Avene Hydrating Set

When winter comes my skin takes a 180 and becomes very dry and dehydrated. I spotted this little Aven set  around christmas time and thought it would be nice to give a go. I love trying new products but having everything boxed together specifically targeted towards what I was in need, right in front of me when I walked into the store, it seemed like an angel came down to my rescue.

Avene are targeted towards sensitive skin, which I dont necessarily have, I do have incredibly dry, dehydrated, and sore skin. The set contains almost everything you would need in a skincare regime. Included is a Micellar Water, Thermal Water, Hydrating Serum , Rich Hydrating Cream, and bonus Soothing Moisture Mask.

Avene Micellar Lotion Cleanser
This no rince cleanser has 3-in-1 benefits- cleansing, toning and makeup removal. Im not super excited about this one as I have micellar waters already and havent really been using them much lately.

Avene Thermal Spring Water 
Soothes, softens and calms the skin. Again, another product im not super excited for. Thermal waters are nice to apply over top of makeup to take the cake face look away, but overall I dont really use these too much.

Avene Optimale Soothing Hydrating Serum
This serum is said to prodive long lasting hydration and soothe dehydrated or senstive skin. It also enhances the effectiveness of any moisturizer or treatment applied over top. I was quite impressed with this and think it was once of the best things in the set. It instantly made my face feel smoothe and more hydrated. Definitely will be purchasing a full size of this once I use the sample up.

Avene Hydrance Optimale Rich Hydrating Cream
Provides prolonged hydration to the skin. The gently, creamy formula helps dry skin restore its hydrolypidic barrier and maintain moisture. I quite liked this. Its quickly become a favourite moisturizer. Even though its a rich cream it doesnt feel heavy on the skin and didnt take a long time to sink into the skin. A+ product in my eyes.

Avene Soothing Moisture Mask
Provides intensive soothing care to dehydrated, overstressed skin. It deeply penetrated the skin and in minutes leaves the skin supple soft and radiant. They dont lie about the description. This stuff actually works, and works well. The first time I used it I actually slept with it on because my face was so sore and tight. I woke up with the best feeling skin id ever had. A new favourite mask for sure.

I think this is a great set with five products I will actually use and do relly like. I wish the set came with a cleanser though. The Micellar Water could be used as a cleanser, though I would have liked a cleansing milk instead. I tend to use micellar waters more for makeup removal, but this will be nice for travel. Otherwise I was quite impressed with this set and will for sure be buying some full sizes of some of the products.

Winter Skin Saviours

The dreaded winter is here which means dry, tight, dehydrated skin. I actually went to the drugstore the other week and was looking at a skincare giftset and one of the ladies working noticed my poor dry face and was giving me some tips for what to use. Though I was already using a rich moisturiser and a mask, she pointed out that I was still using a gel cleanser. Id never thought about it, but a cleansing milk is better suited to dry skin as its less stripping, and doesnt always require being rinsed off (though I prefer to).  Ive been finishing up an Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Cleansing Milk sample I got a while back before trying any new ones, but I have used one from Vichy which I really liked and recommend.

With a clean face, once or twice a week I like to use a nice hydrating mask. The Antipodes Manuka Honey Mask is an old favourite, and ive been trying out the Avene Soothing Moisture Mask, which I sometimes leave on over night. Both leave my skin feeling soft and hydrated and with no tight, itchy skin to be found. I then go in with a serum. Sometimes I use Hydraluron, but recently ive been trying a sample of Avene Hydrance Optimale Hydrating Serum. Its targeted towards dehydrated skin, which I definitely have, and instantly makes your face feel super soft. Another product I like is the Origins Make A Difference Plus Rejuvenating Treatment. This stuff is awesome at instantly hydrating the skin. Its light and absorbs pretty quick and just just feels nice on the skin. Lastly I go in with a rich moisturizer. Lush Skin Drink is a nice one, though it can take a while to settle into the skin so I dont recommend this one if you plan to wear makeup over it. Avene Hydrance Optimale Hydrating Rich Cream is for dry to very dry skin and is my perfect cream. Even though its rich it doesnt take hours to sink itnto your skin and can be worn under makeup. I like to use this one before bed and when I wake up in the morning its like having new skin. Nothing bad to say about this one.

Lastly I make sure to hydrate my poor lips. I swear ive never had such dry lips as I have since having Lily. Thet get cracked, chapped and sore and the only two things that have been helping are Blistex Medicated Lip Treatment, and The Body Shop Lip Butters. My dog actually got ahold of my Blistex one day and the tube was bitten open and product was all over the carpet. I almost died because it was the only thing helping me. I ran out the next day for a new one because I don't think I can live without it. The Body Shop one is great when my lips arent in quite as bad a shape. And with my now moisturized skin, im ready to face the dreaded winter.

Elizabeth and James Nirvana White

When childhood favourites of mine and many others, the Olsen twins, came out with two fragrances last January I was instantly intrigued. I saw them in store many times, took a sniff and said maybe another day, as I didnt want to spend the money on another perfume. When christmas came around I thought it was a good time to give it a try. There are two scents, Nirvana White and Black, designed specially so they can be worn alone or together. While I thought I would like the Black option more, for some reason I was drawn to White.

The Nirvana scent comes in a beautiful bottle- simple but elegant. Featuring a blend of peony, muguet, and musk. The scent is feminine and great for everyday wear, whereas Black is more of a night time scent. Totally different to what I would normally go for, as im more of a warm, fruity scent fan. Nirvana is exclusive to Sephora at $66 for a 1oz bottle or $90 for 1.7oz.

Todays Face #2

I liked the natural look I went for today so I thought id share what I used. To smooth out my skin and keep my makeup lasting all day, I used the Korres Vitamin E Face Primer, which is one of my favourites.  I went for full coverage on the face, using Tarte Amazinian Clay Foundation. I think this is a nice foundation but it tend to accentuate my dry patches so I have to be careful with this one. To give my skin a bit of a glow I used Fusion Beauty Illumifill Illuminizer on the cheekbones and down my nose.

The ends of my brows are a little sparse so I filled them in slightly with the Nyx Brow Cake Powder. Because my eyebrows are in dire need of a touching up, I didnt pay too much attention to this area. I used the same brow shade for a quick sweep through the crease and outer area of my eyes and lightly lined with Rimmel Scandal Eyes Micro Eye Liner. I like the small applicator on this but its hard to get a good dark line. Next was a nice few coats of Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara and a quick sweep of Mac Blush All Day on my cheeks. For the lips I used Revlon Matte Balm in Elusive. A nice everyday pink shade and the matte formula is really easy to wear. I ended up using a gloss over it but it didnt get included in the photo.

Dry Lip Remedy

Since having Lily my body has had many changes, one being super unbelievably dry lips. And boy do I mean dry. For months ive had this problem and there are very few things ive found to actually make an overall difference.

I often forget to use a lip scrub, but it really does make a difference. I have a bad habit of biting at my lips when theyre dry, resulting in bleeding, scabby.. basically really gross looking lips that end up in even worse condition then I started with. Anyone else do this? Lush have some great lip scrubs- affordable and also edible! Whats not to love. I have the Santa's Lip Scrub, which smells like cola. Its limited to Christmas time so probably not available now, but there are a few different options available year round.

As for moisturising, Ive found most balms dont actually do anything. They feel nice on the lips but when it comes to fixing dryness, you may aswell not bother. My go to is Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment, which is more of a cream consistency. Its slightly minty and tingly, and really does wonders to painfully dry and itchy lips. I have to have this with me at all times. For days when my lips are quite as bad, I grab a lip butter. The Body Shop Lip Butters are my all time fav; many different scents and are super moisturizing. Honey Mania and Shea are great. 

What are you favourite lip treatments? 

Empties #13

The Body Shop Satsuma Mini Body Butter
This stuff smells so nice. I find the scent very summery so I won't be repurchasing anytime soon. But the body butters are lovely and I have many stocked uo in different scents.

Its a 10 Miracle Shampoo Plus Keratin and Its a 10 Conditioner
This has become one of my top haircare brands, ive yet to find something I dont like. The shampoo leaves my hair really manageable and frizz-free, which is great as I really don't have the time for doing anything with it after coming out of the shower these days. The conditioner leaves my hair feely silky smooth. Both a recommndation to try.

Calgon Exfoliating Mineral Scrub
I was looking for a more budget friendly scrub. This was okay but I think id rather just wait for a sale to get one from The Body Shop.

Dove Go Fresh Green Tea Deoderant
Dove has my favourite deoderants I think. The green tea scent is great because it doesnt overpower my perfume and is just a clean scent that I think most people would like.

Maybelline The Rocket Mascara 
This was a nice mascara. It gave my lashes volume which is what I need in a mascara. I like to try new things so I probably wont pick this up again for a while.

Mac Viva Glam V Lipgloss
This is years old just sitting in my drawer. I liked the colour so I may pick it up again, but for now its waiting to be back to mac'd.

Bio Oil
I used alot of these while I was pregnant, in hope it would prevent stretch marks. Unfortunately because of how big my belly got, I dont think anything would have helped but it did leave my skin nicely moisturized and always helps with my pre-existing stretch marks.

Lush Snow Fairy Body Wash
I had this from last year in a buy one get one free deal. I liked the scent a lot when I bought it but put it away because I had (and still have) more body washes then I need. I pulled them out to use but after a few uses I was over the scent. To me it smells a lot like banana medicine (the stuff you get as a kid).

Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser
This is one of my favourite products. It gives enough coverage to my under eyes to make me look awake but not fully cover them up. I ran out for a new one as soon as this was done.

Calvin Klein Euphoria Body Wash
This was nothung special. Im not a big fan of the scent so I wasnt particularly excited about this. It was just an okay body wash to me.

Lush Dashing Santa

Lush Dashing Santa is a bath bomb for the Christmas season. In a cute santa shape, when dropped into the bath he will dash around the water, releasing a satsuma scent made up of mandarin, bergamot and orange absolute. The scent of this little guy is lovely. The bath water is left red orange and white along with some faint shimmer to resemble snow.

The name is a little decieving, as I didnt find him to dash around at all. It kinda just sat in one place and didnt do much fizzing. I ended up only using half because it was taking too long to dissolve, so ill use the rest another time. It left the water a nice colour, but there was really no wow factor here. The smell definitely made up for the disappointment, plus it still left my skin feeling soft. Not one id rush out to buy again, but im sure ill pick it up again next Christmas.

Mac Blush All Day

Described as a dirty rose beige, Blush All Day is a perfect everyday colour. I wouldnt really say it was a beige, but a muted pinky peach that goes well with anything. Being a Pro Longwear blush, it offers up to eight hours of beautiful colour, great for the working woman. I havent had any problems with fading with this colour so I believe in its long wear. I find this colour to be quite pigmented and doesnt require a lot of product to get good colour payoff. Its silky texture makes application easy and its look beautiful on the skin. This has quickly become a go to shade for me and I recommend you checking it out if you havent.