Secret Beauty Blog -

I’m really not a ‘cleanse-tone-moisturise’ kind of girl when it comes to night time, I like to simply remove my makeup with a face wipe and then wash my face with a face wash. I have to splash my face with water in order to feel clean, and as my face wipe gets rid of the majority of makeup and dirt I feel like my face wash has a better chance at getting deep into my pores for a thorough cleanse. I’ve tried most wipes on the market, from standard chemist brands such as Olay/Simple/Neutrogena to more premium brands such as MAC and when ELF was having a 20% off their Studio range recently I popped these ‘cleansing cloths’ in my basket to see how they faired up.

I was shocked at how moist they are! I wrung one out and my hand was covered in cleanser, I found as they are so moist they really get eye makeup off easily without having to rub or irritate your eyes. With every other wipe (apart from the MAC ones) I had to dab some eye makeup remover into the wipe to cleanse my eyes, but these took off everything with …

With the UK having been graciously hit with a delicious heatwave recently giving us all a taste of Summer I thought I’ld share my secret weapons on dealing with an oily complexion when the weather gets warmer.

1 – La Roche-Posey Effaclar K
The ultimate shine buster! I use this at night as I find it doesn’t give me enough moisture for the day and can make my foundation apply streaky but it really does it’s job of evening out my skintone and reducing pores and shine. I apply a light layer every night and my skin just gets better and better, combined with drinking more water then usual I have noticed a major difference in my skin since using this product and I can’t recommend it highly enough for us greasy gals!
£13.00 Escentual.com
2 – Clinique City Block Sheer SPF 25
I’ve raved about this product before, but it really helps keep my makeup in place all day and with it’s tinted formula it adds just a touch of coverage. SPF is so important, especially if you have fair skin. I don’t leave my house without this on. See my full review here.
£15.50 Clinique.co.uk
3 – Clarins Skin Illusion SPF 10 foundation
With the recent bout …

Happy new year! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and new years, one of my new years resolutions is to post twice a week (at least) so let’s kick it off with this gorgeous giftset which I was luckily enough to get from Santa (all the way from New York!)
Unfortunately Sephora doesn’t ship to the UK, I don’t know why seeing as every other company in the world ships internationally and they are missing out on a huge target market here in the UK but I digress! These ‘Beauty in a Box’ sets are a really great deal, the one I have is only $69, which is a huge saving off the individual products RRP of $121! I have seen all brands covered in these sets, from Dior to Stila to deluxe mascara & fragrance sampler sets. If you’revisiting the US or have a friend who can ship over to you the Beauty in a Box sets are really worth checking out.
So let’s get onto the goodies! If you follow me on Twitter you will know I’ve gone a lil NARS crazy recently and got a shedload for Christmas so keep your eyes peeled for more Nars …

After hearing soo many positive reviews on Origins skincare I deceided to take the plunge and get myself a whole new skincare regime. I’m a bit naughty and chop and change my skincare ALOT, being a blogger and seeing all the new exciting ranges that come out doesn’t help, but I need to stick to one regime and really see if it works for me. So from Monday all I’ve been using and will be using for at least 6 weeks is the Origins Zero Oil range.

I had a look at the Origins website before going to John Lewis yesterday and having a look, I find it easier to browse online and read reviews rather then standing there being given ‘advice’ from an over enthusiastic SA. My skin is really oily, I have tried ALOT of different oil-reducing treatments, washes and the like and while some have been successful I have never found a full regime I can stick to. I quite liked the Clinique 3 step but announcing that on Twitter caused quite a stir, and after learning more about the actual ingredients the masses were correct, and the 3 step system was was too harsh and …

ARK skincare work in a very clever way, rather then range their products to your skintype the products are designed to work with your skins needs depending on your age. There are 3 groups, age repair (teens to early 30s), age maintain (mid 30s to 50s) and age repair (50+). The products are all laid out well on the website, making it easy to what your skin needs and there is also an online skin assessment feature where you will receive a £10 discount towards ARK products! I think that is a fantastic idea, not only do you get the discount but you get a real feel for the right products for your skin and what you should be using in your regime. As I fit into the ‘age repair’ catagory I have the Skin Refining exfoliator and as an extra treatment for my mild acne-prone skin I have the Ckearing Skin Response Serum.

Age Repair Skin Refining Exfoliator £27.70

”This exfoliator refines texture and clears pores, leaving skin smooth and soft to touch.

Gently removes dead skin cells, debris and grime from the skin’s surface.
Contains anti-bacterial Margosa Leaf, natural sloughing particles of Loofah and active Bentonite clay beads that …

Well, kinda.
I’ve been lusting after the Clarisonic for a while now after seeing various YouTube videos and blogposts highlighting just how good the product is for a deep down clean. I used to use a face scrub everyday, under the impression I was doing my skin good by scrubbing away all the dirt and oil. WRONG! I was actually making my skin produce more oil by scrubbing away at it, as I was stripping away it’s natural oils. The Clarisonic seems like the perfect solution, deep down cleansing with no scrubbing and harming my skin…. For the handsome sum of  £150. Which is a bit out of my price range!
Taking onboard the benefits of the Clarisonic and the promise of clearer, cleaner and healthier skin I invested in this little beauty, which seems to be delivering all the benefits of the sonic powered wonder:

Yes folks, that is a £3 Body Shop face brush!
I have been using this for a while and absolutely love what it is doing for my skin. My face feels soo much cleaner after I wash it and it feels like it’s making my face wash work twice as hard! I don’t reach for my …

If you like organic/natural skincare this is one for you! Dr. Bronner is a bit different from your normal Norman, check out the brands background…
The dramatic exhortations on the labels of the soap packaging come from the mind of Dr Emanuel Bronner, a third-generation master soap maker who spent his life renouncing hate and war on a personal mission to unite mankind. He was born in 1908 to the German-Jewish Heilbronner family, which had been practicing the traditional local craft since 1858. In 1929, Bronner, then aged 21, immigrated to the US working as a consultant soap manufacturer.
But following the death of his family in the Holocaust, he embarked on a mission to spread this message of world peace and the dangers of communism and fascism by giving public lectures on these subjects. His strong views landed him in a mental asylum in Chicago but Bronner escaped eight months later in 1948 and continued giving lectures in California. He also began making peppermint liquid soap under the ‘Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps’ brand. He gave away soap during his talks and when he realized people were taking it without listening to him speak, he started writing his …

Ohhh mama! Too hot? Too spicy? Hot hot!

Well, not anymore. But when I was in Gran Canaria my love affair with this tube of goodness began. I never normally use a SPF facial moisturiser (yes yes, I know) but knowing I would be exposed to the boiling hot Canarian sunshine I thought it was best to invest! I bought this purely on impulse, right at the last min in Gatwick but I have used it every day since, and will probobly repurchase forever.
It looks tinted, but actually applies clear so it doesn’t matter how light/dark your skintone is it will just blend right in, see…

Clinique say:
City Block Sheer SPF 25
”Sheer, broad-spectrum UVA/UVB daily sunscreen. Lightweight formula helps wick away perspiration and absorb excess oil. Perfect alone or as an invisible makeup primer. No chemical sunscreens. Appropriate for eye area and sensitive skins.”
I absolutely adore this, the SA at Gatwick told me to apply my DDMG as usual and then apply this over the top like a primer. I tried it on it’s own without any moisturiser and found it quite heavy, so this is not a SPF moisturiser as such but more of a SPF …

Released last week, I got my hands on the new Lush 9 to 5 cleanser as soon as it hit the shops!

”Like Dolly says, 9 to 5 is quite the way to make a living. It can take its toll on the skin and leave you looking like she might without the cosmetic procedures. This is a gentle liquid cleanser made with almond oil, an extract of dove orchids and everlasting flower absolute. Orchids and everlasting flower soothe and clean the skin thoroughly with a mild antibacterial action, and almond gives you a silky smooth feeling. It’s great for taking off stubborn make-up and gives a fresh feeling after use.”

Its about time Lush brought out a heavy duty cleanser! I’ve been using this ever since I got it and I am very impressed. I wear alot of heavy foundation (ColorStay) aswell as high coverage powder so as you can imagine it does take some work to get it all off. I normally use Cliniques ‘Take The Day Off’ MU remover on a facial wipe, and it does do the job BUT it leaves my face feeling horrible and greasy =0/
The Lush …

Hi dudes, just wanted to give you a lil update incase you’re wondering why I haven’t been posting as much as usual… Well, I’ve been promoted, woop! Some of you may know I work from home, and contrary to popular belief I don’t just sit on my arse all day on Facebook =). I have really got to knuckle down and I’m so busy at the moment it’s quite hard to hard time to churn out a decent blog post, as a majority of my new role is writing lol. I’m off to Gran Canaria (my boss lives there, booya!) on Wednesday until Monday so will hopefully pick up some goodies in the airport to blog about and I also want to do my Lush Colour Supplement review (I LOVE it) and a few more bits but I just wanted to let everyone know my posts will probobly be 1-2 a week rather from now on but I do still read everyones post on my blogger dashboard!
I’ve also noticed I’ve nearly hit 400 followers, OMG. I really can’t believe it, I’m so chuffed! When I do hit the magical 400 I will hold another giveaway, with the …