My Skincare Hunt & First Impressions of Clinique 3 Step System

I realise that while I've written about some skincare products, I haven't really been clear about where I stand in my "skincare hunt" for a perfect routine :) I've sorted it all out in my head, so I thought I'd put it down on paper (screen) - it's a bit rambly but I hope you enjoy!

To start off, I have combination/normal skin - I get oily in the t-zone in the warmer months, and normal on my cheeks. Since I've gotten rid of my teenage acne last year, it's been a bit difficult assessing whether something is good, because I'm now after the luxury of perfect skin as opposed to just getting rid of things that shouldn't be there - if that makes sense?

I have a few bits and bobs of my skincare that I can say, "Yes, I love these products and I will rebuy them" but I'm still on the lookout for that perfect combination of products for a perfect routine. Anyway, here's the present standings:

* Face Wash

- Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser

- The Body Shop Seaweed Face Wash

* Toner

- MUJI Light Toning Water (works well with Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser)

- The Body Shop Seaweed Toner (only works well with the face wash)

* Moisturizer

- Day: Liz Earle Skin Repair for Combo/Oily Skin

- Night: Boots Botanics Night Shift Cream

As you can see, a bit complicated, and a lot of ties! So the other day while I was roaming around the cosmetics section, I stumbled by Clinique which I heard lots about from Steph, and the kind lady at the counter explained a lot about how the system works, and gave me a 3-day sample kit to try.. (needless to say it's lasted me about 4 days already)..

Left: Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 (toner)

Centre: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel

Right: Clinique Facial Soap for Oily Skin

Used together, this set has ticked all of the boxes. Firstly, the soap leaves my face squeaky clean, and my face always appears brighter or maybe even whiter than it started off with. I'm guessing this is what the lady meant when she said it lifts the dead skin cells, to prepare for the next step.

The clarifying lotion, which is like a toner, then exfoliates and removes the dead skin cells. I genuinely feel this works, but god the smell is horrendous! I feel like I'm putting nail polish remover on my face, it's unbearable to smell and the lady told me strictly that I can't use it near my eyes or mouth - I wouldn't want to! That being said, at the end I feel refreshed and I feel it does its job.

The moisturizer feels like somewhere between a typical gel and a silica skin primer - it has that smoothing-over effect, but it's also quite wet. I think it does a decent job of sinking into my skin, but I also feel like I've felt others do a better job. That being said, the thing I like about this is that when I wake up, I'm not half as oily as I am when I use other moisturizers, and I have no qualms about using this for both day and night - which in the long run may save some dosh!

All in all, the bits of bumpiness and redness on my face has been seriously reducing - sounds perfect, right? But I'm still not 100% sure what I should be looking for, as I don't have any blatant problems anymore! Should I be aiming to have 'normal' skin as opposed to combination? Should I aim to have baby skin? Idk! (any help appreciated :P)

So my plan is on the 26th of August, to head over to the counter again and take full advantage of a campaign where for a few extra hundred yen (lol) added to the cost of a full-sized Clarifying Lotion, you get loads of 1 month sized products, like the face wash, the moisturizer and other things. AMAZING. I'm not sure if this offer is only in Japan though..

After that I hope to figure out if the full Clinique's 3 Step System would really work for me, or if I need to cut and paste from the previous list mentioned above. I personally don't really want to give up the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish nor her moisturizer, nor the MUJI Toner (it's paraben, alcohol, fragrance free!) - but I've got to admit, they're all running for their money with these 3 Clinique bad boys in town :)

Does anyone have 2 skincare routines, is that even possible? :P

Have you found your perfect skincare routine?

What do you look for when deciding whether a product stays in your routine? :)

<3yu

The Manview: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish.. for Men.

Today's post is a guest post from my boyfriend, Ben. He's been using the Starter Kit for Men from the infamous, Liz Earle, after seeing the great effects of the female equivalent has had on my skin. I took this chance to make sure the girls out there knew what was available for the men in their lives :)

Many men don't put as much emphasis on their skincare routine as girls do, often even skipping the whole thing. So I was (and hopefully you will be) interested to hear what he thought..

"Being the first time, and hopefully last time I have written an entry for a beauty blog, I’m not sure where to start.

The most logical place would be the packaging. The 100ml bottle is fairly standard and has a fairly standard beige colour. It has a pump that makes it easier to dispense, and also acts a measure, as the instructions say to use one to two pump(s) when washing your face.

The colour of the packaging, while not eye catching, serves its purpose and I have to say packaging isn’t everything, I would much rather have a product that works in standard packaging than a product in psychedelic packaging that works less well.

In terms of use, it is fairly easy to use and follows the same type of procedures as other face washes I’ve used in the past. While soaking the muslin cloth in a basin of hot water, you just have to apply one or two pumps of the cream to your face. After that, it is just a case of using the cloth to wipe the cream from your face, rinsing every now and again to keep it clean. Once you have washed your whole face you just rinse your face with cold water and then pat it dry with a towel.

The cloth is a different addition to any other face wash I have used before, and perhaps does make the process longer than others, however the success I've had with this compared to others makes it worthwhile.

Since using the product my skin has cleared up quite significantly, the redness on certain areas of my face has gone down as well as clearing up my pores. When spots do appear though, it hasn’t been the most effective to clear it and it is probably best when used in conjunction with another specific spot treatment."

The new Jimmy Chapman? Judging from the first line, maybe not :P But I've been very impressed at how persistent a guy who's not obsessive about skincare and haircare has been with this product, despite it taking a longer time complete - I think it says quite a bit. I asked him if he'd keep using it after this bottle's done, and he said he would - but with a separate spot treatment product, as he said above.

If you (or your dad, brother, or your other half) has any questions - please do leave them in the comments and I'll forward them on to Ben. You can get the Starter Kit and other goodies from the range, here :)

What kind of skincare do the men in your life use/enjoy? Would you recommend Liz Earle to them? :)

<3yu

I Miss You, Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser.

I know the title is very.. romanticised, but this is actually a review, hehe. I'm sure you guys have all read reviews of this Hot Cloth Cleanser, and to make mine a bit different from everyone else's reviews, I waited until I finished it up, and went back to the cleanser that I used to use to really figure out the difference that this product makes. Here's what I came up with:

1) It STRIPS the dirt on your face - you really feel like all the grime and dead skin is off your face, but it's not done so in a drying and stinging way, but in a very natural way by exfoliating your face with a muslin cloth. It doesn't feel like there's some chemical reactions going on on your face, and it doesn't feel intrusive at all. Since I've gone back to my old face wash, my face never feels completely clean and smooth.

2) It makes your moisturizer sink it a lot better. It must be the fact that the layer of dead skin cells are gone, as my face drinks up the moisturizer, and in the morning, my face is supple. Now that I've gone back to my face wash, I feel a bit greasy in the morning, like with moisturizer residue on my face, rather than plumpy and young.

3) It's SUCH an easy routine. No drippy watery face in between getting product on your hands and lathering it up, because you just massage it directly on to your face.

4) It calms down your skin in every which way - I used to have normal/combination skin, but during the time I used this product I felt like I just had normal skin. Now that I'm going back to my old face wash, I'm feeling the oily patches come back. I'm also experiencing a lot more pimples and redness than I did when I used the Hot Cloth Cleanser at this time of the month (sorry for TMI).

5) My skin was literally 'polished'. It was so so so smooth - smoother than when I used my St. Ives Apricot Scrub! I miss it! :( This obviously makes the make-up go on so much nicer as well.

Admittedly, this cleanser didn't work on me straight away. I only started seeing the miracle results after 1 month (although people around me started to see the difference after the first use!), so for those who used it a few times and wasn't amazed, I urge you to keep trying, even if it's so you can use it up. Also, do NOT be stingy with this product, unless you can see the opaqueness on your skin, you aren't using enough! It makes a big difference in the results - trust me, I was stingy at first :P

Also, I didn't like using it as a make-up remover. I know it says it can be used to remove make-up but I just thought it was a waste of product, it made the muslin cloth unnecessarily dirty, and it just wasn't great at removing waterproof mascara and eyeliner in between my lashes. £1 baby wipes and oil-based eye make-up remover can take care of that :)

The main thing I didn't like was the packaging - it's so beautiful and elegant, but you can't twist open the pump, which means even when you think you're done there's still loads of product in there that just can't be sucked up with the pump. It's not the cheapest of products so I wish there was a way to use every last drop!

But yes, I deeply miss my Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser. These 2 points are things that I am more than willing to ignore because the product itself is amazing - 10/10 for sure! Also, the company has so many environmental and other ethical incentives that earns them mega brownie points from me :)

I'm a P&P hater so I was going to wait until I got myself to London or Manchester to repurchase, but I have a strong feeling that I wont be able to wait that long!

Who else is a Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser lover? Has it NOT worked for anyone?

<3yu

P.S. All my non-single ladies! Keep an eye out for the Man Review of the Men's Hot Cloth Cleanser - the boy is currently using the man version, and will be sharing his thoughts hopefully in a couple of weeks :)