My perfect base

I thought I'd show you the concoction of foundations I'm using at the moment to get my current perfect base. Mixing it up is working really well for me right now, even if it is a little bit of a palaver and a little painful for the purse!

I firstly apply MAC face and body really lightly all over my face. This is quite a sheer, low coverage foundation, almost like a tinted moisturiser (in fact, I've used some tinted moisturisers that have more coverage than this). I don't want to end up looking like I actually have face full of foundation  (even though I do), so this is a really good start just to even out my skin tone. 

Next I take the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick and with my fingertips, dab a little over the centre of my face, and on any blemishes. Essentially I suppose I'm using this as a concealer, and for a little more coverage, in a discreet way! (I've reviewed the foundtion sticks here incase you're interested!)

Next I take the tiniest amount of Chanel Vitalumiere in a slightly darker shade than the others (like the shade I'd wear if I'd had a hot summery holiday), and apply this with a small foundation brush just around the edges of my face, my jaw-line and my forehead. This gives my foundation a little more depth to it. 

Finally, the famous YSL Touche Eclat. This I just pop underneath my eyes and across my cheekbones, for an illuminated  awake effect.I blogged about it in more depth over on a guest post on Kayleighs blog here, and also on my own blog  yesterday here just incase you missed it.

Have you ever used any of these foundations? 

Which foundations do you like to use to create your perfect base? 

I'm having a lazy blogging day today :) Some of you might be interested to know that my husband very kindly bought me a new camera (spoilt little lady, thank you!) So I'll be back on my Youtube channel very shortly, just have to get over my camera phobia all over again :s 

Liz Earle Skin Boosting Tonic and Skin Repair Moisturiser

My skin decided it wanted to go a little crazy earlier this month, thanks a lot, hormones! Hence the lack of my face on my blog recently…
So, I wanted to find some really gentle skincare that might help me out, without stripping or being too harsh.

I had tried the Liz Earle collection before, a couple of years ago (I think it's actually on my blog somewhere, way, way back in one of those old embarrassing posts). I really didn't get on with it at all at the time, I couldn't understand why everyone raved about it.
This time around, I ditched the famous Cleanse and Polish hot cloth cleanser, as that was the part I disliked the most (I know tons of you are probably going to hate me for saying that!) and just stick with the toner and moisturizer.

The Instant Boost Skin Tonic 
I didn't actually realize this before, but this is listed under their 'skin concern, acne' section of their website, and says 'contains soothing Aloe Vera to help calm troubled, irritated skin'. And what a wonderful job it's doing.

This leaves me skin feeling so hydrated and smooth, but not greasy in any way at all, and just generally looking brighter and healthier.

I know this is going to make me sound like a complete weirdo, but I absolutely LOVE the smell of my face after I've used this. The scent is just absolutely gorgeous and I can still smell it over 4 hours after application.
I actually look forward to putting this on in the morning and the evenings (sad, I know).

Another great thing about this product is that it’s completely alcohol free, and the ingredients are all natural.
It’s also a very affordable toner, even if you’re on a budget, at £13.25 for 200mls. What more could you want?


Skin Repair Moisturiser 
At £19.25 for 50mls, this is a little steeper, but for the amount you actually need to use, this will last a long time. It’s so light and sinks into the skin almost immedietly. I’ve found it also creates a really nice base for my make up too, and I'm finding that my make-up is sitting much better for it. Again, all natural ingredients . The quality of this moisturiser completely justifies the price in my opinion.

I’ve only been using these again for a few days but I already feel like they have done my skin the absolute world of good, I'm so pleased to have found something that works so well for me, for now anyway! I would recommend these two skincare products to anyone, weather you have bad skin or not.

Next on my list to try from Liz Earle are the Deep Cleansing Mask , and the Botanical Shine Norishing Hair Oil. I also want to re-purchase their shampoo and conditioner.

I know most of you will have tried this at some point, what did you think of it?
What are your go-to cleansers and moisturisers when your skin is in a pickle?

Clarins HydraQuench face-mask

Every Sunday evening I have a little pampering ritual I like to do to help me wind down. 
This consists of a face-mask, hair-mask, painting my nails nails, applying my tan, and all whilst burning some candles :) It's my favourite way to prep and look fresh for the week ahead. I'm sure loads of you beauty blogging ladies out there do the same thing, whilst on bbloggers chat?!

So, my skin has become somewhat problematic lately. I'm talking random breakouts in random places, and LOTS of them, and also dry flaky patches. I don't know what the heck is going on as I'm usually lucky enough to have pretty clear skin with the odd blemish. It's so bad recently that I'm even thinking of getting a full coverage foundation :( Boo

I would usually opt for a plain mud mask, that detoxifies and makes your skin feel super clean afterwards. You know the kind i mean? The ones that dry on your face? However, since my skin has decided to play up recently I've switched from this rather harsh mask, to a gentler mask, Clarins HyraQuench face-mask. 

I'll admit, I had to use this product a couple of times for it to grow on me, but now I really like it. I think it's just because it's so different to the kind of mask I'm used to. It says it 'restores the natural moisture balance in your skin', and the way my skin's been recently, I really do think it helps with that.

It's a light fluffy texture, kind of how you would imagine it would feel to put freshly whipped up cream all over your face :) 
It stays wet whilst on your face, and feels so lovely and refreshing whilst on. When rinsed off, it leaves your skin feeling nice and soft, without all the scrubbing you have to do to get a mud mask off. Brilliant :)

If you read my post about the Clarins moisturiser from the same collection you'll already know how much I LOVE the smell. I think that's my favourite thing about the face-mask too, it's not over powering at all and has a lovely soft, relaxing 'bedtimey' scent. 
You don't need to apply too much either, so I imagine the tube will last a pretty long time. 

All in all, a really lovely high-end face-mask to relax and pamper with.

Have you tried Clarins hydra facial mask?
What are your favourite face-masks for problematic skin? I'd love some recommendations. I still haven't tried Origins, is it worth the hype?

Oh, and I'm thinking of starting a weekly vlog over on my YouTube channel, what do you think?

I've also picked up a couple of nice bits from All Saints recently (my favouritest shop ever) and thinking of doing an outfit post. It's not normally my thing so I'm a little nervous about it. Let me know if it's something you'd like to see here on my blog.

Anyway, I hope you've all had a lovely weekend in the sun! I'll let you know what I've been up to tomorrow :)

All that we can do, is smile

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that one of the reasons why my face has been a little absent from my blog was the current state of my skin.
I think a lot of it was to do with the fact that I've recently come of the pill, which tends to help with outbreaks. It's calmed down a little now, but I'm still getting random little whiteheads and outbreaks, I'm sure this is supposed to have stopped by now, I'm nearly 24!
Lots of you have told me I have lovely skin, but you should know that I wear a ton of make up, I can't leave the house without concealer and foundation. I even wear make-up when I go running. Without it, my confidence is ziltch. nada. zero. I even hate taking my make up off infront of my boyfriend every night, and going make-up free for the beach on holiday. If I went to my office tomorrow with no make-up on, no one would even recognize me.
So I've decided to try and take a few steps in the right direction to try and improve my skin, I'm so sick of it affecting my mood, I really want to change my attitude towards it. I'm going to try and drink a litre and a half of water every day, eat healthier and change my skincare routine (which basically consists of face-wipes at the moment, I know you'll all tell me off for this).
I bought this Clinique '1,2,3 Step' cleanse, tone and moisturize set. I bought the starter pack which was £20 just to see if it agrees with me. I've been using it for 2 weeks now, I'm not really sure if it's made a massive difference to my skin if I'm honest. I don't know if I'll go for the full size bottles yet, I don't really like the smell of the cleanser and moisturizer is pretty hard to get out of the bottle. I don't know why they put it in a hard plastic bottle, surely a squeezy tube makes more sense?! 
Do any of you have confidence issues with your skin? What products have you tried that have helped? Have you tried Clinique 1,2,3 Step?