HydraQuench Cream Mask

Christmas past, I was gifted a beautiful Clarins gift set from my lovely boyfriend.  I’m not one to typically go and treat myself to really expensive brands like Clarins, and so it was nice to receive such a luxurious little pamper set.  Inside included a body lotion, hand cream a bath oil (which I am yet to use) and a facemask.

The HydraQuench facemask was whipped out from my beauty products stash early last week, after a number of days of really dry skin.  Although I’m extremely lucky and don’t have eczema breakouts across my face, when it does break out everywhere else like right now, it makes my face super tight and really uncomfortable.  So I decided that enough was enough, and I was ready to give this bad boy a shot at hydrating my mug.

Normally I wouldn’t go for a mask that has the sole purpose of hydrating the skin, as typically I use plenty of heavy duty moisturisers all year round to keep my skin nice and smooth – however as this was a gift, I was never not going to try it out!  I used about a  grape sized amount to cover the whole of my face and part of my neck, and applied using a cotton ball.  The mask is a thick, creamy and easy to apply – it literally soaked right into the skin seconds after being applied which was great.  The bottle recommends to wear for 5-10 minutes at a time, which I was a bit dubious about as I usually wear masks for around 20 minutes a go. However, I followed the instructions on this occasion and was very pleasantly surprised.  Five minutes into the application, my skin felt the best it had all week!  It was soft, looked super hydrated and overall just looked an awful lot healthier than it had previously in the day – which is fantastic results for the sake of a five minute application.  A further five minutes later, I soaked my cotton ball in some of my Lush Toner and swiped it across my skin to remove the mask.  It was hard to tell if I had managed to get it all off, as the mask totally disappeared within a minute of applying, but I don’t think leaving any extra residue of this particular product would cause you any major harm overnight. 

After use, my skin looked and felt amazing – leaving me curious as to how much a bottle would cost if I wear to consider buying when I run out of this one.  Alas, I was left disappointed at the price of £33 for a 75ml bottle.  Although I actually loved this product and was really pleased with the results – I can’t bring myself to part with £33 for a singular beauty product.  I’m cheap, I know. This time, it won’t be something that I will be buying anytime soon unless 1. It drops in price dramatically by the time I finish this bottle or 2. I come across another gift set featuring HydraQuench at a reasonable price.  I would however highly recommend this bad boy for anyone who’s feeling the treat yo’ self-vibe, or if your skin is in desperate need of some tlc.  I for one will not be taking hydrating masks for granted ever again!

What’s your favourite Clarins product right now?

Until the next one,

Aveeno Skincare

Seeing as my skin has been acting up a lot over the last couple of weeks, and that I’ve only just managed to get it somewhat under control, I thought it would be fitting to share my number one favourite body moisturiser with you, Aveeno.

This gorgeous body moisturiser changed my life in regards to my skin care regime.  During my major breakout in 2014, (you can read about it here) a colleague recommended this brand to me.  She told me that she used it on her two year old son who also suffered terribly from eczema, and that it worked wonders for him.  She said that it was an oat based product, and that it was mostly made from natural ingredients and so it wouldn’t irritate my skin any more than what it already was.  I was instantly intrigued by the concept of oats being the key ingredient, as I had been doing a lot of research online about how to soothe my sore skin.  I saw that a lot of people enjoyed a soak in an oat bath (that’s right.  Bathing in a bath with actual porridge oats), and so I figured that the Aveeno moisturiser was a purchase I would have to make and experiment with.  

This moisturiser has a very thick consistency, which I absolutely adore because it makes a little go a long way.  The shea butter makes my skin feel super cool and smooth after applied, and the oats are super soothing to my particularly problematic areas.  Depending on how bad my skin is upon purchasing, I can usually get at least a month worth out of one 200ml bottle. 

I prefer to keep my Aveeno for my eczema ridden areas of skin, and use coconut oil for the rest of my body.  Because Aveeno retails around £5-£6 per bottle, I never buy it when it’s not on sale.  Nearly every single month since I have been using Aveeno, I have come across one retailer or another that has the entire Aveeno rage on offer, usually with about 1/3 off – which is when I like to make my purchases.  I normally pay around £3.50 for a bottle, and like to stock up with two or sometimes three at a time so that I do not run out. 

As for now, I have only ever used the Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion with the blue label.  This one is specifically for “extra dry, irritable and sensitive skin” which is what made me go for it in the first place.  This product will definitely always be my favourite skin moisturiser for when I’m having my bad skin days.  The mixture is so soothing, calming and smells absolutely amazing – it’s hard to imagine what kind of state my skin would be in today if I hadn’t been introduced to this beauty.

I definitely think that this product is a strong 9/10 – I would love to give it full marks… but the idea of paying the full retail price of £6 for the 200ml bottle actually hurts my soul just thinking about it.

Have you tried any of the Aveeno range? 

Until the next one,

Lauren x

Sympathy for the Skin Body Lotion

The name of this lotion intrigued me from the moment that I first spotted it in Lush about a year ago.  I have always been a big fan of their Charity Pot Lotion, and so it took me a while before I decided to branch out of my comfort zone and give this product a whirl.  This was an online purchase, and so it was the ingredients that attracted me to it.  I love to smell nice, I have a phobia of smelling bad, and so the vanilla was a winner from the get go.  The cocoa butter and banana were an added bonus too -  I knew that this concoction would smell delish, and that these three ingredients would be nourishing for my skin, never mind the whole other list of goodness packed in there too.  

This lotion is very light to put on, it rubs in nicely and although feels greasy – absorbs really quickly into the skin making it feel really supple and hydrated within ten minutes of applying.  I tend to use quite a lot of this at one time, my skin gets really dry super quickly, however if you have fairly normal/healthy skin I imagine that this product would last you a very long time as you probably wouldn't need to use  a lot.  When my skin is particularly bad, I like to use this on my face before I apply my makeup.  It works brilliantly as a base before applying a primer, which makes me love it even more as there are very few moisturisers that I have come across that would allow me to do this.  I will however point out that you do only need a tiny bit to make sure you’re not left feeling really greasy. 

Running very low 

At £5.95 for a 100g tub and £11.95 for 240g – I give this product a 9/10 as it does everything that I need it to do for my skin.  I love everything about it, the smell the feel, the results it gives.  It only looses one mark simply for the price.  I wouldn’t normally pay so much for so little, but because I (at the moment) have my skin reasonably under control, I don’t need to use it as often.  However because this product is packed in a Lush black pot, if you clean them and keep them until you have 5, you can pick up a free fresh face mask.  So it's not all bad, really.   Sympathy for the Skin is a firm favourite moisturiser of mine, and I would recommend it to anyone – regardless of their skin type.  The nutrients packed into this lotion would do good for everyone's skin, and make them smell yummy also.

What's your favourite body lotion at the moment?

Until the next one,

Lauren x