Current Skincare Essentials

My skin has been hating on me recently. God only knows why, I mean, ok do drink a lot of coffee and snack on a bit of crap when I'm bored but that's always been the case. Anyhow, I decided it was time to take my skin care more seriously again as I'd realised my routine had completely slacked! And while it hasn't been able to stop those hormonal chin outbreaks (mmm sexy) it has made my skin feel a lot fresher, less clogged and look more glowy and healthy. 

Colbert MD Tone Control Facial Discs - Seen as I don't use manual exfoliators this is the closest thing I do to buff away dead skin. I love that the box comes with 20 individually packaged facial discs as they are handy for travelling. While the packet says you can use twice a day I only use one once a week. Firstly, because I think that for my slightly sensitive skin that would be way to harsh and secondly because at £65 a box I don't have that kind of money to throw around. I simply rub the disc on my face in a circular motion for about a minute and then look at it in disgust. Even when I've double cleansed it never fails to surprise me how much dirt comes of on it. I'm about half way through the box and have definitely noticed that my hyper-pigmentation and spot scarring has lessened.

REN Wake Up Wonderful Night-Time Facial -  After my beloved Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight mask finished a while back I didn't rush to try a new one but when this bad boy landed on my desk I was so excited to try it - I love REN. This is more like a leave on mask/serum so it's nice and light and you can pop it on by itself or under your night cream.

bliss fabulous drench 'n' quench cream to water lock in moisturiser - I have been on the look out for a good day moisturiser for so long. I was using a Simple one but it took too long to sink in. This bliss offering literally sinks in immediately and leaves your skin feeling super smooth before applying make-up.

Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins - Origins is probably my all-round favourite skincare brand. I love how there is a product for every skin type and every skin concern and this night cream is the perfect dry skin quencher.

* ALSO * Shout out to my cleanser... Clinique Take the Day Off

Amazing for removing make-up but isn't harsh and leaves the skin feeling so soft afterwards!

Beauty Favourites of 2014

I wanted to do a round up of all of my favourite discoveries of 2014 (hair, beauty, skin and body care) but it would either have about eight parts or be about two and a half hours long! So because I already waffled on about my favourite hair bits of last year in my Hair Chat post (link here) I figured I'd do my beauty favourites in this video and then chat about body care another time!

It was so so difficult to choose the select few and consider what I've loved throughout the whole year - but the products mentioned in this video really are the cat's pyjamas!

Love Keeks xo

When your skin freaks out...

I’ve never had bad skin. Don’t get me wrong it’s not perfect, it has its issues but it’s not overly problematic, which is why when I started to get small under the skin pimple breakouts a couple of months ago I freaked out.

The only time I get the odd spot is when ‘that time of the month’ is approaching – I’d never been plagued with these mini mountains before, crowding around my temples. The worst part was that I couldn’t put my finger on what was causing it straight away because I try so many new products for work. When I eventually did (an über rich day moisturiser) I decided to cull my face products and start again. While my night products stayed similar, bar the addition of rosehip facial oil, my day products are both new and, I think, have made my skin even better than before.

 La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+] - £15.50

I had used the original formula of this last year but never really gave it a fair shot. The new lotion is light and melts into the skin really quickly but more than that it actually does what it says it’s going to do! LHA and salicylic acid help to gently exfoliate the skin whilst it also unclogs pores and refine the skin’s texture. I use this as a serum before my moisturizer.

Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Moisturizer + - £34.50

If you want to invest in your skin and it’s quite dehydrated like mine I would definitely recommend this moisturizer. It also sinks into the skin smoothly, leaving it feeling plump and well nourished. The cream is enriched with Nature's Rose of Jericho plus a Lychee and Watermelon hydra-sustain complex to quench the skin deeply.

Since I’ve been using these bad boys my skin has actually been better than before – seriously. Let us all pray that these never run out.

Love Keeks xo 

The Everyday Make Up.

Hello My Lovelies!

So I wrote this post and was about to publish it and everything, with the whole post dedicated to the poignancy of it being my 100th post -  when I realised I had a draft post lurking around and it's actually my 99th. Fail. Oh well, this my almost 100th - 1. 

I was having a look back at my previous blog posts and realised I've never done a post about my everyday make up! Of course this does vary from time to time but this winter I've rarely deviated from these products and brushes for my daytime make up.

Firstly I obviously cleanse and moisture, (I'm thinking about doing a separate skincare routine post?) then I pop on some of the Ginzing eye cream on. Now I know that this is technically an eye cream but I thought for all the shimmer in it, it could be seen as a brightener of some sorts, which is how I see it. I then apply lip balm, otherwise my lips are super dry and lip products won't apply smoothly.

Base - I then go in with my foundation. This winter I've been loving the Le Teint Touche Eclat but as it  moves into spring (hard to believe, I know) and summer I switch to my Bareminerals matte powder. I dot the foundation on my face then buff it into my skin, sometimes I just use my fingers. Next I dot some concealer on my blemishes and down the centre of my nose buffing it out with the Real Techniques deluxe crease brush. I don't use this concealer under my eyes as when I have in the past I've found that it tends to gather in creases - not what you want from a concealer really, so I'm on the hunt for another.

Brows - I brush through them then use my brow kit; the wax sparsely, then the powder, applying with my Real Techniques brow brush. I then brush through them again removing excess.

Eyes - Day to day I normally just do subtle winged eyeliner. I first apply the Rimmel kohl liner in a thin line then to make it really dark then use the Soap & Glory liner to make the line smooth. I just find that using the Rimmel makes the line a lot darker. Followed by lashings of mascara.

Cheeks - I then apply some NARS bronzer with my contour brush, dusting along the top of the hollows of my cheeks, forehead and chin. Bronzer is a new step for me I only got it at the end of December but I love including it now! Next up is blush! I got my Gino McCray blusher in Thailand last time I was there and it's like it's never ending, which is good because it's my favourite. I first use my Mac 168 dabbing it on my cheeks and sweeping it up on my cheekbones, I then use the Mac 187 to blend the colour out a bit more to make it natural.

Lips - I normally keep it simple with a nude lipstick; my current favourite is my Chanel lipstick in Determinee.

Throughout the day if get a bit oily I use the Bobbi Brown pressed powder and my powder brush down the centre of my face. 

And there you have it, a rather long post about my everyday make up! What are some of your everyday products? 

Love Keeks xo 

Origins Brightening Musts

Well hello there, it’s been a while, you must forgive my blogging absence, with a mixture of work and sickness I have completely neglected my blog :( Sorry.

Anyhow, I’m back with a bit of a skincare review today. I bought the above set from John Lewis a few months ago, but I wanted to wait before I reviewed it so I could give each product a chance and to see if I could see a result. The pack was £27 I believe, so it seemed like a good deal as the VitaZing moisturiser is full size and the other two items are like luxury sample sizes and the pack costs the same as a single Vitazing moisturiser on the Origins website. I was in the John Lewis on Oxford Street last week and the set was still available, but I’m going to get on and tell you my thoughts on the products…

VitaZing Moisturiser

I heard so much about this on different blogs and Youtube channels, I thought I’d try it out as I wanted a new moisturiser and everybody seems to rave about it. It has a ‘sheer tint release’ that’s suppose to brighten you skin and adds radiance to your face with the Mangosteen extract in it (??). This moisturiser really confuses me as I don’t actually find it highly hydrating, it actually clings to the drier parts of my skin when I put it straight on after cleansing, for me it works a lot better if I put it on after allowing a day cream to sink into my skin, but I have a feeling that it’s a bit patchy because it isn’t to suited to darker skin, although I was told that its for all skin tones.

When I put it on I apply a pea size amount to the back of my hand, and then have to really work that little amount into my skin in order for it to blend in properly and not leave a grey tinge to my face, and this seems to work, but I just think putting on a face moisturiser shouldn’t be such a palaver. I definitely think this is a product where you should ask for a tester and try it out in your skincare and make up routine at home to see if it agrees with your skin type and colour. At the Origins counters they are often really helpful, and happy to give out testers, the lady I spoke to actually offered me a sample of it but I was so eager I just went for it (D’oh).

Modern Friction – Nature’s Gentle Dermabrasion

I hadn’t actually heard anything about this product before, and I don’t understand why, it’s amazing! It’s so good and strange at the same time. It’s an exfoliator, but without any harsh exfoliation beads, instead it uses rice starch and is in a thick white paste. Basically I clean my face and pat it dry so that it’s damp and work it into my skin massaging it well, then add water, little by little, lathering it up then rinsing it off. Afterwards my face feels really hot, especially around my mouth, in fact the first time I used it, I thought I was having a bad reaction to it, but I’ve read review where people have said it feels tingly after, so I’m not alone. But the most important thing is the way it makes your face feels! Oh my sweet Lord, my face feels sooo ridiculously soft, smooth and silky once I dry it, I can’t help but stroke my face repeatedly. I would highly recommend this, especially if you have sensitive and/or dry skin like me, and don’t like harsh exfoliators.

GinZing Eye Cream

Now I’ve never used an eye cream before, I don’t have really puffy eyes and wasn’t really concerned about my eye area in my teens. But as I’m getting older I figure it’s about time I gave a little love to my eye area. This eye cream says that it should be used in the morning to brighten and depuff the eye area. Now I’m no expert on the subject, but I really haven’t seen any ‘wow’ results after using this eye cream, but I think this might be because my eyes aren’t really a problem area so it’s a bit redundant for me. I can say though, that when this is applied, it makes my under eyes for really silky, but I wouldn’t say the appearance is any different.

I hope this review is helpful. Have any of you girlies tried any of these products, what did you think of them?

Love Keeks xo