Clarins Hydra-Quench Cream mask

This was quite a spur of the moment purchase for me (especially for the price). I picked this up in Boots for £32 and found it that night on Ecsentual.com for £25.60. My skin was really dehydrated and i really needed something to work well at night but not be too heavy, i saw this was for dehydrated skin and just went for it.

Description from Clarins
An instant, quenching boost for even the most stressed out and dehydrated skin. The Clarins HydraQuench Cream-Mask intensively moisturises and revitalizes skin, in all climates, at all times. Lines are smoothed, and the skin is left feeling fresh, soft and comfortable with unrivalled radiance all day long.
Smooth into the face twice a week, and leave on for 5-10 minutes whilst the Cream-Mask gets to work. Remove lasting traces with a cotton pad dampened with toning lotion.

• Hyaluronic acid helps maintain its moisture reserves
• Katafray bark restructures skin's protective outermost layers, limits dehydration
• Sobier tree bud stimulates radiance-boosting microcirculation
• UVA/UVB filters, Vitamin E and E3P Complex protect against UV rays, free radicals and
• pollution
•  

I tend to use this a little more than recommended as my skin really needs something to sort it out before it starts getting (ever more) wintery and cold. I use my clarasonic and a cleanser (at the moment im switching between Avene Eau Thermal Soap-less Gel (available here) and the REN Mayblossom balancing cleansing gel (available here) and once im through with that i dry my face and slather a layer of this on, i use just enough that you can see a little on the skin until it dries in. After about half an hour i put some toner on cotton wool and give my face a wee wipe then pop on some spot cream and moisturizer and hop into bed. In the morning my skin is lovely and soft and i have a lot less oil produced during the night than i used to. Throughout the day my skin also produces a lot less oil which means my makeup is actually staying on my face pretty well and not sliding off. Ive also been able to stop using powder throughout the day which leaves me looking caked my 5pm.

Im not claiming that this is some sort of miracle product, i have been taking a lot better care of my skin in general recently but this is definitely helping a lot. Ive been using it for about two and a half weeks now and so far it has a massive thumbs up. 

Next time though i will be making extra sure i check the price everywhere before i buy (because i WILL be repurchasing). 

What do you think about this if you've tried it?
Anything similar you would recommend?

Lorna xxx 

Eau Thermale Avene Cleanance Gel soapless

This is one one my purchases from Escentual.com's French Pharmacy Sale. Its a cleanser i had a sample size of before and loved it so decided to take the plunge and buy it full size. The sale is still on throughout September and you can get this for only £5.49 when it usually retails for £8.25. You can get it here. There delivery was super fast, i had this within 3 days of ordering.

 

This cleanser is designed for oily/blemish prone skin which is my skin exactly. Its soap less to avoid drying and irritation. It is a green/blue colour that is just slightly bluer than the typical tee tree colour. The bottle i have is 200ml which i think is the only size you can get, also its just a good convenient size, not so small its done in a week but small enough you could take it in your bag when going away.

 I really love the cap on this bottle, it twists around 90 degrees and that  creates a small opening that is easy to get just the right amount out. Its so much better than the cleansers you can get in tubes that you need to close the cap before you can put it down because it sits on the lid, they always get so messy and i end up with lots of product on my bathroom counter. (maybe its just me haha).

This cleanser is very thick, especially for one designed for oily skin as they are usually very thin and runny. It goes on very smooth and you don't need a lot as it spreads very well. (i use a 20p size amount and it does my whole face).When you run it in it taken a bit of work to start lathering but when it does it is sooooo lovely. Creamy and still thick and just luxurious feeling. It also washes off very easily which I'm please about as one of my biggest pet peeves is face washes/masks that cling to your face and just spread around but don't wash off well.

It leaves your skin feeling fresh and clean but not dry and tight. I use my No.7 toner after and alternate between my No/7 day moisturizer in the mornings and either my monu beauty balm or No.7 night moisturized in the evening. If  follow this routine when i get up in the mornings my skin only has a tiny sheen of oil on it and i can really see a difference in the blackheads on my nose, they are definitely getting smaller. With this i also find i don't need to exfoliate as much, once a week rather than every second day which has got to be good for my skin.

Anyone else use this, what do you think? :)

P.s. Yay for my first follower :D but i think she might me lonely all on her own in the picture at the side of my page so more people should should follow for company:D and as a plus you'll get to read my posts.

Lorna xxx