August Favourites

It seems that I don't have much favorites at the moment, I've been switching quite a lot of products recently and there aren't much stuff that I consider my favorites. Having said so, there are some items I've been liking more than others, which I will include in this post.

The first one is the Pai Muslin Cloth. I've been using these cloths quite often recently and I am really liking them as they seem to really exfoliate the skin without them being to harsh on the skin.

One product I've been using daily is the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Pink Blossom. I really like rimmel powders as they seem to mattify the excess oils without leaving my skin too matte (on my skin at least) and since summer is really hot here, this has been a good product for the season.

The Real Techniques Stippling Brush is a brush I've been using daily. I love this brush, I like all the real techniques brushes I have tried so far, and I would like to try more of them as they are so good. I use the stippling brush to blend in my blusher and it gives me an amazing finish and it looks so natural. I think this is my most favorite brush and it has been for the past couple of months.

Another favorite is not a beauty product, it is a cooking book. It is from M&S and is call the Allergy Free Cookbook. I find this really useful, it has amazing recipes and for each recipe there are around for options, which are: nut free, dairy free, egg free and gluten free so anyone can adapt the recipe they like to whatever they need to avoid. I have tried a couple of recipes from this book and I haven't found anything I don't like yet :) I would really recommend this book to anyone who suffers from such food allergies or are looking to avoid certain ingredients.

What are your current favourite products at the moment? I would love to hear your ideas :-)

Post Beach Skin Care

In Malta we experience extreme hot weather in summer and going to the beach is like a weekly thing for most people if not more frequent.

Although I don't go as often my skin feels rough and dehydrated after every trip. Recently I have found a routine that helps 'heal' my skin post beach.

Pre beach

I don't do much pre beach, I just put on a lot of sunscreen but I've been putting hair conditioner 'in my hair obviously' before going in to swim. This helps in preventing my hair from getting all dry and tangled and keeps sea salt or chlorine from getting stuck to my hair (or so it seems as my hair stays soft and easy to comb through).

Post Beach

After going to the beach I do 2 or 3 cleanses to make sure I remove all the sunscreen and sea salt of the day. I use the Pai cleanser as a first cleanse, then I use the Emma Hardie cleansing balm as a second cleanse, and then Emma Hardie again as a third cleanse and leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes before removing with a hot flannel. (All cleanses I remove with a hot flannel.

After the cleanse I spray on the Pai orange blossom and lotus bio affinity toner to refresh my skin.

Lastly I put on the Origins drink up intensive overnight mask and leave it overnight. This feels really hydrating and cool on my skin, I've only recently purchased this product but I am really liking it at the moment, the only thing is I can't find this in Malta so it's difficult to re purchase unless I travel to the UK.

As for the body, I use a body butter and at the moment I am using the body shop moringa body butter which I really like the smell of for summer. I also spritz my feet with the body shop peppermint foot spray.

Do you have any routine for post beach or really hot weather? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time!

Recent Purchases #3 - Skin care

I've recently purchased some items but I feel like they will be too much for 1 blog post so I will be splitting them into sections with the first one being skincare. I haven't bought all these items at once, but I have bought them within the last month / month and a half so some of these products I have already tried for which I will be giving a veryyy short review!

The first purchase is of Alpha h. I've recently grown to love this brand and I would love to try more products from their range.

I purchased the balancing cleanser and the liquid gold and both of these are re purchases. I previously bought sample sizes to try the products out and I love them. I use the cleanser for morning cleanse as it feels so refreshing and I use the liquid gold every 3 nights and I noticed great improvements in my skin since I've been using it.

The second purchase is of Pai. I bought the whole starter kit available on their website which consists of 100ml Camelia and Rose Hydrating cleanser which I love and is one of the most gentle cleansers I have ever tried; it soothes my skin even during my eczema breakouts and it doesn't sting which is a huge plus sign for my sensitive skin.
The set also includes a toner and this time I chose the bio affinity rosemary and rice plant. I was previously using the lotus and orange blossom toner and it feel really refreshing and hydrating but at the moment I've been having a lot of oily patches especially around my nose and I thought I would try this one. I have used it for a couple of days and so far I think it is helping as when I spray it my skin feels smooth and it feels like it is absorbing the excess oil without my skin feeling tight or dry. But its still early days to actually review such product.
One more item included in the kit is a moisturizer for which I have chosen the geranium and thistle for combination skin. I like this moisturizer because it leaves my skin feeling smooth without the excess oils and it is really good on my sensitive skin.

Origins overnight intensive mask. This product is one that I have been reading a lot of raves about and I really wanted to try, but it's been difficult to acquire in Malta. (If any knows of a website that sells origins products and ships to Malta pls let me know as I would like to try more origins products. I love this product, it smells amazing and leaves my skin hydrated and refreshed. I've been using it twice a week since I got it and I only have high praises for it.

One last product related to skin care is the zit zapper from skin doctors. I have only used it once so far so i don't know if it actually works yet, strangely enough I really like the smell though!

Recent Purchases #2

I have bought quite a few items recently and I have more items on the way but I thought I should get on with the ones I already have, so the post would not be too long and boring.

I have recently gone to the body shop and bought a couple of items, and also have a couple more items on my wishlist including make up products which I will be trying out soon.

I will start off with the body shop products;

The Body Shop body butters

I have bought 2 body butters; Moringa and Coconut. They are of 2 different sizes the moringa is 200ml and the coconut in 50ml. Mainly because I wanted a travel friendly size and also because I've always wanted to try the coconut body butter because I love coconut scent but I wasn't sure if the scent will be too strong for continuous use. I have been using both these products for a couple of days and I have been loving both scents. I love the moringa scent for summery days as the scent is so fresh and not too overpowering.

The Body Shop Body Mist

I have also bought 2 body mist (it seems like I have been buying everything in 2's). The scents are vanilla, which is one of my all time favourite scents and water lily which is a light fresh scent.

Budget Buy;

Dove hair therapy conditioner intensive repair

I have bought this conditioner after reading good reviews on such product range on Nouvelle and gh0st parties blogs. I really love the smell, it is sweet and soft and this product is intended for repairing damaged hair. I have only used it a couple of times so I cannot actually review this products, but I'm liking it so far and I am definitely sold by the scent.

Random item

One more item I have bought recently is a bag which I am currently using on a daily basis and am loving the colour. It is a Red Herring bag in mint and beige from Debenhams. This is a very big bag which can fit in a lot of items. I use this bag for work as it fits all my need comfortably including papers and laptop. One drawback of this bag is that it does not have compartments which I usually love but I am using different make up bag sizes to organize my stuff

Healthy Foods: Sweet and Regular Potatoes

SWEET AND REGULAR POTATOES

If you are not sure what these posts are, read this

A little bit of History:

Potatoes are believe to have come from South America and sweet potatoes have their origins in Central America. Both sweet and regular potatoes are the tuber of the plant designed to nourish the leafy part that grows above ground.

Benefits:

Sweet potatoes are known as antidiabetic because they are able to lower blood sugar levels. They also have antioxidant properties and are a good source of vitamin B6, which aids your physical endurance, reduces stress, lessens the risk of cancer and protects your heart.

Tips:

• Store potatoes in a cool, dark place and they should keep up to 2 months
• Mash potatoes with garlic, black pepper, better and milk and serve with steak and vegetables
• Slice sweet potatoes thinly and fry in a light batter for an accompaniment or snack
• Cook a potato in the oven and then fill with tuna fish, sweetcorn and cottage cheese for a tasty meal

Product Empties #1

As you will notice from this post I have bought quite a lot of samples lately to try  out various products and see if they are good for my skin before spending my money on full size products, nevertheless being sample I will still include them in my empties.

My first empty bottle is the Liz Earle Skin Boost Tonic - This is the Liz Earle toner as they only make 1 Toner. I really like this toner it feels soft and calming on my skin and I really like the scent. I think this is a good value for money as 200ml cost around €16 which I think is quite reasonable for a good toner. My only concern is that I am not sure of its ingredients, I am still learning on skin care ingredients so please if any one knows if the ingredients are good for the skin without any "bad" stuff, please let me know.

Another Empty is the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser - I like this product as it feels soft and gentle on my skin, and I think I will be re purchasing this product although it is not as gentle as the Pai Cleanser on my skin, I do like the texture and scent.

I've finished another cleanser 'sample' in the last couple of months which is the Pai Camelia & Rose Hydrating Cleanser. I consider this as one of my favourite cleansers, I love the smell, it is very sensitive even on the most sensitive days and the texture is soft and creamy. I will definitely re purchase this one and I already have a new one as I like it so much.

One more cleanser sample I used up is the Alpha H Balancing Cleanser. This cleanser is really gentle on my skin and I use this as a morning cleanse especially in summer when my skin is more on the oily side. I already ordered a full size of this cleanser as I have noticed a difference in my skin when using this cleanser in the morning.

I wasn't sure if I should post these empties being all sample sizes, but I think all of these products are really good thus I thought they would be worth documenting.


Until next time...