My Current Spot Saviours

Recently my skin has been playing up a lot and you guys know how difficult it is to actually pin point why it's happening, and it's probably just having a moment. A moment with a face full of spots though feels like a lifetime. For the past couple of weeks I've been getting patches of spots, especially on my chin and they're those horrible under the skin ones which are just bloody painful. Unfortunately there's not much you can do about those under the skin ones, other than to try and soothe it and get it out from under the skin somehow. These four products pictured are what I've been using, in attempt, to try and save my skin. Just look at how they colour coordinate together in these pictures, that makes me happy *loser*.

First the Garnier Pure Active Anti-Spot Exfoliating Scrub which I have been using every other day since I purchased it. I have really been enjoying this product, it's really quite invigorating but I like that as it feels as if you're really getting to work on those spots. After using this my face feels squeaky clean and ready for either the rest of my morning or evening routine, depending on when I use this product. Next the Boots Skin Clear Ultra Rapid Action Spot Gel which is a relatively new product I've been using but I always like to have a spot gel on my bedside table. I haven't tried this one before and it was on offer recently at Boots so I thought I'd give it a go. It's in a squeezy tube with a thin nozzle so it's really easy to determine how much product you get out. I wouldn't say this is my most favourite spot gel but it's not the worst. It helps soothe and calm down the redness of angry spots which I like and I make sure I apply this every evening before bed.

A slightly more expensive product I love is the Malin & Goetz 10% sulfur paste which I've had for quite some time now. It's definitely on it's last legs, as it's now quite dry, however I love this product. I use a cotton bud to apply this to those big, nasty spots before going to bed. This isn't really a day time spot get as it leaves a white residue on your face for quite sometime before sinking in. This really helps reduce the size of the spot and also helps to soothe. I like to use this product on my bigger spots and the spot gel on smaller ones. Finally Sudocrem Skin Care Cream which was previously sent to me and I have previously written about. Using Sudocrem on spots is just a cult beauty hack that everybody should know. This particular version is aimed slightly more at spots and is just a really soothing product. I either apply this and really rub it in or apply it in the evenings, but don't rub it in and let it sink in over night. Sometime I do a face mask in this product as it just generally helps your skin in several ways.

There's the four products I've been religiously using for the past few weeks to try and sort my face out! I'm going to touch wood now but I do think it is working and my skin is clearing up which is fab. Let me know your favourite cult spot saviours in the comments as I'd love to try them, if I haven't already!

Disappointing Products #5

I recently ran out of my Clearasil spot pads (not the correct name but I've forgotten!) so whilst in Superdrug I saw these ones, for a fraction of the price, so thought I would give them a go. I do love my Clearasil ones but when you use them twice a day, they do disappear quickly therefore can be expensive to keep repurchasing. Hence why I thought I would give these ones a go due to mainly the price tag but they do claim pretty much the same thing.

The first day I started using these I wasn't impressed, now with only a few pads left, my opinion hasn't changed. I first opened these and the top pad was pretty much dry. These pads are supposed to be soaked in whatever formula is in the tub, I understand the top one may be difficult to keep soaked in, but for it to be dry I was disappointed in. As I carried on using these, they did start to become more wet, therefore soaked in product, but only after using the top few.

I've been using these twice a day ever since I picked them up and can say that I haven't noticed a huge difference in my skin. These are supposed to clear and refresh your complexion, I can't say I haven't noticed any difference but if any it's very slight. The tea tree scent I personally find very refreshing anyway, so I think the scent of these pads more than the formula is what I prefer, especially in the mornings. In terms of a clear complexion, my skin has been relatively clear recently but I'm not entirely convinced that it's down to this product.

Overall I have enjoyed using these more in the morning but I can say that I wouldn't repurchase this product. The Clearasil ones are 10 times better than these so I will definitely stick to what I know next time. Although you know me, I do like to try out a variety of products before settling my decision. Let me know if you've tried this product and your thoughts on it :-)

Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Spot Wand

Another blemish/spot product I hear you say, well yes but I had actually ran out so this purchase was necessary. Although I feel I went into a bit of shock as I had run out so I now have three, just in case. I believe this product is actually a blast from my past as I remember using this back when I was a teenager. But recently a friend was talking about this exact product and it made me want to try it all over again.

Firstly I love the concept of this product, the fact that it has a day and a night feature appeals to me. It makes it a really easy product for travelling or just popping into your handbag when you feel like you might need it. This has doe foot applicators on both ends which make it easy to apply as you can apply the product right onto the spot easily. As you can probably tell from the name of this product it does have a tea tree scent but it's really not overpowering. Yes you can smell it but it quickly disappears and like I said not strong at all.

I have really been enjoying using this spot wand and I have seen a difference in the appearance of my spots. I find this works better on the smaller spots that I appear and maybe not on those pesky, huge ones. On application this can sometimes make my spots tingle, as most spot products do, but as I've said in previous posts I feel like this means it's working in some way. I find that you can easily apply this over your make up, obviously using the day end, and it works plus doesn't ruin your make up either. The night end is a lot more creamy and I am really impressed with the results when I wake up in the morning.

One downside is the fact that this product doesn't last very long, especially if you're going to be using it everyday. Although on the other hand it is a really cheap spot product, priced at only £3.59. So there are definitely pros and cons of this product, as there are with most, but I would definitely recommend this one.

Overall this is a perfectly good product which really does help with those smaller spots. If you haven't tried this spot gel then I would definitely recommend it. I know not all spot gels work the same for everyone but this one is cheap so not much is too wasted if it doesn't work for you. Let me know if you've tried this product before and if you haven't you can check it out here from Boots :-)

Origins Super Spot Remover

I've actually had this product for a really long time and it wasn't until recently that I realised I had never written a blog post about it before. This was a product that I had wanted to get my hands on for a very long time and I then splurged my Boots points to buy it. For a spot remover gel I do find it expensive as I believe it is £13 and I must admit to begin with I was like woah, this pot is tiny! I will tell you now, a little does go a long way.

So yes this is a small 10ml squeezy tube which to begin with I was like, seriously? £13 for this teeny tiny tube? But as I mentioned a little goes a long way and you can see how little I have used already, and I've had this for quite some time now. Around the time I purchased this product it was being absolutely raved about in the blogging community which was what made me buy it in the end. I believe this product is still raved about a lot as one of the best spot gels.

I use this most evenings, especially when I have larger spots as I find this product to work better on those kind of spots. You know those huge, red pesky things and also the ones that hurt. I find this spot gel super soothing hence why I think this works so well on the larger, more painful ones. Once applied this is cooling and then it sets pretty quickly on the spot. Once it has dried it does do the standard "make my spot area really stiff" thing, which can be seen as annoying but I do get that feeling that it's actually working because of this.

In the morning, after using this product, I find my spot(s) to have reduced in redness and 9 times out of 10 are not painful anymore. The look of the spot just makes me feel less paranoid about them in general, which is such a huge thing when you suffer with spot prone skin. I can find that this product dries out spots but not all the time which I know sounds weird. But if this is the case and a spot is dried out after using this product then the following night I will just make sure to not use this product again on that particular spot.

Overall this is a great spot gel for those huge, red spots that you just can't get rid of, this product is definitely a saviour for that! Yes it is expensive but in my eyes it is definitely worth it and if you can save your Boots points up then why not spend it on this product. Let me know your thoughts if you've tried this product :-)

Witch Overnight Clearing Serum

I've been pretty loyal to the Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum for quite some time but when this Witch one came out recently I couldn't help but pick it up considering I had just used up my Freederm one. This was recently on offer in Boots for around £4 which was a bit cheaper than the Freederm one so I couldn't help but give it a go.

Witch say "Witch Overnight Clearing Serum is designed to help reduce the appearance of blemishes and spots while helping to prevent future break outs. Your skin is visibly hydrated and looks more radiant and clear." I've previously used other products from Witch and have loved them so was really excited to give this one a go. The claims Witch make were exactly what I was after taking into consideration my blemishes, oily t zone and dry patches.

I apply this product last thing at night before my head hits the pillow and I'm asleep. The consistency is a light serum/cream and doesn't take long at all to settle into the skin. The pump makes it super easy to know how much product to apply to the skin and this product does go a long way. I find that I don't even need a full pump for it to cover my entire face. Due to the light consistency it doesn't feel heavy on the skin which is the last thing you want before going to sleep. It doesn't leave my skin feeling tight or irritate my current blemishes which I have found can sometimes happen with other blemish products.

I've been using this product most nights ever since I purchased and can say that I have seen results. I find this product dries up my blemishes and reduces the redness of them overnight. I can't say that the actual appearance of my blemishes are reduced but it does change the look of them in some way. The blemishes are still visible, and I know this product isn't going to clear them up completely, but they look better than they did the night before applying this product. They have dried out which is an annoying stage of blemishes but a stage in the right direction of getting rid of them. I can't say I agree with the claim about looking more radiant and only slightly agree with the hydration. On application the serum feels hydrating but come the morning I find that it's disappeared and where I have dry patches it doesn't help that out a lot. Not to say that it completely doesn't work, because it does, it just only hydrates for a short period of time.

Overall this is a great, cheaper alternative to the Freederm serum but if it was a toss up between the two I think I would opt for the Freederm one. However I will continue to enjoy this product and use it up as I am enjoying using it. If you've tried this product or any similar then leave the links below and let me know what they are :-)

Review: Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum

You know me, here I am again with another skin care product to help with those pesky blemishes that we all suffer from (unless you're super duper lucky). If you didn't know already then I am always keeping my eye out for new skin care products that help keep my skin calm and as spot free as possible. The search seems never ending and although I've found some lovely products I still don't believe that I have found THE product that solves all my problems. So hence why my search continues...

Recently in all the magazines scattered across the staff room table I had seen endless adverts for this particular product. I had searched the internet, my local Boots and Superdrug stores but nothing. Until one day when I had pretty much forgotten about it, I went to my sisters local Superdrug and found it! And it was also on offer, yes it's the Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum. I believe the original price for this is around £7, when I picked it up it was around £4 so a bargain.

I've been using this religiously now ever since I purchased it around 3 weeks ago now and have absolutely been loving it. It claims to 'help reduce spot size and restore healthy skin texture while visibly reducing redness' and it works whilst you sleep. So I've been keeping this on my bedside table and been applying it just before I doze off. It also says for best results apply in small light upward motions so that's what I've been doing and I can say that I have noticed a difference in my skin.

The consistency of this product isn't thick, but can take a few moments so settle into the skin so there's no applying and then losing your head in the pillow straight away but it doesn't take too long. There is a pump which is always a winner so there's no over doing the amount you need for your face. It feels moisturising on the skin and unlike most other blemish products it doesn't make your skin feel tight. The first night I used this I remember getting up the next morning and heading straight for the mirror to see the results and I was pleasantly surprised! The spots I had had reduced in size and the redness had nearly completely disappeared. As much as a spot is just a pain in the back side to begin with I find the redness the hardest part to then cover up and venture out of my bedroom (unless you have a mahusive zit that's just not workable) so the fact that this really helped with redness I was pretty much instantly in love.

I've been using this for around 3 weeks now every night and I can say that I still love it. I also find that some blemish products start off working amazingly and then after many uses it drops and they just seem to not work anymore. But this product doesn't have that and, although this product doesn't stop spots from appearing, when they decide to pop up I know that night at least the redness of the spot will go down.

I definitely recommend this product and all others within the Freederm range as they are aimed at blemish prone skin and have some other amazing products! And I believe I will definitely be repurchasing this product in the future :)

Have you tried anything from Freederm? What were your thoughts?

Beauty Haul

A couple of days ago I went into Boots knowingly that they had a 3 for 2 offer on make up and also knowingly which three make up items I wanted to pick up. I arrived early to work so thought it would be easier to go in the morning, it was around 8:30am, rather than on my lunch as it's the dreaded Easter holidays meaning little kids galore. It was lovely and peaceful BUT two of the three items I wanted to collect were out of stock BUT I somehow still managed to do a 3 for 2 (us beauty bloggers seem to have that knack) so I thought I would show you the bits I picked up.

Firstly I was stood staring at the Revlon stand at these gorgeous nail art duos. I picked up the one called 'Moon Candy'. Now the idea of these nail varnishes are you use the solid colour, in my case black, as the under coat and then apply the glitter top coat. So I needed a new black nail varnish and I love glitter polishes, they are my two reasons for picking this item up, oh and the fact that it's totally awesome. There were so many different colour combinations to choose from I could have gone crazy! Also I had never seen these before so I was totally intrigued to try one myself.

I jumped on the lip butter bandwagon. I'm never usually a girl who wears lipstick in any form but since reading sooo many reviews and hearing people rave about these lip butters I just thought I had to try one. I swatched so many on my hand it was covered but I went for the shade 'Pink Lemonade'. It's a lovely pink shade and relatively sheer, to be honest when I swatched it, it seemed more pigmented than it is on the lips but I didn't want a fully pigmented colour as like I said I never wear lipstick so need to get used to myself wearing it. With that in mind I thought this colour would do the job, only time will tell.

In the same trip I think I also jumped on a different bandwagon, the Barry M gelly nail varnishes. Now I'm a lover of nail varnishes so I couldn't believe I hadn't already picked one of these up but whenever I went to the Barry M counter there only ever seemed to be the colours left that I didn't want to try. Now when I went this time there still were barely any on the shelves but I managed to find myself this colour, which I love. It's in the colour 'Lychee' which is a lovely beige nude and I simply wanted this colour because I don't have any others like it in my collection (that I can remember)

Finally from Boots, just as a small additional product, I picked up the Witch blemish stick. The night before I read a really good review on this product and I'm always on the look out for a new blemish treatment to fight pesky spots so when I read that this one was only £2 odd then I definitely wanted to try it myself. The packaging is rather sweet and easy to carry around for applications throughout the day, I've already started using this so fingers crossed for good results!

Whoops....So after going to Boots the next day I then went into Superdrug and ended up with another bag full. So I thought it might be nice to make this post slightly larger and do more of a beauty haul.  I only really went into Superdrug for one thing but ended up with four and I just want to express how many different offers they had on in there!! Omg literally nearly everything had money off and all the things I got were £3 and under! I definitely suggest you head down if you're interested in anything.

Anyway literally for the past week or so every now and then I've popped into my local Superdrug to see if they have the MUA Undress Me Too palette in stock and every time until yesterday they hadn't. But yesterday they were fully restocked and I couldn't have been happier. The colours in it look amazing and it's only really recently that I've been getting into eyeshadow and the real way to apply it, thank god for Pinterest! Ha ha, the colours in this palette just seemed like your everyday favourites but then a few added in for more going out colours which I love. I honestly cannot wait to try this out :)

I then got the Superdrug brightening hot cloth cleanser, I have never tried a hot cloth cleanser but have always seen raves about the Liz Earle one so instead of taking the plunge with that one I thought this one would be a great starting point to see if I get on well with it. It comes with it's own muslin cloth and the cleanser is actually a pretty large sized bottle.

Then I picked up the Clearasil rapid action pads which I have reviewed fully here. Before I picked them up for around £4 which I thought was good then as they were still on offer from around £5 but then I saw them in Superdrug for only around £2.50 which I thought was a steal so just had to have them. I think they're really handy for those pesky spots so can't wait to start using these again.

Finally I got some coconut oil, I again only saw this reviewed the other day but they said they loved it and I had also seen it in a magazine so I thought it would be worth a try. As much as I try not to put any heat on my hair other than hair drying these days the ends of my hair still feel dry and I've heard that coconut oil can help that. I believe there are many different ways in which coconut oil can be used so I may just have to have a little more of an in depth read but I'm excited to see the outcome!

So my 'small' beauty haul turned into a rather large one and I apologise for the pictures not being taken together, I had originally taken the pictures just from Boots and uploaded those then thought I'd add on Superdrug as well! I hope you enjoy reading and I'm sure I will do some more in depth reviews as time goes on and I've fully used the products. Hope you're all having a good week! xp

Clearasil Rapid Action Pads Review

It's been a mad week back at work after having a week off for my birthday. The week off went way too quickly and to be honest I totally could have done with another week off but hey! I have the privilege of having a Saturday off, which when working in Retail seems very rare. So I thought I would finally write up this post for you.

I picked up this product after having a crisis break out of spots a few weeks back. One reason being I just wanted to try new products to try and control my spots and two because these were on offer so thought I'd give them a whirl. I've tried Clearasil products before and have loved how they worked so I had my hopes up for these. I got these from Tesco and I believe they were around £4 reduced from around £7. They are basically little pads that you wipe over a cleansed face every morning and evening. It then claims that your spots should reduce in size and redness within 4 hours. These are just so easy to use!

So I've been using them for a few weeks now, every morning and before I go to bed and I really do love them! I believe they really have helped reduce my spots and helped stop other occurring spots. My skin is very spot/blemish prone so I'm always on the look out for a new spot treatment in order to find the best option possible. This one comes pretty close but I'm still hunting. When I apply this to my face, after cleansing, over my blemishes you can feel that slight tightness and stinging sensation so as always that triggers to me that somethings working. And to me it seems as if it has been doing the job! I'm not saying that my spots instantly disappear but I do notice after a couple of days of using them on the same spot that it is visibly reduced. Spots always seem to take forever to leave my skin though. I mean I swear I still have some darker, blemish areas which have been there for months and months and months!

One downfall about this product is the smell. Now having spot prone skin I thought I'd be used to the smell of these sorts of products but this one, to me, just seemed ultra ultra strong! It may just be me, the good thing about this one bad point is that the smell doesn't linger. Once I've disposed of the pad the smell is gone so it's not overly bad.

Minus the slight downfall I would definitely recommend these pads if you have the same type of skin as me! I know different products work better or worse with different peoples skin types but if they are still on offer (I'm not sure whether they are or not!) then it's definitely worth the small dent in the purse!

I'd love to know if you've tried these and what you think of them or if you've tried any other Clearasil products within this range and your views on them! Happy Saturday everyone xo