Skincare secrets with Farfetch Beauty

Gone are the days when I could sleep with the remnants of the day's makeup on and not suffer the consequences. As a teacher with busy school days, and even busier weekends, I find my morning and evening skincare routine to be a bit of light relief.

I'm just about to reach the end of one of the busiest terms - we waved off year 11 four days ago,  only now seeing them when they come in for their GCSE exams. The last month has consisted of early mornings and late nights, when marking 180 mock exams has had to be a priority and deadlines for grades and reports have been looming, taking up the work day and the evenings.
Due to this I've been trying to schedule in time to keep myself sane; in the mornings it's with my makeup and in the evenings it's been with my skincare regime.

My mornings usually consist of a quick rendezvous with my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, a hearty swipe of my Pixi Glow Tonic which is chased by Lush's Enzymion moisturiser. Somewhere in there I make a cup of tea (usually managing to drink half before forgetting about it...) and maybe have a little dance around to my morning playlist.

After a day of teaching, talking, laughing (or maybe crying, depending on the day...) and marking I'll be ready to wash off the day. If it's been busy I'll hop in the shower and grab my Clarisonic face brush with my Bioderma cleansing gel. Together, these remove makeup and thoroughly cleanse the skin leaving my face feeling smooth.

Once I'm out, there's an opportunity for hair oil or leave-in conditioner which at the moment is either Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle or Phillip Kingsley's Damage Defence spray. I brush these through with my Wet Brush and then move back on to my skincare products.

Then, I go back over my whole face with my Pixi Glow Tonic and Enzymion. To avoid puffiness and keep the delicate under eye skin hydrated I rely on my Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment and pat that gently underneath my eye and a little round the sides to the edge of my brow bone.

After that there's just enough time for a swipe of my Nivea lip butter and that's when I'm done!

It does seem like a lot of products just for one person, but they all work together to keep my skin in good condition. I find having some confidence in the way my skin looks helps my body confidence remain at a relatively good level, even if I'm completely wiped out after a day at work!

Do you have any skin secrets to share that might help me remain sane in these last few weeks? If you need inspiration too have a browse of the Farfetch Beauty section.

Comment or tweet me!

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This post was published as a promotional piece with Farfetch.com 

A Lush Skincare Haul

I'm having some serious skincare woes at the moment. I've got a bit redness and some very frustrating under-the-skin spots, as well as some uninvited blackheads...ain't I a TREAT!?

So, I ventured into Lush and talked to a lovely lady who pointed me in the direction of these three products: Ultrabland for cleansing; Herbalism for exfoliating and Enzymion for moisturising.

Enzymion (top) is a lovely, thick moisturising cream that sinks in relatively quickly and makes a lovely base for make-up. A little goes a long way with this and I have to remind myself not to be too liberal. £14.95/100g here

Herbalism (bottom left) is quite crumbly initially, but when mixed with some water it forms a thick paste. I like to use a fair bit of this and rub in circular motions on my cheeks, forehead and chin. It's not particularly abrasive, which I quite like as I never feel like I've overdone it, but if you prefer a slightly harsher scrub this may not be for you. £6.95/100g here

Finally, Ultrabland is a thick cleanser that you apply all over the face. I'm careful around my eyes, but it doesn't irritate them at all. This removes make-up well, and is also nice to use to clean the face even if there's no make-up there. I use mine with a muslin cloth, but you can also remove it with a cotton pad. £11.50/100g here

Overall, I've really enjoyed using these products. I think Enzymion is my favourite as it is so fuss free ...there's no waiting for it to sink in and I'm never left feeling greasy. When I get through my pot of Herbalism I might experiment with another exfoliator, mainly for the pesky blackheads on my chin and around my nose.

Have you got any of these? Let me know your thoughts :)

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There is no guarantee that these products will work the same for others, I am writing from personal experience.

Vanishing Cream Moisturiser by Lush

A low-fat lavender moisturiser that disappears into the skin 

leaving nothing behind except beautiful soft skin. 

Wonderful on oily skin or on T-zones. 

I bought this in Lush in Swindon earlier this week after needing a creamier formula for my night-time skin routine. I adore my Dermalogica moisturiser that I reviewed here (click!) for daily wear and for warmer, summer days but after using an exfoliator or muslin cloth on my skin in the evenings I've needed something to restore the moisture that was removed by my cleansing products.

This moisturiser does what it says on the lid - it's beautifully fragranced with lavender which is really relaxing, especially before bed. It soothes and rehydrates my skin and doesn't leave a heavy layer that takes a while to sink it, although if I've used a little too much at any point I've noticed a slight tackiness can occur. It doesn't last long though and doesn't affect the application of make-up either - I'm a firm believer in giving your skin time to adjust between applying products so this isn't a problem for me but if you're more of a "slap-it-on-and-go" kinda gal then this might not be ideal for you. However, counter arguing myself here - Lush also have their Emotional Brilliance range which includes a face powder to be mixed with your favourite moisturiser to create a tinted moisturiser; I think this moisturiser would be perfect to pair with it as it would probably bind well and stay on the skin from the minute it's applied so that could be a solution to that problem!

I prefer this moisturiser as a night time product or for days when I'm either not putting make-up on or when I know I won't be putting make-up on for a while. I like to let it fully absorb before I slather on my foundation or primer to avoid any nasty build up. Clogged pores are not cute! the best thing about it being suited to oily skin is that it's not horribly thick. It has a yogurt like consistency which I find ideal.

This isn't a cheap moisturiser but it isn't especially expensive - it's £17.50 / 45g and comes in the pot as shown in the photos above. It doesn't come in another form of dispenser which is a shame - I'd quite like a pump for this but alas, no such luck. 

Lush bits and pieces...

It's been over a month since my last entry on here where I promised I'd be back blah blah blah. Clearly I lied but I am back now! I've been doing plenty of shopping and other exciting things so I've got some entries lined up here. First of the lot is my new Lush products - Love Lettuce and Therapy.

Love Lettuce is a face mask containing almond oil, lavender oil, Fullers Earth and almond shells. They all work together to sooth, tighten and exfoliate the skin and leave you, me and everybody else with smooth, fresh feeling skin. I use this once or twice weekly leaving for 15 minutes and follow it with my Liz Earle moisturiser. 

Therapy is a body butter but it's solid rather than a cream - a massage bar. I really like this because once you apply a little heat or friction to it it rubs off onto the skin beautifully. It smells absolutely amazing, I think there's some lemon in there somewhere which is one of my favourite scents! It does take a little while to sink in but I'm the kind of girl who sits on her bed in her pants applying this on a Sunday night so I have plenty of drying time! I'm not sure what's in here as the label doesn't say but you can be sure it's all natural and cruelty free due to Lush's policies.

I wish I'd paid attention to how much I paid for these but I'm sure I paid less than £10 for both which is an absolute steal! I'll be going back to Lush to get another massage bar and I might try their jelly like soaps to prepare for summer ready skin.

If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them, I'm not a fan of bath bombs but any skincare or haircare is right up my street.

Love,