Tuesday 18 November 2014

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel

Skincare is something that I have been trying to up my game in. I'm starting to know what works best for my skin, and what should be avoided. One brand that has consistently been a stand out for me is La Roche-Posay, and this product is definitely a firm favourite in my routine.

The Purifying Foaming Gel is one of those simple products that really doesn't seem to be a must have judging by its appearance, but it's pretty amazing. This is a light weight gel, very similar to a face wash or hand soap consistency. I just splash my face with cold water, apply a small amount and massage into my face, then rinse off. It really is the most simple step in my skin care routine, and yet it is probably my most effective. I do this step morning and night, on a night using my Sephora cleansing brush for a more intense clean. 



This is designed to get rid of any build up on the skin that can cause blemishes and excess oil. It lifts any dirt and makeup without stripping the skin. For me, I have oily skin, but this helps to balance the oils in my skin without drying it out completely which is a god send, especially in this cold weather! I tend to use this as my second cleanser in my double cleanse routine, but it still works amazingly on its own. I have been using this since August have really noticed an improvement in my skins appearance. It is much smoother, I don't have to powder as much as before, and there are definitely less blemishes.

I have the 400ml version which I bought in France but you can buy this in Boots and Escentual in a 200ml tube. 


Sunday 16 November 2014

Sephora Metamorphosis Exfoliating Powder

A couple of months back, when I took a trip to France, a trip to Sephora was inevitable. Obviously I spent far too much money on items that I didn't need but the feeling of guilt went away after approximately thirty seconds. I have been wanting to update my skincare routine for a while so I was on the look out for new items in their skincare section when this caught my attention.


Sephora Metamorphosis Exfoliating Powder is housed in a plastic pot with a screw top lid. The plastic is quite thick, making it perfect for travel as it is definitely durable. There is also a "shake top" so that you can control how much powder you use. Being in a clear plastic container, it also makes it easy to see exactly how much you have left.

The powder is finely milled but still abrasive enough to make skin silky smooth. Despite being abrasive it doesn't irritate my skin or feel uncomfortable, unlike other facial exfoliators. This can be used daily if mixed with your regular cleanser, but I tend to use it once or twice a week on it's own for a more intense scrub. I shake a little bit into my hand, mi with a tiny bit of water, massage into my face and then wipe with a warm flannel. Soft skin in one easy step. 

Although I bought this in France, it is available on the Sephora website, here.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

The Wedding Series #5: The Guest List

Some of you might have noticed that on my Twitter I have been extremely excited lately, and for a good reason. We have finally set a date and booked a venue for our wedding! Eeeeekkk! It's all starting to feel very real now and I am in full wedding planning mode. 
As we have quite a way to go until the date, 24th September 2016, I'm concious that it's going to come round really fast. Plenty of people have told me how quickly it is going to be here, so I'm starting to get everything together now and hopefully I'll be organised in plenty of time. I thought that today I would share my thoughts on one of the bits that I have found the most stressful and that is writing the guest list. 



After finding a venue, putting together a guest list has been without a doubt the most stressful part of planning our wedding. I have sat down to write ours and have found my mind going blank or getting half way through and being distracted. I also had to take into consideration the numbers that our venue would allow. For example, we have booked a package deal which allows us to have 60 guests, and then any extra guests on top of that have be paid for per head. This was fine with us which is why we booked this package, however, it is so easy to get a little carried away. 

Things to take into consideration:
 - Work out the number of guests that you want to invite/that your venue will allow?
- Prioritise people. As horrible as this sounds, some guests will be more important than others. Start with your immediate family and then continue from there.
- Understand that not everyone will be able to make it so set an RSVP date.
- Decide whether you will allow plus ones and children. Everyone counts towards numbers.
- Make two lists, one for your ceremony and reception, and one for your evening reception.
- Have you spoken to them in the last year? If it's a no and without good reason then do you need them at your wedding?

I'm so pleased that ours has finally been done and all that is left to do is send the invites. I've got a couple more wedding related things going on this week, so there will be more posts in the wedding series soon :)

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Why I Fell Out Of Love With Blogging...

It has been two months since I last posted here on my little blog, and even in the run up before my last post, it was few and far between. The truth is that I fell out of love with blogging for a while, a number of reasons played part in this but ultimately a break was exactly what I needed. 

Anyone who is a blogger, be it as a full time job or as a hobby, will know that sometimes trying to switch off from blogging is difficult. Trying to find a work/life balance was something that I started to find extremely difficult, and to be honest, I still do. I seriously applaud those who find it easy, because it's something that I'm still working on. When I was offered my job, I realised that I would need to come up with some sort of blogging schedule, but instead I just blogged as and when I could. This quickly meant that I was just forgetting about my blog, and finding myself making the most of my days off. I soon found out that I didn't really miss blogging, and I was enjoying reading them more than I was writing them. Now that I've had a proper break, I'm ready to jump back into the swing of things.

During my break, I've still been buying makeup and the like so I have plenty of posts lined up for you. I can't wait to be back blogging on a regular basis :)

Massive thankyou to you all for staying with me, I'm sure that I will have something to thank you all very soon.