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.

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. 

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. 

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! 

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

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.

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.

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!

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?!

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

GREAT BUDGET CLEANSERS

For something that is in your face only 2-3 minutes a day, a good cleanser should not cost you the earth. If you want to treat yourself to a luxury cleanser, I'm all for it! However on my skincare list of 'what to invest into', serums, moisturisers, oils, masks come first and cleanser is the one I feel you can sometimes get away with a cheaper alternative.

Here are the ones I found to be of great value and which you can buy over and over without breaking the bank.

 My favourite for morning cleansing is the Una Brennan's Super Facialise Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil and it is very oily/silky when you put it on your face, but very nice to massage in, and can be rinsed with or without a cloth so it doesn't leave a residue even when you don't feel like using a cloth to take it off and just wash it off with lukewarm water.

 I usually get a little lazy with using cloths and stuff in the morning, I want my cleanser to do it's job and then for water to completely rinse everything away, this really does the job. It is refreshing, not stripping and smelly a little citrus-y which is nice first thing in the morning :).

You could also use it for evening cleaning, but I usually prefer something more creamy in the evening. The only bad thing I can say about this product is that it has no pump (!!!), so you either get too much out or too little, I hope they put a pump soon because it gets a little annoying, especially in the morning when you can't really be bothered to be careful, it's easy to end up with an oily mess all over your bathroom!

My second is from the same range-  Una Brennan's Superfacialist Rose Hydrate Calming Creamy Cleanser. I really think Una Brennan has great products, discover the rest of the range here! I bought the one for sensitive skin because I think it's always nice to have a more gentle cleanser even if you have normal skin like me. It comes out as a cream which you rub onto dry face (with or without make up), and you remove it with a damp muslim cloth/flannel. It is very soft on the skin, yet also doesn't strip it, leaves it feeling soft and fresh. It has a lovely rose scent which is not too overpowering.

I will always have a couple of different cleansers from high end too, but it's so nice to find something you can use on a daily basis which works just as well and feels as luxurious.

The Vitamin C+ Skin renew Cleansing Oil retails at £7.33 and the Rose Hydrate Calming Cleanser retails at £5.33. You can pick them up when there are 3 for 2 offers at Boots.

You can find the cleansers here and here in UK.
US readers can find the cleanser here.

What are your favourite cleansers?

Love, London Girl  xxx