2012 Favourites - Hair and Skincare

Hello!

Thought I would jump on the bandwagon and do my favourites of 2012, sorry it's so late!

I will do a makeup version soon.

Just a quick warning - this is going to be pretty long, and pretty picture heavy :)

Hair Products:

Superdrug Dry Shampoo -

This dry shampoo is brilliant. Really cheap (usually on a buy one, get two free offer!), and does everything that the more expensive versions do. Refreshes the hair, gives it a bit of volume, and means I can go an extra day without washing my hair ;) 

L'oreal Paris Feria in 74 Mango- 

I have used this hairdye throughout 2012, it's quick and easy to use, and is my perfect colour. I can't imagine switching colour any time soon. 

Superdrug Shampoo and Conditioner - 

I really do love a Superdrug own brand product! The entire shampoo and conditioner range is amazing. They all smell amazing, and leave my hair feeling clean and soft and lovely.

Makeup Removers:

Garnier Soft Essentials Cleansing Wipes (Dry Skin)- 

These are really saturated, so they never tug or drag at your skin. They have the most beautiful rose scent, and take off every last scrap of makeup, including waterproof mascara!

Garnier Simply Essentials Soothing 2 in 1 Makeup Remover- 

I have rabbited on about this product for most of the year, so I'll keep this short! Basically, this takes off eye makeup quick as a flash and doesn't sting at all.

No7 Beautiful Skin Quick Thinking Wipes -

Thought I'd include these as I did love them at the start of the year. These also don't drag, and take off all makeup really easily, but are more expensive than the Garnier ones, and don't leave my skin feeling as moisturised. 

Face Washing Products:

Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Oil Free Cleanser -

This is the most luxurious cleanser I have ever used! Smells amazing, lathers up really well, and leaves my skin feeling really soft and cleansed. 

Super Facialist by Una Brennan Tea Flower Cleansing Wash -

I alternate between this and the Elizabeth Arden cleanser. This one also lathers well, and also has salicylic acid to help keep spots at bay, but doesn't leave my skin feeling tight. 

Soap and Glory Greatest Scrub Of All -

The only scrub I have ever repurchased, this is nice and gritty, but never rough.

Moisturiser/Mask:

M&S Formula Nourishing Night Cream (discontinued) -

Again, I've banged on about this a lot! This has been discontinued (sob!), but it's my favourite moisturiser of all time. Nicely scented but not over powering, really moisturising but it doesn't break me out, and a little goes a long way.

Soap and Glory Fab Pore Facial Peel -  

This is a face mask that doesn't dry on the skin, so it never leaves my skin feeling dry or tight. Although I don't particularly notice that this does much for my pores, what it does do is reduce the redness of my spots, and make my skin look alot more clear. 

Bath Product/Hand Cream:

The Little Bubble Co Bath and Shower Gel - 

The entire range of these bath and showers gel are absolutely beautiful. They come in delicious scents such as vanilla, mint candy, gingerbread, and fruity scents like strawberry and coconut. They're equally as great as bubble bath and shower gel, and are really cheap for the 500ml bottle. 

Garnier 7 Days Mango Hand Milk -

This hand cream may actually be my favourite product of 2012. It smells amazing, sinks it super quickly, and leaves my hands feeling so, so soft for ages. Highly recommend to everyone! 

So those are my hair and skincare favourites of 2012! What were your favourites?

Thanks for reading! :)

Shopping My Stash #1- Skincare

Evening! 

A few days ago, I did my first Shopping my Stash video, which you can see here.

I've done a post on the makeup bits I mentioned, which you can read here, so I though I would do a seperate post on the skincare bits I am trying to use at the moment! 

Excuse the terrible picture- this is what happens when your brain tells you it's a good idea to take a picture at 9.30 in the evening!

• Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash- I did a post on how much I hated this product, but my skin has changed alot recently, so I'm hoping it will be second time lucky, and that this will miraculously clear up my skin! :)
• Elizabeth Arden 2 in 1 Cleanser- This is supposed to be a cleanser and a toner. I have no idea why I stopped using this, it's such a beautiful product! Smells amazing, lathers up really nicely and leaves your skin feeling so, so soft and smooth.
• Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed face mask- This is one of those self heating masks, which I'm not a huge fan of.  I stopped using this when I discovered S&G The Fab Pore face mask, but that has run out, so I'm back onto this one! My skin is terrible at the moment, so hopefully this will help keep it under control!
• De Vere Aloe Vera Skin Care Gel- I think originally I bought this to put on sunburn, but when I found this lurking at the bottom of my drawer, I did a bit of research, and Aloe Vera gel has so many uses and benefits! I am going to be using this as a spot gel, and a hand cream :)
• Steamcream- I bought this a while ago, used it for a bit, and then totally forgot about it. It's a multi purpose cream, I am going to be using it mainly as a moisturiser, and possibly as a hand cream if the Aloe Vera gel doesn't work out!

So these are the products that I have been neglecting, but am going to start using more! Feel free to link me to your post if you've done a Shopping my Stash type thaang! Thanks for reading :)

Skincare Routine

Aloha! 

I've finally got round to doing a skincare routine post! I'll warn you now, this is likely to be pretty long, so grab yourself a cuppa (or something stronger if you fancy, it is a bank holiday weekend after all!), and prepare to be in this for the long haul....

Makeup Removal 

These products, I use purely to get the makeup off my face.

Garnier Simply Essential Soothing 2 in 1 Makeup Remover is absolutely amazing. It's one of those oil/water combo's that you have to shake and then put on a cotton pad. I use this to take off any eye makeup, and lipstick. It doesn't sting at all, is really quick to use, and the only negative thing I can think off is that it does leave your eyes slightly oily. That doesn't actually bug me at all, and is definitely preferable to stinging eyes!

Superdrug Vitamin E Gentle Eye Makeup Remover. I haven't actually used this for it's intended purpose, so I can't comment on how it takes off eye makeup! I use this to get off my face makeup, like a wash except it doesn't lather!  I usually rub this all over my dry face, rinse it off with water and then go over my face once again to make sure every scrap of makeup is off! This is gentle, affordable, smells nice, doesn't break me out or dry out my skin, and takes the makeup off. What more could I ask for?! I know it's a bit of a strange way to use it, but I figure if it's gentle enough for my eyes, it will be more than gentle for my face!

Washing/Cleansing

These are two of my holy grail products. I will usually use these both twice a day.

I have raved about Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash before here, so I wont get into it too much, but it's a fabulous product! This doesn't dry out my skin, but manages to clear up my skin quite impressively. It doesn't get rid off all my spots completely (I think I'm stuck with them for life!), but when I stopped using it recently I realised what a big difference this stuff does make!

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser- My definite holy grail cleanser! This is thick and luxurious, but doesn't break me out at all, and if I stray away from this, use something different and my skin freaks out, as soon as I come back to this it calms it down! Obviously any hot cloth cleanser will get compared to the infamous Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser, but I haven't tried it, and am perfectly happy with this!  A little goes a really long way, and the 200ml tube lasts forever.

Exfoliation/Mask

Soap and Glory the Greatest Scrub Of All- this little tube has lasted me so long! Smells lush, isn't too abravise, but leaves skin feeling so, so smooth and soft, I love it! I tend to use this about three times a week. 

Body shop facial brush- when I first bought this, I didn't want to irritate my skin by using it too much, now I use it most days! I find once a day, usually with the Boots tea tree and witch hazel wash, really thoroughly cleans my skins. I've also noticed that it tends to bring spots to the surface (sorry, gross I know!), which is good as it means you can tackle them, although this probably isn't the best product to use just before a big date/event for that reason! 

Soap and Glory the Fab Pore Facial Peel- Firstly, I have no idea why this is called a facial peel. This is a mask with little beads that dissolve as you rub them in. This also smells amazing, doesn't dry out my skin, but makes a really visible difference to the way my skin looks. This mask feels really comfortable on the skin as it doesn't dry like a clay mask and make your face feel all tight. I use this once a week, maybe twice if my skin is bad! 

Moisturising

These are the moisturisers I am using at the moment. They're both from Marks and Spencers, and part of the Formula range. I use the day cream in the morning, giving in ten mins to sink in before I put on my makeup, and the nourishing night cream at night (obviously!). They're both good, but the nourishing night cream is the best overnight moisturiser I've tried, and I've tried Elizabeth Arden, Steamcream, Clarins and many others! This has the bect consistency, really thick, but easy to apply and not heavy on the skin. Unfortunately I think these have been discontinued, but if I ever see the night cream in M&S, I'm going to stock up!

Extras

I alternate between two spot creams, I am trying to use them up even though they haven't really worked for me! Lush's Grease Lightening leaves my skin feeling tight, which isn't great, but it doesn't 'ball up' underneath foundation like Freederm's Fast Track does. For this reason, I tend to favour Grease Lightning in the morning, and Freederm at night.

As a lip stick fan, I like to try and keep my lips in good condition, and my current fave for that is the Body Shop Chocomania lip butter. Thick and hydrating, but not greasy or sticky.

So there you have it, my skincare routine! Congrats if you got this far ;)

You may have noticed that I don't use a toner. I have used some before which just dried out my skin, and I seem to be doing okay withouth it, so I'm not sure if I really need it? Let me know if you use and like toner! :)

Thanks for reading, hope you are all well!

My Skincare Collection..

Hey guys, 

I realised the other day that I've got quite a few skincare bits and bobs that I've been switching between, in terms of cleansers, scrubs, masks and face washes. I know some people prefer to find a skincare routine that works for them, and to stick to it, but I get really bored using the same products. I haven't found that using different products aggrevates my skin at all, and I tend to use whatever I feel my skin needs on that particular day. I've got quite dry skin, but I'm also acne prone, so sometimes I'll lean towards products that are more moisturing, or other times, I'll favour things with spot fighting ingredients.

I keep most of my skincare in this Soap and Glory bag I got free last year at christmas. I bought the Soap and Glory products as a present, but kept the bag for myself, naughty! It's really handy as It's quite big, and waterproof, so you can leave it in your shower or bathroom. It's also super cute which is a good bonus!

As you can see, It's pretty full at the mo!

Washes:

I don't tend to use face washes, as I don't really feel they do anything that I can't get from scrubs or cleansers. I have been using them more recently though, the ones I've got are:  

•  Garnier Pure Active Exfo-Brusher Wash, which I bought more for the brush than the actual wash. It's got rubbery bristles that are supposed to help exfoliate the skin, and they feel like they're giving your face a nice massage when you use it! It's got salicylic acid in, which helps against spots. It does smell like something you'd use to clean the kitchen with though! This also lasts a really long time.

• Soap and Glory Peaches and Cream. This is one of the products a friend gave to me as they didn't get on with it. I'm not mad about it, just because it's a wash, and I don't really see the point of them, but it's nice to use every now and again for a change. It smells like really strong peach vodka though, which is a bit off putting!

Garnier Pure Active Exfo-Brusher wash, Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean.

Face Masks:

I love face masks, and use them about twice a week. 

• Dermologica Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque. This came in my Glossybox, and is nice, although nothing special.
• Soap and Glory The Fab Pore Facial Peel. This mask is supposed to shrink the size of your pores, but I can't say i've noticed any difference in mine, although it is lovely. It smells minty and fresh, and has small green beads that disappear as your rub the mask in. This is definately my favourite mask!
• Soap and Glory No clogs Allowed. This is a self heating mask, which feels gorgeous! The only down side to this is that it turns blue, and can leave little blue marks on your face, which are surprisingly hard to get off!

Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque, Soap and Glory's The Fab Pore and No Clogs Allowed.

 Scrubs:

I really love to use facial scrubs, they make me feel really clean, but it's not that good for you to use them really frequently, so I make a real effort to use scrubs a maximum of 3 times a week. I like scrubs that are pastes, not one's that are creams with a few beads in. The ones I've been using recently are:

• Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant. This was another one that came in my Glossybox, and is another self heating product! This is gorgeous, and makes my skin feel soo soft, but I don't even want to think about how much the full size product would cost!
• Soap and Glory Greatest Scrub of All. This smells just like the Fab Pore Facial Peel, which is nice and minty! I love this, and it lasts such a long time!

Soap and Glory The Greatest Scrub of All, Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant

Cleansers:

I much prefer hot cloth cleansers to the ones you use with cotton wool, and I've got three on the go at the mo! 

•  Superdrug Vitamin Hot Cloth Cleanser. This is really nice and gentle on the skin. I use this to take my makeup off, and then tend to use one of the other hot cloth cleansers I've got to actually cleanse my skin. Nice size bottle, lasts a long time. I've heard that this has gone up to £5.99, which I really hope isn't true, because that's just too much.
• Boots Botanics Face Soothing Cleansing Balm. This is my latest addition, and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's a balm, so it's an unusual texture, and I don't think anyone with oily skin would like it, because it's quite greasy. It also leaves a bit of residue on your face, which is kind of weird, but it leaves my skin so soft that I don't mind. The muslin cloth that comes with this is horrible though! 
• Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser. This is absolutely amazing! Smells like lavender and feels amazing on the skin. Again, this turns into a sort of oil on the skin, which I love for my dry skin.

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser, Boots Botanics Face Soothing Cleansing Balm, Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser.

I've also got a few toners and moisturisers, but this has taken me all day to write and I'm finding it hard to keep my eyes open now, so that will be my next post! 

Thanks for reading :)