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Daytime Skincare Routine

I love skincare, but I’m always a bit hesitant to talk about it too in depth. Just because I think it’s such a personal, specific thing. I do review products, but generally it’s because I really really love them or I really really hate them 🙂 I’m definitely no expert either, so that comes into play too. But, I figured I would just go through another updated daytime skincare routine. It’s less committal and just shows you what I am using right now and why.

My daytime skincare routine is quite basic. I like to keep it pretty simple. I have oily skin overall, but the older I get the more dehydration I get too. The two ailments are conflicting completely, luckily nowadays there’s products out there that will help with both skin concerns at the same time.

I am obviously chatting about what I use and why I use it in video form. You can watch above or click here to go directly to my YouTube channel here.

Blogging and having to research products and of course being sent product to trial has for sure helped me on my skincare journey. I have to learn what works for me and why so I can talk about and hopefully point readers in the right skincare direction. What I am using right now is my summer daytime skincare routine, things would vary a bit in the colder weather.

For toner I am using the Pixi Rose Tonic.

It’s gentle, minimises redness and also helps balance the skin’s PH balance.

Eye cream is the Exuviance Age Reverse Eye Contour.

This is a brand I wouldn’t have gotten to try if I didn’t blog, but I really enjoy this eye cream. Exuviance is created by the people at Neostrata. They say it reduces puffiness and smoothes wrinkles. I like it because it’s a thin formula that absorbs quickly, but still leaves my under eyes hydrated and smooth. A lot of eye creams can be too rich for me, this one does the job perfectly.

For moisturiser, I use the Vichy Minéral 89 Serum.

It’s created with mineral water and hyaluronic acid. A lot of people would use just as a serum as it’s more a gel formula. For me it works brilliantly as a daytime moisturiser. It plumps my skin and skins in really quickly without leaving a residue that might interfere with makeup application.

As it is Summer, I am using a hefty SPF. This one is new to me, but it’s literally been love at first application. This is the Eucerin SPF 50+ Oil Control. Yep oil control.

This is the first Summer I think that I’ve been confident enough to use a stand alone SPF on my face. Usually the formula is oily and would have me a shiny mess within the hour. Not this though, and it actually feels really nice going on too. I apply this in the morning and then I’ll use a spray something like the Ambre Solaire Sensitive Mist over my makeup if I’m outdoors throughout the day.

Last but not least I always apply a lip balm before I do my makeup. What one it is does vary, but as the weather is so darn nice I’m using one with a high SPF at the minute. I am really liking the Shiseido UV Lip Color Splash with SPF 30.

The tinted ones are nice too, but I use the clear one on most days. It’s not sticky and lip colour applies nicely over top of it.

And there you have my current daytime skincare routine. Have you tried any of the products?

xxx

*PR SAMPLES INCLUDED****

July 1, 2018/1 Comment/by Gem

May Favourites 2018

It’s about that time again dudes. Another month, another faves video. This time I’m looking back over my May Favourites for 2018.

May has been a trying month for me personally I won’t lie, but shite talking about makeup and beauty products definitely helps with all the personal stuff 🙂

My May favourites for 2018 and beauty heavy, there’s no fashion or random loves in sight. Also the lip I am wearing is one of the new L’Oréal Color Riche Shine lipsticks in 466. I am loving the formula of these.

My messed up hair is something I can’t even apologise for. It was a good idea at the time. I swear one of these days I’ll take a course on styling hair or something. I am absolutely brutal at it 🙂

As always I’ll list my May favourites here, but if you want to hear my musings on them click on the video above or here to check them out.

Vichy Mineral 89 Serum . I definitely use more than necessary of this stuff as a day time moisturiser. But it’s great if you don’t like a heavy cream in the day or for night time. I use it in conjunction with a serum and it doesn’t interfere with my makeup.

I actually think the Essence Kawii Trend Edition Collection is gone from June, so apologies if you like what you see.

This is a great little palette if you see it around though.

The Kryolan Translucent Powder is a great staple to have in your makeup stash.

Mine is battered and bruised, all with love though. I end up going back to it so much 🙂

Second last in my May Favourites is this giant eyeshadow brush from Blank Canvas Cosmetics.

Specifically known as the F11 Large Eyeshadow Brush.

Then finally two brow products from Isa Dora which I have been using all through May and really enjoying.

The Precision Brow Pen and the Brow Shaping Gel. Feel Unique actually sell Isa Dora too so I’ve linked them if you want to have a closer look.

And that’s it for my May Favourites. We are officially in June, my birthday month. My June faves are usually a bit more interesting as a result 🙂

xxx

PR SAMPLES INCLUDED

June 1, 2018/0 Comments/by Gem

Skincare, Youtube Video

Elf Magnetic Mask & Night Time Routine

The Elf Magnetic Mask is one of the coolest products I have ever tried. Does it work? I’m not sure yet I’ve only used it twice so far. I couldn’t resist putting in a video though to show you how you use it.

This concept of the Elf Magnetic Mask isn’t new to the market necessarily. There has been a few out before it. But, this is hands down the most affordable one at the moment. Unfortunately it hasn’t made it to our shores yet.

I was lucky enough to get one as a press sample. It is on their website here though and they do international shipping, if you fancy taking the plunge. For some reason the euro price is much more expensive. Hopefully if it does come over here, it won’t be as bad.

I can say my skin felt really nice both times I’ve used it. And I do feel like it drew some clogged pores to the surface. I definitely had a bit of a breakout after the first time. But in a good way, if that makes sense? 🙂

So in the video I give you a demo of the Elf Magnetic Mask. It’s so much fun to use. You apply the mask and then use the magnetized applicator to literally pull it off your skin. Sounds scary, but you can hardly feel it. There’s iron in it so that’s what makes it magnetic.

I’ve never been happier using a face mask…look at me like!

Within the video, I also gave a quick rundown on what I’ve been using to cleanse and then my bedtime moisturising concoction too.

I used:

Bioderma to take my eye makeup off. It’s in a limited edition pump bottle. If you can get your hands on it. Do! It’s on the Cloud10Beauty website here.
Nia Cleansing Balm. It’s on their website here.
Clarins Double Serum. (Review here).
Clarins Total V Contouring Serum.
Neostrata Bionic Eye Cream Plus. I found it on the Meaghers Pharmacy website here.
The Ordinary Retinoid 2%. More info on this here.
Botanics Facial Oil. It’s on the Boots website here.
Catrice Volumizing Lip Balm.

This is my current night time routine although I do alternate serums and I don’t always use an oil. I have oily skin, so it really just depends on whether I feel I need it or not.

As always you can click on the video above to watch the magic happen or you can go directly to my YouTube channel here. 🙂

Let me know what you think.

Gemma

xxx ********CONTAINS PR SAMPLES***********

September 22, 2017/0 Comments/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Skincare

Affordable Beauty Favourites Currently

I’m back with some affordable beauty favourites.

I have here six products that are currently in heavy rotation in both my makeup and skincare routines. And they all fall under the affordable beauty umbrella. My last version of this post is here if you fancy seeing what made the cut.

All the makeup products are reasonably new to me. The skincare, I’ve been using for quite a while.

First up we have the new product to me in the bunch the Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder in Pearl Glow.

Elf can definitely be a hit or miss brand for me. Well let’s face it, most brands can be hit or miss. But I’ve owned Elf products in the past that I’ve adored and some that made their was straight to the bin. This highlighter falls into the adore category. I’ve been wearing it everyday since I got it. It’s a really soft blendable powder with a pearly gold shimmer.

Really nice for pale gals like myself 🙂 Elf is now available in Superdrug, certain Penneys stores and an abundance of pharmacies here in Ireland. You can also buy from their UK website here.

My second current affordable beauty favourite is the L’Oréal Paradise Extatic Mascara. This is a weird one for me because if I didn’t have my lashes lifted, this mascara wouldn’t have really gotten a look in from me.

Generally my straight lashes need a waterproof formula. But as they are currently chemically curled, this has been my jam! The brush is huge and it does clump a little. But, it also gives really nice length and volume. If you have semi decent lashes naturally, this is a really nice mascara.

You can find it on the Boots website here.

Thirdly, we have the Catrice Ultimate Matt Lipstick in From Rose With Love. Visually these lippies are so cool. The bullet is completely matte!

They have a really nice smooth long lasting formula as well though. I am not just digging them for the bullet 🙂 This colour is just me in a lipstick. I am a mauve whore and this feeds my habit completely. I have been gravitating towards this so much since I got it.

Number four is a makeup brush. I picked up what I could find of the new Primark/Penneys PS Pro makeup brush range. This particular one came in a pack of two that cost €4.

It’s called the 236. It’s a dome shaped blending brush. It is small but soft and fluffy. I love it for applying colour softly in the crease. I am super impressed with these brushes so far.

My last faves come as a combo for me. The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% and the Advanced Retinoid 2%.

I feel like I can’t review them singularly because I alternate between the two.

At 32 now, I am doing some major ageing prevention in skincare form at least. Retinol is the way to go if you are looking to do this. I use this every second night in my skincare routine and my skin has been really enjoying it. Also, it’s only €9.80 from the Deciem website here.

When I don’t use the retinol, I use The Ordinary Hyaluronic 2% + B5.

Hyaluronic Acid can apparently attract 1000 times its weight in water. It’s great for hydration and helping in plumping the skin.

What I love about this is that it doesn’t feel heavy, but still feels like it’s moisturising the skin. I generally use it conjunction with an night moisturiser or a face oil. This is again available from their website here.

And… I’ll stop waffling.

xxx

*********CONTAINS PR SAMPLES***********

September 20, 2017/0 Comments/by Gem

Makeup, Skincare

Hylamide HA Blur Review

Hylamide is a fairly new brand to me. I’ve used a couple of products from them in the past few months and have been dipping in and out of using them. The Hylamide HA Blur has come out on top and so I wanted to share it with you.

I know silicone is not the best thing to be using on your skin. But for me, makeup primers that contain it tend to work the best. Silica does dry out your skin though and can absorb too much of the natural oils.

I need a barrier to not only help my makeup last longer, but to keep the natural oils at bay and make my pores less visible. The Hylamide does all of this, but in a different way to most. It uses Hylauronic Acid.

It comes out of the tube white and quite thick.

As you work it in to the skin, it starts to become more pliable and gel like.

It feels like skincare going on first and then it becomes more like a primer with a texture similar to the likes of Benefit’s Porefessional (which I love).

It doesn’t feel drying or uncomfortable on the skin. It does however, glide over enlarged pores and fine lines making them less noticeable. As well, as leaving a smoother, more matte base to apply your makeup on top of.

I use probably a double pea sized amount, what’s the next measurement after pea sized? Ha!

I pat it into my finger tips and them push it into my skin with both hands.

Before application:

After application:

I find my foundation glides really well over the top of the Hylamide HA Blur, and it does work well at keeping the shine at bay for my oilier skin. I think even if you have dry or more combination skin, it would work well for you too as Hyaluronic acid helps keep skin moisturised. So, using it won’t dry out your skin. I think this is a good point for all skin types really. Even though I have more oily skin, it can still get dehydrated and flaky. Hylamide say you can mix it with your foundation or use it on top too. I’ve yet to try that method of application myself.

Overall, I am a big fan of it! You can pick up Hylamide HA Blur from the Deciem website here for €19. Look Fantastic and Boots also sell the brand. This particular product is not in stock on the websites at this exact time though 🙁

So tell me, would you give it a go?

xxx

November 16, 2016/0 Comments/by Gem

Skincare

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

If you watch American beauty Youtubers like me, the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion will be familiar to you.

Or,if you’re a Kylie Jenner fan, you’ll have seen her rocking her Mario Badescu Drying Lotion over on her Snapchat. The skincare brand is pretty well known over in the States. They have been established since 1967 and do a whole host of products.

The Drying Lotion is formulated to dry out surface spots on the skin. It contains Calamine as the fifth listed ingredient. We, of course would use calamine lotion in the treatment of chicken pox. It also contains Glycerin and Salicylic Acid, but they are lower down on the list. Good to note that it is cruelty and paraben free too 🙂

As you can see the Marion Badescu Drying Lotion comes in a 29ml glass bottle. The solution is split. You have the liquid and then there’s a pink sediment (which I presume is calamine) on the bottom.

To use, you dip a cotton bud straight down into it. This coats the swab with the mixture. You don’t shake or mix it up. Then, you just dab the solution on any blemishes you might have. It dries down and you leave it overnight.

It will take a while to get through the solution you use very little, but I presume, as it depletes it will be harder and harder to get to the product on the bottom. It may end up a little messy. You can already see mines a bit worse for wear!

It has quite a strong medicated scent and be warned if you use it on broken skin it will sting the bejesus out of you! I do find it does what it says on the tin though. I have been using this a lot over the last couple of months. I am prone to breakouts so I have had plenty to practice on. The solution does dry out active spots. It is not a miracle cure, nor does it claim to be. But, it will make your spots a little less, well spot like and sore 🙂 I like it too because it dries down so it doesn’t end up all over your pillowcase and it’s targeted so you’re not adding ingredients that dry out your skin all over your face where you might not need it.

Overall, the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion gets a thumbs up from me! I got mine from Beautybay for €16.30 online here.

Have you tried it?

xxx

September 30, 2016/0 Comments/by Gem

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