Beauty Rehab

Hi there!

I'm back with another instalment of my quest for space and freedom. My stash has got to the point where I am overwhelmed and although I'm clearly addicted and have cut my spending down dramatically, I still have drawers, cupboards and suitcases full of products. It's quite frankly ridiculous and I've cleared out crappy stuff that I've hoarded for no reason, got rid of doubles to family members and powered my way through tonnes of amazing products (which you can see following this link).

It's still an overwhelming amount of stuff but it has been cut down from its original size, here's my latest load of empties for you to browse!

Aussie 3 Min Miracle - 100% love this product, continuously repurchasing!
Scrub of Your Life - Another good one from S&G, would repurchase on a 3 for 2 deal
Burt's Bees Buttermilk Lotion - Weird smell, nice and moisturising but wouldn't repurchase
Origins Modern Friction - So much love for this stuff! Expensive but lasts a long time and works wonders

Murad Refreshing Cleanser - Lovely cleanser but didn't always cleanse all my make up off
Origins Make a Difference Serum - Lovely but just doesn't last long enough for me
Vichy Normaderm Promat - Mattifying but seems to have disappeared off shelves?
Clarins Bath and Shower Concentrate - Not a fan of the smell but was very concentrate so lasted well, wouldn't repurchase though
Una Brennan Rose Miracle Facial Oil - Nice product, removes make up well but needs a few pumps of oil to remove everything and is too expensive for such a small bottle for me personally.

Clarins HydraQuench Cream - Super thick and hydrating, but £35 for 50ml might be too much for me at the moment
Philosophy Snow Angel - Lovely smell but it was just a gift, wouldn't repurchase
Redken Color Extend - this was a sample and not big enough really to know long term colour protection effects, but was light and I barely noticed it on my hair so wasn't crispy or sticky
Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat - This is a pretty good topcoat, I'd consider repurchasing when my Essie one has run out

Origins Checks and Balances Cleanser - This is my 3rd tube and I've bought a 4th! Enough said.
GHD Heat Protector - Not sure if these truly work but any protection is better than none! Have repurchased a cheaper one
Ted Baker Body Lotion - This was so thick it was hard to get out the tube and hard to absorb too, wouldn't repurchase
Alpha H Liquid Gold - This definitely works and I'm a bit gutted to have finished it, would repurchase if I can find a deal!

No7 Face Wipes - Always buy these with the vouchers when they come around. I know face wipes aren't ideal but after a drunken night out its exactly what's necessary and for those times when you need to remove a few layers of product before washing your face properly.
Duac - Technically not a product you can buy as it's only on prescription but if any of you have skin problems I would 100% recommend you ask your doctor to try this. It's not a long term solution as it can thin your skin but it has permanently cured my acne.
Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy - This is a lovely hand cream I would recommend for anyone with dry hands that need a little more than the average hand cream

Have you tried any of these products? Would you repurchase or give them a miss?

L xxx

Review: Alpha H Liquid Gold

I've been waiting to write this for a very long time.

I was filled with lots of hope when I got my hands on some Alpha H Liquid Gold.

I'd heard lots of things about the results and after spending so long with skin problems over the summer I couldn't resist.

I purchased it asap and followed everyone's guidelines on using it, cleansed my face and then used a cotton wool pad to apply the solution to the entire of my face before bed without applying moisturiser (just my normal eye cream and lip balm!)

I felt a slight tingle on my face sometimes, but as I expected this to happen I'm not sure if it was my imagination as initially I was worried my skin would react to it.

I have sensitive skin sometimes and as it has been a problem for the past couple of months I was worried it would make it worse.

After my first use, the very next day I saw an improvement.

My spots has shrunk, some of them looked a bit weird like they were yellowy but didn't feel pussy or painful at all and the swelling had been reduced by a huge extent.

However this effect was short lived.

As I was using it every other day, by the time it came to my next use the spots had come back, and so began a vicious cycle!

Better skin for a day before the spots returned.

The Liquid Gold did help my scarring and this was improved by the use of another product which will be in an upcoming post as I used it on the alternate days I didn't use the Liquid Gold.

I continued using it this way for a few weeks to see if it got any better but unfortunately all my spots were just the same, if not a little worse.

I decided to try using it every day for a bit to see if this had any better effect.

This luckily didn't make my skin worse as I was worried that it would dry it out or just generally burn off my skin with that much acid use!

It didn't make it any better either.

Eventually I have stopped using it as I have used almost all of the bottle without any positive effect on my blemishes and spots.

However.....

The skin that is unaffected by my spots (around my nose and forehead) seemed to have a much better look about it.

It seemed more even in tone, my pores looked smaller and there were no blemishes to speak of at all.

It also seemed to have the 'glowy' look that makes you look a lot younger and I have been trying to get back for ages!

But I think after all my best efforts that Liquid Gold may not be for me.

I would be willing to try it again when whatever seems to be unbalancing my skin has been sorted out as i think it would improve the overall look of my skin, but unfortunately for me has not solved my skin woes.

I think this may largely be down to reviews on skin care from other blogs.

I know almost all have disclaimer that obviously what works for them may not work for you and that is very true. But a lot of bloggers who review skincare have never had skin problems in the first place to know whether the products work on ridding you of blemishes, which is something that I've noticed recently having bought and tried so many products deemed to help that actually haven't at all.

So just beware, as I've spent a LOT of money trying and failing over the past few months.

I have a second part to this post as it's related to the use of glycolic acid and also 'should' feature in everyone's skin care anyway....

Don't forget to enter our Christmas Giveaway for the chance to win a £20 voucher!

L xxx

List Love

I have a really big love of lists and I've no idea why that hasn't translated into my blog posts, but I figured it was time it had to happen!
I have notebooks everywhere around my room, in my bags and generally around the house with lists for anything you can imagine.

For my first list I thought I'd break in gently with a general 'Lust List'.

There's so much right now that I'm lusting over and I thought it would be a fun post to make a wish list and see if you share the same ones as me!

Here's my Top 5 Beauty Products to lust over at the moment:

Clarins Odyssey Eye Quartet Mineral Palette

This needs no introduction and absolutely no explanation.

Look at the casing!

And that gold just has to be mine.

Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight Palette

This is an absolutely perfect palette of shimmery nudes.

I haven't even seen it in store yet but still want it.

I have a friend who works for BB, will have to get her to give me a make over ;)

Alpha H Liquid Gold Serum

I've been using the Liquid Gold recently and have been loving the effects.

Ruth from A Model Recommends uses this on the nights she doesn't use the Liquid Gold, for perfect skin I would like to do the same!

Hopefully then all of my scars and spots will permanently leave my face.

Origins Make A Difference Gel

I had a sample of this from the Origins counter and loved it, it's a beautiful light gel that absorbs straight into your skin leaving no residue but fully hydrating.

Loved it!

MAC MSF

M already has this and we recently posted about it on our Sunday posts as I had the chance to use it for a night out.

Obviously as everyone else has I fell in love instantly and would quite happily apply it all over every day!

What a look ;)

So that's what I'm currently lusting over...there's plenty more to come but I thought I'd stick to beauty for now.

Do you love lists? I'm already planning my next one, there are a lot of clothes, shoes and bags I have my eyes on!

What do you have your eye on at the moment?

L xxx

Recent Purchases

If you've been reading this blog for a while then you'll know that I've been jobless and therefore a little bit poor for quite a while now.

But obviously writing this and also being the spendaholic that I am I end up buying items that I mostly could live without.

Obviously I broke my spending ban again by going on a few little shopping trips and surfing eBay at home!

My first trip was into town and I ended up in Internacionale where I picked up a number of bracelets which were on offer, buy one get one half price.

For the past year I've mostly been obsessed wth make up, skin care and various other related products but my focus seems to have shifted recently to clothes, bags, shoes and jewellery!

I couldn't resist these bracelets, they look good together and with other items in my collection that can be added to any outfit to dress up/dress down

I loooooooove how shiny and sparkly they looked in the sun!
Definitely can't wait to be rocking these for the rest of the year, I love spikes and skulls and these were made for me.

They're currently all available in Internacionale and because of their deal (think its buy one get one half price) costs me about £8....bargain!

My next trip was to Matalan.

Between me and M we'd heard about their peplum tops somewhere along the grape vine and my mum promised she'd take me if I finished a part of my work. Incentives work ya know!

So I hastily typed my way to finishing the section of my diss and she took me there.
Funnily enough I text M whilst there to send her a picture of the peplums, where she replied saying she was also in Matalan but at home (which is a few hundred miles away!).

This was just too funny, not even spoken to each other all day yet happen to be in the same shop!

So here are Matalan's peplum tops.

I ended up buying the black and the white, though I wanted the maroon coloured one also in my store and the blue one M found in her store!

I was surprised as although they're less than half the price of the Topshop ones (coming in at £12 I think!) they're actually pretty good and fit really well.

I was also surprised that I liked the white one so much as I normally avoid lighter colours and expected it to be a bit see through but it wasn't at all.

In fact I forgot I took this photo in the changing room and here's what the white looked like on!

I think they're an absolute bargain and cannot wait to go out wearing them.

I also picked up some new leggings with zips on the hips (ooh!)

These are really thick and good quality, I only had to throw out my old ones as they went a bit grey after 2 years of hard core wearing so would definitely recommend these (£12 Papaya make in Matalan)

Also as if it was my lucky day these bags were right at the front of the store:

There were a few different colour combos but I picked up the navy and black one as I was instantly drawn to it whilst my mum struggled to choose between the camel and black, bottle green and black and the plum and black.

To be honest at the time these were down from £12 to £5 so I told her to pick up 2 and I can't even remember which one she actually picked up!

Definitely worth a trip down there if you're passing as there's some really good stuff there at the moment!

And last but not least my latest product buys (inevitably they exist too!)

I'm sure you're aware but both me and M have been struggling with our skin recently and having read much about Alpha H Liquid Gold we were both looking forward to trying it, but obviously skint students don't have much of a fund to use!

Eventually though the angry scars left on my face got to me and I found an ebay seller who had it for £25 with free postage so I instantly snapped it up.

After one use I've seen a difference and hopefully it will continue to improve (will be doing a full post on it!)

For those who don't know what it is, basically you use it as you would a toner after cleansing.

Pour some onto a cotton pad and swipe it over your face avoiding eyes and lips.

Then to let it work most effectively do NOT apply moisturiser, just eye cream if you want.

The main active ingredient in this is glycolic acid which helps to ward off any blemishes, heal scars and fight ageing, I was instantly won over by these multi tasking properties!

A full review will be up in a few weeks with pictures of the offending marks for you to decide if it was worth it or not.

Because of the acid effects, using SPF is a complete must so I purchased Avene high protection SPF for intolerant skin.

I've been meaning to get into using SPF and some of my moisturisers have it and others don't, so eventually I just bought this to be done with it and am hoping it doesn't cause me to break out having an extra layer on my face all day.

For £3 I couldn't help but want to see what the fuss was all about with the thermal spring water.

Me and M have had many conversations about it and whether it actually works and in a moment of weakness I snapped up a mini canister to try out whilst working at home on my dissertation. 

I'm looking forward to wearing and using these products asap!!

What have you been buying recently? Have you picked up any bargains?

L xxx