London Beauty Shopping

A couple of weekends ago my Mum and I went to London as an end-of-exams/birthday thing! We had such an amazing time and I took a few photos so I thought I would share them with you.

The train station was sooooooo empty; it looked like something out of an old Western film!

We found this lovely little café right next to South Ealing Station; beautifully simplistic interior, delightfully friendly people and delicious food. Would really really recommend it, we went there every day for breakfast and loved it!

My beautiful Mummy!

We wasted no time in getting to our favourite shop; Harvey Nicks! When we went to London last year my Mum fell in love with the Georgio Armani Maestro foundation and so in this pic she is testing out their liquid blushers (Maestro Mediterranea Fusion Blush).

We spent ages and ages at this station of goodies! It has a mishmash of high-end and drugstore products that were really fun to look at.

Busy Oxford Street from a red double-decker bus!

The food bit in Selfridges is amazing! This was the super-sized corner; these Rice Krispies Sqaures were huge and so were the Love Hearts sweets to the left! Of course the beauty bit is amazing too; when we went, there was a thing called 'The Beauty Project' going on which included a big hall with all the beauty products that 'Selfridges Loves'.

I nearly hyperventilated when I saw the Jelly Belly Beans! Our favourites are the cinnamon ones. We bought a big bag on day one and then came back to Selfridges on day two to get some more! Soooooo yummy!

The Chanel display at Selfridges was beautiful and ethereal!

Everything at Selfridges is so cool and funky!

My favourite place of the whole trip was the Kiko shop on Regent's Street! It's amazing!

It's an amazing make-up experience; you are encouraged to try everything and although the shop assistants are incredibly busy, they are very willing to answer any questions you may have. I asked a lovely lady about their Colour Correction Powder and got a very clear and detailed answer. Even though it seemed like there were hundreds of other people in the shop, when I was standing in the queue to pay, the lady asked me whether I had found everything that I was looking for. I was very impressed!

This is a picture of the 1st level of the shop and it was so busy. There is a basement level which has everything that there is on this level, but nowhere near as many people! The make-up is excellent value for money but feels really luxurious expensive! My next post will be on the products that I bought on this trip, so keep an eye out for that!

 

 We went to Camden Market in the hope that there would be some vintage stalls. Sadly, there weren't any but we did find a place that sold crepes so it was all good! From now on, the words 'Camden Town' for me, will always be synonymous with shoes; every other shop was a shoe shop and I lost count of how many summer sandals I tried on!

The shop exteriors were extravagantly decorated and are really fun to look at!

We also went to Covent Garden and the famous Neal's Yard. We had the tastiest pizza from a place called Homeslice and I wish we could have stayed longer because it was so quirky and quite hidden so it felt like it was a secret!

I hope this was of interest and keep an eye out for a post about all of my beauty purchases from the trip!

Cleansers For De-hydrated Skin!

Sorry that I haven't been very consistent with my blog posts recently but I have just finished all of my AS level exams now so hopefully I can get back on track!
As you may know if you have read my other skincare posts, I got a free Clinique skincare consultation with some Clinique skincare which I got for Christmas. I was told by the lovely Clinique lady that my skin was dehydrated so I decided to re-access my cleansers which had been focused on banishing blemishes. I have tested out three cleansers that I hoped wouldn't dry out my skin and would be more hydrating. They can all be bought at Boots and/or Superdrug and are very budget friendly.

No.7 - Beautiful Skin - Melting Gel Cleanser

First of all, I can't get over how much of a good deal this cleanser was from Boots; I had a '£5 off skincare' voucher so this 150ml tube came to £4.50! I think that this is an amazing price for a more premium drugstore skincare brand. The consistency of this cleanser was very intriguing to me as it is not a foaming gel cleanser but like a gel balm. The directions recommend that you apply this to damp skin but I didn't get on with that. So instead, I apply this to dry skin and massage it in like my Emma Hardie cleansing balm. It is quite thick and feels a little greasy on the skin. I sometimes leave it on for a few minutes as a moisture mask. I then add warm water and continue to massage it in in circular motions. As I do this, it turns into a cleansing milk. I then use a muslin cloth to exfoliate away the cleansing milk. It is gentle to use over the eyes and leaves my skin super supple and soft. I feel that the combination of the gel balm and the cleaning milk help to lock moisture into my skin. Click here to buy!
Hydration Rating 3.5/5  

Good Things - Manuka Honey - Creamy Cleanser

As you probably know, I am a big fan of this brand; good ingredients, good price and good products. I had gotten into the habit of choosing the purifying option whenever I choose a cleanser from this brand, or any other brand for that matter. This cleanser is really creamy (as the name suggests!) so you don't need much to spread across your entire face. It is really conditioning and thirst quenches my skin. Manuka honey has natural anti-bacterial properties which is great because not only does it prevent spots but it is hydrating as well! My skin feels really smooth and I feel that it really gives my skin a moisture hit. Click here to buy!
Hydration Rating 4.5/5

Pond's - Cold Cream - Cleansing Softening Cream

I bought this cleanser on recommendation from the Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards. I am a sucker for a recommendation and when I saw that it was on offer in Superdrug, I snatched it up! It is a very rich, thick consistency and you apply it to dry skin (the texture reminds me of Sudocrem!). As I massage it in, you can feel it cooling on your skin. I have bad circulation and am used to having a high temperature on my face. This is very soothing to use and is gentle over the eyes. After you wash it off, it does leave a slightly waxy layer on the skin but I don't mind it, and I just think that it is locking in the moisture. It leaves my skin very smooth and moisturised. At first I wasn't blown away by this product but then I used it like a moisture treatment and left it on for a few minutes before washing is off. I really like it now as I think that it does really does help with my de-hydration. Click here to buy! 

Hydration Rating 3.5/5

 

 The one that I would re-purchase would be the Good Things Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser because I think that it is the best suited to my de-hydrated blemish-prone skin. The good ingredients is also a deciding factor and I am in favour of this excellent drugstore brand!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope this was useful!