My Winter Beauty Essentials | Sunday Blues

Grab yourself a cuppa, this is going to be a long one!

Winter is fast approaching and that means a change in the weather, which means wrapping up in warm scarves, cozy jumpers and breaking out the fluffy socks. I love it! Winter is one of my favourite months (nothing to do with christmas I swear...) I love when it snows, which is rare here, it tends to be sunny on Christmas Day oddly enough. I love when the fires are starting to be lit and you can just cozy up with a nice movie and a cup of tea. Along with all of that is my most favourite part. Winter beauty.

Skin care:

I will start first, by talking about winter skincare. Taking care of your skin in winter is hugely important. The colder weather means dryer skin and with people blasting the central heating you can be sure it will take a toll on your skin. To be perfectly honest not much changes in my winter skincare routine other than I like to moisturize like a crazy person. As I have combination skin I don't like to use heavy products in the summer as I would just be an oily mess, so I save them for winter when my skin can take it more. I have changed up my cleanser this year to The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter and I love it. This is quite an oily product but it literally melts makeup off your face, reducing the amount of time you spend cleansing. I also try to use face masks that are brightening and moisturising. I love the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Face-mask which smells if oranges and really makes your skin glow. Always a winner in my book.

Another product that I highly recommend using in winter is and exfoliator, especially if you have dry skin as it takes away all the dead skin cells that can make your skin look dull. Exfoliating also helps your moisturiser and any other products you apply to your skin, sink in better as it doesn't have to fight through dead skin and makes them work better. I have three I am currently using. My everyday one (which I don't use everyday but it is gentle enough if you want to use it daily) is the Boots Botanics All Bright Purifying Face Scrub and two REN exfoliator's the REN Micro Polish Cleanser and the REN Jojoba Microbead Purifying Facial Polish. These products are amazing at making my skin feel soft and smooth and I love them. I also think that treatments are very important for your skin in winter as the cold weather can really dry it out. I have been thinking recently in investing in the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum as it is meant to be the the bees knees and the spiders ankles (I hope people understood that...) It retails for about €80 - €100 making it pretty pricey, although very much worth it from the reviews I have read.

Body care:

As for winter body care, I will start by saying, do not have a super hot shower. This will dry out your skin. I know, I know, hot showers feel amazing when your freezing cold but do your skin a favour and just have a nice warm one instead. You can thank me later. As I have mentioned, central heating is your skins worst enemy come winter time, it completely dries it out. Make sure you are moisturizing well after each shower to keep your skin soft and looking fab. Body brushing is also your best friend this time of the year and you can read up on that in my most recent post here.

Make Up:

Next up lets talk about makeup. My favourite look in winter is neutral eyes and a deep berry plum colour on my lips. My favourite this year is the Rimmel London Kate Moss lipstick in 107 which is proving very popular this year from the likes of Suzanne Jackson of sosueme.ie and Zoella both rocking this colour. Another big trend this winter is orange lips which has been seen on the catwalk and in magazines. I think orange lips are a great change from the usual dark colour's but still keeps it in the winter colour palette. I still love a good smoky eye and a nude lip, Satin Taupe shadow from MAC being an all time favorite. Foundation wise, depending on your skin type, something more dewy/moisturizing would be appropriate for winter. Having combination skin myself, this is not always an option. So as I have mentioned before I like to apply a good moisturizer and then once that has sank in I will apply my primer to keep the never ending supply of oil at bay. I am currently using the 17 Miracle Matte Primer which is amazing for a Boots brand. It is affordable and works great, what more could you want? I will then apply my favorite foundation of the moment (right now its the Revlon Color Stay foundation) and Bobs your uncle.

Bronzer is another life changing product in winter. Who wants dull pasty looking skin? I don't that's for sure. I love bronzing up my face in both winter and summer, it makes you look more tan in summer and less dead in winter! YAY! :) I love love LOVE the Sleek Contour Kit in Light, yes its for contouring but the shade is so perfect it makes my skin look glowy and amazing. The highlighter shade is also a dream, not so shimmery that you become a disco ball, but just right so you have gorgeous glowing skin, just in time for all those Winter parties ;)

                                         A swatch of the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick 107
                                           

                                       A close up of Satin Taupe from MAC

Hair care:

Right, we all know what winter means for our hair.. it turns it into a dry and frizzy mess. Lovely. How do we combat this? Hair masks and lots of them. Pile them on people just pile them on. Your hair will love you I promise. Now what hair masks do I use I hear you ask? There are tonnes of them out there. I personally love pure coconut oil as it works well and is relatively cheap and easy to come by ( I am pretty sure Tesco's or a health food store would have this, you can use this for cooking too.) I warm it up in the microwave and apply to the ends of my hair, leave it for a half an hour, rinse and you are good to go. I am currently testing out the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil hair mask and I will be posting my review once I have tested it thoroughly. Hair serums and oils such as the ever popular Moroccan Oil (which, surprisingly, I do not own but have used) are also brilliant at keeping frizz at bay but keeping moisture in your hair. One big tip I have for combating frizz is to make sure your hair is completely dry before stepping outside. Any bit of moisture in your hair when the wind blows and POOF you look like Monica from Friends. Yes, I have been their.

Phew! Whoever manages to read this until the end give yourself a huge pat on the back, you are a trooper. I hope you enjoyed this post guys and I do hope it helps you in some way with any winter beauty problems you may have. If you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment down below or on my Twitter or Facebook pages, links are on my profile. :) Thanks for reading guys and a Happy Halloween! :D

Review: Biore Triple Action Toner

Most people probably don't think much of toner. I mean its only used to take of leftover cleanser and makeup right? Wrong. What if it could do so much more? Well, I have found just the thing. I have combination to oily skin and I have always found that most toners dry out my skin even in the oily parts. I have tried Clinique toners, Simple Toners, regular Tesco brand toners and they are all the same. Until I found this one. Biore are famous for their nose pore strips (which are absolutely amazing). I have used these for years so I am pretty familiar with the brand. They have recently changed their packaging to blue and white and they have also colour coded their product to help you find exactly what you need. Orange - Complexion Clearing, Blue - Deep Cleansing, Pink - Makeup Removing, and Teal - Nourishing Care.

This toner is oil free, does not clog pores, it also contains witch hazel which soothes the skin. I use this product morning and night. I simply apply it to a cotton pad and wipe over my face and neck (yes neck) avoiding the eye area. I can see all the dirt it has removed and it leaves my skin feeling super clean and fresh. It does not leave it feeling dry, but it does remove shine (Yay!). I follow up with a light moisturizer and carry on with my makeup for the day.

I highly recommend this product for quality and also affordability. It retails in Australia for around $8 but I have also seen it on offer for about $5. Bargain! I have also been using their Warming Anti Blackhead Cleanser and I will have a review up soon.

What are your favourite toners? Let me know what your favourite skincare brands are and why you love them.

The best makeup remover in the world. Seriously!

One of the most annoying tasks us girls have to do is removing makeup. Sigh.. This can sometimes bring us to tears (Literally). The daunting task or removing waterproof eyeliner/mascara, making sure your skin is completely clean so your pores aren't clogged up. Phew I am tired just thinking about it! Well I'm going to let you all in on a little secret beauty weapon of mine. The Garnier Clean Sensitive, 2 in 1 Makeup Remover for Sensitive skin. I'll be honest, this thing is a beast. Its so good it could probably clean anything! I have been using this for around a year now and I honestly could not live without it. I start getting anxious if this is near the end and I have to run out a grab a new one. That's love right there. So what is this little gem anyways I hear you ask? Well its actually just one of those cleansers that you have to shake to mix the oil and water together. Lancome have one which I believe is called Bi facil? Correct me if I'm wrong, I never did French! So basically you shake it up, apply some to a cotton pad, sweep over your face and Bobs your uncle!(Hi Bob!) It really is that simple! Eye makeup doesn't stand a chance anymore!

It is perfect for sensitive skin as it is enriched with plant extracts and vitamin B5. It is also fragrance free and alcohol free. I don't find this stings my eyes if I get some in them. It doesn't irritate my face like some cleansers as I don't have to tug at my face. The way I like to use it is to get a baby wipe and take the bulk of my makeup off (so much faster this way) I then grab a cotton pad, apply this to it and sweep over my face and eyes making sure all mascara and eyeliner residue is gone. It says that this leaves your skin residue free which is not the case, as its an oil it leaves a light film on the skin but I just follow up with my Biore toner as normal and moisturize so no big deal. And if you are wondering will this be good for oily skins, I think it would as I have combination skin and I have had no problem with this product whatsoever. This retails in Australia for around $9 something and I believe it costs in or around 5-6 euros in Ireland. It is inexpensive and worth every penny.

Have you guys tried this product before? What did you think? What is your holy grail product?

Botanics Hydrating Night Cream: All Bright

This is the night cream that Jesus himself would have used. Its absolutely fantastic. I discovered this product a few months ago while having a rummage through Boots (again?? I never leave this place). Its packaging was what caught my eye first. The packaging from this range is gorgeous. White with either pink, blue, purple or green plants on it, depending on the range.

This night cream is from the All Bright brightening range from Botanics. There is also a mattifying range, a range for youthful skin, a calming range etc. So many to choose from. I decided to pick this one up as I really liked the idea of brightening my skin (and I ran out of my night cream..). Its a pink colored cream and you really only need the smallest amount. I have had this tub for months and only now can I see the bottom of it.

The consistency is thick but it sinks in super fast. The one thing I noticed about this night cream was that when you first apply it you don't get that really moisturized feeling, but when you wake up you will notice a massive difference in your skin. I don't personally notice that my skin is "brighter" but it does feel so soft its unbelievable. I really highly recommend this product, I'm not sure how this would work on sensitive skin though simply because of the brightening ingredients. This is not to say that the ingredients are harsh, just simply my opinion.

I have really been enjoying the Botanics range and I also have another product from them that I will be reviewing shortly so stay tuned. I think this range is reasonably priced as most items are around the €5 to €6 mark. I have also seen a range for your body from Botanics and I really want to try it out as my skin gets super dry in the winter months.

I highly recommend this product and I will most likely be purchasing many more products from them,(and stocking up for Canada :])

Botanics All Bright Night Cream