Stella by Stella McCartney Eau De Parfum Review

I have literally just got back from my holiday, I haven't touched the cases or even attempted to open the mail a. because I'm still in 'holiday mode' and b. because I really wanted to blog just to show you all that I haven't forgotten!!

I flew from Manchester Airport last week to Kefalonia and obviously I had a little look in the duty free shop before we boarded. I know some people go totally mental in the duty free because of the savings you can make but I had decided beforehand that I was only going to buy one bottle of perfume and that would be it as I'm at IMATS this weekend so I wanted to save my money for then. 

After sniffing lots of different perfumes I finally settled on Stella McCartney's fragrance in a limited edition 'Print Collection' bottle. 

I have actually had Stella before, someone bought me it as a Christmas present, normally I probably wouldn't give such perfumes a second look but I really fell in love with this and I haven't had it for a while. I'm a real lover of musky and spicy kinds of scents, this is actually described as a 'floral' scent but that kind of conjures up an inaccurate picture for me of what this really smells like. It's certainly a little more feminine that what I would normally wear, and although the scent is strong it isn't overpowering so it is perfectly fine to wear on a day to day basis.

To be honest this kind of 'floral' is similar to that of 'Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb' in that its quite sensual at the same time. 

Anyway I've described this gorgeous scent badly enough without continuing further! I just wanted to show you what I bought in the duty free really. This cost me around £31 for 30ml, this is usually £40 in Debenhams but you can get this for £33 on Fragrance Direct at the moment!

Bare Minerals Starter Kit Review

Bare Minerals has been a brand I've been very much aware of for a fair few years now but I've never actually taken the plunge and tried anything from the range because I've always been under the impression that the coverage just wouldn't be enough for what my blemished skin needs even though it does claim to be able to over acne up. You may or may not remember that Zoe did me a guest post back in January; she swears by Bare Minerals as her day to day base makeup so I was really quite looking forward to trying it. 

Bare Minerals Starter Kit £38.95 Chemist Direct*

With the 9 piece starter kit you literally get everything you need to use Bare Minerals products to their full potential. You get 3 brushes; flawless face Brush, full flawless face brush and concealer brush... these alone would cost you in excess of £55 so already you've more than got your moneys worth in just the three brushes. I figure that with products like Bare Minerals it's best to use the brushes made by them so you know you're using the products to their full potential. I dare say you could use any brush with the mineral powders but I think it's always best to use what they recommend. The brushes are really soft and nice to use, they work perfectly with the mineral powders. 

You also receive a 15ml sample of the much raved about 'Prime Time' primer. I don't normally use a primer before my base makeup, I usually just use moisturiser and that's it but this primer is really like a barely there kind of product, it just glides onto the skin effortlessly and what I like about it is that it doesn't feel as powdery and cloggy as The Porefessional which I have used as a primer in the past. I do think that this primer helps give the mineral powder something to 'stick' to but I reckon you could go without it providing you moisturised first. 

Then of course there are the 'core products' to this starter kit, you get; Original SPF Foundation in Light and Fairly Light, Original Mineral Veil and Warmth All Over face colour. Each and every one of the little pots has their new 'click, lock and go' sifter lid so you don't risk spilling any or losing any if you're using this while travelling. 

Like Zoe said in her guest post, the application method of 'swirl, tap and buff' does take a little bit of getting used to but everything is fully explained in the DVD which comes with the kit, so if you're not confident with makeup application or application of mineral powders the DVD gives you some really good pointers. 

I used to think that I'd only get good enough coverage if I used liquid foundations and layered those with plenty of concealer but Bare Minerals has really surprised me in terms of coverage and I didn't have to stand there for half an hour putting layer upon layer on my face. I used the products exactly how it tells you to and I was quite impressed with the results. The formula isn't chalky or talcy and it feels very light which is a change for me as I'm used to wearing quite heavy base products in an attempt to cover the imperfections. 

If you fancy trying this you can get the Bare Minerals Starter Kit* from Chemist Direct for £38.95; a fraction of the price of what it would cost you if you bought all the products individually!

Skinceuticals Clarifying Clay Mask Review

I'm a big lover of a good clay mask; they're usually fab products for combination skin, I've just finished the Mudd clay mask so when I was given the opportunity to try something from Skin City I decided that the Skinceuticals Clarifying Clay Mask would be a good place to start as I've never tried Skinceuticals as a brand and this came up as one of the best clay masks on the market. Effortless Skin has so many brands to choose from so it was really difficult to choose just one product; if you suffer with your skin whatever the condition it's definitely somewhere you should consider looking because they have some really exclusive brands that you don't often see. 

 SkinCeuticals Clarifying Clay Masque £42.75 Effortless Skin*

The idea of a clay mask is that it draws out all the impurities from your skin helping it to heal and look clearer and healthier. The Skinceuticals clay mask contains 5% hydroxy acid which helps to exfoliate dead skin cells which should stop skin looking dull, it also contains chamomile and aloe to calm and soothe the skin and help control inflammation and redness. 

I've been using this 2-3 times per week for the last 2-3 weeks and I can really see a difference in my skin. Just lately I've had a really bad breakout on my cheeks, chin and jawline and it's really been getting me down because I've been finding it so hard to cover it up without it looking even worse. I have been putting a thin layer on the worst affected parts of my face and leaving it for 10 minutes to dry. The immediate after effects aren't really noticeable but over the last 3 weeks my skin has become much more manageable and hasn't dried up too much which is usually the case with strong products which work at getting rid of blemishes. In this case I haven't had to sacrifice the moisture in my skin for the sake of getting rid of spots which is often what happens with products like Panoxyl. 

I do believe that now my skin is a little more under control I will cut down my use of this to once a week unless I need it again as it is expensive and I don't want to run out too quickly. I've got 4/5 of a pot left after approximately 8 uses so I'm ok with that. I have also upped my daily water intake and I'm trying to cut out fizzy drinks as much as possible, I used to be a Red Bull fiend especially at weekends and I noticed that last weekend when I was working on next to no sleep and therefore drinking loads of the stuff that I had new spots on Monday morning so I'm thinking my acne breakouts can be related to my sugar intake!

Overall this clay mask is a really nice product to have in my collection, much more luxury than the Mudd clay mask but obviously there's a price to pay at £42.75. I do think it's expensive for a face mask don't get me wrong but think about what you'd pay for just one treatment at a spa or luxury beauty establishment. 

Champneys Spa Treatments at Home

Instead of buying me chocolate for Easter, my mum got me a massive set of Champneys Spa Treatments products; the box contained 6 products, 3 of which from the Skin Comforting Range which I'm going to show you today.

I make no secret of the fact that I love a good bath, if baths didn't take so long to run I would definitely have one every single day over having a shower. Products like these make baths extra nice to have because they totally ooze luxury and really help to aid in relaxation whilst making your skin feel and smell amazing! These were my first Champneys products as previously I'd kind of just skimmed over the brand assuming the products weren't really for me, I'd always seen them as a bit of a 'mumsy' brand.

The idea behind Champneys is that you can have the experience of spa quality products in the comfort of your own home for a fraction of the price. Everyone loves a good spa day but for most people they're a rare luxury because they tend to be quite expensive, especially with brand names such as Champneys on the door. However, treating yourself to some luxe bath and body products for home use doesn't seem like such a splurge does it?

Champneys Skin Comforting Body Butter £10 Boots

Champneys Skin Comforting Bathing Milk £8 Boots

Shower Cream currently unavailable to be separately but can be bought as part of the Champneys Best of Spa Gift Set £10 Boots

The other products which came with the set were from the Citrus range which I don't enjoy so much, the Skin Comforting range is made with loads of skin nourishing ingredients (sweet almond oil, chamomile, wheatgerm, shea, coconut oil, milk) to make the range smell totally gorgeous, it's quite a soft powdery smell which really calms the mind and soothes the senses. I'm a massive lover of bath oils now but for when I don't fancy something as over powering as an essential oil this is perfect. 

I filled the bath up to the top, swirling the bath milk under the running water. The milk really is just that in the sense that it's very thin in consistency; I'm used to creme products for the bath so when it came out so quick I realised I didn't need as much as had actually gone in. But regardless of the consistency it still packs a punch in terms of scent and bubble factor; not the bubbliest bath I've had but it certainly didn't lack bubbles. 

The shower creme is so silky, equally as gorgeous smelling and the scent sticks around on your skin for a good while afterwards. When I've got out of the bath and my skin is still warm I put some body butter on because it melts so easily into the skin and tends to soak in a lot quicker than on normal temperature skin. I feel totally relaxed and moisturised when I've finished with these products, I absolutely love using them as part of some 'me time'.