Review: Borghese Fango Active Mud for Face and Body

Borghese Fango Active Mud For Face and Body - £15.50 (cheapest I've found)

I have wanted to try this mask for nearly two months now after seeing a couple of reviews going round the blogging world and finally it is mine! My boyfriend very kindly ordered this for me as I have been going on about it and I tried it out straight away.

I have horribly spot-prone skin but I'd say it's more on the dry side, probably because I use a lot of drying/strong products to try and tame my acne with still no progress. The mask is a thick mud consistency which goes on to the skin easily and claims to 'detoxify, tone and firm the skin'. You can either choose to apply in a thick layer to clean skin just on the affected areas (where you get blackheads and spots and other nasty things) or all over which is what I did as my whole face is covered in spots at the minute- not nice!

I left the mask on for just over 5 minutes I think as I'd seen it recommended anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes but because it was my first time using it, I wasn't sure how harsh it would be on my skin. This was enough time for the clay-like mask to set/dry though and it didn't leave me blotchy and red or anything.

I used a damp cloth/flannel to remove it and my skin felt so soft on the areas where there weren't many spots. The areas with spots and blackheads on my nose seemed to be reduced a bit too.

I still have the redness but hopefully with on-going use I'll soon see a real improvement!

Have you tried the Borghese Fango Active Mud?

Do you have any other skincare tips to help with my spot-prone skin?

(Mainly) Sales Haul!

I am a self confessed sales hoarder, bargain hunter and discount buyer. Very rarely do I ever pay full price for something, unless it is completely spontaneous. So when I finally finished my A levels this week and on the same day found out The Body Shop were doing massive discounts I wanted to go asap! (Be warned, this is a long one!)

The first things I bought were the infamous body butters.

Body Butters- £5-13 The Body Shop

 

These were super cheap at £3 for 200ml (normally £13), the passion fruit one is for me and it smells so good! I also like the pink grapefruit and mango flavour ones and I love how rich these are.

 

 

The Sweet Lemon one is for my mum as she's never tried these before and always loves the smell of any that I've had before. 

 

Also from The Body Shop, I picked up some hair butter which I've never seen anything like before.

 

Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter- £3 The Body Shop

 

As I said before, I have really dry hair so I'm hoping this will help to hydrate it a bit more but for £3 you can't really go wrong!

 

The last thing from the body shop that I wanted to try was a lip butter.

 

Sweet Lemon Lip Butter - £4 The Body Shop

 

I love citrus-y scents and my lips are always so dry so I just fancied this, went a bit overboard with the butters!

 

I also bought this Travel Bottle Set for when I go on holiday so I don't have to take great big bottles of shower gels or shampoos with me.

 

Travel Bottle Set - £1 Poundland

 

Next I nipped to Superdrug to get something that has been on my To Buy list for a while.

 

Solait Face Sun Fluid - £2.48 Superdrug

 

I hatehatehate wearing sun cream on my face but I know how important it is so I recently found this online in SPF 50 and thought it would be perfect, especially as it's mattifying so it won't be greasy.

 

Then I went very naughtily into the Topshop sale where I had to heavily restrain myself but I did see this purple/maroon vest top which I thought looked light and casual enough to wear with shorts on holiday.

 

 

My last purchase today was from the glorious MAC counter in Debenhams and as it is 10% all beauty I thought this could be justified.

 

 MAC Frost Lipstick in Costa Chic - £14 Debenhams

 

This is my first ever MAC purchase so I am suuuper excited about it. I was looking for either a nude or a coral/orange/pink colour as I have lots of deep reds and a whole range of  pinks so I wanted something a bit different.

 

 

 

And when I saw the name, my boyfriend said I have to get it as Costa is my favourite place ever! So I'm really excited to wear this, but I feel like I have to be so careful with it and not ruin it because it's so pretty!

 

That's everything I bought today, I like to think I found some pretty good deals and I'm so happy with everything I bought.

 

Have you tried anything new recently?

My Current Haircare Routine

I know it's been a few days but I've just finished my 3rd exam so I thought I'd write my next post. These are a few of my current favourite hair products that I use regularly.

I haven't yet found a really good shampoo so I tend to use whatever there is in the shower at the time, but for conditioner I like the Leo Bancroft Sensationally Smooth Conditioner which you can get from Tesco for £4.

It's a rich, creamy conditioner which really hydrates damaged and dry hair like mine. I squeeze any excess water out of my hair after shampooing then rub this into the ends and leave it on while I continue to shower. It's also a great detangler as my hair gets stupidly knotty when I wash it.

Next, after towel drying, I run some Sunsilk Iron Effect Easy Straightening Cream (which I can't seem to find anywhere, I think I must have got it quite a while ago) through the ends after brushing.

This tames any frizziness I get during blow drying and straightens the lengths without using straighteners. I have naturally very curly hair which is an annoyance so I do what I can to minimise any unruly curls. This doesn't weigh your hair down despite the thick consitency but it doesn't do a great job at straightening on its own unless you pull your hair down with a brush as you blow dry it.

After this, I rub a couple of pumps of TRESemme Salon Smooth Serum in my hands and then through the ends of my hair.

This serum is seriously good. It makes my hair feel nourished and so so soft, even my boyfriend has commented on how soft my hair feels when I use this, definitely worth the £4.89 I pay for it from Boots.

Next, I use a heat protectant. My favourite is Andrew Barton's The Straight Answer Heat Protectant Spray which I get from ASc DA.

The best thing about this is the smell! It smells kind of almondy and a bit cocoa-y, basically its just delicious and the scent lasts for ages in your hair too. It also has a good pump which sprays the product in a mist so it covers all of your hair.

Then I blow dry with just my babyliss something-or-other hair dryer and style with babyliss straighteners if necessary.

Then, I'll use this VO5 Ultimate Hold Hairspray to keep everything in place which again smells super nice and lasts all day, as well as brushes out really easily.

For inbetween washes if my hair needs a quick revamp I use the Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush.

This doesn't have the nicest fragrance, I definitely wouldn't say it smells as good as it looks but this is the one I'm trying out at the minute and it works really well as long as you completely rub any powdery residue in. It does make my hair look and feel a lot fresher but I don't use this every day between washes.

Finally, the brush I use is this paddle brush from Primark (I can't link it sorry) which for £1.50 I think is pretty good.

I like using this kind of brush because my hair is so thick and knotty, this just makes it really easy to get all the tangles out and they last for ages. This is a new one but the one I had before lasted me 3-4 years so it's really good value.

 

So these are a few of my current haircare favourites. If you have any recommendations for good shampoos or hair treatments like leave in conditioners or hair masks for dry/damaged hair, please let me know in the comments.

 

What are your favourite hair products?

25 facts about me

So I thought I'd do a quick post so you can get to know me a bit better. I was going to do 50 facts but I didn't want to bore you already and I thought I'd save some for another time- don't want to expose myself too quickly!

1. My full first name is Emily-Jane, not sure why, no one calls me by my whole name ever but I like how it's double barrelled.

2. I have just finished/am finishing A levels in maths, chemistry and English literature.

3. English is my favourite but I'm best at maths, so naturally I've opted to do a chemistry based degree at uni next year.

4. My dog Bruno is my favourite thing in the world, I've wanted a dog for so long and finally on Christmas Eve 2011 he arrived at our home. He's a Bernese mountain dog and pretty big, but the loveliest fluffiest thing ever!

5. I often go round shops looking for things I'd like to have in my future home.

6. I've been with my boyfriend Alex for nearly two and half years and he's the best.

7. I hate spending money but I just want to buy everything.

8. This summer I get to go to Florida with my family to play at Disney World and Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.

9. I have played the flute for over ten years.

10. My favourite make up brand is Rimmel.

11. I can watch youtube videos for hours, if you want me to check out your channel, comment below!

12. The best book I've ever read was The Great Gatsby, before the film came out (which I also think is amazing)

13. I always order a small skinny vanilla latte at Costa/Starbucks.

14. My most prized possession is either my ipad or my hunter wellies.

15. I'm addicted to Candy Crush (but hate to admit it)

16. I love(d) school/college but A levels are by far the hardest thing I've ever done.

17. I have the longest list of dogs that I want.

18. My life goal is to have an AGA cooker.

19. The Carmex cherry lip balm is the best thing I've bought in ages.

20. I can't resist going into The Body Shop to smell the products!

21. I used to be in the scouts.

22. In January Alex bought me a silver love heart ring and I have worn it every day since.

23. I could live in pyjamas.

24. My 18th birthday was the most memorable and special day ever, my mum threw me a surprise party at the pub across the road from my house with all of my family there and I had no idea, I don't know how she kept it secret!

25. My wall is full of 100+ photos of family and friends from over the past few years and it will continue to grow over the next few.

Hope you learnt something about me, thank you for checking out this post and if you have any suggestions for future posts you'd like to see, let me know!

Review: Clinique High Impact Mascara

Mascara's aren't usually the first thing I'd go looking to buy as I have naturally quite long and curled eyelashes, however a mascara that is easy to apply, natural looking and volumising would be straight on my list.

This mascara does all this stuff  and it is teeny tiny so its doesn't take up loads of room in your make up bag or hand bag and is super easy for quick touch ups- not that this needs any.

The wand is small enough to get every lash but bristley enough to coat each lash with enough product in just one application, it doesn't clump and the formula isn't gloopy. I can't think of anything bad to say!

Here are the before and afters:

As you can see it doesn't volumise that much in comparison to other mascaras like Maybelline The Rocket, but it is super quick to use. I tend to  have to use a lash separating brush after I apply mascara, especially after several coats because I like to have properly defined lashes, but this one defines your lashes as you apply which is amazing. It lengthens so well and as weird as this sounds, I love the colour, it is the perfect black and my lashes still look natural after applying.

Overall, I love this, the clumping thing is always an issue for me so I am so glad I've found this one. You can get this from Clinique counters or their website for £14, or I have the travel sized one which you can get from here for £5.99.

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked my first post.

What's your favourite mascara?