Top Five Lipbalms: Nuxe, Bliss, Cowshed, Clarins, Avene!

Hey Beauts! Although I'm a lipstick girl through and through, I do gravitate towards lipbalms during the fall. Lips tend to get dehydrated when it gets really cold and need extra love & care... Going through my lipbalm collection I picked the ones that I enjoy wearing most for one reason or another, but all of them are really lightweight and super moisturising!

Nuxe Nutri-Protecting Lip Care SPF15 in 01 Natural Crystal - a pretty shimmery natural nude lip shade, nourishing, protecting and enhancing lipbalm that tastes of mangos! Comes in other three shades: pink, red, and chocolate.

Bliss Fabulips Softening Lip Balm - it's a clear stick lip balm which I tend to put on while I'm doing my make-up so that by the time I get to my lips they will be nicely moisturised but non-greasy for the lipstick to go on beautifully. The scent is sweet vanilla with a citrus hint.

Cowshed Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm - also a clear but liquid lip balm, super lightweight. It's an oldie but goodie, out of them all it lasts less but the scent is so delicious that I can't resist from topping it up ever so often. It has essential oils of linden blossom, rose geranium and ylang ylang.

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 04 Petal Shimmer - I believe this is one of the newest shade additions to this lip balm range, available in other five shades, every single one is very pretty and natural. Petal Shimmer is a gorgeous rosy subtle pink. I love wearing these Clarins lipbalm all year round, they are like addictive candy, you want one in every colour! It's beautifying and plumping without that tingling effect. 

And last but by no means least is the Avene Cold Cream Lip Cream - it's a new lip care product that works magic in no time. It heals the most severely dehydrated and chapped lips almost immediately. When my lips are beyond dry I apply a generous coat and leave it for a couple of minute, then simply with a q-tip I make sure to thoroughly rub the dead skin off, et voilà! The rest of the day lips are guaranteed to look beautifully luscious and totally irresistible!

LOVE

Avene Cold Cream Lip Cream!

Hey Beauties! With the change of season here come the chapped lips, something inevitable and pretty uncomfortable. This is a pretty cool lip balm for extremely chapped or cracked lips, caused by either physiological origin or induced by external aggressions. It helps to combat severe dryness. It works pretty quick, intensely smoothing, repairing and nourishing dehydrated lips. If I need a quick fix during the day time I apply Avene Cold Cream Lip Cream, it feels like it penetrates the broken skin and starts working almost immediately, unlike some lip balms that just sit on the surface of the skin not doing much. 

Literally after about 10 minutes I find the dry skin bits start to flake off making my lips feel incredibly smooth and protected, without even the need of using a lip scrub and all that. What I also love about it is that I don't really need to reapply it, the Cold Cream Lip Cream almost creates a barrier of protection. It's got a cream texture, and it's not glossy or matte, it has a velvet finish, which makes it last a long time. There is something about it that just makes my lips look super pretty without anything on top, very natural and healthy, so I love wearing it on its own!

LOVE

Summer PM Skincare Routine for Oily/Combo and Blemish Prone Skin!

If you haven't read my updated summer AM skincare routine blogpost yet click here! In the evening I add a facial and change up moisturiser. I start by taking off my make-up and cleansing my face thoroughly using the same products as in the morning. About few times a week I like to exfoliate my skin with Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, which is super gentle and very soothing. I've been using it for years, and literally repurchase it as soon as I finish the bottle, keeps my skin clear and the scent is beautifully calming! If I need a deeper exfoliation I do an enzyme peel, this one is Caudalie Vinoperfect Enzymatic Peel Mask. Next day I make sure to wear a high SPF50. 

Then I like to spray face and neck with Caudalie Beauty Elixir, it's a beautiful tonic with a bunch of great ingredients. On a hot summer's evening I really like to use Darphin Uplifting Serum Eyelids Definition. The gel texture feels refreshing and super light, great eye serum this one, I will do a separate review about it this week! As a face moisturiser I use Avene Cleanance Lotion with anti-shine regulation. It's designed for oily and blemish prone skin, also very light feeling and I find I wake up with a less oily skin next morning. If I have a blemish situation going on I apply Avene TriAcneal Skin Care, which helps eliminate severe skin imperfections. I apply it just on the spots and scars to make them heal and fade faster.

LOVE

Summer Morning Skincare for Oily/Combo and Blemish Prone Skin!

Hello Beauties, I've haven't blogged for a bit and really have missed it. I celebrated my big birthday, tho still feeling like 25 over and over and over. As I desperately needed a bit of a break, next day I woke up with a full blown flu and some irritation on my eyelids, so I haven't worn make-up in days and just now starting to recover, so that's why you haven't heard from me for a while.

I decided to update my skincare routine as it is summer, and those of us with oily/combo skin type get even oilier and pores tend to get blocked and spots and blemishes go slightly out of control. I used to have acne for years so I'm very careful with my skincare, and even though I only get a spot here and there now I still make sure to look after my skin thoroughly and not provoke any breakouts. Hot summer weather can be terrible for oily skin so I find I need problem focused skincare products.

This is my current morning skincare routine:

I start by taking off my night skincare with Vichy Purete Thermale 3in1 Calming Cleansing Micellar Solution. I lost count how many bottles I've been through, as soon as I run out I get a new one, I find it's very gentle and a great make-up remover and cleanser. It's really soothing and great for sensitive skin and eyes. Then for my eyes I like to use Avene Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover for sensitive eyes, although I use Vichy on my eyes most mornings too, I sometimes like the additional fresh and cooling effect of the gel texture on my eyelids. 

For the face, depending how my skin is feeling, if I don't have spots I cleanse my face with Vichy Purifying Foaming Water, Skin Radiance Revealer. It removes the impurities and restores skin radiance and freshness. However if I do have a spot on the radar I always wash my face with SkinCeuticals Blemish+Age Cleansing Gel, which is a decongesting cleanser for aging skin and imperfections [anything after 28 is aging in my book]. Also when ever I use this type of cleanser I always wash it off with one of those facial sponges, they give you extra bit of exfoliation. And I also like to follow up with the tonic from the same range, SkinCeuticals Blemish+Age Solution. It comes in a spray bottle, you just spray couple of times onto a cotton ball.

Then I apply Liz Earle Daily Eye Repair, which is a SPF10 Triple Eye Care with Echinacea, Borage and natural Vitamin E and Avene Cleanance K Cream-Gel over my face, which is a exfoliating moisturiser. And then do my make up or if go straight under the sun then I apply a heafty SPF like Sensai Silky Bronze Sun Protective Cream for Face SPF50, which I will blog about separately. Also I find that my lips tend to dehydrate during summer, so I use the DHC Lip Cream throughout the day topping with the spf. This routine seems to get things back on track even if I do get a few spots right at the beginning of changing climate etc after a few days my skin starts to clear up again.

LOVE

Avene Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover - Great for Sensitive Eyes!

 

This is a really lovely eye make-up remover, especially if you are a contact lens wearer you will find it beautifully calming and soothing on the eyes! Avene Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover is also great for puffy eyes, its cooling gel texture glides easily over the eyelids and relieves any irritation or tiredness instantly. I absolutely love the sensation of that soothing feeling on my eyes when I take my make-up off after a long day, priceless!! It literally feels like cucumber slices on my eyes, so good! It's extremely rich in Avene thermal spring water, which has these incredible soothing properties that are fantastic for sensitive eyes. It removes eye make-up with great ease, it even removed some of my waterproof eye-liners and mascaras!

LOVE

Tips & Tricks For Combination/Oily Skin Types...

Illustration by Meme Infashionlove...

These are the tricks I picked up over the years... Having the same skin type, learning how to keep your foundation in place and how to make your eyeshadow look vivid and last long, along with many other things was groundbreaking...

1. The most significant point to start off with is that you have to understand that your skin type is more likely to be sensitive towards certain products, or specifically certain ingredients that will unfortunately make your skin go psycho bitch and give you a rather nasty break-out... This all is super frustrating... So my first advice is stop changing your skin care products all the time, don't try too many new facial creams, serums, face masks, what not... Try to simplify your skin care routine... And keep it for a good month and see how it goes... Very often you are likely to drop using a product after you have a break out, then you go and splurge on yet another over-priced skin care product in hope it will help... But it can make things worse because you keep throwing products on your face dis-balancing it more and more... You skin starts over producing oil, blocking pores, and it just goes down hill from here...

The thing is, when you break out not necessarily is it from the product you are using, sometimes it could be stress, diet, or hormones related... So instead of jumping from one product to another try to keep using one and see if your skin will calm down, sometimes it can start working... You need to monitor how your skin is reacting over a period of time... Also usually for a skincare product to start working you have to use it for a good few weeks, your skin needs to adjust and get used to the ingredients... So don't give up too fast on something, unless you are 100% sure it's bad for your skin... Vitamins A, C, D, and E are particularly important for skin... Things like Avocado, Cranberries, Kale, Oranges and Strawberries are great detoxifiers and help keeping your skin looking healthy... And of course drink plenty of water...

2. Exfoliation - to keep oily skin as clear as possible and have the break-out situation under control you need to exfoliate frequently... Having said that, make sure the exfoliators are gentle! Because if they are not, they will only make your skin over produce oil and we are right back to square one... The two exfoliators I use in rotation is Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser and bareMinerals Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser... If it's that time of the month, or I get stressed and things go a little crazy on my face I start religiously using these two for a few days, one night I use Hot Cloth Cleanser, next Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser [I have done a review on it], then Hot Cloth Cleanser and so on until my skin clears out, usually takes 3-4 days for me... 

Also with this skin type as soon as you get a clear looking skin you can't get lazy with your routine and drop out of it for too long as your pores will start getting blocked again... Of course once in a while you will still get a blemish, but once you find the right skincare products for your skin you will be in control and those nasty undesired break-outs won't reappear... And those couple of spots will quickly clear up... You'll see a big and super pleasant change to your skin... 

3. Moisturising - now this is the toughest one I find... It's really difficult to find a moisturiser that is not to greasy yet will work for oily skin... Also because you exfoliate a lot, naturally you need to moisturise otherwise skin starts to feel a little tight, and usually over night it over produces oil, and you wake up looking rather greasy... So what I do is, after I use the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser I spay the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer couple of times over my face and neck... It feel very soothing and refreshing, and I love the scent of both products, very herbal and natural... Then before going to bed I apply Avene Cleanance Lotion, which is an anti-shine regulating, just on my oily bits: forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin - that keeps me from feeling dry, personally accept for my eye area I don't need any full-on moisturisers, my skin develops enough oil as it is... During the day I use Avene Cleanace Cream-gel, which is both exfoliating and hydrating... It's a great primer, and while you are wearing make-up it does its job! But during the winter I sometimes can get dry patches, in which case I like to use the Liz Earle Skin Repair Light Moisturiser, it's specifically for combination/oily skin, it's very light and gentle and sinks in to your skin without leaving a greasy filter...

4. Treatment - I'm cleansing my face in the morning and evening... In the morning I usually use Vichy Normaderm Deep Cleansing Purifying Gel and then I use Vichy Normaderm Purifying Pore-Tightening Lotion... This I find really keeps things under control... Also when you have a blemish that is clearing up it will make it peel away... But it's a good thing, you need your old skin cells to be replaced to have a new revitalised clear looking skin... If I have a blemish coming or happening I will use Avene TriAcneal Skin Care, just on the blemish... Or the area that is affected by a few blemishes if they are all close together having a party... In the morning I would cleanse my face with Avene Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser, which helps to reduce excess oil...

5. And last but not least, to keep your make up looking good for longer here are a few tips and tricks! First of all when it comes to eye make-up I literally don't remember last time I haven't used some sort of primer on my eyelids... I used to be so frustrated with so many eyeshadows because they just looked so washed out on me and hardly had any pigmentation, and would crease after two hours, and wouldn't last much longer after that... A primer takes care of all these dilemmas, and transforms your eye make-up into sultry, intense, beautifully smooth make-up artist creation... The ones that I constantly use are MAC Paint Pots... They are cream eyeshadows and are fantastic as primers too... I love them because when you are in a hurry you can just leave it as it is... The Paint Pots I use the most are in Nubile and Groundwork...

Secondly, choose the right foundation... Some slide right of your skin no matter how you try to keep in in place... Stay away from luminizing foundations, as they tend to be those that will make you look like a greaseball... As well as be careful where you put highlighters, and shimmery bronzers, they will emphasise uneven skin and make your pores look huge... 

Finally, another revelation to me was the mineralised foundation! Two that I really love and would recommend for oily skin is Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15, and bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation... Those lucky ones with perfect skin can use it on its own... But for us it's a fantastic way to create an air-brushed flawless finish and set the liquid foundation in place, I feel naked without it! And if you need to touch up your oily zone during the day I suggest something like YSL Matt and Radiant Pressed Powder, or bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil... They are weightless so you can use them trough out the day without ending up looking too powdery...

***

These are all the products I use consistently, most of them for over a year now... I highly recommend them for combination/oily skin types... And I hope some of my tips will help you combat bad skin and make you look even more beautiful!

LOVE

Summer Blue Eyeliner & Red Lip...

Ever since I saw Lisa Eldridge creating this evening make-up look for her K.I.S.S. Valentines Look I wanted to try it on myself, but red lip and blue liner is a daring combo for me, and something I normally wouldn't go for... The navy and red Lisa chose had a lot less colour and looked very chic on her... I decided to go for a brighter summer version of that look... I think if you want to experiment with some make-up looks, summer is the time for it... During summer you can get away with a lot more than during the rest of the year... 

If you like this look and would like to try it, here is the list of things I used: 

Avene Hydrance Optimale SPF 20, Rimmel Recover Foundation in Ivory, Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF15 in Rich Vanilla, Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Antigua, YSL Matt and Radiant Pressed Powder, MAC Paint Pot in Nubile, MAC Eyeshadow in Wedge, Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Furore, Lancome Doll Eyes Mascara in Black, Bourjois Liner Pinceau in Blue Calligraphe, and finally Nars Matte Lipstick in Jungle Red.

LOVE