Current Skincare Routine!

Hey everyone :) I thought today I would talk about my current favourite skincare products. For reference, my skin type is normal-combination (dry between my eyebrows and oily on my the tip of my nose) and very sensitive/red. Mainly because of sensitivity, I try to avoid SLS and parabens in my skin care routine as much as possible but do not with all my products, such as make up and I understand there are probably some items in my skincare also that may contain harsh ingredients. Please bare in mind that what products may work for my skin won't work for everybody but it's nice to see recommendations for a skin type similar to your own!

I begin in the evening by using my This Works Clean Skin 5-in-1 Water. This is a great makeup remover for my sensitive skin also. It is scented with rosewater but it is such a light fragrance I barely notice it! It stings my eyes a little bit but really breaks down my make up quickly and efficiently without irritating my skin.

The next step to my routine is cleansing, where I start by using the Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser morning and night. I'm not entirely convinced that this is my 'holy grail' cleanser as I usually prefer thicker consistencies but it is great for gently cleansing my skin without irritating it and without drying it out. It is also unscented, which is a bonus for those with sensitive skin!

Next up, I use the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic to tone my skin and remove any excess cleanser I may have on my face. I also love this particular toner for it's calming scent which consists of aloe vera, cucumber and rose-scented geranium. The only slight gripe I have with this product is that it sometimes leaves my skin feeling a bit sticky but this does fade after a few minutes once the product has sunk in.

My current eye cream is the Origins GinZing (warning: there may be a recurring theme of a lot of Origins products!). This eye cream is great for moisturizing my under-eye but other than that, I don't find it does anything amazing for my dark circles. I have this one and the Eye Doctor, also by Origins which I love so I'm actually just trying to use GinZing up to move onto that one as I find it heals any soreness around my eyes as well as brightening my whole eye area overall.

In the morning, I would then use my Origins A Perfect World SPF 25 moisturizer. I find that this product not only brightens my skin and leaves it nourished, but also provides a lovely base for make up if you let it sink in for a few minutes. It is fragranced with White Tea, but I have never had a problem with this irritating my skin.

If I were moisturizing in the evening, I would firstly apply my Caudalie SOS Serum. This is an absolute staple in my routine and definitely one I would repurchase again and again. If you have dehydrated skin or dry patches like I do, this completely hydrates the areas of dryness and plumps up all your skin beautifully! I then apply my night time moisturizer which is currently the Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Cream. I'm a bit split on this product as I love the scent but I don't see a massive change in my skin when I use it. I suffer from bad pores on my nose and it may be the silicone's I've heard this product contains that is making them worse!

Finally, products I don't use on a daily basis. Once a week, I tend to use my current face mask of choice the REN Invisible Pores Detox Mask. As I mentioned earlier, I feel so paranoid about my pores and I really find this mask helps to minimize the appearance of them a lot. It's the kind of consistency I love in a face mask which is thick and dries hard so it really feels like it's doing work to your skin. I also use the MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator, which I find it great for making my skin really smooth and eliminating any dry patches. Finally, I will also use my Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight 1-2 times a week as I sometimes feel my skin is a little dehydrated and this also seems to help a lot with redness too.

So there you have it, have you tried any of these products and loved them? Also, any recommendations of new products to suit my skin are always appreciated!

Review: Soap & Glory Scrub Em and Leave Em!

Today I thought I'd write a review on one of my holy grail products, Soap and Glory's 'Scrub Em and Leave em'. Although most people seem to talk about their Breakfast Scrub or Sugar Crush, I much prefer clean/fruity scents over sweet ones so this suits me perfectly.

Soap & Glory says the product contains scents of Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Magnolia, Freesia, Vanilla and Musk.  The scrub is formed of sea salt, jojaba (whatever that is!) as well as Mandarin Oil, which you can really pick up on in the scent.

I love this particular scrub not only for the scent, but the way it works at scrubbing away any rough patches of skin whilst moisturizing the area leaving it soft and smooth. I mainly use this on the tops of my arms where I have particularly rough skin and it really helps to improve the look and feel of the area.

In terms of price, it is actual more cost efficient than the most other scrubs by Soap & Glory. If you compare it to the others, the only one better value for money is Flake Away, which is £7.00 for 300ml. This one is £7.50 for the 300ml, whilst others (in particular The Breakfast Scrub which is £9.50 for the same amount!) are 50p or more expensive than this one, or the same price but for 100ml less product.

If you prefer fruity/floral scents, I would definitely recommend smelling this in store and giving it a try. I'm on my third scrub and really don't see myself drifting from it anytime soon!

Katherine xo

Favourite A/W Nail Polishes!

First of all please excuse some of my swatches looking a little sloppy, I didn't intend to have it look this way but it was the result of late night nail painting and I didn't realise until after I'd taken the photos!
That aside, I thought today I would share with you some of my favourite autumn/winter nail varnishes. 

From Left to Right - OPI 'I'm Not Really A Waitress', Barry M 'Racing Green', Barry M 'Navy', Revlon 'Bewitching' and Barry M 'Vivid Purple'.

Firstly, OPI's 'I'm Not Really A Waitress' is one of their best selling shades and for good reason. It's a true red with shimmers running through it, making it the perfect seasonal colour.

As you can see, I'm a huge fan of Barry M nail varnishes and I honestly think they are one of the best forumla's out there. Due to the quality and price, I have more Barry M then any other brand and believe they bring out some lovely, bold shades. I really don't hear enough about the shade 'Racing Green', it is so underrated! It is a shimmery emerald green and I really believe it would look amazing on any skintone.

Barry M 'Navy' is exactly what it says on the bottle. A true, dark navy shade with shimmer running through it. This is one of those shades that can go with any outfit and I use this shade a lot in the colder months!

Next up is Revlon's 'Bewitching'. This shade is everything I wanted Barry M's 'Raspberry' to be on me! It's a dark raspberry red shade that really compliments my pale skintone, it is true to the colour it is in the bottle unlike Raspberry which was far darker on my nails - though I know not everyone has this problem!

Finally, is a well known Barry M shade 'Vivid Purple'. Like the other Barry M shades I have spoken about, it has a fine shimmer running through it and shows up true to colour as a dark plummy purple shade.

What are your favourite shades for the cooler months? Do you like these shades also? :)

Katherine xo

MAC Favourites!

I thought a cool first post idea would be my MAC favourites. MAC are one of my favourite brands overall, in particular their lipsticks! 

My first favourite item is the eyeshadow 'Espresso' which I use every single day to fill in my brows. I find it works best with the Eco Tools eyeliner brush to create a really natural look and is the perfect matte brown for my hair colour. 

Next up are the MAC paint pots. The two colours I have are Rubenesque (left) and Paintery (right). They both make really great bases for eyeshadow, but work equally well alone. Rubenesque is a beautiful peachy gold shade that can just add a really nice colour to your lid, whilst I often use Painterly to perfect my eye area covering up any discolouration.

MAC Summer Haze mineralize eyeshadow came out with the limited edition 'Naturally' collection this year and I've been obsessed ever since. This eyeshadow is the most perfect rose gold colour!

This palette contains my four favourite shadows from MAC but in particular, my all time favourite 'All That Glitters' (top right) which is a lovely pinky gold shade. Also in the palette are 'Ricepaper' (top left), 'Sable' (bottom left) and 'Satin Taupe' (bottom right), which is a great crease colour.

I don't hear much about MAC's Lustre Drops in Pink Rebel but it is one of my favourite highlighters and definitely deserves more recognition! 

Perhaps one of the most well known items from MAC is their Mineralise Skinfinish in 'Soft and Gentle' which is truly an amazing powder for highlighting. It leaves a noticeable sheen on your cheekbones whilst adding a glow to the face.

My all time favourite blush from MAC is another not so spoken about item. This is 'Coygirl', a beautiful plummy pink. It really adds that natural flush to your cheeks and helps to sculpt the face also.

Another cult product from MAC is their Mineralise Skinfinish setting powders. It is perfect for setting your make up whilst leaving your skin looking natural.

Finally are my favourite MAC products, their lipsticks. These six are my top picks of my collection, as you can see I wear a lot more dark/bright colours than I do nudes! From L-R they are Craving, Girl About Town, Chili, Diva, Cut A Caper (LE) and Charmed, I'm Sure (LE).

Thanks for reading!

Katherine xo

First Post!

Katherine, 20 years old, Journalism student.

So, most of the things involved on my journalism course is based about music but I wanted to have somewhere I could talk about my other interest which is all things beauty related. This came after realising that:

1) I own far more beauty items than any person needs
2) I read around 50 beauty blogs a day but don't really get to share my thoughts
3) I'm pretty sure my family and friends get sick of hearing me get excited over nail varnish and other items!

I'm hoping to get into the habit of posting regularly and hopefully there will be people around to read my thoughts and share a common interest with. :)