Skin care routine! - Lots of Body Shop products

I have recently changed up my skin care routine because my acne decided to make this huge comeback and attack my face. My routine depends on a lots of things like if I'm wearing make up or whether it's morning or evening, either way I use most of the same products. 

No matter what I use the Body Shop Aloe Vera Toner to clean my face of any oils (my face is so incredibly oily) and get a good base for make up if I decide to wear any that day. I also use Witch Hazel across my T-Zone and down to my chin, mostly where my acne is most prominent and also where my pores are huge. I use this to just help clean up any dirt or oil that's trapped in my pores. I also think, I don't know if I'm just making this up, the Witch Hazel helps minimise my pores so my make up doesn't sink in to them. After I've cleaned my face I simply moisturise with the Superdrug Vitamin E SPF 15 face moisturiser then add Solait Anti-Ageing Face Fluid SPF 30 to give my skin extra protection against the sun. That is it for my morning routine, I try to keep it as minimal as possible so my skin is able to breathe. I then go ahead and apply my make up as usual for the day.

If I've been wearing make up I use the Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil to remove all my make up. I love this product as it gets rid of really stubborn make up like waterproof mascara. It also leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft. I have also noticed since I've been using the Oil the redness in my skin has really toned down, its not as prominent as it once was. I haven't used this product throughout Winter yet when my skin obviously gets a lot more sensitive so I'm going to continue to use it and I'll let you all know how it goes throughout November and December. Once I've used the Skin Therapy Oil and I've removed most of my make up, I use the Body Shop Aloe Vera Cleanser, as you can probably tell I am in love with Body Shop products. I love what they stand for and I've definitely invested more in their products since they announced they were leaving their parent company to because a completely cruelty-free brand. That's so important to me as I only use cruelty-free products. It also helps that their products are amazing too! The cleanser really helps with my sensitive skin (I'm allergic to a lot of skin care products) as it doesn't cause any redness in my skin whatsoever. Its a thick creamy formula that cools my skin when I use it. Once I've run that over my skin I can clearly see that it has removed even more make up I missed the first time with the Oil. Once again after using the Cleanser I go back to use the Aloe Vera Toner I used in the morning to remove any Oil left over and also to triple check all my make up has been removed, usually by then it has been. I swipe Witch Hazel over my T-Zone and chin again to try and prevent any more break-outs. Once I've done this, if I have any pimples already, I use a small amount of Tea Tree Oil on a cotton bud on these spots. The Tea Tree Oil helps heal up these imperfections when I'm sleeping and I always wake up to either no pimples or very very faint/small pimples. Its a Godsend, really. Finally, I apply Superdrugs' Vitamin E Night Cream to just give my skin a bit of moisture after the amount of cleaning I've just done on my skin.

If I've not been wearing any make up I do exactly what I did in the morning with the added extra of using Tea Tree Oil on any imperfections I have. I may also use a 99.9% Aloe Vera Gel which also helps soothe and cool my skin after all the scrubbing I've been doing to it.

A couple times a week in the shower I use the Body Shop Seaweed Face Wash for oily/combination skin. This helps to balance the oil I produce and I've honestly noticed a huge difference. My skin is nowhere near as oily as it was a few months ago. It's a lot easier to maintain and I've noticed it when I wear Make up too. My make up stays put all day, even around my problem areas like my nose and chin. I cannot recommend Body Shop products more! They have loads of different products for every skin type! I can't fault them at all.

Okay, I know I know, EVERYONE says this. But it really does work. Drinking water. I promise you my skin has been incredible since I actually started drinking water. I absolutely hate plain water so I add a couple slices of lemon to my bottle and I'll also squeeze some juice in to the water. It's so beneficial. Lemons are probably one of the healthiest foods you could eat. They help fight illness and they really cleanse your body. Even if you didn't want to do this, drinking a cup of hot water with a lemon in every morning and night also holds so may benefits. I've even lost weight since I started drinking lemon water, and it's the only thing I've changed about what I consume! I promise you, the benefits outweigh the cons. 

I know my routine is a lot of products, and I also know it may be way too many for you. But finding a good skin care routine that works for you is amazing. It's really helped with my confidence as my acne is really reduced along with the redness in my skin I've actually started feeling confident going completely make up free. Its just all about finding something that makes you feel good and does something for you.

Thanks for reading!

Bx 

First Impression Review: Revolution X Sophdoesnails eyeshadow palette!

So, when Sophdoesnails first announced her very own eyeshadow palette in collaboration with Makeup Revolution I was so excited. Makeup Revolution is one of my favourite brands ever, and I have most of their eyeshadow palettes already so I had an idea of what to expect. In the announcement video Sophdoesnails showed us the palette and did swatches of the shadows in the palette. The colours were gorgeous! I was hooked and knew right there and then I had to get this palette. So, as someone who works in the make up department of Superdrug I snatched it right up as soon as it came in to store. 

On first glance the product looks smart and attractive. The box is a pastel peach shade with gold metallic marks which Soph explained are paint 'splodges'. Even though I wouldn't have been able to guess what they were the packaging is attractive none the less. In the middle of the box is 'SophX' in the same gold metallic material. Once you open the box and take out the palette you're greeted with a matte nude palette. Once again 'SophX' is written on the actual palette itself. I like it! Its just a plain package, like most if not all of the Makeup Revolution palettes.

As soon as you open the palette you can see on the top there is a huge mirror! Which is amazing. Its the size of the palette so will make the application of the shadows incredibly easy. I remember in the video Soph said she wanted a big mirror in the palette so people can apply their eyeshadow, and the rest of their make up, easily; which I believe she achieved brilliantly. I'm always grateful for a palette with a considerate mirror. The palette comes with twenty-four shades; thirteen matte shades and eleven glitter/shimmer shades. All of the shades are so striking and beautiful. It includes a matte white and a matte black which is amazing as I often find that palettes don't just come with matte black and white shades, it's either one or the other or they're shimmer shades. So, this was a delight. There are plenty of nude shades in this palette which I feel would work incredibly with all skin tones. 

I swatched all the shades and I was pleasantly surprised with most of them! I'll insert pictures of all the swatches I did below:
Here we have Penguin, Pancakes and fairy lights;

The top photo is without flash and the bottom photo is with flash. As you can see here the shades a very pale, I believe they are the palest shades in the whole palette which makes the fantastic base colours or transition shades. Penguin, the matte white shade is perfect for placing on your lid as a base before you apply any other shades. It's blend-able with a light coverage over the lid. Pancakes the more orange nude shade is perfect as a crease shade, its also blend-able. The third shade in the palette is Fairy Lights which is a beautiful pale shimmer shade. Its a very pale pink that works brilliantly as an inner corner and brow bone highlighter. All of these shades are very subtle and perfect if you're looking for a subtle, barely-there eyeshadow look.

The next three shades in the palette are Pink Champagne, Iced Coffee and cuppa tea:

Top photo with flash and bottom photo without flash. So the first shade in this trio is Pink Champagne which is a gorgeous light pink shimmer shade. It's brilliant for a very subtle eye look, good for school or work, that sort of thing. Iced Coffee the shade in the middle is a warm nude shade with orange undertones is a great transition shade and works well with the next shade Cuppa Tea. All three of these shades are highly pigmented therefore I wasn't disappointed with the palette so far.

Grow Old, Sparks Fly and Smokey Bronze are three more of the shimmer shades:

Top photo is without flash and bottom photo is with flash. These next three shades are very pigmented shimmer shades. I found with these shades there was quite a lot of fall out, but I find that with basically every Makeup Revolution palette so I wasn't particularly surprised, also it didn't really make a difference for me really as it's easily sorted out with a simple swipe of a brush. They're very pigmented but also very blend-able which is the make or break moment for eyeshadows.  

Mixed Berries, Tiramisu, Peaches:

Top with flash, bottom without. Mixed Berries is that gorgeous purple shimmer shade. It truly is a beautiful shade. I was shocked when I swatched it for the first shade. Love at first sight. Its so so, so pigmented and is intensly rich. Its got to be my favourite shade in the whole palette. Again with these shades there was rather a lot of fall out. All blend-able again and pigmented, so perfect shades.

Cloudberry, Pumpkin and Pine Tree:

Top with flash, bottom without. As you can see these shades look a little different from the rest of the shades. Personally I love this as she has included lots of shades that work really well together to create so many different looks. I also believe that these shades will look lovely on all skin tones, they're rather adjustable and also build-able if you have a darker complexion. Again with these ones they're very pigmented.

Petrol, Pug and Danger:

Top without flash, bottom with flash. So, one issue I have with these shades is that Petrol, the first shade in the trio pictured above, did not swatch the same colour it is in the pan. In the pan, as you can see from the photos I posted at the beginning, is like a very dark shimmery silver with blue undertones, yet when swatched it comes out a brown shimmer. To me this is disappointing as the shade in the pan is beautiful and I was looking forward to using it this Autumn/Winter. It is still usable, but I'm just a little disappointed with it. On another note, Danger is beautiful. I'm really in to red/orange/pink shades at the minute and this one fills all my warm toned dreams. Its blend-able and works with most of the shades in the palette.

Strawberry Sweets, Festive Flames and Copper Coin:

Top without flash, bottom with flash. Look at the first shade. Look at it. Isn't it just perfect?! So pigmented, so striking! I love it. It is bold and bright. It's everything you'd want/expect in an eyeshadow. I can't fault these three shades AT ALL. no complaints here. 

Mug Cake, Rosewood, Nightmare:

Top with flash, bottom without flash. Okay, so I need to explain this swatch. I know it looks awful but that black matte shade, Nightmare, had so much fall out it crumbled when I swatched it. I wanted to give a true impression of this product so I added this photo. Although fall out is extremely easy to combat this one took me by surprise. As you can see it's pigmented but again, it's very blend-able. The other two shades are faultless, they're also pigmented, blend-able and diverse with all the different shades you can use them with and the looks you can create. 

Overall I highly recommend this product, even with the few minor faults I found with it. I also discovered when swatching it kicks up a lot of product. Each pan claims to contain 1.1g of product which I think is pretty good considering you're getting twenty-four shades for £10. this makes each shade about 42p each. Can you complain? No, not really. It's an incredibly affordable palette and is available at Superdrug. I really recommend investing in this palette this Autumn/Winter to create lots of different looks. As this is very new product, this is first impressions review. I will come back to this product once I've had chance to properly wear it with the rest of my makeup and give you a review about how long it lasts, what it's like to apply and the different looks I can create with this one palette. I want to give it a really good test. 

Thanks for reading!
Bx

Introduction to myself

Hey Guys, so my name is Brenna and I've decided to start my own blog. I intend to blog about beauty (makeup, hair and smellies), fashion and lifestyle really. I'm really in to all of these things and I really wanted to write about them. I'll be writing reviews for products I use and try out, also my opinions on the latest fashion trends or shows.

So, a little about me; I have two dogs, and three hamsters. My dogs are named Tilly and Herb. Tilly is a Labrador X greyhound and Herb is a border collie X lurcher. I love them both to pieces. My hamsters are named Hershel, Judith and Fez. Yes... Hershel and Judith are named after The Walking Dead characters! And Fez is of course named after the best character from That 70's Show.

I live in Cornwall, UK. I intend to either move to London or Ireland within the next year for a new adventure. It's beautiful down here but when you can't drive it's rather boring.

I love reading, I have a huge collection of books. My favourite novel is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I also intend on writing my very own novel in the future. I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead of you hadn't have guessed already! I also enjoy Game of Thrones, although I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan in the world. Horror movies are my favourite genre of film; I am yet to find one that truly scares me unfortunately! My favourite films include Rocky Horror Picture Show, Disney's Hercules, Carrie Pilby and Trolls. Music is one of my favourite things in the world, I love love love The Neighbourhood, Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga. I'd say I have a well rounded like for all sorts of music.

I love tattoos and have seven of them. They all have personal meanings to me which I wont share on here just yet, maybe I'll a blog post about them in the future! 

Drew Barrymore is one of my favourite human beings ever. She is such a style icon and woman power model. I am a strong believer of woman power and I think all women are beautiful, majestic beings. 

I apologise for the most boring first blog post in the history of first blog posts, I thought this would be a good ice breaker. Feel free to follow me on all my social media, I often follow back!
Twitter: brewdarrymore
Instagram: brennaahenryy
Snapchat: brennaahenryy

Thank you all, and please stick around for all my future blog posts!:)

Bx