March Favourites

Hi ladies, Every time I do a favourites post I always say to myself, next month I'll post this before the second week of the month but I just can't seem to do that so here I am on the 8th April eventually telling you the products I was loving in the month of March.

My first favourite product is an extremely popular one from Soap & Glory -

 

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - I had been after this product for such a long time after hearing so much about it on blogs and falling in love with the scent on a trip to Boots. For months I pondered over weather to buy it or not, but never did! Eventually back in February I bought it, although I didn't use it til last month. I absolutely fell in love with it after the first use. The smell is even more amazing with use, its a gorgeous mix of brown sugar and lime, that for some reason reminds me of Coca Cola. It also does a fantastic job of exfoliating your skin leaving it super soft and smooth.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo - When I bought the Sugar Crush Scrub I also purchased the infamous Effaclar Duo, that has been dubbed as the must have product for problematic skin. I won't go into too much detail, as I am planning on dedicating a full post to this product. But it really did start to work for me last month and has become a staple in my skincare routine.

And finally my favourite makeup items from March

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Lychee - I love the new Gelly Hi-Shine formula from Barry M. They are fully opaque in 1 or 2 coats and are super shiny without the use of a topcoat. Lychee was my first colour from the range and I love it. Whenever I wore nail polish in March (if your a regular reader of my blog you will know that this isn't actually very often) this is the one I chose, its a beautiful beige nude that works well even with my super pale skin tone. You can read my review of this here!

Nivea Raspberry Rose Lip Butter - As you may or may not know I love anything Raspberry flavoured/scented and this is no exception! I bought this on a whim one day and have been using it most days ever since. The smell is gorgeous. And the formula is lovely and creamy that leaves my lips really soft. It isn't as good as my Carmex lip balm but when my lips are slightly dry I apply this to give them back a bit of moisture. It also slighty tints my lips a very light pink which looks really nice on days where I don't want to wear a lipstick.

YSL Volume Effect Faux Clis Mascara - I have been using this mascara constantly since I got it and it's my favourite out of all the mascaras I have tried so far. Although it's on the pricey side it is really good. It gives amazing length and volume to the lashes and looks fantastic on a night out without the need for false eyelashes. If you would like a more in depth review, feel free to ask!

Once again I actually found it really difficult to come up with a decent amount of products to feature in this post. Because I really haven't been finding any new products that really take my fancy. I hope you enjoyed reading about these 5 little gems though.

Sorry for the lateness again.

Much Love Gemma xo.



Wednesday Afternoon Pampering

Hi Lovelies, if you follow me on Instagram (gemmaferris91 if you would like to) then you may have saw a picture that I posted about an hour ago - 

(instagram picture)

As its my day off I decided I would give my skin a good clean and pamper, because I've been noticing some imperfections which I thought I may be able to clear up. Here's the products and what I did.

(l-r montagne jeunesse mud pac mask, soap and glory peaches and clean, no7 beautiful skin cleansing water, simple anti-blemish moisturiser, la roche-posay effaclar duo, soap and glory scrub your nose in it, liz earle instant boost skin tonic)

First of all I soaked a cotton pad in my No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water, to make sure there was no make up residue left on my face. Last night I was so tired all I did was use this cleansing water then went to sleep so there could well have been some make up left on my skin from yesterday (yuck!) Then I cleansed with Soap and Glory's, Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk, leaving it to soak into my skin for an extra few minutes to ensure a deep cleanse, then removing in circular movements with one of my Liz Earle muslin cloths soaked in warm water. I got this cleanser when I ran out of my beloved Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser, and although its a lovely product and hasn't done anything bad to my skin I don't think I will repurchase it, I'm too set in my ways with my LE cleanser which I adore! Whilst I was in the shower and my pores had opened up with all of the steam and heat I applied the Scrub Your Nose In It Face Scrub from Soap and Glory, I applied this to my t - zone with my fingers, and then buffed it in a bit more with an exfoliating brush, that I have from when I did Beauty Therapy in college. Again I left this to soak into my skin for a few minutes then using the same technique as before I removed it with a muslin cloth. Once I'd had a shower and my face was dry, I applied the Montagne Jeunesse Face Mask with a face mask brush and left that on for 15 minutes, whilst I sat back and relaxed. Once that had set I removed it with warm water on a flannel and spritzed the Instant Boost Skin Tonic all over my face to refresh my skin (as you know I love this product!). Lastly I finished off with some of my Effaclar Duo and Simple moisturiser for a double helping of blemish fighting goodness.

After all of that my skin is now feeling super clean and soft. My pores are all unclogged but still haven't shrunk. And there is no sign of any oilyness on my t - zone. I really enjoyed this little pamper session and would do it again if I ever wanted a really deep facial cleanse and hour of relaxation! There's nothing better than taking some time out to relax and pamper yousrelf!

If you would like reviews of any of the products I have used, then please do let me know, as I would be happy to do that for you guys. And also any product recommendations for reducing pore size are VERY MUCH WELCOMED so please tell me of any wonder products you use, as large pores are something that really bug me and I want to get rid of!!

Hope you enjoyed this post. And if you haven't had a pamper for a long time, go and have one, it makes you look and feel so much better! And everyone loves that!

Much Love Gemma xo.

Boots and Debenhams Haul!

Hi Lovelies. I could actually kick myself right now because I've just realised I missed a product out of the main photo for this post! I honestly want to scream, I've just spent sooooo long taking pictures, put everything away and now as I gather the photos together, I notice pictures I took of my new cleansing water the other day that I totally forgot to include in today's photo taking marathon! 

So with that drama pushed to the back of my mind here's a few things I've bought in the last week.

soap and glory, herbal essences, original source, yves saint laurent, la roche-posay

and No7 cleansing water I forgot to put in the first photo

First of all I'll get the boring essential things out of the way with first. I've been using the Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends shampoo and conditioner for a few months now and I really like them so I picked up some replacements. They were buy one get one free in Boots. As for the Original Source shower gels I have never used these before but  I eventually ran out of my Body Shop Cranberry Joy from January and they were half price in Boots so I got 2. As you all know I adore Raspberries so the Raspberry and Cream one was a must have for me and the Chocolate and Mint one is really fresh and ideal for waking me up in the morning. 

As well as these, I decided to get something less boring and try out the No7 Cleansing Water. I've been wanting to try Bioderma for ages so when I got a voucher for £5 off No7 products I decided to pick this up for just £4. So far I really like it (I've used it about 4 or 5 times) But from reading reviews I've found that this doesn't have a patch on Bioderma so I will still be picking that up at some point to test out! But for now the No7 water will do.

I went into Debenhams intending to pick up the Benefit They're Real Mascara but as I dragged my boyfriend round the makeup stands he spotted the YSL Volume Effect Faux Clis Mascara and thought it looked nicer than the Benefit one, so told me to get that instead, and offered to pay for half of it. We asked at the counter how much it was and the lovely woman told us it was £23.50 for just the mascara but only £23 for this giftset. Which includes, the full sized mascara and a mini eye make up remover and mini eye cream. So I decided to get that. I absolutely love it! The mascara is amazing and so far I am enjoying the other 2 mini's as well. Of course I will get They're Real at one point but I'm really happy I picked this up! And thank you to the brilliant assistant who told me to get the giftset instead of just the mascara.

And finally I ordered these 3 beauties on Friday and they eventually turned up in store for me to pick up this afternoon. Like most other beauty bloggers I have read countless reviews on the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo and have been dying to get my hands on it. But whenever I had money this was sold out and whenever it was in stock I was skint, sods law huh? Eventually I was able to get my hands on it in the latest 3 for 2 deal in Boots and I am so excited to try it out. I've heard loads about Soap and Glory's Scrub Your Nose In It and seeing as I'm trying to get my skin in good condition at the minute I thought it was a great opportunity to try it out. As the cheapest item of the 3 this was my free product. And lastly Soap and Glory's Sugar Crush Body Scrub, everyone talks about it, everyone loves. I fell in love with it and sniff the stuff every time I go into Boots so I decided enough was enough and I bought it. Happy Days!

I'm so pleased with my purchases. What do you think? Have you tried any of these? And what do you think of them?

Hope you enjoyed having a nosey at what I spend my money on :)

Much Love Gemma xo.