The Clarisonic Plus!

The Clarisonic seems to be a love it or hate it product within the beauty community, it took a lot of researching and blog reading before I even thought about committing to buy it.

What I seemed to find was that most people with dry sensitive skins did not like this, whereas those with more combination oily skin, and acne prone skin felt like it made a huge difference. 

Falling into the oily/combo/acne skin range I decided (after much deliberation) I would purchase this after Christmas. 

Luckily for me the Clarisonic did get reduced from £179.00 to £143.20 just after Christmas, so with my £75.00 worth of vouchers I was given as a gift from my boyfriend, I only paid £68.20 of my own money towards it. 

I personally chose the 'plus' over the 'Mia' because there's three different speeds (the Mia has two), a body brush setting, and it also came with 3 trial size cleansers, a body polish, and a body brush head. 

The Clarisonic also comes with 2 years warranty, which I felt comforted by as electrical products tend to hate me! haha!

The Plus itself feels expensive, it's good quality, sturdy, and got a nice weight to it. I know these things seem trivial but when you're buying something priced at £179 you expect it to feel/look worth the price.

Obviously being a typical girly girl I went for the baby pink, as I knew I wouldn't get sick of the colour, I have to say I'm extremely glad it came with the sensitive brush head as after research I'm more than certain that some of the others would be way too harsh on my skin. 

Now down to the nitty gritty... I have been using this for over a month now and I have to say I've noticed a definite improvement in my skin, it is much more supple, and I've definitely noticed a difference in my pigmentation and acne scars. My skin has over the past three months been acting up again, I get hormonal acne in cycles, and generally it does get worse around this time of year and with stress, therefore in terms of my cystic acne it's not changed, I was expecting to get a big 'skin purge' as everyone calls it but I honestly so far haven't noticed any changes or difference in my breakouts. I think if you skin maybe wasn't acne prone already you maybe would notice this more. I use this after I've taken the bulk of my makeup off at night, it gives such a lovely refreshing and deeper clean, perfect if you wear heavy duty foundations like me!

The body brush setting is also great, and much more gentle than I was expecting, definitely a good one for anyone who is a lazy exfoliater!

I love this little machine and I'm very happy I decided to purchase it.

Personally I do think it's very expensive and there are cheaper alternatives and competitors out there, one thing I will say is that the general up keep is also expensive, replacement brush heads are priced at £21 for one, or £35 for two. I have noticed that there's a definite price difference between the UK and the US (you guys get all the best deals!) so I think I will stock up on brush heads when I go to NYC in March.  

I've also really enjoyed the gentle hydro cleanser which came as one of the samples however I've been reluctant to buy the full size as I feel I could find something similar for less than £21. 

Overall I would say if you have the money to spare this is a good investment, but also be aware that the upkeep is also not cheap! I am happy I purchased this even if it did give me a little pain in my wallet! 

Thanks for reading! Have you tried any Clarisonic competitors?

Hannah -ox

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Cream

I recently got this eye cream in a sample, my under eyes get extremely dry so I have to regularly use eye cream. I love the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair range and use the serum most nights, it's very good for acne scaring and pigmentation. I was eager to try this and it has last me a good couple of months. 

The cream itself is quite thick, but sinks into the skin nicely leaving no residue or stickiness. 

I love this product for giving added moisture however it has done nothing for my darker circles although I'm not too fussed about this.

This is quite pricey at £38.00 but I'd probably repurchase as it lasts a good length of time, I've also got a sample of the resilience lift eye cream so I think I'll try that out first before I decide! 

However for dry under eyes this is perfect and a nice overnight treat for your eyes! I would definitely recommend if you have a little extra money to treat yourself. 

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox  

My Bedtime Routine...

I've mentioned in past posts that I have a terrible time sleeping, this is partly due to the fact that I work what are known as sleeping nights, so I'll go to work do my shift and then go to sleep at work, I'm then on call throughout the night and I generally get woken up most nights atleast once or twice, then at 6:30am I get up and work another couple of hours in the morning. 

This has had an impact on how well I sleep (although I want to make it clear I love my job), I'm lucky if I go to sleep before midnight pretty much every night, and I never sleep throughout the night (I tend to wake up every few hours). I've had to develop a good night time routine to get me settled before bed, otherwise I can literally lie awake for HOURS!

1. I cleanse my skin - generally I try to do this as soon as I've finished working or when I'm home. I love makeup but I feel much more comfortable with bare skin. 

2. I will then spray my pillows with Lavender pillow spray and the top of my quilt, I've tried many over the years, the Boots own one and one from This Works are the best I've found so far. I also light a candle normally (only when I'm not at work) and switch the fairy lights near my bed on. Dimmer lights help your body wind down and get ready for sleep. 

3. I will brush my teeth then either have a shower or bath, I always try to have a bath as I find this most relaxing, but it tends to depend on how late it is, I love to go to bed feeling clean and fresh. I then will dry and apply moisturiser to my body and put on my pj's. 

4. I get in bed and I listen to my hypnotherapy. A vital part of my daily routine. It keeps me on track.

5. I will have a quick check of facebook and twitter, and then usually will encourage myself to read, I don't always read but it tends to depend on how active my mind is, sometimes I need to be distracted from my stresses and worries. 

6. Finally I'll put on my Ocean Waves sounds, this is also known as natural white noise, it has been used for many years to help sleep, one of my old teachers once told me they'd listen to the static on the radio every night before they went to sleep because it helped them 'tune' out. This really does work and there are thousands of different types out there, along with things like wildlife sounds, birds, rainforest, and wind. I will normally fall asleep with this on and it just plays until it stops, however sometimes I will listen for about half an hour and be settled enough to turn it off myself. 

This may seem like quite a drawn out process, and you're probably thinking no wonder you're not asleep until midnight, but this is what works for me, it doesn't happen like clockwork every night, but if I have a few really bad nights sleep this is what I do to get myself settled and back into what a 'normal' sleeping pattern is for me.

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah -ox

Original Source Shower Gels.

So I absolutely LOVE Original Source, their shower gels are seriously amazing. 

I recently bought the Lavender and Tea Tree one when it was on offer in Superdrug, I sometimes find that products that have Lavender in irritate my skin, particularly Radox ones do! Apparently it's something to do with how the scent/oil is extracted from the plant/flower.

This not only works really well as a shower gel but is also nice on an evening to have a nice relaxing bubble baths. 

I also love the Mint scent, and the Chilli and Cracked Black Pepper (mainly aimed at men but hey ho) scent, they both tingle the skin and leave you feeling really clean and awake! Particularly good for those mornings when your lacking a bit of get up and go! 

I'm sure most people in Britain have tried Original Source at some point and if you haven't I would definitely recommend!! They're usually on offer in supermarkets or drugstores too so very affordable! 

Thanks for reading today's post even though it was short and sweet!

Hannah -ox

Review: Philosophy Purity Cleanser.

I'm a huge fan of double cleansing, and for the first part of my cleanse I absolutely LOVE using Purity, made simple cleanser by Philosophy.

I first used this cleanser when I received it in my Beauty Advent Calendar last advent. I loved it so much I purchased the full size, which is fairly pricey £28.50, however you do get 480ml and this bottle has lasted me a good 5-6 months, and I still have around a 1/4 left.

It's a fairly natural product, with natural oils and no real skincare nasties which really attracted me to buying the full size. 

It claims to remove makeup, cleanse the skin and tone. However I only really use it to cleanse off the bulk of my makeup, and it is seriously good at that!

I wear Estee Lauder double wear foundation, and that is notoriously difficult to remove, I struggled for a long time to find something that could remove it all, and not break me out, or irritate my skin.

The product its self is like a thick liquid, it's much thicker than a cleansing milk, but not quite as thick as a gel or balm. I massage it in all over my face, including my eyes then remove with hot water and a flannel.

The scent is fairy herbal, and I wasn't overly keen at first but now it doesn't really bother me.

The only have two negatives about this product the first being that the packaging has a tendency to leak, the small version does come with a better closing top, the large version can open itself and make a huge mess if you are travelling!

The second being that if I use this product alone or as a second cleanse it has broken me out, it works perfectly for a first cleanse but when used as a second cleanse the natural oils are just too heavy for my acne prone skin. This however would seriously be amazing for more dry and dehydrated skin! 

Overall I seriously love this product, I recently bought the Ultimelt by Soap and Glory which just doesn't compare I will review this when I have given it a fair good testing. I also have purchased the ever famous Emma Hardie cleansing Balm which I haven't even opened yet.

It may be a while before I purchase the Purity cleanser again but there is no doubt about whether I will. It is truly one of the best cleansers that I have ever used! I really do recommend to anyone who is looking for a new cleanser. It is also available in boots in a 90ml trial size for £8.00 if the price tag puts you off!

Thank you for reading!

Hannah -ox