It's all about the face: Face care products.

One of my first posts was about all the face care products I used at the time. A few months down the track and it seems as if it has changed dramatically. I have now added a few more face products to my collection and stopped using some of the things I spoke about before. These are the products I use regularly.

I fell in love with  L'Oreal Perfect Clean - Exfoliating Gentle Apricot Scrub with the cleanPod the first time I used it. The scent is very sweet and apricotty and it is almost like a runny gel. You squeeze around a 10 cent coin sized amount on to the cleanpod and then in small circles clean your face with it. I find that with the help of the cleanpod, all my makeup is removed and my face is left feeling fresh. (Aside from my eyes of course) On my eyes I use either Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil or Nivea Daily Cleansing Wipes for Sensitive Skin, both remove my eye makeup really well without leaving any traces behind or hurting my eyes. I used to use toner that was alcohol based, but found it was probably a little to harsh on my skin for prolonged use and am now on the hunt for a new alcohol free toner. I am swaying towards the Simple Soothing Facial Toner as it is alcohol free and pH balanced.

Sometimes if I am having a bad week with breakouts I use Proactiv Deep Cleansing Wash with the cleanpod to help clear up any nasties. After face cleansers/toners I usually apply some sort of moisturiser/primer. There are a fair few I select from depending on what time of day it is and if I will be applying make up or not. Right before bed I apply Nivea Q10 Plus Night Cream or Olay Total Effects. Yes, they are anti wrinkle creams, but they are so thick and lovely and my skin always feels amazing in the morning. Before makeup I apply Benefit That Gal Brightening Primer and if I am not wearing make up for the day I usually apply some POD Liquid Face Tan Serum instead of tinted moisturiser because they always end up making me look extremely oily.

A few different products I have bought over time that are now in my cupboard are:
St Ives Apricot Scrub, which is a really exfoliating scrub with ground apricot shell. I have now found out that natural exfoliators, although sounding great, are bad for your skin as they are not uniform shapes and can sometimes be damaging to the skin.
Clearasil Blackhead Scrub, Clearasil Ultra Overnight Scrub, Clearasil Ultra Pimples + Marks Wash and Mask all of which are great and work really well, but upon ordering Proactiv and using their products these have sort of been forgotten about.
LilyLovesPearl Exfoliating Scrub which I don't really like much at all. The scent is strange and sometimes makes me feel ill and there is not enough of the exfoliating crystals for it too feel like a scrub.
Garnier Pure Active ExfoBrush is pretty awesome. It's easy to use and has a tingling effect which is always good in my opinion. Once again has been forgotten about since Proactiv and L'Oreal came along.

Fomula 10.0.6 Toner which is just far too harsh for my skin and is drying due to containing alcohol.
Along with a whole bunch of face creams that I should really stop buying.

Well I think that pretty much sums it up. If you have any questions or want a detailed review of any of the products mention, or have some recommendations for me, leave me a comment :)

Benefit sample pack.

For the last few months I have been waiting to try some of the Benefit products but been hesitant due to the fact I would only be able to order it online from over seas and the costs are quite high. After seeing this sample package on ebay, I thought it would be a great chance to try some of the products. The tints/stains are in rose and poppy, and the staying power is amazing. The benetint gives lips a gorgeous red pigment that lasts for hours under a good lipbalm or gloss. I love the light pigments that the posietint leaves on the cheeks, it is easily blendable over makeup and works great as a base for blush. Two primers, that gal and porefessional, both are great bases for foundation/powder or worn alone. The erase paste is in the lightest shade, which is a little too pink for my complexion, but works well under my foundation and powder. It is a little too thick for my everyday makeup and feels heavy in comparison to my normal Loreal Touche Magic concealer. Stay don't Stray is a little heavy on my eyelids for my liking, but does help to hold shadow and give true pigment of shadows. Hoola and Dandelion are both very light colours. Hoola is a non shimmer bronzer that blends wonderfully where as Dandelion is a very shimmery light ballerina pink looking amazing brushing all over the face for an all over shimmer or high on the cheek bones as a highlighter. For $40 this pack is amazing and gives me such a great range of the Benefit products. I definitely want to get a full size Hoola and try some deeper colours of blusher. I love the fact that they come in boxes with their own brushes. Would recommend picking yourself up one of these packs, even for travel or in your handbag.

Lush Goodies #2

Friday we went to the city after work to grab some Lush goodies and new Vans. We ended up leaving Lush with R&B leave in hair moisturiser, Bubblegum lip scrub, Sugar babe and Mange too massage bar. After trying a sample of the R&B leave in hair moisturiser a month a go, I fell in love. It really does wonders for my hair. It leave it looking less frizzy and controlled, not to mention the gorgeous smell that lingers in my hair for days to come. I would recommend this to anyone who has unruly hair to neaten it up and make it easier to manage while curly/wavy. The bubblegum lip scrub is delicious and I am always tempted to eat some more after applying it to my lips. After applying, lips feel softer and smoother and it makes lipstick application look a lot smoother. The Sugar babe is an amazing exfoliater for my legs and knees as I pretty dry skin. It rids me of the dead skin and cells on my legs and leaves them feeling amazingly soft, and smelling great. Mange too was something my husband picked out, because he liked the fact that it says it is actually lickable. It smells strongly of white chocolate and has little exfoliating bits in it which feel great on my back when massaging. This one if a winner for the both of us. I am already picking out the next Lush products I want/need for our next visit.

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French kisses.

I received these beauties in the post after Mirenesse cosmetics had a promotion on their facebook page, if you signed up, and then signed a friend up too, they would send you and your friend a lipstick each valued at $29.50. Now I don't wear lipstick all that often, but I seriously can't get enough of these two. They are truely amazing. They glide on smooth like lip balm and can be built up to achieve slightly more pigmented lips or full on bold colours. Both colours are gorgeous, though I probably favour the Mai Tai the most, the red one, as it is almost a perfect match to my natural deep lip colour, just with added shine and gloss, which is great. I would definitely recommend trying these if you don't like the feel of regular lipstick, but want the bold colour that comes with it. They seriously feel like a lip balm or gloss, it's brilliant. Mirenesse cosmetics really are one of my favourite brands, I have never tried something that I didn't like, all their products are wonderful and true to their word! Get on to their weekly specials and try some of their products for yourself!

February Bellabox

 Once again, bit late with my review. This month I didn't really like my Bellabox all that much. I found it pretty boring and ordinary, considering it's supposed to be all about love. I received three creams, a soap flower and some eyeshadow. I mean don't get me wrong, I know it is a samples box, I am not complaining about that. I just think that they could have picked some more products towards the love and valentines day theme. I don't have much to say about it really. The eyeshadow is very silver and is of quality. The body soothe said it could be applied all over the body and face. I'm telling you now, it does not feel good on your face at all. It felt so heavy and made me feel clamy and gross. The soap flower is adorable, but I am actually allergic to soap, so it's more of a nice decoration. The other creams I have not tried as of yet. I think this is the first box where I haven't been excited by any of the products at all. Feel like I missed out a bit after seeing some people got Sparoma body shimmer. Ah well, you get what you get. Fingers crossed next month is better.

February Glossybox

Terrible photo, I know. Taking photos while your new kitten is jumping on everything possible and being extra cute is quite difficult apparently haha. Oh well, I am sure you have seen what's in this months Glossybox a million times by now, as I know I am very late with my review.

I was pretty happy with my box this month. This is the second time I have subscribed to Glossybox. The first time I was disappointed with the products and decided it wasn't for me and moved on to Bellabox. This box has sort of 'restored my faith' in Glossybox. For starters who doesn't love a bright hot pink box!? WOW! So happy too see proactiv as my husband suffers from acne, and we have been wanting to try proactiv for a while now, but didn't want to purchase it, and then have it not work, as it is quite expensive for the whole kit.  He was also very pleased that he got a little goodie this month too haha. If he likes the wash, we will be redeeming the $20 discount voucher also given this month. I was over the moon about getting the Bobbi Brown mascara, and rightly so. It works a treat. My eyelashes have never been so long without a primer before! They looked amazing, they weren't clumpy or heavy either. If it wasn't for the $50 price tag, this would be a must have. The nail polish is a great colour which I don't actually have yet, so that was good. It's soo red! I am not a fan of fake tanning really. I love my POD facial tan, only because I always wear SPF foundation, so sometimes my face can be a little pale against my tanned body if I am having a make up free day. The Tantasia tan is shimmery though, not something I would want on my face really. Loving the little nail files, I am always looking for little travel sized bits. I just finished the love heart lollies while writing this haha, I love these, have since I was young.

Overall, great box. I don't think it was very 'valentine' themed other than the pink box and heart lollies though. Oh well, got myself some great samples.