SKIN MONTH | YES ANOTHER BODY SHOP REVIEW

*Just to start I would like to say that I am sorry I have not posted for a while but I went on a camping competition with my Explorer Scouts (which I won) last weekend (really not good for your skin that) so obviously I cannot post from a tent.*

In my last Body Shop review I was not feeling the Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask vibe and, if it's possible, my view on it has actually decreased the more I've used it. I have only used this product twice but I don't think I'll be using it again in a hurry unless I run out of other face packs. Really soon after I put the mask on my face started to feel like it was burning, which is not ideal. I decided to stick the mask out until it dried because it does dry really quickly, but when I took it off it start to burn again and the exfoliating particles do not appear to wash off with the rest of the mask and I found myself having to stand there scrubbing it, my face also started to burn again when I used my normal tea tree soap afterwards. I am really disappointed as this is the first ever Body Shop product that I really have not liked, despite how smooth my skin feels afterwards. I have found, though, that the mask is doing nothing for my skin and my face really smells like seaweed afterwards which I do not want. I am going to try another Body Shop face pack because they have always been very good before, but I think I should just stick to my normal tea tree...

Tea Tree Face Mask:
Despite my initial disappointment with my other Body Shop face mask, I didn't want to give up on all hope of Body Shop skin products as I have been highly praising of them in the past. For this reason I decided to go back to an old favourite which I knew (and hoped) wouldn't fail me- the tea tree face mask. I have written before how good tea tree is for your skin (I actually took an online test on the Body Shop website link here which I really recommend doing and it actually said I should be using tea tree for my personal skin- so there you go!). There's something very refreshing about tea tree and your skin feels very soft, fresh and light after use. This is quite an old tub and I believe the packaging has changed slightly since I bought mine but the product itself is still the same. I love this face mask, it does exactly what I want it to (clears spots) and I will be buying it again.

Another product that I recommend is the aime Spring Clean Cooling Clay Mask which I won't review as it is basically the same as the tea tree one above, but it is a very good product and this one tube has lasted me literally years; I would be inclined to say that aime is one of the best.

IRRELEVANT POST

Irrelevant post, but hi this is my face for those of who you were wondering, this was taken on my last day of year 11 in May I think

SKIN MONTH | A BIT OF A WEIRD ONE

Every teenage girl can tell you without a doubt that Montagne Jeunesse are the best face packs ever. Now most will not actually know what the brand is called but EVERYONE knows the packaging. A French brand, these face packs come in individual sachets that cost £1 each from Boots or Claire's accessories and are the perfect quick or sleepover companion.

(Every girl in the world knows this packaging design immediately)

After the last face pack disaster (which I will go into more detail on later this week) I popped into Boots and picked up my favourite one, the Passion Peel Off. The ingredients of this mask are not the thing that appeals to me, it's the fact that, once dry, you peel this mask off like when you were a child and covered your hands in PVA glue just for the fun of peeling it off when dry. Childish, I know.

The thing that struck my most when I opened the sachet was the nostalgia I got from it, every summer I go on a group holiday with my dad's friends from uni and the three girls (me included) buy masses of these and have daily pamper evenings. This smells really great but comes out of the packaging in a thinner, pink colour so it does look like you've got a bad rash all over your face. I really can't fault these face masks, they are so fun and come in loads of different types (my other favourites being the red one that heats up on your face and the chocolate one that you have to physically resist eating). My skin feels all smoothy smooth after taking this off and they make the best presents or things for a sleepover or pamper day with your friends (also I cannot explain how much fun it is to peel this one off when it has dried).

The one problem I have with these is that there is too much in one sachet for one mask, but then you have to leave the packet somewhere safe is you want to use it again but it may dry up. That being said, it only costs a pound so only being able to use it once is really not that much of a problem.

SKIN MONTH | EVERYDAY ROUTINE

So this post isn't going to be very interesting but as it's Skin Month I thought it was only right that I addressed by daily skin routine...

(Apologises for the half-used products) 

1. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash- tea tree is super good for your skin, I use this twice daily and then wash it off using Boots cotton wool pads.
2. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Cleansing and Toning Lotion- it is always good to use toner on your skin, I use this once every morning and dab a couple of drops of it onto a cotton wool pad.
3. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Exfoliating Face Scrub- (yes there is a trend going on) as I wrote here, I am not a great fan off exfoliating products for your face so I only use this about once a month but exfoliation is good and you should not run away from it just because it feels weird.
4. (A new one) Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes- I use these in the evening to take off my eye makeup and then give my face a quick wipe before I wash it properly, I love these wipes so much.
5. Neutrogena moisturiser- favourite moisturiser, not much else to say about that really.
6. Burt's Bees lip balm- I just have the normal, original, no extra stuff, whatever you want to call it one and I lovelovelovelove it sososososo much, I use it every night before I go to bed so I have super smoothy lips when I wake up. I also use it as a base if I'm going to be wearing lip gloss because I find that some lip glosses dry your lips out a bit and this just prevents it.

 The Boots tea tree and witch hazel range

Personal favourites

Available at Boots or Waitrose- I love these

 

 

Now moving onto make up, I don't wear all that much to school because I have no time if I actually want to sleep in the morning.

The bare minimum

1. Body Shop concealer- I have spoken about this before but it's really good and does not cause excess breakouts like some concealers do.
2. Body Shop black eyeliner pencil- Just on the lower lash line and water line, I have super sensitive eyes and this is a good quality eyeliner without being overpriced like many other sensitive eyes products (COUGH No7 COUGH).
3. Mascara- I don't often wear mascara but when I do I wear No7 sensitive eyes in black, the one thing I hate about mascara is you can never seen when you're nearly running out.
4. Maybelline Baby Lip in Peach Kiss- perfect everyday lip balm, tastes good and has a teeny tiny shimmer to it in certain lights.
5. Body Shop Born Lippy in Guava- I absolutely love these but I have so many and never manage to finish them (my friend gets through a whole pot in about three months which is quite impressive considering how much is in there and how little you need at a time). Guava has got to be by far the nicest Born Lippy (I have about three pots of the strawberry one, however- yummy) but I find that they dry my lips out so I just whack on a layer of Burt's Bees and it works like a dream team.

Looks amazing and smells amazing I absolutely love this product (guava flavoured)

SKIN MONTH | BODY SHOP REVIEW

So here is the first of my Love Your Skin Month product reviews, and we're starting with the Body Shop...

Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask:
Normally I get the Tea Tree Face Mask as tea tree is soso good for your skin, but this time I decided to mix it up a bit and go for something (hopefully) a bit stronger. Due to the 'clay mask' bit of the name, I was expecting a very hard product, but when I opened the tub the product was surprisingly soft and smooth and went on really nicely with a great coverage. It also smelt really good, like a subtle salty water scent, but the longer I kept it on my face the stronger the scent got until it was a rather unpleasant fishy-seaweed scent. You have to leave the product on your face until it has dried (the colour changes from dark grey to light grey so you know it's dry) but by the end the product had almost started to burn and I was itching to take it off. When I did take it off I remembered that there were small, gritty, exfoliating particles in it (which is great, I'm all for removing dead skin) but felt like rubbing sand on your face and actually hurt when taking it off. To take the product off I used the Body Shop Muslin Cloth and I was actually so surprised at how easy the face pack came off! Which most face packs it takes a lot of scrubbing to remove it once it has dried, but this one came off really quickly and easily (I only use a thin layer because the product is very thick and I want it to actually work and not just sit there). I'm not sure how I feel about this product, but my skin does feel very smooth afterwards and it dries super quickly so you don't have to keep it on for very long which is great. I am going to keep on using this product despite the negatives as it feels quite good for my skin, I will update if my opinion changes in the next few weeks but now we will just have to wait and see...

 

 

 

Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes:

These have got to be the best makeup wipes I have ever used. They remove makeup I didn't even know I still had on without hurting your eyes. They can make under your eyes feel a bit sore if you rub it for too long and too hard but that doesn't last long. There's not much I can say about this product apart from the fact that I absolutely love it and it's not scented which is great if you're using it on your eyes like I do. The Body Shop Vitamin E range is one of the best and is good for your skin and so far I cannot fault this product in any way- I am a very happy bunny.

 

SKIN MONTH

I am absolutely awful to my skin, I mistreat it, I ignore it, and I just generally don't take good care of it, therefore I have decided that October will be my Love Your Skin Month (or just Skin Month). So throughout October I will be aiming to trying out different skin care products, starting with the Body Shop.

I have always found the Body Shop to be one of the best for skin care (plus there is a three-for-two offer on all skin care products at the moment, there is also there same offer for everything in Boots, Soap and Glory here I come). I have really bad skin at the moment and colder weather does nothing to help it so firstly I have bought the Body Shop Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask which I am hoping will clear up my spots and stop my skin being so dry (SIDE NOTE: the lovely lady in Body Shop said you only need to use the face pack once a week or even once a month will be fine otherwise it will have the reverse affect and rid your skin of all the nutrients).

I also bought the Body Shop Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes as the makeup remover I am currently using is feeling very bad for my eyes so I thought a change was necessary.

I am looking to try out some Soap and Glory skin care products and possibly a hot cloth cleanser, and the purchase of more Body Shop products will be inevitable, especially with all the offers everywhere at the moment. I will be reviewing the products as I go, so happy Skin Month!

SEPTEMBER FAVOURITES

Hello October!

I am so happy that October is finally here, I've been waiting for this all month (pun intended, I am so funny)! I love October, now we can finally stop saying 'oh well it's still sort of summer' and embrace the comforts of autumn and comfy clothes. It is my opinion that October is the official start of autumn, and summer will be sorely missed, but now the weather has an official reason to be crappy (and also it's nearly Christmas).
So, hello to October and the autumn months, and here is my official September favourites list:

1. Neutrogena moisturiser - September is the official start of my winter dry skin and, no matter how many different moisturisers I try, I will always come back again and again to Neutrogena and it is a permanent staple in my bathroom.

2. Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee - This is the perfect nude colour that I have been loving this month, (sad to admit) I felt all grown up swanning into sixth form with my nude nails. I cannot rave enough about the Barry M Gelly line, I wore the nail varnish for nearly two weeks without having to repaint it because it doesn't chip! I am so excited about this and I can't wait for Barry M to bring out more colours (hint hint a black one please).

 

3. Soup - I feel like I don't need to explain this one, soup is amazing in every way.
4. New stationary - The highlight of the school year.
5. Thick jumpers - Praise the Lord, jumpers are officially back! Thick jumpers are the best item of clothing ever invented, apart from maybe onesies...
6. Maybelline  Baby Lips in Peach Kiss - Yes, I talk about these a lot, but I have fallen in love with Peach Kiss, it's simply the best (cue break into Tina Turner impression).

7. Twinning's Lemon and Ginger tea - Looks a bit like piss (to put it politely), tastes amazing.
8. Body Shop concealer - I have found the perfect concealer, it's my exact skin colour! Body Shop makeup is always brilliant and this is no exception.
9. THE NEW YOU ME AT SIX SONG IT IS AMAZING OMG NEW ALBUM IN JANUARY 2014 SOMEONE HOLD ME. Sorry.
10. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - I have been hooked on these since I got back from  America and, much to my great joy, you can get them in England too!

This month I aim to take better care of my skin and use my Balmi more (and try unsuccessfully not to buy any more lip balms).

(Apologies for these next couple of posts being a lot later that I originally planned them to be).