GinZinging your eyes out for spring

I think we can all agree that spring has now sprung! 
I mean, I feel like I may  have tanned during this past bank holiday.
What I also think we can agree on is that spring really makes you want to have a fresh, happy looking face. Whilst this is the dream, sometimes that's not the default face you wake up with.
In my case, I tend to wake up in the morning having slightly puffy and dark under eye areas. I'm assuming its genetics mixed with not always sleeping like a baby or as much as a baby would.
But I'm happy to say that for the past 5 months I've been testing the bejeezus out of the following eye cream and can throw some conclusions at you.

Origins has created some of my absolute favourite things, like the life saving overnight hydrating mask that I've mentioned here and in a lot of other posts you can find by checking the  "origins" tag in this post.
 
But this is definitely the reason why I tend to trust them when it comes to skincare.
Now, I am aware that my dark circles are persistent little fellows and while this cream promises to make a real difference in reducing the appearance of the shadows, I was not expecting miracles.
But I have to tell you, once you actually apply this under your eyes, the dark becomes light. You have no idea how impressed I was when it happened! I had tried a number of other creams and serums meant to make your eyes look more awake, but none of them actually made the difference that this has.
I can always rely on it, even on those awful mornings when my eyes sting and present me with new shades of red.
And I'd like to think that after almost half a year of using it, I can confidently say that. One more thing I was thrilled by, was the fact that the tiny pot that I got while buying the GinZing face cream, and which contains around 15g of product, has lasted me for all this time.
In all fairness, eye creams should be used in smaller quantities, but the effectiveness that is concentrated in this, is quite thrilling!

So if you need something to make you look fresh and happy, this is the little pot for you!




                    You can also Follow on * Bloglovin *  Twitter * Facebook *  

The Battle Of The Cleansers

It's been a while, hasn't it? What I can tell you is that since last time, a lot of cleansing has been perfected so I thought it was only fitting to offer a lineup of my favourites.

I am still on the lookout for the ultimate cleanser but I think we're getting a bit closer. Each of these has one quality that stands out and if someone would make one big product out of these, I'd be forever happy:

The Smooth Operator: Ekia Cleansing Oil

This one took some getting used to. In the beginning it kinda never really foamed and I felt like it was somewhat useless. Then I figured out that "damp" skin, literally means skin with just VERY VERY little water on it. Basically, you'd better go rub it on your dry skin, as it works much better. After that just add some water and see it be magical. It becomes oil and makes your skin feel so beautifully soft! And of course, your skin doesn't even remember to feel dry. The ultimate test comes when eye makeup is involved and it passed it with flying colours!


The Organic Bliss: Antipodes Hallelujah Lime and Patchouli Cleanser

This one is the winner in the "so organic and natural and beautiful I could die!"category. Just for the Patchouli I would tell anyone to go for it! When I first got it, I used it on and off but it always leaves my skin feeling so healthy and glowing. It's obviously less hydrating than the oil, but ingredient-wise it is unbeatable. And you can basically shovel it in your eyes and will not get any bad reaction. I tell you this because I sometimes "misplace" cleanser in the inner corners of my eyes quite efficiently and feel like screaming if it burns. But none of these three have any burning effect, which is something I am extremely grateful for.
What I will say is that this cleanser is the one that is more for actual cleansing (aka cleaning your skin of impurities very well) and a bit less for removing makeup layers.


The Best of Both Worlds: Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Cleanser

Out of all of them, nothing can really beat Burt in terms of price/quality ratio. While all 3 have really great natural ingredients and do a great cleansing job, the two I mentioned above are somewhere between 18 and 25£ while Burt's Bees gorgeous cleanser will rob you of exactly 9.98£.
It also has the creamiest consistency and in all fairness, it might actually be the most hydrating. (In case the name didn't give it away).
Since I am a big fan of creamy cleansers, this one is right up my alley. It's a super thick soufflé that just makes any makeup melt away.

I used to also add a micellar water to my cleansing routine, but Burt's Bees has made sure that there is absolutely no need for that anymore. 


How about you? What's your cleansing preference?




                                You can also Follow on * Bloglovin *  Twitter * Facebook *  

Review | Burt's Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser

Last week I posted about How I Clean My Face and in that post, I think you could already sense my serious love for the cleanser I am about to show you. I can only say, my adoration has grown since.

                          
What makes me go buy Burt's Bees over and over again are definitely the ingredients. I'm a huge fan of brands that keep it clean and select natural and/or organic ingredients for their products because you only get one skin, why would you not be as careful as you can be with it?

THE PROs

Perfect for dry skin! I have seriously dry skin and gel cleansers and cleansers in general are not my best friends but this is the only time in the entirety of my existence where I have used a GEL cleanser that has left my skin moisturized and clean! I mean...that's almost impossible and yet here we are!

The cleansing it does is definitely great cleansing. As I mentioned in the "How I Clean My Face" post, I prefer to reduce the rubbing to a minimum, especially around the eyes, so that means I will first take off my eye make-up before using this cleanser.  In all fairness though, this thing removes even that if necessary.

I am completely in like with the smell! It smells natural, it smells unprocessed and unaltered so that it corresponds to some not necessary fragrant wish people might have. It smells like the ingredients, obviously like orange also. It's so great to put something on your face that doesn't smell fake.

Ingredients! I will leave you with a picture of them,  you can see how magnificent this ingredient list looks:

Another thing that makes me feel completely happy and giddy is the fact that I can feel the orange oil on my skin after cleansing. And let me tell you, orange oil is great for a number of things, like increasing the production of collagen and stimulating circulation. By stimulating circulation, not only will you look healthier, but that saggy, sad, tired feeling and look to your skin will be gone.It also sooths dry and irritated skin and does great things to acne prone complexions.

As far as cleansers go, this particular one comes at a pretty great price. On Feelunique.com you can get it for around 10 Euros and last time I've seen this was at the Whole Foods Piccadilly in London for around 10£. Not sure if you know this or not, but the Whole Foods at the Piccadilly Square has an upstairs filled with beauty. Definitely one of my favorite places to roam.

Here is what the actual gel looks like, pretty much a thick gel that you can apply on damp skin.

THE CONs

Let's not be ridiculous here, there is no con to this cleanser.



THE VERDICT

Magnificent! Definitely a keeper and a proud resident of my Holy Grail basket. It does a great job at cleansing, is super considerate to your skin and it leaves it in a state of supreme content. I say go for it if you have the chance!






                                    You can also Follow on * Bloglovin *  Twitter * Facebook *  

How I Clean My Face

I think all of us have gone through some testing phases until getting to the revelatory point where the cleansing routine has been satisfyingly settled.
Well, my experiment phase seems to have lasted until a couple weeks ago, when many wonderful pieces came together and formed : The Face Cleansing Routine

And with this I'm excluding the part where I remove my eye make-up and throw some micellar water on to be sure all is gone. I know many cleansers say they take off waterproof make-up and all, but I prefer to reduce the rubbing to a minimum, especially around my eyes. That's why I use an efficient removed for that area and then get into the real cleaning with other things so that my skin is breathing happily.

For the record, I do this routine mostly in the evening because my skin is quite good and doesn't need excessive cleansing.  I do sometimes use the Moa Balm under my BB cream in the morning tho, to replace the face oil when I want to change it up a bit.

Here we go then:

The Burt's Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser has got to be the best cleanser I have ever tried. As opposed to most cleansers, this thing actually has a real amount of orange oil and it was the first time in my life that after using a cleanser, I felt my skin still be a bit oily. And this is a  gel cleanser, so for the fact that it is so great for dry skin, it gets all the points from me.Not to mention that it also removes make-up effectively, but like I said, I prefer less scrubbing in order to get that one off. 

When I want my skin to feel squeaky clean I will opt for Good Things Fresh Start cleanser. This one doesn't dry out the face, but you feel that it has been cleansed and that you best add some extra moisture to it. Does a great job nevertheless.

Once or twice a week, I also go for the Burt's Bees Peach and Willow Bark Deep Pore Scrub simply because I want to clean things as deep as I can.The surface is a good place to start, but in order to keep the surface happy,you need to make sure the deeper layers are also content. What I completely adore about it is the fact that is has actual peach kernel pieces through it,which do the scrubbing.

And last but not least, my absolute favorite, the Moa Balm. If I were to chose one thing that can do all the cleansing from start to finish and moisturize, it is this product. Basically, it can take your make-up off, even better than the Burt's Bees cleanser actually, it cleans your pores (it is great for acne prone skin) and it moisturizes with its mix of oils.


What are your cleansing favorites?Have you tried any of these?




                                   You can also Follow on * Bloglovin *  Twitter * Facebook *  

Florex Sheepmilk Tinted Moisturizer

Well it's autumn, no denying that anymore.

That also means the sun has left the building so we might all be getting a bit paler by the day now. This is why, tinted moisturizers start to be a perfect pick.

I don't ever use foundation, but in autumn and winter I look a bit less than healthy and that's why I always use this.

It's important to moisturize your skin and especially your face when temperatures drop and the wind starts getting more and increasingly persistent.

This little cream is my absolute favorite! 
It combines  the goodness of a sheep milk moisturizer with the life saving properties of that extra color in your face when you start looking less than awesome.

I've accidentally found it one winter and it's made by Florex, an austrian company that specializes in sheep milk and sheep protein products of the best quality.

I also have to say, I really like the packaging!
I think it really fits well with the color of the actual moisturizer and the gold gives it the matching glow.

This is the color I use. It's Shade 2 as far as I know and you can see its color here.
When I first saw it, I was pretty unsure it wouldn't make me look like a self tanning experiment gone wrong.
But I was way off with that, it blended in perfectly and it just left a healthy glow behind.

As you can see below, you get a really nice glow from it, and no weird marks. It blends in perfectly and your skin absorbs it without a problem.

Left is without any cream                                            Right is with the moisturizer 

It really takes a lot for a facial product to convince me and for me to want to put it on my face, but this one I've been using for more than two autumn/winter seasons and I'm going into the third as we speak.

If you have any questions regarding where you can get this cream,let me know and I'll do my best to help you find a place near you.

What do you use in the cold season? Any products you only use then? And have you ever tried tinted moisturizers?






                             You can also Follow on * Twitter * Facebook * Bloglovin *