November Favourites

So its basically Christmas. Only just over a month to go now so I'm kicking this favourites off with a festive start. Feel free to skip the first products if you're not ready or just hate Christmas.

The Bodyshop Spiced Apple and Frosted Berry Scent

 

The products pictured here are the spice apple and frosted berry hand creams (£4) and shower gels (£5) as well as the spiced apple body butter (£14). The spiced apple is a warm cinnamon apple scent and the frosted berry smells of sweet cranberries. If you get a chance to go to the body shop I really recommend testing them out.

I think I prefer the spiced apple in the night and frosted berry in the day, thats why I bought the body butter just in spiced apple because I feel that it would be too thick to use in the day. I like to apply something thing after I shower at night, although I think I might purchase the frosted berry lotion for the day.

Ive never been a big user of the body stuff from the body shop (I know, its the body shop) but I think I will defiantly be buying more.

The Ordinary

I was quite excited when I heard about this new brand from Deciem. The premise is cheap skincare, mostly serums, priced around their active ingredients.

Advanced Retinoid 2% (£8)

This is a light, milky serum this applies nicely. Its a mixture of retinoids which are meant to give better results than retinol with less irritation. Ive been using it a while, over a month, and I haven't really seen drastic results although I have been using it not stop without irritation. I think I'm going to try the 1% retinol and if I seen no difference between the two I'll probably stick with this one.

I'd recommend this for anyone but defiantly for young people, below 25 who can't afford a fancier retinol as this will most likely do them well at preventing ageing without breaking the bank. 

Niacinamide 10% + Zinc PCA 1% (£5)
The function of this serum might not be as obvious as the retinoid as much like most of the Ordinary range, you've probably never heard of the two main ingredients. This is a serum aimed at people with oily skin, large pores and acne. Zinc PCA works to reduce oil production and at 1% its at the right concentration to see results. Niacinamide is anti-inflammatory that also reduces pore size as well as helping overall skin health.

This serum is thick but provides a nice base for anything you put over it. My skin definitely feels less oily after using it every morning although I think I'm going to start using it at night as aswell. I'd recommend this to anyone with oily skin and enlarged pores.

A Few Things From: The Body Shop

I went into the Body Shop as I do quite often and picked up a couple items. Here are some quick reviews.

Tea Tree Toner

I'm I fan of toners, I think even the simplest skincare routine should include a toner. What is often overlook especially in cheaper ranges is leave on products and I think a toner offers a light weight leave on.


I like the tea tree toner from The Body Shop because although it contains alcohol, its not much, not enough to feel it when you use it. I think its a good price as it's 400ml for £5.50. This places it well between cheap alcohol filled toners and the alcohol free toners like lush's' tea tree toner.

One thing that's sets it apart from other toners is the mattifying powder it contains for which you have to shake up to use.

I don't think this product alone is going to give you clear skin, but it sure will help. If your looking for a lighter alternative to benzyl peroxide this would be a good consideration but won't be as affective.

Blackhead Remover

If you've not seen one of these before it might look like a surgical instrument buts its not that scary. Buy placing pressure around a blackhead it pushes them out like squeezing with you fingers never could. If you don't believe me then check out all the videos on youtube.

That aside, I've used blackhead removers in the past three times the price, this being £4, and there really is not difference. I like this one because it has a square handle meaning it doesn't roll around.

Its easier to push out larger blackheads but once you get a good technique your be extracting like there's no tomorrow. It works best after steaming or placing a hot cloth on your face. I like to do it after I've cleansed my face using hot water till I can feel the ends of the blackheads poking out.