Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Review

My mum often used to palm off her unwanted Clinique samples onto me years ago when I was still in school and I never really thought much of what they had to offer to be honest probably because I was using sample products that were meant for my mums normal-dry skin rather than my oily, blemished teenage skin. Having said that, I know a lot of people credit Cliniques 3-Step regime with improving their skin and clearing it up if they've experienced breakouts so I decided to give some of their Anti-Blemish Solutions products a go as my skin is a bit of a nightmare at the moment with pregnancy hormones and what not.

Anyways, I ventured into Debenhams to have a skin consultation but unfortunately the Clinique peeps had gone home sooo my indecisive self had the hard task of selecting the correct products for my skin type...fortunately they had a really good offer on at the time, which included 3 sample sized 3-step regime products in a handy little washbag with any 2 skincare purchases, so I got to test out several products from the Anti-Blemish range without paying a hefty sum of money :-)

Left-Right: Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing Bar, Anti Blemish Solutions Cleansing Foam, Anti-Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion, Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturizer and Anti-Blemish Solutions Clear Blemish Gel.

Just to clarify..I haven't reviewed the cleansing bar as it's still wrapped up, ready to go in my hospital bag with my other travel sized toiletries :-)

Cleansing Foam

  I absolutely love this, it makes my skin feel squeaky clean and eliminates any traces of oil, 2 pumps is more than enough for my whole face aswell. The only negative thing I'd say is the packaging makes it a bit bloody hard to tell when your about to run out! Overall 4/5.

Clarifying Lotion  

This again is fab, although probably not great for sensitive skin types as it can sting quite a bit. It exfoliates dead skin away easily and gets rid of any remaining traces of make-up with ease, however I don't think it works wonders for getting rid of oil. Overall 3½/5.

Clearing Moisturizer  

I'm not a big fan of this to be completely honest, I don't think it's helped clear up my skin and my face seems to get oily quite quick when I have this on whether I'm wearing make-up or not. I actually came across an old sample of the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel the other day and I think this works much better for controlling oil. Overall 2/5

Clear Blemish Gel  

This is okay, I think some of my spots are slowly starting to fade and it does seem to prevent exisiting spots from getting worse but I haven't experienced a dramatic reduction in spot size. Again, it can sting so I wouldn't recommend if you have sensitive skin. Overall 3/5.

All in all, I do like these products even if my review doesn't really reflect that! Considering I only actually paid for the cleansing foam and blemish gel, I'm relatively happy with the results. For some reason I kinda like the clinical smell of the products but this might not be to everyones taste and I probably wouldn't recommend any of this stuff for sensitive skin types.


Is there anything you've tried by Clinique that you've loved or loathed?

Autumn High Street Picks

Over the years I've found that I much prefer Autumn Winter fashion over Summer clothing mainly because it's wayyy more interesting putting outfits together by layering up and I love the more muted, earthy colour pallette we've generally seen over the past few years. For the past few weeks now, I've slowly been resigning myself to the fact that it's not getting any warmer and September is only round the corner...so I compiled a little wish list of stuff that I shall hopefully own once my fashion fairy godmother sees it :-)

1. Long Flare Jumpsuit by Rare @ Topshop - £39.00 - I know 70s fashion is a big deal at the moment but I don't know how far I'm willing to go in terms of wearing bellbottoms and wide flares so I guess you could say this is my safe attempt at pulling off that trend! I think this jumpsuit would look lovely on a night out with a pair of chunky wedges or platforms.

2. Black Leather Jacket @ Miss Selfridge - £49.00 - I know I've been moaning about the cold but its not really cold enough for a coat yet hence why I need this jacket in my life!

3. Alexa Chunky Lace Up Leather Ankle Boot @ ASOS - £60.00 - I know these are probably not to everyones taste but for some reason I really like them?! As much as I love Doc Martins on other people, I don't think I would ever suit them so these are a good alternative.

4. Denim Skinny Jeans @ H&M - £29.99 - I'm never disappointed with jeans from H&M and I'm hoping I'll be able to get my big pregnant bottom into these once bubbas born :-)

5. Animal Print Gloves @ H&M - £12.99 - I do love a bit of animal print so I'm pretty sure these will find their way into my wardrobe at some point over the next month!

6. Tobacco Skinny Trousers @ River Island - £30.00 - There's a few pairs of coloured jeans that I've got my eye on from River Island but the colour of these means there versatile enough to wear all year round.

7. Buckle Platform Sandals @ River Island - £59.99 - I think I was experiencing a bit of shoe buckle fever when I was browsing the net, hence why these beauts are on here!

8. Suede Boots @ H&M - £39.99 - Buckle fetish again :-) So I couldn't wait much longer to get these so imagine my surprise when I was about to pay online and it said they had been reduced to £29.99 = mega happy me! I'm not quite sure why they were reduced though as the website still lists them at full price?

9. Bow Tie Trousers @ H&M - £34.99 - I love the draping and detail on the waistband of these, I think they'd look great with a loose jersey top and some gladiator sandals.

10. Aztec Print Cardigan @ Miss Selfridge - £45.00 - I love love love oversized cardigans and jumpers, there just so snuggly and warm, they look great with a belt around the waist but I especially love the aztec print on this, it's on trend and will see you through to winter in style.

What's on your wish list for Autumn/Winter?

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ELF Love & Hate

Hey guys, hope your all okay? And anyone from the UK...I hope the riots haven't affected you too much :-( Sad times for our country but hopefully things are starting to settle down now...


Anyways as I mentioned in my last post, I purchased quite a large amount of E.L.F. products the other week and since I've pretty much tested everything now I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on what I got and what I loved or hated. So below is everything I bought...please don't think I'm showing off or even that I'm made of money, I tend to purchase things more when there on sale or a promotion and at the time E.L.F. were offering 50% off there entire product range! How could I resist really when it's already so cheap?!

A lot of ELF products I've bought in the past are very hit and miss so..starting off with the brushes I have to say, overall I wasn't really impressed with what I picked up...

Brushes

• Studio Stipple Brush - this was a repurchase for me as I'd kinda ruined the one I had through being too vigorous trying to clean my Revlon Colorstay foundation off it :-\ I don't know why but its just not the same as the first one I bought?! The consistency of the bristles seems much finer and less dense than the one I already had therefore I don't think I'd get as full coverage using it to apply liquid foundation. When I tried to apply powder blusher with it, it was far too messy and not that much product ended up on the bristles.
• Total Face Brush - I found this brush to be okay, not as soft as I thought it might be but it's got a huge surface area which is great for applying a dusting of powder.
• Foundation Brush - Again I found this to be just okay, I bought this to apply primer with but I think my fingers do the job just as well. I've actually found its better for applying concealer but as I'm pretty much always in a rush I prefer to use my fingers to apply concealer.
• Blushing, Bronzing And Blending Brush - I was pretty disappointed with this to be honest, don't get me wrong it does the job but before I'd even taken this out of the plastic wallet I noticed it had already shed some bristles :-\ So yeah...it already felt very fine in terms of bristle consistency. God knows what I'd have left once I'd had to finally wash it!
• Blending Eye Brush - Not sure why but I was expecting this to be more fluffy like the Sigma E35, looking on the ELF website now I don't really know why I was expecting this! For the price however this is a good brush for blending any harsh lines in the eye crease.
• Eyeshadow Brush -Again, not sure why but I was expecting this to be more fluffy i.e. bristles a bit softer and longer in length so I was slightly disappointed at first. However I have found that it is a really good brush for applying and blending eyeshadow in the crease and the bristles feel nice and soft.

Waffle over on the brushes front! 



Studio Blushes

Left to right: Pink Passion and Candid Coral.

 These are my first ELF blushes and I picked up the shades Pink Passion and Candid Coral. Below are swatches of both colours and for your reference I'm an NC25 in MAC so this may show up differently on paler or cooler skin tones.

Swatches left to right are Candid Coral and Pink Passion, sorry there not in the same order as the first picture!

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

Swatches taken with flash.

Personally, I love this colour and its not half as scary as the photo looks! Whilst the pigmentation is really good it's also very buildable, so really its up to you how bright or subtle you want this to look.

Firstly, sorry for how messy this looks already but I have been using this quite a bit over the past few days. I was expecting this to be a lot lighter in shade than it is but having used it now a few times I have really warmed to it. It's not as coral coloured as I'd wanted but on the other hand, I do really like the subtle rosy glow this adds to my cheeks.



 Studio Matte Lip Colours 

As soon as I saw these beauts, I was quite keen to get my hands on them and give them a try so I purchased the shades Natural and Coral.

Top to bottom: Natural and Coral

Now these actually appear a bit darker than what they do on the ELF website but I think that goes for a lot of their products if I'm honest! Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised at the pigmentation of these however they are quite creamy in texture rather than being completely matte.

Swatch of Natural taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Natural taken with flash.

Natural turned out to be quite a rosy pink tone but I really like it, it's something I could wear everyday without feeling too out there.

Swatch of Coral taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Coral taken with flash.

I don't think my pictures do it justice but this is a gorgeous colour! I've been reaching for it quite a lot over the past week but I'd say it's more of an orangey apricot toned coral rather than a pink toned coral.


Mineral Lipsticks
I've never been a big lipstick wearer but over the past few months I have started to build up a small collection of mainly drug store lipsticks so I purchased two lipsticks from the mineral range. I didn't want anything too out there in terms of vibrancy so I went with Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph.

Left to right: Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph

I'd recommend these lipsticks if your a bit of a lipstick virgin like myself as they are so cheap and relatively good quality. The texture is quite creamy, not too drying and pigmentation is good.

Swatch of Nicely Nude in natural daylight.

Swatch of Nicely Nude taken with flash.

 The ELF website states that Nicely Nude is a sheer warm pink with a hint of gold shimmer which I think is pretty accurate, having said that I wouldn't buy this shade again as its too close to my natural lip colour and that's not really the look I was going for!

Swatch of Natural Nymph taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Natural Nymph taken with flash.

I tend to research nude lipsticks thoroughly before purchasing because they generally make me look dead or rather ill :\ After trying this, I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that until I get a tan I will never suit nude shades!  Having said that, it has come in handy on days when my lips look pinker/darker than normal. I'd say it's very comparable in colour to the Gosh Darling lipstick but minus the sheen as it does give quite a matte finish.

Swatches of all lip colours, L-R: Coral, Natural, Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph.

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

Swatches taken with flash.

Nail Polish

Considering these cost only £1.50 normally, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. The formula is really good and it only took me two coats to achieve a nice even finish. My favourite of the three shades I picked up has to be Mango Madness which is quite a bright orange toned coral.

L-R: Mango Madness, Smoky Brown and Mint Cream.

Eyebrow Kit
 

Swatches taken with flash.

Swatches taken in daylight.

This is my first eyebrow kit and too be completely honest I have a sad feeling it will end up being slightly neglected :-( I have my eyebrows threaded so the shape is quite defined most of the time, I usually just have to pencil in any faint areas with my Rimmel eyebrow pencil so for me this just seems like a lot of effort. At some point I will try and incorporate this into a made up eye and show you the results...I just don't think its fair of me to review something I haven't really used yet.

...nearly there!

Face Products

• Eyelid Primer - Basically an okay product for me. It does the job I suppose in terms of keeping eyeshadow from creasing but I don't know if that's just because of this product or because I'm using a good eye cream that doubles up as a primer on its own.

• Studio Makeup Mist & Set - So glad I bought this!! This is my first make-up setting spray so I'm afraid I couldn't compare this to the infamous MAC Fix+ I was really impressed with how this set my make-up and made it seem like I had more of a natural glow than the reality of my face being caked in foundation. For £3.50 its definitely worth trying out if your a fixing spray virgin like me.

• Oil Blotting Sheets - So far I'm really disappointed with these!! To be blunt they don't blot oil, I don't know if I was oilier than normal but when I tried these out my face looked just as bad after despite the sheet seemingly being covered in oil. The Professional Shine Eraser sheets that are also by ELF work much better so I'm not sure how they've got these so wrong.

• High Definition Powder - This feels nice and lightweight over foundation, it works well at eliminating shine and creating a matte finish. I just wish it wasn't so messy! I really don't trust carrying this around in my bag as it seems to get everywhere so unfortunately I've only been using it to set make-up before going out anywhere.

• Mineral Infused Face Primer - I'd had doubts about purchasing this as I'd read a few things about it being an oily skinned girls worst nightmare but so far I've loved this! A little definitely goes a long way as it has quite a slippery texture which makes your skin feel super smooth, I've found that it mattifies shine rather well also. Probably not the best primer for keeping oil at bay all day but definitely worth a try for £6.00 or even cheaper if you manage to grab it during a promotion period.

So that completes a rather massive review post! I really hope this helps anyone considering purchasing anything I've reviewed.

What would you recommend from the ELF range?

July Favourites

Hey everyone, hope your all having a great summer! I'm so happy it's finally stopped raining here and the sun has (sort of) been making an appearance :)

Just thought I'd share some of my favourite purchases from last month, I was considering doing a post like this every month as I tend to rave about products I've just bought and consequently, some of my holy grail products become forgotten about. I have actually spent quite a lot on make-up this month, mainly on E.L.F. products as they had a 50% promo on about a week ago I'm gonna do a haul post on everything I got from them another time though as there is so much to review, so much that I've not even had a chance to try everything I bought yet! Anyways here's my favourite new purchases & products from July:

 

H&M Brick Red Poncho

I'd had my eye on this poncho for a while as I knew it would cover my bump and it looked lovely in the catalogue promo photos. I'd resisted purchasing for a while when I noticed it had gone into sale for the other day and considering the lack of affordable and fashionable maternity clothing I caved in and bought it....as well as a few other things :) 

H&M Feather Earrings

I can never just buy one thing from H&M, it's so bloody cheap and on-trend! Which leads me onto these boho kinda earrings I also purchased. Long, embellished earrings have always been a bit of an addiction of mine but recently I was trying to give my poor earlobes a break from all the heavy fake metal I'd been hanging off them over the years :\ Fortunately these are really lightweight and look stunning on.

Available from: hm.com

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Ultra Light Spot Treatment Moisturiser

I've always found Neutrogena products slightly hit & miss especially when they changed the formula of one of my HG face washes :\ Anyways, I reluctantly purchased this moisturiser as it was on promo in Boots and needed something cheap to replace my Body Shop skin clearing lotion. Whilst I'm still not sure of it's spot fighting abilities, the way this makes my skin feel is great. It feels really light and refreshing on the skin and which I'm guessing is down to the cucumber ingredient. On the days where we've had really humid weather, this hydrates my skin just enough as well as cooling it down.

Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer

I absolutely love this product. It fades the redness around my breakouts and previous acne scars, mattifies oily patches of skin, makes my skin surface smoother before applying make-up and I love the fact that it acts as a barrier to the plethora of make-up products I apply over the top. I've been using this for a few weeks now and admittedly it is my first ever primer! I don't use moisturiser underneath as I feel like applying both a moisturiser and primer is just drowning my face in products which doesn't help if you have oily skin plus this does a great job of moisturising on it's own. Overall, great product if you want a purse friendly primer :)

Boots Skin Clear Oil-Absorbing Sheets

These have been a god send for me over the last month! I hate applying powder over greasy skin so oil blotting sheets are a must-have for me. These are quite powdery when you tear them off the adhesive inside the packaging but they work wonders at absorbing oil from the skin and my make-up doesn't come off at all when using them either which I've noticed can happen with other oil blotting sheets I've used in the past.

 Products shown available from: www.boots.com

Make Up Academy Professional Eye Palette Heaven & Earth

After seeing several bloggers raving about this value for money neutral palette I had to have it considering I'm pretty much always on a budget and Superdrug were offering free delivery on all purchases so win win for my lazy, pregnant self :) Honestly though, this is a fab eye palette if you love neutrals as that's pretty much all this consists of.

Top row swatches taken in natural daylight.

Top row swatches taken with flash.

Bottom row swatches taken in natural daylight.

Bottom row swatches taken with flash.

Overall, this is an amazing product for the price, it retails at £4 which I think makes it well worth trying out. The shadows are very easy to blend and pigmentation is good so I'd definitely advise snapping this up before it sells out!

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss Peach Petal

 This had been on my wish list for a while simply because I was yet to find a nude coloured lip gloss that actually gave a nude lip and having googled swatches of this, I was hopeful this would end my search!

Bare lips with no product applied.

Lip swatch of Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal.

 For your reference I'm an NC25 in MAC, so as you can see, this is highly pigmented and does in fact lighten my lips to give a more nude lip. One thing I would say is that this gloss is really sticky so it can go on quite streaky and kinda sit on any dry bits of skin. Overall I'd say this is a fab lipgloss, just make sure you really moisturise your lips beforehand which I mistakenly didn't do when I was swatching! I'm definitely going to be purchasing some more colours from the range in future.

Products shown available from: www.superdrug.com

 

 I hope you've enjoyed this post or it's at least been a bit helpful, would love to get some feedback.

 Have you tried any of the products I've spoke about and what products or brands are you loving at the moment?