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! :)

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!

Haulin' #5

Afternoon :)

This will (hopefully!) be my last haul post for a while, as these are the last bits from my backlog of stuff that I haven't posted about yet!

 I bought both of these from Marks and Spencers for super bargainous prices!

They were both in the reduced section, and both £1! Crazy. 

I've been using these for a little over a month, and I am so impressed! They're both a pleasure to use, lightly scented, quickly absorbed and very moisturising. I think they are my favourite moisturisers that I've tried so far!

When I realised how much I liked them, I went back to see if I could stock up but they had none left :( They're not on the website so I'm assuming they've been discontinued (hence the price!), but I am definitely going to try more from the M&S skincare line when they run out.

Body shop facial brush, £3, Chocomania lip butter (can't find on website, think it was around £4), and Tea tree facial wash £4.50.

These three I bought when I went to a friends Body Shop party, which was really fun! I bought the brush as I thought it would be a 'nowhere near as good, but alot cheaper' alternative to the Clarisonic! I though it would also give me an idea of whether I actually like brushing my face or not, and I do! I only use this once or twice a week when I remember, and just use it with any foaming face wash, and it leaves your skin feeling so clean and fresh. Don't think it's made much difference to my skin, but I haven't been using it much! 

The lip butter is amazing. It smells so nice, really chocolately, and I always seem to get a hint of coconut from it, but no one else agrees! This is nice and thick, keeps my lips nice and moisturised, the only downside is that it can leave a white cast on your lips, so you need to watch that if you apply it in public!

Lastly, the Tea tree skin clearing facial wash. I bought this when I ran out of the Boots one I talked about here, thinking it would do a similar job. I'm not sure it it's just me, or my skin, but this product actually seemed to give me more spots than it cleared! I persevered with it for a few weeks, thinking that maybe it would get better, but eventually I went back to the Boots one, which has already made my skin so much better! This has a really strong scent, so I think it might just be a bit much for my skin, although it's never really been sensitive. On the plus side, this makes a great blush cleaner, and I might use it if I ever get spots on my body!

So like I said, this is hopefully my last haul post for a while, but I just can't seem to stop shopping! 

Hope you are all loving the sun (if you have it!) and thanks for reading :)