500 products of summer (almost!) part 2: everything

I really couldn't nail a theme for the products I selected for this post. I wanted to do the 5 senses until I realised tasting and hearing beauty products wasn't really as possible as I thought it would be. I also then realised i had originally decided to only do 2 posts so had to cram everything in - Now the 500 products of summer posts will be a 4 parter of colours, everything, nail art and protection. Hope you are as excited as I am!

Summer for my face...

will be hopefully as exciting as summer gets for a face. I have a lot of products I use for my face, I try to keep them pretty regular so not to disturb the PH balance or get a reaction to new products but I do love to try new things! (Hence why we are all here today). I have added a few new and exciting products to my face routine such as oils, day creams and masks but I picked these products as they were specific to my summer needs.

In the summer my face gets quite red and warm - meaning it sweats! - so I have to protect my make up. I try not to wear a lot in the summer but when you have work and then parties and birthdays and dinners and nights out planned you can't not put on a bit of tutti. To make sure my make up sets and stays where it is I have started using UR Cheeky Freeze Frame, which is a makeup setting spray. I never knew these existed until a few months ago, I used to use hair spray to set my make up as I am sure most of us do - but I can only imagine that that is terrible for your skin. This spray is light and non sticky (unlike Asda's own extreme hold hairspray) and actually does the trick of keeping my foundation and eyeshadow pretty perfect for longer!

To wipe away the end of the day make up we all love so much I have started using these Vitamin E by Superdrug Facial Cleansing Wipes - I LOVE these wipes due to my ever talked about appreciation of Vitamin E with all it's healing qualities, and the fact they smell gorgeous. I have taken a step away from my long routing, these are much easier and quicker for cleansing after a long day at work.

Shiny & sleek strands 

Once I have a hair cut my hair will be in perfect condition for now I have to take extra care of my dry ends and dull colour, i am dying for a trim (it's only been 7 months eek). To keep my hair perfect this summer I will use a lot of sleeking and shining and taming products alternatively, depending on how my hair feels. It's an ad hoc kinda deal. My current favourite product for my hair is Color Wow's Pop & Lock, which is perfect for summer - it is a just-in-time addition to my dressing table. This crystallite shellac is different to your regular hair serums as they would normally sit on hair, where as this non sticky shellac sinks in and protects the hair from toxins while blocking out toxic bits and bobs (we don't need technical terms here!). It makes your hair shiny and sleek like you have just stepped out the hairdressers. I use it pre-blow dry on wet hair and give myself a salon style blow dry for the best results, but you can put it on dry hair and dry it through roughly with a brush too if you prefer.

Skin that is ready for the sunshine...

No matter how pale. Aside from the obvious protection (which I will elaborate on in my next 500 products post) my skin has to have extra special treatment during the summer. Starting with cleansing, in the summer I use a creamy and milky shower gel as apposed to my usual clear fruity ones because my skin can get quite dry when it it dries after a shower I have to give it as much moisture as I can, this summer I have got (the same as last year!) Soap & Glory Clean On Me Creamy Shower Gel. It has a lovely orange scent to keep me fresh and summery smelling and a creamy and silky texture and built in body lotion that leaves my skin feeling utterly gorgeous.

After I have showered with this in shower gel I still need to moisturise to lock in the nourishment, here I will be using Nip + Fab Yoga Blend Body Lotion with yummy and scrummy lavender, coconut and rose. It's really lightweight so perfect for summer, and I tend to shower in the evening in the summer so it's unwinding and de-stressing lavender scent will help me wind down after an exciting day in the sun!

My skin can dry out over night too in the summer annoyingly so I can loose some of that lovely silkiness from my evening lotion, so to wake me up for my day and keep my skin refreshed and nourished I will use Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel. This fragrant gel sins into the skin so quickly and wasn't at all as thick and gloopy as I first expected, it's so easy to apply and soothes the skin as well as evening out my skin tone and texture (sounds lovely doesn't it?)

Don't let those cuticles dry out

I have to keep on top of mositurising my hands in the summer, but I always manage to get dry and flaky cuticles (not pretty when you take so many pictures of your nails). I will be using the wonderful Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover, it has a built in pusher tip so you don't need all the tools of the trade to keep your cuticles perfect. it is so easy to use - it makes manicures easy and keeps my cuticles looking very pretty.

Hairless legs

Avoiding waxing my own legs after waxing my friends I turn to the second best thing in hair removal. Veet hair removal cream is miraculous, it gets rid of all the hairs so quickly. I put it on before my shower as I have still not mastered the in-shower hair removal cream routine (it just comes off, or I am stood there like a naked melon in the shower for 10 minutes with no way of timing myself - i don't get it). So, on it goes before I ditz around playing on my phone, making a hot hot coffee for after my shower or whatever pleases you then bish bash bosh silkiest legs I've ever had!


So there we have it, part two. What is on your summer products list?

scrub up well

I have got some many ideas for posts that I've actually had trouble choosing what to write up today! And this is just for beauty.. i do need inspiration for my nails however (Do not despair i will have a lovely tutorial up for you all tomorrow).

For now I want to show off my facial skin-care routine, including all the stages that I (now) do.. that's cleanse, tone, exfoliate, moisturise. The most important part of skin-care is finding products that suit your skin - condition and sensitivity. 

I have determined that my skin is mixed, I get oily around my t-zone (see below for a cheeky diagram on what this is) but dry and itchy around my jaw line and eyes. If you have mixed skin you can use the same products that I do - these products can apply to other skin types though so I will explain the qualities of each one and what makes them brill for your skin.

cleansing

Simple Kind to Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion, £2.99

This lotion is really good for sensitive skin, it's not harsh but still gets rid of all your make up. It works really well as an eye make-up remover as well (god knows I need that). Reading the back it seems to have a lot of vitamins and good ingredients for your skin especially good is Vitamin E. If you can get anything with vitamin E in it then it's good, you need as much of that stuff as you can get. It makes the appearance of scars and marks on your skin better and smoothes it out (I know this because my auntie who is a masseuse recommended it when I got some stretch-marks a few years ago). I use this in the evening and morning as well, to get rid of over night dirt - I use it right before I apply my make up as it also moisturises the skin lightly so you don't have to wait until you can apply make up (this you would have to do with normal moisturiser to avoid slippy foundation).

toning

B. by Superdrug B. Pure Micellar Water, £4.99

I never understood what toning is, to me it sounds like a quick fix to great abs in a bottle (I WISH), but it unfortunately isn't. We tone our skin to get rid of any left over make up, dirt and dead skin cells. Sounds harsh right? Well actually it isn't too bad, I don't tone everyday as I find it irritates my skin and I end up moisturising a lot to compensate. But this Micellar Water is really good as it's quite gentle so I use it 3-4 times a week to keep my skin supple and firm. It's actually a 3 in 1 formula, so it is a cleanser, toner and refresher - which is great! I know it's doing it's job and there is no need to rinse it off. I would suggest using this daily if your skin is tougher than mine (or normal) just don't get it in your eyes! 

exfoliating

Freederm Exfoliating Daily Wash, £5.19

I didn't ever bother exfoliating regularly until recently, my skin has been breaking out left right and centre and i had enough, so I went straight to the Freederm section, and I am so glad I did.

This product is meant for spot prone skin so you know it's going to do you some good, it combats blackheads and works quickly. I started using it daily and my spots started to clear up and blackheads appeared .. well.. less black! within a week. I use this in the evening after I've cleaned all my make-up off. There is a sensitive one available which I didn't realise, but I would say if you have mixed skin this one will work just fine as it's not irritating unless you over scrub. I did over-exfoliate (something I didn't think was possible) and mustn't have moisturised properly so I ended up with really dry skin around my nostrils, make up really irritated it so be careful!

moisturising

Nivea Express Hydration Body Lotion for Normal Skin, £3.59

I swear by Nivea for moisturising, I also have the in shower moisturiser which is lush!, I normally would get Nivea Soft but have recently been using this and it does the job just fine... until I go grab my next batch of Nivea Soft. I love this one because it absorbs really fast so I don't have sticky skin when I go to bed, which is when I do most of my routine. I tend to cleanse as soon as I get in from work and then leave everything else till I am getting ready for bed. I've always moisturised and everyone should, it's so important especially if you have dry patches of skin. You can also get good mattifying moisturisers that are made for oilier skin (so if you do have oily skin there is no excuse!)

extra caring

Detoxifying Face Mask with Dead Sea Mud from Superdrug, £2.59

I love a good face mask every now and then, when I have a couple of hours to really pamper myself. And what better way to do than with a little dead sea mud? This mask is really nice and my skin feels so soft after I use it, I even think my blackheads look better. I would recommend this if you do get bad blackheads. If you aren't a mask kinda person, you don't need to go whole hog, just put it on your worse areas (or t-zone) while you are in the shower and wash off within 5 minutes - easy peasy.

N.B. Drink as much water as possible, it's so good for your skin I can't explain! I try and drink a large bottle  (don't ask me how many litres it is) a day through the week and I treat myself on the weekend and evenings to juice and iced tea hehe!

Have fun cleansing ladies!

xxxxxx

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