Whats In My Bag: Flight Edition

I am off on vacation on Saturday guys and gals.

 Throw your hands in the air one time for sum sum summer. It has been a while since I had a vacay which entailed leaving the country.

 Last year I had two mini breaks, one to Centre Parcs for 4 days and another one over the August Bank  Holiday. However there is just something about laying about on a beach, with a straw hat and a cold drink. On this trip I can look forward to hanging with my chicas, going to the beach, good food and yeah going to the beach. 

Of course traveling out of the country means I have to make some adjustments when it comes to the beauty products I cart along, decisions, decisions. These are the items I have pretty much decided to will take with me to the airport/ on the flight. 

Face

I will taking along my trusty Garnier Cleansing wipes in absence of my Garnier Micellar water (Garnier needs to make this in a 100ml size. Even if it is only sold in airports.) The 3oz rule, +  no aerosols means I wont be able to carry my trusty Avene Thermal water spray, but no worries I have  my Simple Hydrating Face Mist (GREAT DUPE for the MAC Travel Sized  Fix + Spray) to keep my skin hydrated during the flight along with my Korres Pomegranate Cream Gel/Body Shop Serum in Oil. 

Body

Sometimes my hands feel a bit grimey and travelling/being on the go there might not be an available sink with running water and hand soap readily available. My hand bag packet of Wet Ones will keep my hands feeling fresh and not sticky. My trusty Kleenex tissues are on hand to wipe up any spills or drips that might occur (dab the ob bit of foundation/the end of a mascara wand.) Hand sanitizer is my truth my light and my way (plus it will in handy for cleaning my hand before applying my makeup. This little mini tub of Nivea Creme is going to  come in very handy for moisturizing my arms and legs/feet. L'Occitane Hand cream (full tube) self explanatory. 

Fragrance

Davidoff Cool Water edt, Ralph Lauren Romance edp, Marc Jacobs LoLa edp I love a good scent and I love having a choice. The Marc Jacobs Lola is a gorgeous scent, is sold as a 20ml purse spray, the other 2 fragrances are 30ml sizes so they aren't too heavy. 

Breath

I am very suspicious of those mini tubes of tooth pate they give out on flights. There isn't enough toothpaste to get a good scrub on (my dentists recommends brushing for 2 minutes long) and the texture is just weird. This is a mini 19ml tube of Colgate Total. I got it as a free sample from my dentists office. In the event I eat a hot curry or something really garlicky, I have some Extra chewing gum & mints to keep me going until I can brush my teeth. 

Food

I have some Go Ahead cereal bars, and some Oat cakes to keep me going. I usually buy these as my work snacks, but they will keep me going, if I am feeling peckish and a packet of crisps are not to hand (or the stewardess is being stingy with the snacks. 

Miscellaneous

Shilling oil I cannot really explain what this is for, it covered a multitude of sins. Ipod mini this is for listening to music on the way to the airport and in the departure lounge. Revlon Colour Burst lipglosses to keep my lips moisturized with a bit of colour. 

Yayyyyyyyy. I'm going on holiday.

Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff. 

xx

The New Avengers:Skincare

The season has changed,  and some of my skincare products have finished. 

It is time for the changing of the guard, arise the NEW avengers. 

Lierac, Murad, Korres, The Body Shop, Nivea

TK MAXX Avengers  

LIERAC Cleansing Oil £5.99 (replaces Emma Hardie Cleansing balm £34)

KORRES Pomegranate Moisturising Cream/Gel £9.99 (replaces Origin Ginzing £23)

KORRES Wild Rose Brightening and Line Smoothing Serum £9.99 

Murad Perfecting Day Cream SPF30 £14.99 

Body Shop Avengers

Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil £12

Elderflower Unperfumed Eye Gel £7

Nivea Avenger 

Nivea Oil Free Moisturising Day Cream £1.98 (Love this stuff, went through 3 tubes of it at uni)

These are my skincare items for the Spring/ summer months. 

Lovelies have you changed your skincare regimen?

What new products are you using?

Comment and let me know. 

xx

My travel Makeup/Skincare/Bodycare UK August Bank holiday

You already know about my disastrous experience at Notting Hill Carnival. What you do not know is, before I went to London, I had to attend my Godsons christening. Which meant I had to do a bit of cross country travelling, therefore I had to break out my travel goodies. 

Body - Garnier Minerals Clean Sensation anti antiperspirant, Nivea Pearl Beauty gentle care antiperspirant, L'occitane Plum Blossom skin moisture gel (travel size), Marks and Spencers Coconut hand and body lotion (decanted into a travel sized bottle), The Body Shop Shea Butter Shower cream (travel size), Burberry Body Eau de Parfum, Elizabeth Arden Red door Revealed Eau de Parfum. 

Face - Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural lift and Sculpt Morninga Cleansing Balm (sample size), Origins Modern Friction (sample size), Clarins Gentle Eye Makeup Remover Lotion (sample size)

Hair - Organics Olive Oil Hair Polish Finishing Mist

Makeup - MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Deep dark, MAC Blot Powder, Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara (travel size), Clinique High Impact Mascara (travel size), The Body Shop Super volume Mascara (travel size), 

Stuff - Cuticura Passion Flower and Mango antibacterial gel (decanted into my purell 60ml pump bottle), Wet Ones anti bacterial wipes, Avene Eau de thermal spray.

See you next time lovelies.

xx

The Current Skincare Edit

Makeup Remover - Bioderma Crealine Micellar Solution 

Eye Makeup Remover - Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover

Cleanser morning - Neutrogena 2 in 1 Wash and Mask  

Cleanser evening - Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm

Exfoliating toner - PIXI Glow Tonic 

Hydrating toner - Botanics 100% Organic Rosewater Toning Spritz 

Serum - Avene Soothing Hydrating serum 

Day moisturiser - Origins GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer

Sunscreen - Nivea Sun spf 30 pocket size for face and body

Night Moisturiser - Botanics Hydrating Night Cream All Bright

Ideally I wanted the Ren Clarifying Clay Cleanser to use as my morning cleanser. However  I got tired of waiting to purchase it after waiting so long for the Emma Hardie (took nearly a month to come back into stock) and the PIXI glow Tonic (this was another palarva) I just went with what was the closet thing which was readily available. So far the Neutrogena  2 in 1 Wash/Wask has been working fine. I use it as a morning cleanser to refresh my face + neck. If I did not wear makeup during the day I will use it as my night time cleanser as well. 

So far my little regimen has been going well, def since using the cleansing balm my skin has been a lot more plump and not as dry. I have been removing the cleansing balm in lines, "working with the grain of the skin in line with the facial muscles" similar to those of a facial for removing the cleansing balm from my skin in the evenings. In terms of draining the built up fluid I cannot see if that has worked to combat that or not. I can say that using the line method (opposed to rubbing circles) has def helped my chin area. There isn't as many  oily deposits around my chin area.  My skin likes the chemical exfoliation from the PIXI Glow Tonic, In terms of texture my skin is a lot smoother. In the future I would like to purchase the liquid gold and compare how the effects measure up. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0bNOeFKayk (Emma Hardie demonstration)

These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

 I will do in depth reviews of the products soon,

 beginning with the Emma Hardie Cleansing balm, 

since I have been using that over a month . 

b- beautiful my lovelies.

New stuff - Shop it, shop it up, look at all these bags

      A beauty blogger on a spending ban is not a good thing. As soon as I implemented my project 10 pan, (which turned into 20 lotions and potions pan) companies started dropping new releases left right hand centre. The one release which I was most in angst about was the arrival of the L'oreal Micellar water and cleanse off oil. I love a cleansing oil, I have reviewed the Origins Cleansing oil previously on this blog. I also love a Micellar water (which lead me to review my Bioderma Micellar water twice, can you say blogger faux pas). 

    However Project 10 pan is now over, like any good beauty blogger I have been shopping it up. There are some lusts, some necessities and the odd shower gel in this line up. What can I say I am a sucker for a good scent and some lather. 

Nivea Shower oils in Lemon, Water Lily and Melon

Nivea shower oil in Hawaiian bliss

River Island Nautical Earrings 

Zara Geometric Print Scarf

Laura Mercier Tinted moisturiser Oil Free sfp20

Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic  top coat

Origins GinZing moisturizer

L'Oreal Skin Cleansing oil

L'Oreal 3 in 1 Purifiying Micellar Water (someone thinks they are fancy huh)

PIXI Glow Tonic 

Wonderbra Ultimate Strapless Bra

Dove Blue Fig and Orange Blossom Body wash

 

ORS Hair Mayonnaise 

There is is my  haul,

 not to worry I did it the Kanye way --> 

I did not spend what I did not have.

 xx

Spring Beauty Clean Project 10 Pan 2013

     The time has come to get rid of a few things. I am by no means a hoarder or a product junkie, but I do like choice.  At any one time I usually have 2 shower gels/body washes in rotation, sometimes three. This has lead to me having a few half bottles/ tubs of products which I have decided to use up. Today I might smell like water melon, tomorrow I might like to smell like a mango, on Friday I might desire to smell like a rain forest or what ever concoction these various, deodorants, body sprays, shower gels or body creams would have me believe. 

      This is my version of a spring clean, there is nothing adversely wrong with these products. I have no reason to just throw them out, hence I have imposed a project 10 pan (even though there are more than 10 things on this list). I will NOT be purchasing any new beauty products or cosmetics until everything on this list has been used up. By my calculations that should take me 2 months.  update (I think to fully use everything I will extend this til the end of May.  I  have not bought any beauty products, since starting this project 10 pan apart from the two bottles of Almond oil.)

Spring Beauty Clean Project 10 Pan List:

Darcy's Botanicals Sweet Cocoa Bean curl smoothing Cream (1/4 bottle)  

Avon Light moisturizing gel cream (4/5 tub)   gave this to my lil sis.

Almond Glaze (1/5 tub)  finished 

Origins Oil Cleanser ( 1/5 bottle)  finished 

Elasta QP Anti-Breakage Serum (1/5 bottle)  finished 

Radox Cherry Shower Gel (1/3 bottle)  finished 

Botanics Brightening Night Cream (1/2 tub)

Soap and Glory The righteous Butter Body Lotion (1/4 bottle)

Afroveda B. A. R. E. (1/4 tub) update (about 3 uses left 10/04/2013)

Sk:n Vitamin Rich cleanser for Oily skin (2/3 bottle) update (1/2 bottle on 10/04/2013)

The Body Shop Tea Tree Cleansing pads (nearly full container) update (1/2 full container on 10/04/2013)

Clean and Clear Brightening Lotion (1/3 bottle)

Matrix Total Results Conditioner (1/4 bottle)

Matrix Total Results Intensive Treatment (4/5 tub)

Nivea Sunblock (1/2 bottle)

Love and Light

xx

Current Skincare Routine - Morning

My arsenal of skincare items

    Here we are my first post for the new year. It has been a while since I made a full blog post, but I like most of you, I was having a little break for the festive season. Sometimes it is good to sit back and just hit the reset button. My skincare routine has changed recently so I thought I would share with you all what I have been using. 

Cleanse

Sk:n Vitamin Rich cleanser for oily skin

This cleanser contains glycolic acid, evening primrose oil and Vitmamins A, C and E, because of the glycolic acid it produces a slight peeling/exfoliating effect. I always double cleanse my skin so that I am able to get deep down inside the pores to dry up spots and get rid of the dirt.  It is very gentle on my skin and leaves it feeling very clean, but not tight or stripped. My experience with breakouts while using this facewash is that when I have been on my game (aka properly carrying out my cleansing morning and night, double cleansing at night) the spots/ dry up in no time. Having properly cleansed skin enables the other products which I use in my daily/nightly skincare regime to work better.
There is the exfoliating face wash to this which contains a higher percentage of glycolic acid. I plan to purchase it later and incorporate it into my routine

Double cleansing method - Apply cleanser to dry face and massage it in for 2 minutes (yes count 60 seconds x2) then rinse and repeat. It might sound like a lot  of effort, but to have clear blemish free skin one must not only invest in  products but time. The longer products are able to be in contact with your skin the better they are able to work. 

Tone

Clarins Daily Energiser wake up Booster

This is a radiance booting gel with moisturising properties, I apply this with a cotton pad, wipe my face and then apply  moisturiser. 

Avene Eau de Thermal Spring Water

I did a review on this product already in a blog post here. I use this as an alternative to my toner if I do not have my toner with me or sometimes I just spray my face to freshen up. 

Moisturise

Avon Refreshing Face Gel -Cream

I use this on days when I am not leaving the abode. Since I have oily skin I have to be careful with moisturisers especially during the day. This formula is light and refreshing, also it absorbs very quickly. It contains cucumber and green tea which are known for their calming properties. 

Nivea Sunblock spf 30

Sun damage occurs every day and over time, to prevent this and premature ageing I apply this sunblock on days when I am leaving the house. I purchase the small 50ml bottle, so that I can take it around in my handbag with me for top ups. 

Haulage

This is a small haul, basically stuff thrust upon me by my mother, lol lol. However I am grateful for the supplies she gave me.

The Somerset Toiletry Company Olive Oil moisturising shower creme 450ml

The Somerset Toiletry Company Olive Oil moisturising body lotion 450ml

The Somerset Toiletry Company Olive Oil antibacterial handwash 450ml

Nivea double effect anti-perspirant deodorant 150ml

Nivea calm and care anti-perspirant deodorant 150ml

Listerine  milder flavour mouth wash 250ml

Nivea milk care soap (soap blink blink)

Moroccan oil light formula Argan oil (sample bottle)

Imagine after all of this I had to run some covert ops for a box of tea!!!!!

Reviews coming soon especially on the Moroccan oil. 


stay sweet..xx

Review - Nivea Sun Sunblock spf 30

What they say: 

Nivea Sun  Pocket size spf 30, high protection always at hand

UVA/UVB Protection systen EU compliant

     Nivea sun pocket size provides immediate sun protection in a convenient pocket size, readily available whenever and whereever effective sun protection is needed. The ultra light and non sticky formula for face n body is easy to apply and absorbed. water resistant. 

What I say:

     This is the highest spf lotion in my skincare regimen. The lightest being the Nivea daliy essentials moisturising lotion and the second being the Avene Hydrance Optimal Rich hydratiing cream with spf 20. I am all about the spf, it should be a very present part of any skincare routine. I purchased this sunblock after watching Brit Pop princess's video on her skincare routine. Yes, it does leave that blue look on my skin after I have applied it, lol. As a sunblock I believe that it has been effective, since using this and the Avene Hydrance Optimal I have noticed that my spots have not been darkening as much as they would have in the past, also my overal complexion is a lot brighter/clearer. I use  this on the really really hot days when the sun was out and I knew definitely I would be leaving the house, maybe to go into town or walking to uni or the supermarket. It takes a while to sink in, but I expect that with a sunblock with a high spf factor such as this one. 

   It is 50ml which is a great size, it enables me to walk with it in my handbag for when I want to re apply (sunblock should be reapplied every 2-3 hours). The price point was very attractive as well, I puchased it when it was on offer for 50% off at my local supermarket. It is funny how essential products such as sunblock can be so expensive. smh 

Nivea sunblock spf 30 along with the rest of my skincare regimen. 

Would I repurchase? - Yes 

Would I recommend? - Yes for all my gals, my girls and my kiddies, sunblock is very very very important.

Would I buy full priced? - Yes I rather spend £6 today and save myself skin cancer and wrinkles tomorrow. 

cheerio my lovlies. 

Review - Nivea Daily Essentials Oil Free Moisturising Day Cream spf 8

Moisturises and regulates shine for a fresh skin feeling 

What Nivea  says:

Nivea visage daily essentials oil free moisturising day cream enriched with Natural Lemon grass and Rice extract, supports the natural balance of your skin:

• Regulates your skin:s oil balance to leave your skin shine free
• The light formulation hydrates your skin without clogging pores
• With spf8 and extra uva filters it helps to protect your skin from environmental influences and premature aging. 

What I say:

      This cream I have been using since February I purchased it since I had in spf and you guys know if you follow me on twitter (@Rebelle01) that I am very big on spf, I wear it daily. This was my first venture into the spf/suncreen moisturiser arena. As a face cream it does what it says on the packaging, it does keep my skin moisturised, and hydrated. It sinks in quite quickly,  spreads easily which I love, and there is no greasy after feel, to my skin. It lasts a really long time, which is def a plus point in my book. (yes it is STILL going strong, since I mostly wear it if I am staying inside the house these days, or if I need a moisturiser before I go out at night under my makeup)  
      The price point is very very very affordable, I paid less than £4 for this and it was 1/3 off the full price, though I am no budget fashionista, I do want to be as financially savvy as possible. As a girl with Oily skin this cream is a peach, I absolutely love it. The only downside is the spf factor, now that I have done thorough and in-depth research regarding spf, I am disappointed in regards to the amount of spf that is in this cream, it contains spf 8 where as the other two creams in this range contain spf15, so I feel we oily girls are getting jipped.

Nivea visage cream in the middle, current skincare routine.

Would I repurchase? - yes I would repurchase this cream for during the winter months dec/jan/feb

Would I recommend? - yes i would,  really like this cream, my only disappointment is the spf factor.

Would I buy full priced? - no probably not, it is always on offer somewhere.

Stay savvy my lovelies

Review - Nivea Pure and Natural Facial cleansing wipes

Yes another one of these lol lol

link to product ------------>  Nivea Visage Pure and Natural face wipes

What they say

Nivea Visage Pure and nautral cleansing face wipes for all skin types. combinign skin experitse with nature. the pure and Natural skincare range combiunes trusted skincare expertise with effectyive ingredients that work in harmony with your skin.

95% of the cleansing lotion ingredients are from natural origin including Aloe Vera and exotic Morrocan Argan Oil.

•  Argan oil is a natural source of Vitamin E
• Aloe Vera is knows for its hydrating and caring properties
• Gently cleanses an, removes makeup and mascara. 

Free from

• Parabens 
• silicones
• colourants
• mineral oils 
• alcohol

what I say:

These wipes smell foul, they straight up smell like egg rish rish. They had a good amount of cleansing lotion on them, not ad wet as the Garnier wipes but definitely close say 95% as much. What really impressed me was the face wipe itself it was very thick, very much like a piece of cloth. It did not stretch out or lose shape like some other wipes I have used in the past. The texture was very smooth and gentle against my skin. I quite enjoyed using these facial wipes. The solution was not drying on my face and sunk into my skin quite quickly.  I hated these I did not even finish them i would up giving half the pack away. 

Would I repurchase? - no

Would I recommend? - not really / with caution, if you like things that smell nice, these wipes are not for you.

Would you buy full priced? - will never buy again.

Miss Mai

Summer 2012 Handbag Essentials

     Summer is here though you wouldn't be able to tell from the massive game of hide and seek the sun is playing with the British Weather. (Yes British weather is notorious for being crap, but hey) I have decided to share with you my bag and the items that I am carrying around at the moment.  

Zara Plaited Shopper  in Blue.

Now onto the items that I am carrying around with me, lol lol.

M&S Citrus Hand wipes

Avene Hydrance Optimale spf 20 face cream

Nivea sunblock spf 30

Travel sized listerime 

Avene Eau de Thermal face water

Kleenex tissues

Sanex travel sized deodorant

Lens cleanser spray

 Miss mai