Thursday 30 July 2015

Top Five: Skincare Items



I love skincare. I’ve always been one to look after my skin, even from a young age. My mum always told me to cleanse, tone and moisturize, even before I’d started wearing makeup. So off I’d trot to my school sleepovers with my little Simple skincare pack. I don’t know whether it’s due to that, but I had impeccable skin all the way through school (even through my extremely heavy makeup phase!).

Nowadays I seem to have got all my teenage spots all in one go! My skin is rarely without a breakout and the years of heavy makeup have taken their toll. As a result I’ve been left with extremely dry skin. I’ve tried so many skincare products since I got into beauty. Some raved about by bloggers and some that I’ve tested alone. I’ve realized not only is my skin dry, but it is very sensitive and things that may work for someone else definitely didn’t work for me. So bare that in mind!

Any who, here is a rundown of my favourite skincare bits and bobs that seem to keep my skin relative spot and dry patch free..

Even though I used a toner for so many years I did wonder what the point of them was. I basically used it after my makeup remover to see how much gunk was still on my face! After hearing on blogs that the “new” way to exfoliate was with acid toners I searched for a budget friendly option and came across this one. It basically helps to exfoliate and unclog pores to remove dead skin allowing the skin to renew. It definitely helps my skin look more glowing and helps to calm down redness and those pesky under the skin spots. One that I will always repurchase.

This is my absolute favourite skincare/makeup removal I’ve ever found – no lie. To my knowledge there isn’t anything out there similar and in my opinion - that even compares to this. It’s pricey for an eye makeup remover at £17, but its creamy milky formula removes eye makeup so well, without having that oily residue that most other eye makeup removers have. It also lasts me a good 6 months, maybe more. I’ve tried a cheap olay version, (trying to save myself some money!) but it just wasn’t as good. Leading me to have repurchased this at least 5 times. Spot on.

Cleansing waters changed my life, they helped me stop using makeup wipes and I now know my makeup is 100% off before I move on to doing other things. It started with Bioderma the French pharmacy brand. Although hard to track down I ordered one from Ebay in my first year of university and was amazed. Before I knew it they were popping up left, right and centre in Boots and I thought I’d try a cheaper alternative, this being it. It’s just fantastic at removing makeup and doesn’t dry my skin out.

Moisturizers are one of those areas where I’ve had the least luck. As I’ve mentioned my skin is so very dry, which is always surprising as I don’t have anything like Eczema. Up until finding this the other year I’ve probably tried over 20 moisturisers, oil and serums and all have either felt too light and I’ve still been left with very dry skin or have broken my out. This is a godsend in winter especially and again, another product I’ve repurchased a handful of times.

Here comes the big one. The cheapest product of the bunch is E45. Being specially designed for those with dry skin this is a big favourite for me. I tend to use this at night when my skin gets flakey (I know, pretty gross) and by morning it looks nice and moisturized again. It can be used all over the body so also makes a great hand cream during the winter months!

That was a lot to take in. I’m still eyeing up potential cleansers to make it into my favourites, none have quite fit the bill. Let me know if you have any favourites you think I should try.

Thanks for reading,


Libi xx

Thursday 9 July 2015

New Things: Mac Lipsticks

From Left to Right: Ruby Woo, Craving and Diva.

I'm the first to admit it, I have a lipstick addiction. When I see an offer on something I was willing to pay full price for, it goes straight into my basket. 

After a long period of time not having any interest in stopping by a MAC counter, towards the end of university every time I went into town I was swatching away at their lipsticks. Each time I'd walk away wanting Diva - a matte dark vampy red shade. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I was still thinking about it, so I headed back into town and it came home with me.

Next thing I knew Student Money Saver were advertising a deal through wowcher - a £10 Fragrance Direct voucher for £5, it didn't sound like much but I spotted they stocked quite a few MAC products including two lipsticks I had on my list: Craving, a creamy berry pink and Ruby Woo, a popular matte bright red colour. They were already discounted in price at £13.75 instead of £15.50. I ended up purchasing two vouchers and got these two lovely lipsticks for £8.75 each which is a real bargain!

So after those lovely treats I definitely don't need any more lipsticks for a while! Although I probably will buy more.

Is there anything that you've treated yourself to lately? I'd love to hear in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

Libi xx




The Libstick. All rights reserved. BLOG DESIGN BY Eastern Fox.