Save, Spend, Splurge: Facial Exfoliators

Morning lovelies!

M has written a fair few 'Save, Spend, Splurge' posts previously and I had these three facial exfoliators that I just had to compare. All are very similar but differ in price....are they worth it?

Soap and Glory's Greatest Scrub of All - £9 125ml

Antipodes Reincarnation - £20.99 75ml

Origins Modern Friction - £33 125ml

S&G's Greatest Scrub of All contains smooth boost spheres that 'pop open' when you press them. These are made from silicon and contain salicylic acid when you pop them so it's like your own DIY microdermabrasion.

It's a white cream with what feels like a powder the consistency of sugar granules in. It feels rough on your hands but not on your skin especially when it was wet, makes it a lot easier to exfoliate your face without anything too harsh.

I quite liked this, especially for the price. It doesn't have an overpowering smell and my skin did feel like it had been scrubbed (in a good way) and felt clean and free of oil, dirt and residues.
The packaging is cute, witty and easy to like, plus its dermo tested and from the UK. There's not a lot to dislike in this product!



Next up is Antipodes Reincarnation Pure Facial Exfoliator.

This packaging is totally different; its a very grown up cream tube made from recycled materials and has a black lid. It's a whole lot more grown up and kinder to the environment.

The scrub itself is cream coloured and contains the tiniest particles I've ever used in a scrub. They're actually jojoba beads and the other main products in this exfoliator are all natural including avocado oil, calendula oil and carrot seed.

Again this is applied to damp skin and my skin feels cleansed and my newer cells shining through after the duller older ones have been removed. You can barely feel the particles sloughing off dead skin which is really good especially for sensitive skin.

Lastly we have Origins' Modern Friction, which is self titled as 'Nature's gentle dermabrasion'.

I have to agree as this is the first product I bought from the three shown in this post. It's again a thick white cream containing Rice Starch to slough away the lifeless skin and Lemon Oil to aid illumination.

This can be used on wet or dry skin; dry skin for a more concentrated scrub and wet skin for those who are more sensitive. The scrub doesn't feel rough on your skin even when used on dry skin and not only does the skin feel smoother it looks visibly more uniform.

It was a hard task to decide which of these i preferred more. When looking at the figures and sizes of the products, the Antipodes Reincarnation exfoliator was actually more expensive as the original price was for a 75ml tube and not the 125ml that the others were. It actually works out at £34 for 125ml so is pretty much the same as Origins.

It's a hard choice but I think that with skincare it always ends up being the most expensive that wins out. I do think skincare is worth splashing out on, and Im yet to find a product from Antipodes or Origins that I haven't liked, hasn't been worth the money, and hasn't lasted considerably longer than other products that are cheaper.

S&G is a great scrub and I will continue to beg my mum for the sets at Christmas.....but I think in this case the Save option has been beaten by the Splurge options.

Do you think skincare is worth spending on? Or are you not bothered and would prefer to save your money for shoes?

Have you tried any of these exfoliators? Which one did you prefer?

L xxx

Brow Arch March

Evening all!

Tonight L and I have been at an event with the lovely Benebabes from Boots Cardiff to celebrate Brow Arch March. Brow Arch March is a collaboration between Benefit and Debenhams to raise money and awareness for the amazing charity look good feel better.

Look good feel better helps teens and women suffering with cancer deal with the visible side effects it causes by providing workshops and advice. I absolutely love the charity and what they due makes a huge difference. My mum's cousin is currently undergoing chemo and has benefited from advice on how to tie scarves and really found it useful to have people around to help with such tasks.

Brow arch march is now going to be an annual event. The benebabes described it as our version of Movember! I love that. For the whole of march you can go to a benefit brow bar and get your brows waxed for free. They suggest a £5 donation for every wax. The full donation (whatever you choose) goes completely to charity! All us bloggers paid to get in tonight to help raise money. I know L and I will be popping along for a wax or two as well! 

Whilst we were there we were also introduced to some of the latest releases to try out. L and I were both excited to try out Gimme Brow! We'd wanted to try it for ages and Benefit really our amazing at brows! It's fair to say it didn't disappoint and L and I will be running to the counter come pay day! It has the perfect size little brush, fills brows and helps create the perfect polished look easily. Whilst doing all of that it's also weather proof so you won't find your brows have slipped half way down your face in summer (if it comes!!).

As soon as we got there my eyes went straight to the Big Easy. After seeing this on Lisa Potter-Dixon's instagram a few weeks back I couldn't wait to test it out. Described as better than a BB cream and as I'm a BB cream fan especially as I've been wearing less make up during the day at the moment I needed to try it! It provides a flawless skin appearance, corrects redness, cream to powder finish (no dewy finish which I love), provides moisture and has an impressive SPF 35!! I will be grabbing this for my holiday. Who needs sun cream when I can have BB cream and look good on the beach.

Benefit have teamed up with Marvel and have a Spy Girl comic now!! How amazing the geeks in L and I were VERY excited!! It even features the black widow!

Also available to try was lolli tint. Lolli tint is right up my street. I'm a pinks girl when it comes to make up, especially cool tones. Where I'm so pale I find they suit me. I loved the colour it was on my lips. It does come out different on everyone's lips. It produces a gorgeous soft pink on the cheeks!

Not the best photo but hello amazing brows and lolli tint lips!

I think it's far to say our love of Benefit products grows again! L and I are such addicts!! The wish list now contains agent zero shine, stay don't stray, gimme brow and lolli tint! 

What's on your wishlist? Are you going to visit a brow bar for brow arch march? You save yourself £6.50 on the normal price, get an amazing Benefit brow wax (they conceal and reapply your brows for you!) and get to feel good about donating to a great charity!

Thanks lovely benebabes and benedude! Was great to see you all again!

Love M

xxx 

Murad Clarifying Toner *

Evening All

Hope you've had a good day. I'm off out on a date tonight. I'm hoping I can push for pizza!

I'm a huge toner fan and have mentioned this on a few occasions on here. As someone with oily skin I really feel like my skin benefits from a toner. I find without a toner it gets even more oily.

L and I are both Murad fans and love trying new products. The AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser (review here) and after using it for over a year twice a week I still have some left.

The Clarifying toner is aimed at people with oily and blemish prone skin. It claims to help minimize oil, control shin and keep pores clean.

The toner does have a very strong chemical scent which at first did put me off of it. After using it for the past 2 months though I have got used to the smell and have been really enjoying using it. I find it has really controlled the shine on my face during the day and therefore my foundation has been lasting longer.

I do feel like it has been going down quickly. I find that because you use it with cotton wool you end up using more product than you need. I would love this more if it was in a spray bottle as I feel it would last longer.

Once I got used to the smell I have really enjoyed it and it has really helped my breakouts. My skin had gotten really bad and I was having a lot of breakouts. It has reduced the spots and helped control oil. I don't think it has helped my pores as my nose is still got blackheads.

If you are after a toner to reduce spots and control oil this is a perfect one. For me when I repurchase I will transfer it to an old lush toner bottle to see if it lasts longer.

Are you a toner user?

Love M

xxx

Lauren's Way Glam Tan Darker than Dark. *

Hey All

Hope you've had great weekends! Mine has been one of mixed emotions. L and I met up with a friend and went out to watch the rugby yesterday. With both of us being rugby fans and myself being English and L being Welsh we knew it was going to be an interesting match!! A very happy result for me with England beating Wales and us winning the triple crown. Now if France could beat Ireland next weekend so we can win I'd be happy! On the downside my brother was in a pretty bad accident when doing jumps on his bike the hills near us back home and has currently spent the last 3 days in and out of hospital dosed up on morphine! It times like these I hate that I've moved away from home!

Anyway on to happier stuff. With the lush weather we've been having this weekend I've been layering on the tan. I feel so much better with a tan. I feel like I look healthier (A lovely work colleague this week told me I looked like death on a day I'd decided not to wear make up to work!), thinner and just a bit better with a tan.

I was lucky enough to go to the Lauren's way launch a few weeks back. After trying the Darker than Dark lotion first probably over 18 months ago I was excited to try the glam tan version as I had loved the first so much.

The event was amazing and I mentioned it a bit more here.

Glam tan is a formula that was available in the other shades but darker than dark is a new release. Glam tan is like a spray tan. It has a spray nozzle and the tan itself is a very thin liquid. I'm someone who normally prefers lotions to mouse so I was excited to try a liquid,

Even though I'm pale I do still like to use darker than dark as I find with light tans it takes ages to build the colour up and to be honest I'm a little lazy. There is always the worry that you'll go orange but with this tan I didn't! (with the exception of my hands but that's my fault as after forgetting to tan them I thought it would be a great idea to do it after drinking a bottle of wine and was a bit too liberal with the tan! Thanks L for the photographic evidence of it!! She was gutted England were winning!)

Due to the fact Glam Tan is a liquid it can be used on the face and body. I find sometimes tan will either accentuate my pores of block them. With this on it doesn't seem to be the case and my face matches by body without being spotty as a result.

To apply Glam Tan you spray it onto the mitt first, then rub in, in circular motions. As it's a thin liquid it dries really quickly. I was also impressed that it didn't rub off from wearing a bra leaving marks. It was also streak free.

Pre tan

After Developed

Once Washed off (I do think the sun was a bit bright for this photo as I'd say it's darker in real life!)

Although this photo was taken pre wash off I think it's more true to the colour I am now!

It also fades really well without leaving patches. I am someone who uses a shower puff and I definitely think if you apply fake tan this is good as it helps keep the tan from fading off patchy.

I'm really loving glam tan. For me I prefer the formula to the lotion as it's thinner it's easier to apply and sinks in quicker. As for smell. It doesn't have that biscuit scent at all which noone ever wants with fake tan. As it develops it does get a slight smell but once washed off it's gone again.

I'm already converted. My plan is now I've started is to top up every three days so I stay tanned! I much prefer being brown.

Glam Tan is £19.95 for 250mls and can be bought from Lauren's Way or Superdrug. If your local store doesn't stock it you can have it sent to store and save on delivery costs!

Have you tried Lauren's Way? Would darker than dark put you off if you were pale?

Love M

xxx