Wednesday 23 April 2014

MY FAVOURITE HYDRATING MASKS

I have long been a girl who mostly buys clearing or deep cleansing masks, thinking they will actually 'do' something to my skin like clear it up, brighten it etc.. avoiding hydrating masks was my habit. I was a thinking that my moisturiser is enough hydration, why have hydrating masks on top of that?


Well, I finally decided to cave into the hydrating masks when I noticed that after flights my skin was dull and felt way too tight for comfort. I vowed to get a couple of good masks, for the airplane and use them so I can fly in with a Miranda Kerr glow to the skin a girl can dream! Now that I have found them, they became part of my everyday routine, and definitely not just in airplanes!


My first purchase was Sisley's Gel Express aux Fleurs -Express Flower Gel, Hydrating toning and firming mask, it surprised me with its consistency, my initial thoughts were-> if you get a hydrating mask, it will be even heavier than your moisturiser, so something lard like as the Nivea original cream (which is great for elbows and knees but not so much the face). How wrong was I! This mask is much lighter than any moisturiser I own, not sticky or greasy at all, it is of a light gel consistency which sinks into the skin and doesn't need to be cleaned off with water after, you can simply wipe the residue with a tissue and start your makeup. It smells a little of flowers as it's name suggests but not too much, and leaves your skin so soft and hydrated and pump, you really do feel the difference with the before and after! Since it's not oily or greasy, it is great for oily or combination skin like mine.

After this initial success in the hydrating masks department, I decided to venture onto new discoveries to extend my hydrating drawer.


I stumbled upton Decleor's Hydra Floral, Anti-pollution, Flower essence Moisturising mask'. Same kind of idea- you put it on and wipe the residue when you are ready to proceed with makeup. This is more of a light cream consistency, and has a stronger floral smell. Also super moisturising but not sticky or greasy either, it leaves the skin completely happy and soft.


My final purchase, to finish off my collection was Rodial's Dragon blood hyaluronic mask, XXL hydrating mask and skin plumper. Ok, this is a little more extreme than the two above. It is moisturising with a punch! It contains Hyaluronic Acid, so if you know you react well to it and suffer from any dull or dry skin, get this! It completely transform the skin overnight, you can use it for 15 minutes as a mask or, as I do with most of these masks, use it overnight and cleanse your baby soft skin in the morning.

This really does what it says, leaving skin super plump, mega hydrated. It would be perfect for skin which was over exposed to the sun. It does not irritate my skin at all, and is simply a miracle worker. I comes in a gel consistency, smells quite strongly of citrus fruits but doesn't feel greasy or sticky on the skin at all. Amazing for long haul flights or overnight flights if you want to arrive looking and feeling fabulous :)!


What are your favourite hydrating products?
Have you tried any of these, and if yes, let me know.

UK readers can find SISLEY's mask here, DECLEOR here and RODIAL's mask here.
Sometime there are amazing deals on them here!!! 

                                                                        Love, London Girl  xxx


Thursday 10 April 2014

THE CLEANSER EVERYONE SHOULD OWN

I have heard a lot about this cleanser and in December, I finally decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did! Clinique's Take the Day Off Cleansing balm does exactly that- it takes all the dirt/grit/makeup/pollution off your skin from your busy day. This is a no faff, no nonsense cleanser.

Like your perfectly fitted little black dress, it does the job, but if you want frills and extras, it won't give them to you. It doesn't have a scent to it, so if you like your cleansers to have a relaxing scent while you work them in, this won't have it.

Clinique's Take the Day Off Cleansing balm

That said, the cleanser balm melts like butter in your hands and makes a nice film which you massage into your face and it removes everything! Waterproof mascara, glued on lashes, eye makeup, foundations, everything just starts to detach, leaving you with soft, non stripped, clean skin. 

Clinique's Take the Day Off Cleansing balm

I love this when you don't feel like taking your time and just want a cleanser to quickly do it's job so you get to bed quicker- I think using it will actually be quicker than a face wipe (so no more excuses to use face wipes at night!!!), you don't need to spend time to rub your eyes like crazy to remove the makeup, it is a super quick, effective cleanser. 

Clinique's Take the Day Off Cleansing balm

I also love the fact that you don't have to use a muslim cloth/flannel with it, if you are in a rush, just wash it off with water and it does not leave any oily residue! 

Clinique's Take the Day Off Cleansing balm

All in all, I have used it from December to now (you can see I only have a couple of times left to use it) and I will always repurchase it, I think everyone should have this cleanser in their bathroom cabinet. It simply does the job! 

What are your favourite cleansers?
Have you tired this one?

Love, London Girl  xxx

Monday 7 April 2014

LITTLE LIP WONDER- CLINIQUE SUPERBALM LIP TREATMENT

I have been flying a little more this month, visiting family and as a result, I was left with very dry, sore and flaky lips, hardly a look you want your family to remember on you when they haven't seen you in 6 months! It got so bad that nothing really helped and soothed them, they got so tight my bottom lip even bled a little ouch! I was flying back to London and wondering around in Duty Free to find something that can help me before I go on the plane and the recycled air makes it even worse.

CLINIQUE SUPERBALM LIP TREATMENT

There are not that many options available as everything was more cosmetics than lip care. I stumbled onto the Clinique Superbalm Lip Treatment and decided to give it a go. I lathered a huge amount of this onto my lips, trying to seek some comfort and to soothe the irritation and kept topping up as much as I could throughout the flight.

In the plane I decided to detract myself from the whole thing by watching 12 Years a Slave, great movie BTW! After finishing my movie in tears of joy after the final reunion scene, I noticed that some skin on my lips was flaking off, my lips started to peel even more, at first I got scared, thinking maybe too many layers are starting to peel off, and it will leave me with even more irritated lips underneath.

CLINIQUE SUPERBALM LIP TREATMENT

There was nothing I could do at this point than to take a tissue and literally wipe the layers of the balm away (and as I later found out, wiping all my dead dry skin away too!). Here comes the miracle---> once I wiped everything off, I realised I was left with THE SOFTEST BABY LIPS EVER! OMG!!! They were no longer red and irritated, they didn't hurt or felt sore/dry, they literally were brand new! I was absolutely speechless! I did not know a lip product can make you shred skin. Nothing in the packaging said that it would do this, I only expected them to be hydrated. Truly this was a 2 hours miracle! I could put on a super nude lipstick if I wanted to and my lips would have looked great!

Everyone should own this product, whether you have dry lips, irritated lips, sore lips or you are just in need of something that actually works! If you have an event coming up and you only have a couple of hours to fix your lips before slapping on that sexy red lip- no more problems!

I have already recommended this to my sister and my mum and will continue to spread the love!

CLINIQUE SUPERBALM LIP TREATMENT

About the product - I love that it is in a squeezable tube, making it very hygienic when out and about -tube, bus, plane, you name it! It comes out looking like a thick transparent gel which looks like a transparent gloss when it's on the lips (will look very glossy if you put a lot on like I did). It is quite sticky in consistency, but for the miracles it did to my lips, I will forgive this.

It is not a large tube and retails for £13 here. After the results I had with this I would buy it even if it was tripe the price, but I can see why some people would said it's too small of a tube for that price, maybe these people never tried it?!

CLINIQUE SUPERBALM LIP TREATMENT

All I know is that I will always own one (or more) or these little beauties. Especially after the allergic reaction I had to the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour cream (read about it here), it took me over 2 weeks to get my lips back while using Nuxe's Reve de Miel every hour, if only I knew about this product earlier!

What are your favourite lip balms/lip treatments?
Have you tried this one, if yes, what did you think?


Love, London Girl  xxx