Lazy Skincare: The In-Shower Cleansing and Exfoliating Duo

In my Beauty Things I Don't Like (which I probably should) post I mentioned how I find doing a full skincare routine in the morning a bit too much to bother with. I'm usually tired and more often than not I'm grumpy. My usual solution to this problem is to hop into the shower and indulge in some of my favourite products and de-stress. (Props to those who recognized my much loved L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil in the above photo and thought "ahhh yess I wondered when that would show up again".) An easy way for me to ensure that I actually got around to cleansing in the morning was to add some of my skincare products into my morning shower routine. The two products that made the cut were The Body Shop's Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash and The Body Shop's Aloe Gentle Exfoliator.

 The Body Shop's Seaweed Deep Cleansing Wash is a gel cleanser that foams up when applied to wet skin. It provides a relatively thorough cleanse without drying out my skin too much. It is advertised as for combination and oily skin types and I think that on this occasion this product is definitely only really suitable for those types of skin as I think that if you have normal or dry skin this would be too drying to use daily. As someone with combination skin, I find that if I use this cleanser in the morning it helps balance my skin throughout the day and my t-zone gets less oily. I don't think this particular cleansing wash is the best one I've ever tried but it is effective and it might, perhaps, be loved more by those with oilier skin types. I personally won't be repurchasing it but only because I'm on the fence about it and I'd rather repurchase products from The Body Shop Tea Tree range.

The Body Shop's Aloe Gentle Exfoliator is the most gentle exfoliator I've ever tried. It is a cream based exfoliator with incredibly tiny exfoliating beads making it great for dry and mildly sensitive skin types. I have sensitive skin and this is the kindest manual exfoliator that I've ever tried. It still slightly irritates my skin but all manual exfoliators do, however, I do like this quite a lot. It's such a gentle exfoliator than you could use it quite regularly without it being skin overkill but it's still effective enough to make a difference to your skin. It straddles a difficult balance and I think that it succeeds! Another Body Shop success story and although I have somewhat fallen out of love with manual exfoliators in general I'd definitely consider repurchasing The Body Shop's Aloe Gentle Exfoliator in the future. If you don't have super-sensitive skin and want something gentle to try then I'd say give it go.

It's also worth noting that the packaging of these two products is sturdy enough to survive humidity, wetness and being dropped (numerous times) - so I've found them great to use in the shower. I personally don't like packaging that gets tatty-looking quickly.

So there you have it, two products that make great lazy skincare options! Do you use any of your skincare products in the shower to save time/effort?

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The Autumn TAG

I saw this TAG on Georgina's blog, Makeup Pixi3, and it struck a chord with me. As much as I enjoy sunshine and warm weather I am definitely a big lover of autumn. Cooler weather, hot drinks, candles, baths and I haven't even got to the make-up yet! Berry lips, smokey eyes, emerald nails, it is all very exciting to me. I know it is only September but in the last couple of days the temperature has noticeably dropped (I'm even wearing jumpers now) and in my household it was even declared that "it was too cold to have a barbecue". If there is any death toll for summer it is that sentence. So it's time to celebrate Autumn and I'm going to start by doing Georgina's TAG.

For Autumn, what is your...

Favourite thing about it?  I love the cooler temperatures; my make up no longer slides off my face, I can wear my hair down without my neck getting too hot and I can start wearing layers again!

Favourite drink?  It might sound weird but I love hot, hot water with half a lemon or lime squeezed into it. I love drinking this in the autumn and tend to graduate onto hot chocolate once winter rolls around.

Favourite scent/candle?  Super sweet vanilla scents! I don’t know why I like these when the temperature, drops because normally I find them a bit intense, but I literally can’t stop burning vanilla candles in the winter. When it comes to perfume I like something a little heavier and more musky than what I’d normally wear in the summer.

Best lipstick?  I don’t really have many dark, autumn/winter lipsticks. I wore Rimmel’s Kate Moss Lipstick in 107 to death last year so I can see that being one of my favourites again this year.

Go to moisturiser?  I tend to keep my daytime routine the same and switch up to a richer night time moisturiser. I’d like to try Antipodes Rejoice Light Facial Day Cream, I know it says it’s light but it’s heavy enough to keep my skin hydrated.

Go to colours for the eyes?  I like navy liner and navy smokey eyes but other than that occasional bit of colour I tend to stick to black.

Favourite music or band/singer to listen to?  I don’t really change my music taste with the seasons! But if it’s cold and I’m ill and sniffly I tend to put the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack on repeat...

Favourite outfit to wear (i.e. boots & a scarf combo)?  Thick tights, skater dress, thin jumper, thicker jumper, coat. It's kind of my winter uniform, haha. I then just lose layers as and when I need to – which often I don’t need to because in the winter I live in student accommodation and it’s usually freezing.

Autumn treat? I often buy myself a new coat in the winter but I don’t know if I will this year. My spending ban ends on October 17^th so I’m thinking that as a little treat I might get just one other dark lipstick so as to not wear my Rimmel one to death.

Favourite place to be? It might be boring, but probably curled up in a warm bed! But my second choice has to be sitting in a warm cinema watching a film I’ve been looking forward to seeing for ages – I love going to the cinema, especially in the autumn/winter.

If you've read this and you're a lover of autumn then you're tagged! I hope you liked my answers and I'd love to know what you love about autumn?

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The Drugstore Concealers I Love and How to Apply Them

I'm not a girl blessed with perfect skin. 

My skin's sins are many and more often than not they are intolerable. I suffer from dark circles under my eyes (I blame genetics for about 30% of this and my erratic sleep pattern for the rest), I suffer from hyper-pigmentation left by acne scars and therefore it almost goes without saying that I also suffer from spots/pimples/blemishes - whatever you want to call the little devils. 

As much as foundation is my friend when it comes to evening out my face's overall appearance, when it comes to the details I look to concealers. The devil is in the detail and without concealers my make-up is not only incomplete but it is positively lacking. I am happier when I use only concealer than when I use foundation without concealer, and I know that this is the case for many other people.

Concealer is therefore an important part of my routine and I wholly rely on affordable drugstore options. Today I'm going to talk you through the four products that I use, usually not all at once but I'll explain when, where and how they each come into play. I'm also going to include how I apply my concealer to different parts of my face including any tools that I use to do so.

August Beauty Empties

The month of August has been a good month if we are to judge it by the number of empties that I've accumulated! However, this month I also decided to rifle through my collection and to throw away any out of date products so there are a few things that I haven't completely used up. I've actually gotten through some much loved beauty items this month and it's difficult to not just rush out and repurchase them. I am, however, still dedicated to completing my spending ban and I am yet to run out of anything that I need to go and repurchase (although I am getting desperate low on day cream so I may have to buy one of those soon). Anyway, it's time to give you a run down of the products I've finished or I'm getting rid of and I'll let you know if I'd repurchase any of them.