Review: Sanctuary 5min Thermal Detox Mask

Sanctury Thermal Detox Mask - £10.50 available here

I have been meaning to review this product for the longest time; I think I actually bought it about two or three months ago! Before I bought it I'd heard tonnes of good stuff about this face mask but I was dubious as it was far more expensive than my usual Lush masks and I'm not usually that fond of thermal masks BUT I'm happy to say this has lived above and beyond expectations.

First of all, this may be double the price of the Lush face masks but it'll last you way longer. A little of this really goes a long way and it's a pretty big tube. I always pretty much get out too much, despite the fact I've been using this weekly for the past 2 months so you'd think that I would be used to how much you need by now! Also, I find this to be far more effective than my Lush face masks I had grown so fond of (I actually have now come to the conclusion that they may have been irritating my skin). This Sanctuary mask is the first one I've used where there is a noticeable difference when you wash it off. My skin looks visibly clearer and feels clean but not stipped, it actually feels quite nourished.

I usually leave this on for longer than 5 minutes, usually around 20, but I have used it for around 5 when in a rush before and I still got the same results with it, so you really can get away with using this in the morning, before makeup even, if you're in a rush.

My only word of advice would be that due to how deeply this cleans your skin, you WILL break out the first couple of times you use it. I think I broke out badly the first three times and I do still get the occasional spot after but now that I'm using it every week obviously I don't have as much that needs to be purged from my skin. Obviously, you should generally expect this kind of reaction to any detoxing or deep cleansing mask but I felt I should mention it just incase you wanted to use it a day or two before a big event - unless you've been using it every week for a while, don't chance it!

Overall, I absolutely love this mask (and everyone I've recommended it do has loved it too) and it's become a staple in my skincare routine which I will definitely repurchase when I eventually run out.

January Favourites!

Hello beauties and welcome to another monthly favourites! January has literally flown by and I can't believe we're already a month into 2014, it still feels like 2010 was only yesterday to me! Anyway, on with my favourites, I've been trying out some new things this month that I still haven't completely made my mind up on, but a lot of them I have loved so there are quite a few newbies this month!

So, this month I have three new skincare favourites. Firstly, is 100% Argan Oil which I use to moisturise my face at night. I have actually had this and been using it for a few months now but seeing as I didn't do a December Favourites I thought I'd mention it in this post. I have dry/normal/combination skin (literally it's all over the place) and I find this great for whatever phase my skins going through. It's pretty heavy so I put it on an hour or so before I go to bed so it can sink in, and then when I wake up my skin feels lovely and soft and moisturised!

Secondly is Eau Roma Water Toner from Lush which I mentioned in my recent Lush Haul post. I wasn't actually expecting great things from this toner aside from a little added hydration but it's really helped to sooth my skin and actually reduced a lot of my redness. Plus it smells really calming and spa like so I'm in total love with it!

Thirdly is an old favourite (although if you've been reading my blog a while you'll notice I finally bought a new one) and also a product mentioned in my recent Lush Haul. Grease Lightning is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite spot treatment because it reduces any breakouts I have super quickly without really drying my skin out. I had a really annoying hormonal breakout on my jaw this month and this just really helped to reduce it super quickly!

On to makeup, and this is a product which I hadn't really cared for in the past. I got this mini Porefessional ages ago as a free gift with another Benefit purchase and I had used it on and off and never really seen what was so great about it. But this month I found that everyday when I got in from college I was noticed my makeup had settled into the pores around my nose, so I decided to give this another go and, as you can probably guess, it sorted the problem out straight away. I ended up liking it so much that I pretty much entirely used up the sample. Now before I repurchase it, I am going to try the new Maybelline baby skin primer to see how it compares but I can see myself repurchasing this very soon.

Next is a pretty cult product here in the beauty world. I don't know why it took me so long to buy Studio Finish but now I finally got it I'm beginning to wonder how I coped without it. This makes any redness and unevenness I have completely disappear and it's absolutely amazing on breakouts! Not only is it super amazing coverage, but it has great lasting power so you don't have to keep touching up throughout the day. My only issue is that I think I may have got the wrong colour. The neareast MAC counter to me is very far away, especially when you don't have a car so I ordered this online going off my Pro Long Wear concealer as a guide. Although I can get away with NW15 with some blending, I do think NW20 would have suited me a little better. So, I don't know whether to order it or just make do with this one. Either way, I still love this product.

Finally for makeup, is another old favourite. For a while I went through a phase of either not contouring at all or when I did, having a really diffused contour but this month I have gotten full back into having a really defined and structured contour and so, my eyes fell to my Sleek Face Form palette to do so. Although the contour colour is a bit orange, I do really love it and love how easy it is to blend. I've also been loving the highlight for the cheekbones, brow bone and cupid's bow to add some winter glow.

Last in my beauty favourites is a hair product. Now, I'm not a huge hair styling person, hair is not my thing I'm just not very good at it. But, I recently got my hair chopped quite a lot and I decided to put more effort into it. My Mum spotted this Batiste volumising powder in Superdrug on an introductory offer so obviously I snapped it up (having quite fine flat hair naturally I need all the volume I can get). I've been trying to find the Schwartzkopf volumising powder for ages but for some reason my local Superdrug just doesn't carry it! So, I grabbed this and I absolutely love it! It does make your hair feel quite thick and sticky and actually a little dirty, but you can't tell to look at it. It pretty much stays in all day too and it's so quick that I don't even need to make much time for my hair in the mornings!

Random Favourite!

My non-beauty favourite this month is Animal Crossing: New Leaf! This has been out for a while now and I was super, super excited for it but I didn't get around to buying it until a little after Christmas. There's still a hell of a lot I need to do in my town but I really love playing it a little everyday and it's lived up to and beyond all my expectations. The only bad thing about it is that it means I'm neglecting my Wild World town  - oops!

Well that's it for this month, I hope January treated you well and that February treats you even better!

Have a fabulous day,

Nikki x

Review: MUA Single Eyesahdows

MUA Single Eyshadow Shade 7 Pearl - £1 available here

Hello beauties! Today I want to review MUA's single eyeshadow. I have four of them; shade 6, 7 and 23 pearl and shade 18 matte. 

Overall, I am in absolute love with these shadows. I mentioned them in my November favourites I think, and I've been meaning to buy more! You wouldn't expect a £1 eyeshadow to have the texture that these do. They have such a smooth and buttery feel that loads of more expensive drugstore eyeshadow don't have. I have to say, I'm mainly talking about the pearl finishes here, the mattes aren't as buttery or smooth, but they're still good for drugstore mattes!

Also, the pigmentation on these guys is amazing! Seriously, one swipe and you get the same colour as the pan! They apply really evenly and there's hardly any fall down whilst applying, especially if you apply them over a cream shadow like the Maybelline ones. Again, I'm mainly talking about the pearl finishes here because the matte shadows aren't as richly pigmented or smooth. Although, the matte finish shadow I have I got a while ago and MUA do seem to have improved their formula since then of the pearl finishes so perhaps the mattes have improved too. 

So, for the pearl finishes I have nothing bad to say. They're amazingly pigmented, they feel like butter and they apply smoothly. The mattes, not as great but I'm going to try some more to see if they have improved. Regardless, I understand that matte eyeshadows are difficult to get right, especially at a drugstore price and for only £1 these mattes are pretty good.

Final score: 4/5 (the pearls would get 5/5 but the mattes bring the score down)

I hope that has helped some of you in some way and I'll see you soon with some new posts!

Have a fabulous day,

Nikki x

Mini Lush Haul!

Hey beauties! I did a little shopping in Lush today and I figured I'd show you what I got seeing as there is basically a whole skin care regime in it. Also, two really lovely women helped me in there and they made me realise again how much I love Lush as a company.

Lush Aqua Marina Cleanser £6.35/100g - available here

"This is a creamy cleanser designed to calm, nourish and soothe. We use kaolin and calamine to absorb oils and cleanse the skin, and aloe vera to restore moisture. Irish Moss gel (a type of seaweed) is full of restorative minerals and vitamins, and we've even included a sprinkling of sea salt for very gentle exfoliation."

Firstly, I got a new cleanser because my beloved seasonal Buche de Noel had about two or three more uses in it. Now, although I know that Angels on Bare Skin is incredibly similar to Buche, I went for this instead because I wanted to try something different. I've used it once and I can see myself really loving this. Although they say it's got sea salt in it, I can't feel any exfoliation going on in this, it's just really smooth and lovely. Smells a bit fishy when you first open it, but it doesn't once you've mixed it with water and put it on your face.

Lush Eau Roma Toner Water £3.95/100g - available here

"This is a simple, elegant formula that’s suitable for even the most sensitive skin. Rose water will help to calm the skin and reduce redness, whilst lavender water will balance and soften the skin. This was created as a way to hydrate the skin without causing it to dry out or overreact. Use it for a quick, refreshing spritz or to remove any traces of makeup."

I'll be honest, I made this next purchase because of Jaclyn Hill. She mentioned it in her Skincare Routine video and (I think) her 2013 Skincare Favourites video and I usually trust her judgement on things (despite my skin not being so dry any more). This won't take the place of my Botanics toner, however I intend to use this in the morning for a bit of extra hydration under my makeup. Also, I've really been wanting something to help calm the redness in my skin, so I figured why not give this a go? Especially seeing as the mini one is so cheap!

Lush BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask £5.95 - available here

"Created to cool soften and reduce redness on harshly treated skin. Rose absolute will calm and balance the skin, olive oil moisturises, whilst toothed wrack seaweed hand-harvested from Poole Harbour works with aloe vera to soothe and soften. We also use rosemary oil for its regenerative qualities; kaolin to remove any excess dirt or oil, and millet flakes to gently exfoliate away dead skin as you scrub it off."

I explained to the woman in the store that I wanted a face mask that was quite soothing but to still exfoliate a little and she immediately pointed me to this one, saying it was her favourite. As is custom with buying a new face mask, as soon as I got home I removed all my makeup and put this on. It made my skin feel so soft and nourished and I can totally understand why the woman liked it so much! Although, I do have to say, I've never been disappointed with a Lush face mask so I wasn't too surprised.

Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment £5.95 - available here

This is an absolute must have for me in my skincare routine. After scraping about all I could out from my old bottle, I decided it was high time to pick up a new one. This treatment helps to clear any breakouts up lightning quick but does so without completely drying out my skin. Plus, you only need a tiny amount so this bottle will last me ages!

When I was paying, the lady serving me commented that I was buying a lot of skincare products and told me that if I wanted any samples of any products she would happily give me some. So, after happily accepting that offer, she offered me some moisturisers because I hadn't bought any. I've had a sample of a moisturiser from Lush before back when my skin was uber dry and had been very badly treated and I didn't like it, it wasn't hydrating enough (pretty much nothing was at the time). But now that my skin is basically normal, although occasionally leans slightly either way, I was happy to try one. She gave me Enzymion (which is available here) which is supposed to be great under makeup because is hydrates but mattifies your skin. I'm a bit dubious as to whether that's going to work for me because I'm not sure I'm oily enough to need something mattifying (although I did tell her that I had normal, kind of combination skin so I'll try to trust her judgement). She also gave me Imperialis (which is available here) which I have tried once and I really liked it. It's quite light and absorbs easily and quickly, doesn't leave the skin feeling oily or dry, it seems just right.

Well that's it for my Lush haul! I know that was actually quite a lot of information for not that many products but I wanted you guys to know my first impressions of them too. I'm sure I'll be uploading reviews of every single new product I got (especially the moisturisers) so look out for those!

Have a fabulous day,

Nikki x

Review: No7 BB Cream

No7 BB Cream for Normal/Dry Skin £12.95 - available here

Hello beauties! Today I want to review No7's BB Cream. I've had this product for a few years now and I think I've finally come to a firm viewpoint on it.

Firstly, I love the fact that they do three versions. A Dry/Very Dry, Normal/Dry and Oily/Very Oily. Now I've only ever tried the Normal/Dry one but last winter my skin was the absolute driest it has ever been and every foundation I had looked flaky and dull. This was the only base product I had which didn't, it actually helped me look a little more healthy. The point I'm trying to make is, even when I had, what I would call, very dry skin, the Normal/Dry formula worked fine for me and was moisturising enough, which makes me wonder how much difference there would be between the one for normal and dry skin and the one for dry and very dry skin. Either way, I'd recommend trying them all on the back of your hand, and if there is a helpful No7 assistant around, ask if they wouldn't mind applying some to your face so you can see how it works with your skin.

Another thing I think is great about this product is the coverage. You wouldn't expect much but actually, it offers the same coverage that some light foundations do. My face scars so damn easy, but this makes my skin look a whole lot more even. Obviously it doesn't cover every scar and imperfection I have but it's a darn sight better that I would have thought.

It doesn't really have the texture of a BB Cream, it's definitely more like a tinted moisturiser but it's so bendable and creamy that I don't even use a brush with it (that's really saying something for me, I hate applying base products with my hands). Due to the fact that it's so quick to apply and because I know that no matter how dry my skin is, it will give me a natural looking glow, this has become a kind of fall back for me, a product I can always rely on to perform well.

I would say it gives a natural glowy kind of look to the skin but I've never found it to look oily. I usually set my T-Zone with powder, and in the summer my entire face, and it removes a bit of the glow but still allows you to look healthy. It also lasts pretty well on my skin, in fact I went to the gym with it on today and it stayed put pretty darn well!

The only bad thing I have to say about it is the shade selection, I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a selection seeing as there are only two shades! The lightest shade matches me perfectly after I've fake tanned, so when I haven't it is a fair difference. It isn't unbelievably obvious that my face is a shade or two darker because I highlight the crap out of it with a light concealer but still, it would be nice to not have to do that.

Despite the colour matching problems, I do genuinely think that this is a marvellous BB Cream, if you can get one of the shades to work for you, I would really recommend trying it out. I don't know what the other two formulas are like but if they're anything like this one they're amazing.

Final score: 4/5

I hope this has in some way helped and I'll be back with another post soon!

Have a fabulous day,

Nikki x

Review: Barry M Gelly Formula Nail Polish

Barry M Nail Gelly's. Top L-R: Grapefruit, Blue Grape, Lychee. Bottom L-R: Greenberry and Mango. £3.99 each.

Hello beauties! Happy New Year, I hope you had a great 2013 and that your 2014 will be even better!

Today I want to review the Gelly formula of Barry M's nail polishes. I know these are super popular in the blogging world but I wanted to get my 2 cents out there (and I already had pictures taken).

Firstly, there is a pretty great colour selection, ranging from dark wintery colours, pastel spring colours and bright summer colours. Obviously the selection isn't as good as the regular line, but it's still quite diverse.

The formula of these nail polishes is much thicker than the regular line, as you would expect from a gel polish, and they do take a while to dry. Actually, I would recommend leaving as long as five minutes between each coat to avoid messing the polish up (a tip I learnt from glamlifeguru). 

However, if you're worried that this will make painting your nails take an unbearable amount of time, these polishes are opaque, bottle colour in two coats so you needn't worry.

They claim that you don't need a top coat with these as they'll be shiny enough by themselves, and although that's true about the shine I would recommend putting some kind of top coat on to prolong the wear. These polishes last nicely on the nails but they'll still chip within a couple of days if you don't put something on top. If I wear one of these gelly's with Seche Vite on top, they last without chipping for longer than any other drugstore nail polish I have (aside from maybe Essie).

All in all, I really like these polishes and I think they live up to their hype. My only bug bear with them is that they do take a little longer to dry. But seeing as they last so long, they come in great colours and they're so inexpensive, I can overlook that. Plus, Superdrug often do 3 for 2 deals on these so look out for that!

Total score: 4/5

I hope this review was in some way helpful and I'll hopefully be back with more posts soon.

Have a fabulous day,

Nikki x

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