Skincare: Skinetica Review

Hello beauties, I was recently sent Skinetica* to review as I have combination acne prone skin. It is a blemish lotion that claims to soothe those angry red spots, blackheads and blemishes within 2-3 days and basically calm your skin down. Skinetica is a fast acting anti blemish lotion that is very gentle on the skin and won't irritate your skin, making it suitable for all skin types. You simply pop the lotion onto a cotton pad and I have been simply dabbing it on my most reddened irritated spots. You can either apply it that way or it can also be used as a super toner all over the skin, used after makeup removal and cleansing.

 

 

Skinetica can also be used as a makeup base and it literally takes seconds to dry and then your supposed to put your makeup straight over without wiping it away, this will remove any traces of dirt and give you a great base to apply your makeup. Having this under your makeup I have noticed my skin is not as oily as normal. To apply, your skin must be completely makeup free, and be completely clean and dry before applying for it to be the most effective.

 

I will be honest and say obviously this is not a treatment that is going to immediately remove spots and make your face spot free in days, but I have definitely noticed a difference in the amount of spots I had, and it really soothes and calms the redness down which is a massive problem that I have at the moment, especially when it's that time of the month so this has been ideal for calming my skin down before makeup application, and also taking some shine away.

 

I would recommend this if you have acne prone skin and either have the odd breakout or to someone like me who has regular breakouts. You can buy your bottle of Skinetica on the Skinetica website here for just £9.99 a bottle or you can try out the FREE 15ml sample bottle which you can see in the picture to try before you buy, brilliant!



Skincare: Loreal Skin Perfection Purifying Micellar Solution // A Bioderma dupe?

Before I started blogging back in April I had never really heard of Micellar solutions, but I'm pretty sure everybody in the blogging world knows about the beloved Bioderma or Caudalie which are pretty much holy grail favourites among beauty lovers. I was recently out shopping in Boots buying a massive haul when I spotted this in the skincare section.  Quite a few of my posts recently has been about skincare because over the past month I'm slowly but surely trying to build up a good solid skincare routine to suit my skin type as it is in a bit of a mess at the moment.  It's a mixture between dehydrated, oily in places, and I have either sore spots in some areas and in other areas small pimples under my skin, and some acne scarring. So yep its pretty horrendous!

The micellar solution is known basically to cleanse deep into the skin layers to draw out any makeup and dirt to give a thorough cleanse.  I have fairly sensitive skin which sometimes reacts to new products, but this left my skin feeling very fresh, soft and clean and brought no irritation or discomfort to it. I was a little dubious with this one being an oil based product, I worried it would leave my skin feeling very wet and oily. I had nothing to worry about though as I loved how quick and easy this removed my makeup, and how refreshing it felt on my skin.

One thing that surprised me using this cleansing solution was that I didn't actually realise until now just how much make-up I was still leaving on my skin after cleansing with other products.  I noticed this because the first few times testing this out I wanted to review it properly so even though after using only one cotton pad to remove the makeup, the pad wasn't full and my face felt thoroughly cleansed, but I thought I would use a second cotton pad just to see how good it had been and the second pad was half covered with makeup.  So then it got me thinking, when I've been cleansing previously and my skin has felt clean I was probably leaving my face with lots of makeup and dirt on still.

Overall, I am in love with this cleanser. It's my new go-to skincare product and I will definitely be re-purchasing when this one is finished with. This is a great quick method of removing makeup and sometimes have been using this first then going to the bathroom and using my cleansing gels.  And other times if I'm a bit lazy and tired I have been using this then my Avene spray afterwards and still getting a thorough cleanse.  This was actually meant to only be £4.99 in Boots but when I was shopping it was reduced to something crazy around £2.30 so I picked up two bottles, but even the £4.99 is so cheap for the quality.

I would 100% recommend you give this a try to effectively remove dirt and grime from your face. And even though I've never tried Bioderma or Caudalie, I could probably guess right in thinking it wouldn't be too un-similar to those. I think the amount of product you get with this for the price is great too.

Nspa Beauty Balm and Hair Elixir Oil

Hi everyone hope you are all well, I've just got back from a few days camping in Blackpool so just had some nice pampering in the bath and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed! Last week I kindly got sent some lovely goodies to review from the lovely people at nspa - the beauty balm and the hair elixir oil.* A few weeks before receiving these I had actually bought two products from the Nspa range for a present- the raspberry shower gel and raspberry body spray mist and they both smelt gorgeous I bought some for myself the following week whilst doing my weekly shop.

 

These products actually got sent at a perfect time for me because I was going camping and had never tried a BB cream or tinted moisturiser before and obviously didn't want a full heavy foundation when camping, and I had ran out of my beloved Moroccan oil a few months back.  I purposely tried both these products for a week before writing my review, and took them both camping with me so I feel I can give a reliable review of them both.

 

So a little bit about nspa...This brand is exclusive to Asda supermarkets, and the products all range in price from £3-£7 so they won't break the bank!  All of the products come in stages as you can see on the bottles - Stage 1-Cleanse to draw out impurities, remove make-up and clarify skin. Stage 2-Exfoliate to buff away dull skin cells, refine pores and tone skin. Stage 3 -Treat to condition and replenish tired skin and Stage 4-Moisturise to restore and nourish thirsty skin.  I think this is a great easy beauty regime that anyone can follow for a great skincare routine whether your new to skincare products are not. The beauty balm I got sent is stage 3 in a skincare routine.

 

 

 

 

Beauty balms or BB creams have been a beauty buzz word for quite a while now and are known for covering any imperfections/pores and blemishes whilst providing you with a light colour coverage.  Now personally I don't own any BB creams or tinted moisturisers (shocking I know) as my skin is sometimes combination and I have some acne scars still visible off my younger years, so for me I like to feel I have a 'good coverage' on my face even through the day.  I have swatched many BB creams when I have been in shops and I was always put off by the fact even the light shade would be so dark on my hand (yes Garnier I am looking at you!)  When I first applied this to my hand to look at the shade I was aware that it was a darker shade than my skin colour so I was a bit wary before applying it, but I was pleasantly surprised that once applied to the face it blended really well and didn't leave those awful lines of darker colour on the jaw line, it somehow adapted to my shade and blended in effortlessly.  I also stood in-front of the window to test it out and it looked very natural.  As the coverage is so light it doesn't make you feel or look like your wearing heavy makeup, and is perfect for day time wear because it has a added SPF 15.  For night time it can be worn alone and then I would just add my usual concealer and bronzer, or it could be used well for a bit of a primer to give your skin a nice base for foundation if you were choosing to have more coverage.  Overall the effect was natural and flawless so I was really pleased with this product, it hasn't broke my skin out.  Here is a few pictures of me wearing just the BB cream and no other make up to give you an idea of the coverage, I loved the feeling of having light coverage on but also knowing I was not completely 'naked' as I went to a family barbecue and camping with this on.

 

 

 

 

After recently changing my hair colour from blonde to brown my hair was in desperate need of some moisture.  I had ran out of my beloved Moroccan oil a few months back and had recently been using the Argan oil from Primark.  I would say the consistency of this oil is very similar to the Moroccan oil as it is quite thick (where as the argan oil from primark is quite runny).  I have been using this nspa oil after every hair wash, using two pumps on wet hair and one pump on dry hair after straightening o banish any frizz.  This has been a great replacement and I have really noticed a difference in the condition of my hair, it's much more soft, manageable and the ends have definitely gone smoother after being so dry when I had blonde hair. I think everyone should use oil on their hair as it not only improves the overall condition and strengthens the hair from all the heat products we use on it, I also think using oil on your hair helps it to grow too.

 

Thank you to nspa for kindly sending me these.  I have also seen on other bloggers reviews that the melting face cleanser and the hot cloth cleanser are going down well too so I will be purchasing them next, and I would recommend these two beauties aswell. Asda have currently got an offer on nspa products - 2 for £8.

 

Let me know if you have tried any nspa products or if your thinking of buying!