New Skincare Additions

Over the Christmas period and my birthday I was lucky enough to accumulate some new skincare products that have been on my wishlist for far too long and I also took the opportunity to shop my stash when certain items ran out.

In December I got an amazing facial at Matt's Mum's salon in Exeter and the beautician used all Tropic skincare which is natural, vegan and animal cruelty free. I adored the products and was so happy when she got me a big basket of the range for my birthday. At the moment I've incorporated the Eye Refresh roll on, the Face Smooth scrub and Smoothing Cleanser into my regime and I am thoroughly enjoying all of them. Look out for more in-depth reviews in the next month or so once I have tested them further. Spoiler: the scrub is so different to any others I've tried and the Eye Refresh is amazing!

I still love The Body Shop Tea Tree Toner but for days where I don't have any blemishes I like to use something soothing and gentle. This Fresh Face Water from L'Occitane does just the job. It smells like a spa and is so refreshing. It's strange because I much prefer it to the Liz Earle face tonic even though they are quite similar.

In terms of radiance boosting products I purchased my first product from Nip + Fab after finishing up my REN Radiance Renewal Mask (see my All Used Up video) I've heard good things about the Glycolic Fix Pads and have enjoyed using them so far. The pads are soaked in product and you get 60 in a pot so quite cost effective considering they are just over the £10 mark. 

A cult product I've been after for a while is the Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado. Matt got me the large pot which will probably last me a life time as it is huge and you only need a teeny tiny bit! I've been using this in the evening as it is much more rich and takes a while to sink in.

A day time serum I've been using is Hydraluron from Indeed Labs which is a moisture boosting and hydrating serum. This sinks in really quickly but I am holding back judgement for a few weeks to see if it really does what it claims too. Lastly the Clear Difference serum from Estee Lauder. I love an Estee Lauder serum and this now brings my total to 3, so I am hoping to do a comparison post in the near future of what I have tried. I've used it a few times and the formulation is lovely and light, but I will have to report back with how it aids blemishes.

Have you got any new beauty favourites? Let me know in the comments below! xxx

Natural Beauty with St Ives

A few weeks ago I was contacted by St Ives to see if I was interested to take part in their 7 day natural beauty challenge. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to be involved, not only because St Ives is a brand that I've enjoyed using for years but also because the message of the campaign was something that I feel positive about and think you guys could connect to as well.

The hamper we got sent was absolutely amazing and contained something for each day of my natural beauty journey as well as a lovely personalised make up bag which was perfect for my recent trip to Morocco!

Day 1: I started the week by taking care of my skin inside and out. We received a Brita filter water bottle to help with my intake of water which was perfect as I never drink enough throughout the day. To start my skin looking great on the outside I used the Blemish Fighting facial scrub which came at a great time because I was suffering a break out at the time. I love the smell of St Ives scrubs and my skin always feels so clean afterwards but luckily it didn't feel stripped at all. The Blemish scrub is quite abrasive though  so I used it twice a week, switching in the Gentle scrub for sensitive skin on the other days as it had smaller particles and was much more gentle on the skin.

Day 2: I used the Gentle scrub in the morning and then used the Body Shop Deep Sleep spray to help me get my beauty sleep as well as lighting my Neom lavender candle. I find it quite hard to get to sleep because I worry a lot and can stay up thinking about things a bit too much, so using this spray every night has really helped to relax me and drift off a bit easier.

Day 3: Today was time to detox and unwind with some natural herbal tea. I love drinking tea throughout the day and have a whole cupboard full of different types of herbal and black teas so this was the perfect addition!

Day 4: One of the most exciting products for me was the addition of an EOS lipbalm which I've wanted to try for ages! This was great as it is hygienic to use and great to pop in the hand bag for top ups throughout the day.

Day 5: This day I got to taste the delicious and nutritious hero ingredient from St Ives scrubs - apricots! I was going to do something fancy with them but ended up eating them as a snack instead, woops!

Day 6: One of my favourite additions to the box was the little book of Mindfulness. I feel like this came at a really great time for me as we have quite a lot going on in our lives at the moment and it has really helped me to relax and focus my mind. I think a happy mind and positive thoughts does such a lot for leading a beautiful life so is really important.

(Source)

Day 7: The last day was to embrace our natural beauty from head to toe. I used the walnuts, which is another hero product in their scrub, and made some raw copycat nakd bars. Let me know if you want the recipe as they were delicious and much cheaper to make than what you can buy in the shops! I then used the body scrub which is a very generous tub and was amazing at prepping my skin for tanning in Morocco.

Overall, I think this natural beauty journey was so much fun as was rediscovering some fabulous products from St Ives. I hope it inspires you to give it a go yourself as well. Remember to tweet @StIvesSkinUk and use the hashtag #BrightSkin to document your journey or your suggestions for achieving natural beauty inside and out. xxx