How I conceal my dark under eye circles

As a new mum I don't get as much sleep as I used to. The days of a lazy lie in are now a thing of the past.
In the first few weeks I was lucky to get 2 hours interrupted and I had serious dark under eye circles, like punched in the face dark.
Anyway here is what I use to conceal them like a pro.

First off I wash my face using a cleanser that requires water to wash off. Such as my Nivea foaming facial cleanser. Wash this off with luke warm water and even splash on abit of cold afterwards. This helps to de-puff under the eye.
Moisturise as normal (that's right I don't have time to use toner lol) I use Benefits It's potent eye cream and Garnier Moisture Match gel for dull skin. Let this soak in for about 15 mins. I then start to apply my makeup starting with concealer as I don't wear a foundation.

How I conceal:
My secret weapon is Bobbi Brown's under eye corrector. I got matched to shade extra light bisque. This is a peachy corrector cream that counteracts the under eye red/purpleness. It doesn't work 100% so don't expect miracles but once you put your concealer over it you can tell the difference. I also have the matching concealer/powder duo but I prefer to use the more heavy duty Benefit Boi-ing in the shade light. I then set with a powder straight away, I use Benefit Hello Flawless. And viola I look like a normal none sleep deprived person. If only I could now keep my eyes open lol.

Nuxe Summer Travel Set Video Introduction & the Review

If you read my blog you will see that I posted about this set when I first got it, I now love it so much that I've made a video about it. Feel Unique had it on sale at approx £7.80 yesterday including postage but now I've seen that it has gone back up.

Still to get this for £9.90 this it is still a great deal. I would recommend buying it direct from Nuxe here as if it is your first order you get 10% discount and you also get lots of free samples :-)

 

I really cannot recomend this enough and i know that i willl be looking to get some of these items in full size when they run out.

 

 

 

Please let me know what you think, have you tried this brand before?

 

Jodie x

Bioderma personalised skincare regime prize video introduction

So you might have seen in a previous post that I won a twitter competition for a Bioderma personalised skincare regime.
I went into more detail in my last post about it so I won't repeat myself.

Here you can see the 5 items that I got as my prize and what I thought about them.

Jodie x

Bioderma personalised skincare regime that I won in a Twitter comp

I am so lucky and grateful to be one of the 3 winner from Twitter, this was from a competition last week on Twitter which involved following and Retweeting Bioderma.

I have heard many good things about the brand especially the micellar solutions but I've never tried any before. Mainly because I thought it was very expensive but when I've looked it's actually quite reasonable and less expensive than I thought especially compared to other high end skincare out there and also because it wasn't readily available in the UK. This is no more a issue as you can buy it on a few websites now mainly www.escentual.com and also www.garden.co.uk

So the prize was a personalised skincare regime and after I found out that I'd won I was asked a few questions about my skin and my current skincare regime. I was currently using the Benefit B. Right range which was getting close to running out so this prize couldn't be at a better time. Unlike the Benefit range which is generic for everyone's skin my prize is targeted at my skin only which is combination skin, it's oily around the t-zone with visible pores.

So I have got the following to try out, this is a 5 step skincare regime which consists of:

Step 1 - Sebium H2O Purifying Cleansing Micelle Solution 100ml RRP £4.50
This is the all famous micelle cleansing make up remover solution. I have read so much about this on blogs that I'm so excited to finally try it for myself.

Step 2 - Sebium Purifying Cleansing Foaming Gel 200ml RRP £9.00
Yay a Foaming cleanser my favourite. I know a lot of people prefer other cleansers but I'm old school if I don't splash water on my face in don't feel like I've cleaned it properly. Which I know is crazy. Anyway I am interested too see how this differs from my Benefit foaming cleanser so let the battle begin.

Step 3 - Sebium Pore Refiner 30ml RRP £14.80
This is for my Tzone to tighten my pores and is a step before moisturising or it can also be a great make up primer. I'm also thrilled to try this as I only have Benefits Porefessional to compare it to so I will see which is best for my skin.

Step 4 - Sensibio Eye Contour Gel 15ml RRP £14.00
I really suffer with dark circles under my eyes and it is a sensitive area. In the past I've used make up removers which are too harsh and have left red marks under there. So anything delicate is a blessing.

Step 5 - Hydrabio Light Moisturising Cream 40ml RRP £14.00
This looks like a great moisturiser which won't make my face feel greasy after use like some. Benefits Total Moisture is my favourite that I've ever used so I wonder if this will compare.

So overall I am so happy with my prizes as I got a lot of items more than I expected so a big thank you to Bioderma and Wizard Publications who handle their PR. You did a amazing job at picking out the right products for my skin.
I can't wait to use them and to report back in a week or two to let you know how my skin is doing. I'm really hoping that I see a difference so I can stock up.

So please check out Bioderma at www.escentual.com as they have free delivery on orders over £30.

Have any of you tried any of the Bioderma skincare range and if so what's your favourite?

Jodie x

My appreciate what you already have month

So it's now August and my wishlist is growing by the day, to stop myself feeling very depressed about all the pretty things that I cannot afford I've decided to root around and dig out some golden oldies and rediscover how much I love them. I never stopped loving these products I just was busy trying new things. So here is what I am appreciating this month:

1. Benefit Foamingly Clean Facial Wash
This cleanser leaves my skin so soft and clean afterwards. It feels very caring on the skin and not harsh like I find some cleansers to be. It also doesn't have a strong smell which I love. It smells pleasant but not strong.

2. Benefit Watts Up
Since I've recently bought a stipple brush I have fell in love with this highlighter all over again. I love the way that it looks on the skin but I always found applying it with my finger the best option which wasn't ideal. It does come with a blender on the opposite end but I've never really liked that I find it just leaves the product patchy on my skin so my new stipple brush is perfect for the highlighter.

3. Benefit Hervana
I'll just get all the Benefit items out of the way first. I am a huge Benefit fangirl but I've recently been trying to discover other brands so this blush got left to the bottom of my make up bag.
It doesn't help that I love the Benefit Coralista blusher more than life so I never find myself picking this one up. So this week I've made more of a effort to use this.
I love the packaging and the brush and the smell (a strong feminine perfume scent) I also most importantly love how it looks on my skin. It is a subtle pinky rose blush which is very buildable. It could also double up as eyeshadows. This is a great blusher for summer.

4. Figs & Rouge Lip Balm
I got this in my May Glossybox and it was one of my favourite items in my box that month. I am glad to rediscover this as it feels nicer on my lips than my recent Bourjois lip products that I've been recently wearing. It also gives enough colour to wear alone and it's completely natural so win win.

5. Burts Bees Lip Balm
This has a nice peppermint fresh scent, this is the first Burts Bees product that I've tried and it feels very moisturising on my lips. I prefer this to my trusty Carmex lip balm now. I want to try some of the tinted ones that they now do.

So if like me you are going to be skint during this 5 week month have a dig through your beauty stash and pick out those lost loved items and appreciate what you already have right in front of you.
Let me know if you make any good discoveries along the way. X

My skincare routine with Benefit B. Right range

After trying out some of Benefit travel size skincare products I decided to get some of them full size to use everyday. Here is my daily skincare routine.

Sometimes I do this routine morning and night sometimes it's just at night time only. This depends on how much make up I've been wearing the day before as I can use make up remover on my eyes, wash my face use make up remover again, sleep and I still have panda eyes when I wake up. The Benefit They're Real mascara is relentless to get off.

Anyway step one: I use a Nivea gentle make up remover blotted onto cotton pads and then I use this to remove any eye makeup.

Step two: I wash my face with the Benefit cleansing facial wash. I absolutely adore this as it smells so fresh and amazing. It's simple and foams very quickly you don't need to use much. A full size tube has lasted me about 5 months. Dry with towel. I picked this face wash over the facial scrub as I found that too rough for daily use as I prefer this gentle wash.

Step three: repeat step one as my eyes are resembling panda ones at this point.

Step four: Benefit toner. I splash a bit of this on my face and if I've used too much I dab the excess off with a cotton pad. It usually soaks in nicely though. This stuff feels really smooth. I'm not sure what it does but my face always feels so much cleaner after using this.

Step five: it's potent, this little pot of wonder by Benefit is one of my favourites. It's nice and delicate and I use this around my eye area. It helps to keep the area looking naturally bright and smooth.

Step six: finally I use the Benefit Total Moisture cream on my face and neck. Compared to all the other moisturisers I've tried this is my favourite as it soaks In immediately it's like my skin is drinking this stuff down. Also it isn't greasy and it smells great. As I've mentioned in a previous post that since I have been using this skincare range I have been complemented on my 'glowing complexation'. This moisturiser won hands down over Benefits triple emulsion cream as I found that greasy and it didn't soak in very well.

Overall I love this skincare collection and I will be gutted when it is discontinued as it is perfect for my skin. So I would recommend trying out the different sample products out there before committing to a pricey full size one.