Beauty Rehab

Hi all!

I've got another installment to the Beauty Rehab series I've been writing for the last two years now. I can't believe it's that long!
It was my aim to have downsized my stash by now and i never thought I'd still be writing them as I assumed I would have worked my way through the majority by now. I obviously need to up my game and get a move on using stuff up. I haven't actually bought many products for a long time, but i do think Christmas/Birthday sets contribute greatly and also I do seem to acquire products that some people no longer want so that doesn't help!

I'm hoping to move out as soon as I've got myself back on my feet financially which is probably at least a year away, I'm giving myself the rather large target of getting rid of as much as possible....i.e. almost all of it by Christmas. I need to get a move on!

La Roche Posay - Toleriane cleanser is a gel cleanser and I absolutely loved it. So easy to use when you come home from a night out and want more than a face wipe but cant be bothered with a muslin cloth. It's ideal and I'd repurchase.

Label M - Honey and Oat conditioner. This goes with the shampoo i finished in a previous post; probably the first time I've finished a shampoo before it's conditioner! This smelt warm and comforting and did a god job of being a daily conditioner.

No7 Protect and Perfect Body Serum - This was donated to me and I did enjoy using it until the top starting to come apart and it started to dry out so I can't really give this a review as it was still full! Pooooooooor packaging.

Origins Zero Oil Toner - Surprisingly loved this, really good at absorbing oil for the day and although I'm not a toner fan I would consider buying this again to keep my oil at bay.

Antipodes Divine Oil - already repurchased as 3 days without it made me cry. So much love for this oil!

Lacura Aqua Complete Serum - Enjoyed this especially for the bargain of £3.50. Would repurchase.

Murad Pore and Line Minimising Hydrator - This was really nice and was so light it felt like a serum, can't say that I'd repurchase though for the £49.50 price tag as I just cannot afford that on a regular basis!

Skin Revivals Facial Cleansing Oil - this took a bit of getting into as I'd never used an oil cleanser before, but it was GREAT at removing eye make up especially mascara so I persevered and used this every day to remove it before cleansing with my normal one. Wouldn't repurchase at this time.

Benefit They're Real mini mascara - LOVE. I save my minis like a kid saves sweets.

Dr Organic Manuka Honey Lip Balm - so battered you can barely read it, the sign of a well used product! Would definitely repurchase!

Rimmel's Scandaleyes - I liked this initially but i think other Rimmel mascaras work better on my lashes, sometimes this clumped together for me.

Collection Lasting Perfection Powder - I know there's some left in this....it's done that funny thing where its got a coating on it from usage and I just can't be bothered to try and salvage it. I personally prefer Stay Matte to this.

Origins Starting Over moisturiser sample - Enjoyed using this in the nights but not sure my skin needs this much just yet...save it for when I'm older!

Origins Andrew Weil Mega Bright serum -  I've never met a serum from Origins that i haven't liked and this was no exception. If only it was cheaper I'd snap it up regularly!

Revlon Nearly Naked - Took me a while to get into this, think it was probably because my skin wasn't good enough at the time but I soon loved it. I would repurchase in future after I've worked my way through some of the others in my stash

Eysilix eye cream - This was a funny one. Didn't love it and i wouldn't repurchase because my eyes seem to be sensitive to it on random occasions, but it did hydrate my eye area and my under eye bags did lessen somewhat.




So that's what I've been using up recently, are any of these your favourites? Have you loved or loathed any of them? Are you working your way through your own stash?

I need some serious focus over the next few months!

L xxx

Beauty Naturals: Skin Revivals

Good evening to you all!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend in the sun. We've both just got from a weekend away at my parents caravan and are both nursing some burnt bits, mostly on our backs! They're always hard to cover and that pesky bit around your bikini strap is never covered properly is it??

Beauty Naturals were a company we found via Twitter who have a huge range of natural beauty products. They've actually been around since 1980 and offer free UK delivery from their website, amazing!

They contacted us and offered that we could try some of their products which was absolutely lovely and we were really excited to receive them knowing they'd come from such a reputable company and were going to be natural/organic.

We received these three products to try, Skin Revivals Organic Facial Cleansing Oil, Skin Revivals Advanced 24 Hour Balm and Rose Mist Facial Spray.

Along with the products was a catalogue with all of the products and brands that Beauty Naturals stock and I can tell you it was an interesting read which has doubled my shopping list at least!

From a quick flick through the catalogue i could already see some honey products, camomile, rosehip oils, serums, enzyme masks, vitamin C gel,  and a whole host of others including brands such as Amie and Organic Surge. They also provide comsetics and nail products from Orly, hair care from Jason and even Carmex for lips.

The first product I tried was the Organic Facial Cleansing Oil. This oil is Soil Association Certifed as 99% organic containing rosehip and avocado. It claims to naturally break down make up and impurities as well as maintaining moisture balance, all for £12.

The 100ml bottle will certainly last you a while as you don't need a lot of it to cover your facial area.

It also contains a whole host of vitamins which are great for your skin.

I applied this straight to my skin and massaged it in before washing it off with a muslin cloth. It was very easy to use and dissolved my make up, even mascara, really easily.

I really liked this product for getting rid of my make up as it made it so easy and the oil felt very moisturising. I think this would be great for drier skins who require the extra hydration but oilier skins may find this a bit much as it does stay on your skin after cleansing.
However it definitely works and I can see myself using it often throughout the week as a hydrating cleanser.

Next up is the Advanced 24 Hour Balm which is 90.8% organic and enriched with frankincense and rose, vitamin rich shea and cocoa butters and also jojoba, macadamia and rosehip oils.
It also contains aloe vera and rose geranium to calm and soothe skin which lets face it, makes it a complicated and chocca block full balm that is sure to help your skin!

This product was my favourite, the smell was amazing and soothing and although I believe it is more of a lotion than a balm it was great at hydrating those areas such as elbows and knees and I've used as a face mask without any negatives effects. My skin felt super soft but not greasy the next day so I love it!

This costs £16 for the 100ml bottle which I think is definitely worth it for such a multi purpose and versatile product. You can see a picture of the balm itself below, it's a standard white lotion that sinks in very easily regardless of skin type as I mentioned before smells amazing!!

Lastly was the Rose Mist Facial Spray.

This product is naturally fragrance with Rose Damascena Floral Water and Witch Hazel and helps to hydrates and maintain moisture balance of the skin.

This bottle is the perfect size to fit into your handbag and apply additional moisture to your face throughout the day, especially over summer. This would be a great product to apply if you work in an office with air conditioning and the rose scent will help to keep to calm and collected.

You can also apply it to pulse points for additional soothing!

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of a facial spray, mainly as i always forget to use them at home and can't carry products like this on my at work. But it was a lovely treat when I was sunbathing at home and had the time to spray it on my face at will, it was so refreshing and although it's a small bottle it does only cost £5.50 and I know a lot of people who will really love this!

I will certianly be looking more at Beauty Naturals knowing that they're such a respected company and the free postage is definitely a bonus! I can see plenty of orders in the future from myself when I've made my way through my current batch.
I do love skin and hair products and some of the masks, facial oils and hair repair products have caught my eye!

Have you bought anything from Beauty Naturals before? Do you have any product recommendations?

You can find their website here if you fancy a browse!

L xxx

So after a lush weekend relaxing with L and forgetting about the world I am back. With a slightly sunburnt back I now have to put after sun on. Luckily I'm double jointed and can just about do it myself.

Anyway onto the products. I've had the face mist for a few weeks now and have been using it after applying my make up to set it and remove any powder look to it. As I mentioned in a previous post I've been using powders like the HD brows one more as my base so I'm not wearing as much heavy make up in this heat. I've enjoyed using the spray over the top. As it states it's moisturising I was worried it would make my oily combination skin even more oily but it just adds a quick refresh. The rose scent isn't too over powering or one to linger which I like. The only thing that would make me prefer this more is if it had more of a cooling feeling on the skin.

As for the balm this pleasantly surprised me. Things that say 24 hour moisture worry me with my oily skin that it would be thick and to be honest I held off trying it for a while. That was a mistake. This is a lightweight more of a lotion formula that has left my skin really soft. It sinks in really easily and hasn't left my skin with an oily feeling. This is one I can see me definitely enjoying more and I'll be using this when I visit L.

The only product I wasn't too keen on was the oil and I think that is a personal preference. It does remove make up easily and is super gentle on the eyes and doesn't sting them which are all good things. The thing I didn't get on with was the slight oily texture once it's been washed off. I'm sure anyone with dry skin would love this as it would help provide extra softness but as I said at the beginning I'm just not a cleansing oil fan.

Do you shy away from certain products due to your skin type? Products like the balm have made me realise I need to stop doing this.
Love M

xxx