A roundup of my favourite face cleansers and scrubs

Now that winter is in full swing and my skin has taken a good battering from the wind, rain and central heating, it has been a good time to assess which of my vast array of skin scrubs and cleansers are really working. When I want to use a nice, gentle cleanser I like the Monu one, which smells of calming lavender and is easy to carry around. This was supposed to be for my kit but I can't seem to leave it alone! The Antipodes Juliet cleanser has a gel consistency and smells really fruity. With manuka honey and kiwifruit amongst it's ingredients, it gives the skin a nice antioxidant boost and helps to brighten my complexion when it's tired and dull looking. There is also something really appealing about washing my face with what feels like grape juice. My most recent discovery is the Clinique redness solutions one which my gran ( an avid Clinique user and fan of the whole redness solutions range) recommended. The cream is silky feeling and gently swipes off makeup while helping to reduce any redness and inflammation. This is lasting me quite a while and will definitely be a long-term purchase- you only have to read the reviews on websites such as Boots to see what a mighty cleanser this stuff is! The Jason Apriot Scrubble is good if you're into your natural skincare and after something more abrasive to exfoliate any dry skin. Word of advice though, I tried using this with both a Clarisonic and Foreo cleanser and it didn't work too well, I recommend massaging it in with your hands and wiping off with a flannel. It's also nigh on impossible to remove with cotton pads; you will get through half a dozen and still find flecks of apricot kernals on your face, so yes, use a flannel! Finally in my face wash hall of fame is another Antipodes product, the Grace gentle cleanser. What can I say about this that I probably haven't said already, I just love the stuff, my friend loves the stuff and my mum loves the stuff. I reckon it's suitable for all skin types, it's just the most gentle, soothing, buttery cleanser ever. It isn't too perfumed and gently cleanses without stripping your face of natural oils. It's 100% natural and is packed with nutrient rich ingredients such as avocado oil which feel really nourishing. I love the process of massaging this into my face and leaving it on for a few minutes as a little face mask!

In my bag- The Autumn edit

The first day of October saw a sudden and noticeable change in how early the evenings are closing in. This is my favourite month of the year so I'm relishing every day of it! The golden leaves staining the pavements with little leafy stencils, the watery sun bathing everything in the most beautiful glow, fresh mornings, sharp evenings, hot coffees....there isn't one thing that isn't glorious about it. Naturally the day to day items I cart around with me have been updated and the light tinted moisturiser I'd grown fond of is now a thing of the past.

As you can see I have tried to be more practical in what I pack. The headphones are by Marshall and are a MUST as I can't think properly without music and there is no way I will make it to the gym if I don't at least have a motivation playlist at hand! An umbrella because, well, London (interesting colour and print, nobody in my household has a clue where it came from!). The Verto black pebble is a portable phone charger which is amazing- probably the most useful gift I have ever received and one of those things I didn't know I'd use so much until I got it! This one is great as it comes with a range of plugs for Iphone, Samsung etc, and if you charge it for an hour or two it has enough power in for three charges! 

In terms of makeup I have gone back to my fail safe Inika foundation in cream as it's a little heavier than a tinted moisturiser and doesn't show up the dry patches some of us get with the change in weather. I'm not sure if you read the post I did during spring about this foundation but honestly it is the best foundation for transitional weather. Shame they only have three shades at the moment though! Lipstick wise I have been drawn to this Kiko matte lipstick in shade 2. It's a really muted, elegant pink which stays put right through the day. My current favourite eyeshadows are the Moonshadow colour infused pens which are also by Kiko and they are absolutely lush. There are four shades: a sparkly gold, plum, turquoise and mocha colour and they are the lazy persons answer to taking you from drab to fab in moments. Nothing shows you have made an effort like a sensual matte lipstick with a little gold on the inside of your eyes and perhaps glimmering turquoise blended in there too ;) I'm going to do an in-depth post about my Kiko haul over the weekend and give you proper colour swatches. The eyeliner is Eyeko which I have a constant love hate relationship with. The nib is perfect but why oh why do they dry up so fast?! The nail varnish is Max Effect by Max Factor, it's the bronze shade and has a gorgeous  shine. I feel like this is the grown up version of a glitter nail as the colour is metallic and a little playful, but still looks presentable. There is something really autumnal about a bronze metallic nail so I think I'll be wearing this a lot over the next month or two!

Of course being a lip balm hoarder there is one on me at all times! This is just pure Nutiva coconut oil. I have about five of these babies and am forever pulling them out of my pockets when I'm doing the washing!

The hand sanitizer is one I discovered in Wholefoods some months ago and I now have one for my kit and another for personal use. It's a brand called Bentley Organic and it's just a really gentle foam that effectively kills bacteria without drying your hands out. It's also alcohol free which is pretty ace, I've never seen alcohol free sanitizer before! And I sounded a little too excited there...

My sunglasses are by Pepe Jeans and are a godsend. Just when I put them away, we had an icy morning and then blistering sun during the afternoon where I honestly couldn't see where I was walking, so back out these came! I have really grown used to putting on a pair of sunnies when I'm tired, recovering from a heavy night, sad, antisocial, watery eyed from having a cold or simply wanting to people watch strategically, it was a low moment realising that they'll spend months in storage soon! Poking out from the corner of the shot is  Late Fragments, Everything I want to tell you about this magnificent life, by an author called Kate Gross who was terminally ill when she penned this touching and incredibly personal book to her young children. I am almost halfway through and when I'm not writing down quotes from it in my little notebook, I'm mentally pep talking myself to not let emotions get to me. If there is ever a moment where you forget to be mindful, this book is a pull back to reality and all that really matters. I'm going to do a book review once I have finished, although I'm currently deliberately reading it little by little. That's my sensible and relatively light bag at the moment, I'm quite proud of my organisation skills these days!

Antipodes Nirvana wash

Shower gels are not a product I usually get too excited about, but this little bottle is absolutely divine and my whole household enjoys using it because of how therapeutic it is. With spearmint leaf, cardamon and hibiscus flower it doesn't leave your skin feeling stripped or dry like most showers gels do. My friend who introduced me to this says she doesn't even feel the need to moisturise afterwards. Scent wise it is like sniffing a fresh sprig of mint. I have been sitting here with the bottle like some sort of shower gel connoisseur trying to work out what it reminds me of and it hit me-mojito! A little pricier than your average shower gel but if you want something that will make you feel so relaxed and as fresh as mountain dew then this well worth it. Also for any clued up men reading this, it's unisex so I'm talking to you too. You can buy it from Wholefoods and online for about a tenner I believe.

Monu Skincare

A fairly recent discovery and impressive skincare brand on the blog today. Monu use a range of essential oils in their products which not only target specific skin concerns, but feel really therapeutic and luxurious to use. My favourite is the Soothing Hawaii face oil which contains sandlewood and lavender.

Sometimes I use this as an overnight serum and wake with really plump, hydrated skin but it's also good patted on sparingly five minutes before putting makeup on. There is something about the heavy glass jar which makes it feel more costly than it's £26 price tag! I'm also really liking the rosewater toner and lip balm which are both incredibly gentle and smell just wonderful. The lip balm contains vitamin A, wheat germ oil and beeswax and has a silk like texture. I like to put quite a generous dollop on and let it sink into my lips, although it's definitely something I do in the comfort of my own home rather than at work, ha.

The recovery balm is a good back up product for anyone who is prone to inflammed skin such a rosacea. I whip this out at the first signs of getting a heat rash as it helps calm that insufferable itching. It's also light enough to layer with other products and works particularly well with the Monu skin perfecter. The perfecter makes a good little primer as it subtly creates a sort of film over any pores and inperfections. Being paraben free and pretty natural I prefer to use this on good skin days when I want something light and subtle to give my makeup more staying power. I think this would be good for more mature skin also as it gives skin a nice satin like texture without sinking into fine lines. You can see more of the brand here 

hot weather must-haves

I have been steadily swapping my previous go-to skin products for natural alternatives, and Antipodes has triumphed as my favourite brand for a good year now. Two fantastic products which I carry with me in this warmer weather are the Saviour Skin Balm and Ananda toner.

The Saviour balm in its sturdy vintage style tin is, in my humble opinion, a bit of a super product. With potent ingredients among which are tea tree, vinanza grape and echinacea, it is antibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial thus fantastic in ailing rashes, bites, stings, dry skin, you name it. I pretty much use this on my knees and elbows when they get a bit dry, on heat rashes, as lip balm, around my eyes when I don't have eye cream, the list goes on.

For this reason it has become a good addition to my kit as multi-purpose products are quite literally saviours! I can't recommend this buttery balm enough to those of you who have sensitive skin and/or children.

The Ananda toner is good for spritzing on my face when I'm commuting on a busy train during rush hour, or heaven forbid crammed on a packed platform during a strike and preparing my elbows for some serious jousting to make it on the train in the first place! It's really cooling and has calming rosewater, raspberry seed and aloe vera in. I find that most toners are really alcohol rich and sting my cheeks but haven't had an issue with this. Oh, and did I mention it is 100% natural? Well worth a try if you're into your toners!

Summer Skincare Routine- Back to Basics

Before I discuss the products, a little background into my skin so you can decide whether these could be worth trying. So I was commuting a couple of weeks ago, the train was unbearably stuffy and my freshly applied makeup felt like it was melting off my face. Something had to change as my foundation suddenly felt too heavy for summer. Before making a switch to something like a tinted moisturiser, my stressed out skin desperately needed sorting. It was spotty (something I never had before in my life and they just weren't going down) and also had dozens of little bumps all over my face. I'd also got little rashes elsewhere which was the cherry on the cake!! I basically felt as though I didn't know my own body anymore because nothing I used or ate make a difference.

I decided to invest in a Clarisonic cleanser after reading a whole bunch of reviews, and to keep the products as simple as possible. No parabens, little perfume and no sulfates. Also I'd read about the importance of staying loyal to products to give them time to work, so I have not introduced anything else into my routine since.

The Clarisonic cleanser has a 1 minute timer and beeps at intervals so you know when to move on to another section of your face. It gives you twenty seconds for each cheek and ten seconds each for your forehead and chin. I gently massaged the La Roche-Posay Ultra-Fine Scrub into my face and swiped the damp brush around my face for the minute. As many of the reviews point out, it doesn't feel like it's doing a great deal to your face as the bristles are so soft but after the first use my face felt insanely clean. The La Roche-Posay scrub, which doesn't contain alcohol , colourants, soap or parabens works really nicely with the cleansing brush and exfoliates without causing any redness. When this ran out I moved on to the Antipodes Reincarnation exfoliator which is organic and enriched with avocado oil, marigold flower, cedarwood and orange. This cleanser has a creamier texture than the other one and although pricier it lasts me about five times longer.

When the cleansing ritual is over, I apply the La Roche-Posay Effaclar-K face cream and that's it. I am really loving this cream and it seems to have a big following. The cream has a serum lightness to it and quickly sinks into the skin. Since focusing the cream on my spots there has been a noticeable reduction in redness and bumps.

An extra little discovery in this new routine is the Antipodes natural Nirvana shower gel which my colleague Jo is loving. She swears that it smells like Christmas and one thing is certain, the scent is DIVINE. Think fresh mint leaves. Afterwards your skin is left super soft and nourished. I can honestly say that these products are an absolute dream team together and although there hasn't been any real drastic change, my face feels so clean after following this regime. Fingers crossed that the bumps disappear, that would be magic!

Bioderma Moisturising Mattifying liquid

Quite a nice little moisturiser to review today, and one I've been trialling for the past week. Bioderma is one of those popular French pharmacy brands which has made its way into English pharmacies in recent years. I stumbled upon this while on the search for something to keep my face matte throughout the day and I'm liking it! The texture is very lightweight, I'd say a cross between a cream and a gel and it acts as a decent primer that helps to smoothen out the skin so that makeup sits nicely on top. There was definitely a noticeable difference in the level of shine across my forehead during the afternoons too, so I didn't have to do any cheeky touch ups.

I must admit that I'm not a fan of perfumed skincare products and the watermelon smell just didn't do it for me. It actually smells as though I had put perfume on my face, the scent is that potent! Don't let this put you off if you're not bothered either way, I mean it does what it says on the tin and it's a decent price also. I just know that a lot of people get skin reactions to very perfumed products. I will continue to use this but the search for my perfect mattifying product continues!

Bioderma moisturising mattifying fluid is available here

Nadeballa Natural Face Creams

During our drive into the office, my colleague usually parks outside an amazing coffee shop called Black Truffle in Belsize Park while I dash in and get us coffees. I noticed they were selling face creams by a brand unknown to me called Nadeballa which is hand-made by mother and daughter, Delara and Natalia. The ingredients have been passed down from a family recipe which was developed in Switzerland and each tub has been made from a small batch of fresh, simple ingredients. I found out that the same colleague does the PR for Nadeballa so was lucky enough to get my mitts on a little pot of the stuff, how fortunate is that?

 I'm going to be honest and say this is the best face cream I have ever used. Scent wise it smells like fresh oranges and my mind wanders to thoughts of oranges groves in a Sicilian summertime whenever I use it, although I realise that Sicily is in no way like Switzerland! The texture is very balmy and feels like a protective veil on the skin. As I said before, there is nothing more annoying than a cream disappearing in minutes, leaving me wondering whether it just evaporated away. It's also gentle enough to use around the eye area because the ingredients are so minimal, think avocado oil, apricot kernal oil and beeswax. I store it in the fridge which keeps it feeling extra fresh and cooling on the skin! Well worth checking out the website

Skincare SOS!

So being blessed with a wonderful array of skin ailments which grace me on the regular, this post is really just running through the products I am well stocked in which I hope will help any of you who can relate. I'm going to start by saying that beauty really does come from within, and it's important to eat a balanced diet for long term benefits. It's amazing the difference little changes can make in clearing up skin problems such as eczema, spots and dermatitis because the problem could be something quite simple like a vitamin or mineral deficiency.
I aim to keep my pizza, whiskey and cake addiction strictly limited to weekends and try to fit in lots of fruit and veg in my daily routine. Smoothies are great because they are quick and really do make a noticeable difference to how you look and feel. I'm pretty hardcore and make mine with whatever we have lying around the kitchen- the one in the photo has banana for potassium, beetroot which is packed with iron, potassium, folic acid and fibre, spinach for iron, an apple and a bit of water. I also take omega 3 supplements and love the Terra Nova Digestive Enzyme capsules which really help with digestion.
Spots are something we all get, granted some of us more than others. Life has played this cruel joke on me where I had perfect skin throughout my teens and spots as soon as I hit my early twenties. A couple of month's ago I had a breakout because I was stressed and using a lot of new products while makeup artistry training. My amazing tutor Amanda Bell sent me home with a Pixi glow tonic and told me to use it for two weeks. As the days went by my skin got noticeably clearer and now I'll never stop buying it. The tonic contains witch hazel which sorts spots right out and a brightening 5% plant based glycolic acid which gently exfoliates dead skin cells. The Inika foundation is in my spot-fix category because it's a natural, mineral product which goes on problematic skin better than any other foundation I've used. Also because the ingredients are better, it makes sense that it's less likely to make spots flare up more. The Bourjois concealer is brilliant for hiding and brightening spots and never goes cakey.
Rashes really, really suck. There are all sorts of reasons why people get them, from hereditary reasons, allergies to dust mites, common ingredients in washing detergents, skincare, make up, diet intolerances, stress...you name it. I suffered with painful eczema from the age of four and remember clawing at my skin until it was raw. My gran used to cut my nails at bedtime and plaster me with liquid calamine lotion which was often the only way I could get to sleep. To this day when a rash pops up, calamine lotion is something that helps every time. It's inexpensive, available in every Boots/chemist and I can't thank whoever invented it enough. Before using steroid creams, please try calamine lotion first!
Z-Gel is a fab organic natural gel which contains arnica. It's great for bites, stings, sunburn, rashes, you name it. I've used it on bruises and seen miraculous results within hours. It's clear so doesn't show up on the skin and the sanitary little tube is good for carrying around. Another little gem for soothing rashes! The Graham's Natural bath oil and skin cream were given to me by my friend Rebecca at Biteable beauty when a big stress rash popped up overnight. Look at the no-nonsense packaging! Ha. The bath oil has a thick olive oil consistency and to be honest doesn't smell much different. Much in the same way olive oil does, it locks in the skin's moisture and helps reduce redness. Also a brilliant little skin saviour is the cream which I kept reapplying at work. It made a huge huge difference and it's another all natural product. Go nature!

What's in my handbag?

Quite a fun post today. I always enjoy having a little snoop at the loyal items people carry around with them; those beauty pieces which have outshone all the others in their collection. That red lipstick which has stood out from the dozens of red lipsticks in the box and the hairband which spruces up a boring hairstyle should unexpected drinks come into plan.

This is how my current handbag has looked for the best past of three months (minus the sunglasses. A recent and optimistic addition). The Daily Journal is by Frankie Press, an Australian magazine I subscribe to. Discovered at a time when I was fed up of reading the same generic articles and sought after a magazine which was creative and covered food, music, DIY and travel. Have a look at the website. The 80's hair scrunchie, band and clip are what I was talking about with the hair items that jazz up an otherwise mundane style. I have these floating around my bag in case I need to get my hair off my face or suddenly feel like doing an eighties ponytail. The Tangle Teaser is lightweight and good for smoothing hair and de-tangling. Mine is so overused that the plastic bristles are looking a little shabby nowadays. My Lacoste purse which is so durable and worn looking, but I love it. It also has a cool little mirror on the inside flap. It belonged to my friend who saw I didn't have a purse and liked it, so tipped her money out and insisted I took it, even though she no longer had a purse. How sweet is that? 

The Chloe perfume was my obsession for a long time. It's a really delicate, playful scent with a bit of a musk in there preventing it from smelling too youthful. The Antipodes Jubilation cream smells like fresh peppermint. It's a nice, gentle all over cream but I mostly use it on my hands because it doesn't leave any sticky residue. The Chanel Les Beiges powder gives a very subtle glow and is good for touch ups. I get a really oily forehead in the afternoon's so if I'm out all day then this is a good thing to have. The Chanel blush in 'innocent' is good for if I make an unexpected plan and want to look more polished. It's a natural pink which is really flattering and looks as though I've been walking briskly through the countryside. I have always worried about wearing blush as I really blush sometimes quite unexpectedly and dread looking like a clown with pre-existing blush on already, but thankfully I haven't had a problem with this looking too heavy. A full review on these Chanel items will be coming soon anyway!The sunglasses are by Jeepers Peepers and look so glam. I love vintage inspired accessories and always feel like the bees knees when I put these on.

 The gold bullet next to it is the Max Factor lipstick in Ruby Tuesday  which I have been wearing for four years because I just feel really chic when I wear it.It's a glossy pink which makes green eyes pop and I can't tell you how many compliment's I've received over the years with this one. My mum said it looks as though I've been eating a lollypop when I wear it. Well worth a swatch if you pass by the counter in the drugstore. The black circular palette is by Jemma Kidd. It contains a lip/cheek tint, champagne coloured highlighter and two neutralising shades. This has come in handy numerous times for last second retouches while on the go. I have been trying to buy one of these for my kit, but sadly I think it has been discontinued. Gutted! 

The Bourjois healthy mix concealer is the best concealer I have ever used, and I haven't thought about another concealer for two years. It's light so it doesn't sink into any fine lines or go cakey and the formulation brightens the skin really nicely to make the eye area look more awake. The  liquid eyeliner is the most long lasting and easy to apply one I've found so far. I was becoming so frustrated with how quickly these liquid pen eyeliners dry out but this is still going strong. The brand is DHC cosmetics which is Japanese, but a US brand seems have bought it to make it more accessible.The very battered looking tube on the bottom right is the Jason natural deodorant stick in the glowing apricot scent. I try to use natural skincare where possible and this works really well for me. Just remember to put the lid and plastic insert back on after use because natural products do need a little more TLC as they don't contain nasty preservatives!

So basically the products I choose are those I can rely on if I want a change of look during the day without carrying what feels like a ton of bricks around. It would be interesting to do a summer update and see what has changed!

London Fashion Week Essentials

A little late, but after mentioning here that I used the Antipodes Grace gentle cleanser when I assisted the lovely and hugely talented Dani Guinsberg on the Hemya LFW show, I thought I'd do a post on some of the other products which served me well on the day. The Mac Strobe cream  is a very widely used product, and for a reason! It's lightweight, mixes well with creams and foundations and it isn't too glittery and shimmery making it really versatile. I use this all the time and it never seems to run out. Look how much is there after regular use for a year! 

A new discovery is the brand Monu who were one of the sponsors of the show.  Honestly, no superlatives can describe how super this brand is for sensitive skin! They have such a fantastic array of very natural and gentle products which I have been trying to keep specifically for my kit but keep dipping into myself. Everyone I have used them on has asked about these products and said how relaxed they felt after.  I love the rosewater toner which is light and cooling, and swipes off makeup really well. The face oil is absolutely brilliant and feels like a proper pampering experience. It isn't as heavy as other face oils and serums I have used so might be worth a try for those who want something a little lighter. Also pretty impressive is the Monu primer which is a clear, lightweight base that does a really good job. No colour, not too much sheen and no glittery bits, it's just simple and leaves the skin smooth and plump. The lip balm goes on like a cream but has a matte finish which worked really well with the barely there makeup theme at the Hemyca show.

An addition to my new discovery list is the French brand  Bella Pierre's cream blusher in coral which gives the most natural healthy flush. Bella Pierre is a mineral makeup brand that sources natural, ethical ingredients. Rather than bringing out makeup just to cash in, products are created according to the consumer requests.At the moment this blush is my go-to product for creating a dewy, fresh look and I loved it so much that the incredibly kind and talented makeup artist Amanda Bell gave it to me from out of her own kit! I was pleasantly surprised to spot the range in the Camden Town Wholefoods so I'm looking forward to testing out their foundations. Talking of foundations, I was in the Wholefoods specifically to purchase the Inika mineral foundation (the very black bottle pictured next to the strobe cream!) which is the best foundation I have ever used. Dani had let me try out hers in the shade 'cream' and I couldn't rush out to buy it fast enough. The foundation has the smoothest finish I've seen and leaves the skin with a glow that just looks like natural skin, but on a really good day. It's light but you barely need to use any at all, and it still looked flawless even after the models had been standing in a hot atrium under bright lights for hours. Amazing.

Also sponsoring the show was the cosmetics brand Lola which does a fab lipstick in the shade 'Minx' that I used to create a natural pink lip. It is a great shade match with the blush and builds really nicely if you're after a more intense shade of pink. To create a slightly fuller brow (below) I used the Illamasqua eyeshadow in the shade 'Obsidian' from the neutral eye palette which gave a nice definition to my model's face.

You can see the backstage video for the Hemyca show below, with Dani, myself and the rest of our makeup team working away and looking super focused. It was such an exciting show to be part of- I was on a total high for days afterwards!

Brand- Hemyca
Sponsors:
Lola cosmetics
Monu skincare
Jessica nails
Vox water
With thanks to Dani Guinsberg at The Sessions School for inviting me along to assist! 

Antipodes organic skincare

Anyone who is into their skincare has that one brand they can always rely on to sort out any skin woes and restore its balance. For the past year my brand of choice has been Antipodes which is an organic brand from New Zealand, and I can honestly say my skin has never been in such prime condition. Even my mum won't look at another night cream any more! The Grace cream cleanser feels like (as my mum put it) rubbing your face with a buttery cloud. It smells divine and leaves my skin  nicely soft and supple. It works really well with the Rejoice day cream (A nice light cream for the summer) which is really good for soothing sensitive skin. I used these two when prepping my models skin during the London Fashion week Hemyca show because, as you can imagine, the models had their makeup constantly rubbed off, applied and reapplied so I wanted products I could trust were not going to cause any irritation!

Twice a week I use the Aura Manuka Honey mask sitting on my face for an hour so the antiseptic honey can get to work on any blemishes. Again, I love the smell of this mask! The texture is really light so for those of you who don't like the tight feeling of clay masks, this could be a good one for you.

The Avocado Pear cream is really rich and potent. When I wake I can still feel the oily residue on my face which I really like because for me, there is nothing worse in a face cream than feeling like it has rubbed off into my pillow during the night. During the winter when my skin has been battered by the wind and air con, I couple this with the Joyous or Hosanna serums which get rid of dry patches and generally help my skin to retain some of its plumpness. The Vanilla Pod day cream makes a nice winter alternative to the Rejoice, as it's thicker and sits on the skin a little longer. Strangely the smell of it really reminds me of Sudocream which makes me feel a little nostalgic every time I apply it!

*New* Jason Smoothing Coconut Range

Jason is a brand that I can never go wrong with. Since their giant shower gels first caught my eye some years ago, I've been loyal to the range (the Glowing Apricot and Mango ones are divine!). Recently they have added three delicious scented coconut products to their skincare range with coconut oil and shea butter. The hand and body lotion and coconut oil are great moisturisers which I have decanted into little pots and take around with me. Despite the hand and body lotion being for extremely dry skin, I actually find the oil a richer moisturiser so favour this for putting on any chapped skin, but the HB lotion makes a great hand cream. Admittedly when I first saw the shower gel £10 seemed a bit of a steep price to pay, but I use mine every single day and it lasts for three months! In my (humble) opinion Jason is one of the best value brands on the high street and it's nice to know that the skincare I use every day is without parabens, SLS, petroleum, phthlates and artificial colours. 

Merumaya

2014 was an experimental year for skincare, as I'd fallen into a bit of a rut of sticking with my tried and tested, safe brands such as Burt's Bees and Weleda. But oh, it's exciting when you discover a new brand which quickly makes its way into your daily skin rituals, isn't it?

That's exactly what I have with the Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm which has been part of my daily ritual for the best part of three months. What I love is that a small amount of this gorgeously scented balm rubs in like a face oil and turns into a milky lotion when a little water is added.  I give my face a quick swipe with a muslin cloth and my makeup just comes clean off- lip stick, mascara, the lot! With none of that tight feeling that many face cleansers cause. 

The Skin Brightening Exfoliating Peel is the first I have ever tried, and to be honest I think it's probably a bit too early for my twenty five year old face to be meddling with skin peels. It's different for everyone but I haven't noticed the slightest change in my skin tone with regular use. The first time I applied it, I had the worst face reaction causing a bit of a dramatic rash to appear, but with perseverance my skin got used to it. It also stings for the first minute. A lot. I'm going to give it to a willing guinea pig with a different skin type and update you.
It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has used the peel before, or can recommend another one!