1. Benefit ‘They’re Real’ Mascara
I got a sample of this product in my Latest in Beauty advent calendar and I have to say it’s one of the best mascaras I have ever used. I have naturally long curly eyelashes but they are very fine, so without mascara they practically look non existent. I usually use this mascara as my going out mascara and wear three coats. The first coat I concentrate at the roots as the brush is really good at separating the lashes and fanning them out. The second coat I use through the mid-lengths to build up the overall volume as the mascara adds thickness without clumping and the third coat I use on the tips to add long lasting length.
2. Holland & Barrett Aloe Vera Gel
Due to suffering with acne for nearly half of my life, I have tried all sorts of lotions and potions to combat my skin issues. Recently I have been trying to use more natural and mineral products throughout all of my hair, body and beauty regimes and someone recommended pure aloe Vera gel to me. I tried this one from Holland & Barrett and have never looked back. It is 99.9% Aloe Vera and because it is so natural I can use it as often as I like at any time of the day. I use it at night as part of my regime and it’s especially good at soothing and healing the skin after something like a vigorous exfoliation session or a skin peel.
3. Twinings Herbal Tea
Although this isn’t a product as such, I have noticed a difference in my skin since I have started drinking it. I have around 3 cups a day and have noticed that it’s helping to clear my skin. There are lots of different varieties to suit everybody’s tastes but I tend to stay away from the fruity combinations, opting for the green tea, peppermint and nettle mixtures. It’s really refreshing and have substituted it for just water as I hate drinking it, so I found this as a natural and effective way of getting my recommended daily water intake.
4. Sleek Be Beautiful Blemish Balm
With 2012’s natural, fresh skin trend, we saw a wave of companies producing allsorts of beauty balms claiming to have all sorts of wondrous properties. As a girl with a darker skin tone, I found that I wanted to try one of these multi-tasking properties but it was difficult to find one that matches my skin. Sleek, a company, which concentrates its products more towards dark skin tones, released its beauty blemish balm this autumn has been one of my go to products since I first tried it. It has medium coverage that can be built up to medium-heavy and it’s really lightweight on the skin. It blends easily and doesn’t look cakey whilst promising… i use shade medium and i am a Mac color NC55.
5. Pearl Drops, Beauty Sleep
I tried this product for about a week when I first got it then stopped using it. Beauty Sleep is a light paste, with a strong minty taste (I found that it’s stronger than my Colgate Toothpaste) that you rub onto your teeth to help maintain healthy teeth and also whiten them. The instructions say that you should use it at night before you go to bed, after you’ve brushed your teeth but I always end up getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth then going for a midnight snack. At the back end of 2012 I started using it again, only this time combining it with my toothpaste when I brush my teeth and have found that my teeth are looking whiter than ever!
