Sanctuary Spa - 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

During that lovely 'time of the months' (not) my skin gets very oily and very spotty, thanks to this brilliant thing called hormones. If I wasn't already emotional, having to deal with a face full of pimples can really stress me out. So I'm always on the hunt for something, anything, that will help my skin look and feel better, and believe me, I have tried a lot.

I was in Boots one day and they were having their 3 for 2 promotion. I already had two things so I thought I might as well get a third product as its free, and I spotted this face mask on the shelf. Sanctuary isn't a brand I usually go for, I'm not really sure why but I just seem to overlook the brand. However I saw this mask, quickly read the packaging and thought why not. I have never tried a self heating mask before, so I thought it would be an interesting experience and I gave it a go.

 This mask is basically a Clay and Charcoal mask designed to draw out impurities which is great for blemish prone skin, it heats up on the face which helps to really open the pores and get deep down into them to draw out all the gross oil and dirt. It also contains various essential oils such as Sweet Almond Oil to help sooth and calm the face as well as adding a bit of moisture, as clay based masks can be a little drying on the skin.

When you apply this mask to your face it heats up slightly as you rub it in which actually feels really nice, then you leave it for only 5 minutes, making it super easy and fast to use, even when you are in a rush or really busy. You then wash it off like any standard face mask.

Once I use this my skin feels so much cleaner, more fresh and less red. It really helps to calm down any blemishes I have and leaves my skin looking a lot better than it did before. I only use this mask during oily skin times as I feel like it would be too much for my skin sometimes, however If you are spot prone or have acne this is worth giving it a go. Its £10.50 for 100ml and I have got so many applications out of this tube. This brand is available here or at most Boots stores.

New year, New skin

I'm forever fighting a loosing battle with my skin, I'm saying healthy, clear and dewy skin and my body is saying spotty, dully and oily. I'm sure a lot of you know where I am coming from, right? My current skincare routine is clearly not working, I still get break outs and my skin just looks tired and fed up, which is pretty much how I feel about my skin as well, its a mutual thing. So I thought, seen as its the start of a new year, its the perfect opportunity to try some new skin care and in an attempt to tame the beast that is my face haha. I would by lying if I didn't say that these picks were heavily influenced by Caroline Hirons, the skincare godess. I read her blog all the time and pretty much take her opinion as gospel, so when I was trying to decide what to buy, I naturally thought the best place to start was to read her blog.

After hours and probably days of reading her posts, I decided I wanted to try Hydraluron, she raves about this product so I thought its was worth a shot. Hydraluron is a serum you apply before your moisturiser, that is designed to increase the skins hydration from below the surface, increasing the hydration levels in your skin, making it look youthful, dewy and supple. There is a lot more fancy stuff it does but the best place to read about that is Carolines blog, I wouldn't do it justice if I tried to explain it.

I then opted for Eysilix, which is made by Indeed, the same company as Hydraluron. (This is another product Caroline recommends) I have been umming and ahhing about an eye cream for a while, I'm just about to turn 22 and think its probably time to start with some form of  'anti aging' eye cream, to try and prevent wrinkles before its to late. Eysilix claims to reduce the appearance of puffiness, dark circles, crows feet and fine lines. If it does all that I will be beyond impressed, I don't really have super bad crows feet or fine lines yet but even a small difference will make a huge impact I'm sure.

Lastly, I picked up Effaclar Lotion Astringente Micro-Exfoliante by La Roche-Posay. Caroline talks about how much she loves exfoliating toners, though I'm not sure she mentions this one in particular, I thought it looked pretty good, and for the price (roughly £11) it was worth a go.

Iv only been using these products for roughly a week and my first impressions are positive. Once I have test run them for a good amount of time I will update you all on my opinion. Until then, stay tuned.

If you have any skincare recommendations for oily, combination and spot prone skin, I would be delighted if you let me know. I'm always on a quest for new skincare, I feel like a girl can never have to much.....or at least that's how I justify it.

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.