La Roche-Posay Effaclar

On a trip to Boots the other week I wanted to find the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo treatment as I had read great things about it on a few blogs and thought I should give it a try. When I got to Boots not only was I very glad to see they had  Effaclar Duo in stock but they also had an offer on, two La Roche-Posay Effeclar products could be purchased for fifteen quid, seeing as the Effaclar Duo is £13 on its own I couldn't resist so also picked up the Effaclar Astringent Lotion Micro-Exfoliant which is normally £11. 

In my skincare routine I use the Effaclar Astringent Lotion as a toner after my cleanser and I then go on to use the Effaclar Duo treatment before moisturising. I've been using these for a couple of weeks now so I don't really know if the full effect of the products has kicked in but I thought I'd let you know my first impressions... 

To be honest I'm marginally disappointed, particularly in the Effaclar Duo. With all the hype surrounding this product I think I expected too much. I wanted to apply it to my face and wake up looking like Candice Swanepoel, instead I just woke up looking like me and the pesky couple of spots on my chin were still shining like beacons. Since using the treatment I have broken out more on my chin and around my mouth but I am not blaming the product for this at all, I think its more due to a week of binge drinking and lack of vegetables (student life) but I did think using this would have helped my break out and it really hasn't :(. Now my week of alcoholism is over I am resuming a healthier lifestyle which will perhaps give the treatment more of a fair chance on my face so I'll stick with it and see if I start to love this product as much as others do. 

Moving on to the Effaclar Astringent Lotion Micro-Exfoliant, unnecessarily long name if you ask me, my general feeling towards to the toner is that it's (unenthusiastically) alright. The astringent lotion is the only product I use on my face with alcohol in it and so it feels a little stingy when it goes over my problem areas although I kind of like this as it makes it feel like its working. It leaves my skin feeling extremely clean, almost too clean, and after using I do feel like I need to put a lot of nourishment back into my face because I think the product might be a little harsh. To be fair to it though I do think it's controlling any oiliness in my face which is deffo a plus point and so, as with the effaclar duo, I'll continue using it. To be honest I think this product will be really good in the warmer months when my face is much oilier.

So there you have it, I neither love nor hate these products but will persevere with them for a while and when I eventually get round to doing a post on my skincare routine the test will be whether these two appear! 

Gotta Dash!

The other day on a shopping jaunt with my flatmate I couldn't resist heading to a Mac stand where I decided I wanted a new lipstick. I never used to wear anything but nude lips (when I was younger I loved the whole foundation lips look cringe united I know) but recently I've branched out into wearing some brighter and bolder colours and so I wanted to add to my expanding collection.

Gotta Dash! is not actually all that bold but it's a lovely pinky coral that can be applied quite sheerly or be built up to a bolder colour. Its a 'Sheen Supreme' formula which I find to be much more forgiving than matte shades that exaggerate any cracks and dry bits. I would say the shade is pretty summary but still wearable on these freezing dull days to bring a little colour to your life :)

 

Although I've put a photo in for you I do think the colour looks slightly different (its brighter and more corally) in real life so I'd recommend you to go and have a nosy at it in Mac yourself :) 

Say Cheese

I've always been well aware of the fact that pearly white teeth look far healthier and more attractive than yellowing and stained nashers but to be honest I never really thought too much about teeth whitening. This was until I came to uni and met a friend who is very paranoid about her teeth (although they are all perfectly straight and glowing white anyway) and so she introduced me to the world of teeth whitening. 

On a little shopping jaunt yesterday we popped into boots and I saw the teeth whitening kit my flatmate had used and decided to have a go with it myself. The kit in question is the Rapid White 1 Week Tooth Whitening System which I got for a mere £8.16 which, if it its as good as reviews say it is, is an absolute steal considering the price of professional whitening. 

I've used the kit twice now and once you've set the mouth trays to the shape of your teeth (this might take a couple of goes- it did me) I find it really easy and convenient to use. I just pop the mouth trays in with the teeth whitening gel inside them and after applying the whitening accelerator to my teeth and leave it in while I complete my skincare routine and then take them out and clean my teeth with the whitening toothpaste included in the pack. 

Although some of the reviews on boots.com claim people have seen results after one use, I personally haven't noticed a difference yet but I'm holding out high hopes for the kit and will update you in a week :)

As you can see I also got the Oral-B 3D White toothpaste (the toothpaste with the advert where Holly Willoughby's teeth look genuinely blinding and apparently they were unedited!!) so I'll also let you know how   I get on with this

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Color Extend Radiant -10 Treatment Spray

My bleached blonde hair gets notoriously knotty and my hairdresser, also a long-serving friend, hates having to brush through my hair and to be honest I also dread it every day. The last time I went in my friend had just finished washing my hair, for some reason this makes it knottier than usual, when she looked at the blonde knotty mass with dismay and then sprayed this magic stuff all over my locks. She left my hair for a minute maybe and then combed through my hair with ease. I was wowed but as we were gossiping I forgot all about it until a couple of weeks later when I was looking at the feelunique.com post Christmas sale and found this wonderful stuff. 

As you may have guessed from the post title the magic product is the Color Extend Radiant -10 spray from Redken. According to their website this spray provides your hair with ten benefits; reinforce, protect, moisturize, detangle, soften, nourish, revive, improve manageability  reduce frizz and flyaways, healthy looking shine. Although I haven't decided if the product lives up to all these claims it definitely does make my hair a million times easier to brush and leaves it super soft and pretty shiny (it also has the added benefit of smelling nice)! 

I've been using this hair stuff just as my hairdresser did, on towel dried hair. As you can see the product is kind of separated into two liquids in the bottle so I shake the bottle up to mix everything around, spray it on all over my hair, leave it a minute or so and then comb through. I have been using it pretty much every time I was my hair which I do about every two to three days, I know some people say using protein (which this product contains) on your hair too often can actually make your hair pretty strawlike but so far I've experienced nothing but soft goodness. 

I luckily managed to blag this in the feelunique sale for just under a tenner but now it has gone back up to full price at £22.10 but I would say it's well worth it, particularly perhaps if you don't like using oil in your hair as I think this would make a good hair softening and detangling alternative :)

A Few of my Favourites... 

For my first post I thought I would give you a little run down of a handful of my favourite products of the moment. I wanted to do this just as I thought it would give you guys an idea of the kind of things I like. 

Products from left to right: Sleek Face Form, Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk, Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake, Emma Hardie Amazing Face Cleanser, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium and the Real Techniques Buffing Brush.  

1. Sleek Face Form Palette: I really wanted the Sleek Contour Kit but then I realised these face form palettes are the same thing with a blush added in so I opted to buy one of these. It was £9.99 from Superdrug and I think it is extremely good value considering you are getting a bronzer, highlighter and blush for this price. My palette is in 'Light 373' which although I think is a great colour match for me it also works well on darker skin tones as it is easy to build up the colour intensity, particularly of the bronzer, and the medium is very dark so I would recommend trying the light palette for anyone with a light to medium skin tone. The blush is a gorgeous rose gold colour, it is full of gold shimmer but I personally love a bit of sparkle! The highlighter is also a really nice gold toned highlight which adds a nice sheen where you apply it without looking too stark. 

2. I got this Soap and Glory moisturiser as part of a gift set this christmas and I LOVE it. It retails when bought on its own for £10.00 at boots and you get a huge 500ml for that. This smells delicious, the package says it smells like almond, oats and brown sugar and I would concur it does smell like these yummy foods. Its really luxurious and deeply moisturising but doesn't leave my skin feeling too greasy although the smell lasts pretty much all day which is great! 

3. I bought this Revlon Lip Butter when it was on sale at boots for a fiver. I'd heard some mixed reviews about these but my friend was wearing one recently and I thought it looked great so I picked up one in the colour strawberry shortcake which is a nice pink colour that can be applied as a sheer wash of pink but can be built up to the intensity of a more opaque lipstick which I love. I find the lip butter to be lovely and moisturising which is good in these cold winter months and I've been wearing it pretty much everyday and night recently! 

4. This Emma Hardie Cleanser (full name: Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Lift and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm pheeeww) was a bit of a splurge for me but I'm happy to say it was worth it. I got this from feelunique.com for £27.20 after reading rave reviews about it on viviannadoesmakeup and beautymouth who both gave convincing arguments that this cleanser is the don, and it is. It feels really luxurious on my skin, removes all my make up (even mascara comes off easily) and leaves my face feeling lovely and clean but never dry! I use this morning and night and I really do love it for my normal/ combination skin.

5. The Collection (2000? not sure if they've dropped the 2000 now...) Lasting Perfection Concealers is so cheap and so amazing. It's currently only £3.69(!) in boots and it is honestly my favourite concealer ever, I'm on my third tube and don't think I'll ever use anything else for covering redness or blemishes etc. Its a lovely creamy consistency which has a high coverage and it's really long lasting. I use it in medium 3, I also bought it in light for using under my eyes but to be honest I don't love using it for brightening up my eye are but as I say its perfect for blemishes and I would recommend everyone to try it just because of how cheap it is. 

6. Lastly is a product I use every day, my Real Techniques buffing brush. This is the best foundation brush I have ever used. It comes as part of the core collection which can be bought for £21.99 from boots and to be honest I think it is worth it for the buffing brush alone (although I also think the contour brush from the kit is great!).  This brush is really good for getting a near flawless finish from your foundation and I personally think it helps my foundation last longer on my skin because my foundation doesn't just feel like its sitting on top of my face. This brush is also great for blending concealer in and cream blushes or highlighters so it's deffo worth a try :)

So there is a round up of a few of my fave products at the moment. This list is constantly changing and adapting as I love to try new things so if you have any recommendations of your fave products let me know! 

Hi guys, 

I'm Becca, a nineteen year old student obsessed with all things beauty! My love affair with make up has been long running but recently I have also become a bit of a skincare fanatic thanks to a new passion of reading blogs and watching youtube videos. I love love love reading all beauty blogs and so decided to have a little bash at my own, so fingers crossed its not too bad!

As I'm a student I'm working on a not so generous budget and so will try to prove, especially with make up, that cheaper products shouldn't be overlooked... Also living in a house with five other girls we have no shortage of beauty and make up bits so I'm sure there will be something for everyone!


The blog will mainly be made up of reviews on products and favourites etc. but as I'm new to the game only time will tell what will be appearing on Beauty and the Blonde...

Happy reading :)