Amid the current frenzy and harrowing headlines, I figured it would be useful to lighten the tone a little with a slightly different post – skincare!
A lot of people are being sent home from work, uni and school and suddenly realizing there are one too many hours in the day. So, if the boredom has hit you already, here’s a few bits you could grab from the shops – if they’re still there that is. Oh, and if you’re self distancing, I’ll provide links so that you can order! Anyway, here are a few cheap skincare products that you can experiment with to pass the time!
Garnier SkinActive Smoothening Botanical Toner with Rose Water.
It’s quite a mouthful, but once you get past all the jargon you realize it’s basically just a Rose Water Toner for sensitive skin. As a sensitive skin loser myself I would say it pretty much does what it says on the tin…bottle. The Claims? It is meant to remove makeup impurities and leaves skin feeling smooth. The reality? After using many cream toners and others, this one definitely stands out. It leaves skin feeling smooth after a day wearing makeup, using scrubs, facing general outdoor germs that could make your skin feel grotty and rough. How to? Simple! Dash a small amount onto a cotton pad and rub it all over yer face! How much? £3.49 in Boots and Superdrug!
Nip+Fab: Hydrate. Dragon’s Blood Fix Essential Mist
I’m not going to lie, as a blood’aphobe, the whole dragons blood situation grossed me out initially. It doesn’t help that it’s in a deep red bottle but that’s very clearly the vibe they were going for and I do see how it appeals. The purpose is essentially to freshen and/or prep your skin. The claim? This one’s interesting, and sort of hard to measure. It allegedly ‘tightens’ your skin – with the help of oat extract. I found this to be interesting as it’s not an overnight sort of goal and essentially it make a decent amount of the total 105ml to see results. The reality? I haven’t seen a massive difference. The product feels a little sticky on the skin which slows down the drying process but the smell is so obscure that it’s surprisingly quite pleasant. It definitely smells fresh and it’s stickiness serves another purpose! It proves quite useful for taming baby hairs when used with any kind of eyebrow brush. How to? You’re meant to just spritz it all over your face and let dry. I spray a couple times around the area where the baby hairs meet my face and comb down with an eyebrow brush (you can use a toothbrush too!). How much? £19.95 (or around a fiver if you can track one down in Homesence or TK Maxx).
Superdrug Naturally Radiant: Brightening Radiance Balm
There’s a lot of Naturally Radiant products that I love so I’ll squeeze them into groups. The radiance balm illuminates and awakens the skin, as does the Night Cream and Day Cream. There are two types of day cream, one for normal to combination cream and one for normal to dry. The claim? To smooth and soften the skin. The reality? Just that. It makes your skin so much softer, it improves texture and leaves you feeling generally glowy. How to? Just rub a walnut size amount into your skin in circular motions. How much? £6.99 each.
SuperDrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Acid Daily Cleansing Pads.
These are my favourite of the entire range. I wasn’t too keen on buying these initially as it is essentially a pot of pre-soaked cotton pads. As someone with sensitive skin, I personally like to buy serums separately and decide how much to apply to each cotton pad. The claims? To improve skins clarity and smoothness of your skins surface/complexion. The reality? Just that. It helped with any uneven skin left from teenage spots and exam stress. If you need something to wipe the stress right off your face this is it! How to? Just take out a cotton pad (they’re really thin, make sure you don’t pull out two.) and rub over the face, and where the face meets the neck. You can use this day and night. How much? £6.99, making it around 11p per pad according to SuperDrug.
Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic 5% Glycolic Acid
This is the first product I saw from this range, actually from an Instagram page. There was a lot of hype but it ended up being my least favourite of all. The claim? It is fairly similar to the other Naturally Radiant products I’ve mentioned but it is more aided towards fine lines and refining pores. The reality? It seems to tackle the glow that the others do but there seems to be no difference in terms of pores and skin tightening. As for fine lines, I’d like to think I don’t have enough to be able to conduct an analysis. But from the reviews, it’s a mixed bag- mostly positive. It does, however, have a really refreshing, almost medical smell. How to? Apply a touch to a cotton pad and apply to face in upward motions. How much? £6.99.
Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Overnight Peel
The Claims? This product is for, again, awakening the skins glow and improving skin texture. The reality? It essentially leaves you waking up with fresh and awake looking skin. It’s great if you’re planning an early morning and are expecting a visit from that rough morning face. How to? Apply a tiny pea sized amount to your finger and gently rub into skin, then simply wash off in the morning. It’s not like those peels where it dries in a face mask sort of manner. It’s barely noticeable and unbelievably light. How much? £6.99.
Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Eye Cream
Here’s a good one for all the dark circled pandas out there like me. I’ve struggled with eye bags for a long time, no matter how well rested I get, nothing gets rid of the bin bags around my eyes. This has helped more than any other product or home remedy has. Not to say it’s gotten rid of my bags entirely but it definitely has helped reduce the puffiness that follows a bad night. The claim? Brightens and smooth’s the eye area, reducing signs of fatigue. The reality? It lives up well to its promise, but that may be that it isn’t promising too much. The claim is sensible and certainly met. It keeps the eye area soft to the touch and turns a 4 hour sleep look into at least 6 and half. How to? Just apply a small dash of cream on the eye area every morning, massage it in gently and follow with any other morning routine products you use. How much? Just like many of its sister products, it is a modest £6.99. I have suspicions it used to be less but popularity has caused it to rise….of course.
Cath Kidston Cuticle Cream Rose
This one isn’t strictly skin care, but it’s still a great product. I actually received this as a gift the first time I discovered it, they did the rose scented tubs for a little while but I haven’t seen one in a while. Nevertheless, I’ve linked the sites hand and bath page in hopes that they may add any new/similar products. So, I used to be a nail biter but now I have longer clean cut nails, in a shape that I love and the only thing that helped me in this growth process was my nail cream (and a good diet full of greens of course). This cream keeps your nails strong, they grow faster and it smells pretty – just like you’d expect a Cath Kidston product to smell really. It’s that over the top floral scent. Overall a great product, though I am sure all cuticle creams really do the trick. For me, this one’s USP is the smell and pretty packaging. I’m not sure how many circumstances you would need to travel with cuticle cream but it also fits right in your bag. How to? Just apply a small amount to each nail, rubbing it in and gently pushing back the cuticles. How much? Generally, it comes in a little nail kit or as part of a hand lotion gift box so it ranges from £7.00 to £11.00.
When it comes to acne and breakouts, this one really hits the spot (haha). No seriously it really sorts them out. It’s not to good on acne scars unfortunately, but pimples themselves? Those random breakouts? It does a sweet job. The Claims? This one doesn’t really need much explanation, you know what it is, you know what it does. It’s worth the mention and is always good to have on standby, not just for your face volcanoes but general rashes, burns and wounds. How much? £2.99 for 125g in Boots.
Oh the glamour. Germolene, much like Sudocrem is basically an antiseptic cream but with a worse smell (some like it, I don’t know). Now I’m not all that sure whether or not you should use this for your face as the packaging states it’s for minor cuts and grazes but I’ve read reviews of the product and heard it works a treat on acne scars. It’s probably the fastest working spot product I have used. I have, however, been told by a pharmacist that use of this product, too much and too often can be bad (she’s talking, cumulative use over a few years). But with that in mind, a dash of it on spot ridden areas is great and it sorts out any face bacteria in a flash! How much? £2.10 in Boots!
Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Back Spray
Another weird one. I know you probably shouldn’t use this your face, but it works!! (Nowhere in this article did I state these were sensible ideas, they’re just my favourite bad ones). This dainty spray bottle holds an ocean like green water, with what can only be described as holding a pungent, leafy smell. It’s not the cutest but it is made to kill back bacteria so what can you expect. Anyway, the claim? Fighting spot causing bacteria and calming redness of the skin! The reality? It does just that. It is very effective, but of course, using such a strong spray on your soft face skin will undoubtedly have fast results. My advice? Don’t use too much – sensitive skin cant take too much when it comes to harsh chemicals, make sure you use it sensibly, which brings me swiftly onto my next point. How to? I wouldn’t spray it directly on your skin like the bottle instructs, unless of course you are using it on other body parts. Your face is sensitive and you don’t want to spray this anywhere near your eyes – no matter how fresh it looks! Spritz a little onto your fingers and apply it gently to the spot areas and those areas only. Wait to dry and voila. How much? £5.00 on the Boots website. (I could have sworn it was more, but there you go!)
The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% – HA Spheres 2%
God, The Ordinary know how to juice up their names with jargon. I can’t remember why I bought this. I honestly just went through as many of their products that I could until I found what worked. Not to mention that I trust any skincare product that has ‘Vitamin C’ in it. This stuff is great. It has healing properties and if you have hyperpigmentation it’s said to be a Godsend! The claims? The ordinary aren’t great with claims – they provide you the science and let you research your shop individually. The website does highlight two things though. Firstly they make it clear that Vitamin C has the tendency to cause a lot of confusion with skincare audiences . It has multiple different properties and formulations and ultimately each product utilities these differently. You can find the full guide into vitamin C, courtesy of The Ordinary here. The claims for this product are that it brightens the skin tone and reduces the signs of aging. The reality? I can’t speak on the aging part but it definitely brightens the skin to a certain extent. It’s not an overnight miracle but rather a slowly, longer lasting effect product. How to? Gently apply a small amount to the skin, preferably PM. If you feel a slight tingling, that’s OK (there’s mention of it on the bottle). However if you feel sever tingling it is best to mix it with other creams that you use habitually to lessen the severity of potential discomfort. How much? £4.90.
The ordinary: Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3%.
Saved the strongest to last! So ferulic acid, from what I’ve read, is found in the walls of plant cells. This and Resveratrol are said to be two very strong substances. Not only that but this particular product is free of water, silicone, oil and alcohol. It is an extremely high concentrated mix of two important antioxidants for the skin. The claims? Just like the latter, this product doesn’t have any explicit promises, though reviews have praised its ability to bring out a natural glow. The reality? Again, like the Vitamin C cream, results take a while to notice – especially when used rarely and in small doses. But, without a doubt, it does make the skin feel healthier. How to? As I mentioned, it is a strong product and I’d advise mixing it with other oils to reduce the high concentration of antioxidants that you’re applying to your face. The Ordinary website states that you can use it on its own, after water- based serums, before oils or heavier creams or alternatively mixed with other treatments to enhance their antioxidant capacity significantly. How much? £5.50.
Hopefully these products will help you out – that was my only motivation for the post – but remember, everyone’s skin is different so if you do consider purchasing any of the aforementioned products be sure to read the short reviews on each respective website. Every skin type is different, what works for one may not work for another. As I said, I do have somewhat sensitive skin so I am hoping most of these won’t be harmful to others. If you do try any and love them, let me know!! Finally don’t hesitate to like this post, comment any views and of course subscribe! It only takes a minute, throw your email into the bar right at the bottom of the screen and that’s all- it really means a lot!
Thanks!!!