Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

To put it bluntly; my skin had been horrendous in the last few months. I can’t quite work out the cause, but all I know is that my skin has been breaking out constantly, and getting incredibly sore and dry in certain patches- particularly around my eyes. I had been using Liz Earle’s Skin Care, which I still absolutely love, but I thought that it was about time I invested in something that actually helped to fight against spots.

Back in March, I made my way into my local Boots store and walked over to the Clinique counter. I have heard amazing things about Clinique in the past, but the one thing that stuck with me was people talking about how good their Anti-Blemish Solutions 3 Step is, so I thought I would give it a go. The lady I spoke to was super helpful- after I explained how sensitive my skin was she tested all the products on my hands and told me to come back tomorrow, just to make sure I wouldn’t find myself having some kind of reaction to the products. Sure enough, the next day I went back in-reaction free- and purchased the Starter Kit, which includes mini versions of the cleansing foam, clarifying lotion and the all over clearing treatment, all for just £25.

I have been using these products continuously for 2 months now twice a day, (I am onto my second starter kit now as they only last about 4-5 weeks, and am about to splash out on the full sized versions!) and I am definitely enjoying this new skin care routine. Whilst I’m still not entirely convinced that it’s helping fight my breakouts, it has definitely helped control them.

These products claim to help clear and prevent blemishes, remove dirt and excess oil, unclog pores, calm, soothe, and reduce the look of redness. They aim to leave your skin feeling soft, smooth and comfortable.

Cleansing Foam

The cleansing foam is to be used on wet skin, so first off I splash my face with cold water before using two pumps- a little goes a long way!- and massaging it into my skin. I have found that this product is gentle on my skin, despite the slightly unappealing clinical smell it has, and is easy to wash off. This product also comes in gel form, if that is more your cup of tea. This cleansing foam leaves your skin feeling super clean and fresh, but also slightly tight. This isn’t a massive problem though as the next two steps solve that issue!!

Clarifying Lotion 

I think this product might have become my new holy grail! All you need to do is shake the bottle to mix the product together and put a small amount onto a cotton wool pad and swipe it all over your face and neck- but be careful to avoid the eye area! The only thing I dislike about this product is how strong it is- it can sting your face a little if your skin is more on the sensitive side but it’s nothing to major. I find that if you have some particularly angry spots it can also sting those quite a bit, but at least you know its working! I have found that using this at night definitely helps my spots to calm down overnight, I wake up to find that they are a lot less red and sometimes have even reduced in size. Again, this products lasts a while because you don’t have to use a lot of it. Just be careful when using this one around your eyes as like I have already mentioned- it can really hurt if you get it into your eyes!

All Over Clearing Treatment 

So the final step of this 3 step skin care is the moisturiser. I love this product as it is not at all sticky or greasy and skins into your skin almost instantly. This moisturiser is great to use in the mornings under make up as not only does it not leave a strange barrier between your skin and make up which I often find with other moisturisers, but it is also helping to fight your spots during the day. It leaves your skin feeling really soft and smooth, and I have found it easy to apply too. My only complaint with this product is how quickly it runs out. Maybe I am using too much in one go, but I find that this one runs out a lot faster than the other two products.

Overall, I absolutely love this 3 Step Solution and I highly recommend it!

Over to you: have you tried these products? What are your top skin care products?

Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Palette: REVIEW/FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Admittedly, when I heard Real Techniques would be releasing this product my first thought was “Really?”. I was skeptical to begin with- is this really worth the money? To clean my brushes I usually just use baby shampoo and my hands which works just fine. After seeing so many people rave about this though I decided to give it a go and at just £12.99 I didn’t really mind if it wasn’t as good as I hoped it to be.

I am one of those people who constantly puts things off, again and again- Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow. Cleaning my make up brushes is just another one of those things, and I definitely need to do it more frequently. Now I own this product I will 100% be keeping on top it!

I started by squeezing a pea sized amount of the Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Gel (the product came with 2 free trials of the gel) onto the palette and added a tiny amount of water, swirling it around a little so it created a soapy mixture.

I then got to work with my brushes! I found that the middle section was the best for cleaning smaller brushes such as blending, liner and brow brushes, whilst the far right section was best for the bigger ones like powder, buffing and sculpting brushes.

This palette is great for cleaning the smaller brushes. I’m still in that stage with my Rose Gold Zoeva Brushes where I’m scared that washing them is going to ruin them, but this palette and cleansing gel is so gentle that I didn’t need to worry. Despite this, it still gave them a good clean- they now look brand new all over again!

Another massive plus with this product is that it uses a lot less product than you would if you were hand washing, and there’s no need to run the tap whilst doing so, meaning you’re not wasting water!

The only issue I found whilst testing out this product, was that when cleaning bigger brushes- especially my powder brush- scrubbing too hard results in dirty soapy water being splattered all over the sink, so be careful!

The palette is made from silicone which means that it is both flexible and waterproof, and comes with a handle on the back for you to slip your hand into, ensuring you have a tight grip. It is easy for your hand to slip out if it get’s too wet though, so be sure to not hold the palette under the water tap for too long, or dry it with a towel in between brushes. It is also incredibly easy to clean once you’re done- just run it under the tap and watch as all traces of make up runs down the drain.

Overall this product is completely worth the money! It is much quicker, easier and tidier than hand cleaning and I know I won’t stopping using this anytime soon.

 

Over to you: How often do you wash your make up brushes? Have you tried this product?

Morphe Brushes 35o Palette

So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months you’ll know that lately Morphe have been taking the beauty world by storm – especially the 35o palette. This one was a big hit during Fall, thanks to the huge array of oranges and browns it has to offer.

Living in the UK, there are many beauty gems that are huge hits in the States that unfortunately are often unavailable to us, and this was one of them. Websites like Cult Beauty  and Beauty Bay do their best to bring every product possible to us Brits, but due to such high demand they usually sell out in seconds. This palette was no exception, having been sold out on Cult Beauty for months.

Yesterday, thanks to a girl on Instagram (I wish I could remember who!), I discovered Beauty Bay had spontaneously made this palette available and I don’t think I’ve ever bought something so fast! This palette cost me £18.25 which is incredible given that it contains 35 amazing shades. I opted to pay the extra £2.50 for next day delivery, and found this package waiting for me in my porch this morning, despite only ordering it at 3pm yesterday! I cannot rave enough about Beauty Bay’s excellent delivery and customer service.

The palette offers 35 beautiful shades; some matte and some glitters. I am yet to properly swatch them all, but the glitters in this are to die for. I don’t think I have ever used an eyeshadow more pigmented than these ones, and they have next to no fall out. So far I’ve only tried the orangey ones – the five on the far right- but based on the quality of those five I doubt that the others will let me down!

My only gripe with this palette so far is the packaging. Whilst it’s sleek matte black casing gives off a nice impression, in reality it feels as though it is made of cheap plastic, and I am worried it might break pretty easily. With its low price tag and outstanding quality however I am more than happy to overlook this.

Let’s ignore my terrible eyebrows and blending skills; I am currently visiting home for a few days and stupidly left my eyebrow products in my flat (I know, how could I?) and only brought limited brushes with me. The main shade I’ve used here over my lid is the coppery orange glitter in the very bottom right- (that’s another gripe, why are there no shade names?) and I think it’s so pretty. I did run a few of the orange mattes through my crease but the lighting here hasn’t quite picked it up. I used one of the champagne glitters in the top row as a highlight in the inner corner and I love this colour so much.

Poor image quality- thanks Snapchat!

 

Whilst I adore these orange shades, I’m not entirely convinced I can make it work with my purple hair, but I will give it a go and after a couple of tries I’m sure I will discover my go to look. I’m very excited to try out some of the other colours- especially the browns as I’ve been really into a smokey brown look lately thanks to my recent purchase of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette.

Overall, I 100% recommend this palette if you can get your hands on it, and I will definitely be trying out some of Morphe’s other eyeshadow palettes!

Over to you: What do you think of this palette? Have you tried out any of Morphe’s other products?