Summer Ready Skin

I don't know about you, but once Summer starts rolling round I always seem to take much better care of my skin and try to stick to some kind of body care routine. I'm very good at keeping up my skin care routine all year long, but for my actual body I kind of neglect using products on an everyday basis during the colder months. It's most likely because during the Winter it's so easy to cover up with jumpers and thick tights that really, it doesn't overly matter if you do forget to slap on a bit of body butter in the morning!

But now that it's starting to get slightly warmer, I think it's always good to put together a simple yet effective body care routine just to get you back into the swing of things and prepare yourself (and the world) for starting to show a bit more skin! The main areas I like to focus on are my arms and legs as I love wearing little cami tops and skirts when it's warm, so these are the selection of products I've been using recently to start preparing my skin for the Summer!

My body care routine starts whilst I'm in the shower and one of the first products I will use is an exfoliator. The one I've been loving recently is the Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub (£8.00 LINK). This stuff smells incredible, if you love sweet, rich scents then this will be right up your street! This sugar scrub helps buff away dry skin and with the added shea butter leaves your skin feeling lovely and soft, plus smelling amazing. I will use this around twice a week as it's a fairly rough body scrub, definitely not something you'll want to use everyday!

Next, if I'm shaving my legs, I will reach for my Soap & Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter (£7.00 LINK) which is a body wash and in-shower body butter in one. I don't really use this as a body wash but as a replacement for shaving gel as it lathers up really well and leaves my skin feeling super smooth! If you also don't have much time in the mornings, this would be amazing to apply at the end of your shower to leave your skin feeling soft all over. Again, like all Soap & Glory bath products, it has a beautifully rich scent that smells good enough to eat!

My final in-shower step is to use a skin softening body wash. I've been using the Nivea Diamond Touch Cream Shower Oil (£1.99 LINK) everyday for the past few months and have been really loving it! It has a beautiful, creamy floral scent that really lingers on the skin long after a shower. It also lathers up into lots of luxurious little bubbles that leave my skin feeling soft and clean.

Once out of the shower I immediately apply some form of body lotion/ oil. My absolute favourite body product to use during the Summer is The Body Shop Brazil Nut Beautifying Oil (£10.00 LINK). This dry oil sinks into the skin really quickly and leaves no oily residue behind, meaning you can get dressed straight away! I also love the super sweet scent of this product as it instantly reminds me of being on holiday last year! This is also a great product to use if you have just shaved your legs as it doesn't irritate the skin like a normal fragranced body lotion would. 

If I'm after something a bit thicker that will really help hydrate my skin then I will reach for my Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk (£10.00 LINK). This is a great product to use if you have used both the scrub and body wash in the shower as it really helps ties all those amazing sweet scents together. As this is much thicker than my oil I will use this around 2/3 times a week to help moisturise my skin and leave it feeling amazingly soft.

So this is my super simple guide to getting Summer ready skin! With just 5 products all from the high street this little routine is affordable, easy to use and works really well. I know we're still a few weeks off from actually being able to bare a bit more skin, but it's always good to prepare so that when it is finally warm enough you can go bare-legged without having to worry!

What products do you use to get your skin Summer ready?

 Bloglovin'  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  | Pinterest |  Facebook

Review | Makeup Academy Undress Your Skin Highlighter

Makeup Academy Undress Your Skin Highlighter | £3

Today I have another MUA product from the "Undress" range to review for you! I recently picked up the new highlighter powder after lusting after how beautiful it looked in the pan. I don't have many highlighters in my makeup collection and thought this would be a great piece to add to it!

The Undress Your Skin Highlighter is a lightweight baked powder that is designed to illuminate the skin with a fine layer of shimmer. This highlighter suits all skin tones as it is a natural, pink/ shell shade and looks amazing on the cheek and brown bones. To apply, I swirl my Real Techniques Contour Brush in the powder and apply it to my cheek bones, just above my blusher. I find the pigmentation of this powder is perfect for me as a small amount gives my cheeks a lovely, natural looking glow!  You could definitely build the pigmentation up though if you prefer a stronger looking highlight! I find that this highlighter lasts about 4 hours on my skin (with a primer underneath) and then needs a touch up!

I think it was the look of product that sold me on this, it looks stunning in the pan and the detail of the powder is amazing for just £3! I really think MUA have done well with this and makes it look more expensive than it actually is! It also comes in a white, round plastic pot which I do like, but of course, isn't the nicest packaging around.

Overall I think for just £3, this is such a lovely highlighting powder and looks just like a high end product. This is now a part of my everyday makeup and I'm loving it! I'm glad I've managed to pick this up as I've heard it keeps selling out in most Superdrug stores, so is definitely a popular product! At the moment the Undress Your Skin Highlighter is just £2 on the MUA website, so there's no better time like now to pick it up!

Have you tried the Undress Your Skin Highlighter? What are your thoughts on it?

Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  Blog Lovin'  |  YouTube

Review | Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm

Straight from tube | Fully blended out 

Used as a primer under my foundation

 Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm* | £23

Before trying the Urban Decay beauty balm, BB creams to me were just an orange, oily substance that didn't appeal to me. I never saw the hype and hated the ones by Garnier and Rimmel. However, when I heard that Urban Decay had launched the new beauty balm, Naked Skin, I was very interested to see how this worked for me. This lovely product has changed my outlook on BB creams and now I can say I'm a proud user of one!

Urban Decay claim that this is a multi-purpose beauty balm that has 5 different uses: that it hydrates, primes, protects, perfects and treats your skin. They also say that this is a "miracle worker" which makes your skin instantly look better and delivers serious results in just 8 weeks! In this time, your skin is meant to look more youthful by reducing lines and improving elasticity. It is also a demi-matte finish balm that has SPF 20 in, which means it gives you protection from the sun's rays all year round. The coverage of the product is very sheer, despite being rather orange in the tube, and is suitable for almost any skin tone. As it contains optical blurring technology, this balm isn't designed to cover up blemish, but "blur" them. I'm not 100% sure on this as I can still see the imperfections on my face, but if you have normal and clear skin, this would be a brilliant product just to even out your skin!

Now, I don't have mature skin so I can't really comment whether this would actually reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles. However, I have been loving what this beauty balm has done for my skin. Within a week of using it everyday, my skin feels much softer, especially after applying it. As Naked Skin is light weight and oil free, I am using it as a face primer under my foundation and on lazy days, just on it's own. I apply a small amount with my fingers and I've found it allows my makeup to apply evenly and last all day. I've also found that when I use this as  primer, I only need one layer of foundation over the top and I'm good to go! With other primers, I still felt like I needed that second coat to achieve the flawless finish, but with Naked Skin, I could do this with just one! I think for the Summer, this would be a lovely product to wear alone with some mascara and lip gloss for a natural look! Another thing I personally like about this product, which others may not, is the smell. It's very fresh and has slight scent of mint to it. I feel like the smell refreshes my face and I just really like it!

As for the packaging, I think Urban Decay has done very well. The tube comes in a shiny bronze box that has a purple floral print on the inside. The tube itself is very sleek and the same shiny bronze colour with a silver/ purple lid. The tube has a nozzle at the end, so you have to squeeze the amount of product out which you need, which is only a pea sized amount for your whole face.

Overall I really love this product. I think it would be perfect if it has a little more coverage, but you don't really expect it with a beauty balm. I'm really enjoying Naked Skin and has now become my first step in my makeup routine!

You can buy the Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm for £23 from lookfantastic.com with free delivery!

Have you tried the Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm? What is your favourite BB cream?

Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  Blog Lovin'  |  YouTube 

Skin Care Routine | Dry & Sensitive Skin

I made a post called 'My Skin Saviours' back when I first started blogging, and I thought I would show you my whole skin care routine. From the age of about 13 to early 16 I suffered with really bad skin which used to affect my self-confidence. I set out to find the right products for my skin type (dry/ sensitive skin) and try and fight back! I've only just 'perfected' this routine within the last year or so and since then I have had reasonably clear skin. I also take Bassetts Soft & Chewy Early Health vitamin tablets, which are for children but they taste so good and have actually helped my skin, and a Cod Liver Oil tablet (any brand) everyday. I also drink as much water as I can which works out well because it's usually the only thing I drink.

Morning
Cleanser - Every morning I exfoliate my face, back and chest in the shower with the St Ives Sensitive Skin Gentle Apricot Scrub. This stuff is amazing, when I suffered with spots on my back and chest, (a real confidence knocker - and a bit gross) this exfoliator cleared them within a week at the most! I have used this everyday since. After this I then cleanse my face with the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Cream Wash. This featured in My Skin Saviours post as one of the main products that really cleared my skin. I love this and it's great for dry skin as it's a cream so doesn't dry out your skin as much as other cleansers.

Toner - The Simple Soothing Facial Toner is a relatively new instalment to my routine. This is my second bottle and I'm really liking it. Before trying this I never saw a point of toner, but after using it my skin feels cleaner and as it dries my pores feel like they're getting smaller. I apply this with a cotton wool ball (the ones in the picture are from Boots, but any one will do) all over my face and neck. I then spray about 5 pumps of the Savlon First Aid Wash before my toner dries. This may seem like a weird product to use but it does say it can be used for spots and I like to think it kills all the bacteria off my face before I apply my makeup.

Moisturiser - As I have dry skin, moisturiser is a key step in my routine. I use the Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser as it is the richest moisturiser Simple make, so I'm getting more moisture into my skin in one go. I then use my eye cream and at the moment I'm mostly reaching for the balance Me. Wonder Eye Cream. I suffer with dry eyelids which can make my makeup look cakey. Using this has kept my eye lids soft and hydrated.

Night
Cleanser - If I wear makeup I will use a Johnson's Daily Essentials Face Cleansing Wipes for dry skin. These are great and remove all of your makeup, even waterproof mascara, and leave your skin feeling soft. For an extra clean I use the Neutrogena Cream Wash again.

Toner - Again, I use the Simple toner and 5 pumps of the Savlon spray in the same way as in the morning.

Moisturiser - Again, I use the Simple Replenishing moisturiser and the balance Me. eye cream.

Spot treatment - I only treat my spots at night as it can dry your skin out or look weird under makeup. The first treatment I do is my Freederm Spot Treating Gel. I've gone through loads of these and it helps fight and prevent spots. I place a light layer on any blemish and allow it to dry. Next I use the Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Face Mask as a less-concentrated version of tea tree oil. As it's in mask form it'll be much more gentle, so I place a light layer over the oilier areas of my face (chin, nose and sometimes forehead) plus over any bad blemishes. This product is meant to be a weekly mask, but I find it works fine like this. Finally I use some Sudocrem, mainly on any dry areas of my skin plus on top of spots. This is a great product to have because it has so many uses! This may seem a lot on my skin, but it all works well for me.

I don't do anything weekly to my skin, unless I have a face mask or two laying around. So that's it! I hope that if you're suffering with bad skin you can take some tips or products out of this post. It's really the case of researching and trying out new products, and eventually something positive will happen.

What is your best tip/ product for healthy skin?

Amie ♥

Follow on Twitter | Instagram