Glossybox May 2012

Hello! So I am a new subscriber to Glossybox and their May 2012 box is the first that I have received, and it just so happened to be their 1st anniversary box! I have been watching Glossybox youtube videos and reading Glossybox blog posts for quite some time now, and every time I saw what people got in their boxes I would wish that I had subscribed and that I had CID lipsticks and Burberry minatures in a pretty little box to try out! So, at the beginning of May I decided that enough was enough and that I had to subscribe!

This month's box was the Glossybox 1st birthday box, as I have already said, so I had high hopes that I might receive something similar to their first ever box (I did have my heart set on the full size nars illuminator, alas I set my sights too high). The box itself was pale pink with the black Glossybox logo on the lid. The box opens like a shoebox and you lift the lid fully off the top, it is not attached to the rest of the box.


Inside:

Noble Isle Summer Rising Bath & Shower Gel Sample - I'll be honest, I wasn't particularly over the moon to see a shower gel sample in my first ever box, I'm quite satisfied with normal, non-fancy shower gels by Source or even the Body Shop. Spending lots of money on shower gel is not a priority for me, because I think there are lots of lovely smelling ones that do the job for a lot cheaper! I haven't tried this one out yet, so I may eat my words if it leaves my skin radiant and glowing and smelling lovely all day, I do have to say that this does smell quite nice, rather a manly smell I seem to think, but nice nonetheless!


Lolita Lempicka L'Eau en Blanc Sample - I always like trying new perfumes, and the Lolita ones were not something that I had been introduced to before, so I thought it was nice that we were given samples of 2 different perfumes to try out! This one, I have to say, was not my cup of tea at all. It was far too heavy and floral, 2 things I hate in a perfume! Sorry Lolita L'Eau en Blanc, I am not a fan and you gave me a migraine! This is definitely a mature woman's scent in my opinion.


Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum Sample - After the catastrophic headache fiasco from the Lolita Lempicka L'Eau en Blanc sample (which I will not be spraying again for the sake of my own health) it is safe to say that I was more than dubious to try the other sample out. But in the true spirit of beauty boxes and trying new products, I gave it a little spritz. I was pleasantly surprised, as I held the card warily at arms length, that this was nowhere near as heavy as the other perfume, and was actually quite sweet and light! I even found myself rubbing some into my wrist! This perfume is still a floral one, but worry not! I usually wrinkle my nose in disgust in the direction of floral scents, but this is an unusual one, and is not too obviously floral. I actually quite like this fragrance and it grows on my every time I sniff my arm (aren't I charming?) It's a lovely light, summery fragrance, probably more suited to a young lady, but I think any age would be able to get away with this one!


Weleda Face Cream Sample - I have to say, I know that a lot of people have been happy to see this appearing in their Glossyboxes, I wasn't too excited. It isn't that I have any particular reservations about this product, or that I have anything against it, I actually know nothing about it! But as I have just embarked upon my new skincare regime and I'm trying to get my skin settled into it, I don't really want to up-tip the apple cart by trying new products! I will get around to trying this at some point though, and in the mean time I will be reading up on the hype!


Collection Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner - Now this is a product I was excited to see! Collection (formerly known as Collection 2000) is available from both Boots and Superdrug and is super affordable! It's nice to see products appearing in beauty boxes that you can afford to repurchase after sampling, rather than having a heart attack over the price tag and either making yourself bankrupt because it's so good that you must have it, or staring longingly through the window at it whilst wiping away a tear, knowing your life will never be the same again without it... (A little dramatic, I know, but that's what it's like for beauty junkies!! Honest!!) So yes, this is Collection's gel eyeliner and I received mine in brown, I think it's refreshing that more affordable brands are now marketing products such as gel eyeliner, traditionally reserved for the more expensive brands, and especially in colours other than black! I must admit that the brush that comes with this, although a nice idea, is not great quality, and I won't be using it as I find that it's a little to thick/wide/big/not precise enough for eyeliner (sorreee!) but I'd definitely use this with an eyeliner brush. The colour is quite a nice rich, reddish-brown and I'm looking forward to experimenting with this and it will be prefect to wear for uni, because gel liners are usually very long lasting and durable!


HD Brows Brow Beater - This was the product that I was most excited to see in my box, after September 2011's HD Brows kit was raved about so much I was very pleased to get the chance to try out another product from their range! This is a brow gel that sets the brows in place, keeping them tidy, and the description says that it conditions them at the same time, which can't be a bad thing! I have used this a couple of times and mine is a clear gel, and to be honest it just works the same as any other brow gel as far as I've noticed. I would be interested to see if this product was available in some other colours as well as just clear, and I would definitely buy them if it was! At £3.90 for a full size product this is far cheaper than the Body Shop's brow gel, and doesn't carry the same chemically smell. When I run out, I think a repurchase may be in order!

Because this month was Glossybox's 1st birthday, we were sent a black compact mirror with the Glossybox logo on the front, and a hot pink birthday balloon, which was a nice touch! Overall I was quite pleased with the contents of this box, I love that I received products I hadn't been aware of before, and was introduced to new brands, and that I like quite a few of them and would repurchase some, which is exactly what beauty boxes are all about!

Eleanor x

How to: Turn a Tee into a Cut Off Tank

So I'm going to be at Download Festival in a couple of weeks time, which I' very excited about! And in preparation I have been stocking up on band t-shirts to wear while I'm there. Now, it is very difficult to get hold of band t-shirts for women unfortunately! So I have had to settle for buying men's small t-shirts instead and wearing them as oversized tees with my festival shorts, which I can't say I mind. I have found that a good way of revamping the t-shirts is to turn them into oversized tanks or vests, so I thought I'd do a little blog post about how I do that!

You will need:

• A t-shirt
• A pair of sharp scissors
• A tape measure or ruler
• A pencil

For my t-shirt I will be using a Metallica Death Magnetic t-shirt that is a men's size small.


1.The first thing you will need to do is to take your tape measure, and measure how deep you want the shoulders of the tank to be. I did mine at around 2.5 to 3 inches each side, if you want the shoulder width to be symmetrical then it is best to use a tape measure or ruler, if not then you don't need to bother. Mark this point in pencil on each shoulder. (TIP: make sure to measure from the neck outwards because that's the material that will make the shoulders).

2. Now begin cutting off the sleeve of the t-shirt, starting where you marked in pencil. I prefer to cut the sleeves off in a curved shape, so that the tank arm holes curve in slightly, but you could cut straight downwards if that's how you wanted yours. I cut my arm hole so that it finished in the same place as the original sleeve's armpit, but tanks also look really cool with a dropped arm hole, which is where the arm hole goes quite low (I'm going to cut the next one I do like that).

You should  finish with something that looks like that! See how the arm holes curve in like I was saying before?

If you're happy with your t-shirt then you're done! There are further ways that you can customise your tank, you could shorten the length by cutting material away from the bottom to make a cropped tank (I didn't do this because the name of the band etc was at the bottom of my tee, which is why mine looks a little long!)

You could also customise the neck of your tank, which I decided to do because the original neckline on mine came up a little higher than I would have liked.

3. I decided to just cut off the "collar" part of the tank, to do this I made incisions down the collar and stopped just before reaching the seams. I did this about 4 or 5 times at various points around the collar, as you may be able to see from the picture below, although it isn't that clear..

4. Cut the collar off, keeping as close to the seams as possible (it's best not to cut the actual seams because it can make the neckline look a little untidy.

So you should end up with something that looks similar to this! You can obviously customise yours in your own way to suit how you want it, you could cut your arm holes to drop lower, the shoulders to be thinner or wider, the neckline lower or higher, I could go on! This is just how I do mine and a tutorial for anyone to follow if they need help starting off with their own D.I.Y tank projects! Hope this was useful and I can't wait to wear mine when I watch Metallica at Download Festival in a couple of weeks!!

Eleanor x

She Said Beauty Box: May 2012

Hello! I'm a little late with this post, as I actually received my box in early May, but I've had to wait until after my exams to write about it! I know the most popular beauty boxes are from Glossybox and Joliebox, but I discovered another, Shesaid beauty box. This one is a little cheaper at only £9 every month, plus the standard £2.95 postage that comes with the beauty box territory.

The Shesaid beauty box arrived at my door in a shocking pick outer box, and inside was a little aqua box, featuring the logo in white on top (very similar to Glossybox) and beautifully decorated corners with a pale turquoise, almost venetian pattern (as you can see below).

I love that the box is different to Glossybox in the way it opens, the lid is hinged to the back wall of the box, and a lightly magnetic flap secures the lid closed to the front wall, rather than the usual shoebox-type design, where the lid is lifted off the box. I think this keeps the Shesaid beauty box a little neater and more compact in terms of packaging, compared to other boxes.
Once opened, the colour scheme continues inside the box, and the products are packed in a shocking pink tissue paper, tied with a shocking pink bow and an aqua sticker to hold it all together. Overall the packaging looks fresh, young and exciting, everything a beauty box should be!

Now onto the contents of the box:


Kim Kardashian Eau De Parfum Sample - I must admit, I wasn't thrilled to see this sitting inside my box, I tend to steer well clear or celebrity perfumes, simply because they usually smell cheap and tacky! Yes, I'll admit it, I was a perfume snob! But Kim Kardashian has changed all that.. I had a little sniff of the sample I received and was pleasantly surprised, it's quite a sweet scent, and I think I detect undertones of coconut and vanilla? I can't say I'm great at describing perfumes, and I've probably got that all wrong, but whatever, it's quite nice! Another thing in Ms. Kardashian's favour: it isn't ridiculously overpriced, at a pretty reasonable £29.50 for 50ml.


Inikia Certified Vegan Lip Whip - This was a full size product, which was lovely and mine came in the shade peach. I love a good peachy shade, whether it's a lipstick, gloss, blush or nail polish, and I always tend to be drawn to peaches over any other colour, so it seemed that the beauty box gods were smiling down on me with this shade choice! However, this really is more of an orange colour in the tube and looks a little scary! I haven't brought myself around to trying it out yet, but I have heard good things about this lip gloss, so watch this space for a review!


Green People SPF15 with Tan Accelerator - I was very excited to see this in my box; a brand I've never heard of? Check. A product not readily available in drugstores? Check. Something I want to try? Check. Reasonable price? Check. This ticks all my boxes and really is what I signed up for beauty boxes for. Green People isn't a well-known brand, and I hadn't heard of them before I received this sample. They aren't available in the UK from drugstores or supermarkets, the only place I'm aware of that you can buy their products is their website. This is a sunscreen with SPF15 and an ingredient that accelerates your tan, which means sun protection from both UVA and UVB rays witht he added bonus of helping you tan! I am the palest of the pale, I do not tan, I just burn, so I am excited to try this and see if it works! I'm not keen on the smell, I must say, it reminds me of sudocrem or anthisan when you first squeeze it out of the tube, but that disappears when you rub it into your skin, so a very minor complaint! If this helps my pasty skin to tan, at £12.95 for 100ml I will definitely be repurchasing! So perhaps there'll be more thoughts on that product at a later date...


Natio Lotus Soap Trio - In the box was one of the full sized soaps from the trio, mine was the scent pink lotus. In the description, it says that the soaps contain the "mind calming and mood enhancing scents used during yoga" which I really like the idea of because I love yoga and pilates and anything like that! Although I haven't used this soap yet, it smells AMAZING!! When I opened my box, the whole box smelled lovely and it was the soap! I'm looking forward to using this, and at £8.50 for 3 150g soaps, I may have to purchase some more, as long as they all smell as good as the one I already have, that is!


The Vintage Cosmetic Co. False Eye Lashes in Kitty - I'm not really a big fan of false lashes, they're a hassle to apply, very fiddly, and they can start hanging of a couple of hours after applying them, making you look like an absolute mess... So I don't tend to bother with them too often! When I look for a false lashes, I want something that will blend naturally into my own lashes to gently boost the volume and length of my lashes, I certainly don't want any circus lashes with bright colours, diamantes, or so long that they're tickling my eyebrows. I really hate anything that looks to obvious or garish on my face and prefer to look as natural as possible. This being said, the Kitty lashes are very long at the outer corner, now there's nothing wrong with a bit more length in the outer corner, as it definitely enhances the eyes, but these are a little too long and unnatural for my liking! And the lashes on the whole just look too unnatural for something that I might want to wear. The packaging of these is very cute and lives up to the brand of "The Vintage Cosmetic Company". I thought it was such a shame that I didn't like the style of these lashes because reviews would suggest that they are really quite good quality, and they do sell other styles on their website and The Connie lashes look much more my cup of tea, so I'm going to order some and see how they are! At only £6 they're a drugstore price, come in really cute packaging and come in a selection of styles, I'd say worth checking out!


Trio of Snowberry Skincare samples - I must admit, this was the sample I was least excited about receiving, as they were only very small in little squeezy tubes (which I'm not a huge fan of anyway) and with me beginning a new skincare routine recently I didn't really want to change anything up suddenly, only to change it back again. The samples I received were the anti-ageing nourishing rich day cream, the anti-ageing intensive renewal face serum, and the bright defence day cream no.2 for combination skin. I'm not interested in trying the first 2, as anything anti-ageing is too heavy for my 19 year old skin! But I have been enticed by the promise of bright skin from the last sample and I will be trying it at some point in the near future. My only problem with the small sachet samples of skincare is that you really don't get enough product to see whether it actually works well with your skin! I like to try skincare out for a couple of weeks before I decide whether I'd repurchase or not, and you can't do that with such a small sample, so it is quite difficult to tell whether it's something you'd be interested in purchasing.


So those are my thoughts on the products I received and the box itself, I really like the Shesaid beauty box and I am looking forward to receiving the June box! Based on this box I would definitely recommend subscribing to the Shesaid beauty box, the sample sizes in the box were generous and the products were exciting!


Eleanor x

Mini Essie Haul

Essie polishes l-r: mint candy apple, lapiz of luxury, lilacism.


So earlier this week I nipped into Superdrug and saw the new Essie stand! Essie has been quite difficult to get hold of in the UK until Boots and Superdrug recently began stocking their polishes, which is obviously very exciting, and seeing as Superdrug had a 3for2 offer on at the moment I decided to pick some up. Essie have such an amazing shade range and they get it just right with all their colours, I did notice that a quite a large part of their range is made up of pale, french-type pinks (but they're all beautiful, so I'll let them have that one!) 


Summer is well and truly in the air at the moment with all the lovely weather we've been having (let's hope this keeps up all summer!) and so I HAD to get some of their pastel shades. I bought; lapiz of luxury - a lovely, blu-tac blue shade, lilacism - possibly the most popular lilac polish there has ever been, and the much coveted mint candy apple - I have ready so many blog posts, and watched so many youtube videos either talking about, or including this shade, the perfect mint green shade that EVERYBODY loves, I dare you to paint this on your nails and dislike it, it's impossible!


At £7.99 these babies aren't cheap, and fortunately they're on offer (3for2) in Superdrug until early June, so I'll be heading back to snap up a few more colours. There is a lot of hype surrounding the Essie brand and I can certainly understand why, with an excellent choice of shades, great colour payoff and a nice formula, what's not to like? These really are great quality polishes in every area and cheaper in comparison with brands like nails inc and OPI. I can whole-heartedly recommend them!

Polish shades l-r: mint candy apple, lapiz of luxury, lilacism.


This is what the polishes looked like on my nails after 1 coat! I'll admit they could do with going over to make the colour a little stronger, but I think they look really great for 1 coat, and they're acceptable to go out with if you were in a rush. Drying time was pretty quick and they didn't smudge at all like some do. The formula I liked because it was very fluid and quite watery, compared to the Barry M pastel colours, which I find can be a little thick and streaky. 


Overall I would say that these are worth the price because of their great quality, especially if you stick to buying colours you know you'll wear again and again. Essie is available in Boots and Superdrug stores and online.


Eleanor x

Skincare Routine: Daily and Weekly

Hello!! So my past couple of posts have been about new skincare products that I've purchased and explanations on them, so now I'm going to describe how I've started to use them as part of my daily and weekly skincare routines!


So I'll start off with my morning routine:

This is pretty simple, quite low maintenance because I don't have a lot of time in the mornings to get ready before I have to go out to uni, so I start off by washing my face with warm water and then massaging one pump of The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Facial Wash all over my face (avoiding my eyes and lips). I then rinse that off with warm water, and splash my face with cold water as a sort of toner and to close my pores after the warm water. I then moisturise my face using the Oriflame Optimals Skin Energy Day Cream SPF15, leave that to sink in for 10 or so minutes whilst I get dressed or something and then I put on the Body Shop Seaweed Pore Perfector along my nose where my pores are a little larger, and then apply my makeup!


My night time routine:

The essence of my night time routine is to cleanse, cleanse, cleanse! I feel like after wearing makeup all day you need to give your skin a rest at night and that means not leaving any makeup clogging up your pores. So I start by using the Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes to remove most of my makeup, then I wash my face with warm water to open up my pores to help being able to really get all the day's grime off my face (lovely, I know!) and wash my face with the Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Cleansing Bar, and rinse it off and dry my face. I then use cotton wool pads to apply the Body Shop Cucumber Cleansing Milk in upwards and outwards motions all over my face. Then I use the Body Shop Cucumber Refreshing Water on a cotton pad in upwards sweeping motions as a toner. Finally I massage the Oriflame Optimals Skin Energy Night Cream into my skin and I'm ready to go to sleep!


Here's a couple of substitutions I have available for if my skin is having any problems:

If my I'm suffering with breakouts I have the Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash to use in the evenings after removing my makeup, I would use this in place of the Body Shop Vitamin E Cleansing Facial Bar, by squeezing a small amount into my hands after washing my face with warm water, massage it onto my skin and then rinse it off and pat dry. I'd then carry on with the rest of my normal night time routine.

If I wake up and my skin is looking oilier than usual, I'd substitute my Body Shop Aloe Gentle Facial Wash with the Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash (for oily/combination skin), splash my face with cold water as usual, and then use the Oriflame Optimals Matte Touch Day Gel-Cream to moisturise my skin before applying The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Perfector to my nose and then applying my makeup.

So if I knew I was going out somewhere where people would be taking photos, like a night out or if we went somewhere different for the day, I wouldn't want to wear my Oriflame Optimals Skin Energy Day Cream SPF15 because the SPF would make me look like a ghost on pictures! But I still want my moisturiser to be luminizing, so I'd follow my usual morning routine and just substitute my usually moisturiser for the L'Oreal Youth Code Luminze.


Here's part of my routine that I would only follow once or twice a week:

I would exfoliate my skin once a week, just to get rid of dead skin cells from my face to make way for new shiny, radiant ones! I use the St. Ives Apricot Invigorating Scrub for all skin types after using a cleansing wash in the evening an use the Body Shop Cucumber Milk and Water afterwards and then my night moisturiser.

Finally, once a week I cleanse my face in the evening using a cleansing facial wash, and instead of massaging this in with my hands as I would usually, I use the small Body Shop Facial Brush (pictured above) in circular motions to clean well into my pores with the cleanser before rinsing it off (the brush also acts as a sort of exfoliant on the skin as the bristles will remove dead skin cells). I then dry off my face and apply the Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Face Mask and leave it on my skin for 15 minutes and then wash it off, before toning with a splash of cold water and moisturising with the Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Cream. I do this once a week as it's good for preventing the effects of city pollution on the skin which is good for me, as I live in the city and go to university in the heart of a very busy city!


So that's my skincare routine, nothing too fancy or expensive, I've just started out with it so I'm still in the trial phase and seeing what does and doesn't work for my skin. I'll probably review this in a month when my skin has has proper time to adjust and see which products I do and don't like and which work the best etc. Anyway, that's all from me today!


Eleanor x

New Skincare: Continued and a Body Shop Haul

Hello! So yesterday I blogged about my new moisturisers from Oriflame, today's post will be continuing in the theme of skincare and I'm going to talk about some of the other skincare products that I've bought in a bid to get my skin looking it's best!


So firstly I got a couple of different cleansers, all from the body shop (I bought quite a lot of this a couple of weeks ago whilst they had various offers online).

Starting from the back, going forwards:
The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Facial Wash (125ml) - This is a fragrance free facial cleansing wash and comes with a pump applicator attached, which dispenses the product in a sort of froth into your hands. As a cleanser this says that it will remove any makeup, impurities and daily grime. I actually bought this to use as part of my morning skincare routine because I like the idea of using a really gentle cleansing wash in the morning to awaken my skin an prep it for the day, and this is ultra gentle because it's formulated for sensitive skin!
The Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Cleansing Bar (100g) - This looks like a bar of soap, it cleanses and conditions and is for all skin types. Although I haven't had the chance to use this yet, it smells amazing! I think it smells quite naturally sweet, and it looks like it would be a simple cleanser that would be a good way to get back to basics when you're having any skincare problems.
The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash (60ml) - This cleanser is for blemished skin, as I said in my last post I have been having trouble with a couple of breakouts recently and have high hopes that this can sort that out! It says that this is an intensive daily cleanser that removes impurities for clearer looking skin. I intend to use this as my evening cleanser after I take off my makeup, and once my breakouts have cleared up I'll probably substitute it with the Vitamin E Cleansing Bar so that I'm not using a product that's too harsh on my skin daily, and just reserve this for when I am suffering from breakouts!

Products from left to right:
The Body Shop Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash (100ml) - This is from the body shop's seaweed range (obviously) which is formulated for oily skin. It's a gel cleansing wash in a squeezy tube that removes excess oil, impurities and makeup, I have combination skin with my t-zone being oilier some times than others, although I have never had a problem with excessive amounts of oil. I got this to substitute in and out of my morning (or night) skincare routines for day when my skin is a little oilier, just to correct it!
Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Face Mask (75ml) - Face masks are essential in skincare routines for a sort of ultimate weekly/bi-weekly cleanse. This is a detoxifying face mask (in a squeezy tube) which I think is really important to rid your skin of all toxins and give your pores a really good (but gentle) clean, I've heard that Kate Middleton has oxygen facials, and her skin is amazing and always clear, so I thought it might be nice to try an oxygen-type product!
Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion (50ml) - I like that this has organic and natural ingredients like lemon and tea tree, this is a lotion in a squeezy tube to be used for clearer looking skin. I feel like tea tree can be quite harsh on skin though, and a little stripping, so this would be another product that I substitute into my skincare regime when I'm suffering with breakouts.

Foreground product:
The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Perfector (15ml) - This is a gel/cream type product with a pump dispenser, and it is to reduce the appearance of pores. I have large pores on my nose, so I'm hoping that this can help to cover that up, so that my foundation doesn't have to work so hard! It is another product from the seaweed range for oily/combination skin, and contains other natural ingredients like cinnamon, and rather than stuffing pores with a silicone and causing breakouts, it should unclog pores and reduce their appearance.

Foreground product:
The Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion (30ml) - Another product from the tea tree range for blemished skin, it has a pump dispenser and claims to "improve the appearance of blemish-damaged skin" so I'm hoping that this will help to fade some breakout scars I have around my nose.

And finally:
The Body Shop Elderflower Unperfumed Eye Gel (15ml) - This is just a cooling, soothing, clear eye gel in a little pot, I have quite bad hereditary dark undereye circles and although this doesnt make any claim to fade that sort of thing, I secretly hope it will!

All of The Body Shop products can be purchased online here, and the Oriflame product here.


So, that's quite a lot of skincare! I have high hopes for all of it, but of course I'm not expecting overnight miracles. I'll do a post in the next couple of days working out a daily/weekly routine to follow including these products to stick to, and hopefully I'll start to see some improvements!


Eleanor x

First Chat about Skincare and Oriflame Haul

Hello! So recently I've been very busy and quite stressed out with revision, uni exams and coursework deadlines, and I haven't had a whole lot of time to focus on looking after my skin, which has taken it's toll and I have had several breakouts and problem areas. I'm a great believer that makeup shouldn't be used to just cover a multitude of sins, and the better condition of your skin, the better your makeup will look! So I'm going to start at the beginning and cement a skincare routine that helps my skin look the best it can, and then my makeup won't have to work so hard!


I have combination skin, with normal cheeks and a slightly oilier (not very much though) nose and forehead, I've been having a couple of breakouts on my forehead and chin but I've never suffered with acne. The look I tend to gravitate towards tends to be dewy and radiant rather than matte, because that's what I think suits me better! So I'm looking for my skincare to be radiance boosting and to give my skin a natural glow.


This being said I went on a little spending spree and bought some products from Oriflame, a Swedish skincare brand that's really affordable and my mum has used their moisturisers since she was 16, 32 years later and her skin is great and still without a wrinkle in sight! So I put my trust in Oriflame and I certainly have high hopes for the products that I bought.


So here's a few of the things that I got...

Products L-R:
Oriflame Optimals Skin Energy Day Cream SPF15 - this cream contains vitamin C to prevent dryness, even skintone and encourage the skin's natural glow, minerals that boost the production of skin cells to keep skin looking healthy, light reflecting particles to give the skin a radiant glow, and SPF 15 for UV protection.
Oriflame Optimals Skin Energy Night Cream - with the same ingredients as the Skin Energy Day Cream (apart from the SPF) the night cream claims to nurture your skin through the night so that you wake up to refreshed skin!
Oriflame Optimals Matte Touch Day Gel-Cream - this "gel-cream" contains silver birch extracts (I've never heard of this ingredient in skincare before, so that should be interesting to try!) and claims to control shiny areas whilst moisturising dry areas and maintaining a matte look on the skin all day.
Oriflame Optimals Oxygen Boost Cream - containing vitamin E, brown algae and aqua-boost complex, this cream claims to detoxify skin and banish the effects of pollution from the skin (useful to city-dwellers like myself!)


So those are the moisturisers that I bought from Oriflame! All are 50ml and around the £11 mark, which is slightly more expensive than drugstore brands such as Simple and Garnier, but they're still very affordable! The entire Oriflame range is available online here and is available worldwide.


I do realise that there is more to a skincare regime than moisturisers, and fear not! I have a stash of cleansers and toners ready, but they're for another post, another day because it's getting late! And we all know that a proper night's sleep is a good place to start for a healthy complexion!


Eleanor x

Introduction

Welcome! I have taken the plunge and decided to start a blog! Having just finished my first year at university I have a long summer ahead of me and a lot of time on my hands and thought it might be a nice idea to set up my own corner of the internet! I have also committed myself to make more of an effort with my beauty regime, and thought that setting up a blog might encourage me to keep up with that!

Expect to see posts with my thoughts on products that i try, things that inspire me, and some experimentation!

Eleanor x