The Ordinary Skincare - My Experience

It seems that everyone and their dog has been talking about The Ordinary range of skincare products recently and unless you've been living under a rock you will have seen the distinctive packaging all over social media. I am not going to give you an account of what the product claim do for your skin or the science behind the ingredients as firstly, I am no expert and secondly, we would be here all day! Instead, I wanted to talk about the products that I have used and how my skin has reacted. A very comprehensive run down of all of the products and how you should use and layer them can be found of The Ordinary website here.

Glossier Review - Priming Moisturizer, Milky Jelly Cleanser, Balm Dotcom

There has been a huge amount of pomp and ceremony surrounding the UK launch of Glossier (they now ship to the UK) and, if you are a beauty junkie, you'd have to have been living under a rock to have missed it! All of the big beauty bloggers and YouTubers have been featuring the brand heavily and being the sheep that I am I had to see what all the fuss was about!

Sunday Riley Effortless Tinted Breathable Primer

When I received some of the Sunday Riley skincare products in a sample set from Sephora, I was really interested to try the Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer. As I like a very sheer coverage foundation I was hoping to use this more as a tinted moisturiser than a primer.

Prepare Your Skin For Summer

If you are a fellow pale skinned English girl, or indeed a pale skinned girl of any nationality, you will know the drill. One day you are in the depths of winter and have 15 layers of clothing on to try and combat the chill. The next day the sun comes out and everyone is walking around in t-shirts and maxi dresses! Such is the British weather! Here in the North of England we rarely see the temperatures enjoyed by fellow Brits in the South of our beautiful country however temperatures here have been known to rise above freezing at times! On the odd occasion we want to get our legs out we realise that they are very pale and starved of fresh air and sunshine! In short, our skin is not looking it's best!

Trilogy Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm - Review

Trilogy Makeup Be Gone Cleansing Balm

Our love of Trilogy Skincare is nothing new to regular readers of our blog (see our review of their products here) however neither of us had ever tried a cleansing balm until Trilogy launched their new Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm at the end of the summer. Cleansing balm is not a product that has ever held much appeal for us and we have remained faithful to cleansing creams. However, as we love Trilogy products so much we felt this was the one to make us leave that cleansing cream comfort zone and give the balm a whirl!

 

The cleansing balm comes in a generous sized tub holding 80ml of product. On opening the tub the balm inside has an almost solid consistency but it melts into an oil like texture when it touches warm skin. At first it was a little scary working this rich oily balm into our skin but don't let that put you off as once we persevered the results were fantastic. We applied the balm to dry skin and as it warmed it literally started to melt the make up off. Once we had completely worked the balm into our skin (paying particular attention to stubborn mascara!) we used warm water and the organic cotton cloth provided to wipe away the balm and - by some miracle - our entire face of make up was removed in one fell swoop! Our skin was left feeling soft and incredibly clean, literally, the cleanest face ever!

We both have different skin types and of course, our skin is 20 years apart in age, however we both loved this cleansing balm and would most definitely recommend the product for all ages and skin types. We love that Trilogy products are 'created from simple and unique blends of the purest natural plant oils and botanical extracts' and are not tested on animals. Having particularly fussy skin it is a revelation to find products that never cause break outs or reactions.  

We hope that Trilogy continue to produce fantastic new products like their Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm! You can guarantee that we will be first in line for any new launches in the future!  

 

Trilogy Make Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm is available from Trilogy Products direct and the RRP is £19.50 however we picked ours up with the rest of our beloved Trilogy products from Naturisimo who were offering a 10% discount.

 

Have you tried the Trilogy Cleansing Balm? We would love to hear your opinion in the comments below!

Hydraluron Saved My Life

Many years ago as fresh faced youngster I was afflicted with oily skin. No matter how much I powdered (and in the 80's there was a lot of powder!) My t-zone remained like an oil slick. Fast forward a couple decades and around 2 years ago I noticed that my skin was becoming more and more dry and during the winter months the skin on my forehead and cheeks started to flake off. As you get older your skin goes through many changes and mine became dry and dehydrated.

I started researching some solutions and during one googling session I came across one Ms Caroline Hirons, Skincare Consultant and Beauty Blogger. As a lady of a similar age to myself I was interested to hear what she had to say and whether she was able to offer any words of advice. I read her blog with interest and discovered a product that she had in her 'Hall of Fame' August 2012. It was a tube of serum called Hydraluron from Indeed Labs. Caroline was a convert to this product after only a few days of using it so off I went to Boots in a last ditch attempt to salvage my crumbling face! I am not exaggerating when I say that this product changed my life! (Okay, maybe not my life but definitely my skin) I cannot rave about this product enough.

Hydraluron is: 

Suitable for all skin types
Paraben free
Propylene glycol free
Fragrance free
Capable of absorbing up to 1000 times it's weight in water
Holds the moisture in your skin 　

After using Hydraluron for one week the difference was amazing. My skin had no flakiness or dryness, my foundation applied more smoothly and my skin looked plumper and more healthy.

This is how I use the Hydraluron Serum on a daily basis to combat my dry skin:

1. Cleanse with Trilogy Very Gentle Cleansing Cream, water and cotton rounds

2. Apply Trilogy Very Gentle Calming Serum

3. Apply a pea size amount of Hydraluron to forehead, top of cheeks and chin area

4. Moisturise with Trilogy Very Gentle Moisturising Cream 

This 4 step skincare process and definitely saved my skin. Of course I still get the occasional breakout but for the most part my skin is clear and has no visible dryness. When Mimi was complaining of dry skin last summer I passed some of this miracle serum on to her and now she is also an addict! Since I have found a skincare process that works for me I am very reluctant to change it. I totally rely on this product and obsessively ensure that I never run out! Since I discovered this serum I have tried various other Indeed Labs products and I will definitely do a full post on the various products I have tried and tested in the future. Watch this space!

Elle x

If you want to find out more about Indeed Labs products go to www.indeedlabs.com

Have you tried any of the Indeed Labs products? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Long Haul Flight Essentials

We recently travelled long haul to Orlando, Florida where we enjoyed a 3 week holiday. Long haul flights are not our favourite! However they are a necessary evil if you want to visit some beautiful, far flung destinations. The airplane atmosphere can play havoc with your skin and it's important to keep hydrated both inside and out to ensure that you arrive at your destination looking and feeling your best. We finally feel that we have identified our essential beauty items to allow us to get through a long haul flight with the minimum amount of disruption and the maximum amount of enjoyment!

Once on board any trace of make up is gone and a moisturising facial oil or cream is slathered on along after our holy grail Hydraluron Serum by Indeed Labs (a truly magical serum for dry skin!). We keep our lips hydrated with Lanolips (of course!) and use a good hand cream (our choice is Lanolips Intense Hand Balm with Rose Oil) and don't forget to pop in your current eye cream!.

 

We always try and treat the flight as the first exciting a part of our holiday and use the time to relax with no one texting/calling/interrupting for a whole 9 hours! After all, when does that ever happen!? We like to catch up on some of those things we always promise to do but realistically never have time to. For example, reading that book we've been meaning to read or even just catching up on this months glossy magazines (buy them in the airport departure lounge to save lugging heavy magazines all the way to the airport with your luggage) We also both enjoy catching up on TV series or the latest movie we missed at the cinema (download these to your iPad in advance of your trip or check out the airline in flight entertainment schedule which should be available to view online)

Due to our 2015 healthy eating and gym commitment we also packed some of our own snacks and food to take on board so that we knew we had something healthy and tasty to eat. We also hydrate with lots of bottles of water!   

We have detailed below the beauty essentials that we packed in our hand luggage this trip to see us through the flight and ensure that we arrived in Orlando looking and feeling refreshed. It's worth stashing away your sample sizes and any mini's or freebies that you can get your hands on in the months leading up to your trip so that you can pack lightly. 

Cleanser - Trilogy Cream Cleanser (sample size)

Moisturiser - Pai Camomile and Rosehip (sample size)

Eye Cream - Trilogy Eye Contour Cream

Lip balm - Lanolips Original Ointment

Rosehip Facial oil - Trilogy (sample size)

Hand cream - Lanolips Intense Hand Balm with Rose Oil

Hand sanitiser- Bath and Body Works (for us geramaphobes)

We anticipate more long haul flights over the coming months and into next year so we would welcome any hints or tips you can share with us! We'd love to hear from you!

Elle and Mimi x

 

Trilogy Skincare Review

 

I am always surprised that Trilogy Skincare is not given more love by bloggers and YouTubers and in an attempt to remedy that situation I wanted to devote a whole post to the brand. This is not sponsored and all of the products that I have ever tried have been selected and purchased by me! I simply love the products so much I want to shout it from the rooftops! Very recently their Rosehip Oil received some excellent press as it was reported that our Royal Duchess Kate uses it on her own fair skin!

Trilogy Skincare are New Zealand based (which originally drew me to the brand as I spent my childhood in the beautiful South Island) and they specialise in organic and natural products. Their philosophy states that their products are created from simple and unique blends of the purest natural plant oils and botanical extracts working in perfect harmony to restore and maintain the natural vitality and radiance of skin.

Around three years ago I was having a lot of trouble with my skin. I had entered my 40's and thought that my skin problems were far behind me when I started to suffer from dryness, flaking, breakouts and redness due to sensitivity. I started to research some organic skincare as I thought that this might help the issues I was experiencing. After trying a couple of other brands I chanced upon Trilogy Skincare and initially ordered their Rosehip Oil to treat the dry patches on my face on no make up days. It worked amazingly well and due to its success I ordered their 'Sensitive, Reactive' range of products: Very Gentle Cleansing Cream, Very Gentle Moisturising Cream and Very Gentle Calming Serum.

 Oh. My. Word. They are fantastic! So much so that I must have a back up of all of these products as I can not risk running out! I use them day and night and on days when I go without make up I use the Rosehip Oil as a moisturiser. They feel light but hydrating on the skin and have no perfume or scary ingredients that break me out. I am constantly recommending Trilogy products to friends and family as they have worked so well for me.

More recently when I made my skincare order I received a free gift of their Eye Contour Cream. I am always a little fussy with eye creams as some are too heavy and can make your eye area a little 'puffy'. However, once again I am a convert. The eye cream is light enough to sink right in but not so light that you don't notice you've applied it.

 

I have just made a purchase of all of my skincare products to see me though the summer and received some mini samples that I will be popping into my carry on to use on the flight to Florida!

I would highly recommend all of the Trilogy products which are available in the UK from the Trilogy website www.trilogyproducts.com as well as from selected online stockists. They also sell some of the range in larger Boots stores.

Have you used any of the Trilogy products? What are your thoughts? We would love to hear from you!

Elle x