Soap and Glory Hot Cloth Cleanser

Happy Sunday everyone! The weather has turned horrid in the past couple of days and my skin has been playing up, so I've been trying everything I can to sort it out. Winter is the worst for dry skin, but even for oily skin like mine I get dry patches on my nose and around any pesky blemishes I might have.

Hot Cloth Cleansers are something I love, they make cleansing feel more indulgent and like you're really cleaning your face thoroughly. I treated myself to Soap and Glory's version with some of my birthday money, and have been using it for about a week now in order to give it a good go.

My verdict? I love this. It claims to have a 3 in 1 formula that purifies deep into the skin with various natural oils and vitamins. I'm no scientist, but it certainly smells divine and does what it claims. The cream itself is quite thick and smooth, it's not too oily but does start to melt when you rub it into your skin. The box says to use a grape size amount but I use a bit more than that, I think you wouldn't get as good results if you used less. 

As with all hot cloth cleansers you just massage it into the skin, then wet the cloth with hot water and use it to gently remove the cleanser whilst exfoliating the skin. It leaves your skin feeling squeaky clean and super soft.

If you are looking for an indulgent treat which is not too expensive but really sorts your skin out, I would recommend this. At the minute it is 1/3 off at Boots, so only £6.66 instead of £10. Compared to the prices of other similar products, this is a great bargain. My skin feels super soft, not greasy and my dry patches have vanished.

Overall: 9/10 I just wish the actual tube was prettier to look at as it could be a medicine of some sort!

Spongebob Cleanface

Stupid title aside, this post is in fact about sponges. Konjac sponges, not the kind that speak and live under the sea and wear pants. Kid's tv programs are really odd, now I come to think of it.

Anyway, Konjac sponges have been used in Japan for over 1500 years to cleanse the skin in a natural, gentle manner. You can get different sponges for different skin types, some have clay added to them and some have charcoal or just plain. They are 100% natural vegetable fiber, and you can use them just with water or with a little bit of cleanser. I bought the Charcoal Bamboo Sponge, for oily and combination skin. This is how it arrived, looking very squishy and moist, which wasn't particularly attractive.

Regardless of the pretty rubbish packaging, I was quite excited to open this up and give it a go! According to the instructions the sponge must be soaked prior to use and left to dry hard between uses. It can be used to remove makeup or just to cleanse the face daily. It has a little string for you to hold it or presumably hang it up if you want to.

I think it looks a little like one of those "pet rock" things! It has a nice soft consistency, feels a little rubbery on the surface and squashes easily. I've used this twice now and am so far quite happy with the results. It leaves your skin soft and cleansed and my skin does feel a little less oily. But beware, this will NOT remove waterproof eyemakup well. It will just smudge it around after dissolving it into a sludge-like consistency and give you panda eyes. My advice it to take off your eye makeup first with a specific eye makeup remover, then use this. It would also be good first thing in the morning before you tone, moisturise etc. I'm going to use mine in the bath after the majority of my makeup is off.

These sponges each last around 3-5 months with continuous use, you can get them from FeelUnique here or the Konjac Sponge Company directly. FeelUnique have a sale on right now and free delivery, I got mine for £5.85, they are usually around £6.50. I think this is a really great product once you work out how to use it!

8/10 from me, let me know if you get one/have one and what you think"

Sephora Goodies!

Morning dears, hope you're ready for another France installment. Richard and I spent a couple of days in Limoges by ourselves, and I had googled the Sephora shops so I could drag him there.What I didn't realise, however, was that every 100 metres there is a pharmacy, full of amazing brands like Nuxe, La Roche Posay, Avene and Bioderma. I was literally in heaven, Richard had to ban me from going into pharmacies after a while :( The Sephora stores lived up to the memories I have of them, stocked to the rafters with goodies, and after each purchase they spray you with your favourite perfume then give you a sample of it to take away!

Since reading about Bioderma's Eau Miscellar water cleanser, I really wanted to try some of their products, and they have a really helpful website which shows you all the products they make, click here to have a look. As I tend to be oily and get blemishes the green "Sebium" range was for me. This set was around 12 euros, which is amazing for these two products but it was on a special deal. I got the cleansing gel and the purifying treatment.

You are meant to put this on clean skin at least once a day, and you can wear makeup over it if you like, it's like a very light gel-cream that is meant to combat imperfections. I've only been using it for four days and I can see a difference already. It does tingle/sting a bit when you first put it on but my skin seems used to it now and I haven't had any problems with this. Definitely would recommend this for skin with blemishes. I haven't tried the gel wash yet but have heard good things so watch this space.

I did buy the Bioderma Eau Miscellaire but it is currently still in France waiting for my mum to drive it back for me to review! However I had seen on the Sephora website that they do their own version, which was a little cheaper, so I picked up one of these to try too.

Look at the dispenser! Am I the only one excited by this? You take a cotton pad and put it on the round bit, push down twice and away you go. I later found that Bioderma do a bottle with this design too but it was only available in one out the twenty odd pharmacies I visited. Anyway back to the product, I found this very refreshing and soothing on my skin, it doesn't have a strong scent and it does take off all your makeup. I'm unsure if you are meant to tone after this or not, they do sell toner next to this but this looks too much like a toner already for me! I much prefer this to cream cleansers.

Another item I had researched before going away was this little Precision Sponge, Sephora's version of the Beauty Blender. It was much cheaper than the Beauty Blender, coming in at 10 euros as opposed to £16.00.

It is a little egg-shaped sponge with a rounded base and a pointed top so that you can reach smaller areas e.g. around the nose and eyes. The idea is that you wet the sponge, wring it out and then "bounce" the product across your face. This method of application means that there are no smears, lines, or patchy areas and that application is much easier. You can also use the sponge for cream blushers etc.

I find that this does indeed offer a more even coverage but it takes a little getting used to when using it, especially with cream blushes getting the technique right took a few tries. I really want to try the Cosmopolitan version of this also.

Finally, we have one of Sephora's own lipsticks. I have to say I was a little shocked when I saw the price tags of their own makeup, maybe I've become a cheapskate or maybe they're more expensive than I remembered but this was 10.90 euros, when I remember paying around 8 only two years ago. That's quite a jump! Anyway I had Richard with me and was boring him to tears with the "What do you think of this colour, is it too boring? Yes it's too boring, you're right. What about this one? No, too pale." Poor guy looked like he wanted to jump out of a window when he finally pointed at this one and said "If you have to get something, that one looks alright". So I snaffled it.

How dark is that! Very vampy. I love it though, and on coming home I picked up this months magazines and apparently dark, dramatic berry shades are in. Well there you go. It smells beautiful and applies very easily. It actually can be very wearable if blotted properly, this is heavily applied to show the colour payoff. This is from their Rouge Cream Collection, you can find it on the US website here. They are really the most beautiful colours, this is in the shade Crush.

Well that's it for today, back tomorrow with more goodies. Sorry about the massive post with all the pics but had to be done :) Have a great day guys xx

Glamour Magazine Freebies

Who doesn't love a good freebie? I don't tend to buy magazines normally, the majority of the articles are available online and I hate wasting paper. This is why I feel especially guilty buying multiple copies of a magazine just to get the range of freebies. Glamour magazine in the UK really spoil us with the freebies they have, from Clinique and Benefit to the latest offering, Balance Me. This month you can choose from an eye cream, moisturiser, face wash and lip salve, each worth £11-12 each!

So far I've just picked up the lip salve, face wash and eye cream, as I have facial moisturisers galore, but I'm tempted to pick it up now that I've tried the other items. BalanceMe is a brand based on natural products, which is huge right now for any brand. It's fairly expensive as a brand but you get what you pay for. Check out their website to find out more about their philosophy and product range.

This wonder eye cream claims to soothe, brighten and lift. It smells lovely, very natural as you would expect. I have sensitive eyes so was worried any essential oils would irritate them. My worries were unfounded, this cream is lovely and really does make you feel as though your eyes have opened up, it is very refreshing and wakes you right up! Really love this product, and having only paid £2.00 for the magazine it is an amazing deal.

Next up we have the Pure Skin Face wash for normal to combination skin, which I was very excited to try. Not that I need any more face washes, but I like the fact that this has no sulphates in it. Obviously, this does not lather as such on your skin, it is more like a mixture between a gel and a balm but with a lighter consistency. Still smells gorgeous, and when you wash it off you don't feel like your skin has been stripped of all its natural oils.

Last up is my favourite product of the three, the rose otto intensive lip salve. I read reviews of this online before getting the magazine, and liked the idea that it goes on as a thick gel then melts away into the lips. It really does! Salve generally suggests to me a rubbish watery product that doesn't do much (I HATE the Cow Shed one). I like to feel that something is actually on my lips, but also don't like sticky lip products (fussy much?) This does what it says on the tin, it's natural, smells lightly but inoffensively of roses, and intensively moisturises. This really is a great product, and my Chapstick and Eos balms have been replaced temporarily. I've also been making women in my work try this too.

If you are going on holiday and want a treat with your magazine at the airport, or just want a little treat in general, I would definitely recommend getting Glamour. I'm even considering getting ANOTHER one of the lip salves, I definitely don't need it but it's such a great deal and I'll probably regret not getting another one (I only picked up one of the little Porefessionals and regretted it!). Get to the newsagents!! NOW!