Boots No7 Beautiful skin foaming cleanser

No7 has come out with a new skin care range aimed at oily skin, they also have a new dry and combination line as well. But this specific product is for normal/oily skin.

Like all No7 skincare its hypo-allergenic which is good for those who may have sensitive skin.
It comes in 150ml bottle and cost roughly £10.

This product has a slight green tint in the bottle but once pumped out it turns into a white foam, you massage it into wet skin like any other face wash and then rinse off. I found this product didn't leave my skin feeling over dry like many cleansers for oily skin do which is a great plus, It left my skin feeling clean and fresh... there isn't really any smell to it at all either which is another plus for those whose skin reacts to fragrance . Having said that this product did not overly impress me, nor do I have anything bad to say about it really. Its just an average face wash, it takes dirt of my face but doesn't really do much else, I didn't find it helped with any break outs I have but It did take the oily away for a while, so maybe if your skin is just oily and not very spot prone this might be a good product for you. Before I used this product i was using a la roche posay face wash which I found amazing! so maybe this is why I feel that this product is just a little blah and quite and anti climax. 

Its raining men!

The lush 'its raining men' shower gel is possibly the best smelling shower gel I have ever used! Its a mix between honey and toffee and buttery goodness. Mmmmmmmm, just thinking about it makes me hungry, it smells that good...( I don't recommend eating it though) Its a honey gold/yellow colour and comes in various sizes 100g- £4.25, 250g- £8.50 (which is what I have), 500g- £14.95. I bought this for my birthday which was in January and I use it on average ever other day and I'm not even half way through it. You need such a little amount to create a rich soft lather and after iv used it I find my bathroom smells of the gorgeous honey smell. This is a liquid form of honey I washed the kids soap that Lush also do, which I obviously also love more than I should. I think for a shower gel its a little of the pricey side, but because I love the smell so much I think I can deal with having to pay so much for it.

Ecotools foundation brush review

So I ran into boots before work, looking for the bourjois healthy mix foundation (another blog post entirely i know) while I was there I spotted the Ecotools retractable foundation brush, that's just like me to get side tracked by products and end up late for work and buying everything in the shop! But I noticed this product was stated as cruelty free, recycled aluminium and earth friendly which took me by surprise as not many beauty products can say the same. Just stating that convinced me to buy it and in all honesty I didn't realise it was retractable at the time, which I actually love now as I'm a university student, so spend a lot of my time lugging my stuff back and forth from halls to my home, this brush is compact and you can just pop the lid on and through it in your bag without a fuss.


Pros 

• soft, so so soft! 
• The bristles are dense which makes it great for liquid foundation 
• easy to store away as its retractable 
• The bristles go into a slight point so good for getting in around the nose area. 
• no shedding or streaks 
• The brush is synthetic taklon bristles (easy to clean)

Cons

• I have only one con, which isn't really a con but sort of is haha ... as the brush is on the smaller side it takes slightly longer to buff the foundation in, only slightly though. But this isn't necessarily a con at all but I'm clutching at straws here really. 

Also on the packaging it has a green tip, mine read 'recycle what you read! recycle a stack of newspapers just 3 feet high saves one tree' I think its great that companies actually care about things like this, the fact they promote greener living is amazing and when you buy a item like this it actually makes you feel like you have helped in your own little way. Highly recommend not just this brush but the brand as a whole. 

Glossybox-April 2012

So today I received my first ever glossy box, i popped my glossy box cherry so to speak haha I'm sure by now most of you know what Glossybox is so I wont really go into that ... was it worth paying for I hear you asking, well my first impressions say yes! as this month is the organic beauty product month, which is right up my street! This box came with 5 fabulous samples, two of which where full size.

Caudalie vinsource SOS thirst quenching serum Which is a newly launched product that is plant-based and aim to 'never allow your skin to lack moisture', its a light cream that smells slightly of those lemon wipes that you can get at places such a KFC haha an odd comparison I know but its just what the smell reminds me off.   The sample in my glossybox was 10ml, but the tube I find was half full at the most which is a slight let down, but none the less I cant complain as the box as a whole was only £10

Inika Cosmetics certified organic eyeliner This is the first ever organic piece of make up iv ever had, the colour i received was 11 sapphire which in the pencil looks black but once applied becomes a sort of rich blue, which in all fairness is slightly disappointing. However I did a swatch on my hand and then later washed my hands and the swatch is still going strong which is very good but also pretty annoying when your trying to wash it off your hand! haha

Monu Professional skincare- Enriched body cream  which is said at full size to cost £23 but on feel unique you can grab it for £19.50. This product is said to help with the elasticity in your skin and to help the collagen smooth and firm. I really like the smell of this product, its sort of a sweet smell but not to over powering. Its also a fairly thick texture and I can see me really enjoying this product.

Philip B drop dead straightening balm  Now this I'm not to over the moon about, mainly because I don't straighten my hair, so I wont really get much us out of this at all. Also I opened the tube to have a smell as you do and it exploded all over my hands, it was a right mess. Not a happy bunny with this one at all.

Fig and Rouge lip balm  Now this came in such cute packaging, its a little metal tin with a sort of floral design on it! Its 100% natural, with peppermint and tea tree which is antibacterial, this is beyond perfect for someone like me because I suffer with VERY dry lips all year round, I cant go a day without putting lip balm on because my lips become so dry and sore. The product itself smells very fresh and minty and feels sort of grainy to touch but once applied its a smooth as a baby's bum. I'm in love! totally 100% in love with this, once I have run out I'm so going to stock up on more! there are loads of different flavours and ingredients in the brand and I cant wait to try them out.



So all in all, I quite like this box, the fact these products are all organic I love, I'm very impressed with the lip balm and the Caudalie face serum. I think its safe to say iv been converted to the world of Glossybox which isn't so good for my purse but never mind!

Avene Triacneal review

Avene Triacneal is a retinol cream that is deigned to help fight acne, Avene is a French skin care brand that can be bought at boots, they cater to skin types that are more on the sensitive size, they have various ranges within their brand for dry/combonatin skin to oily/acne prone skin and their products, including this one, are paraben-free, hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic. Triacneal is a face emulsion for acne , the Avene website states its 'A clinically-proven trio of acne-fighting ingredients, including patented Retinaldehyde with proven anti-aging benefits (which is a retinal), Glycolic Acid and the new patented Efectiose, formulated with soothing thermal spring water to help eliminate breakouts, abnormal keratinization, acne-related redness and irritation and residual scarring.

It comes in a 30ml squeezy tube and cost roughly about £23 which might seem a little price but its well worth it, trust me. The liquid is a pale yellow and once applied to the skin leaves a slight yellow cast to the face but this is hardly noticeable at all so don't worry. However you are only meant to apply this at night anyway (so no one will see your slightly yellow face)

You are advised to wear a sun screen in the day as this product has a chemical pealing effect (its not as scary as it sounds, It doesnt hurt and your face doesnt peel off haha) on your skin which is designed to improve the look of acne scaring, as well as promote cell tern over which in tern helps acne scaring as well as ageing of the skin, so this is a very versatile product.

It can have a slight tingling sensation when placed on any open raw spots that last seconds at the most, but other than that you cant really feel you have this product on at all. It doesn't make your face dry or tight and once you leave it sink in you can if you wish apply moisturiser and all that jazz over the top.

There can be slight product transfer on your pillow, so it might be better to not use white pillow cases. It dried to the touch in about 4/5 seconds of application. This product can also be applied in several ways depending on the reason your using it, It can be applied in a thin layer all over the face every night if desired, this might be the best for those with medium/sever acne depending on how well your skin can take it, as some people (very few) are advised to not use retonol creams, if you find this product to harsh or if you have mild acne/spots and don't want such an intense treatment you can apply it as and when needed or every other night to help fight spots and prevent new ones developing. 

Some peoples skin may have a 'purging' effect  at first which is where a lot of spots appear, as your skin is drawing dirt from deep down in the skin, this in turn cleanses the skin well and gets rid of the bacteria that would eventually cause spots in the long run. This doesn't last very long and once this initial phase is over your skin should become a lot clearer  

I really love this product. One tube lasted me 3 months and that was using it every single night. So it really is good value for money. Its a good combination of spot fighting and anti ageing, Its hard to combine the two normally, you generally find products are either one or the other, but this is really effective.