Skincare Review | Dermalogica Winter Care Kit

Late November, I was very kindly sent a winter care package from Dermalogica to help me take care of my skin in the harsh winter months! I’ve been testing these for a while now so here are my thoughts! 

Precleanse Balm RRP £15*

This is a really luxurious balm to oil cleanser that smells like the Precleanse oil. I wrongly said that the oil stung my eyes in my last Dermalogica blog post but I definitely got that mixed up with this! That is a dealbreaker for me so while this does a good job removing my makeup, the fact is stings my eyes means I wouldn’t repurchase it! 

Intensive Moisture Cleaner full size RRP £35*

A cream cleanser that certainly feels moisturising like the name would suggest. This leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean and not dried out but cream cleansers are not my favourite texture and I much prefer the special cleansing gel over this!

Redness Relief Essence RRP £38*

Thicker than other essences I’ve used, this reminds me a lot of a toner. It feels cooling, refreshing and calms my skin. I love that it’s got aloe leaf juice! I get some redness around my nose and chin and this works well to soothe it while keeping my skin hydrated. I like using this after my toner and before other serums and moisturiser and it’s been a great addition to my skincare routine! 

Barrier Defence Booster RRP £67*

This is an oil but has a thinner consistency than the other oils in my collection. As it’s a booster, I like to use this as instructed before moisturiser and heavier oils to really let it sink in and nourish my skin. It contains squalene oil to lock in moisture and oat oil to soothe and combat sensitivity. My skin really loves getting the extra treat in the evening! I will come in from work and take my makeup off then put this on to really give it time to sink in and just before bed I will follow with moisturiser and sometimes another oil to really lock in the benefits! Also, special mention to the packaging which I love – there is a little soft spot on the bottom you press to release the oil!

Intensive Moisture Balance RRP £16*

This is a very rich moisturiser specifically for dry skin formulated to lock in hydration and minimise fine lines. Though it feels quite thick, it sinks in quickly leaving my skin feeling moisturised all day and it also acts as a great base under makeup. This is one of my favourites from the products I was sent! 

Rapid Reveal Peel full treatment £79*

This is a lovely exfoliant treatment that I used once a week for three weeks. I found it quite gentle but it is professional grade so got good results from it! The tingling was minimal and after 7 minutes on the skin I rinsed off with cold water to reveal brighter, more glowy smooth skin! 

Nightly Lip Treatment RRP £47.50*

This is the product I have been most surprised about. When I first saw the creamy consistency I did not think this would be hydrating overnight for me but I was wrong! The metal applicator feels cooling but I do find I end up using my finger to spread evenly and get any product that hasn’t come off. It feels lightweight but still hydrating and to be honest when I wake up in the morning I look like I have had some very good, very subtle lip work done. My lips are plumper and the skin around them is smoother with fine lines reduced. I am loving this and I think it would be especially perfect if you have an event like a wedding coming up! 

Overall, I have been super impressed with what Dermalogica have to offer. The Intensive Moisture Balance, Nightly Lip Treatment, Barrier Defence Booster and Redness Relief Essence are the standouts for me! Read my last Dermalogica blog post here! 

Have you tried any of these? What’s your favourite Dermalogica product or favourite skincare product right now! 

Dermalogica can be bought directly from their website as well as many UK retailers such as Look Fantastic, John Lewis and Feel Unique and all products mentioned are cruelty free, vegan, paraben free, gluten free and free from artificial fragrances and colours! 

 *denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own. See my full disclosure here. 

Danielle xx

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Forever Repurchased #5

Since coming home from Canada, I have been adding some of my favourites back into my routine as I was working on finishing up a lot of products before I left! It is so good to have some firm favourites back in my routine so here are my forever repurchased take 5! 

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder 

I have lost count of how many of these I have gone through now after first buying two years ago when I was in Canada. I first dabbled with the pressed version quite a while back but this loose version is 10x better! It mattifies my skin without drying it out, adds subtle extra coverage and a pot lasts ages! Well worth its price tag but I managed to snag this one at 20% off on Feel Unique so always worth shopping around! 

NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum 2:1

Another slightly new formulation to me, I loved the original version of this and the update is just as good! This serum is such an all-rounder, my skin is always clearer and more even when I use it consistently! It’s also good for aging skin and is just generally very good for the overall health of your skin!  

Trilogy 100% Natural Certified Organic Rosehip Oil

This is the product that has been out of my routine the longest and one that I am so happy to have back in it! I have dabbled with other rosehip oils but always come back to Trilogy specifically, there is literally one ingredient in rosehip oil so I’m not sure why, but I can feel a difference and this one is my favourite! My skin always feels so nourished and hydrated after every use and it’s a lot brighter and smoother in the mornings! 

Origins Drink up Intensive Overnight Hydrating Mask with Avocado and Glacier water 

One of my favourite overnight treatments, this mask is super hydrating and I always wake up to plump, moisturised skin! I use this several times a week so will definitely buy the full size next time as it’s just so good and I run out of my minis quickly. They recently updated the ingredients to include avocado and swiss glacier water and I was worried the new formulation would be different but I’m happy to say it’s still working just as well for me! 

Skin Laundry Renewing Eye Cream 

Another firm favourite in my routine although one that’s getting harder to find! This is very moisturising and brightens my under eye giving a great base for makeup! I used to get it from Cult Beauty but they have stopped stocking them so I hope they are not leaving the UK! 

I actually have a few other products I recently repurchased but didn’t want this post to be a massive essay, maybe I will do another one soon! If you’d like to see the previous posts in this series, please see below! What is one product you can’t do without? 

See #1, #2, #3 and #4 in this series! 

Danielle xx

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Rediscovering Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula

I think at some point or another everyone has had a bottle or a tub of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula in some form in their collection. I know I certainly have so when I was recently contacted to see if I wanted to try a few products I couldn’t wait to rediscover the brand!

One of Palmer’s most well-known products to me is their Natural Bronze Instant Self Tanner* RRP £8.99. I went through a few bottles of the gradual version back in the day when I first got into fake tanning but then moved onto darker lotions so I was excited to see how this compared. First off, the scent of all Palmer’s products is instantly recognisable to me and so nostalgic for all the right reasons!

The first thing I noticed about the self-tanner when I pumped it out was that it has a tint to it which is always helpful! I pop some on a mitt and rub into my skin and then leave overnight – I don’t fully understand why this is called instant because I would expect something darker if it was but overnight this develops into the most beautiful natural looking tan! I personally prefer a darker tan so I will use this two nights in a row and the colour I am left with is perfect for me! It’s a medium tan that’s beautifully even and streak free and lasts all week! As it’s so moisturising it doesn’t dry out my skin at all and it doesn’t look patchy or mottled towards the end of its wear. I’m so impressed with this and it’s all I’ve been wearing since I got it! If you want a moisturising, long-lasting, easily buildable natural tan then you need this in your life! 

I’ve included a few unedited photos of my arm without tan, with one overnight layer and finally with two overnight layers in case you want an idea of the shade it can be built up to!  

Next up is the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil* RRP £9.99 which I have seen crop up on Shireen’s blog a few times now so my interest had already been piqued! This promises to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, dark spots, uneven skin tone and ageing skin with my main concerns being fine lines, pigmentation and uneven skin. The oil contains a blend of ten oils (sweet almond, sesame, coconut, macadamia nut, apricot, grapeseed, argan, rosehip, camelina and sunflower oils) to moisturise and smooth the skin, Retinol and Vitamin C to help improve and brighten skin tone and texture and Cocoa Butter so soften and even skin tone. It has a rosehip fragrance and if you’ve read my blog any length of time you’ll know I absolutely love Rosehip oil so I had very high hopes for this and I have not been left disappointed!

Although it’s an oil, it feels lightweight and absorbs quickly into my skin and I love it as the last step in my nightly routine as it’s so moisturising. In the morning my skin feels softer, smoother and my fine lines on my forehead aren’t as pronounced – yay! My skin looks plumper and feels firmer and I’ve noticed my last batch of hormonal acne and residual marks along my jawline healing and fading a lot more quickly with the use of this oil so I will definitely be keeping an eye on that over the next few months!

As there is retinol in this oil it’s recommended to always wear SPF as skin may be more sensitive so bear that in mind and the oil is also hypoalleragenic, non-comedogenic, paraben free, and dermatologist tested. The only negative I can think to say about this is that I find the bottle a little messy and I have it sitting on a piece of tissue paper as no matter how careful I am with it oil somehow always manages to drip down the bottle or get on the tip of the dropper! A small price to pay though for such a wonderful product and I’ve spent £30+ on facial oils before and not seen results with much longer use!

Lastly, I have the Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Eventone Suncare SPF 30* RRP £9.99 and unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to fully test this just yet as I haven’t had the weather! Needless to say, this will be a staple for me over the summer when I finally get something booked but first impressions of the product itself are good. It’s a sheer spray with no white cast and as with all Palmer’s products it feels super moisturising. The spray comes out as a really fine mist that covers a large area of skin at a time – why have I never used one like this before? Standard sprays take ages and always seem to clog up as they get to the end but I can’t see that happening with this!

It’s formulated to leave a glowing radiant finish on the skin and I can imagine in the sun this will glisten beautifully! It transfers a little but this isn’t something I would mind if I was lying out in the sun! It does smell quite chemically when you first spray though when it settles in is isn’t strong As part of the Eventone range it’s made to prevent the formation of dark spots, uneven skin tone and premature ageing which is exactly what I look for. It’s also waterproof and it’s recommended that you apply 15 minutes before sun exposure and to reapply at least every two hours. As well as SPF 30, it also comes in SPF 50 and talking about it is making me want to go on holiday right now!

So, that’s my rediscovery of Palmer’s and boy am I impressed! As well as these products I’ve just finished their moisturising body oil which had been lost since we got the bathroom done so that will be in my empties next week!

Palmer’s is available from Boots, Superdrug, Feel Unique and most major retailers!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own. See my full disclosure here.

Danielle xx

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Best Beauty Box Finds #1

Beauty boxes are probably my favourite way of trying out new products without having to commit to a full size or spend a lot of money on a product I don’t know will like. My favourite boxes are the kind that show you exactly what you are getting so although there are a few subscription boxes here, I don’t subscribe every month to a beauty box. I go for ones that show you what you are getting or at least give a spoiler of one of the products!

Origins Original Skin Retexturising Mask with Rose Clay from the Latest in Beauty Mix and Mask British Beauty Blogger Collaboration

When I got the email about this collaboration in July I hit buy then and there! I love the Origins masks I already have so was excited to try more and I have become obsessed with this one in particular! It’s a pink clay formulation with jojoba beads that dries in quickly and when I rinse it off I am left with much smoother, clearer looking skin! I have problems with texture on my skin anyway as it is scarred from acne when I was younger and though my skin is mainly oily I get dry patches too so this is the most perfect all-rounder and one I will definitely be repurchasing a full size of!

Vita Liberata Trystal Self-Tanning Bronzing Minerals from the Latest in Beauty Glamour Summer Edit 2015

This bronzer and kabuki brush were included is last year’s summer edit with Glamour magazine and despite the bronzer being one of the messiest makeup products I own because it’s a loose powder, it gives a gorgeous warmth to my face when I use it! The tan is meant to last for up to five days which I can’t say I agree with but I do use some form of chemical exfoliant on my face every day so maybe that’s why? The sample size has lasted me ages but although I really like the shade of this and am happy I got the chance to try it because of a beauty box, I wouldn’t repurchase it as it is so messy and the full size is £35.

MOA Aphrodite Oil from the Blogger Beauty Box

I was so happy to see this included the first time I bought the Blogger Beauty Box as I absolutely love my MOA The Green Balm, rosehip oil and it’s a full size product! I love applying this at night before I go to bed and my skin always feels so hydrated and nourished and always looks better the next morning! This is just as good as the Trilogy and Pai rosehip oils and perfect for those with acne scarring too! The Blogger Beauty Box is run by blogger Vix Meldrew and is only £10 a month!

The Balm Put a Lid On It eyelid primer from the Cohorted March 2016 Beauty Box

When I saw The Balm Nude Tude palette was the spoiler for the March box I subscribed to the Cohorted box (then unsubscribed before I forgot and got charged for the next month’s box) as I had seen it included the year before and was gutted to miss it! Now I’m the first to admit I have a lot of eyeshadow palettes and because of this and my love for mattes, the Nude Tude palette doesn’t get as much love as it should from me. The matching primer however gets used every other day on rotation with the NARS Smudgeproof primer and works great at mattifying my eyelids and making my eyeshadow last longer! The tube looks small but this will last forever because you only need a tiny bit for each eyelid!

Aurelia Miracle Cleanser from the Latest in Beauty Glamour Summer Edit 2016

Another pick from Latest in Beauty - can you tell they do my favourite boxes! I've had a few of these mini Aurelia cleansers now and they are always a selling point for me when I see them in beauty boxes! It’s a cream cleanser with eucalyptus, chamomile, bergamot and rosemary and very similar to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. I apply to dry skin and buff it off with a muslin cloth and it does a brilliant job of removing my makeup and leaving my skin feeling refreshed and super soft. The mini is perfect for taking a bit of luxury with you on holiday too! The full size is quite expensive so I can’t justify buying it as I do have quite a lot of cleansers to get through but it would be such a gorgeous treat for someone!

So that is part one of my favourite beauty box finds! I buy beauty boxes quite regularly so I can imagine this might become a new series for me! I've linked the products on their own as the beauty boxes I've mentioned are sold out now but I’ve also linked the websites so you can see what’s included in their latest beauty box if they have one!

Do you like beauty boxes? What’s been your favourite product you’ve received in one?

Danielle xx

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