The gradual tan comparison.

Hey everyone,

Don't you just wish that gradual tanning lotions came with a colour guide? Normal fake tan comes in both varieties so why can't gradual tan have a hint of bronzer, suitable for daytime wear, but lets you know exactly where you have applied it? 

As you may have already guessed from reading my blog, I am a fake tan fan. No surprise there. Yet when I'm faced with time constraints, or simply don't want to go all out with the tan I do love some gradual tan. There's nothing better than applying it in the morning, and by the time your home from work you've developed a subtle glow.

My go to gradual tan has been, for some time now, the Dove Summer Glow. In recent months I had read a few reviews on Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Natural Bronzer and being a tanning addict I knew I had to try it.

If you love the smell of Palmers Cocoa Butter products then your guaranteed to love this. It smells amazing, better than the Dove Summer Glow. I always find the Dove lotion to have a pleasant smell but the Palmers lotions smelt like all their other products, it's an uplifting scent that reminds me of holidays. 

I used the Palmers Cocoa Butter in the same manner that I use the Dove gradual tan but the results that night were quite disappointing. I was very streaky, but the colour was a lovely golden hue. Undeterred by this result I tried again, once the previous application was off. The results again, very streaky, I am quite disappointed by this. I then put the Dove Summer Glow to the test, applying it in the same manner, to find an even golden coverage that night, keeping the Dove lotion in top spot for my go to gradual tanning lotion.

What's your favourite brand of gradual tan? How do you apply it to make sure you don't have streaks? Leave comments below, I'd love to know.

Xxx 

Hair saver, sweet smelling wonder

Hey everyone,


A few months ago I was gifted some hair care products from the team at Neal & Wolf. The reason I have waited so long to blog about these products is that I really put them to the test! I received Ritual - Daily Cleansing Shampoo, Harmony - Intensive Care Treatment for all hair types, and Silk - Smoothing Blow Dry Balm.

Since receiving these products I have used an at home hair stripping kit and then proceeded to destroy my hair some more with an at home hair lightening kit. I know, stupid is not the only name I was calling myself. Needless to say my hair was pretty much destroyed. During all my at home shenanigans I have been using the Neal and Wolf regularly as part of my hair care routine.

My opinion of these products? Brilliant! They worked a treat on my poor over processed hair. The Ritual shampoo was gentle yet effective at cleaning my hair. The Harmony conditioner works great as a daily conditioner, and also as a conditioning treatment. I sat frequently for an hour or more with my head wrapped in clingfilm, so the intensive conditioning could work its magic some more. All the products smelt amazing, even a day later I could still smell the lush scent. I actually got my hair sorted today, thankfully no more awful hair, and the hairdresser commented how good my hair was after all of the damage I had done. That itself is high praise for the Neal and Wolf products.
So thank you to the team at Neal and Wolf for helping me more than you could have realised xxx

Body moisturiser the in shower variety.

Hey everyone,

So I first heard of Nivea's In-Shower Body Moisturiser from my favourite beauty blogger at British Beauty Blogger here, and knew I had to try it. I scoured my local Boots, Superdrug and Savers with no avail, so as soon as it was available online I bought it. 

Nivea is one the first to launch an in-shower body moisturiser, which is quite surprising  that no one has ever thought of that before. Gone are the days of standing shivering wet whilst rubbing in oil, or drying off to then rub a cold cream or lotion into our body's, or even just skipping the body moisturiser stage, which with summer looming is a no no. So Nivea were definitely on the money with this product. 

My opinion is that it's great, does exactly what it says it will do. I admit I was super excited the first time I tried it out. I showered, with Nivea body wash too, and then whist still under the shower I massaged the moisturiser in. It felt slightly strange rubbing a cream into skin when I knew I'd be rinsing it off. Once rinsed off I then dried off. The effect on my skin was that it felt softer after one use. A week later my skin feels softer, with less dry patches. My only issue with the product is actually the packaging. The bottle can become slippery when handling with wet lotion-y hands but this doesn't put me off repurchasing. All in I love this product, so much that it has been re-purchased another twice since. Have you tried it yet? Is there other in-shower moisturisers I can try? xxx

New and excuses

Hey everyone,


Well I haven't blogged in ages! I don't have much of an excuse unfortunately, work has taken over. I have started up a new Pilates class on a Wednesday night and I'm loving it! Theres no better feeling than working out and seeing the results. I may do a Pilates blog post in the future.

Anyway down to business, I've got new goodies!! I've been saving them up to show you them all at one go.

As you can see this picture is crammed full of products, its great!
I will be reviewing all of these products individually over the next few days, but for now I will list what it is I actually have here.

Starting from left to right I have:

1. Gerard's Glycol Gel Kit ( 1 Glycol Gel, 1 Hydro Gel and 1 Softening Mask)

2. Gerard's Pure Gel face wash

3. L'oreal Skin Perfection 15Second Miracle Cleansing Oil

4. Nivea In-Shower Body Moisturiser

5. Neal & Wolf haircare products ( Ritual - shampoo, Harmony - conditioner and Silk - hair treatment)

6. Argan Magic hair mask

7. St.Ives Elements Daily Microdermabrasion

8. Nivea Pure and Natural Cleansing Lotion.

So what do you think of my goodies? I'm excited to get reviewing them.

xxxx

March favourites

Hey everyone,


Well I've never done a monthly favourite post before but I do love to read other bloggers posts, so I thought I'll do one myself, when in Rome and all that.

As you may have read in my other post, I've loved using Crystal Clear Melt Away The Years cleanser, it had been a daily staple since I received it. You can read my review here and see why it has become part of my skin care routine.

As well as the cleanser, I have also loved Crystal Clear Polish which you can read all about here, this is also become a daily staple within my routine.

I have been using a sample of Caudalie Premier Cru The Cream moisturiser and the Premier Cru The Eye Cream this month. I have fallen in love with these products. They smell amazing, very decadent, and left my skin feeling great. I used these in the morning, leaving them to soak in for a good 10 to 15 minutes before applying my make up. The moisturiser is quite thick but it soaks in extremely well, my make up  lasted for the  usual 12-14 hours before I experienced any shine. The eye cream, was rich but again soaked in well. Although, I don't have any crows feet as yet, I felt that the eye cream was suited to those that have fine lines already, as it may be too rich for those that use eye cream for preventative measures. The price tag for these creams are quite steep, this is definitely a wish list product for me. You can purchase them here for £92.50 and here for £49.00. These products are definitely for those who are concerned about ageing, and at my age ( please don't ask :) ) that is something I have become more concerned about recently.

I have just finished my Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair, (cue sad face). This is the first time I have used this serum and oh my gosh it was a light bulb moment when I used this! I think my skin may have actually thanked me when I first applied it. It is definitely a must have product and one to be added to my purchase list. I have not written a full post on this simply because there are literally thousands of blog posts regarding it and I would be re-iterating all the positive comments. Estee Lauder have gained iconic status regarding this serum, and it has been part of my mothers skin care regime for as long as I can remember. You can purchase it here for £44.00

The next product I have been using this month is Elemis Pro-Collogen Oxygenating Night Cream. This is a multi-award winning cream, it's simply a wonder product. I loved using this night cream, it too smelt amazing. I apply this after my Advanced Night Repair before heading to bed, and it soaked in through the night, leaving my skin feeling soft and hydrated in the morning.  I can safely say that my skin has never been so good, it looks so much better, I've even received compliments on the how I look younger! As you can imagine this made me a very happy lady indeed. Unfortunately the cream is a little bit on the steep side, and will be added to my wish list, in the vain hope one of my loved ones my buy me it for my next birthday (hint hint)  You can purchase it here for £95.00

Finally, this month I have loved using Kerastase Nutritive Bain Nutri-Thermique and Fondant Nutri-Thermique on my hair. It is targeted for those with very dry and colour treated hair, which is exactly how my hair was feeling up until I started using these. It definitely does as it says on the tin! My hair is softer, with less tugs, dries and styles better now. You can purchase the shampoo here for £14.05 and the conditioner here for £16.60.

All in all this has been a great month for my beauty products, I hope April is just as good. What have you been loving this month? Have you got any suggestions of products I have yet to try?

xxx

Crystal Polish

Hey everyone,



I posted a few days ago a review for Crystal Clear Wipe Away The Years Cleansing Milk, which you can read here, I thoroughly loved using this product, but I have to admit not as much as I loved using the Crystal Polish, this has become my hero product. I love love love it!

As you may already know Crystal Clear is world famous for their in-salon Microdermabrasion treatment. It is a truly wonderful treatment, that gently exfoliates the outer layers of the skin. It targets issues such as ageing skin, lines and wrinkles, open pores, and blackheads and more, this was a treatment I used to get monthly until my beautician relocated. Since then my skin has slowly crept back to being dehyrated and often prone to bad spots, as I have mentioned in previous posts. So when I read the information that come with my products I was delighted to find I was trying out their at home version of this amazing salon treatment.

I just want to point out here how amazing this product is packaged, very salon like and professional. I have it sitting proudly in my bathroom, within easy reach.

The swatch does not do the polish any favours as it is full of fine crystals that give the microdermabrasion effect, which smooths and exfoliates the skin. The polish also has essential oils and peptides to encourage the anti-ageing effect started with the Wipe Away The Years Cleansing Milk. It is recommended that you use the polish daily as part of your routine and I fully agree.

My night routine is, double cleanse the skin with Wipe Away The Years anti-ageing cleansing milk, eye make-up remover, then scrub with Crystal Polish, then onto Crystal Clears Illuminate serum and then finish with a moisturiser.

Having done this for a few weeks now, the results are clear to see. My skin feels much softer and hydrated, my breakouts have been considerably less, those pesky white lumps under the skin are diminishing, and my pores are smaller, absolutely wonderful results.

Crystal Polish retails at £32.00 for 150ml pot, which is at the higher end of my budget but is definitely worth it. You can purchase it here from the Crystal Clear website and it is on my current Purchase Soon List.

Have you tried Crystal Polish? Or any of Crystal Clear's Products?

If you like this post please follow me over on Bloglovin.


xxx