DIY Skincare #1: Aspirin and Lemon Juice Mask/Exfoliator!

Hello again! Apologies for my absence, life has happened and I've been super busy! Little update for you: I'm back at home with family, seeing lots of my closest friends, working to save a bit of extra money for my flat and generally having a nice, chilled out summer!

Whilst I was away from my blog, I was brainstorming some new posts. With the hotter weather in the UK (I almost can't believe it either), my skin has been SUPER oily and make-up (when I bother to put it on) just slides right off within a couple of hours. So I decided to try something different and spend a little less money on store products that promise to fix my problem skin and fade my acne scars. I've always been really interested in natural home remedies for treating skin problems. Also, as I am eating healthier I am seeing some benefits but surely any natural exterior remedies must be a further benefit, right?

Over the next 4 weeks, I will be trying out 4 different face masks/exfoliators all concocted from various ingredients typically found in our kitchen cupboards. Little detail here: I have very oily skin, large pores and acne scarring etc. These remedies are specifically for oily skin and would not be suitable for dry skins and maybe even combination skins. However, some oily skins out there may not see the same results as I do as we all have different skins that respond in very different ways. Just thought I'd slip that in just so you are aware.

Okay so first up is the Aspirin and Lemon Juice mask. Now, I've also labelled it as a exfoliator because of the texture and personal opinion. Some of you will think of it as a mask, some will not.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 3-6 aspirin tablets (these can be bought very cheaply in any supermarket or drugstore)
• 1-2 tbsps of lemon juice

Note: 3 aspirin will require 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 6 aspirin will require 2 tbsp.

I was recommended to use aspirin by my brother who also suffered from a more severe case of acne when he was a teenager. We all know aspirin is predominantly used as an anti-inflammatory when taken orally but it does actually have benefits for the skin too! Due to these anti-inflammatory properties, it can help with aiding discolouration from acne and redness. It also contains salicyclic acid which is a proven ingredient to reduce the occurrence of acne. Having said all this, if you are allergic to aspirin, do NOT put it on your skin. It will sink into your pores and possibly cause an allergic reaction. Always check with your doctor before using it.

Lemon juice is also very good for the skin. If you mix it with warm water and drink it, it will detoxify your body of all those nasty toxins that are often come through the skin in the form of spots and pimples. It contains vitamin C which helps to build up your skins levels of collagen which prevents aging. If you are losing weight or trying to (as I am), lemon is great for keeping your metabolism high which means you'll digest your food quicker. There is honestly so much you can do with a lemon! I never thought I'd be saying that... What I'm trying to say is that it is damn good stuff and has amazing benefits for your skin inside and out! Hurrah!

Now that I've rambled on about how great aspirin and lemon juice is for your skin, you want to see some cold hard evidence and real opinions, right? Well here you go... (Note: all these photos were taken with my iPhone as I do not have access to my friends shiny and lovely Canon camera for the rest of the summer)

So here is my skin before I applied the mask:

You cannot tell a great deal from this picture except that my skin looks a little shiny and there is quite a bit of redness from spots and scarring.

And here is me with the mask on:

And here is me after I'd rinsed it off:

Here are a few pictures of the process so you can get an idea of what it's like:

So, what do I think of the results?

1. My skin feels a lot softer afterwards due to the aspirin building up with the lemon to get rid of the dead skin cells.
2. The consistency was very rough so probably not suitable for very sensitive skin.
3. The mask sticks to the skin very well so no worry of it slipping and sliding off the face.
4. Must be careful not to get fall out into your eyes when applying to the forehead.
5. 6 aspirin and 2 tbsp of lemon juice is more than enough for 1 person. I'd say 3 aspirin with 1 tbsp is enough.
6. I could feel my skin tighten but not too heavily that it was uncomfortable; more like it was doing it's job.
7. More of an exfoliant that you would use once a week rather than a soothing and relaxing mask.
8. Matte finish which is a massive plus for me!
9. Doesn't leave the skin tight- just very fresh and rejuvenated!

Overall, I really like this face mask/exfoliant and I really like the results it gave! I would highly recommend this to anyone who has very oily skin like mine and is fed up of spending loads of money on store products that don't do that great of a job. In the grand scheme of things, I'd rather spend under a £1 on this than maybe 10x the price on a product that might not even work!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and I will be back next week with another D.I.Y. skincare remedy for you all!

Let me know if you have tried this face mask and what you thought of it!

Have a wonderful week!

Paris x

My Hair Care Routine!

Hellooooo everyone! Today's post is all about hair. I have probably dyed my hair over 50-75 times in my lifetime (I'm only 20 years old!) and I've been all sorts of hair colours. From a dark brown almost black to platinum blonde and every colour in between. 

I have quite long hair now and it's very thick. I guess that bowl cut I had when I was 3 years old really did help my hair thicken out. Thanks, Mum.

Now I have embraced my natural hair colour which is a coppery strawberry blonde and haven't coloured it in over a year! This has done the world of wonders for my hair because colouring ruined my hair and now it's pretty well hydrated and soft. 

However, I do still style my hair with heat so it's still very important for me to find products that protect my hair from the heat, as opposed to colouring as well. 

I have loved the Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner ranges for years. I always switch between different ones to test them out and see which one are best for my hair. When I used to colour my hair as well as heat styling, I had to use very intensive conditioners and hydrating shampoo to help give my hair a boost. However, take away the colouring and now I don't need as much hydration. 

The 'Beautiful Ends' range is my favourite because it smells AMAZING (a huge factor for me), lathers really well so it feels like it's really cleaning my hair and it's ideally suited for my hair length and type as I do suffer with split ends; largely because of heat styling. I know Herbal Essences is known for using silicone's in their products which give the hair the feel that it's nourished when it's just a cover over the hair but it honestly makes no odds to me. It does the job and that all I ask.

As I have long hair which is INCREDIBLY thick (this is no exaggeration, my hair is like a lion's mane!) it can get very tangled after it's been washed and bunged up in a towel to dry. Therefore, I need a good product that I can spritz in to get rid of these tangles but doesn't rip my hair out. I used this product from Aussie years ago and the smell always reminded me of banana muffins. After a few years of not using it and venturing into other detanglers, I decided to go back to it because it was a genuinely great product and I just adored the smell as well as the results it gave. 

Another great feature about this product is that it also have protective properties that help the hair from heat. This is great for blow-drying because it takes forever with my hair because it is so thick and acts like a sponge when it's in contact with water!

Lastly for when I want to straighten or curl my hair, I used the L'Oreal Paris Elnett Satin heat protectant. I use the straight formula just because I have my hair straight most of the time. I loved the Elnett hairspray and have done for years so was really intrigued to see what this would be like. I wasn't disappointed. I love the smell of this product and it spritz' so finely that it doesn't feel like it's weighing the hair down or dousing it with more moisture, which could make it greasy. I definitely think it does a good job of protecting the hair. However, I always remember that I am combining a lot of hair protectant properties in all these products so there's going to be some substantial protection going on!

So there you have it! Have you used any of these products? What are your holy grail hair care products?

Thank you for reading this post!

Paris x