Garnier Soft Essentials Rose Water Toner aka the product that saved my dodgy skin

Towards the end of the last year, I had a skin crisis which seemed to be something that would never be fixed.  My skin went from being combination (at best) to being super dry.  My nose and cheeks were really flaky and nothing helped restore adequate moisture.  I used products that left me feeling greasy and yet dry at the same time.  Then I picked this toner up..not expecting great things.

My cynicism was clearly built on a weak foundation as this pink unassuming bottle rescued my skin from the flakes and adequately plumped it back up to its normal self.

I find that being stingy with this is the best way to use it as otherwise, it takes ages to dry and I find myself dabbing my face with a tissue to get some excess moisture off.  I find it makes my skin clean and also gives enough moisturiser so that I don't need to moisturise afterwards.

It does have a smell but it's a nice smell, it's not overly natural or overly synthetic, you can't really notice it unless you sniff it out.

It has really transformed my dull winter skin into my usual non winter skin.  I find it also does the job of a cleanser at times as it is very good at removing City grime that collects on my face on a daily basis.

I have been using it in conjunction with the matching face cream which is surprisingly light considering it is for people with dry skin.

I took this photo when I had just started using it and it is nearly all gone now.

Both this and the moisturiser cost me less than £4 but even at full price I don't think it is too expensive.  The range is currently on offer in Boots (2 for £4).  I haven't linked you up because it's not the website but I've seen them instore!

Lush Toner Tabs: ETC ETC

I saw these in many Lush stores before I finally picked them up from the one in Westfields.  The reason for this is simple..the Lush in Westfields is pretty big..you're not cramped and worried you're going to knock something over and you're not overwhelmed by smells either.

Now that I write this, I'm sure I wrote about my experience in this Lush branch before..with the SA who was stingier than Ebenezer Scrooge on a bad day.  I asked for a sample of the 9-5 cleanser and the amount he gave me barely skimmed the bottom of the sample jar.

These made the move from bedroom to kitchen (the plan was to watch TV and steam at the same time and we don't have a TV in the bathroom anymore because I like to douse myself in "boiling water" and it kept getting steamed up..but that's by the by), anyway, these made the move last week and I decided that a few nights ago, enough was enough.

I got out the biggest bowl we have and whacked some boiling water into it.  The instructions clearly say 40 degrees celcius is the best temperature to use and this was the original plan but I got waylaid on the phone and the kettle came to a full boil..

You take out one tab and whack it into the warm water.  I wanted the one which calms troubled skin (the Tea Tree one) because I was in outbreak city at the time.  I thought they would be same thickness as paracetemol tabs but they're a lot thicker.  Drop it in and watch it fizz away, the smell is released when it fizzes and I found that putting your face over the bowl at that time doesn't do you any harm..

I sat with the towel over my head for a fair while..it warmed my skin up and I could feel it getting cleaner and smoother.  It also opens your nose up too so it would be good if you've got a cold/are getting over one..

I sat like that for about 20 minutes.  I managed to remove about three blackheads which was three more than I thought I had.  It wasn't hard to remove them, I just ran my fingers over my nose (to get some water off) and they came off.

You can save the liquid and use it as a toner for your skin or as a nice wash for your hair.  I managed to fill two toner bottles with mine..well, I could have filled two more but as I had none left, it went down the sink.

The next day my skin did look a LOT better.  I find that if you don't extract whiteheads and blackheads, they will look more prominent the day after so make sure you get them all.  Plus, they're easier to get out whilst your skin is a bit steamy/slimy.

I feel my skin getting softer and cleaner as it takes the heat in and the next day it looks a lot nicer than it did before.  I used to use a steamer before this but the bowl method works a lot better so I'd say if you want a steamer, just get a big bowl and use that.

These retail for £4.25 and can be bought here.  When I finish my current packet, I am definitely going to buy some more.  The toner you get afterwards is a nice grime remover..although I don't feel it did much to my hair.

The New Skincare Routine

Did anyone see The Inbetweeners this week when they went to "Waterside?"

Well that place is actuallly called The Chimes and it was built when I started sixth form and I had my first "proper" retail job in there; good old H&M..which has just recently been refurbished and looks TERRIBLE.  It was nice and bright in there before but now they've brought the ceiling right down and it's really cramped.

All three products here were also bought from that very shopping centre.

The Boots (which was featured behind Will and Simon discussing their cinema plans) is the place where me and the Skin Tonic first started our fleeting romance *sob sob*.

I'm more than convinced that it has been discontinued now because when I went to check the two shelf places where it usually is, there were other products there.

My mixture toner stopped working for me so I decided to buy a new one as I use a toner to get rid of the City grime that builds up on my face during the day.

I've worked it into my skincare routine and I'm quite pleased with how well these three products work together.

I find that the toner removes the grime but leaves my skin feeling moisturised.  I prefer it to this toner as it makes my skin feel plumped up and tingly clean.  I apply the toner both in the morning and the evening.  In the mornings I follow it with the Garnier eye roll on and then the Mattifying Lotion.  I find it easier to use the eye roll on first as otherwise you get a milky deposit around your eyes and you have to remove it with a tissue.

The roll on has finished and I'm testing out a cream at the moment but the roll on is idiot proof (hence the love) and you can moisturise on up without tugging at the skin.

In other news, it's recently turned a lot colder so I've taken to camouflaging myself whilst in bed so that I can score an extra few minutes, do you think it's working?

What's your current skincare regime? Any tips for us combo ladies? Do you try and camouflage in bed during the winter in the vain hope that you will get an extra five minutes?

Review: Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

You don't know happy I was to hear the words "skin tonic" be bandied about.

I was more than in love with my Boots Original Beauty Skin Tonic before it was cruelly snatched away from me by the devil that is discontinued products.

So, here I was, holding this beautifully wrapped Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic hoping that it would work just as well as my other skin tonic..

What do Liz Earle say?
"This heavenly scented, non-drying floral tonic revitalises, soothes and brightens. Gentle and alcohol-free it also adds a fine layer of moisture. With conditioning natural source vitamin E, hydrating organic aloe vera and rose-scented geranium."

What do I say?
It's nice..but I don't think it is as good as my HG skin tonic.  This does not mean that it doesn't work.  The Liz Earle one dries very quickly and leaves your skin feeling lovely.  You don't need to moisturise after using it if you use it generously.  I do this and leave my skin alone.  When I'm tired and don't use it properly, I make sure to use a moisturiser afterwards.

I feel that it does add moisture which is nice from a "toner".  Whether it soothes and brightens is yet to be seen.  However, I didn't really notice a brightening effect with my other skin tonic.  It smells pretty nice and works how I'd want a toner to work.

Even when I use it with a light hand, it feels a bit heavy for my skin so it might work better if you have dry or normal skin.

Repurchase? 
I don't think I will.  I'm not totally convinced by this.  I have been using it for a fair while and it hasn't wowed me in the same way that my other tonic did.  I suppose it is unfair to compare it to my other skin tonic so I will say this: it does work, it does everything it promises to but for me, it's not as good as my baby.

How I made my own toner

I decided to make my own toner after I couldn't find my current favourite in any Boots' store.

This is the story of what happened.

First, the characters..

What became of them..

 
The happy ending.

A little bit less than half of the Tesco toner, a little more than half of the rosewater and a about a capful of the citric acid powder.  I only used more rosewater than toner because after originally doing half and half, I felt my skin was a bit tight and dry so I amended it.  If you have combo skin, I'd suggest doing that but if you've got normal skin then keep it at half and half.

Works just as well my old Skin Tonic and worked out a lot cheaper!

ETA: I've had some comments asking me where I got the items from so I'll tell you.  I got the toner from Tescos (duh) but any alcoholic, bog standard toner will do.  The citric acid is from the Indian shop but I'm sure you can find it in any supermarket.  Likewise, the rosewater is from the Indian shop too but I've seen it in supermarkets. 

My Summer Face Essentials

It's hot..hotter than we are used to in England.

I have normal/combo skin which means that heat and me don't mix.

This is what I'm using to keep my skin from looking a hot greasy mess and it's working brilliantly.

Surprised that you don't see a primer? So was I.

I used a primer when I went to the Body Shop bloggers event and it really highlighted dry patches that I didn't know I had.  Since that day, I've just been using my foundation alone and it's served me well.

The toner is one of my saving graces, I just whack it on..wait for it dry, put my moisturiser on, let it sink in and then apply my foundation.  It stays put all day, doesn't apply in a streaky manner and gives me a dewy finish without making me greasy.  The eye roll on is there simply to provide extra moisture as the air conditioning at work has a habit of drying my eyes out.

Review: Boots Traditional Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner v Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic

Nice, small title there..

I bought both of these..well, actually, my mum bought me one (shame!) and I bought the other myself.

I've been asked for a review on the Glycerin and Rosewater toner so I'm doing a review and compare.  I was originally going to just review the first one but as both have similar ingredients, I decided to do a comparison post.

Before I get to that, I'm quite happy that in this day and age you can buy toners on the High Street which are not jammed full of alcohol and will strip your skin and make your skin complaint worse.  I swear you couldn't get these when I was a teenager, I used alcohol fuelled toners for many many years, if these were around then, I'm sure my skin would have looked nicer back then. Don't get me wrong, these two contain alcohol but it's nowhere near as much as those "traditional" ones do..I had quick look at ingredients in Boots the other day.

Anyway, review time!

Boots Tradition Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner.

When I got this, I was using a cleanser which I found contained mineral oils (if you Google mineral oil, the top three shopping items that come up are things you put in your car, which is rather telling..)I researched up on them and found that they created a barrier between your skin and anything you put on it so I chucked it away.

I like the fact that the bottle is plastic and that the opening is small so it doesn't all come spilling out when you tip it upside down.  I also like the minimal, no fuss, semi vintage looking packaging.  The smell isn't horrible either, it's not your typical toner smell.

I soaked a cotton wool pad in it and circulated it around my face.  It made my skin feel really nice and clean and more plumped up.  When I apply my toner, I usually wait about 15 minutes before putting my moisturiser on as this is my personal best course of action.  When I touched my face after 15 minutes, it felt super smooth and very plumped out but pretty sticky..I thought this was just an after effect of the mineral oil cleanser...creating a barrier and what have you.

I used it time and time again and it still made my skin feel sticky.  It's quite a shame it did that because I enjoyed how smooth it made my skin feel but the stickiness was a deal breaker.

Repurchase?
I wouldn't buy this again because I have used it weeks after I stopped using the mineral oil cleanser and it still made my face really sticky.  If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it in Boots.  I couldn't find it online but it costs about £2.90.  I noticed once I had used it that it had rubbing alcohol in it (isopropyl alcohol) and I didn't want to put that anywhere near my face so I've been using it to clean by brushes before shampooing them.

Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic.

This bottle is glass.  I am a clumsy person.  Glass and butterfingers don't mix.  This is why I was glad it came in a cardboard box so that I'd be able to transport it home without it breaking (I've broken a vase on the way home once before..) 

Apart from that, I really like the packaging as it commits fully to the vintage feel, it's a heavy glass bottle with an old school looking label on it and the bottle even has Boots embedded into the glass.  The lid is a thin metally lid and there is no "protector" so if the lid is off and the bottle topples over, the product will go everywhere.  I dislike this. I feel a bit thick saying that I like the vintage design yet dislike the fact they've used glass? What I'm saying is, if it came in the same packaging that the Glycerin and Rosewater did..it would be perfick.

The smell..what to say about the smell..it's not pleasant. It does whiff a bit but you'd be surprised how quickly you get uesd to it, plus, you can't smell it once you've put it on.

I (once again) put this onto a cotton wool pad and rub it around my face in circular motions.  I feel this one feels a lot fresher than the Glycerin and Rosewater counterpart and it cleans my skin a lot better.  I look at the pad after cleaning my face with it and can see visible bits of "dirt" on it.  My face feels a lot cleaner after using this toner than it did with the other.

I waited again for 15 minutes and felt my skin, it didn't feel plumper but then it wasn't sticky and I'd rather have non stick than plump.

Repurchase?
I will deffo buy more of these in the future, I'm thinking to stock up whilst they're still on half price in Boots. £1.94 is a brilliant price to pay for a toner which actually works.

Your mum still buys your..moisturiser?!

A good few weeks ago, I bought my mum three Chanel lippies.  My dad thinks it's wrong for me to spend this much money on her so he made her come shopping with me so she could buy me whatever I wanted.

This is what I got..

I've never seen ANY of these items in Boots before, I had a list of moisturisers I wanted to try, the main one was the vanishing cream which I didn't get as the lady behind the counter told me it wasn't in the offer.  I bought the moisturiser in the middle because it smelled pretty nice, I was going to get the Botanics oil free moisturiser but it smelled of rotting veg.  The eye cream was a last minute addition which I wasn't going to buy but as I could find nothing else I liked, I got it as Boots had their 3 for 2 on.  I swatched it in the shop and it had no glitter (yay!)  My mum was the one who found the glycerin and rosewater toner, I did see it but she was the one who suggested getting it.

I got a Dove heat protection spray but forgot to photograph it.

I picked up these two from The Body Shop:

This is a facial massager which I had wanted for some time..it cost me £6.00/£7.00.

This looks like my facial brush and it just that but a bigger version for your body.  They had quite a few in the store but the lady working there said that this was best for using in the shower.  It cost £5.00. 

I know it looks like I didn't buy that much but I did get a fair amount of clothes which proved too hard to photograph because I was dead on my feet and just shoved them into a cupboard.

If you want reviews of anything, let me know! I know I'm going to review two items already but I'll keep them a secret for now!

Review: Tesco Vitamin E range

Remember this post?

I think I've been using the range long enough to give a decent review, so here we go.

Just a heads up, this review is LONG. You know how long a review for one product usually is so this is about six products in one.

The one point I can make about all the products is the smell.  There is a tangy (yeah, tangy) smell from all the products, it's not offensive and smells quite light.

The cleanser.

I haven't used a cleanser for quite some time and I can't think why.  Actually, I can.  I don't subscribe to the whole "cleanse, tone, moisturise" malarky.  If your skin is behaving itself and you haven't cleansed and toned, then leave it be.  My skin was behaving so I didn't cleanse..despite having about 5 cleansers that I could have used.

The directions for use are standard, put the cleanser on with your fingers, wait a few mins and take it off with a cotton wool pad.

I can tell if a cleanser has worked if my skin feels softer and looks cleaner.  Did my skin look cleaner? Yes.  Did it feel softer? Yes.

I didn't have to use much either.

Purchase?
I'm personally on a no-buy but I would buy this when I've used up all my cleansers.  It cleanses and doesn't leave me really tight skin afterwards. 

The toner.

I've always had problems with toner.  If you get a gentle one, it might not clean the skin and the harsher ones strip your skin of all oil and make you even greasier so it's a hard balance to strike.

I liked the toner, it cleaned, didn't sting or have a horrible smell (you know that smell that some toners have).  However, I had a patch of dry skin show up on the right hand side of my mouth/right cheek but I think that's to be expected with a toner.  Plus, I moisturised afterwards and all was good.

I've used this when my skin was really greasy and when it was behaving and it worked well both times.  It makes your skin feel really nice and soft.

I do have one semi negative point to report, it's a very gentle toner.  I don't know how best to elucidate this point but I will try.  It's very gentle so if you have really oily skin then you may have to use a fair bit.  I've been using this since Maskgate and it's brought my skin back up to its normal type.  Can you believe I still felt the after effects of that incident more than a week after it happened?

Purchase?
I'm quite impressed with how well it worked and for the price, I'd deffo buy it.

The liquid eye makeup remover.

I don't like liquid eye makeup removers because they tend to sting me so I stay clear.  I decided to bite the bullet and get on with it...all in the name of science and all that!

If you use just mascara and a neutral shadow, it works well.  However, if you wear a heavier eye then you need to use a fair amount of the product to get it all off.  I wore two shadows from my Sleek palette and the remover struggled.

Purchase?
I wouldn't buy this because I really don't like liquid removers.  It's great if you don't wear a heavy eye, if you do however, I'd give this a miss.

The face wash.

I call this "Sir Grease-Away".  I used it in the aftermath of Maskgate and it really cleared the grease away but left me moisturised.

I just dashed it on my face, massaged it in a bit and washed it off.

Purchase?
Yes. I'm going to replace my Clinique liquid soap with this.  I've fallen out with the Clinique because used everyday, it strips my skin so I use it when my skin is in need of a degreasing and it works pretty well but I think it's a bit pricey considering how often I use it.  I'd rather pay for this, use it daily than pay £12 for Clinique and use it sporadically.

The exfoliator.

Very tiny beads.  I like to use an exfoliator that I can feel actually scrubbing my skin.  This didn't really make a difference on my skin.  The only thing it did was remove the flakes of skin but I used just water and that did the same.

Usually when I use a scrub, it makes my skin feel smoother but this didn't do anything.

The consistency of the product was also a problem, it's very runny, even moreso than the face wash.  You know how exfoliators are usually pretty thick when you squeeze them out of the tube? This was the exact opposite.  I had to rub it in a fair bit to feel as if it was exfoliating my skin.

Purchase?
No.  I think the main downfall of this product is the size of the exfoliating particles, they're very gentle..almost too gentle.  If they were a bit bigger, I think the product would work better.

The night cream.

Ingredients:
Aqua, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii, Glycerin, Cylopentasiloxane, Paraffinium Liquidum, Glyceryl Stearate, Cyclohexasiloxane, PEG-100 Stearate, Polysorbate 60, Parfum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin.

I tested this last because I don't really use a night cream because I've never seen any differences when using one.  However, I also decided to use it because my skin was going through a period of unrest after the MG debacle.  It went from super greasy and spotty to super dry..and I mean REALLY dry.  My skin has never ever been that dry before, I'd moisturise in the morning and have massive flakes coming off during the day (sexy!)

The first thing I noticed about this cream was that it was really light for a night cream, most night creams I have used are thick affairs which claim to provide intense moisture during the night.

I've been using this a fair bit and it has helped get my skin back to its normal standard, I don't wake up with flakes of skin on my face anymore and my skin does feel softer in the mornings.

Purchase?
Yes, it's a no fuss night cream, just slap it on and go to bed.  I like the fact that it doesn't break me out in whiteheads overnight as most night creams do.  I'd recommend it for girls with combo/oily skin as it's kept my skin on an even keel once it went back to normal, it's also good for girls with dry skin as it eliminates the flakes.

The cleansing wipes.

I've used these before and I love them. I know on here I say "would repurchase" a lot but the products which I feature in my "products I would elope with" are my key loves, they're the ones I pick when I'm packing a bag.  These made the cut.

They have a really light smell and I feel they're just wet enough to take off any grime (and makeup) and leave your skin feeling soft.  Plus, considering that their counterparts are sold at £3 something, these are a bargain!

Purchase?
Before I had these sent to me, I already had three as backups so the educated guess would be yes.

You can buy the whole range in Tescos (surprising!) here is the price list:
Vitamin E cleanser: 72p
Vitamin E night cream: 72p
Vitamin E toner: 72p
Vitamin E eye makeup remover: 72p
Vitamin E face scrub: 72p
Vitamin E face wash: 72p
Vitamin E cleansing wipes: 72p
Vitamin E hand and nail cream: 72p
Vitamin E moisturiser: 72p