Clinique Anti-blemish Review

In celebration of skincare and makeup brand Clinique’s launch of their Anti-blemish clearing gel, I thought I would review two of their anti blemish products which I use on a regular basis. I feel that Clinique’s Anti-blemish range really hasn’t been talked about enough, which is a shame as the whole range is in my view amazing and literally changed my life.

Through my teenage years I had acne prone skin, it really knocked my confidence and I hated the way I looked. By the time I was 16 I trialled every skincare acne related product that I can think of which claimed to clear prevent blemishes, some of these products did help, one of which I still use to this day but most aggravated my skin and sometimes made my blemishes worse or caused breakouts. It got to the point where, I was so fed up with the appearance and condition of my skin I discussed taking an acne drug called Roaccutane (a controversial acne drug with unpredictable side effects) with my doctor. My mum and I felt that this really wasn’t the right route to go down considering its side effects.

A little while later my mum, who has used Clinique products since she was 18, suggested I visited the Clinique counter. I was introduced to their Anti-blemish range and came away with a trial pack of the Anti- blemish 3 Step. After a week of using the 3-step plan I noticed a massive difference in my skins appearance and my skin started to clear. I remember being so happy that I was finally using products that worked which stopped me worrying so much about my skin.

Since then I’ve been washing my face every morning and night with the Anti-blemish Solution Cleansing foam, this product also comes in a bar of soap which is really handy if you are prone to spots on your body. The cleansing foam leaves my skin feeling smooth and clean, most importantly it helps to clear up any breakouts and prevent any new blemishes. I really can’t fault it; it works so well I’m almost scared to use anything else. After toning and occasionally using the Anti-blemish clarifying lotion, if I’m having a breakout, I then use the Anti-blemish solutions all over clearing treatment. This product helps to clear up any blemishes I may have and prevent them throughout the day, I also find it helps to keep any oiliness around my t-zone at bay. I then apply a moisturiser after using this product to prevent the clearing treatment drying out my skin, as it is not a moisturiser.

I regularly upgrade my skin routine introducing different moisturisers and toners depending on what my skin is doing but these two products have and always will be as long as I have blemish prone skin, permanent products in my skincare routine and I can’t recommend them enough. I’m also really looking forward to trying their new clinical clearing gel to get rid of any odd blemishes.

Laura Jade x

Online Shopping

I don’t often order clothes online because for me half the fun of buying clothes is the whole in store shopping experience; but over the last few months I’ve found myself making a few online purchases ready for spring. I’m pretty nosey and love seeing what clothes people purchase so I thought I would collect all the clothes I’ve purchased online recently into one big haul to show you.

Boohoo.com

I always have a bit of browse on Boohoo if I want new clothes but don’t want to spend a fortune. Just after Christmas I visited the website to try and find a tartan scarf, id seen a few on Urban Outfitters and Topshop but they sold out really quickly so I headed to boohoo.com and found one for a fraction of the price I would have spent in Urban Outfitters or Topshop. I also purchased a pair of acid wash stretchy jeans, which I wrote a post previously about here

Forever 21.com

For those of you that have yet to discover Forever 21 you are completely missing out. I’ve shopped at Forever 21 a few times before, both in store at Westfield’s Stafford and online. Every time, I end up filling my basket to the brim and walking out with half the shop, this time I was a bit more sensible and only brought a few items. The first item I put in my basket was a tribal patterned shirt, I really liked the print and shape of it and it can be worn with jeans or leggings and tucked into a pair of shorts in summer. I then had a look at the skirts as I really wanted a skater skirt that I could wear all year round with tights or bare legs, I don’t own many skirts as I’m more of a jeans and leggings kind of girl but I’m trying to be more adventurous with my wardrobe so I thought that this floral black skater skirt was a good start. I also picked up an oversized long sleeved pink jersey top that I can wear with leggings when I’m having a cosy day or with shorts in summer. The last item I purchased is a slouchy knit open cardigan (pictured above). It’s really comfy and is great for throwing on over a top when I’m cold. It also goes really well with the shirt I purchased.

MissSelfridge

I usually shop in store at Miss Selfridge, as I’m never sure which size I need depending on the cut of the top, I’d previously however visited a Miss Selfridge store and tried on a striped long sleeve crop top, I’m 5ft 5 so the hem sits just above my belly button. I later ordered the top online instead, along with this silver chunky chain necklace, in hopes to buy something else that they didn’t have in my size in store. It Turned out they didn’t have my size for that product online after all but I still ended up ordering the top and statement necklace, as I’d wanted this top for ages and I thought it would look really good with high waisted shorts or leggings.

Zara

So I didn’t actually buy these items online but I had seen them on the website, so it kind of counts. At some point in the future, hopefully not to distant, I’m going to be interning/working at a fashion company of some sort so I wanted a few shirts either for interviews or just to wear while I’m working there and thought that they would work well for a casual sophisticated look. I also purchased this pair of thick black leggings which are high waisted and have a wide elastic band on the hips. I was actually asking the sales assistant, who was putting out stock next to me, if they had my size in another pair and she recommend this pair instead, as the elastic band at the top doesn’t go all the way round so wouldn’t cut into my stomach. I’m really glad I went in store to get these as I wouldn’t have received such excellent service online, which certainly helped when I wore these out for dinner as they gave my stomach space to breathe.

Missguided.co.uk

My most recent purchase was a pair of ankle boots from miss guided. I’d been Thinking about buying a new pair of black Chelsea boots for a while and saw these while having a browse of miss guided. They have cut out sections at the sides which give them a look of the Chelsea boot and have gold buckle fastenings and a gold fabric plate look cap on the heel which I think makes them look fun and girly.

And that is all the new additions I’ve made to my spring wardrobe lately, I hope that has inspired you with your wardrobe. Let me know what you’ve been buying lately.

Laura Jade x

More Make-up Please!

L-R  Highbrow glow luminous brow lifting pencil £15 - Benefit
Lip Bullet 'There she goes' £8 - Topshop
Bronzing Powder 'Golden' £20
Eyeshadow 'Naked lunch' and 'charcoal brown' £10 each - Mac cosmetics
Real techniques 'Core collection' brush set £21.99 - Boots

I’ve been partaking in a lot of retail therapy recently and just over a week ago I shared with you all of the lovely bath goodies I’d purchased from lush on a recent shopping trip with my mum. This week I’m going to show you the second part of my shopping haul.

My sister Livvyandallthingsbeauty is a bit of a expert on anything beauty related and make up is a pretty hot topic in my house, it is because of this that make up is my new obsession, so as you can imagine I couldn’t visit my local shopping centre without purchasing a few beauty items to add to my make up bag.

I’ve been paying more attention to the shape of my brows lately even going to the extent of banning myself from plucking, when I was younger I over plucked them so they are thin and bit sparse. I fill them in with mac eye shadow omega but I wanted a highlighter pencil to accentuate the arch of my brows. Benefit is pretty much known for their amazing eyebrow products, so my first thought was to visit the Benefit counter in John Lewis. I ended up purchasing the ‘highbrow glow luminous brow lifting pencil’. The pencil is a highlighter so it can also double as a highlighter to contour check bones.

While shopping in Topshop I had a little look at their make up range, I’ve heard so many good things about their beauty products which I think is a little surprising for a fashion brand, I expected them to be tacky and in general just horrible products to use but I ended up falling for their beautiful packaging (side note I have a slight obsession for packaging) and all of the colours looked beautiful so I picked up a lip bullet in the shade ‘There she goes’.

I mentioned in a previous post that last year my local John Lewis department store got a Mac cosmetics counter, its less of a counter more of a large corner of the beauty department, since I’ve been obsessed with everything Mac, they have so many beautiful products in so many amazing colours. I decided to start adding  eyes shadows to my Mac palette so I brought two in the shades ‘charcoal brown’ and ‘naked lunch’. I also purchased their ‘bronzing powder in Golden’, to use for contouring.

We also visited Boots; this branch had a Smashbox counter so I had a little look at their primer as I’ve heard a lot about it and was a bit curious. I hadn’t really intended on buying a new primer as I still have a lot of my Bodyshop one left and a few hours after I’ve applied my makeup my T-zone gets a bit oily so sometimes I find that my primer makes my oiliness worse so I tend not to use it. However a really helpful Smashbox assistant approached me as I was looking at them; after I explained my oil problems she showed me their light oil-free primer. It has a lotion like texture so feels completely different from a normal primer. I purchased it in a smaller 12ml tube as I thought that the bigger tubes where a little expensive for something that I wasn’t sure I would get on with. I’ll let you know how I get on with it.

Lastly whilst in boots I also brought the real techniques core collection brushes. The brush set has a detailer brush, pointed foundation brush, buffing brush and contour brush. I’d been looking at the brush set for a while but kept putting it off as I’ve brought a lot of brushes in the past few months but I really wanted to try the buffing brush and wanted the contour brush to use with my newly purchased bronzer.

LUSH HAUL

Last week I went on a shopping trip to with my mum, I hadn’t been shopping in weeks so as you can imagine I went a little crazy. While we were there we popped into Lush to get a couple of facemasks for my sisters for their birthday over the weekend. I don’t often visit a Lush store and often forget we even have one in my local, as its hidden in the corner of the high-street but while I was in there I thought I would treat myself to a few bits to pamper myself with. I love Lush products, the main reason being that everything is natural so I know I’m not putting any bad chemicals on my skin but mostly I love how I always feel spoilt walking out of the shop after purchasing my own little bit of Lush heaven, smelling all the bath goodies and getting amazing customer service making for an overall amazing shopping experience.

I could have bought almost one of everything that I picked up as everything smelt so good and I have a slight addiction with anything skincare or beauty related at the moment but I settled for three-bath ballistics; Think pink, blackberry bath bomb, and butterball, A bubble gum lip scrub and the catastrophe cosmetic facemask.

I didn’t pick up the bath ballistics’ for any special reason, they just happened to be the ones I liked the smell of the most and if my conscience hadn’t been telling me that three was enough for one trip I would have picked up more.

The bubble gum lip scrub had been a product I’d been looking at for a while now, I get very dry and chapped lips so hopefully a scrub will help repair them and if not, at least the edible sugar scrub tastes amazing! I’ve used the scrub twice since it’s purchase and it seems to be working so far. My last purchase, the Catastrophe Cosmetic mask is a product I repurchase every time I visit Lush. It’s an all round amazing fresh face mask made of blueberries, calamine and chamomile, rose, and almond oils, I have oily and blemish prone skin so its ingredients really help to soothe and calm my skin.

Let me know what your favourite Lush products are!

Laura Jade x