REVIEW: Botanics Mattifying Gel-Cream | FAIL PRODUCT

Bonjour my lovelies and welcome to another skincare review!

Many many moons ago, I wrote a blog about my then skincare routine. Now I don't expect you to trail through my blog to find that post so here is a quick profile of my skin...

• My problem area for rosacea/redness and spots is my chin. I occasionally get them on my forehead but not in as much of a crowd.
• My t-zone is very oily but my nose is often dry.
• When a spot is finished with disrupting my face, it leaves a rather lovely red mark behind. 

Now, I want to point your attention to the 2nd point I made. Oily AND dry patches on my skin. I really struggle with finding a moisturiser that doesn't break me out by contributing to the oils already in my skin but also that keeps my skin hydrated, especially the dryness around my nose.

I bought the Botanics Shine Away Mattifying Gel Cream a few weeks ago to test out. I'd heard great things about the brand and was tired of rich creams that constantly broke me out. I thought the gel formula would be a good alternative.

This unfortunately, is not the blog post where I tell you that I have found my holy grail, prayer answering magic in a bottle. Alas, my quest for an amazing moisturiser that ticks all the boxes with its bells and whistles jingling is still in full motion.

Sigh.

What I would like to inform you of is how much of a FAIL this product is. This gel cream seconds after application literally shed off of my skin like a nasty sunburn. It left a tingling sensation on my skin which I wasn't too keen on as I already get that from my tea tree toner. It doesn't moisturise at all. Yes, it mattifies the skin, but no greater than a good setting powder and/or blotting papers would!

I really tried to persevere with this product, wondering if it were just my skin being off for a couple of days. Needless to say, after about 2-3 weeks of use it was clear to me that this product just did nothing for my skin.

So ultimately I was left pretty disappointed with this product. It did cost me under £5 so I can't moan too much but I think even for that small price, its still such a disappointment. 

Would I recommend this product? Absolutely not.

Have you tried any other products from Botanic's? What did you think of them?

Thank you for reading!

My Daily Skincare Routine!

Hello again everyone :)

Growing up and going through the wonders of puberty, my skin went from baby soft and blemish free to horrendously oily and broken out. Thanks, hormones! My skin since then has always been a problem for me and I've tried many a treatment to give it a helping hand and make it look as flawless as it once did look. My journey to perfect-again skin has and still is a work in progress but I have definitely gained a new knowledge about skin care and what works best with my skin. So, with that knowledge, I have been able to put together a routine made up of products that my skin likes and do a good job at controlling oil build-up and minimising break-outs. Hurrah!

Now let's start from the beginning, waaaay back when. At around 13-14 years of age, my skin became SUPER oily and I was breaking out all over the shop. I was very concerned that I was going to experience the same level of acne that my older brother had when he was my age. Thankfully, mine was not as severe but it still made me self-conscious and unhappy. So, with very little knowledge about skincare, I went out and bought a few products that were very harsh on my skin. Whilst they dried up my spots, they also dried out the rest of my skin that wasn't affected. I thought having oily skin was bad, but having extremely dry skin that was difficult to hydrate again was horrible!

I then decided to go a little easier on my skin and work with less abrasive products. As I was still a teenager, I didn't want to spend a load of money on products that I didn't have much knowledge about. Plus the fact that I wanted to spend my money on clothes, shoes, handbags etc etc. I guess I had other priorities at that age.

Fast forward to now. I'm 20 years old and I still have problem skin. However, I have discovered an array of products that have been a blessing to me and my skin.

I've now done away with facial wipes as I have learnt that they don't actually help remove all of the make-up from our skin. Thinking about it, a percentage of my break outs are due to make-up residue clogging my pores! So, I have been trying out Micellar waters. My last post you will have seen that I reviewed the B. Pure Micellar Solution. I do like this product but it did sting my eyes a little. I saw MissGlamorazzi (over on YouTube) rave about the L'Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution. I've been using it for about 5 days now and I really like it, it's very gentle around the eyes which is great and it's really good at removing make-up. I've also changed to using the cotton pads from the baby section in Boots. They're the same price I think as the normal ones but twice the size!

Once I've used the micellar water, I move on to a scrub. I use the Simple Oil-Balancing Scrub to remove any dead skin that could clog up my pores and generally freshen my skin up. It's a creamy consistency and gentle enough to use everyday. When I need something a bit more abrasive, I will use the Lemon and Aspirin DIY mask I blogged about a few weeks ago. This is more 'gritty' and I'll do this as an end of week or Sunday treatment just to really clean my skin.

So now I'm all scrubbed and feeling fresh, I will move on to moisturiser. I have used a range of moisturisers that have all claimed to be oil-free but these have been from budget brands and I can assure you, they are NOT oil-free. I broke out with them like no one's business! I decided to spend a little more money on a higher end brand. I fell in love with the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo earlier this year thanks to the matte finish it gave my skin and the way it controlled excess sebum (that really is a horrible word). I revisited the stand in Boot's and decided to go for the Effaclar Mat Sebo-Regulating Moisturizer, which if memory serves me correctly, is priced at £13.50. Not breaking the bank I know, but it's still more than my teenage self would be prepared to pay! I've got to say, I do adore this moisturiser! It's specially formulated for oily-skin and just does an absolutely great job! I will definitely re-purchase this when it run's out!

There you have it! I'm still wanting to try out different products for my skin. I do want to venture into the conspicuous world of eye creams as I am quite honestly terrified of wrinkles and not looking as youthful (ha, says the 20 year old).. but you know what I mean!! Do you have any recommendations for me?

I would also like to try some of the Michael Todd skincare products as I've heard a lot about them and they look really effective! Plus I love anything organic! If you have tried them and have oily skin like me, what were your favourite products?

Thank you for reading and I will see you soon on here or on my YouTube channel!

Paris x

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