November Favourites

Illamasqua Broken Gold
Illamasqua are forever inventing exciting new products that you can't find anywhere else on the market. They recently launched their Equinox collection & for me the star of the show was their Broken Gold eye gel. Broken Gold features tiny gold leaf particles that sparkle in the light & really add some oomph to your eye makeup. It gives a shattered metal effect that looks beautiful when layered over neutral eyeshadows. I love glittery eye looks but real glitter can be a nightmare to remove. I can get this stuff off with a quick swipe of micellar water on a cotton pad. It looks absolutely stunning & is utterly perfect for the festive season.

Isehan Kiss Me Heroine Make Volume & Curl Mascara
I've been testing out quite a few different Asian beauty products lately & it's like a whole new world to explore! The products are so innovative & feature cutting edge ingredients that we tend not to have over here. I decided to buy a couple of the Isehan Kiss Me Heroine Make mascaras as Japanese cosmetics have an amazing rep. I've completely fallen in love with the Volume & Curl one. The formula is extremely waterproof. In fact I had to buy their special makeup remover in order to get it off properly! The curl it gives my lashes is unrivalled & helps make them look even longer. The volume is decent but I like to layer it with other mascaras to achieve my preferred lash look. Seriously this mascara is incredible & you won't find anything better if you want super curly lashes.

Bravura London Salicylic Acid 2%
Bravura London have been on my radar for quite some time now. They specialise in at-home chemical peels which are like the next step up from everyday exfoliating toners. As my Paula's Choice BHA was running out I decided to buy the Bravura 2% Salicylic Acid peel. Salicylic acid works wonders on spots, blackheads & closed comedones. I find that my skin responds better to BHAs than AHAs so it's a must-have ingredient in my skincare routine. The application process of this peel is slightly different to many BHA & AHA treatments. First you need to wash your face & then wait 30 minutes for your skin to return to it's normal pH level. Next you put some of the acid into a glass & apply it with a fan brush. After two minutes you can wash it off & carry on with the rest of your skincare routine. Peels are bit stronger than toners so the effects are a lot more immediate & this stuff has totally blown me away. It has improved the texture of my skin so much & my face is entirely blemish-free at the minute. I was so impressed with this product that I ended up buying a few more items from them on Black Friday & I cannot wait to try them out!

Bee Good Youth Enhancing Hydrate, Smooth & Prime Serum*
The weather has been horrific lately & my skin has been suffering as a result. It needs all the moisture it can get so I've been slathering on this lovely hydrating serum from Bee Good. This product is part of their new Youth Enhancing range but it's suitable for all skin types, not just mature skin. It's a light creamy serum with a gorgeous herbal scent. It features a slew of potent natural ingredients including Bee Good's signature British wildflower honey, propolis & beeswax. There's also collagen stimulating peptides, firming blackcurrant seed oil & moisture boosting larch extract. I love using this on my skin because it's really calming & soothing and delivers instant hydration. My skin is left looking plumper & feeling much softer. This serum slots in nicely with the rest of my routine for a happier, healthier complexion & it certainly banishes those Winter skin blues!

MESAUDA Milano Diamond Baked Blush in Mariah*
I was recently sent a few products from an Italian cosmetics brand called MESAUDA Milano & I am freaking obsessed with them! All of the products are such good quality & the colours are simply divine. I'm a sucker for pretty blushers so I practically swooned when I first applied this one. The texture of the Diamond Baked Blush is exquisite. The ultra-fine powder feels silky to the touch & almost melts into the skin for a truly flawless finish. It has a luminescent sheen to it which gives the skin a fresh & radiant glow. Mariah is obviously named after everyone's favourite 90's diva, Mariah Carey. The blusher is a deep plummy pink shade with gold shimmer running through it. The powder is intensely pigmented, one tap with a brush is literally all you need. Mariah is such a stunning colour & it would be ideal for any Autumn/Winter makeup look.

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Ole Henriksen Invigorating Night Creme

Ole Henriksen Invigorating Night Creme* - £37.60

Ole Henriksen's products combine powerful actives, essential fatty acids & soothing botanicals for a bit of everyday luxury in your skincare routine. I've reviewed a few of his products in the past & have nothing but praise for the Truth Serum Collagen Booster. Following the hugely popular Invigorating Night Treatment, one of Ole Henriksen's latest creations is the Invigorating Night Creme which is exclusive to Escentual in the UK. This rich moisturiser promises to re-texturise the skin & replenish moisture while you sleep. The base of this nourishing night cream is shea butter & evening primrose oil which help to keep your skin feeling supple & soft. It is enriched with glycolic, lactic & fruit acids which are fantastic at treating things like spots, closed comedones, dull skin, rough texture, fine lines & wrinkles. It also boasts vitamin C to boost collagen production & brighten the complexion. In theory the Invigorating Night Creme sounds like a truly amazing moisturiser & that's exactly why I wanted to try it out in the first place. However it didn't quite live up to my expectations...

For me the main selling point of this product was that it combined AHAs with a moisturiser when in fact, this turned out to be it's downfall. I would liken it to using a moisturiser with SPF. You might be moisturising your skin & protecting yourself from the sun but that product will never be as effective as a dedicated day cream with a layer of sunscreen on top. Likewise the Invigorating Night Creme will never be as effective as a separate AHA exfoliating toner followed by a rich night cream. As a moisturiser it's a fairly decent product but again it could be better. The gel cream texture feels really nice when you're applying it but a few minutes later my skin is left feeling tacky & it's almost like it leaves a tight film on my skin. It contains a lot of needless irritants & is so heavily perfumed that I can taste it. The AHA content also makes any active blemishes sting which is not something I normally experience with chemical exfoliants. By morning my skin does feel much softer & looks plumper with a radiant glow. But I've found that while it makes some areas look smoother, it clogs pores in other places like my forehead. Another thing that lets this product down is the packaging. Jars are really unhygienic as you have to keep dipping your fingers into the pot. The jar packaging also decreases the efficacy of both the AHAs & the vitamin C. It might seem like this cream has a lot of beneficial ingredients but if they can't work properly on the skin then they may as well not be in there.

I've been using AHAs on my skin for quite a while now & therefore it has become accustomed to high potency products like Alpha-H Liquid Gold. I would imagine that if you're completely new to chemical exfoliation then this product might revolutionise your skin but it didn't really do much for me. It's not a bad moisturiser & while I don't love it, I don't hate it either. I suppose it would be quite handy if you're feeling too lazy to finish off your evening skincare routine with two products instead of one. I'm more than happy to invest in my skin but if I'm gonna spend 40 quid on a skincare product I want to know that's it's worth the money. Unfortunately I just don't think that this is. You'd be much better off buying a separate AHA treatment & a night cream. Not only will you get better results but you'll probably save a few pounds in the process.

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Salcura Bioskin DermaSpray & DermaSerum

Eczema is a chronic skin condition that affects millions of people around the world. I suffered very badly with it as a child & I have vivid memories of constantly visiting the doctor in the hope of being given a cure. I was subjected to a myriad of prescription treatments including steroid creams, paraffin moisturisers & bath washes which only served to make my condition worse. In the end I think we just gave up because nothing the GP prescribed had worked on my skin. I went through childhood unable to stop scratching my limbs, making them redder & sorer every day. It wasn't until high school when I got the most horrific flareup on my thighs that I actually found something that worked. The skin on my legs was weeping so much that I couldn't even wear tights to school & I'd just had enough of living like that. I can't even remember what prompted me to do this but I went to Holland & Barrett and bought a bottle of pure vitamin E oil. I slathered it on my skin several times a day & it worked like magic. The oil allowed me to gently rub away the scabs stuck to my skin & helped to heal up those painful welts. I was completely amazed that something natural had worked where medicine had failed & I think it's really important to get the message out there that prescription products aren't always the best thing to use when you have these kind of skin ailments.

Like the majority of adults with eczema, my symptoms have improved over time. I no longer need to apply the vitamin E oil because I no longer get huge flareups. Instead I'll get something like a dry patch on my hand, an itchy eyelid, cracked skin on my elbows or a reaction to jewellery. When these small flareups occur I don't want to douse myself in oil so I started looking for something that would nurture my skin without being messy or greasy. Salcura got in touch & asked if I would like to try some products from their Bioskin range. As I wholeheartedly believe in treating eczema with natural products I couldn't wait to put them to the test. The Bioskin range offers a natural solution to dry skin conditions whilst being totally free from artificial fragrance, SLS, parabens, paraffin, lanolin & steroids. Both DermaSpray & DermaSerum are 98% natural and devoid of ingredients that are widely accepted to be unsuitable for problem skin. One of the key active ingredients in these products is sea buckthorn oil which is rich in nourishing omega fatty acids & highly regarded for it's healing effects on the skin.


Salcura Bioskin DermaSpray* - £16.99
As the name suggests, DermaSpray comes in a convenient spray bottle. This allows for easy application even on those hard to reach areas. It is ideal for use on your limbs & torso. I've also seen some comments on their website from people who have successfully used it as a scalp treatment too. DermaSpray provides an everyday source of moisture & vital nutrients that is absorbed deep within the skin to aid it's own natural healing process. Along with the aforementioned sea buckthorn oil, this spray is packed full with natural ingredients. These include sunflower oil, safflower oil, grape vine oil, eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, orange oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil, olive oil, almond oil, peppermint oil, urea & aloe vera. It contains so many oils that you might expect it to feel greasy as hell when in fact the opposite is true. The spray is so light & fine that it absorbs within a matter of seconds. It looks & feels invisible on the skin but has a strong herbal/tea tree scent when first applied. It is very potent & might not be to some people's taste but it fades quite quickly anyway. DermaSpray should be used daily to maintain healthy skin. However during periods of persistent dryness & irritation you can spray it on as much as you like to soothe the affected area. Spraying on this product effectively breaks the itch-scratch cycle by providing rapid itch relief. Scratching often exacerbates the severity of eczema so something like this will help in more ways than one. The spray doesn't make my skin feel particularly soft to the touch but it does make it feel instantly nourished, soothed & hydrated which is exactly what I need to keep my eczema at bay.


Salcura Bioskin DermaSerum* - £11.99
DermaSerum is intended for daily use on the face either underneath or instead of your usual moisturiser. I normally use it under my moisturiser like any other face serum. It soothes the skin without feeling greasy or heavy so it's easy to slot in with the rest of your skincare routine. I think this product is really brilliant because it's ideal for anyone with dry skin, not just those with eczema or psoriasis. The creamy gel serum feels very lightweight yet it immediately floods the skin with moisture. This serum gets to work quickly by targeting dry patches & calming down any irritation. It works by sinking deep into the skin to nourish skin cells earlier on in their life cycle which makes them healthier when they reach the surface. The hassle-free gel formula gives you greater control over the application process. You can smooth it onto your entire face or you can just apply it where it is needed like your eyelid or around the hairline. It has the same herbal/tea tree scent as the DermaSpray which also dissipates shortly after application. One of the best things about this product is that it instantly relieves any itchiness. The skin on your face is a lot more delicate & on show than the skin on your body so scratching at it will make things look a lot worse. Treating chronically dry facial skin with a serum like this will speed up the healing process & help to prevent any future flareups too.

I'm really glad that I got to try these two products out. My skin always becomes drier in the Winter & more prone to patches of eczema. I've been using both of the Bioskin products religiously & they've kept my skin in tip top condition. I had some flakiness on my ears from a reaction to some jewellery & the DermaSerum has gotten rid of it completely. It's especially good at targeting small areas like that. If you've exhausted everything your GP can offer & desperately want some eczema products that are actually effective, natural & safe then look no further.

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