November Birchbox review.

Hey everyone, today I am going to review this months Birchbox I received which had a cosy at home theme. I am not going to lie this box was a good'n as it came with two full sized products and I was so excited to try them out! 

I received:

• Beauty Protector - Protect and treat hair mask.
• Dr. Jart + - V7 Turnover booster.
• Weleda - Sea Buckthorn body oil.
• Jane Iredale - PureLash extender and conditioner.
• OPI - A grape affair!
• Drinkwel - vitamins.

The Lyndsey Loves launch event.

Hi everyone I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. This Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited to the Lyndsey Loves launch event which was held at Chloe's Beauty Bar in Brentwood. Lyndsey Loves is a wonderful website with a collection of beautiful items from lesser known brands from around the UK and the world and I think it is the perfect website for buying gifts! 

Lush Cosmetics - Dark Angels cleanser.

Hi everyone! Today I am going to review the Dark Angels face and body cleanser from Lush Cosmetics. I have been using this cleanse for about two months now and I am in a bit of a love hate relationship with it.

First of all this cleanser comes in one of the standard black tubs that Lush commonly uses which I really like, as if I keep it in the shower no water gets through the lid and ruins the product and also if you return 5 clean Lush pots you get a free fresh face mask which is great!

Onto the cleanser itself it has quite an interesting earthy smell, it's not necessarily bad but it might be one that you have to get use to for a while. This smell comes from the fact that it contains charcoal and rhassoul mud, these two ingredients help to cleanse, remove excess oil and exfoliate the face. It also contains rosewood oil that acts as an antiseptic.

Now the reason I don't like this cleanser is due to it's colour and texture. Like the Herbalsim cleanser I reviewed it has quite a flaky almost sand like texture that gets everywhere when I use it, and due to it's colour it does have a tendency to stain the sink if I don't wash it all off carefully. So for this reason I much prefer to use this in the shower as it easier to clean off and also if you use a flannel to remove this cleanser it can stain them as well (so use a dark coloured flannel!).

So why do I love this cleanser? Because it works almost perfectly for my skin! I use this day and night for 6 nights a week and my skin has become much less oily and it has also reduced the amount of spots that I get, in fact I don't think my skin has ever looked this good! So for me it is worth the hassle of having to clean the sink thoroughly each time I use it. Also it doesn't dry out my skin like most cleansers aimed at oily skin as it contains avocado oil to keep it moisturised and it leaves my skin with a lovely glow.

To use I apply a small amount to my fingers and then run it under warm water to turn it into a paste. I then use circular motions to spread it around my face, once my face is covered I then like to wash it off using a flannel and warm water. I would then recommend using a toner after to remove some of the excess charcoal that can be left on the skin.

As you can probably tell already this cleanser is aimed at people with oily skin so if you have drier skin this might not be for you and also if you have really sensitive skin you might not want to use this everyday as it is quite a harsh exfoliator so you do have to be gentle when rubbing it in. 

I got the massive tub of this (250g) which cost me £16.88 but this has lasted me for two months and I still have enough left for another months worth but if you just want to try it out you can get 100g for £6.75. You can buy it here:

Dark angels - £6.75

What's your favourite cleanser?

The Birchblogger breakfast.

Hi everyone! This Thursday I was very lucky to be invited to the first ever Birchbloggers breakfast which took place in a lovely little French restaurant called Aubaine by Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street. 

After being my typical self and getting lost walking through the streets of London I finally got to the Birchblogger breakfast and it was wonderful. The breakfast itself included a selection of croissants and different types of breads, with butter and jam. We were also provided with hot drinks and fresh orange juice.

Once there I got to meet some of the lovely team members of Birchbox which included Jessica Diner who is the new editorial director and was formally the health and beauty editor of Vogue. So I got a real insight into the world of beauty after talking to her and it was very inspiring.

At the beginning of the breakfast Jessica went through the upcoming months of Birchbox and you are all in for a treat, and if you haven't subscribed yet, now is the time as Decembers box looks amazing! Also in a couple of weeks they will also be releasing a limited edition men's Birchbox, which would make a perfect Christmas gift! 

I had such a great morning at this breakfast event and it was great meeting some wonderful fellow bloggers where we could chat about all things beauty. We were also lucky enough to receive a goody bag full of new products to try, so keep an eye out for these new reviews coming soon!

Clinique Anti-Blemish solutions Liquid foundation.

Hi everyone, I hope you all are well. Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently I have had loads of uni work, but I've really missed blogging and I'm looking forward to continuing again! So today I am going to review Cliniques anti-blemish solutions liquid foundation which I have been trying for the last month.

When I first started looking for a new foundation it took me ages to pick one that I thought would be suitable for my oily and blemish prone skin, and after a lot of research I decided to pick this one up. This foundation is oil free and contains 0.5% salicylic acid to help prevent and combat any blemishes.

The packaging for this foundation is really pretty and cute and would easily fit into any makeup storage and also because it has plastic packaging it is quite light weight and durable so it's great for transporting. Instead of a pump this foundation has a little squeezy nozzle which I wasn't sure about at first, but it is really easy to use and get the right amount of product out.

To use this foundation I apply with it with my fingers as it dries quite quickly and I find that this is the quickest way to apply it. This foundation has a medium coverage which is really easy to build up and is also really easy to blend and once dry it has a lovely matte finish and feels really lightweight. I find that this foundation is really long lasting and will last me a good 7-8 hours, especially if I set it with a powder. 

Now the thing that I love the most about this foundation is that it has not caused me to break out once, which is the problem I get when trying most foundations. Also I feel like I have been getting breakouts a lot less since using it.

 I would say with this foundation that if you have dry skin you shouldn't use it as due to the salicylic acid and the matte effect it can dry your skin out, but I haven't had any problems with this as my skin is oily and needs this mattifying effect.

This foundation costs £24.50 for 30ml so it is a bit more on the expensive side, especially since you don't get a lot of it, but if you really struggle finding a foundation if you have oily blemish prone skin then I'd definitely recommend trying this one out. You can buy this foundation here:

Clinique Anti-Blemish solution - £24.50

What is your favourite foundation?