Soap and Glory Skincare

I absolutely LOVE soap and Glory. I think they're branded in such a clever and extremely appealing way. I have used their body stuff for years - its always a Christmas present that I look forward to getting. I love their packaging and the little bags that the sets come in are perfect. When I have used all of the product, I use them to store my false tan and even as a cute little lunch box for work. They're all waterproof too so you don't have to worry about spillages etc. 

So when I heard about the new make up and skincare range, I was dying to have a go. There are some things in the make up range that I love, and their are some things that I'm really not fussed over - but overall for the price, I don't think you can complain. 

I've got oily skin, as you may know by now from some of my other blog posts, and so i'm quite prone to the odd open pore. I'm usually quite lucky in that they aren't terrible considering how oily my skin is. Lately however, I have noticed them getting larger. So I decided to search out some products to help. I did a search on google and it brought a whole load of products up but I was particularly intrigued by the soap and glory ones. This is partly because I love their lotions and potions so much but partly because of the price. I know my skin is quite prone to breakouts and I didn't want to try anything super expensive just in case I wasted my money - they were also on boots 3 for 2, which was of course, an added bonus. They also had amazing reviews so I ordered some and couldn't wait to try them when they got here. 

I ordered 3 things:

• The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser
• No Clogs Allowed face mask
• The Fab Pore facial peel

I started with The Fab Pore hot cloth cleanser - I wasn't deterred by the fact that it has orange and lavender oils in because they are natural oils and I use an oil cleanser as a rule anyway. I was however put off by the smell - it was a gorgeous smell but I just thought that it may have been too perfumed for my skin. It comes with a muslin cloth and my skin felt lovely afterwards. I didn't notice an immediate reduction in my pores however, like some of the reviews had said I would. 

I then used The Fab Pore Facial peel, which was more like a scrub than a peel. 

This also smelled amazing and made me skin feel amazing too. Once again, no visible reduction in pores. 

I then went on to use the final product that I bought, The No Clogs Allowed face mask. I had now cleansed and buffed my skin so I thought this would be a gorgeous final step to my routine. Ordinarily, I would use a cleanser everyday but use a face mask and a scrub about 2-3 times a week, sometimes less. It really depends on what my skin is like. 

Again, this felt amazing. It's actually a thermal mask so it feels hot as you apply it to the skin, and the cute little sponge that you get means it's easily removed as well. 

I suppose the real test was the next day when I woke up. Once again, I had no visible reduction in my pores, but my skin wasn't as oily as it usually was when I woke up. For this reason, I used Illamasqua Skin Base foundation, as I wanted a bit of a glow to my skin, which this foundation gives me. Before applying my make up however, I used the cleanser again.

By the end of the night, I had broke out in one of the worst breakouts that I had had in years. I was so disappointed because I absolutely loved the packaging and the feel of these products on my skin. The breakout was in every area of my face - my cheeks, chin, forehead - which makes me think that it must have been the new products  I had used. If I do suffer with any breakouts, it's usually the odd one here and there, not all over my face. I have also used illamasqua skin base hundreds of times before and it has never broken me out like this. 

I do have sensitive, acne prone skin, so maybe this skincare just wasn't for me despite the fact that it is geared towards my skin type. I'm going to ask my cousin, who also has oily skin to try it out and see how she gets on with it, but unfortunately, after just one use of most of it, I've decided it's not for me. :( 

Hair Loss

I don't care how vain it sounds, my hair was my thing. We all have things that we love and hate about ourselves. I'm not particularly in love with my body but I am confident and secure enough to be ok with it. I do my best with what I've got. I love food and I hate the gym so I can deal with a few rolls here and there. But my hair was always the one thing that I liked about myself. My mum is a hairdresser so I have had the luxury of having my hair professionally styled at the drop of a hat but despite this, even when I did my hair myself, it always did what it was told to do and I was always complimented on the colour or style. 

I wouldn't say that my hair was particularly thick, and I wouldn't sit there and think, "wow my hair is lovely", I just kind of took it for granted. It wasn't until I started losing my hair last year that you realise how precious your hair is. When you're having a day when you don't feel great, as long as your hair is done nicely and you have some nice baggy clothes or a nice winter coat to hide behind, everything would be fine. The more I washed my hair the more it fell out and the further into denial I fell. Until it got to the point where I simply could not ignore it anymore. My body was covered in hairs that were deciding to jump ship from my head. I was doing a client's make up one day when I looked down to my brush belt to find it completely covered in hairs. I was devastated, but quite frankly, without sounding cocky, I had it to lose. It got worse though. Having never had to wear extensions before, I now had to wear them all the time. This was more for my own confidence rather than anything else because I now know that so many people have got hair that is similar to mine. But I was used to having a mane and so this is probably why it has hit me so hard. 

Initially I was quite depressed over it because I didn't know if it was going to stop or whether it was just going to keep going until I looked like a female Matt Lucas. In addition to my hair falling out, I was also coming out in bruises all over my body, and was tired pretty much all of the time. I put this down to working 7 days a week but I thought it best to go to the doctors. They carried out all kinds of tests but they all came back saying that there wasn't anything wrong and that I was fit and healthy. Apart from a low b12 and iron count, I was fine.

I started taking vitamin b and iron supplements, which I think has helped a lot but also I have been using an amazing Shampoo called Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo. It has honestly been amazing. I have tried every hair loss shampoo under the sun but none of them really helped - this one has without a doubt. From the first usage, I could see that there was less hairs coming out, and then pretty soon my hair loss returned to the normal few that you lose when you wash your hair anyway. I'm absolutely over the moon. I also use the treatment, which you put in after you have towel dried your hair and it gives you this amazing tingling sensation across your head, which makes me think that good things are happening!

In addition to this, I've been taking Sea Kelp tablets from Holland and Barrett, which have also really helped my hair to grow, I now have little baby hair fluff all over my head. I may not get all my hair back but I'm absolutely over the moon that it's not falling out anymore and it's all thanks to this amazing Shampoo! 

TWO magazine

I know I've already posted about TWO magazine before, but just as a quick reminder to you all, TWO magazine is a FREE make up magazine, created by the amazing Pixiwoo. I was lucky enough to train with Sam and Nic, who have a youtube channel under the name of Pixiwoo and have had over a million hits. Since training with them, I have obtained an English degree and their fame has gone off into the stratosphere. They deserve all the praise that they receive, as they are truly fantastic make up artists and I'm very lucky to be writing for their magazine. 

If you haven't clicked already, go to www.two-magazine.com or you can also download the app on your iPhone or iPad. In the first issue, you will find my work on pages 38&39, a small piece about the Pantone colour institute in New York and how it influences our make up choices, and in the second issue, my piece is about one of the most prominent trends for AW12, a dark lip and a dark eye. You can find that on Pg 70 along with some amazing artwork by my friend Rebecca Adams, a fantastic illustrator who creates some amazing fashion images. 

Of course, it's not only about my work, the magazine contains amazing insight into the make up industry and is perfect for make-up artists (those who are learning, as well as those who have been in the industry for years) and generally just those who want a good fashion read. It's really a fantastic magazine and best of all, it's free. Please  check it out now!