March was a real Spring Clean month for me. Not particularly because I was conscious it was Spring so I jumped up to do the necessary but because I *kind of* moved house. To make a long story short, I didn’t move house I just moved a whole load of stuff into my house, 80 boxes to be precise, that was shipped over from my home-home in Jersey. It was pretty much a whole house-load worth so me and my husband threw out/gave away a lot of the furniture and things we already had in said house, and replaced it with lovelier, more beautiful bits that were my mum’s. To make way for it all , it meant clearing out every single room and de-cluttering everything I owned – so lots of trips to the local dump and charity shop. I think I was knee deep in boxes for maybe 2 weeks, but here I am , out the other side and a survivor.
Beauty-wise, it was more about skincare, as I wasn’t really leaving the house a great deal, so makeup took a back burner, and here are my monthly favourites..
Pure Potions Intensive Hand Cream. I am going to do a feature on this brand soon as I was sent a fair bit of the range a couple of months ago and wanted to give it a really good try to get a feel of it and what works for me. So far, most of the products have really impressed and it’s nothing quite like I have in my beauty stash. Completely natural/organic skincare and really focused on healing / problematic skin / sensitivities / reactions etc. I have a HORRID habit of biting and picking the skin around my nails when I am anxious and with the cold weather the skin gets hard and I pick it away until I literally bleed and there is no skin there.You know the touch ID on the Iphone?…..well that has stopped working for me beacuse I have taken that much skin off my thumb, GRIM!! Anyway….this Pure Potions Hand Cream is the BEST cream I have used for this problem and it feels like an actual medicated cream. It smells really stroig, I think it’s the frankincense and I actually cannot stand the smell but it’s just such a good cream that I honestly couldn’t care about the scent. I keep the jar by my bed and apply it heavily in the PM, and then once again in the AM. I would say it healed my skin and hands within 2 days. A true miracle-worker., and if you have dry hands, find a Holland & Barrett and get this immediately.
I’ve had the REN lipbalm sitting in my stash for an embarrasing amount of time. I
have no idea why I had never thought to try it until now. Actually I think I was saving it up for my kit lip balm as clients love a bit of REN but I delved into it recently and I really love it. It’s nice and rich, nourishing and easy to slick on from the squeezy tube. Great price too at just £9. I’ve had quite bad breakouts this month , probably from stress as it’s the worst my skin has been for a long time. The La Roche Posay Effaclar A.I Targeted Breakout Corrector has been really effective as drying out my blemishes and it just gives that lovely soothing and clean feeling when you apply it, and none of *that* sting.
Eye creams, like mascaras, are something I’m constantly trying and never being overly impressed by. I cannot use anything too rich or heavy as I end up getting Milia around my eyes, which isn’t painful or anything but it just looks a little yukky. I think the way forward now is simply using very light creams or serums/gels and the Natura Bisse Diamond Life Retinol Eye Serum is ticking all of the boxes ; it’s very anti-ageing (key ingredient retinol) yet a serum in texture so isn’t overloading my delicate eye area and absorbs in so quickly. A big investment as it is pricey but something I am really liking. Let’s hope it lasts like 6 months and then the price can be justified.
Makeup wise I have been loving the KIKO Blush Duo 04 Artistic Pink. This is from The Artist collection which I am slightly obsessed with right now. The cheek colours are beautiful, multi-coloured washes of colour and this shade is a really fresh-looking & happy pink. The Sanctuary Instant Iluminating Beauty Balm has been for those no makeup days when foundation wasn’t needed, and this was my go-to. A really nice primer/skin prep that packs a lovely bit of glow, blurs the skin (in my case, pores) and contains a bunch of skincare ingredients including Vitamin C, Ginseng & Guarana to give your face a kick up the bum (bum face?!) and leaves you feeling energised. During my big de-clutter, I found lots of old MAC makeup so took advantage of the Back To Mac scheme and got the MAC Pink Plaid Lipstick. I went in not knowing what shade to go for and Pink Plaid is a colour I haven’t come across before. It’s a really cool soft pink tone that has a matte finish. A bit Kylie-Jenner-esque and blue tones just seem to suit me when it comes to pink shades.
I picked up the NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator in my recent NYX haul in Selfridges. A great dupe for the NARS illuminator ‘Copocabana for a fraction of the price. A liquid pinky-silver highlighter than can be used mixed into bases/makeup or dabbed on over makeup to give that extra glow. One of the best under-eye concealers I have used in a while is the By Terry Densillis concealer. Super creamy and almost
mousse-like in texture, it applies like a second skin and it is magic for smoothing out the undereye area. Serum-infused and anti-ageing, this concealer is more than just cover up which is why it costs a slightly eye-watering amount of money. A great collaboration comes in the form of Eylure and House of Holland. Usually I don’t buy into these imited edition lashes as they sometimes appear quite garish and unwearable but these are very different. There are 3 limited edition pairs in the Eyelure/HOH collab and all are REALLY good lashes but these ‘BUFF’ style are my favourite and look so subtle and pretty on. They are a criss-cross/wispy finish that give a muted fluttery lash. Perfect for those of you who don’t want the plastic lash look!