Review: Wild Medicines Facial Steamers: Oily/Teenage Skin and Face Oil with organic Rosehip, Evening Primrose, Patchouli and Neroli

Wild Medicines Helping Me Get Happy Skin Again...

When I was younger, my mum used to have a facial steamer and would pop in a few drops of essential oils to the hot water and let the vapours from the steam work wonders on her skin. I was too young to be interested in doing the same at the time but i always loved the scent that would waft around the room whilst she was doing this.
My skin has been feeling very irritated and congested for the last few months, i've noticed a lot more breakouts and felt my skin looked bumpy since the holiday definitely but I put this down the sun lotion I was using and thought it would clear up in time. Nothing has really changed so I thought about what I could do or change in my daily skincare routine to make my skin happy again - it just suddenly occurred to me that i should try steaming my face. I googled a few things and was looking for facial steaming bags when I came across Wild Medicines; a must have brand for any green beauty lover!
Wild Medicines was created by the lovely Louise Bowery who believes we can both sooth our skin and our minds by using and listening to nature, which is all around us. We all have a fragrance that when we smell it, it has the power to move us and alter our moods... I absolutely love the scent of jasmine for its uplifting properties and woody scents such as patchouli to calm my mind. Her powerful and potent products are paraben & cruelty free and never test on animals.

I have been using the Facial Steamers (£4 for 4 bags) designed for oily/teenage skin as I wanted to feel like my skin was being purified and decongested of any toxins and grime from every day life. They aim to do just this and leave you with healthy glowing skin afterwards which  can safely vouch for! I popped a bag in a bowl of hot water (you don't need a fancy steaming facial kit to use these like my mum had) and put a small towel over my head and breathed in the vapours whilst they got to work on my skin for around 5 minutes. I'm not a massive fan of steam rooms and find it hard to breathe so i don't tend to use for longer than 5 minutes and pop out for air but you can use for 5-10 minutes quite happily if you wanted to. My skin felt fresh as a daisy and totally rebalanced and i felt like i'd had a mini spa session minus the price tag! I think another positive of using steaming in your skincare routine every now and then is that your skin is primed for any skincare that you use afterwards - especially face masks or serums/oils as your pores are open and more receptive to lotions and potions. The bags come in a handily little tin to keep them fresh and can be easily stored in your vanity cupboard. 

I have only just started using the Neroli Facial Oil (£16 for 30ml) but even though I have oily skin, i'm finding it a real pleasure to use. I've not had any breakouts and don't find it heavy, plus the scent it divine. I try to steam once a week and choose to use a facial oil every other night or so. I'm not sure why, I just don't feel the need to use it every night, but i love using oils like this one when my skin needs a serious hit of moisture.

If you want to try these products for yourself or find out more, visit Wild Medicines or why not tweet Louise on Twitter who will be happy to advise! 

Review: Benefit - They're Real! Mascara

I could't believe my luck one afternoon last week; I came home from a really tough day at work to be greeted by a little surprise parcel from Feelunique... I couldn't remember placing an order so I was quite perplexed but excited all the same! Upon opening it dawned on me that I had completed The Sunday Times 2014 Beauty Awards earlier in the year and must have been one of the lucky first 3000 voters! As you can see, the reward was a full sized mascara from the cult beauty brand Benefit retailing at £19.50.

I'd heard of it before but never bothered to purchase, preferring instead to stay loyal to my YSL Baby Doll or Lancôme Hypnose mascaras to avoid any disappointment if any new products didn't live up to my high expectations. This mascara lives up to the hype though - it gave me super fluttery lashes in just one coating. The main thing this mascara does for me is lengthen my tiny lashes by far more than any other i've tried. It doesn't clump easily and the brush literally grabs your lashes and applies from root to tip smoothly. Definition is achieved but

I didn't find it particularly thickened my lashes a great deal but it felt rather nice to have them super long and defined instead of thick and heavy.

I definitely recommend this girlies! x

Birthday Fun

Turning 25 isn't so bad...

My birthday was on the 16th, finally falling on a Friday, so I decided I'd love to have a long weekend away in Manchester; my absolute fave place to shop! Birthday money burns holes in purses  even worse than normal money, y'know....I've had a few requests to see what beauty bits I was gifted and bought with my birthday money which I'm hoping to put up tomorrow. I went a little mad at the Tom Ford counter! Need time to try everything so I can chat about it in more detail.

My parents always get me the most yum cake, made to order from somewhere and this year didn't disappoint! Victoria sponge - lots of butter cream, jam and icing a-plenty with a sprinkling of glitter... I  still always make a wish before blowing the candles out :)

My fiancé and I stayed for the first time at the Hilton in the Deansgate area which was lovely. I love the bizarre shape of the building, I always see it on the way into MCR, very iconic but for some reason never chose to stay here before now. We went for the exec suite rooms but the very first had the most awful smell so we had to change and ended up directly under the Cloud 23 bar but thankfully you couldn't really hear it. We were right next to the presidential suite and their must have been some pretty important or snobbish people next door because they had strange bodyguards stood outside our/their doors all night.... So much for some privacy! Other than that, the hotel was nice and I really enjoyed my stay.

I think I took this skyline-y picture from the executive lounge area whilst getting slightly drunk off the free bar our room got us. Looked really impressive and for me it's the perfect place to just sit, chat and drink. There was a glass pane in the floor that I was stood on without realising that it actually showed you right the way down to the ground below... I quickly hopped off once this fact was pointed out to me!

I was surprised with some birthday bubbly from the Mr after a long hard shopping sesh' at the Trafford. This Lanson pink champers is seriously tasty! 

I've eyed Mulberry for so long, their bags being something of an obsession to me so it seemed only fair that I should treat myself to something from the collection sooner rather than later.  I knew I wanted it to be classic above all else and very simple. Something I could use with absolutely anything. Once I'd picked up the black and gold hardware LilyI was sold. Timeless and effortlessly chic. I wore it out on my birthday night with a Karen Millen bodycon and it looked and felt dreamy...

So this was a crystal skull I saw in Selfridges filled with Vodka for £62. I adored it and I totally regret not buying it now. Yes it's vodka and I don't care much for the stuff but you're paying for the skull ornament. Would have looked so cool on my shelf! I could still get it I guess, we'll see.

I also saw this uber cute fox knit from my all-time fave designer of amazing and uniqeu sweats; Markus Lupfer.  I have a thing for pretty foxes on anything and this is the best I've seen, th sequins are so sparkly and it has this look in it's eye that makes me coo but I can't bring myself to part with £310 to take him home with me :( Let's pray for a sale, huh?!

Before leaving Manchester, wrong 'un that I am, I had the best culpa ever from this Starbucks somewhere along 230? Deansgate. It was the only one that wasn't packed and I managed to bagsy a window seat. I'm easily pleased! I think better and reflect more when I get a good seat in these places :-) So i'm another year older, maybe not wiser, but I'm loving life right now and I can't wait to see what 25 brings.... 

xoxo