Hello folks, another Boots haul here for you, mainly consisting of the Boots Botanics skincare range after my surprise find of the Botanics Shine Away Gel Cream Moisturiser. I was considering plunging the depths of the
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish after it being raved about my my fave youtubers and my Simple Spotless/Witch Hazel & Tea Tree products running out, but as I'd only just bought the Botanics moisturiser, I figured I might as well get some Botanics stuff and wait till this batch of skincare runs out to get the Liz Earle products. I've included a (probably blurry) photo of the blurbs on each products in case you guys might want more info :) A lot of reviews I've read have said Botanic have changed their formulas for the facial skin care ranges, and have not been please with the changes, but overall I've used these products happily and I haven't had any major break outs from the formula, despite most of the products I'm using saying they're suitable for all skin types and not specifically for oily/combination/acne prone skin. My skin has been less red, and definitely more soft and nourished.
This is what seems to be Botanics' version of the Liz Earles Cleanse and Polish, only in balm form, whereas the Liz Earle is a creamy consistency from what I've seen in reviews and videos. I've tried this a couple of times now, and it's surprisingly nice for my oily/combination skin considering it's an oily type balm, and hasn't broken me out too much (I've had one or two teeny bumps but that may be due to me switching products). There's a pretty solid layer on the top, but once you break through that, the rest of the product is fairly soft and easy to scoop out of the tub. It's quite a grainy consistency, that melts to a light, oily balm when rubbed into your skin. Once rubbed in, and your make up has been melted away, you use hot tap water to wet the included muslin cloth and lay this on your face to open your pores, and rub the cloth on small circular motions to cleanse of the balm, gently exfoliate and get any extra make up off. You then rinse the cloth and use cold water to close your pores. This alm is actually pretty effective at cleansing off your make up, and it smells okay, in that fake herbally kind of way. I'm not too sure how it does with eye make up since I bought a separate eye make up remover, but i've rubbed it over my eyes and I've had no problem. It leaves an oily residue on your skin, which some people leave on as an overnight treatment kind of thing, but I' remove it with either the foaming wash or the cleansing milk, as I think my skin would not react well with a film of oil over it. I dont really mid having to do this though as I often double cleanse, since I always manage to miss bits of make up! This is the first balmy/muslin cloth type of cleanser I've tried so I can't really compare it to any other brands, but it's a nice cleanser that could be used as a treatment if you leave the residue on.
I must admit I'm sometimes really lazy in the morning and I sometimes use wipes, or someone else is in the bathroom and I can't get to the sink to use a proper facial wash. However, I do always double cleanse, no matter what, so I always follow wipes with a cleansing milk. I only ever use wipes in the morning though, as I like to scrub my make up off...it's quite satisfying lol. These are actually really moist for wipes, and they smell really nice too. I can't really comment on how they remove make up obviously, but they haven't broken me out and they're handy for cleaning any make up gunk off my glasses too.
This is what I like to use in the morning or if I don't feel like using the hot cloth cleansing balm. It's a really nice smelling cleanser, foams really easily and gets your make up off easily too. I like to use it with the botanics facial brush to really scrub my make up off! It doesn't leave my skin feeling tight or dry, and overall quite a pleasant product.
Having short, asian lashes means the only type of mascara I can wear is waterproof, as it's the only type that will hold up my curl. Despite that, I can only use the more drier formulas, as the wetter ones take too long to dry and my lashes just end up falling down anyways. So I need to use a separate eye make up remover, rather than relying on my face cleanser or wipes ets. I decided to buy this one, as it's one of those half oily, half water shakey uppy (LOL great terminology) type cleanser, and they seems better at breaking down eye make up than standard removers. This has been pretty good at taking off my mascara and any surrounding foundation and easily comes off when I use a normal cleanser.
This is what I like to use for the latter half of when I double cleanse, to make sure I've gotten any extra bits of residue off. It's a wipe of creamy cleanser, and does indeed leave your skin soft, however it does feel a bit more slick compared to other wipe of cleansers that I've tried.
And what cleansing routine would not be complete without toner? I was considering getting the organic rose spritzer toner, but this one's a wee bit cheaper and I'd lost track of how much I'd already put in my basket (anyone else get the fear of getting carried away and not having enough cash on them?!). This is a lovely toner, that you can feel cleansing any extra residue of the cleanser and leaves your skin clean but not dry and tight.
I'm up at Mr Lacquerised's parent's for Christmas and nail polish remover was one of those things that I didnt necessarily need to pack and could just buy when I got here. Cutex is a brand I usually go for, but I'm not actually sure why, maybe it's because they have varying types to suit your needs? Anyways, this one is a favourite of mine as it doesn't smell as chemical fueled as normal removers, but can't really put my finger on whatt scent it it...
I needed razors, but couldn't find where the girly ones were, so I settled on getting some cheap manly ones, and hoped my skin would come off in shards as I wasn't sure what to expect. But they're not that bad, sure, there's no pivotty bit for angular bits like your knees, so you need to readjust your position a wee bit, but they're not too bad, and at less than £2 for the packet, I'm pretty chuffed :)
