UPDATED: Facial Cleansing Routine (Sensitive / Dry & Eczema Prone Skin)

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well and that you're having a good week so far! Today I thought I'd share with you all a little bit of a skin routine update and in this post, I'm going to begin with cleansing. 

As you guys may or may not know, I have pretty sensitive yet dry / eczema prone skin. This sucks. It means I have to be very careful that what I put on my face won't cause a horrible reaction and make me feel like I'm on fire and it also means that I have a hard time trying to find products that keep my skin feeling hydrated AND soothed at the same time.  But I suppose the one positive side of having such an annoying skin type is that it's a great excuse to shop around and look for different products which is what I'm always doing. 

In this post, I'm going to show you what has been working for me for the last 2-3 months in terms of cleansing my skin. I'll show you my cleansers, what tools I use and what I use to tone my face as well!
The Body Shop Aloe Vera Calming Toner - £8.50:
I used to wash my face with water twice a day until I eventually realised that it may have been an element into the issue of my skin always feeling rather dry and irritated. I found that washing my face with a cleanser and water was far too much for my skin twice a day and so I reverted to only using water at night. 

That's where toner comes in - in the morning I use The Body Shop's Aloe Vera toner in place of a water activated cleanser and this works great to refresh and cleanse my skin gently in the morning when my skin feels it's driest. Because it's a toner and it's a step I will usually do after cleaning my face anyway, it works like two steps in one without me having to use any water at all.  What I love about this toner is that it is gentle and gives my face a "warming" sensation that I find helps to soothe it and calm it down. My face can get pretty red sometimes especially when it's irritated and this toner is great for calming that down. Aloe Vera is noted for it's antibacterial properties and so it makes a great cleanser that is still gentle enough for sensitive skin.  Simple Moisturising Facial Wash - £3.48  & The Foreo Luna Mini - £99.00 When I'm not wearing makeup, I will usually go straight into cleansing my skin in the evening with a moisturising gel based formula from Simple. As with all Simple products, the formula is gentle and contains no harsh chemicals or perfumes which is why I enjoy using the brand so much.  As it is such a thick gel, I don't find this to be particularly drying and because of it's formula, it foams up really nicely making it great to use alongside my Foreo Luna Mini. 

The Foreo Luna Mini is (as the name suggests) a mini face cleansing tool made of silicone as opposed to other cleansing tools such as the Clarisonic that have bristles. Because the Luna is made of silicone, I find it be very gentle on my skin whilst still allowing me to get a deeper clean than with with just my hands alone. It vibrates on two adjustable settings and this also allows for very gentle exfoliation which is so gentle that it can be used everyday. It also has a handy little one minute time which lets you know when you've done enough cleansing! You can read my full length review on the Luna here.  Superdrug Vitamin E Cream Cleanser (Alternative) - £3.99
For removing my makeup, I really love cream cleansers. I used to remove my makeup with baby wipes but I found that I'd have to use so many and that after using them, they always left me panda eyed which isn't really what I wanted. As well as this, I found wipes to be too harsh on my skin as you really have to get in there and tug at it which as we all know ladies and gents, can cause premature wrinkles and who wants that?! 

I particularly like the Superdrug Vitamin E Cream Cleanser firstly because of how inexpensive it is. It is a fraction of the price of most cream cleansers and in my opinion, it does just a good a job. Cream cleansers are used in conjunction with a hot cloth. You apply the cream all over your face focusing on areas with the most makeup or dirt and with a wet, hot cloth you wipe it all away. The cream disintegrates dirt and makeup easily allowing you to simply wipe it all off of your face. This process is really quick and is far more effective for me than wipes - as it is cream based as well, I always find it really great on my dry skin as it keeps it feeling moisturised.  If I want a deeper cleanse on top of this, I'll usually go in for about 30 seconds with my Luna and Simple wash as well! That's it for my current cleansing routine - what are your favourite cleansers? If you have any recommendations for those with my skin type (or others) it'd be great if you left them in the comments! Thanks for reading.

SKINCARE: My Favourite Brands / Products for Sensitive Skin

Hey guys! As some of you may know, I have very sensitive skin. Since a very young age I have had eczema too and so my skin is very vulnerable to certain things and this can cause irritation and flare ups.
Recently, I also had a flare up of eczema on my face - the only part of my body that had never been affected by my sensitive skin. Since this, I decided to really evaluate all the products I use on my skin and in this post I thought I would share with you the brands and products that I find work the best for me and that will perhaps therefore work for some of you too. All the brands I am going to mention are great even if you don't have sensitive skin and perhaps want products more gentle and more natural.
This is going to be a two-part post: today I'm going to talk about the facial skincare products I love, and then my next post is going to be all about the body products I love. So, let's get started!

Burts Bees:

I have raved about Burt's Bees in the past and todays post will be no different as I just had to give them a mention. Before my face became so sensitive and I had a flare up, I'd never really paid an interest into this brand. However, since using their products I've fallen in love. They're products are natural and contain honey - a known ingredient that is good for nourishing and treating the skin.

 I started off with buying a mini set of a few products before diving in and paying for anything full-sized. The product I loved and immediately bought in full-size after trying was their Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream. This product is so gentle and leaves the face feeling so fresh and clean. It removes makeup and any other build up on the face like a dream and your face feels really moisturised after. As I said, it's very gentle and causes me absolutely no irritation. I've reviewed this product more in depth on my blog and you can check that post out here.

I also love their Sensitive Facial Cleanser specifically made for more sensitive skin which I find works more or less the same way as the chamomile one but this one lathers up a little more and goes on a lot thinner. Both products cost more than a regular cleanser would but I personally think the amount you get (and how far it goes) teamed with the quality of the product itself, makes it more than worth it!

Bioderma:

Biorderma is another brand that I discovered around the same time as trying out Burt's Bees. You may well have heard of Bioderma as their Sensinio H20 Miscellar Water is very popular in the beauty community. I do actually use this myself and it's perfect for sensitive skin. Whilst I don't use mine to remove makeup, I love it when used as a toner. It helps to prevent my skin feeling irritated whilst also making sure it is nice and cleansed and helping to dispel redness.

Photo credit: Bioderma Website

Other products I have really been enjoying Bioderma is their Atoderm PP Baume and Atoderm PO Zinc moisturisers. Both of these are targeted specifically at Atopic skin conditions (such as eczema) but are also perfect for dry skin. The PP Baume helps to repair the skin and reduce the urge to scratch any irritated areas. The Atoderm PO Zinc also helps to repair the skin as well as helping to soothe symptoms of dryness. Both products are suitable for use on adults and children. I find both to be very gentle and thin enough to go along way on the skin but to also lock in moisture and keep my face feeling supple.

Photo credit: Bioderma Website

Simple:

Simple is a brand I have used and enjoyed for a long time. It's an ideal, basic brand for people with sensitive skin as their products contain no nasty perfumes and only pure ingredients. This means that their products are gentle and soothing to those of us with easily irritated skin. As well as this, their price are so affordable for a skincare brand so they are perfect for every day use.

The main product that I love to use is their Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. It's a basic, light weight moisturiser that keeps my skin feeling soft and nourished without being heavy. It's just a great everyday moisturiser.

I also really love the Refreshing Facial Wash Gel and Facial Scrub. Both products cause no irritation (even the scrub) and leave my face feeling clean and most importantly not dried out or tight. The scrub really helps to rid my skin of dead skin without my skin feeling uncomfortable from using it.

Eye care has been something I've really gotten into these past few months and Simple's Soothing Eye Balm and Revitalising Roll On are products that I've been enjoying. Knowing that they are so 'simple' and gentle, I feel confident on using them on my eyes. They help to keep my eye area feel moisturised and soft and I can feel confident that won't become irritated from use. I particularly love the roll on for reducing puffiness and dark circles in those mornings.

Olay:

Finally, I'm going to talk to you about Olay. Olay is one of the only drugstore brands that I've found do quite an extensive range of products with variations specifically for sensitive skin. One of my favourites is their classic Beauty Fluid. As the name suggests, the product is very thin and for this reason you really don't need a lot of it. You get an impressive amount of product for the price and I find the fluid itself to be really softening and moisturising - helping to lock moisture into my face throughout the day. Similarly to the Simple moisturiser, it's great for everyday use.

Night time is the best time to really treat your face and apply a product to work through the night so that you can wake up with lovely feeling skin. Olay's Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream is a product that does just that. It's just the right thickness for a night cream in my opinion and it really sinks into the skin making it feel so supple all night long and when you wake up. As well as this, it also has the anti-ageing side to it which means that it's going to help prevent the signs of ageing as well nourish my skin - which is always nice.

So, there you have my favourite facial skincare brands and products for sensitive skin right now.

 I hope you found this post helpful, there's quite a variety here so I think there is definitely something for everybody. I love trying out new products so if any of you have any suggestions of new ones to try, please do leave them below! And as always if you have any comments at all, i'd love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading this post!

Boots & Superdrug Haul!

Hey there! Recently I did just a teeny bit of shopping (ok, maybe more than a teeny bit but still!) and I thought I'd show what you I got. It's all beauty and skincare - most of the things I picked up I have never tried before either which is always interesting, hopefully I'm going to love them!

So, first of all I popped into Boots and got some beauty bits. They currently have a 2 for £10 deal on ALL Revlon cosmetics (check it out if you haven't already) and so I took advantage of this and got 2 lipsticks from their Super Lustrous range. The first I picked up in the shade 002 Pink Pout and the second was in the shade 663 Va Va Violet which I am particularly excited to try.

I also headed over to the Maybelline stand and they had a buy 1 get 1 half price deal - you see, it's really the shop's fault that I spend so much... Anyway, from there I got their new 'Matte Maker' face powder. They didn't appear to have much of a shade range, nor did they have a translucent as far as I could see so I just got the lightest shade. 

From Maybelline, I got their Brow Drama brow mascara as well - I've tried clear brow gels but nothing like this and so I was quite intrigued about this product. I got this in the shade Dark Brown.

From the Soap and Glory stand I picked up one of their makeup products. I've never really delved into what S & G have to offer in terms of cosmetics and I was particularly interested in an eyeliner products. And so with that, I picked up their super cat eyeliner which is a liquid liner in a felt tip form.

Lastly from Boots, I picked up this Charles Worthington hair mask. My hair has been feeling kind of dry lately and so I wanted something to bring some more moisture and softness into it. I have actually see blogger and Youtuber MissBudgetBeauty talk about this product a lot and so I thought I'd give it a go.

Now, onto Superdrug! I firstly picked up some mattifying sheets - perfect for this hot, sunny weather when you want to remove some of that nasty oil build up on your face. 

I then got some coconut oil - this I have tried before but it was in a different form. I have tried the organic coconut oil which you'd predominantly find in supermarkets because you can cook with it. This is hydrogenated and lightly fragranced but so far it still has the cosmetic qualities that I got it for and it is gentle on my very sensitive skin. It's a natural, multi-purpose product and if you haven't already, I would definitely try it out for yourself. 

Finally, I got some eye care products from Simple. I really love Simple because all of their products have gentle formulations that are perfect for even sensitive skin and not to mention, their products are super cheap. I picked up an eye roll on and an eye balm - looking after the area around your eyes is very important - it's going to help to eliminate signs of aging but to also care for them as they are very sensitive.

And that's my haul complete! I hope you liked this post and maybe found some products you might want to try for yourself. 

UPDATED - Facial Skincare Routine! (Products and Prices)

Hey! In this post, I thought i'd share with you my new and updated skincare routine. Recently, my skin has become a lot more sensitive and this development has caused me to completely change and re think the products I use and purchase for my face and skin. I'm now trying to use things that are all natural and mainly 'simple' - in the sense that they contain no nasty chemicals and perfumes that could potentially cause irritation and harm my skin. 

So, these are the products I am currently using - I've also listed how much they are and where you can get them from. I hope you enjoy this post!

Daytime:

In the day time, I firstly use my Simple Refreshing Facial Wash gel. True to it's name, this is a basic, simple product that just helps to cleanse and freshen up my face in the mornings. It lathers really nicely and you only need about a pea size of it to do the job.

Simple Refreshing Facial Wash Gel - £3.25 (Boots).

Next, I use a toner - currently I am using another one from Simple but I alternate between that and the  L'oreal Skin Perfection Micellar solution (a good dupe for Bioderma and a product you can also use to remove make up).

Simple Facial Toner - £2.99 (Boots)

For a moisturiser, I use yet another Simple product which is there Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. A little bit of this goes a very long way and it's perfect for those with normal skin that doesn't need anything special or for those of you who have super sensitive skin prone to irritation.

Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser - £3.99 (Boots)

Night Time:

If I have been wearing make up that day, I like to use cream cleansers to remove it. My personal favourite at the moment is Burts Bee's Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream. This removes make up - even heavy make up - really well and it's very gently and moisturising. I have reviewed this product recently, you can read the post here.

Burts Bees Deep Cleansing Cream - £7.99 (Amazon)

Next, I'll tone again using the same toner I mentioned above and then of course I'll moisturise. On a daily basis, I'll firstly use my Bioderma PP Baume. I use a pea sized amount and massage this into my face and neck. It's very repairing and moisturising for those of you who have sensitive and dry skin - it's really made a difference for me. On top of this, for some extra moisture I also apply my Simple Regeneration Age Resisting Night Cream.

Bioderma
 Atoderm PP Baume - 
£14.50
(Escentual.com)

Simple Age Resisting Night Cream - 
£6.49
(Boots)

For those nights when I want to give my skin that little bit more, I will apply my Vitamin E Serum Oil from The Body Shop. You can find a more in-depth review of this product here.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Serum - £12 (The Body Shop)

Finally, if I'm having any breakouts, blemishes or spots - I like to apply this Tea Tree Oil treatment that I purchased from Holland and Barrett.

Organic Tea Tree Blemish Stick - £4.99 (Holland and Barrett)

Eyes / Lips:

Sometimes, there are areas of my face that I like to focus on and treat a little bit more. Eyes especially are such a sensitive part of your face that you really need to be careful of what you put there. To keep my eyes nice and moisturised and refreshed I use a Cucumber eye gel from Boots and a Vitamin E eye cream from The Body Shop. Bother products are natural and most importantly very gentle.

Boots Eye Gel - £1.50 (Boots) and The Body Shop
Vitamin E Eye Cream - £10 (The Body Shop)

My lips can get quite dry and cracked now and then and so I like to use a scrub on them. Right now, I'm using Lush's Bubblegum Lip scrub. It smells great and the best part is you can lick it away off your lips once you are done!

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub - £5.50 (Lush)

To moisturise my lips and keep them nice and hydrated, I really love the Burts Bees lip balms. They smell great and are all natural.

Burts Bees Lip Balms - £3.50 (FeelUnique.com)

And that is pretty much everything I use on a daily basis for my face, eyes and lips. I really hope you enjoyed this post and maybe found some new products you'd like to try. Have you tried any of these products - if so what did you think of them? Do you have any recommendations for me? Let me know down below! 

Skin and Hair Care Haul!

Hey! I've got a little haul for you today. I picked up some skin and hair care things yesterday from Superdrug and here's what I got...

So, first of all I picked up some more toner. Toner particularly helps me preventing and treating spots on my skin so I always like to make sure I have some. Simple is one of my favourite brands as it contains no perfumes or nasty chemicals.

Next off I picked up 2 face masks. These are in tubes as you can see so they have a good few uses in them and there were part of a deal of 2 for £3.50 - can't complain! One is a Vitamin E moisture mask and the other is an exfoliating berry one.

I also picked up a leave in hair serum from TRESemme. Haircare is important to me considering I dye and style my hair with heat so it's always nice to pick up and try new products like this to help get my hair soft, smooth and free from split ends and breakage.

Lastly, I picked up some hair spray. Currently I am using a hairspray from Aussie but I wanted to try something new. I have heard good things about TRESemme hair sprays and so I got this one.

And that's it! Just a little haul as you can see, but I look forward to writing some reviews on these products as most of them I haven't tried before.

Thank you very much for reading! Leave me any comments or suggestions - I love hearing from you!