Norwich Does Christmas

Hey Guys! 

I get so giddy when the fairy lights and Christmas tree go up in the city, and this is especially true for Norwich. I am completely in love with how beautiful the decorations make the already charming streets look so, because I love looking at this sort of thing myself, I thought I would show you! To be honest these photos could be much better and they certainly don't do the actual view justice but I hope you like it anyway.

Bare Minerals Correcting Concealer

I feel like there is a theme happening on my blog right now along the lines of 'massive breakout- must fix with everything', I feel like my life is starting to revolve around this. Slightly worrying. 

So I got recommended this by my hairdresser after talking about how using good stuff on your skin is good, obviously. I remember being super excited because she basically said that it was a concealer that reduced acne/breakouts while hiding them- doesn't that sound like an amazing idea!? I don't know why this isn't more of a thing. It also is supposed to reduce marks and under-eye circles. After hearing about this I basically went out and bought it the same week since my skin was still being a little bugger. 

The idea with the Bare Minerals Correcting Concealer is that it will let your skin breath in a way that normal concealing and foundation doesn't- meaning that your pores wont get as clogged and healing will happen much quicker! This sounds like an awesome idea but i'm not sure it worked well for me for a few reasons. Whether you put it on top or below your foundation, the foundation you wear will get in the way of letting your skin breath. Bearing this is mind, I think this product is much better for someone who is using the Bare Minerals Foundation, which I tried and didn't like, since both products will be doing the same thing (or of course no foundation). Also, the coverage is supposed to be quite light so I often found that it wasn't enough for my skin tantrum and I'd have to put on my Collection 2000 Concealer- again defeating the point. This has made me need to use quite a lot in the process and so I have already hit pan in about a month. As well as this, it wasn't particularly the best texture and has a powdery sort of finish which doesn't work too well for under your eyes, and since the other selling point was reducing under eye circles, thats not great.

Overall and maybe because of these reasons, I didn't see any notable differences in my skin after using this and for £21 (£18.50 on the link above), I would have liked to. The packaging and the product are really nice but I think it could be suited better on slightly better skin that doesn't need as much coverage. Personally I won't be repurchasing and since I don't know if it would work for someone else, I wouldn't particularly recommend it.

Let me know if you had a different experience with this, I'd love to know this great idea has worked for someone!

Battle of the Lush Cleansers!

Hello Guys!

So as I mentioned in my La Roche-Posay post, my skin has gone crazy for the past couple of months- a long time for skin to be having a tantrum! And it's really down to me changing up my routine. I was perviously taking my makeup off with cheap (Primark *sigh*) makeup wipes and a high-street/drugstore foaming face wash. My skin was never good since I made such little effort, and it wasn't just break outs, it was the texture and quality as well- it was just a bit crap. So I decided I wanted to start using better things that would change my skin, preferably with natural ingredients since i'd always been a fan of DIY type skincare but was too lazy to try. This lead me to Lush who I already loved and heard a lot of good things about.

Ultrabland
Oil Base- All skin types (advised for dry though!)

Ultrabland was my first attempt. Firstly the lovely Lush lady rated it highly because it's a top seller and transforms skin. Secondly, I didn't need water to take it off so I could just do it all in my room, bonus! It also acts as a makeup remover (use twice though) as well as a moisturiser so overall it was a massive shortcut of a skincare routine. I have to admit, at first it was a tad odd to rub oil on your face to clean it and I did worry about still being 'dirty'. This definitely wasn't the case though, my skin felt incredibly soft and smooth and clean. I've read a lot of people feeling like they had a greasy film over their skin after using this. I think this could be because of the beeswax in this product, taking it off with water will probably not work like removal with toner and may leave traces on your face. Just a thought! I really do think this would have been perfect if it didn't break me out to such an extreme amount. My skin got worse than I think i've ever seen it, I did leave it a couple of weeks to see if it was detoxing but nothing changed and I was about to start uni so I left it.

Angels on Bare Skin
Clay base- All skin types

My second try was a sample of Angels on Bare Skin- a crazy popular cleanser from Lush! Instead of a balm it is a clay based scrub with calming and moisturising ingredients aimed at dry skin, so a good start for me. This cleanser really did change my skin, makeup sat 100x better because the texture was just better. It also brightened up my skin tone more than anything I have ever used. But~ I think I was allergic to something in this because while cleansing my face sort of felt tender and stung a little bit and I got a lot of small red bumps (that haven't completely gone yet) as well as breaking out, it was also slightly awkward to use because of its crumbly nature. So I stopped using it. (Totally still recommend it though)

Herbalism 

Clay base- Oily/ blemish prone skin
A 3rd visit to lush gave me Herbalism and Dark Angels. These are both directed at more oily skin (not particularly me) and Herbalism is specifically aimed at acne prone skin. This is also a crumbly clay cleanser like AOBS. It has an odd smell but that doesn't really bother me, it's not that strong. After using this I immediately noticed that my skin wasn't as soft compared to Ultrabland and AOBS, and that it made my skin quite dry, giving me flakey patches BUT they've gone after about 5 days of use which is good. I did notice that my break outs calmed down pretty quickly but not entirely, my skin was still bad but I feel like if I stuck to this one it would eventually calm my skin down.

Dark Angels 
Exfoliating- Acne prone skin 

There isn't much to say here to be honest, Dark Angels is much more harsh of a scrub and didn't work for my dry skin at all so I stopped using it. Apparently it's awesome for greasy skin though so give it a try if thats you!

Fresh Farmacy 

Soap base- For sensitive blemished/irritated skin 

Another trip to lush and a realisation that i'm collecting a ridiculous amount of samples has given me Fresh Farmacy and Let The Good Times Roll. After having a good chat about all this, the most helpful lush girl ever suggested that I try FF with Vanishing Cream since it's a soap base and so slightly more drying than a clay/oil based cleanser. Using this left my skin feel more clean and sort of rubbery but not in a terrible way, it also seems quite a lot like AOBS but without the exfoliation and  allergic reaction! My skin has actually had a super positive reaction to this and it seems to be calming down quite a lot which I am so so happy about. Vanishing cream is also working well with this so I really think she got it right and (finally!) i'm planning to buy these two things. Yay!

Let The Good Times Roll
Dry skin
This is a christmas release cleanser super similar to AOBS. It's moisturising and 'stimulating' while gently exfoliating. This. literally. smells. amazing. It's the perfect mix of toffee and cinnamon and popcorn and I literally cant stop smelling it. I wish this was a candle or a perfume or something- or food. I wouldn't use this is an everyday cleanser because I think it would be too rich for me and break me out a bit, but for a mask I think its awesome. Another problem with using this as a cleanser is that it's limited addition which I think is a bit weird for skincare? I'm not going to repurchase but this is totally worth a try!

Although my skin went a bit mad after trying these things i'm really glad I did because my skin really has changed in a lot of ways for the better. Something to think about though (something I wish i'd known sooner!) is that skin can take from 2 weeks - 3 months to get used to a new cleanser and throughout this time can react in many ways. Some cleansers will also detox your skin, surfacing all the acne that would have come up later and eventually clearing your skin- an awkward process, but worth it! I would fully recommend Lush as I don't think most people break out from their products, I am a lot more sensitive than most which is just lovely. Congrats if you've managed to make it though this massive post and I hope I helped someone! And let me know of any cleanser recommendations and your experiences with these lovely products! 

La Roche-Posay; Miracles Do Happen

Okay, so recently my skin has not been so lovely, and ironically this is down to my new quest for good skin through good products with good, natural ingredients. I started at Lush because it just made sense since they are all natural, I heard good things and they are against animal cruelty and do things for charity- just all round goodies aren't they? They have not liked me though, and I look a tad horrible right now. I've broken out to the extreme (more than ever before) and it's been up and down since september so i've been getting super frustrated.

Cue La Roche-Posay! 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+] Anti-Blemish Cream have been a total miracle for my skin. Since the first use I noticed a lot less redness and a complete calming down of my angry, angry skin which was close to a small miracle. After the 3rd use my skin completely changed and the break outs got a lot smaller and have started to disappear. It claims to tackle clogged pores, excess sebum and now red and brown marks as well and I really feel like its doing it's job well already. I am genuinely over-excited right now at how happy I am with this, and (like many many others) think it will become part of my skincare routine forever. It will at least act as an amazing hand while I try to find a good skincare routine.

The texture is gel instead of a cream which I don't particularly enjoy but this does make it an excellent base for makeup since it is mattifying and not at all oily. Apparently it does also moisturise which is a massive bonus but I've found it quite hard to tell how much since my latest cleanser has been quite drying. It also doesn't have an overpowering or chemical smell which I find some can have, instead its just quite fresh, and sort of reminds me of the Body Shop seaweed range. At £15.50 for 40ml (a tad expensive for some but completely worth it) I really think this is a massive catch in the skincare world and I'm super excited to continue seeing results from this.

Look out for next Sunday's post where i'm finally going to be comparing all of the Lush cleansers and giving my recommendations!