Products I've used up | April 2016

A small selection of products to talk through today starting with the Scruples Pearl Complete Recovery Treatment Masque*.  A treatment to be worked into clean damp hair and left for between 1 - 10 minutes before rinsing or 1-10 minutes depending on how intensive a treatment you would like.

It both smells lovely and will aid dry and dull hair. Ironically I used this prior to colour treating my hair so I can't speak for how well it would work on that. But as a regular hair treatment even on my natural colour ensured that hair was in a healthy condition.

GLAMGLOW Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment was one of my first 'blogger influenced' purchases and reviewed way back in 2013. Whilst this mask has a cult status and is a great product I'm still not sure, as I was three years ago whether it's worth the huge price tag. GLAMGLOW share a list of fantastic benefits for it's use, 'glowing complexion in just 10 minutes' to 'tighten, tone and lift the skin' and I can't deny that it does provide those. That said I find similar results from many of my clay masks, not least the more affordable Mask of Magnaminty from Lush. Complaints about price point aside the biggest bug bear for me is the 'debris' in this mask that just slips of skin and makes a mess everywhere.

Two perfumes climbed into my empties pile this month, Britney Spears Rocker Femme Fantasy* and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. Britney's fragrance was a surprise hit as I had the usual judgements in advance of using it. The perfect scent for summer with it's fruity mix with a musky edge it's worth having a sniff if you come across it. You'll also find it on The Fragrance Shop half price at the moment and with a free gift as well.

It's oh so cliche but Chanel Coco Mademoiselle is one of my favourite and signature scents which I won't apologise for. I often have moments when I want to 'try something new' but it's always this I return to this. Will I repurchase? I already had one on standby!

Next is not so much an empty as a dried up. Often the case with these gel type top coats I went to use eyeCANDY Gel Top Coat* one day and the lid came off but the rest was set in stone in the bottle. Often you don't find out how good something really is until you use other products (I previously claimed it was better than Seche Vite) and the topcoats I've turned to recently have made me miss this. The others don't seem to have the same shine nor the extra added wear I need constantly typing in the office if not at home on the laptop. I think I'm lucky enough to have another in my stash but otherwise I will repurchase.

A product I'm sad to see reach it's end was the Limited Edition Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish in Sweet Orange and Mint. Why oh why did I not buy more of these or at least this in it's larger size? Regrets, I've had a few... melodramatic of course but it was a favourite to use. My 'use what I have mantra' for 2016 means I must first use the cleansers I already own but I know I will be returning to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish one day soon.

Ending with another skincare item, Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+* a lovely oil to fit into your skincare that's certified organic an 100% natural. Plenty of ingredients that do wonderful things for the skin and if you're worried about sunspots try this out - especially if they're telling on the hands. Find out more in my original review here. 

*this post contains press samples

Review // Glamglow Mud Mask

Having read so many rave reviews about GLAMGLOW Mud Mask and it's favoured use by many celebrities it was hard to resist throwing a pot into my basket on a recent Space NK shop. Caroline Hiron's recommended clay/mud masks to me during my skincare consultation (which you can read about here) so this was as good a place to start as any.

So how did I find this product hailed as instant facial that works to brighten, tone and tighten skin in 15 minutes? I applied the product to cleansed skin and instantly felt the tingling sensation although not worringly so and I like to feel a product "working" in any case. This mask is not easy to apply in my opinion. I may be a little heavy handed but there were bits of tealeaves dropping out of the pot/off my skin all over my bathroom and you can see one sitting on my cheek in the picture below.

I left the mask on for the suggested 15 mins when you can see it had dried apart from particularly oily areas or where there was a thicker consistancy of product and where the tea leaves were

I removed the product with some water and flannel and voila - radiant glowing skin?

Overall this was a nice product to use on my skin and it looked great at the end but as I mention messy to use and pricey and I don't feel it was good enough - time to test my Origins Charcoal mask and see how they compare!

Glamglow can be purchased at SpaceNK here or CultBeauty here