My Daily Skincare Routine

My Daily Skincare Routine

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Whilst chatting with a pal the other day it became apparent that so many of us still don't know exactly what we should be doing when it comes to taking care of our skin. I'm firmly in my 30s and will admit that after years of hating my dry, flaky, ultra-sensitive skin I've finally started taking proper care of it! Gone are the face wipes, and light swipes of micellar water, and in are the serums, oils, and weird gadgets. No longer am I out until all hours of the night, necking vodkas and then wondering why my skin is so dull and lifeless, instead, its copious amounts of water throughout the day, and an AM/PM skincare routine full of steps.

The same pal I was chatting to was equally as clueless as I used to be so I said I'd write this post for her to help her get to grips with a whole new world of skincare. I was originally going to do a full skincare routine post but honesty with AM, PM, and once weekly routines it was just going to be way too much for one post, so instead I'll do an AM/PM one and then a weekly "deep clean" one which I'll link here once it's done!

My Phototherapy Experience

My Phototherapy Experience

Friday, December 08, 2017

Okay now we have that ^^^ out of the way it's time to dive in to my round up of how I got on with phototherapy.

Summer Makeup Trends 2017

Summer Makeup Trends 2017

Friday, June 23, 2017

It's been a while since I've done a beauty post but I have a couple planned for the next month or two so thought I'd get the beauty ball rolling with a look to the coming season.

Whilst Summer in Britain might actually only last a few days (and may actually already be over-down south anyway, it's not been nearly as hot in Scotland *sob*) it is one of the most inspirational times. Trends are everywhere, and with so many opportunities to show off a look it's a great time to try something new. 

I grew up watching my mum paint her face on every morning, same face every day, and it was classic, and it worked for her. But I think sometimes it's nice to mix it up a bit, so this summer instead of my usual beauty regime I'm going to try out every one of these trends...who's with me?

Nails

It's summer so of course we're leaning towards brights. This year we seem to have come over all 80s, and I love it! Nail technicians are seeing a rise in requests for neons which we all know go great with a summer tan (be it real or fake). What is new for Summer 2017 is the styles though- at lot of designers sent their models down the runway with negative space, or marble being the focal point of their nails. I'm one of those bloggers who loves a bit of marble as I'm sure most of us are, so why not ask your professional nail artist to create some marble magic using Mambo Beat and Banana Clips from the CND Shellac Collection from https://www.ellisons.co.uk/nails.html.

Top Tip: HAVE FUN. Nails are such a great canvas to experiment on so grab the brightest brights and just play about with whatever takes your fancy this summer!

Neon Marble Nails. Photo Credit: Jenny Nagorski 

Skin

This summer it's all about the glow. Highlighter has been big news for a while now but this summer it's set to take centre stage. It's time to relax your contour, put down the bronzer and make your highlighting palette the star of the show. This look is all about being hydrated so try using things like coconut oil, face mists, and even lip balms to add some shine to your skin. 

Top Tip: add some liquid highlighter to your foundation and dab on with a damp beauty blender! 

Dewy Skin. Photo Credit: Clarins

Lips

Your face isn't the only thing calling out for some shine this summer. Lip gloss is set to make a comeback. After a few seasons of Matte Lipstick running the show (thanks in part to lipkits from a certain Jenner, and amazing drugstore products from Sleek) it's time to pick up the gloss again, and add a little moisture to your pout. I know what you're thinking though "ugh but lipgloss is so sticky!" well Bare Minerals have come to the rescue with their new Buttercream Glosses, all of the shine-none of the stickiness. 

Top Tip: feeling a bit more daring this summer? Try colour blocking your lips. A red on top and an orange on your bottom lip with a touch of gloss in the middle, will really make any look pop. 

photo credit: Getty

Eyes

Hands up if you just can't when it comes to lining your eyes? I am genuinely in awe of everybody with these perfect lines, and flicks, and cats eyes! When I try I always have to have micellar water, and 100 cotton buds on hand to fix my mistakes-and I almost never get both eyes looking anywhere near the same. Which is why I am so excited eye makeup is going a bit grungy this summer. It's all about the kohl and the smudge folks. All you need is a pencil and a finger and you too can nail this summer's biggest eye trend. 

Top Tip: draw a hashtag on the outer corner of your eye, then dab on some vaseline and smudge inwards-perfect addition to any smokey eye, or as a standalone look a la Balmain.

What are some makeup and beauty trends you predict will be big this summer? Are you like me and a bit reluctant to step away from the contour stick? Let me know in the comments OR on Twitter.

Happy Summer 😘

Disclaimer: This post contains collaborative content or PR samples. All thoughts and opinions are true and personal. 

                                                    

These Wingz were Made to Fly

These Wingz were Made to Fly

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

So, recently I was contacted by the the lovely Sarah and asked if I would like to feature Wingz* on the blog, and i'll be honest, I jumped at the chance! I'd been interested in the product ever since Fiona tried them out, but with saving for Florida I kept not buying myself things that I really liked! 

Anyway I happily accepted the offer and got excited about trying this interesting new item, but then the apprehension kicked in, not about the product itself but more how I would write about them in a way that was authentic to me. You see exactly a year ago yesterday I wrote this post, a post about how finally at the age of 29 I had finally learned to love the body I'm in, but here I was accepting a product that was-in my mind-the perfect thing to hide one of my flaws. 

After a lot of thinking about it I realised I was beating myself up over nothing! Nobody can be completely in love with their body, all of the time, it is possible to love your body and dislike a part of it-we are human, we are not infallible, we are fickle and flighty, and multi-faceted...and that's just another thing to love about us. So there you have it, I love my body, but I hate my arms. 

Mostly I hate the skin on my arms, it's dry and flaky, and a little scaly. Some parts are red and inflamed, others are dark and discoloured...basically it's just a damn mess, and I like to cover it up (for my own sake mind, I don't really care how other people react to my skin- I just care how my skin reacts to air, and how I react to it) and Wingz are perfect for doing just that. 

It's Time for Makeup, Perfect Smile, It's You they're all Waiting For...

It's Time for Makeup, Perfect Smile, It's You they're all Waiting For...

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Hiya!! Whenever anybody asks "what do you blog about?" I always automatically answer with the standard "oh you know a bit of everything really, but mostly fashion, beauty and lifestyle" and this is true it pretty much sums me up. Although I will admit that more often than not it's lifestyle that appears on these "pages" which is a shame because I do LOVE beauty and fashion just as much. It was this thought running through my head when I decided to write a post about my going out makeup. I generally don't wear makeup unless I'm going out for dinner or drinks, or the odd Friday at work when I'm feeling like a pick-me-up, and my husband takes great pleasure in pointing out just how much more makeup I wear now, than when we first met, and that is purely the fault of the blogging community!! I've been introduced to such amazing products over the last year and you'll see my favourites in this post.  FACE It's all about that base! Turns out it's not just an awful judgy song masquerading as a body positive anthem...it is, in fact, an important mantra when doing your makeup. It's taken me years to get it right but these products give me the ultimate canvas for my makeup looks. 

Dermatique- Recuperating Cream (miracle product that I reviewed here) Benefit- "That Gal"-Brightening Face Primer Collection- Illuminating Touch-Brightening Concealer ELF Cosmetics- Tone Correcting Concealer Bare Minerals- Complexion Rescue- Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream in Opal 01 Freedom- Pro-Contour Shaped Stick Rimmel- Natural Bronzer in Sun Glow 025 Stila- Illuminating Powder in 40 Watts Benefit- High Beam- Luminescent Complexion Enhancer BROWS Who knew brows would become the most important thing ever! 2015 saw the rise of the Delevigne brow and I for one was bloody grateful. Personally, I've been rocking a bushy brow since I was knee high to a grasshopper (they are in fact a family trait)- I loved it when Brooke Shields originally made them a "thing", I tried my best when all of a sudden body hair of any kind was the enemy and we waxed, plucked and threaded any natural shape out of them, and here we are again where suddenly I'm uber-fashionable again and I don't have to drop £12 every month to allow someone to wax my face! Woohoo!!

Makeup Revolution- Focus & Fix- Eyebrow Shaping Kit (great for on the go but I mostly just use the tweezers if I have everything else with me) Maybelline- Brow Satin- Brow Pencil in Dark Brown Urban Decay- Naked Basics- Eyeshadow in Faint L'Oreal-Brow Artist Plumper- Clear Shaping Gel EYES I'm a huge advocate of natural eye makeup, don't get me wrong I would totally love to carry off all these BIG makeup looks that some of you beautiful people are rocking but I think my face is too small and too much makeup overpowers my face. I prefer to just make what's underneath look slightly better than normal. 

Makeup Revolution-Iconic Pro Palette- Shades: Paper, Chase, and New Day.

Rimmel- Soft Kohl- Eyeliner in Jet Black 061

Dior- Diorshow Blackout- Waterproof Mascara

Max Factor- False Lash Effect- Mascara

LIPS

Now my lips are ridiculously dry because of this stupid cold weather so whilst I would normally be rocking a punchy/vampy deep purple or bright red lippy, I have been resigned to a much more natural look for this at the moment too. That being said the brands don't change just the colours so this is still pretty accurate. 

Carmex-Moisturising Lip Balm- Strawberry (now I'm kind of allergic to this but it's so good I can't stop using it lol)

MAC- Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Nice "n" Spicy

Bare Minerals- Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Spark Plug

Clinique- Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry 07

Bare Minerals- Marvelous Moxie in Hypnotist

As you can probably tell there is a lot of layering that goes on when I do my lips *haha*

ANYWAY!! I know you are all probably thinking "holy cow AJ that's a shit ton of makeup!" but I promise it is all needed and it doesn't look that much when it's done, in fact, see for yourself...

EXCUSE THE JUST OUT THE SHOWER REDNESS!

NO FILTER NO EDITING JUST GREAT MAKEUP

Hope this hasn't been too boring for you. Would love to hear if there are any products out there you guys think I would love. As always either leave me a comment or come chat with me on Twitter. 

Save My Face // Skincare // Dermatique*

Save My Face // Skincare // Dermatique*

Monday, August 10, 2015

Hi guys!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...all through high school I was called Frosty. Not for my ice queen-like disposition, or the fact that I refused to drop my knickers for all the "popular" boys (although I'd like to clarify that those things were both also true) but no, the awfully imaginative bullies (who shall henceforth be known as twatty-bastards) had decided that because I had dry skin I deserved to be teased mercilessly. Apparently flaky skin makes you a snowman...who knew?? Anyway, as strong as I am the twatty-bastards did get to me, so I made it my mission to "cure" my dry skin. It took me until I was 18 to realise that there wasn't really a miracle cure for something that is so prevalent and that you have no control over!! Of course, there were creams out there that managed to give me some moisture but I never actually found one that lasted all day, or for that matter for as long as it took me to add my makeup on top.

Photo Credit: ME! Thought I'd draw the little guy for y'all. 

THEN I discovered blogging, and alongside that a whole community of people who have the answers. I took to Twitter and asked the all-important question: What cream is best for extra dry and eczema prone skin? The resounding answer was La Roche Posay Toleriane Fluide-and do you know what I thought it was perfect...until I tried wearing it under my makeup. But hey, I was one step closer. La Roche Posay works on those days when I don't want to wear makeup, and I would highly recommend it. I settled into my almost perfect skincare routine and was quite content until one day everything changed...the day I was contacted by Dermatique.

Dermatique are a Scottish skincare company, and by that I mean SCOTTISH SKINCARE GENIUSES!! They very kindly sent me a tub of their Recuperating Cream to try out and I can't stop using it and recommending it.

The cream is a lovely thick body butter type consistency, which reminds me of good old Astral, and much like a proper good thick cream it really doesn't take much to cover my whole face. It is a lot heavier than I am used to, but whilst this bothered me the first couple of days I soon got used to it and I stopped even noticing the difference. 

Oh and can I just mention the smell.. some other reviews I've seen have said the smell is horrible but these people are crazy! I couldn't quite figure out what I was smelling at first but one day, when I got the sudden urge to lick my own face, I realised that it's OATMEAL!! My face smells like breakfast, and I love it!!! I'm guessing this unheard of smell (for a cream) comes from the fact that this cream is completely natural- NO PARABENS, NO ADDITIVES, NOTHING!

I put A LOT of faith in Dermatique because their products are specifically formulated for people with eczema, dry skin, psoriasis etc, and boy did they deliver! Are you ready to see the results? First up I give you my pre-Dermatique face (fully made-up)...

You see all the dry, flaky bits across my brow line, and tip of my nose?

Wait for it...

GONE!! Completely fucking GONE! My skin is so clear, and practically glowing. 

I give complete credit for my skin transformation to Dermatique and their Recuperating Cream. I know that £29.50 may seem a bit steep for a tub of cream, but seriously look at the difference! This isn't just a moisturiser, this is a miracle CURE for a "Frosty", "Flaky" "Weather-beaten", "Bully Fodder" complexion!

If you suffer from any skin complaint like eczema, psoriasis etc, then please do yourself a favour and head over to Dermatique and grab yourself a pot! And if you still aren't quite sure then you can now pick up a sampler size for just £4.99...don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself. 

Let me know what you think, or what your miracle products are in the comments. I'll just be sitting here licking my face, and taking wonder in the softness.

Much Love 

AJ 

xx

p.s. This product was gifted to me, but all opinions are my own, and 110% honest. 

Wish Wednesday 2

Wish Wednesday 2

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Happy Wednesday guys and gals :-). 

My Wish this week is totally superficial but I think a girl is allowed to be superficial once in a while right??

I wish I had better skin! My whole life I have had dry, horrible skin that just doesn't like me :-(. I can't wear make-up because it causes me to come out in a rash (which is more than annoying cos this face needs make-up!), and I can't wear a skirt without tights because my skin is so dry and white, on my legs, I just look awful -which sucks by the way because my legs are like totally my best body part!! 

Anyway so I have this special moisturiser from the Doctor that works really well for a grand total of maybe an hour if i'm lucky :-(. So yeah I'm kind of at the stage where I am wishing for the perfect moisturiser. 
Neat little trick idea though...if you have really, really dry skin like me then Nipple cream for expectant mothers and the like works quite well (however it is really heavy and if used for too long it will start to clog things).

I was considering trying a BB Cream but have no idea where to begin!! 

Like seriously WHICH ONE???

So if you guys have any suggestions please let me know, either in the comments or on twitter :-).

Much Love
AJ 
xx