Updated PM Skincare Routine for Oily & Blemish Prone Skin

Developing and maintaining a proper skincare regime will always be something I am truly passionate about. No matter where I am or what I am doing - whether it be on holidays, coming home from a messy night out or just being a pure lazy slop - I will always always make the time and effort for going through the ritual of my evening skincare routine. Friends and family usually marvel at the lengths I will go to keep my skincare routine top-notch and the amount of products I will haul around with me on trips often gets me a few eye-rolls and snide comments, but after experiencing years upon years of bad skin thanks to a lovely combination of teenage hormones and acne, you will rarely catch me wavering from my regime.

There are a few select tried and tested favourites that I will never ever part with, but if finding new favourites and constantly trying a new skincare products were an Olympic sport, I would probably have a few gold medals to my name! I previously shared my PM skincare routine for acne prone and oily skin with you many moons ago, so I thought it was time to once again share what I have been loving and what has been working well for my skin lately. Quite honestly, I could probably do these posts more often as I am always unearthing something new and wonderful, but it takes a pretty damn good product to stay a constant in my regime.

Two Everyday Essentials with Emma & Roe

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a statement jewelry fan. It wouldn't be uncommon to see me rocking a brightly coloured beaded necklace, various chunky multi-coloured rings or a pair of cute studs. So obsessed I was, I tried to collect a unique piece of costume jewelry in every country that I would visit in my late teens and early 20's - my favourite being a string of emerald and garnet coloured glass beads from Rome. But like everything else that evolves and changes as you grow older, so did too my affinity for out there, look-at-me jewelry.

These days, I rock a statement eye or lip over eye-catching jewellery, and I barely remember to put on earrings most days and prefer much more simplistic, versatile and basic pieces. So it comes at no surprise that these two new sterling silver bits that I received from Emma & Roe* recently have fast become a welcome addition to to my everyday accessory line-up - and if you are anything like me, you will adore these pieces too.

KKW Beauty Liquid Creme Lipsticks | Are they worth the hype?

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you may have spotted my post sometime last year about my First Impressions on the Kylie Cosmetics Lip Kits. And if you did happen to read that post, you would know that I wasn't 100% sold on the quality of the Kylie Lip Kits for their fairly expensive price point. But yet here we are again, with me reviewing more Kylie products - something I definitely didn't think I would be doing again any time soon! Somehow (with a willpower unbeknownst to me) I have managed to avoid every single one of Kylie's new launches since the first Lip Kit drop. I just about nearly gave up at the Koko Kollection launch though, and basically was foaming at the mouth when I first laid my eyes on her Kylighters - but guys I bloody resisted because I just was not convinced on the quality for the hefty price tag. Sure they looked hella cute, but they were hella more expensive than they were worth IMO.

But you already know, I damn well could not resist the KKW x Kylie Cosmetics Creeme Liquid Lipstick Collaboration. Deep down, a tiny part of me was holding on hope for a Kimmy Collab, and you best believe that when I first spotted those promo posters (you know the ones!) on Insta and Twitter one morning, I started rounding up all the dollars I could find, because ya girl was about to drop whatever amount necessary to get that collection in my hands. Yes, 14 months later, I can proudly (or maybe sadly...) say that I am STILL just as obsessed with Kimmy K - and mother of god I needed this collab in my life. But did these Liquid Lipsticks live up to all their hype? Did I waste my time (and money) by giving Kylie Cosmetics a second chance? Read on for my first impressions and swatches of the KKW Collection...

Tried & Tested | Magnitone London Daily Cleansing Brush + Demo Video

It's no secret that I am a firm believer and advocate of exfoliation. As someone with oily and acne prone skin, I was taught early on in the game that regular exfoliation was the key to unlocking smoother, healthier, clearer skin. Regular exfoliation for me, worked absolute wonders (thank you glycolic acid). So it comes as sort of a surprise to me, that out of all people, was so SO late to join the cleansing exfoliating brush bandwagon. Blame it on my preference for chemical exfoliation or my reluctance to try something out of my comfort zone (why try and fix something that isn't broken, right?), but I only recently welcomed an exfoliating brush to my regular skincare routine - shocker I know.

The cleansing brush in question is the Magnitone London Vibra-Sonic Daily Cleansing Brush*, along with The Stimulator Lift + Tone Massage Replacement Head*, that I had the pleasure to try out (and finally catch up with the times) thanks to SkincareStore. Promising not only a deep pore cleansing action, but smoother, brighter, refined and tightened skin - I was hooked line and sinker.

Dermalogica Daily Superfoliant | Is it Worth the Hype?

From the creators of the make-up melting marvel, PreCleanse and one of my fave Charcoal Masks at the moment, comes arguably one of the most anticipated skincare releases this year so far (or maybe just for me?) There is no denying that Dermalogica is one my favourite skincare brands, everything they create just works and every time I see a sneak peak or get wind of new product coming I can't help but feel a little bit school girl excited and let out an internal (possibly also external) squeal. So when I was asked to try their latest twist on one of their Cult Classics thanks to Active Skin, I just couldn't pass up the offer. Dermalogica's new Daily Superfoliant* is skincare game changer, promising to resurface the skin but also fight off premature skin ageing that is caused by pollution. Yes, that lovely thing called pollution.

I know what you're thinking, not only do we need to worry about slip slip slapping everyday to prevent damage caused by the sun but now we must also think about pollution we subject our skin to on the daily - here's to never leaving the house! But I don't know about you guys, but I really don't need something else to stress about (hello, stress head right here), so having a product that takes out most of the work out in protecting in your skin is definitely something you want to have in your arsenal - but is the Dermalogica Superfoliant worth all the hype? Let's get down to the nitty gritty.

Two New Additions from Alpha-H

There are not many things in life that I enjoy more than talking about skincare - maybe except for red wine, a good cheese board, caffeine and Jai Courtney, but you get my drift. Looking for the perfect cleanser to help combat your dry but super oily skin? I'm your girl. Or maybe that pesky blemish that surfaced suddenly overnight before a big date? Let me hook you up with what you need to zap it away pronto. I love talking about my fave prods just as much as a new mother can't stop gushing about her newborn child - because discovering a new and exciting serum is pretty much on par as a new baby, right?! One of my all time fave skincare brands to talk about is Alpha-H (we go pretty wayyyy back), and I have two products of theirs that I have recently added to my skincare routine thanks to Facial Co. If you have yet to try Alpha-H, looking for more products of theirs to try or just love chin wagging about new skincare like I do, then read on. 

Empties #5 | Things I've Used Up

As a self-diagnosed make-up and skincare addict, it can be incredibly hard (and I mean really dang hard) to resist the urge to buy new products just about every second day of the week - most of you would know the feels! With so many incredible new releases it is difficult to not get swept up in the hype. However, I've recently put myself on a spending ban and a bit of a declutter of my make-up stash (more on that one later) in the effort to use up all the make-up and skincare products that I have lying around 3 quarters finished or just about empty. I have this horrible habit of becoming really obsessed with certain products, use them day in and day out, then suddenly abandon them halfway through when something brand new and sparkly comes along, never touching them again. Now that we have hit April (how, I wouldn't have a clue!) and I have collected a small amount of empties that I have FINALLY polished off and can bid goodbye to - hello restraint, I am now a goddamn pro. Let's talk trashy!

Sparse Brows & Lashes? These are the products for you...

If you're anything like me, you would know that achieving on-fleek brows, full fluttery lashes and eyeliner sharp enough to slice your own finger is definitely not an easy feat. Surely you all know the struggle!! As good as I like to think I am at applying my make-up, somehow my brows and liner always seem to be a complete hit or a definite miss. And thanks to a fantastic thing called genetics I was sadly not one of those lucky few born with thick brows, nor a steady hand or talent of nailing my winged eyeliner every single time (thank you for micellar water and Q-Tips though!)

But thankfully, the make-up Gods pitied us, heard our frustrated tear-filled calls for help and blessed us with the genius idea of a thing called fiber products. One such brand that is making sparse brows and lashes a worry of the past is Cherry Blooms. An Australian owned company that is widely known for their unique Fibre Lash Extensions and Fiber Brows, these products not only create a natural look but are also super quick and easy to use - even for super novices like me! I have been using a few of their products for a couple of months now and I like to think my brow/lash/liner game has some what improved - to see how I got on and if I am no #Instaworthy read on!

Best of Beauty 2016 | Skincare

As promised, I'm back with Part 2 of my Best of Beauty picks for 2016 - this time focusing on skincare. As the avid skincare junkie we all know I am, picking out products for this post was incredibly HARD - like borderline impossible. If I were able to literally choose alllllll my favourite skincare products for the past year we could quite possibly be here till 2018 (and nobody really wants that now do we...) So, with that being said I have limited myself to choosing products that I had only tried in 2016 and no earlier and somehow I have managed to round it off at a single digit number - round of applause pretty please. So without further adieu, my Best of Beauty Skincare products for 2016.

Best of Beauty 2016 | Make-Up

To say that this post is incredibly overdue would be the biggest understatement of the year - and it's only January! But god damn how time flies. I kid you not it was literally December 20 something when I started planning what products I wanted to include in this post, and I pretty much blinked and Christmas was over, New Year happened and BAM we are almost at the end of January, like seriously guys HOW!? But I still had to go ahead and do this post (even though it might as well be titled Jan faves now...) because I just love Best of Beauty posts as it adds a nice touch of finality to the year. So Happy Belated New Year anyway, I hope 2017 has been super fab for you so far! As for me, I wouldn't even know because apparently I am still living in 2016 *cry laughing emoji* (anyone else still dating things with '16 instead of '17? No? Just me?) However, I decided to split my faves post into make-up and skincare, first being make-up and skincare following up in a few days. Strap in guys, it's gonna be a long one ....

Brand Focus | YoungBlood Cosmetics

Before I started blogging I used to be that sort of person who stuck with certain tried and tested products or ones that a magazine would recommend, followed all the 'it' make-up trends of the moment and generally only bought brands that were only stocked in either Mecca, DJs or Sephora. I partially blame my problematic skin making we fearful to branch out and try anything new in case it made my breakouts worse. But now I am proud to say that I am whole different 'worldy' type of person. I have now realised just how much I love discovering and trying out new brands and products that are not necessarily 'mainstream' and finding some real gems that I would have never have found otherwise. 

One brand with some seriously amazing products that I unearthed this past year was Youngblood Cosmetics thanks to the guys over at SkincareStore. For me, I really like to get a feel of a make up brand through their base or lip products. Generally the first products that I try from a new brand are their lipsticks or foundations (is this just me...?) and go on to experiment some more if I get on really well with those. I was lucky enough to try a few of their base products and as you guys all know, my skin is super pesky and annoying, so let's see how I got on with them - spoiler alert: I am still using most of these products 3 months down the track ...