Sun Cream for a Holiday in Florida

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know that I've just got back home from an amazing two week holiday in Florida, it gave me the opportunity to give lots of sun care products a thorough test. I don't use low factor products because I end up burning and it totally spoils my holiday, my absolute must haves for any holiday are a good facial SPF which doesn't make me greasy, an easy to apply one for my body which doesn't take an age to rub in, a lotion which I can use to target sensitive areas (such as moles) and finally some really good after sun products to stop my skin getting dry. 

So I took 5 products with me (strategically placed next to the pool in the above photo), everything I used this holiday was SPF factor 50; I get the impression that some people are under the illusion that factor 50 is only for children... in short, it's not.

  First up there's Nivea Sun Protect and Refresh Invisible Spray* (£8.00), this is non-oily and quickly absorbed without any stickiness or white residue. It's so easy to apply, a couple of sprays and a quick rub and you're all set; it offers high UVA and UVB protection as soon as it's applied. It's easy and convenient to reapply during the day as you wish to and it did the trick for me; the main areas where I would usually burn (shoulders and chest) were absolutely fine all holiday. I took 2 Eucerin SPF facial lotions; a mattifying one and a regular sun creme. I didn't actually use the sun creme on my face as I thought it would be too much for my oily skin, instead I used it on areas which I feel are more sensitive to the sun such as moles (I'm always really worried that they're going to turn into something sinister). The Eucerin SPF 50 mattifying fluid* (£16.00) is much lighter than the creme, doesn't leave any oiliness and it didn't break me out (I can pretty much guarantee that I'll break out in spots if I use regular sun protection on my face); for this reason it's especially good for combination/oily, acne prone skin. Eucerin SPF Face creme* (£16.00) is a lot thicker in consistency and takes a little longer to rub into the skin but it doesn't stay white for long and it didn't leave any residue on the areas that I used it. Eucerin is gentle enough to be used by those with skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis or those who have had minor peeling or laser treatments... the fact that it's perfume free means that it is suitable for even the most sensitive skin. 

If you are interested in any Eucerin sun products, you should probably wait till 1st June to buy them from Escentual because they'll have 1/3 off all French Pharmacy products!

Now onto after sun. I had two types, one which you use in the shower and an old favourite: an aloe vera one. The Nivea In Shower After Sun Lotion* (£4.13) is much the same as the Nivea In Shower Moisturiser that I use when at home; you wash as you normally would and then slather this on, gently massaging it into your skin as you go. I used this every single day after being in the sun and it kept my skin soft and moisturised without feeling sticky or having to wait for it to absorb before putting clothes on... these in shower products really are a saviour for anyone who hasn't got time to properly moisturise.    No matter where I go on holiday I always take some kind of aloe vera gel with me because I think it does the best job at cooling and soothing any skin irritation quickly. The Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel (£2.98) is an absolute bargain at the moment in Superdrug and it really does the trick for me, although I didn't burn while I was in Florida, I got bitten a few times and I had some minor irritation and dryness on my legs from shaving so I covered them in this and it felt better within five minutes of application. I would recommend this to anyone because it really does come in handy for all sorts of skin complaints.

Shopping Centre Facial with Kiehl's - A Review

Who knew that you could go for a facial whilst shopping in Meadowhall Sheffield? I sure didn't until I was invited for a complimentary treatment at the Kiehl's counter in House of Fraser. You can't really miss the Kiehl's counter when you walk into Meadowhall House of Fraser; it's on the first floor on the left hand side just as you walk through the door. They're known for their clean, no nonsense packaging so their little area within the beauty hall reflects this...

Tucked inside the first floor of House of Fraser there is a little treatment room which is booked out by various brands within the store to offer their customers treatments using their products. I was greeted by a lovely lady called Hannah and led to their cosy little room to talk about my skin; my current regime and any issues that I have. I explained that I cleanse every single night and every morning (with two different cleansers) and I always moisturise... if I'm in a rush and there's a step I miss out it'll be toner. Obviously as most of you know my main skin issues are that I am very blemish prone and I have an oily t-zone but quite dehydrated cheeks so this can make choosing skincare a bit of a problem.

After my little consultation the facial began, everything about it was so relaxing from the facial massage to the smell of the products and the tranquil surroundings (quite hard to believe that there was a bustling shopping centre literally metres away!). I could tell that Hannah was trained well; she knew what she was talking about and her technique was very good. I won't lie, I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep on more than one occasion! 

Obviously she chose the products to use based on what I had previously told her about my skin and this is what she came up with:

PREPARATION

- Blue herbal gel cleanser 

- Ultra facial oil free cleanser

- Calendula herbal extract toner

- Pineapple Papaya facial scrub

TREAT

- Rare earth deep pore cleansing masque

- Clearly corrective solution

- Ultra facial oil free lotion

- Powerful wrinkle reducing eye cream

PROTECT & REPLENISH

- Ultra light daily defence (SPF 50)

- Midnight Recovery Concentrate (recommended for night time use)

 Throughout the experience I never felt pressured into buying any products, it was very relaxed and I felt like Hannah was genuinely trying to help me in her recommendations (rather than just using hard selling techniques which can be very off-putting). Of course there were products which stood out to me more than others and in this case it has to be the Ultra Facial oil free cleanser and lotion as well as the Midnight Recovery Concentrate. 

The Midnight Recovery might come as a bit of a surprise because it's an intensive oil treatment; the comment misconception is that if you have oily skin you shouldn't use oil but I think the reason why I have blemishes on my cheeks is because over the past year or so I've stripped my skin of its natural oils on my cheeks meaning the sebaceous glands have gone into overdrive and caused breakouts. You only need a couple of drops of Midnight Recovery for your whole face because it's such an intensive treatment, however, it doesn't leave any oily residue at all in fact it actually feels more like a dry oil.

The facial costs £30 and lasts around an hour, but you can use the £30 to redeem against any purchase which makes the facial and skin consultation free - bargain! If you are struggling for a gift idea for anyone then I'd strongly recommend something like a voucher for a facial at Kiehl's because it can be incorporated into a days shopping and you could find your holy grail skincare product!

*This was a complimentary treatment, this however does not affect my judgement, go and meet Hannah and the lovely Kiehls ladies for yourself, they're ace!

Nude Nails - Barry M Gelly Nails in Lychee

I'm not one for worrying about getting hit by a bus because I haven't got matching underwear on, yet it would seem that I like to match the colour of my nails with my phone case! Let's be fair if you had a gorgeous phone case like this one, you might consider a little bit of hand-phone co-ordination.

Kate Spade case for iPhone 5s £29.95* The nail polish I teamed with the phone case colours is 'Lychee' from the Barry M Gelly paints collection, a gorgeous hi-shine nude shade which goes with most things no matter what season, and it's only £3.99 a bottle!
If you're familiar with the little spade logo at the bottom of the case then you'll know that it's by New York fashion designer Kate Spade. If you've been reading for a while then you'll know that I don't own a designer bag or a pair of designer shoes (I generally just spend time browsing them but never actually committing to buy), I prefer to spend less money but still have a few designer bits in my collection like my Marc Jacobs earphones. This particular case is for an iPhone 5s but you can obviously buy all sorts of nice designer cases for different phones. £30 might seem quite expensive for a phone case but you can tell how good the quality is; usually a case is just a piece of plastic which clips to the back of the phone but this one has a rubbery band which also goes around the phone to protect it to act as a kind of 'cushioning', like I've said time and time again, you get what you pay for!

Garmin Nuvi 50 Sat Nav Review

I genuinely do not know where I'd be if I had to rely on maps, I've got the worst sense of direction you could possibly imagine and I don't even know where to start with map reading; which way up does it go for a start?! Not only that, trying to navigate using a map while on your own in the car can't be safe at all! So when I was asked to review a sat nav as a safety and security tester for Tesco Compare* I couldn't pass it up, because I think that sat navs are one of the best inventions this century.

Some sat navs can be quite confusing in how they work, the screens can be too small and the instructions are sometimes vague meaning that it puts you at risk of being a danger to the road, however Garmin have obviously put safety first with the Nuvi 50 as it has lots of features to making navigating easy. The last thing you want to be doing while driving is squinting to see a tiny map but the extra wide 5 inch touch screen makes seeing the details maps and navigating around the options so easy. Everything is so simple with this sat nav; if you're not sure of a postcode you can find places by street name or by using the 'points of interest' feature which lists hundreds of thousands of different places sorted by type (for example if you were running low on fuel you could find a petrol station by just selecting 'POI near me' and 'fuel' and it would give you a list of petrol stations, nearest first).

Garmin Nuvi 50* £84.00 Amazon
When it comes to complicated junctions and exits the Garmin Nuvi 50 has lane assist which helps guide you into whichever lane you need to be in before it's too late; the screen view changes around a mile before the exit/junction to show you where you need to be in relation to your current position on the road. Another fantastic safety feature on this sat nav is the Cyclops Speed Camera system which shows real time warnings of any upcoming speed cameras as as well as an alert if you tip over the speed limit. It also gives instructions with the street name, so for example instead of it just saying 'turn right' it will say 'turn right down Smith Street' so there's no confusion as to where you're turning if there are several right turns in your vicinity.
Overall the Garmin Nuvi 50 is an excellent safe, user friendly sat nav and at £79.00 it suits lots of budgets. 
You can also buy and download maps for different countries to use on the Garmin Nuvi 50 so I think I'll be downloading one for North America because as you'll probably already know I'm going to Florida next month and a sat nav will be our saving grace when driving round. You can program any points of interest in before you go which is ideal, it takes a little bit of the stress away for when we get there, also the maps are only £34.99 which is only slightly more expensive than hiring a sat nav from eBay.