My Nighttime Skincare Routine

To be honest, my morning skincare is pretty minimal. Despite the fact that I'm usually walking around like a zombie, makeup brush in one hand and coffee in the other, I never actually leave myself enough time for a complicated routine before work.

This is why, for me, evenings are well and truly allocated to skincare and I've been using a combination or products lately, some new and some old, which have been working really well. I may have also made an exciting purchase from The Ordinary very recently to add to my routine too, but more on that in a few weeks time!

Happy New Year | Favourites of 2015

2015 was definitely a year with major ups and downs for me but after a little social media detox I'm so excited to be back here and blogging again for 2016! As far as beauty products are concerned it was a year of so many amazing discoveries. My obsession with bareMinerals products reached new heights, I rediscovered Lush and I'm completely in love with the store again and I finally found a few holy grail skincare items that I honestly can't imagine living without. So, before I start to ramble on like I always tend to do (some things will never change!) let's get started with my makeup favourites of 2015.

The Glamour Beauty Power List Box by Latest in Beauty

 Latest in Beauty - The Glamour Beauty Power List Box £15.99

The second half of September has been a very busy month for me, so much so that I've had to ignore my blog for a little while! I had the best intentions of creating this post immediately after I'd received the new Glamour box by Latest in Beauty but I jetted off to Prague the same day it arrived (sadly I left my cable at home so I can't transfer my holiday photos to my computer!) Since then, I've been busy with moving back to University and readjusting to student life. Hopefully, now I've settled back into life in Leeds, I can get myself back on track and into some form of schedule as there are so many things I've wanted to write about this month but I simply haven't had the time.

When it comes to beauty boxes I know a lot of people  think they're not worth the money. Subscription services like Birchbox vary so much in quality month to month I never stay subscribed to them for very long - I'm not exactly their most loyal customer but I certainly pick up a box if something inside catches my eye. However, I think the Latest in Beauty boxes are very different: no subscription is required and, in my opinion, they offer better deals. To be honest I thought the Glamour Beauty Power List box would have sold out by now but thankfully you can still get your hands on one if you haven't already! I ordered this box at the beginning of September when I first spotted it advertised in the October issue of Glamour Magazine. Even though this post has been rather delayed, it means I can actually review some of the products as I've had a chance to use them properly instead of just writing about my first impressions. So perhaps there's an upside to my laziness and lack of blogging!

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish 

In my last post, Discovering Skincare, I mentioned how much I love this cleanser so how could I say no to another 30ml sample and an extra muslin cloth? I love everything about this cleanser, from the scent to the way it makes my skin feel and the size is perfect for travelling with as well. This size currently retails for £5.50 and you can find it here. 

Eyeko Mascara Off Eye Makeup Remover Wipes

I haven't had a chance to try these wipes yet but I can imagine they will be perfect for travelling and they contain Olive Oil and Aloe Extract which hopefully will help avoid the dry, sore feeling I sometimes get after rubbing too hard with an ordinary make-up wipe. You receive 10 wipes and they currently retail for £6.00 here. (Which seems a lot of money for 10 wipes?!) 

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

This primer is my favourite product in the box by far and can you believe that it's the first ever primer that I've used? You receive a 30ml sample which retails for £18.50 which is more expensive than the entire beauty box! I absolutely love this primer, it leaves my skin feeling silky and my pores are reduced in size and it definitely improves the staying power of my make-up. I'm trying to ration this and use it on special occasions or in the evenings as I simply don't want it to run out! 

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara

The box includes a full size sample of this mascara (12ml) and retails for £9.99. I've just finished my sample of Benefit's They're Real so this mascara had to compete with one of my all time favourites and it has actually impressed me quite a lot! It doesn't clump, it makes my lashes look longer and fuller and it holds a curl nicely. After one coat my lashes look lovely and suitable for daytime and you can easily apply more coats without sacrificing the separating, volumous effect for a more dramatic look. I only have one tiny complaint about this mascara and that is after a full day of wearing it I notice tiny black smudges on my upper eyelids.

Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defence

Probably my second favourite product in this box is the 60ml sample of Philip Kingsley's Daily Damage Defence spray which retails for £7.50. I've been using it for about two weeks now and my hair feels soft, shiny and, considering how it desperately needs cutting, my split ends don't look that bad anymore. It detangles when I apply it to wet hair and I've also noticed adding a few spritz of this after drying my hair helps tame fuzz. I also really love the smell and apparently it's the every day equivalent to the famous Elasticizer! 

James Read Sleep Mask Tan

I'll admit it, I'm too scared to try this product as I know if it ends in disaster I have to get up and go to lectures with my face looking bright orange. I'm sure that won't happen, I've read so many reviews about this and they're all positive so if you're looking for a subtle tan apparently this product works wonderfully! I'm not familiar with false tanning so I think I'm going to wait until term ends so I can test this out at home with only my parents around to see the results! This sample is 25ml but I was unable to find the price for this size. The full size contains 50ml costs £25. 

Maybelline Stripped Nudes Lipstick

There are 5 shades of the Stripped Nudes lipstick so the only problem with this is that you might not receive a shade that will suit you. The full size lipstick costs £6.99 and I love the little lace pattern on the bottom of the lipstick! For darker complexions, I don't really think any of the shades will be that suitable but for lighter skin tones there are some lovely shades in the range. I received Sultry Sand (710) and to be honest I was rather disappointed at first as it made me look rather washed out and ghostly. The pigmentation was rather wonderful though, I naturally have pigmented lips and it covered them well! This product is the reason I'm quite happy I waited a while to create this post as I've been playing with this lipstick for a while and I've found that it looks amazing on top of other lipsticks! By adding just a little bit of this over my favourite pink shades I've managed to transform them all into my own, perfect nudes. I suppose this doing this is rather similar to adding concealer over lipstick but the Maybelline Stripped Nudes glide on the lips smoothly and add a lovely, subtle shine! I'm definitely going to be buying more shades from the range and even though this wasn't my ideal shade I've managed to make it work!

As well as receiving 7 products the Glamour Beauty Power List box also includes a 12 month digital subscription worth £15.99! Out of all the beauty boxes I've ever seen, this is by far the best value for money and I think I've discovered some new favourite products as well! 

I also received three promo codes which I thought I would share with you all that are valid until the 31st October 2014:

20% off Eyeko with GLAM20

20% off Philip Kingsley with PKGLAMOUR2014 

A Free L'Oreal Paris Infalliable 24H Lip Colour with your next order at www.latestinbeauty.com with GLAMOCT14

Discovering Skincare

I'll be honest, I've never really been a skincare kind of girl. I use the Body Shop's Vitamin E Day and Night cream religiously but apart from the odd experiment with various kinds of face wash my interest with skincare has always ended there. Until recently, however. Maybe it's because I've entered another decade of my life and the reality of wrinkles and ageing skin is edging ever closer but since I've turned 20 I've became rather curious about the world of skincare. And let me tell you, it's rather baffling.

I finally understand why toners exist in the world and I'm slowly starting to develop a skincare routine (hurrah!) but I still have a lot of things to try before I find my dream combination of products! My favourite way to discover new products without breaking the bank is to use skincare samples and this week I've been trying out three new products: L'Occitane's Amande Hand Cream, Clinique's Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream and the ever so famous Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser by Liz Earle. I've fallen in love with two of the products and I can't stop using them. The Liz Earle Cleanser and L'Occitane Amande Hand Cream have been my skincare favourites this week and they were wonderful to use. Together, they've added a little luxury into my life which is a great treat after a stressful day at work!

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 L'Occitane's Amande Hand Cream
The scent of this hand cream is so gorgeous and I often find myself wishing I could eat the entire tube! It just smells so delicious and it has a really comforting scent - I'm constantly reaching for it when my hands a feeling a little bit dry. Enriched with Almond Oil and Milk, this hand cream is soothing and really helps to soften the skin. Unlike many of the hand creams I've tried in the past, this feels light and manages to absorb quickly into the skin without sacrificing any of its moisturising qualities. I'm really impressed by L'Occitane and I can't wait to try out more of their products.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser
Who hasn't heard of this cleanser? I received this sample in my May Birchbox but I was so busy with exams at the time I didn't get round to testing it out. I usually remove my make-up really quickly with Simple Cleansing Wipes so using a liquid cleanser and muslin cloth was a strange experience.  In the morning I use this on my face before moisturiser and at night I prefer to remove my eye-make first then use the cleanser to remove the rest of my make-up. The all-natural ingredients are brilliant for sensitive skin and the hype around this product is truly deserved! My skin was left feeling really clean, smooth and soft and the scent was so relaxing!

Clinique's Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream
To be honest, I didn't really enjoy using this eye cream and I'm so glad I had a sample of this instead of buying the full sized product. If I applied this in the morning before my make-up it didn't absorb very well and my concealer started creasing and when I applied it at night the effect wasn't as impressive as my beloved Vitamin E Night cream! Maybe older women would benefit more from this eye-cream and its wrinkle correcting effects (I should probably give this back to my mum!) but I personally didn't see or feel a difference when I applied this. It isn't a bad product, it moisturised my eye area a little, but it didn't blow me away either.

If you have any skincare recommendations I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

(The Cleanser was part of my May Birchbox, the Clinique Eyecream was a gift from my mum and the L'Occitane handcream was free when I used a voucher from L'Occitane)