My Current Evening Skincare Routine

During the week, my evening routine usually starts with me coming home from work in the city before bashing out a 30 minute workout at home. After which, I finally get to relax with a nice toasty shower whereon my evening skincare routine starts.

I get an awful lot of joy from my evening routine and take my time completing each step. First of all, I'll start with a cleansing oil such as the Clean Energy Cleansing Oil from Origins which is a great first cleanse. I massage this into dry skin for a good minute whereon the sunflower oil, sesame oil and safflower oil really go to work at removing the days make-up and grime from my daily commute. I'll then dampen my hands and massage again which causes the oil to turn into a milk before rinsing my skin clean.

Then it's time for my second cleanse, and depending on how my skin is looking and feeling I'll either go in with a super gentle face wash such as the Yes to Cucumbers Daily Gel Cleanser which always helps to sooth and calm an angry complexion. If my skin is starting to look red and angry, this always helps to keep make my skin happy again.

If my skin needs a bit of an extra oompfh then this 3 in 1 face wash from Soap & Glory is packed full of all sorts of fancy technology and vitamin c which help to smooth, purify, energise and brighten my skin. It foams up nicely without being stripping the skin and the vitamin c does seem to give my skin a bit of a boost. 

After double cleansing, it's time to move onto the good stuff, namely eye cream, serum and then either a night mask or moisturiser.

First up, on the eyes I've been using the Snail Repair Eye Cream from Mizon. Don't be put off by the word Snail, it doesn't smell of anything and the texture isn't offensive either. The mucin actually has a powerful regenerative effective which stimulates cell renewal and stimulates collagen which all helps to tighten and brighten the skin around the eyes. Try it for yourself and let me know how you get on, at only £18 a tub it won't break the bank.

Then we're on to serum and I've been using the Midnight Recovery Concentrate from Kiehl's for well over a year, the bottle just keeps on giving!  It's packed full of powerhouse ingredients which help to rehydrate my skin, plump it out and generally make it look more radiant the following morning. It's just a miracle in a bottle and my skin looks noticeably different when I don't use this in the evenings. My favourite way to use this is to mix 2-3 drops with my moisturiser before massaging it into my skin.  

My final step is either a moisturiser or night mask as I've said above. Most evenings I've been using the Day and Night Cream from Flora Mare which again, seems to last forever and is only £26 for a 100ml tub. It's packed full of avocado, olives, argan and even almonds to make for a luscious, rich and super hydrating face cream. This is far too rich for me to use during the day, but it's ideal for the evenings when I like to use much more nourishing products. It leave my skin feeling soft and supple the next morning so it's obviously doing something right.

On the night mask front, I'm trying out this Good Night White Sleeping Mask from Mizon. It's packed full of hyaluronic acid, glycerin and niacinamide which hydrate my skin, condition my skin and as the name would suggest, help to brighten my skin and even out skin tone. It melts into the skin nicely and does seem to be doing a good job. I've only used this three times so it's still early days but I can see this becoming a winter skincare staple in the near future.

So there you have it, my 5 step routine to keep my skin looking lovely. Once a week I also use a face mask which will vary almost every week but that's another post altogether!

What products are in your evening skincare routine? Do you have any Holy Grail products which you ALWAYS use? Would you use a snail cream?

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery - A Review

When my beloved Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair ran out, it was time to hunt down something new to play with. Not so beloved after all, but lets be serious, we all know that I'm a total hussy when it comes to skincare.

The next product to tick off of my beauty hit-list was the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I absolutely loved the Skin Rescuer and I was kin to try some more bits and pieces from their line.

So here's what you need to know, it's super hydrating, makes your skin plump and radiant, it's packed full of natural ingredients, it's free from chemical nasties and finally, it's one of those awesome products which does all this over night! Oh, and it's £36.00.

The natural stuff I was talking about includes Evening Primrose Oil, Fatty Acids and Essential Oils which all work together to give your skin a super hit of moisture. As I've said above it's designed to work at night leaving your skin skin hydrated and super soft, plus as it's the season for a ton of alco booze, this stuff will stop your complexion looking tired and run down. AWESOME.

I've been using a few drops of this mixed with either my moisturiser or an overnight mask and simply leaving it to work it's magic. As it's obviously more of an oil in texture as opposed to a serum, I've been making sure my hair is kept back off my face this is meant for my skin and not my hair.

By morning, everything is absorbed and my skin is looking lovely and perky.

This stuff is wonderful, does what it says on the tin, and a little goes a long way which makes me one happy bunny. Seriously, if your skin is feeling dry this might do the trick!

Here's what Kiehl's say in case the above didn't quite convince you.

Have you tried the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate?  What do you rely on if you're skin needs some extra loving?

Revisiting a Much Loved Skincare Favourite - Kiehl's Skin Rescuer

Those of you who have been following me for a while may remember that one of my first posts was about the Kiehl's Skin Rescuer, this being way back in September last year.

Now, I don't want to repeat the post in its entirety here, but for those who aren't familiar with this product, it's basically designed to help your skin combat stress, things like air-conditioning, over-exposure to the sun, the cold rain and fresh winds, and even hormonal fluctuations really affect your skin and can result in blemish, red blotchy patches etc.

It's a vicious cycle, because the visible signs of stressed out skin lead you to worry even more which makes things even worse and that's where this product comes in to save the day.

The reason I'm revisiting this product in a post is because after 1 year and over 2 months of use every single day, it's finally coming to the end of its life which makes me rather sad. I'm literally at the stage where I'm unscrewing the cap and running my finger around the inside to scoop out whatever I can.

I purchased this for a whole £29.50 well over a year ago which makes this little beauty incredible value for money!

I have to say, this is probably one of my favourite moisturisers of all time, it's formulated with chamomile which  is known for it's calming qualities, mannose which helps to protect and maintain the skins barrier and rosa gallica which helps to reduce the skins sensitivity thus reducing the signs of fatigue and redness.

If you've never tried it and you suffer with pesky problematic skin, I'd really recommend trying it, given it lasts for over a year, I don't think you could do much better in terms of value for money and effectiveness. 

 Have you tried the Kiehl's Skin Rescuer yet? What do you find helps your stressed out skin?

Estelle & Thild - Eye Balm - A Review

I hate products which contain one to many ingredients, in particular I prefer to seek out products which are free from Parabens and Mineral Oils, these things are just not good for the skin. As I've said before my skin always seems to react pretty badly when I use anything with those sorts of ingredients for any prolonged period of time.

This leads me nicely onto Estelle & Thild which I've spotted many a time in Selfridges but didn't really know much about it and therefore never parted with my cash. As of late, I've done a wee bit of digging around and the specifics you need to know include the fact that it's a Swedish Organic brand packed with ingredients which actually work and that all of their products are free from Parabens, mineral oils and sodium laurel sulphate.

In short, this brand is right up my street given my love of brands such as Origins so I thought to myself I'd grab a couple of bits when I next needed a new cleanser or the like.

Those plans were kind of shot when I spotted quite a few bits from their collection in none other than TK Maxx, yes, you read right ladies, TK Maxx and at ridiculously marked down prices. I picked up a few pieces and I'll be sticking the reviews up as and when I've had a chance to really use the products.

First up is the Eye Balm which is fragrance free and cost me a whole £7.99 (it's normally £26.50). Whilst it's free from fragrance, I would say that there is a a slight smell which is almost akin to lanolin (if you've ever used Dr Lipp you'll get me).

The product itself comes in a handy pump bottle and promises to reduce puffiness whilst hydrating the eye area using a combination of Vitamin E, Shea Butter and Beeswax. Other ingredients include chestnut and black elderflower, but, as I've said, these aren't really detectable in terms of smell but they work to protect the delicate skin around your eyes none the less.

The texture isn't as thick as I'd expected given the product is called a balm. It's quite difficult to describe the texture and consistency,  it's not as light as a lotion but it's not as a heavy as a cream either. It has a slightly oily feel to it as you'd expect from a balm but it doesn't sit on the skin and is quickly absorbed.

When I first used the product there was an oily fluid which came out of the pump along with some product, but this only happened on my first use and hasn't happened since.

I've been using this as part of my evening routine as I fancied something a little more intensive on the hydration side. As the weather has been getting hotter, the air con has reached maximum levels and this is playing havoc on my skin resulting in a couple of small changes, this being one of them.

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and I've really enjoyed it, it sinks in ridiculously quickly and the skin around my eyes feels nourished without feeling oily. In the mornings I reckon it actually looks perkier around there with no dry patches in sight. 

For £7.99 you definitely need to pick this up, especially if you're a fan of skincare with a focus on natural and organic ingredients. As an indicator of what to expect from Estelle & Thild, I'm impressed, so much so, I must resist the urge to pick up everything else I spotted in TK Maxx!

Have you used Estelle & Thild before? What else should I try? 

Body Shop - Nutriganics Drops of Youth - A Review

Despite being a complete beauty addict, I am usually pretty good with certain products, only buying what I actually need, one such product being a serum. I have one for day time use and one for evening use, the latter being the good old Estee Lauder concoction that most ladies own.

When I finally ran out my Murad serum, I'd decided that whilst I loved it, I wanted to replace it with a serum that would leave give my skin more of a hydration boost. All the sunshine, humidity and constant air conditioning seem to be reeking havoc on my skin and it doesn't feel quite as plumped up as I would like.

Lovers of the Body Shop will know that they almost always have some sort of deal going. Recently I had a voucher for £20 off when you spend £40 (que girlish squeals!) and thought to myself what the heck, lets get back into some Body Shop skincare. As a teen I was a huge fan of their Aloe Vera range and their Vitamin E Night Cream but I honestly haven't use their skincare for around 8 years! My how things have changed.

I spotted that the Nutriganics range was something new and opted for the Nutriganics Drops of Youth which contains ingredients which are 99% of natural origin (big plus for fans of natural beauty) and 20% of the ingredients are organic to. This alone makes the serum sound pretty darn luxe, but at £22 a bottle it's pretty affordable.

The serum claims to help tackle the early signs of aging, make your skin smoother, make your skin look fresher and provides much needed hydration.

The bottle looks very luxe coming with a pipette in the lid much akin to products three times the price. My only gripe is that the pipette doesn't seem to work particularly well, I was only able to get three or four drops into the pipette at a time. I appreciate that this is more than enough for a single use but it would be nice to be able to get a little more in there if need be.

Texture wise (and colour wise for that matter) this is akin to the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair II. Your skin feels as though it is drinking it up from the first use and it doesn't leave your skin feel tacky or tight.

There is a slight smell, but I couldn't tell you what it is, all I can say is that it's not at all unpleasant, I just know that it's there.

I've been using this for over a week now and I've really been enjoying it, my skin does feel plumper and more hydrated which is exactly what I was looking for. In terms of smoothness, I'm not 100% convinced this is down to the serum alone as I do exfoliate at least twice a week so it's pretty difficult to give you guys an accurate indication of how well the serum works on this particular aspect.

All I can say is that at £22 for a 30ml bottle, I will seriously consider repurchasing this once I'm through, it all depends on what my skin needs of course. Two to three drops is all you need to do your entire face so I can see this one lasting me for months!

Have you used any products from the Nutriganics Range? What did you think of them?