Being on skincare kick

As I have mentioned before I have different times in my life when I am obsessed with something. Certain things definitely come back to my attention again and again and one of them…you know it is skincare. 

Whenever I finish a moisturiser, cleanser I am questioning myself what else to get? Which brand to turn to? Who has the PERFECT product?

Well, as I said, I am having obsession with SKINCARE again and while I was doing millions of research I have learned few new things which I wanted to share:

- OILS are great for the skin. Every type of skin.  Not essential oils (those are actually not good at all- lavender oil…) but regular oils like coconut, olive. They are great for skin as cleansers (makeup removers) or moisturisers. Some of them contain great SPF (the best spf should be in CARROT SEED OIL: SPF 40, coconut oil & olive oil : spf 8, ), but you need to keep in mind not all of them are great for acne prone skin. So coconut oil is great for my body, hair, but not for my skin. So do research before choosing YOUR ULTIMATE OIL. 

- When choosing products, there is no reason to choose according to the scent. And best advised by aestheticians and people who know skin is to choose skincare FRAGRANCE FREE. Fragrance is the top trigger in skin reactions. 

- We have to CLEANSE our skin TWICE in the day. Our skin gets dirty, sweaty and oily through the night, so it needs cleansing. It depends on you what you choose, but go for gentle and effective source if you can. 

- You moisturiser should be packaged not in a jar as a lot of active ingredients loose the strength when with contact with air. And the germs when you put your fingers in a pot. 

- When I read about different skin concerns, the most frequent option was chemical EXFOLIATION. Unblocks the pores, helps with ageing, redness, pigmentation.

- Last thing: SUN PROTECTION. Is it said that 80% of our skin concerns till age of 60 are due to sun exposure? You NEED sun protection EVERYDAY. Even in England. I have constantly clients with pigmentation coming and living in UK. It is not difficult to choose a day moisturiser with spf:)

If you ever had a chance to pick a book Don't go to cosmetics counter without me from Paula Begoun, let me tell you something about it. Paula (you know calling her name as I know her:)) is explaining each product that is on the market and not giving you reviews according to her liking, but ingredients. If ingredients are bad for you, she will tell you. You can find products online on her Beatypedia which I love to use whenever I am going for a product, just to be on a safe side.

Fake tan battle: Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula Gradual tanning moisturiser

Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula Gradual tanning moisturiser
When I first tried it, I though "it is only gradual tan, how intense can it be?" so I have tried to apply it with my hands and oh, man, it was strong and streaky. So I have put it aside and had unimpressed opinion, but when I wanted to use it up, I thought why not try to apply it with the mitt? And OMG, this was a life changer. Well, not maybe life changer, but certainly made this product work amazingly, it gave me very beautiful even tan which looked natural as well.  I have to confess that normally I prefer to go with tanning products that already comes with a little bit of colour as they are more easily distributed, but with a mitt, I didn't have any trouble at all.  The texture is nice, not too greasy, not too light, but the only thing that I really hate (and this is just my opinion) is the scent. Don't get me wrong, I love cocoa, but I have realised that Cocoa in body products just makes me feel dirty and like I need to get in the shower, like NOW. (I have always put quite a bit of perfume on which killed the scent or put it only on lower part of my body.) Despite that fact it is an amazing product and the cheapest, so I highly recommend this one.  For being just a gradual tan, you are getting very intense, beautiful colour (which is not as strong as the others I would say, but comes very close and sits well). Plus, because it is a moisturiser I didn't have the need at all to moisturise my drier areas prior the application. I would give 7 points from 10. It retails for £5.35 here. Next fake tan will be: : La Roche-Posay moisturising self-tanner for sensitive skin.  

Origins Make a difference+ Rejuvenating treatment & night gel cream

Origins Make a difference

Origins Make a difference

Origins Make a difference

Origins Make a difference

Origins moisturisers always were and are on my wish list. Having natural ingredients and the range make a difference is supposed to specifically help with rehydrating and repairing the skin. And let me be honest here, who doesn't have dehydrated skin these days? The air-conditioning, different temperatures inside and outside…our skin needs extra help now. 
And that was the main reason why I wanted to try these. I went specifically for the ones for combination oily/oily skin and they are definitely very light on the skin, they sink in right away and leave no residue. It is not as amazing experience in winter when it is cold as the gel texture can make you feel colder (well, that's how I feel that gel texture makes me colder and more intense texture makes me sweat in winter), but definitely I would recommend it for upcoming spring and summer. (I have used them for few months and no reaction, just hydrated, plumped skin, love it:))
As I said, light (oil-free), hydrating, repairing.
They contain nature's rose of Jericho Lychee and Watermelon hydra-sustain complex which quenches deep to help add moisture to dry, dehydrated skin.
If you have oily to combination oily skin which is dehydrated, I highly recommend these.
Check the Make a difference+ Rejuvanating treatment (£34) and Make a difference Night Skin rejuvenating gel cream (£34) on Origins website (the customer's reviews there are great as well).
Are you Origins lover as well? Which is your favourite?

Nivea in-shower body moisturiser

I have never had problem applying my body moisturiser after shower. It was always like a treat to myself to make sure I feel comfortable. For that reason I have never thought I would need one of the new-ish products on the market. 

My very good friend Lauren moved back to US and as she couldn't take all of her beauty stash, she let me generous amount of her beauty products. One of them was Nivea in-shower body moisturiser. 

And let me start with saying that recently my after shower treat with moisturising have been rudely interrupted with dammit too cold and long winter and therefore the only thing I wanted after hot and enjoyable shower was to get myself into onesie.

Perfect timing to use Nivea in-shower moisturiser. Let me say, I love it. You are getting the regular Nivea moisturiser scent (which I am ok with, but with different scents this would be AMAZING). It feels quite funny at first as it really feels like moisturiser, but absorbs well and after shower you can feel how hydrated the skin is. The extra benefit? You have an excuse to stay in the shower for longer. 

So let me explain really quickly how you use it: You use your regular shower gel first and the you apply the Nivea in-shower moisturiser and after just rinse off. EASY:)

Definitely the best thing for these cold months for me and for those of you who don't really enjoy the whole moisturising after the shower:)

Check it on Boots website  here and now they are having ⅓ off as well:)

Review: Bobbi Brown Extra eye repair cream

This product is one of those products which were mentioned by few you tubers and being raved about. As this product was so hyped up, I thought it might be as well worth it. It is one the more expensive eye creams (well, I normally don't have such a high budget for them;))

Retails for £40.

Let me first just tell you the active ingredients and what help it should give you: Full of peptides, natural plant oils and humectants that helps with fine lines, wrinkles, dark circles, puffiness and dryness. Advised to first warm between fingers and then pat around the eye area. So claiming that it is going to do it all for you.

On Bobbi Brown's website is 96% positive feedback, but to be honest, I don't really get it. To me it is nothing like my other more expensive eye creams, it is worse.

The consistency is very thick, difficult to apply. Even when warming it before between fingers, it just sits on the skin and takes ages to be absorbed. I usually have to remove a little bit with finger, so I can start to do my makeup (even after 30 minutes or so...)

Claiming to do it all? The only thing I am sure it does is hydrating. It didn't help with my circles. It could help with fine lines as they are caused by dehydration around the eye area.

Overal feedback: Wouldn't repurchase it. The only plus I could find is the lasting power, as you need to use a very tiny bid of the product each time.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE EYE CREAM AND WHY?

Lucia

xox