Save my Skin! Ft. Una Brennan Superfacialist,Soap& Glory and Superdrug Hot Cloth Cleanser

Recently my skin has not been behaving itself. As someone who has had pretty ok skin for the majority of their teenhood, to suddenly reach mid-20s and have skin issues seems a cruel twist of fate. The problem is mainly focused around the chin and lower half of my face, where there are lots and lots of tiny under the skin bumps that sometimes mutate into larger painful blemishes. The blackheads on my nose have also been getting worse, and my pores seem to be growing larger by the day, with some of them becoming blocked. Sorry if that was too much info!

I've read that imperfections around chin are to do with hormones, but nothing in that department has really changed; I'm on the same pill I've been on for years. I think the excesses of Christmas and all the alcohol and naughty food has really had an affect

So all in all I've not been too happy, and have been trying a number of things to clear my complexion. I think my efforts have in some part actually contributed to my problems, as I started buying products targeted for blemish prone, oily skin, which is not really my skin type. So as well as having blemishes, I started to get random dry patches too. Nightmare!

After doing a bit of reading around, I kept hearing really good things about Una Brennan's Superfacialist range and chose two products.

Superfacialist Rose Miracle Facial Oil- £14.99

After reading on Crunchy Betty's blog all about the oil cleansing method, I knew I wanted to incorporate oil into my routine, but wasn't really up for the faff of sourcing organic oils and making my own blend. Lazy.

The bottle is a tiny 30ml and as you can see I'm starting to get through it (I've had it around 4 weeks). At £14.99, it's neither cheap nor completely unreasonable, though I do wonder why its more expensive than some of the other oils in Una's range; the Vitamin c facial oil is £10.99 for a generous 200ml. Luckily I purchased when it was on offer for about a third off.

I have to say, though I usually enjoy rose scents in bath and beauty products, I'm not overly keen on the scent; though not overpowering, it does have a more medicinal/ herbal edge to it than the typical rose scented product. After 4 weeks of use the dry patches that had developed from over stripping my skin with harsher cleansers have been soothed and my skin is feeling comfortable and hydrated despite the colder weather and central heating.

Superfacialist Tea Flower Pore Purifying Clay Mask-£8.99

I'm still undecided on this face mask. I try to use it at least once a week and its ok... it's a typical clay type mask that dries after 5-10 minutes and leaves skin feeling thoroughly cleansed and soft. My chin area has cleared up slightly, but my pores and blackheads are still getting me down and I was hoping for a more drastic improvement to my blemishes. I will make a concerted effort to stop being slack with my regime and try to use it 2-3 times a week to get a better idea of it.

Superdrug 'Naturally Radiant' Hot Cloth Cleanser

img from Superdrug.com

After reading some reviews, I've also purchased Superdrug's version of a hot cloth cleanser. They do 2- a 'Naturally Radiant' and a 'Vitamin E' version, but I went for the Naturally Radiant as it was on offer for only £2.98. The bottle is 150ml but it seems a lot more, as the cleanser is quite thick and luxurious you only need a very small amount so I can see this lasting a long time. It takes off makeup with ease and leaves skin smooth and soft. I've never used the Liz Earle cleanser, so can't make a comparison, but for the price I purchased Superdrug's for, I'm pretty happy


Soap & Glory 'Clear Here' Moisturiser

To finish up my regime I purchased this moisturiser, mainly being drawn in by the blue box at the top- "Tired of clogged pores, shine, spots and blotches?". These were all the problems I am having so I thought this would be perfect. However, I've now used up the entire tube and have to say I've seen no improvement whatsoever. It also felt slightly sticky on the skin and not moisturising enough for my personal preference, maybe because it is aimed at oily skin, which mine isn't really. I also saw no improvement to my pores or spots, so all in all this has been the least successful product out of the bunch. I'm wondering if it is now discontinued, as I couldn't find it on the Boots website.

What was in your stocking?

So after weeks of anticipation and excitement, it's over :(  Here's a selection of the lovely gifts I received; what did you get? 

(Clockwise from top left: Tangle Teaser, Topshop Lip Cream, 'S' Bracelet, Nail polish stand

(Harry Potter: From Page to Screen, Benefit 'Primping with the stars' kit, Alexa Chung 'It', Kindle Fire HD, a look inside the Benefit kit)

Saving money on online shopping

Since I finished working at Top Man and stopped spending the majority of my time in a shopping centre, physical shopping trips (i.e. actually venturing out of the house to shop) have dramatically decreased. This doesn't mean I've stopped shopping, but rather I tend to do it all online nowadays, particularly as my favourite retailer at the moment happens to be the online-only Missguided. Here are some tips for saving some money when shopping online.

1. Always search for a discount code

img: vouchercodes.co.uk

Before I part with my cash, I always do a quick google search for any discount codes. There are loads of sites that list valid codes, but my favourite is Voucher Codes. They seem to have the most up to date codes and not just widely publicised ones either; recently they listed a 30% off Motel code for at least a week before it was broadcast on Motel's website or emails, and often have random codes that have featured in magazines that you may otherwise miss.

2. Social Media is your friend

img: www.graphicsfuel.com

No brand neglects the power of social media, so I wold recommend following your favourite retailers on twitter, nstagram and Facebook. As well as getting style inspiration and notified about new items on Instagram [thank you, River Island PR], retailers frequently post discount codes on a variety of social media platforms, and I've also seen some ridiculous competitions on offer too.

(FYI: If your panicking about having nothing to wear at the weekend, a lot of sites, particularly Missguided, will offer free Saturday/ Next day delivery on a Friday to encourage you to buy a new outfit for the weekend)

3. Sign up to emails from Money Saving Expert

img: moneysavingexpert.com

The money saving expert site is an absolute gem. The site contains a wealth of information regarding more 'grown up' stuff such as banking, utilities, insurance and mortgages, which for those who have flown the nest and are struggling with the realities of adulthood could be extremely useful. But not only that, it has the latest restaurant, web site and clothing discount vouchers, gives tips on shopping on eBay, has info on consumer rights and far more stuff than I'd be able to capture here. It is pretty overwhelming just how much the website has on it though, so I find that signing up to the weekly email is really worth it. It ensures you get a compacted summary of the most recent and exciting stuff (most surprisingly for me, it has even been including a heads up of what the Boots Star Gift has been week by week)

4. Sign up or create accounts with your favourite retailers

Though a lot of these recommendations involve clogging up your inbox, I do believe that signing up to your favourite e-retailers newsletter's is worth it for offers and discounts that you might otherwise miss. You often get notified about sales early, so you can grab some great bargains before all the decent stuff in suitable sizes sell out. I've also found with 90% of the websites I've signed up to or have an account with will give you a birthday discount too, which is a sweet touch.

5. Look for cheaper alternatives

Though there will always be a place in my heart for Top Shop, without my staff discount it is a wee bit expensive to regularly splash out on. But I do find with the most popular trends you can almost always find a cheaper alternative. Prime example: the pastel cropped fluffy jumpers I was coveting but never got around to buying (fool...)- between £35-£45 at Topshop, £20 at Missguided. Why pay more?

Time Flies...

img: Michelle Kerrigan- Work Place Confidence

Wow. 9 months since blogging. I wish I could say that the reason for this was because I was off having a fabulous time doing fabulous things with no time to blog, but this would be a lie.

 Since finishing Uni and moving back home, reality has kicked in somewhat. Now I’m  close to  24, rather than enjoying life, I am overanalysing life. Thinking, when am I going to move out, (and more importantly, where  am I going to move to?), what am I going to do with my life? Moving back in with your parents is no picnic either after the freedom of uni life.

 Now I was lucky that not long after quitting my retail job and looking for a ‘proper’ job, I found one. I am enjoying it and the people are wonderful, but I’d be lying if I said it was my life’s passion. I’m quite a creative person and I would love to do something that stokes that side of me. But with the economy and the job market being what it is, I was thankful merely even to get a full time job. I felt like I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, when trying to get into the sort of industry that I’d like would likely mean months, maybe even years of starting at the bottom, interning for free, and an expensive commute to London.

So to satisfy my creative desires, I thought I’d give blogging another go. I may not have a fancy camera or a tripod, or a bottomless bank account (or probably anything interesting to say!) but I enjoyed doing it and maybe it will give me the impetus to grab life by the balls and start making something of it

x-Siobhan-x

Bits and bobs

When I picked up the OPI dupes from Primark (see this post) I also treated myself to a few other bits and pieces

4x Primark Nail polishes, £2: probably didn't really need these, but I thought the purple was a really interesting colour that I don't have in my collection, and the true orange on the end is also one missing from my stash.

All the colours were really bright and opaque in 2 coats...perfect summer nails.


2x Barry M Gelly Nails, 2 for £6 in Superdrug: Though these have been around a little while, none of the previous colours appealed to me at all. So it was only with the new releases that I decided to invest in a couple. I've seen the turquoise (Green berry) on a few blogs and loved it, and I always love a good neutral shade (Lychee).

Frilly socks, £1.50, and scrunchies, £1: a 90s revival at Primark! I have exactly the same socks from Top Shop, which cost £3.50 (booo!) so I picked up two black pairs in Primark. They also had white ones and grey with cream lace, which I'm regretting not buying now... Not sure if the scrunchies will be a bit too hipster for me, but as they were only a pound for three won't be the end of the world if they don't get worn.

Models Own Ice Neon...what do you think?

I was just recently saying how I was waiting impatiently for the announcement of  Models Own's new season collection, as the last four have been wonderful (Wonderland, Mirrorball, Beetlejuice, and Hed Kandi). And then it was announced: Ice Neon! 

Hmm. For some reason, I didn't feel as excited as I have for the previous collections. I'm going to have to try them out for myself to see because though I've been loving neon, I'm not sure about the neon yellow, and I've tried neon pink on my nails before and it  really hasn't suited my skin tone. Maybe I'll just have to do some extreme tanning. Intrigued by how the green and purple will turn out, as you don't often see neon purple. Think I'd be a bit more excited about this if they were more like pastel neon shades, if that makes sense? Like the colours that amazing beauty store born pretty does (see here to understand what I'm waffling on about)


It launches at Boots on the 22nd March, though as they're supposed to be refrigerated to keep their brightness, I'm wondering how they will do this? Or is it all just a big gimmick?

What do you think of the new collection? Are you excited? 

Primark OPI Minnie Mouse dupes

Picked up a few bits from Primark the other day but thought these deserved a post. I saw this four pack of nail polish and thought no, I really don't need any more polish. But then, I couldn't remember the last time I bought a new one so I just went for it! Especially when I took a closer look and the colours and realised 'OMG OPI Minnie Mouse dupes!'

Primark vs OPI (OPI picture from shefindsit.com )

Obviously for £2 they're not gonna be on par with OPI, but after swatching them I was quite impressed.

From left to right:

Polish One: This was a deep pink polish with a shimmer to it. I don't usually go for shimmer or pearl finish polishes, preferring opaque block colours, but because of the hot pink colour I think this would look great on some talon-like nails. It did take three coats for full coverage but the drying time was surprisingly quick

Polish Two: This was the worst out of the bunch. It had barely any colour, a mere hint of golden-pink shimmer, and was very difficult to pick up any of the hearts with the polish brush as they just kept sinking through the polish. Though I think the golden shimmer could look nice layered up over one of the other polishes. I've heard various complaints about the real OPI one too with regard to getting the hearts out, so maybe this isn't just Primark's fault but a general problem with larger glitter shapes.

Polish Three: Loved this one- a bright almost neon pinky-red. Again this went on quite sheer, but once three coats were layered up it was a lovely bright pink, again one that'd look great on some serious nails (and with a tan)

Polish Four: I've been after a baby pink polish for a while, but could never find one that was quite right (as in opaque, pink but not pastel and girly, one that packed a punch). I loved this one from the four, as it was more opaque in colour, only needing two coats and was the perfect shade of pink. 

So out of the four, two I loved, one I was surprised I liked and one was a du. For £2, I don't think that's bad at all! :)

I'm back!

It has been a bit quiet on here recently but I have a reason! Have spent the last week in Switzerland with my boyfriend who's currently interning there. And as soon as I got back was back to working full time. But I shall try to resume posting ASAP (though I really need an assistant/ tripod to actually get some outfit photos done!)

 

Bourjois Rouge edition lipsticks

As with most new releases, these have been doing the rounds on the blogosphere and thought I'd add my two cents to the mix.

I picked up two shades- Rouge buzz (orange-red) and Rose Neon (pink) after falling in love with the colours when I swatched them instore. And with a buy one, get one half price deal in Boots...why not, eh? :)

Rouge Buzz

I was a bit annoyed when I first got this out at home, as in store I thought it was more orange toned (which is what I wanted),but at home just looked pretty red.  However, once I'd  applied it and looked at it in different lights I really am starting to love this shade. It has intense colour in one swipe, and doesn't look too glossy 

Rose Neon

I loved this when swatched, but when I applied it at home I realised this really isn't the colour for me! It's too cool toned and 'Barbie' pink, which can be a good look, but I think the glossy finish on this put me off a lot. The colour was a lot sheerer than Rouge Buzz, meaning more coats had to be applied and resulting in a really glossy finish, as you can see in the close up shot. I haven't had much luck with pink lipsticks at all [see this post on Models Own Pink Hawaiian], maybe I should stick to reds! 

You can see how glossy this one is here

As a recent convert to lipstick, for me it's really important that a lipstick is easy to apply and doesn't smear too easily, as I'm still not so used to wearing it and don't wanna end up with it all over my face! Found it a bit strange that these two seemed quite different in their application. Though they both glided with ease, I found Rouge Buzz much more wearable as one coat resulted in great colour, whereas with Rose Neon i felt like I had to keep applying to get a good level of colour. This meant it felt quite heavy and almost sticky on my lips due to the number of coats.

 I definitely prefer the look of matte lipsticks, but Rouge Buzz did not have too much of a high shine finish and meant the lips felt hydrated rather than dry and cakey like matte lipsticks can leave your lips feeling. They both faded pretty evenly too so you are left with a light colour staining the lips rather than patches of colour all over.

I'm not sure about the 'groupings' of the lipsticks into colour families (I just went for the colours my eye was drawn to), but there seems to be variety in that there some neutral shades, brights like these two, and deeper colours for evening glamour. So there's something for everyone :)

Have you tried these yet?

Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail treatment

Despite being an avid nail art fan, I really don't take very good care of my nails. They're brittle and never get too long, because as soon as they get any sort of length they bend and snap. They were an uneven mess and all different lengths so thought I may as well snip them all the same length and start again. Giving me the perfect opportunity to test out this:

I didn't really know what sort of nail growth product to go for, but as Sally Hansen is such a well established nail brand (and it was under a fiver) I thought I'd go for it. This is to be applied every day which meant bare nails for me for a week, but it left them looking glossy and polished, like a good top coat. I've been using this fairly frequently (though perhaps not every day as they advise) but my nails have certainly grown a lot more than they usually do, and seem stronger too. I found it kind of hard to capture in photos, but basically I went to having almost no white tip on my nails (as I cut them all off to start again) to having an even length white tip on all my nails (long enough to do a french manicure on, let's say)

There's another Sally Hansen growth product that's a tad more expensive (nearer the ten pound mark) but promises even greater results (30% longer tips in five days). This is also tempting me, but for under a fiver I was  pleased with the results of this one and looking forward to getting back to nail art :)

Birthday outift

So today's my birthday :) Not got any major plans for it, just having my girls round for cocktails before heading into my local town. So not a super dressy outfit; my fail-safe disco pants, Ant boots, and new crop top which was a bargainous £10 from Top Shop. 

Top: Topshop

Jacket: Topshop avaitor jacket (old)

Trousers: American Apparel Disco Pants

Boots: Topshop 'Ant' (see this post)

OOTD: Fur and Jewels

Working for Top Shop/ Top Man, I have to represent the brand, which means getting pretty dressed up just for work. It can be a struggle trying to find something to wear everyday, so I tend to jazz up an outfit with accessories. I got this fur stole in Select for a mere fiver and over winter it pretty much never leaves my shoulders. The bejewelled necklace also brightens up any outfit, and was £6 from Primark. 

Jumper: Top Shop

Stole: Select (old)

Disco Pants: American Apparel

Boots: Top Shop

Bargain Creepers

I'm still undecided about creepers...when they cropped up a few years ago I HATED them. But the more and more I see them they've started to grow on me. I don't like to think of myself as a fashion lemming, only wearing things because other people do. For me, it's not about wearing things because they're 'in fashion', it's more the fact of seeing others wearing more 'out there' fashion choices gives me the confidence to choose things I might not have done a few year's ago for fear of being different. 


Anyway, babbling aside, these were a bargainous £12 from trusty Primark, so even if I bottle it and hardly wear them I won't feel too guilty about it. And I've already had several comments about them, people assuming they are the £95 Office ones :)

Bit scuffed and dirty already :p

I wore these for a 9hr shift at work and had minimal foot ache, which is always a bonus. The only thing I found a bit odd with them was although I bought my normal size, they felt like they were slipping a bit even though my toes were quite near the end. But once I did the laces up tight enough they were fine. 

Was really impressed when I went into Primark. It can be very hit and miss, but  was a definite hit this time! I also got some pairs of frilly ankle socks (half the price of the Topshops ones), as well as two long sleeve crop tops to go under my dungaree dress [outfit posts to come soon], £3.50 vs Topshops £10 ones. There was also lots of lovely midi skirts and dresses and shoes, but being on a spending ban I tried to restrain myself

What do you think of creepers?

NOTD: floral stickers + polka dots

I tend to do a floral and polka dot combo quite a lot, but changed it up a bit using these 3D nail stickers my sister got me a while ago. 

Colours used: Model's Own Lemon Meringue and Bloo Bloo

With flash

I'm running low on these stickers and I really like them, pretty sure they're from Ebay, but I've been struggling to find them. Will have to ask my sis