Problematic skin? Vichy normaderm review

If you've been a follower of my blog for a while now, you might know that I've suffered quite badly with my skin. I'm 22, I have oily skin & enlarged pores which leads to them getting clogged which then creates blemishes &/or blackheads. Brilliant combination, right? Well, at least I'll have less wrinkles when I'm older I suppose! My skin has improved massively in the past year, I've had microdermabrasion treatments to help with scarring & have learnt that using gentle cleansers on oil skin is your best bet, anything targeted for acne prone skin just strips the oils which in turn seems to worsen my skin.

So when I was contacted to try out the new Vichy normaderm Tri-Activ Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care & I'd read a little about it I was very interested to try it out. Microdermabrasion helps smooth out my skin & get rid of blackheads, but unless this is kept up the smoothness disappears. This is why I'm really impressed with this product, when I use it my skin is so supple & soft I can totally tell the difference if I stop using it for a couple of days.

Basically the product is an emollient that helps to perfect yout skin with its unique Hydra Peeling technology. There are three peeling ingredients in the gel: salicyclic acid, glycolic acid & LHA. So while it moistuises your skin it also helps fight impurities with salicylic acid, neutralises bacteria on the skin with glycolic acid & gives an exfoliation with the LHA. It's the LHA that seems to help the smoothness of the skin as it helps "gently micro-exfoliate the surface of the skin for a smoother surface and uniform complexion." Pretty good & perfect for skin types like me.

I can definitely feel the 'peel' of my skin with this product & that is why I only use it at night. It does give a lovely radiant but matte finish to the skin when applied which would be great for a base to apply makeup to, but with the peeling I prefer to use this as night time moisturiser & use my MAC oil control lotion during the day.

If you want to read more about this product click here.

I know a lot of people have reviewed this product & you can get tired of seeing the same things or wondering who's actually telling the truth about them but I pride myself in giving honest opinions on products. If I don't like a product, I either don't review it or voice my opinion, it's as simple as that. I've been using this product for two weeks now & could have given a review within the first couple of days, but I like to give products a good run & test them properly. I would definitely buy this again.

Fresh skin FOTD

I recently posted on twitter that I was able to just get away with MAC Face and body & a bit of powder. Coming from having to cover my skin with layers of fuller coverage foundations a few months ago to being able to just use Face and Body, a really light foundation is something that's made me really happy & relieved. I will soon be doing a skincare post as it's been requested quite a lot & I'd like to share my finds. Anyway, on to the FOTD!

Face

MAC Prep + Prime SPF50
MAC Face and Body C2 mixed with C5
MAC Mineralize skin finish - medium


Eyes

MAC Tisueweight e/s
MAC Bamboo e/s
YABY es035 - rose wood (M) e/s
YABY brow shadow
Diorshow blackout mascara


Lips

MAC Lazy day l/s

tissueweight, bamboo, rose wood & lazy day underneath.

Aveeno review: Dry skin sufferer?

I suffer from eczema quite badly at times & due to more humid weather (well more than usual in England) it always flares up during the summer months. I've heard briefly about taking a bath with oats as it'll calm your skin, but honestly I'm more of a LUSH bath girl than an Oatso Simple bather. So when I was asked if I wanted to try out some Aveeno products I was quite happy to. If anyone else suffers from eczema you'll understand how uncomfortable it can be, constantly trying to resist scratching but then having to surrender, which really only makes it worse. So a product that I am now loving to calm my skin down is Aveeno Skin relief moisurising lotion.

• Formulated with shea butter and a unique Triple Oat complex containing finely milled naturally active colloidal oatmeal, oat oil and oat essence.
• Clinically proven to moisturise for 24 hours and soothe on contact, providing immediate, long lasting relief for extra dry, irritable skin.
• Skin is left looking and feeling soft, smooth and healthy.
• Fragrance free and fast-absorbing.

This lotion is fantastic, it really is. I'm actually wishing I had it with me right now (downside of living in two places!) because I'm fighting the urge to itch! Whenever my skin becomes irritated I grab for this lotion, slap it on & almost instantly my skin is soothed. It really does help moisturise & sooth, so if you're like me & not too keen on bathing with some porridge oats this is a great other option.

My only negative thought to Aveeno products is the smell. There's no gorgeous sweet or floral smell that I love when chosing a moisturiser. Obviously this can be a good thing for people with sensitive skin in that there's no fragrances to irritate. But there is a slight smell which is only really noticeable when applying, but it's something I'm not too keen on. It's not unpleasant but I love a fragrant moisturiser that fills my room & sticks to my skin.

I've also tried the daily moisturiser & hand cream (which I just recently found my mums cosmetics draw). Both are great moisturisers & the hand cream feels so luxurious & sinks right into the skin leaving hands silky smooth. I think I might actually go out & get a tube of it to replace my Soap & Glory hand food. Not that I've ran out of that, but my god this Aveeno one feels heavenly!

Aveeno products are available in Boots, Superdrug & I'd imagine at large supermarkets, it's widely available & prices are around the £5+ mark.

Want to know more from other eczema sufferers? There's some great posts on here http://www.eczemavoice.com

Amazingly soft skin

For the past few days I've changed my skin regime. I was using the Creme de la Mere range, this for me being the cleansing gel, mattifying toner & the gel moisturiser. Now I love the moisturiser & the products are doing a great job, but I left all these at home & had to use what I had up at my university house. After a few days I can't say I'm complaining because I think I've found a great mix of products!

Cleanser

MAC Cleanse Off Oil. It's a really gentle oil that you add a small amount of water to or put onto a damp face, rub it all over your face & it melts your makeup. So when it comes to rinsing it off, your skin will be left lovely & clean but not stripped of it's natural oils. I use a muslin cloth to remove this from my face, I find it helps to get every little bit of makeup off & gives a gentle exfoliation at the same time. Result on it's own is clean, glowing skin.

Moisturiser

MAC Mineralize All-over Lotion. As I said I'd left my skincare at home, so at uni I was left only with a L'Occtaine moisturiser which I find is too heavy for my skin, so I thought to sample the new moisturiser on counter. It's a lightweight moisturiser that's quick to hydrate & sink into your skin. It's formulated with charged water which is great for hydrating & is really gentle as well as being great for your skin due to being packed with minerals.

Care Blends Essensial Oils, Sweet Orange & Lavender. Like the all-over lotion, these have come out with the Warm & Cozy collection, at first the oils weren't going to come to counters but I'm really glad they did! Lavender is great for healing & soothing, blended with the orange it's great for calming as well as energizing. I put a couple of drops of this into the moisturiser and really work it into my skin. After using cleanse off oil & the combination of the moisturiser & the oil my skin looked really radiant. I've got oily skin & probably would never have thought of this if I hadn't had horrid dry spots (which have now completely gone), but it hasn't made my skin any oilier, if anything it's tamed any oiliness! I was sat watching tv & realised how much my skin has really smoothed out & feels so much softer, so I thought to inform you all of my recent findings!! I'm actually gutted now that I've come home & left my cleanse off oil at uni!

note: not advisable to use if pregnant due to the essential oils.

Project beautiful skin: Chlorella

So to start project beautiful skin I started to take Chlorella. I haven't tried anything else as I wanted to see the full affects of one thing, the only other thing I've changed is my face wash as I've stopped using the Garnier Pure active range. Nor have I changed my makeup routine, actually lately I've probably been wearing more. So I know the changes in my skin are purely from the Chlorella. This is likely to be a long post, but if you're interested in improving your skin & finding out the other benefits of this product then definitely read on.


My experiences

I've been to the doctors about my skin, they've tried me on Dianette & an antibiotic, neither of which worked, I've tried multiple 'amazing' skincare products..again none have worked. I've also taken multiple vitamins & supplements, none of which worked very well/quickly. So I thought to stop using multiple external treatments & unnatural medications & turn to something that is completely natural, something that has helped me with skin problems when I was younger. My dad has harped on at me for ages to take Chlorella again (I used to take it for my eczema when I was younger) & I never really listened, I wanted to try other things first. Finally I took his advice & I now take 6 tablets a day in the evening. I started using it 2 weeks ago & within a week I saw instant improvements. Usually I don't go a day without a couple new spots appearing & when I was using the Pure Active range I'd experience clusters of spots, really bad ones at that, but while taking this blemishes have massively reduced. I still have spots and the marks from previous blemishes, but it's only been two weeks & most full effects usually take up to a month or two. Instead of wearing a full face of studio fix fluid, concealer, more sff & powder, I am now able to wear a bit of concealer, MAC moisture tint & a bit of powder & my skin is looking flawless with a sheer/medium coverage.


What is Chlorella & it's benefits?

Chlorella is a microscopic plant that grows in fresh water, it's a single celled algae. It has apparently been in existence for two-billion years. It contains a massive array of nutritional element: vitamins ( all known B vitamins including B12, C & E), macrominerals, trace minerals, essensial fatty acids, protein, nucleic acids (RNA & DNA), chlorophll & a vast spectrum of phytochemicals. Chlorella isn't a suppliment or a vitamin it's a pure food. It's a great detoxer as it is able to bind to the toxins in your body & pulls them from your bloodstream. It will purify your blood & cleanse your organs. You can even feed Chlorella to your pets, our cats love it & it makes their fur beautiful!

Some benefits of Chlorella:

• boost your immune system
• detoxifying
• improve your digestive system, help overcome bad breath, constipation
• reduce cholesterol
• protecting your liver
• help with kidney problems
• improve skin conditions (e.g acne & eczema)
  
• balance blood sugar

These are only a few benefits, if you go to www.chlorellafactor.com you can learn a lot more about this pure food. In my opinion it is not known about enough & after researching more about it, the reason for this is because the FDA do not permit companies that sell Chlorella to publicise the true benefits of it as the benefits would be seen as 'medical claims'. Another thing along side the dismissal of tea tree for MRSA that annoys me about health organisations.

We currently have Optimum source Chlorella but there are many other companies that sell it.

If you want to find out more about Chlorella I've added some useful links that go through the whole ins & outs of it. I highly recommend it if you suffer from skin problems & really for anyone to take it due to the great benefits of it.


Useful links that go into more detail:
http://www.chlorellafactor.com/
http://www.naturalways.com
http://www.foreverlookingood.com

Project beautiful skin

The other week I took out Liz Earle's Skin Secrets book from the Library. It's full of fantastic tips on looking after your skin. It goes through what influences your skin, the best plants (plant oils, essential oils & general ingredients) to use on your skin & how to care for your skin from the inside & out. It's a really great book, I might review it, because we're always obsessing over makeup & enhancing our skin/features but not always thinking about treating it & looking after it. After all the more we look after it now the more it'll repay us later.

So my main point of this is that this book is my aid. My aid in project beautiful skin. I'm sick to death of my skin, it's oily, it's acne prone, I have large pores, blackheads & uneven tone. I'm generally just not happy with it & I now need to seriously do something for it. After the Garnier Pure Active range did nothing for me over the month I tested it, I decided to take other routes. I'm going to look after my skin from the inside as well as treating it from the outside. When we have skin problems we don't always think a lot of it has to do with what's going on inside of our bodies. We frantically try to sort it out with multiple expensive products (many that don't actually work), but how often do we stop & think to change what we put in our bodies & what we could add to our diet to help?

I'll keep updating on project beautiful skin with what I'm doing. I'll be going through the benefits of what I'm doing & whether I'm seeing any differences. For now I'm just going to outline a few things.


1. I'm changing my cleanser. I'm now using The Sanctuary Perfectly Polished Hot Cloth Cleanser. I have used Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish but have just ran out & happened to find this version from The Sanctuary range.

2. I'm going to drink 1.5-2L of water a day. It sounds easy, especially when all I drink is water (well apart from fruit juice or tea & coffee, but no fizzy pop for me thanks) but I sometimes struggle & tend to forget to drink.

3. I'm going to start taking Chlorella. It's mentioned in the book & my dad has been harping on at me for years to take it, but I'm terrible at remembering to take tablets & have never taken it regularly. It's not something that's new to me, we've had it in our house constantly while I've grown up so I'm aware of it's advantages. However, I know it's not widely known, so I will be going through this in ore detail later.

4. I'm going to be using multiple masks & treatments, thank god my mums a therapist, so there's hundreds of essential & plant oils to rummage through & use!

5. I'll be eating a lot healthier (hope I keep to these words!). After all, we are what we eat!

Wish me luck & I'll keep you updated!!