Mini Boots Haul

I swear it's practically impossible for a beauty-obsessed person such as myself to go into Boots intending to buy an essential such as toothpaste, without ending up with that and some other items that were...well, slightly less essential. That's what happened with this haul. To be fair, I didn't get that much - I really wanted to pick up a Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick as they all look gorgeous and are getting a lot of hype right now in the beauty world, but I resisted. (I know, go me! Haha.)

I've pictured the Nivea Daily Essentials Night Cream, £2.24, which I actually bought the previous week and mentioned in my last post. So far I'm really liking this product, it calms my skin down overnight when it's being a bit temperamental. The other night I was breaking out, used this product anyway (which I thought was a bit risky as it's quite a thick lotion) and obviously it didn't make the spot go away, but it did definitely help with redness and made my skin a bit happier. It's also very cheap especially as it's still half price at Boots so I'd definitely recommend trying it!

I also repurchased the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair which is one I've repurchased a lot. I've raved about this so much on my blog before so I won't go on about it except to say that it's absolutely worth the hype if you ask me! I am still using the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer on dark circles and this one is for using on spots and blemishes. I did a post reviewing the Nars concealer and comparing it to Collection here.

I had my hair done on the same day I bought these items and I decided to try a new hair treatment seeing as though the ends of my hair get very dry. I've also just had it coloured again so it's now definitely in need of some TLC. I deliberated between the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Deep Treatment (I've tried the normal version and loved it, it smells so good) or the Garnier Ultimate Blends Colour Illuminator 1-Minute Treatment but got the latter because it was cheaper on offer for £2.99. I have the shampoo version of it as well which I quite like, especially for the smell (Argon Oil and Cranberry). I rarely use hair treatments because my hair gets greasy quite quickly but I'm excited to try this!

The last thing I got was Soap and Glory's Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk which was also on offer for £6 instead of £8 and was the main impulse buy of the bunch seeing as though I might not have noticed it at all if it hadn't been on offer. However I'm looking forward to giving this a go, I was on the lookout for a new cleanser and this one gets very positive reviews on both Boots.com and Makeupalley. Also Khila (Miss Budget Beauty) raves about it a lot!

I just hope my sensitive skin gets on with this as it contains active ingredients/'glycols' (I know - blank face) and interestingly although Soap and Glory describe it as gentle and able to remove waterproof mascara, they also say not to use it on the eye area. I've used it a few times and so far, so good. It tingles a bit but other than that there are no signs of it irritating my skin. It had a very unusual minty yet peachy smell which I'm not sure what to make of yet. Also as usual with Soap and Glory the packaging is gorgeous.

Do you have any thoughts on these products? Have you made any drugstore purchases lately? :)

PS: This is obviously very unrelated to the rest of this post, but I saw this kimono over on Heather at Of Beauty & Nothingness' Summer Clothing Wish List and wanted to mention it as I'm in love with it as well as the whole outfit below...which adds up to £133! (Not including the necklace or sandals! I don't own a single kimono in my wardrobe as it's just not an item I would usually wear but I think this one is so beautiful:

Sabrina xx

Review: Garnier Pure Active Micellar Cleansing Water

Hi! You're probably well aware of the micellar water craze (if not, where have you been?) which started off with everyone raving about Bioderma (which used to be hard to get hold of but is now easily available here) to Garnier being the first (I think) drugstore brand to release their own version. Props to Garnier for being first in the race to launch these things, as I believe they were first in the BB cream craze too.

I would love to try Bioderma sometime in the future and see if it's worth the hype, but that stuff is pretty expensive (£10.20 for 250ml! ouch) so for now I'm definitely happy to keep using drugstore ones - to compare with Bioderma, Garnier's Micellar Waters are usually £4.99 for 400ml.

I tried the original pink-capped version of Garnier's Micellar Water and really liked it, so when that was running out I thought I'd try the one aimed at combination to oily and sensitive skin. I don't doubt that the original is fine for oily-skinned ladies like myself as it's super gentle, but this one is formulated especially for oilier skins. The ingredients of both products are extremely similar except there's Alcohol Denat in the oily-skin version.

In terms of makeup-removing, both products work quickly and easily. I used to use face wipes to remove my makeup, so this has been a good change for me as it gets the job done just as quickly and does a more effective cleanse. I've heard that some people have found Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara difficult to remove, but using this to take it off I've had no problems! If I've been wearing a lot of eye makeup I like to hold the soaked cotton pad over each eye for about 10 seconds to help get as much off as I can with one swipe.

However a few days ago I used this product to take off just a small amount of makeup (mascara and concealer) and my face seemed to go quite red, making me wonder if the addition of Alcohol Denat might be irritating my skin. I was confused in general about whether alcohol in skincare is harmful or not, so I googled it and Paula's Choice's opinion is that it is harmful unless it's fatty alcohol. If this is true, then why did Garnier add alcohol but still describe this product as suitable for sensitive skin?

Overall I still quite like this, but I think I prefer the original as I think it's gentler so more suitable for suitable skin. I also prefer the packaging of the original version as it's pink! I think when this runs out I'll probably repurchase the original, or try a micellar water from Simple or Nivea.

Garnier's Pure Active Micellar Cleansing Water is available from Boots here - both this and the original are on offer at the time of posting for £3.33 instead of £4.99.

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts on micellar waters?

Thanks for reading!

Sabrina xx

Skincare Tip: Steam Your Face!

Hi! So this post is going to be a bit different - usually my blog is generally more for talking about fashion and beauty rather than giving advice, as I don't claim to be an expert in either.

If you're wondering what I'm on about with 'steam your face' I simply mean using the steam from boiling water to really open up your pores and do a deep clean. You may have heard of this before but I haven't heard very much about it in blogs or on youtube so I thought I'd share it just in case it helps any of you!

I use either Coconut Oil or No 7's Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser for this, the latter being a well known dupe for the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser which everyone raves about. The Liz Earle cleanser is £14 for 100ml and no cloth, whilst the No7 cleanser is £9.95 for 200ml and comes with a muslin cloth.

I have never tried Liz Earle's Cleanser to compare them but I quite like the No7 one, it's lasted me a long time and actually seems to have been discontinued. The one available now is called Beautiful Skin and is probably not much different to mine. It's probably best to use a Hot Cloth Cleanser rather than your usual 'foamy' cleansers as I don't think the consistency of the foamy ones will work for this as it's staying on your skin while you steam it and then you wash it off. 

I used to use the cloth provided and follow the instructions but I've found that I prefer the steaming your face method. As for Coconut Oil, it's amazing stuff and much lighter on the skin than the Hot Cloth Cleanser.

You can use any brand as long as it's virgin and there are a million more things you can do with it - read here for more detail! The brand I have is Real Food Source and was the cheapest one I could find on Amazon in terms of the amount of product you get for your money.

With both methods you're using heat for your deep clean and hot water can damage your skin so please be careful.

All you do is boil some water (I like to make a cup of tea to have when I'm done cleansing) and pour it into the sink - unless of course your hot water tap can go as hot as boiling. Next apply your cleanser to dry skin, get a towel and drape it over your head to trap the steam in so that it focuses on your face. Then just place your face close to the steaming water - but obviously not so close that your skin feels like it's burning!

You should be able to feel it working without it being uncomfortable. Try and steam your face for at least 10 minutes - I know it's a bit dull just standing there for that long, but it's worth it! (Like in the shower, it's a time for deep thoughts - like how I can't wait to have a chocolate biscuit with my tea when I'm done.)

After 10 minutes I add cold water to get the hot water to the right temperature and then wash off my cleanser, which by this point is quite melted. You can use a wash cloth along with the water if you prefer, but just make sure that all of your cleanser is gone.

Next I just splash my face with cold water to close my pores, which is always nice and refreshing after feeling a little hot whilst steaming my face! Then gently pat dry your face.

Your skin will now most likely feel extremely soft and squeaky clean, but try to resist the urge to keep touching it! Finally just follow with your normal moisturiser.

To be honest I don't do this every day - more like twice a week or so (mainly because it makes cleansing take much longer and sometimes you just don't have time) but when I do I love the results, it makes me feel less likely to get the breakouts that are caused by clogged pores/unremoved makeup.

If I do this after already cleansing my face to remove makeup (I use the Garnier Micellar Water for Oily Skin) it feels like I've got rid of every last trace of makeup, and keeping your skin as clean as possible is obviously a great idea for preventing spots. Even if you don't suffer from breakouts it's a great way to give your skin a bit of a boost and make it a bit more radiant.

I hope you found this helpful and if you have any questions or thoughts please feel free to comment!

Sabrina xx