Evening Skincare Routine

One of the things I love about reading blog posts is picking up on hints and tips from others. Whether it's a review on a product that I've had my eye on for a while or reading about a way of doing things that I simply hadn't thought about before.

So whilst taking off my make-up a few days back -  I thought why not put together a little "evening skincare routine"? It would be the perfect way to put together a few product reviews along with an in-sight into my little routine.

My evening skin care routine is nothing particularly fancy, doesn't take that long & only contains 3 steps... however I find it's the perfect way to remove my make-up (including stubborn mascara) & leaves my skin feeling perfectly clean.

Step One: 

To help start to take off my make-up I massage Nivea's Daily Essentials Sensitve Cleansing Milk into dry skin & after a few minuets rise off with warm water. I find this helps remove the bulk of my make-up & prepare my skin for using my favourite cleanser.

Now this isn't a product that I would use on it's own - but I find it works perfectly to start breaking down & removing make-up. 

Step Two: 

I then use my Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser by gently massaging it into my damp skin. I always make sure to take extra time to massage this over my eye-lashes as I hate waking up to find random smudges of mascara under my eyes.
I then take the Liz Earle Muslin Cloth, run it under warm water & use it remove any excess make-up. I instantly fell in love with this cleanser from the first use. I honestly find it's the only product that really removes my make-up & leaves my skin feeling properly clean. 

Step Three: 

Finally I gently pour a generous amount of the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic onto cotton wool pad, and sweep across skin. This removes any bits of make-up or dirt that may be straggling behind as well as adding moisturiser to leave skin feeling beautifully soft. Bonus.. This product also smells gorgeous!

& there we have it - clean & make-up free skin!

Although the Liz Earle products are a little more on the pricey side (with the cleanser retailing at around £14.00 for a 100ml pump & the toner retailing at £14.50 for a 200ml bottle) they really are 100% worth the extra pennies. I'd much rather pay a little more & know my skin is being properly cleaned, then purchase a cheaper product & have make-up/day-day dirt left behind. 

If you're interested in trying out any of the Liz Earle products - but aren't sure about spending the higher prices only to find it's not a product for you, miniature products can be purchased online. These are the products featured in the above photos. 

The "Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Pack" can be bought for £6.00. This includes a 30ml tube of cleanser and a Muslin cloth.  In addition to this, a 50ml bottle of the Instant Boost Skin Tonic can be purchased for £6.00. The website states that this is enough product to last one week - however I think this is a massive understatement. With daily use I found this lasted me around 3 weeks, as you really do only need a large pea sized amount. 

Follow the links below to view each of the above products online:
Nivea Cleansing Milk x

Hot Cloth Cleanser x
Instant Boost Skin Tonic x 

After going through many different products, I think I've finally found the perfect evening skin care routine for me. I truly believe this is the best combination of products to leave my skin clean & moisturised. I also can't wait to try other products in the Liz Earle range. 

What's your favourite "evening routine" product?

xxx

Nivea tinted moisturiser - review

If you're living in the UK at the moment, you'll know that we've been having some glorious summer weather. However, as much as I love the summer and hot weather, it can be a bit of a nuisance for us make-up loving girls. Foundation + sweat does not end well (although of course us girls don't sweat properly - everyone knows that!)

So after applying my foundation sparingly the last couple of days and finding that within a few hours my face had almost completely reverted to its original *slightly terrifying haha* pre-foundation state I stumbled across an old friend. This old friend is my Nivea tinted moisturiser. 
If I'm honest, I'd pretty much forgotten about this product until this morning - oops - so upon finding it at the bottom of my make-up bag I decided to see if this could help with my summer-foundation troubles. 

(Please excuse the grubby packaging - 

the poor thing's been buried beneath my other make-up)

I purchased the moisturiser in the shade "natural", which is slightly darker than my natural skin tone, but as I do get a (teeny tiny) bit of a tan throughout the summer months it's not to much of a problem. However - due to this - this probably isn't a product I'd use in the winter months in order to avoid looking like my face had gone on holiday without the rest of my body... which obviously wouldn't be great.

I applied the moisturiser with my Real Techniques Stippling brush (which you can read my review on here if you like) by buffing the product into my skin. I found it had a pretty good coverage considering it's not a foundation, but without feeling too heavy on the skin. Perfect for warmer days. After application, I simply dusted over with a light coverage of setting powder and then added a little bronzer to my cheeks, jaw and hairline before completing the rest of my day to day make-up (eyes, eye-brows etc).

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this product as it lasted well throughout the day - despite me being out and about in the sun - and it felt like my skin was able to breath. Bonus (x2) - this is perfect for dryer skin (which I have) due to the moisturising effect and the product has an SPF 8. Always nice to have some added protection from those nasty UV rays!

Now I know you can purchase light coverage foundations - I have some from Rimmel that I love - but personally I feel this is much nicer on my skin for warmer weather.

This is a perfect alternative if you want some coverage on warm summer days or simply prefer a lighter product compared to a normal foundation.

If you're interested in purchasing the Nivea Tinted Moisturiser, you can purchase it from Superdrug for a lovely low price of £3.59 (remember those NUS cards if you're a student for discount!) or click here to view the product on their website.
I personally purchased mine from the shop Savers (not sure if these can be found through-out the UK or not, but if you have one by you be sure to check it out. It usually has lots of products on offer at cheaper prices and I LOVE it haha!

If anyone else can recommend some perfect foundations/tinted moisturisers/BB creams for summer use, please let me know. I'd love to try something new! 


xxx