What I'm taking on holiday: Skincare

This is the next installment of my Florida posts. This is stuff that I packed in my case due to liquid restrictions on hand luggage for the flight, not sure how I managed without them but I've arrived in Florida so hi! A lot of the things I bought in France (see my haul here) and haven't used yet because I was saving them for this trip.

In order of use, I have brought my mini Bioderma to remove make up, my Simple Oil Balancing Exfoliating Facial Wash- this exfoliates and cleanses at the same time which is perfect if you're lazy like me, my Simple Soothing Facial Toner which I put into a small bottle- there's a post featuring this here, my Nivea Radiance Boosting Moisturiser which doesn't seem to be online anymore but it is nice and it has a slight shimmer in it to give your skin a bit of illumination- perfect for a Summer holiday! 

I also brought my La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo to use a make up base and all over spot treatment and the Effaclar A.I. to use as an on-spot treatment. For SPF I have the Solait Face Sun Fluid in factor 50- I've not tried this yet but it says it is mattifying so no greasy skin and hopefully no breakouts! I also have the Caudalie Beauty Elixir with me to set my make up and to use as a skin refresher throughout the day. The final thing I've brought is the Borghese Fango Active Mud Mask which I depotted into 2 smaller pot as I don't think I will use this a lot on holiday but felt I might want it with me to use at some point.

That's all my skincare, there will be another post soon on all the other beauty stuff I brought with me, hope you're all having a good day!

Haul #2

As I've already mentioned, I went away on a music tour to France last week and while we were busy performing a lot of the time, the one thing I was desperate to do while I was there was go to a French pharmacy and stock up on their world famous skincare. Another thing I've been wanting to do for ages is go to  a car boot sale. I've never been before (that I can remember) so the day before I went away, my boyfriend and I went to the biggest one in our area and I managed to find a couple of make up stalls- one being my beloved Mac.

So I bought 2 lipsticks at the car boot sale, one from Avon in Noble Nude which retails for £8.50 and I got it for £2- yay! It's a really nice orange-toned nude with pink shimmer and good colour pay off. I also got Mac Milan Mode for £5 which I was super pleased with since they've now gone up to £15 at Mac counters and it is a nice true pink, not too bright, not too shimmery. It's quite sheer but can be built up I really like this one.

In France, I went to every pharmacy I saw, a lot of them were closed but I did manage to get some Bioderma- must be the only person who hasn't tried it yet!

I got 2 big bottles and one smaller one which I'll probably take to Florida when I go. I just thought it was really cute and I know I'll use it.

I also got a couple of things from La Roche-Posay.

I know you can get this in some of the larger Boots and I've had my eye on these two products for a while now and decided to wait until I was in France because I thought they might be cheaper. I can't remember how much it ended up being but I don't think it was much different to the prices here. I got the Effaclar Duo to use as a spot treatment all over my skin and to use as a make up base and I also picked up the Effaclar A.I. to use as a targeted spot treatment as I've read such good reviews on both of these.

The last thing I bought (aside from lots of pain au chocolats) was the Caudalie Beauty Elixir.

I wanted this to set my make up before using powder, particularly for when it's really hot and also to use when my skin feels in need of refreshing. I only got a 30ml since that's all I could find but  I'm still keen to try it out along with everything else I bought.

I'm planning on reviewing some of these products separately once I've tried them out properly, have you used any of these yet? How did you get on?

Hope you're all having a lovely summer.

Review: Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range

Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range - Boots from £2.99

I've just got back from a week away in France and was in need of some skincare to take with me so I took a trip to Boots last weekend. I have been using this stuff since I bought it and I'm pretty impressed!

The Cleansing and Toning Lotion has the tea tree scent which I love, however I don't like the feel of this on my skin, I think purely because I prefer face washes and I'm so used to them. They just make my skin feel cleaner, but this is an okay cleanser- I'm not keen on seeing all the muck from my face on the cotton pad though!

The spot wand is actually really good though, I'm am pleasantly surprised because it wasn't expensive at all. There is one end that you put on the spots during the day as it is clear and one end you use overnight which is a greeny colour. I find that the night end works a lot better than the day end, it almost completely heals my spots overnight which I wasn't expecting at all. I would repurchase this just for the night end so if you're in need of a good spot treatment pick this up right now!

Finally, the night treatment gel completely soothes my skin, it isn't sticky, it dries almost instantly and I think because I've been using it with the spot wand they have become my skincare dream team! So impressed that these can work so quickly. My skin hasn't completely cleared up as these products do not prevent spots but they work so well I'm completely happy that I bought these, especially as I wasn't expecting much from this brand.

I'm pretty sure Boots do 3 for 2 on this range all the time, or they have done every time I've been there so check out this range if you're looking for some new skincare (or even if you're not).

Have you tried any new skincare products?

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?