Origins Ginzing Face Mask

Hello there!

Everyone who's anyone has heard of Origins and their fabulous Ginzing range. I'm a bit of a fan myself having loved both their eye cream and face cream and have previously posted about them here and here.

When I had a £10 off voucher sent to me for my birthday I umm'd and aah'd about what to get. I could always buy something from them but I wasn't running out of anything and didn't want to go overboard with my spending.

Eventually I settled on picking up Eye Doctor, my favourite eye cream for my sensitive eyes but wait, what a shame, it required a £50 spend to redeem the £10 off and the eye cream wasn't enough. As soon as my eyes fixed on this face mask I knew it would be my latest addition.

The Ginzing range is all about brightening, refreshing and energy boosting.

With this in mind it was only a matter of time before they brought out more in the range which has proved to be very popular.
This refreshing face mask is designed to be used in the morning, for example during your morning shower, where you can apply to skin for 10 minutes or so before removing.

The mask itself is quite a thick gel mask containing coffee beans for an energy boost, cucumber ot help refresh and Hoelen mushroom to soothe skin. This all combines to give your skin the 'get up and glow' that tired and dull skin needs in the morning.

I've been using the mask a few times a week for the last couple of weeks to see its effects. In the morning i love nothing more than a bit of citrus; things like Original source lemon or lime shower gels are amazing. i absolutely love this wash for the same reasons, citrus scents just wake you up and get you feeling happy! 

Applying this to my face did seem to make my skin feel a bit brighter, whether this was temporary i don't know as i do always put make up on afterwards but my complexion was definitely brighter on a number of occasions after using this mask.

I also think it helped my complexion by keeping it nice and clear; this could be because of leaving it on for 10 minutes at a time and allowing it to fully penetrate the skin but it had a positive effect on my skin.

The tube of Ginzing Face Mask comes in at £23 for 100ml which is quite pricey but if you're only using it a few times a week you shouldn't run out of it too fast. It's a lovely treat and I think particularly over the spring and summer months it's been lovely to use this in the mornings as an extra boost when the weather is occasionally sunny!

For me it hasn't been a necessary part of my skincare routine as I'm already obsessed with Checks and Balances cleanser, Modern Friction and the whole Make a Difference range, plus Night-a-Mins and pretty much all the other masks and eye creams. I'm sure Origins won't mind if I only buy this one when I'm feeling flush, right?

L xxx

If I had £100...

Hello there!

I've mentioned many times that I'm a huge fan of lists, I've got so many notebooks full of them, mostly to do lists. Wishlists are always fun to imagine what you would buy or have if you could and so I've come up with a new series 'If I had £100'. It's pretty simple, every time I'll list whatever I'm lusting over at the time but ONLY to a total of £100, I mean it's a reasonable amount and a possible pay day splurge if I was very lucky!

Having picked up a few Nip and Fab bargains recently when all of their products went on sale I've found myself wanting more!

The Glycolic Fix Cleanser priced at £7.95 sounds like a winner to me.I'd like to start double cleansing but never seem to have the right products. I do love using a foaming cleanser with a muslin cloth so that my face feels like the day's grime has been removed and this gel cleanser sounds like a lovely affordable foaming cleanser with glycolic acid present at 2% to help resurface your skin. I NEED it and might even use my Boots points to nab it quick.

The Deep Cleansing Fix claims to be a 6 in 1 product and is priced at £7.95 for 300ml. This is a large pot of product with multiple uses; cleansing, exfoliating, hydrating, deep cleansing when used as a mask and specific application to spots. This sounds like a wonderful product especially for the price and I'll be hunting this one down too no doubt.

The Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation comes in at £27 which is pretty average nowadays. I have to admit i really liked this product as soon as I tried it though you do generally need to have good skin for it to look good! It's more of a blurring foundation as opposed to one that covers your skin with an opaque finish. Over the summer though I've found it has been essential as it doesn't clog my pores at all and doesn't appear to melt off my face too badly. I'd definitely like to purchase it again!

I first tried the Origins Ginzing moisturiser (£23)  from a Christmas gift set that I bought myself, as you do. I loved it and loved the smell so much. It's a really light moisturiser that sinks in so easily and is perfect for my ever changing skin, not overloading it in the oily areas and but hydrating it in the dry. Perfect! I hear its on offer too where you can get a sample of the eye cream and a mini mascara to try too!

Image from Liparazzi

UD Naked Flushed palette in Streak is something I've had my eye on for months now. Streak is the perfect colour for me as coral really suits my skin tone. The image above is from the lovely Laura who's blog is Liparazzi which you should definitely check out, her beauty posts are a particular favourite!
I'd love to get my hands on this and for £22 for three key products it really is value for money too.

Una Brennan Superfacialist Vitamin C Cleansing Oil (normally £10.99) currently on offer at Boots for £7.33.

As I mentioned previously I want to add double cleansing to my routine, and not just by using a micellar water to remove my eye make up. This cleansing oil has really been raved about and I desperately want to try it! For £7.33 I think I might have to run to Boots and pick it up as soon as possible!

So that bring me to my total this time of £95.23.

I'd love a splurge but having quit my job I need to keep all my pennies for the meantime....but maybe spending some of my Boots points wouldn't be such a bad thing right?!

What do you think of my wishlist? 

This one is beauty related but I'm sure there will be more clothes involved in the future too!

L xxx

Origins Morning to Midnight Set

Morning chums!

For Christmas I bought myself a lot of goodies in the sales and pre Christmas deals. One of those things was the Morning to Midnight set from Origins that the lovely lady in store told me I couldn't leave without....so I didn't.

It was a gorgeous set of 4 products in really cute boxes that my mum now has proudly in the spare room housing crafty bits; she's happy so I'm happy!

I've previously posted about Ginzing Eye Cream and the Drink Up Intensive overnight mask so I'll concentrate on the other two new products (to me) which are the Ginzing Energy Boosting Moisturiser and the High Potency Night-A-Mins mineral enriched renewal cream. Cue some fancy photos:

The High Potency Night A Mins (HP as it will now be called because I cannot type that out every time!) is a seriously thick night cream that comes in one of the standard Origins pots as shown below:

I'd heard some rave reviews about this but before I didn't think my skin needed such a thick and hydrating cream. Boy oh boy was I wrong. My skin is obviously at the stage of needing some serious moisture pumped into it, I'm clearly starting to get to that age where the wrinkles will start and my skin look pretty drab. Hopefully by using this beauty it will slow down considerably now that its getting so much hydration and vitamins/minerals galore.

This smells absolutely divine like most Origins products and I can see myself repurchasing this in future because of the wonderful effects and no negative effects. My t-zone hasn't been overloaded at all and although that wouldn't affect much as its an overnight cream i still don't want to knock the balance out.

Thumbs up from me!

Ginzing is no different in the smell stakes - it's absolutely gorgeous and a really light white gel cream that sinks into skin almost instantly.
It's so light and hydrating which I think is the key to an energy boosting and brightening moisturiser, I feel it allows the skin's natural glow to shine through which is vital in making yourself look younger....right?

I do generally like the whole Ginzing range and am already a fan of the eye cream. The packaging is also a happy and brightening colour too which also helps.

I'd happily buy all of these items again in future, have you tried any of them?
Which was your favourite?

I love picking up these sets, such a great opportunity to try new products and they're always at a discounted price! What's not to love!

L xxx

Origins Best Brighteners

Hi all!

I'm sure everyone knows by now but Origins are one of our favourite brands here at CSI and normally when purchasing something from them you can get a few sample size products to try.

Over Christmas when I bought a few things from John Lewis they were giving away miniature sets and so I chose the Best Brighteners set. There were a few on offer but I hadn't used the products in this set so I chose the brighteners.

I love all of the sets that Origins do but the packaging is always really cute and this one is no exception.

This set contains Dr Andrew Weil for Origins Mega Bright Skin Illuminating Cleanser, Skin Tone Correcting Serum and GinZing Eye Cream.

I've got so much love for their serums, they are so absorbent into my skin and leave it feeling so much more hydrated without overloading it at all.
I'd never tried this particular one before but it was really lovely and I would happily buy it in full size if it wasn't so expensive. That's my only problem with the serums from Origins, they're so pricey and although they do really work I just cannot justify it at the moment.

I can't really comment on its skin tone correcting properties due to it only being a 7ml sample but it was super hydrating and was a joy to use.

The cleanser was also a really lovely treat and it has now been moved to my gym bag so that I have a really nice cleanser for whenever I've done a good workout!
It's a thick white cleanser that feels really hydrating on your skin. It doesn't foam but turns to a white milk kind of consistency that make up then dissolves in. It feels really thick and luxurious and worked really well at getting my make up off. I can't say that it was particularly illuminating but my skin felt really clean and was a little brighter after use. I'd definitely buy this in the future as it felt so much of a treat.

The GinZing eye cream is a favourite product of mine and I have previously written about it here.

In short its hydrating, luminating and depuffing which is everything you could want in an eye cream really!

I love getting the opportunity to try products like this, this set was free with some purchases and it has been a great way to try products that I might not have bought otherwise. I now know that the serum is something I would love to purchase in the future (when I'm not poor!)

What's your favourite Origins product? Have you found a new favourite by trialling something that was free?

L xxx

Review: Origins Samples

This is possibly a rather odd post, but I've had such good service at the Origins counters recently that I wanted to explain it a little more and write about the products I've had the pleasure of trying.

Firstly I love how every time I've been into John Lewis or Boots I've had a really nice welcome from the staff at the counter.

I know not everyone has this (M being one of them!) but I've never had a problem yet.

I managed to book myself a free facial in Origins in John Lewis when they had the beauty room for a week (as all the counters share it they get a week each)