Skin update and Garnier Dark Spot Corrector

Hi everyone, I hope your all well,

I just wanted to let you know where I am at with the Proactive kit, my thoughts so far plus come new additions I the fight against my pizza face!

I am almost half way though my kit with regards to how much product I have left in the bottle and so far I like it. Unfortunately as pleasant as this is to use It hasn't delivered me into the garden of angel like skin.

Eveyday for the last 6 months I feel like I have looked in the mirror and been so disheartened by what I saw. All the beautiful new foundations looked god awful on my skin, concealer as good as it is wasn't giving me the finish I was looking for. Blusher was sticking to my dried up healing blemish (read scabs) basically a walking mess I was!

I considered ploughing on in the hope that one day all my hard work would pay off, and somehow beautiful skin was sitting at the bottom of a bottle somewhere on the shelves of boots. Then I realised I have already wasted 6 months of my life feeling miserable about my skin. What am I going to do? Give it another year or 10 and see if my skin looks any better? Then what? I may have to deal with wrinkles and spots! So I took myself off to the Doctors.

I know my problems are hugely hormonal based. I suffer with PCOS and although my case is mild and my cysts fairly small, I still get unwated hair in places I won't mention and the crap skin! I explained my plight with my Doctor, she listened and prescribed me an antibiotic in the shape of Oxytetracycline. I am currently taking 500 mg a day and have done so for the last 6 dasy, And ooh La La what a difference.

Firstly I have no red hard lumps that look like they are full of bacteria. In fact I have nothing resembling a spot at all. I saw results in as little as 3 days although my doctor told me to be patient and wait six weeks until I saw any result. I cannot tell you how happy I am. I honestly feel like my skin has turned a corner. The Proactiv kit is helping by unclogging any smaller black heads I have as well as giving my skin a good daily exfoliate and although it hasn't cleared up and spots it has helped refine the texture of my skin massively. I actually have soft skin!

So now the next part is going to make me sound like a whiney brat. My skin is still left with marks. Not so much acne scars, more like purpley red marks where spots have been. Although with foundation my skin looks smooth and clear, without any make up I still look rank. This isn't good enough. In the world of beauty speak I believe I have pigmentation. I once used the Clinique Even Better Serum which helped out with this issue. But at £39 a pop I was hoping to find the high street equivalent. Enter Garnier Dark Spot Corrector. Now I am in no way equipped enough to give a review on this product and I believe this to be new. It has all the claims you would hope from a mark reducing formula and I will be slapping this one day and night in the hope for more perfected skin.

So with all the above said I wanted to leave you on one final word. As much as we rely on these wonderful lotions and potions and they really are great. Sometimes we need something more. I didn't want to blog in a months time with clear happy skin under the guise of a miracle based on skincare. I wanted you to know it wasn't enough and that in the end my help came from a professional.

So here's to starting a new skin chapter. Let me know if you have tried any dark spot correctors and what you have thought of them.

Big love xxx

January favourites

Happy damn February (almost) everyone!

Well that was January, how was it for you? This month I've enjoyed my baby turning 6 months and finally discovering clear skin..... Am I boring you with that yet?

So as the title says, I'm here to showcase the superb in my run down of monthly favourites lets start with hair...

To be honest I haven't been doing much other then washing and letting it air dry but I have been concentrating on my ends. In my humble opinion I've done well to get it so long but the longer the hair the older and more damaged it is. I have been using Charles Worthington, Salon Secrets, moisture seal balm. Which basically looks like a tub of Vaseline. You take a small scoop out, warm it up between your hands and it turns to oil which you leave on your hair as a treatment. This stuff is quite a pleasure to use and although it hasn't cured all my split ends it has dealt with the majority. This stuff retails for £16.99 in boot but I managed to pick this up on offer for £11.

My favourite nail polish this month has been Nails Inc Richmond Terrace. I got this in a Christmas set from House of Fraser. The set has 15 colours and this was my immediate favourite. I will never stop loving these Rouge Noir rip offs.

In the last few weeks of clear skin I have been loving Proactive renewal face wash. This is an exfoliating cleanser and although it didn't clear my spots it does leave my skin more softer and smoother. I also found that using Clinique Overnight Turnaround cream gave my skin a really nice plump bright appearance come morning. This is only a tester size and I have to be careful not to use it every night otherwise I become oily.

There are only a few things I have been loving make up wise this month....

Make up For Ever HD Foundation. My colour is N125. I truly didn't appreciate this foundation when I had bad skin as I was using too much. I find that one pump blended thoroughly gives me a healthy luminous finish with good coverage. Well worth the hype. Benefit they're real mascara is next on the list. Bought by my beloved. This mascara gives nice length and definition but it doesn't budge which is important to me. Lastly on the make up front is Stila lipgloss. I was bought a set of these, again by my lovely boyfriend. What a cutie he is!!! You won't like these if you hate sticky glosses. If you can put up with that then they offer long lasting pigmented shine. Just don't wear your hair down.

Perfume of the month is Florence by Tocca. I first smelt this in Vegas. I then spied it going cheap on Space NKs website. I really enjoy wearing this and will. Definitely re purchase when it runs out.

Lastly, body care favourites are just two items. Soap and Glory Sugar scrub. Smells amazing and leaves my skin feeling super super soft. I'm certainly stocking up on this. Palmers Cocoa butter is a must for dry winter skin. I have been using this all over and then enjoying the bemused look on my boyfriends face as he tries to work out where the chocolate smell is coming from.

I feel a bit bad but I have to mention this item. Although you won't be able to purchase this it has been such a big part of my beauty regime this month and that's my antibiotics! I feel like I'm out of a hole and like I have turned a corner. So yay finally.

Pro-activ skincare challenge!

Skin update!!! It has calmed down but I still have spots, with the amount of effort I put into my skin this just isn't good enough. Searching around Boots looking for something to help I came across the pro-activ kit.

For £30 I was able to purchase a 60 day kit including cleanser, Toner and a treatment moisturiser.

Here is what Proactiv say : Proactiv® Solution is a combination system - it combines ingredients in a system that works together to manage breakouts. Proactiv® Solution combines Salicylic Acid, Sulphur and our special formulation to get to the source of the problem. These ingredients gently exfoliate your skin and unplug your pores.

All sounds very scientific and boring, the thing that has always intrigued me is the celebrity endorsements, Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson and some bird from Made In Chelsea. So I have decided to set myself a challenge. From the 1st of January until and including the 1st of March I will be using only this! To give this the best chance of working I have also thrown in some other rules.

1) absolutely no picking. I'm a prolific picker and I'm sure it really doesn't help or more probably it makes it even worse.

2) up my water intake. I don't drink enough surely it can't hurt my chances.

3) reduce my alcohol intake. By no means am I a wine a night person but I really want to give myself the best chances.

So on the 1st of March I will be posting before and after pictures to see if this stuff works for me. Does anyone have spot treatments they rely on? Or have you tried the Proactiv range? Let me know. Xx

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable

Happy Christmas Eve eve!

Hope you're all having a great festive time. Only two more sleeps until the big fat man with the long white beard comes down your chimney!

I thought I would write a quick post on something I picked up on Friday.

As the title says its the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. I bought the colour crush which is a more wearable wine stain and I really love this.

First of all, although this is a stain the colour pay off is brilliant. Like I said its very wearable however you can add another coat to amp it up a bit. It sits really well on the lip, very smooth and not drying at all, also due to it being a stain it doesn't smudge, bonus. It does have a minty smell which I quite like although it doesn't hang around for long. The best part of the product is that it actually lasts. I took my makeup off on Friday night but when I woke up you could still see the colour on my lips. This product for £6.99 is brilliant. It didn't let me down in anyway at all and I most certainly want to get some more colours.

So that's all from me for now. I hope you have a magical Christmas

Leona x

Project 10 Pan/10 Bottle

Back in the day when BuyNowBlogLater was called Lollipop26 and filmed Youtube videos there was a tag circulating the beauty community called Project 10 pan. It was  a way of holding your hands up and saying Yes I am a massive consumer of all things beauty and I would like to make a dent in my collection before purchasing anything else. Call it beauty lent if you will.

The idea was basically to pick 10 items that you were going to finish before purchasing anymore non essentials. I loved these types of videos and blogs. I hate waste so much and there is something so satisfying about finishing a product whether or not you enjoyed it.

I have attempted many a time this beauty lent idea and it has felt good.

Another Idea for me doing this is because I've been ever such a good girl this year and Santa knows I love beauty, hopefully he will gift me something new and exciting.. ( That sounded less pervy in my head).

OK so onto the items I plan on using up..

1) Redken Anti snap
Reason: I would benefit from using this regularly so it makes sense to include this as i might then use it everyday

2) TRESemme Thermal Creations heat protector
Reason: Same as above really. I need to use this more often then I am so I am hoping this will spur me on.

3) MURAD skin perfecting lotion
Reason: Last of a bad kit. Its ok not great and I really just want this out of my sight.

4)MURAD Acne spot treatment.
Reason: Not all that either, I only have a little bit left. May aswell get rid!

5)The Body Shop Ginger Sparkle hand cream
Reason: Last dregs and I have a brand new soap and glory one to use.

6)O.P.I Lincoln Park at Midnight
Reason: O.P.I nail vanishes dont seem to have a very long shelf life and rather then this dry out I may aswell get a few more go's on this premium polish.

7)Rimmle Wake me up Foundation
Reason: a really nice foundation, However it gets overlooked by MakeupForever HD and Chanel Perfection and Aqua Lumiere.

8) Collection2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer
Reason: This stuff gets cloggy really quicky. Better use it before it gets crap!

9)Revlon Matte blush in Perfectly Peach
Reason: This is another Product that I never reach for. Its been in my kit for ages and it needs using up.
nows a better time then ever

and lastly

10) StriVectin -SD Stretchmark cream.
Reason: It has had no effect on me so far so I'm going in hard in the hope that I see some improvement.

I'll update by the end of January In the hope that all my products have been used up!

Empties part 1

Hello

I've seen YouTube videos and other blogs where beauty girls rattle of what they've used up and give a really quick review.

I'm never one to miss a bandwagon so let me jump straight onto this one!!

Over the last month I have used up a few products. This doesn't mean that I have raced through products, simply that they were coming to an end all at the same-ish time.

First of all.... Liz Earle, Cleanse and polish.
This was a birthday present from my very good friend who adores the brand. I have bought this myself a few times (I did say I loved a bandwagon) however I really don't rate this product. It could be a coincidence but each time I have used this my skin flares up terrible. Sad face :-(
I'm pleased this has been all used up!

Nars cleansing water...
This was from my better half, he knows I love all things beauty so he picked me up a few bits whilst in the states. This was ok. It didn't do anything bad but it wasn't a wow product or something I MUST get again. It's also fairly pricy for essentially a water!

Clean and Clear exfoliating face wash... First time using this basic wash. It did what it said. I was left with clean soft skin and it almost felt like it also cleared up my skin somewhat. A really good inexpensive basic and I would certainly get this again.

Sephora by O.P.I
I picked this up whilst in Vegas. It was a really quick no brainer. I needed a solvent to get my polish off and this was the cheapest in Sephora. I don't think this will be a massive repurchase for me as it will take me flying 10 hrs to get it. However this was about as nice as a polish remover could be. Smelt better then the Sally Hansen remover I usually use and left my nails a bit more stronger and smoother. All in all a nice product

O.P.I polish in Rainbow connection
This glitter polish is nice and looks good but it dried out so so quickly and for £13.00 I don't really find that acceptable when you can buy £3.00 glitter polishes from other brands that last longer and feel a better quality. Won't be getting this again

Lastly... Neutrogena spot stress cleansing lotion. Love this!! It's my fifth bottle. It does dry your skin out but if your skin is a bundle of spotty crap like mine this provides a bit of relief. I will be getting this again... As soon as possible if I can help it.

So that's me done for another post.
Hope you enjoyed it people xx

TOM FORD, Bruised Plum lipstick

Whilst in Vegas I picked up A Tom Ford lipstick in Bruised Plum. My main reason for purchasing this is because it is normally £45 in this country and over there it was selling for $33.75 (£21.00 ish)

I knew I had to get this lipstick...

I poured over the choice of about 5 or 6 shades and decided on this brown plum colour. They had nudes and Pinks, Which I already have in my collection and I didn't want a rouge noir (reddy black) so instead I picked up this brown hued red.

First Impressions... The packaging is half the reason why this lipstick is so wonderful and who wouldn't love the TF indented into the top of the bullet. But as we are constantly reminded 'It's not the packaging, its the product inside'.

The lipstick carries the same smell as MAC and when applying the lipstick it feels creamy and soft.

The finish is satin like and I don't think It will last that well on me. Although on initial application the colour is vivid and intense, It does look nice once blotted and more buffed in and is certainly more wearable.

I really do like this lipstick. If truth be known I'm a little depressed that I won't be picking up any of the other colours any time soon.

Now I have a sad face as it won't be long until the TF has gone   :(