Skincare Tweaks & Treats

At the beginning of the year I switched up my skincare, and although I'm fairly happy with my new routine, I've made a few tweaks (involving some new treats).

pixi Glow Tonic (500ml bottle)

Firstly, I upgraded to a supersize Pixi Glow Tonic. You know you've found a hero product when you start buying the salon size bottle all to yourself. Aside from just being bigger and therefore better, the 500ml bottle (exclusive to QVC) also comes with a pump - which for me is super exciting as I hate screw top lids. (Taking it off, screwing it back on, and where are you meant to put it when you're toning?! What a faff.)

But the biggest change has been my cleanser. The Body Shop foam cleanser I'd been using was fine: as I previously mentioned, it did a good job of cleansing and noticeably brightening my skin. But I started to notice some negatives. 1; It's quite 'stripping', leaving my skin feeling clean, but tight and dry. 2; It's pretty rubbish at removing mascara, and 3; It bloody stings when you get it in your eyes. So obviously this gave me a totally reasonable excuse to buy the new Pixi Double Cleanse, created with the queen of skincare Caroline Hirons.

Pixi x Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse

As the name suggests, it's two cleansers in one pot; a solid cleansing oil, for make-up removal, and a luxuriously thick cleansing cream. To use; you warm up a blob of the solid cleansing oil in your hands until it turns into a liquid, and massage into to dry skin to dissolve all make-up, even stubborn mascara. You then wipe the oil and dirt away with a wet face cloth, before going in for round two. Clean out your flannel, and apply a dollop of the cleansing cream to your face. This step removes any dirt, foundation or general grime left over from the step before and gives the skin intense nourishment.

I have quite literally never felt skin so soft as mine is after double cleansing with this product. It's actually softer than a baby's bum. It feels like velvet to touch, and feels plump, hydrated and healthy.

Another pro is it stops me from being lazy, taking off my make-up and thinking "that'll do". With both cleansers in one pot, it's so much easier to go ahead and do a proper full double cleanse.

The only con is that, if you were to use the product as Caroline suggests (using both cleansers in the PM but just the cleansing cream in the AM) you would run out of the cream twice as fast as the oil. That would really bug me. So I'm reserving this for nighttime only, and sticking with my Body Shop cleanser in the mornings.

Embryolisse Smooth Radiant Complexion Anti-Fatigue

I've also swapped out my Embryolisse Hydra-mat emulsion to test out another day cream from my favourite French pharmacy brand - the Smooth Radiant Complexion Anti-Fatigue*. It's actually very similar to the Hydra-mat emulsion, with a lightweight, cooling gel consistency that gives a refreshing moisture boost in the mornings, and works nicely as a primer by leaving a smooth yet 'grippy' texture for make-up to cling to. The difference lies in the appearance of the skin. Whereas the Hydra-mat mattified the skin, the Anti-Fatigue gives a radiant glow, thanks to the pearlescent pigments inside the formula and is therefore more suitable for helping to achieve a dewy base.

Korres Lavender Blossom Shower Gel & Body Milk

Moving away from the face and on to the bod; I've been loving the brand new Lavender Blossom body wash and lotion duo from Korres. Lavender is a bit like marmite - love it or hate it - but for me, there's not a scent more relaxing. After a long day, there is nothing better than unwinding with steamy lavender scented shower before bed. The products leave the skin soft and supple (thanks to the moisturising wheat proteins) and the soothing properties of lavender aid sore muscles and melt away stress.

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