A Skincare Disaster (Simple.)

Now, I am not one for negativity but I feel that some these two Simple skincare products deserve some negative attention. Never, ever in my life have I had such a terrible reaction to something I've put on my face! 

A few months ago, my favourite facial wash was discontinued & this is what prompted me to pick up the Simple 'Refreshing Facial Wash Gel'- I really wish I hadn't! After 2 days of using this I had to stop; I had broken out in the most disgusting cystic acne, all over my face. They were angry, sore, red & so so painful. I can honestly say I've never before had these kind of spots & haven't since. I had changed nothing else in my routine so the blame falls entirely on this facial wash. 

Since then, I have Googled this product a few times out of interest & found that lots of other people have had the same problem! Gracie from UglyFaceOfBeauty explained a very similar reaction in one of her videos. I also mentioned it to a few of the girls I work with & two of them also experienced exactly the same result! Both of these girls have lovely skin which is not even prone to blemishes normally. There is something wrong with this product & I actually believe it should be taken off the shelves. Please, for the sake of your beautiful faces DO.NOT.BUY.IT.

Secondly, the Simple 'Spotless Skin - Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes are absolutely not suited to drier skin types. I'd read quite a few positive reviews on these wipes & decided to give them a try on my blemish prone skin. All this resulted in is cheeks so dry that they actually became scaley & PEELED OFF. This was after approximately 5 days of use. Again, I've never had such a reaction before. There is something very strong in these wipes & I for one am not comfortable with using something that harsh on my face anyway, even if it seemingly doesn't have any negative effects.

Before this, I didn't have particularly problematic skin & it completely threw me into despair. That may seem a bit extreme but my face looked terrible & it made me extremely self conscious. Plus I had no idea how to make it better! At this point I got my Google hat on and discovered all the benefits of extra virgin olive oil when used in skincare - Thankfully the eevo routine returned my skin to it's normal condition pretty quickly & now I wouldn't be without it. I have even introduced other products (very carefully) into my routine recently, but I could swear my face has never been the same since the Simple fiasco - it is much, much drier nowadays. It seems that I now have a constant battle keeping it hydrated. I think these products basically stripped all the good oils from my face & it's taking time to recover. Boo.

I do like the Simple moisturisers, however I will not be touching any of their other products again. I stay away from all cleansing wipes as a rule now too - Personally I believe they are not necessary & are far too harsh on skin.

Have you tried these products? How did they work for you?!

January 2012 Favourites!

Can you believe it's February already?! I genuinely have no idea where all this time goes - I definitely don't seem to be doing any productive with it, that's for sure.

Only one make-up item in my faves this month! Pretty crazy but I've been more focused on keeping my skin & hair in good condition (an impossible task.)

L-R Clockwise:

Superdrug Vitamin E  SPF Radiance Moisture Cream: This is a great face highlighter! I've been using this over my makeup, above my cheekbones & eyebrows all month. It's really subtle but definitely noticeable & it does an excellent job at brightening up my dry skin whilst moisturising it - major bonus points for that! As another plus, it smells delicious.

In the picture above (click to enlarge) I have rubbed it in to the right side of my hand. What do you think?

Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask: Not going to say too much about this product as I'd really like write up a separate review on it. Although I have dry skin, I am still very prone to blemishes & I find this mask really leaves my skin feeling clean & seems to clear out all the nasties. My skin is also quite sensitive & unlike he majority of other masks, this doesn't irritate it all...hooray! Overall a great addition to my skincare routine, especially during the winter months.

VO5 Hot Oil 'Moisture Soak Elixir' - This is genuinely the only thing that makes a considerable amount of difference to the condition, feel & shine of my hair. It's a miracle product for me! After many years of bleaching my hair, last year I finally saw the light & stopped. I had it dyed to as close to my natural hair colour as possible & have been growing it out ever since (perhaps 6 months now?) However, I am still dealing with the ridiculous amounts of damage my hair suffered as a result from evil, evil bleach.

It's applied to wet hair, before shampooing etc & left on for one minute only. During that minute it somehow transforms my hair into silky, shiny, soft  LOVELINESS...without weighing it down. Having very thin, fine hair I find it very difficult to find products that make it soft and silky without weighing down it down & making it look limp & lifeless (even the Kerastase treatments have this affect). I love this product, use it once a week & will continue to do so forever (or until I find something better, if such a thing exists?!)

I wish I could find an everyday shampoo version of this. Hmmph.


Soap & Glory Hand Food: Hannah from http://lovelettersandsnippets.blogspot.com/ sent this to me in a giveaway! :) I've used it before & it's definitely a keeper. As well as smelling delicious it sinks in quickly, leaves your hands feeling soft & keeps them smelling yummy. Very important to keep your hands hydrated during this cold weather.

TRESemme Restructuring Deep Conditioning Treatment Mask: I have discovered that this is really great for making the 'frazzled' ends of my hair look, well...less frazzled? I've been using it on the ends of my hair & leaving it for 5 minutes every time I wash my hair & as a result my hair looks much sleeker. It is of a very thin consistency which can sometimes make it a bit messy getting it out of the tub, but hey ho.

1000x better than Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle. Sorry! :) It's true. 

VO5 'Give Me Texture' Instant Oomph Powder: So handy for giving my fine hair a bit of volume at the roots! I use this every day. It's super quick too - shake onto roots, work in with fingers, tidy hair up a bit...et voila! Sorted. As with all VO5 products, it smells good enough to eat too.

e.l.f Studio Matte Lip Colour in Tea Rose: I don't think I would've ever picked up this colour if I'd seen in in a shop, but I put it in my online basket when I bought some brushes etc from e.l.f (it was only £2.45!) & I'm now so happy that I bought this on a whim! The colour is pink with very brown tones, which I would think is very flattering & wearable for most people. Most of all I LOVE that it gives a matte lipstick finish but that it's super moisturising at the same time- usually the matte/moisturising combo is quite unobtainable I find. It does start to feel dry after a while, but the good thing is that it can be applied again & again without looking cakey. Due to it's pencil-like form, it isn't difficult to put on without a mirror if need be either. I'm a fan!

Not beauty related at all & I know I'm a million years behind everyone else reading this trilogy but I am LOVING The Hunger Games! I haven't been engrossed in a book so much for a long time - I've wanted a book to get stuck in to for ages & quite frankly, if I could do nothing but read these books all day until they're finished instead of moving/doing anything..I really would. Hahaha. I'm half way through 'Catching Fire' (the second book) right now & enjoying it immensely.

Have you tried any of these products or do you plan to? What do you think?!

Broken Laptop, boooo.

Oh my golly gosh, my laptop's only gone & broken completely! So inconvenient when you're trying to blog & sell your life on ebay...

Anyway, that's why I haven't been around at all( it's difficult to blog via iPhone). Hopefully I'll be back soon to catch up with all the amazing blogs I follow. Just waiting impatiently for my laptop to be fixed up. Hope all you lovely ladies are well... I miss you guys! :)

New year, new shoes.

Hi guys! Just a fly-by post to say that with some of my Birthday money I bought myself a new pair of 'Odetta Heeled Chelsea Boots' from the Missguided site. These were purchased for the rather bargain price of £26.99 (including delivery.)

Odetta Heeled Chelsea Boots -£26.99 missguided.co.uk
Buy them here

These boots are so gorgeous that I felt the need to post them on here. Although I haven't worn them out yet, from trying them on & walking around they house they seem super comfortable & they are pretty spacious around the ankles too...which is what I was looking for. To the touch they're clearly not of the best quality, but quite frankly what can you expect for the price of £27? I'm sure they will do they job! If I end up wearing them to death I might invest in a higher quality pair. Originally I went on the site to get the flat chelsea boots; however, they'd sold out of size 4's. I had a look around & went for these instead which I am quite pleased about as I wouldn't usually go for heeled day shoes. Plus I already own 3 pairs of flat day boots...It is sometimes nice to be pushed into trying something new for you, don't you think?

I find Missguided can be a bit hit & miss, but there's definitely some great (& cheap) buys on there so it is worth having a look around the site.

Anyway, I do hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & New Year! Mine was really lovely, albeit a bit hectic - wouldn't have it any other way though! I'm sure you all have tonnes of new exciting products to test out, like myself, so I can't wait to get started on those & blog about them.

Throwing in some of today's Instagram pictures:

Happy new year to you all! How was the festive period for you?