Sun Care Products & Staying Safe In The Sun.

As I said in my last post - I'm going on holiday soon and it has gave me some inspiration for a new blog post on the things I take with me on holiday to look after my skin and hair. We all know the sun can be very damaging to our skin and it's important to look after yourself when you're out in it, especially for long periods of time like when you're on holiday. So it's important to remember to wear a SPF of at least 15 no matter how dark your skin is and to make sure that you top up your sun lotion every 1 to 2 hours to ensure that you keep yourself protected. I don't actually have very dark skin naturally, which is why it will probably come as a surprise when I say I actually use tanning oil rather than tanning lotion when sunbathing, sun cream really makes my skin itch and blotchy so I find oil is a lot more gentle for my skin. Every time I go on holiday I use Hawaiian Tropic, I make sure I use it in a high factor because I know oil attracts the sun easier than lotion, so I usually use a factor 20 or higher. It's around £9 from most superdrugs etc but I think a lot of places are doing offers on sun care at the moment as summer is almost here! 

As the sun completely dries your skin out, it's important to get that moisture back in after a day of sunbathing! Especially if you've had a bit too much sun that day then you need to cool it down by using After Sun. If you don't use After Sun your skin will become so dry that you'll peel within a few days and then you'll have no tan at all! After Sun can be applied in the evening after a shower, just apply it like a normal moisturiser, but I usually put it on really thickly and let it soak in. I would advise to keep the bottle in the fridge during the day so it's more soothing on the skin especially if it's been burnt. The After Sun I like to use is Garnier Ambre Solaire After Sun Skin Soother And Hydrating Milk with Cactus Extract. It smells gorgeous and is really moisturising! It doesn't leave you feeling greasy or sticky and it absorbs into the skin fairly quickly so you don't have to wait around for it to dry. You get a 200ml bottle for around £7 :) 

Every time I go on holiday I can guarantee that I will burn my lips and it is the most painful thing ever! It always leaves me with really sore, dry and blistering lips! Not attractive! So when I went to Menorca a few years ago my Mum introduced me to Elizabeth Arden's Eight hour cream lip protectant stick SPF 15. I fell in love with this product, my blistered lips cleared up in two days and it left them feeling really soft and moisturised! It was hard to believe that two days before they were so red. So now every time I go abroad I buy this to take with me :) you can purchase it  here for £19.00 

Most people forget about their scalp whilst in the sun, I know I always do! So for holiday this year I have bought myself this Malibu Clear Scalp Protector SPF 15 which is £2.29 from Superdrug. I haven't actually used this product yet as I've only just bought it and haven't been on holiday yet but it does say that it's water resistant, non-greasy and quick drying. 

So I hope where ever you're all going this summer whether it be abroad or just staying in this country that you all have a lovely time and remember these tips to stay safe in the sun and to prolong your tan without damaging your skin :) 

Leanne x

Best & Worst Foundation.

Having problem skin has always made me rely on my foundation every single day and to me having a good foundation has always been a really important part of my beauty routine! So, over the time I have been wearing makeup I have tried out so many different brands and types, ranging from high end to lower end. In this post you will that high end makeup isn't always best! I'm going to start with a foundation that I really didn't get on with! Now I know so many fellow beauty bloggers have raved  about this product which is Chanel - Vitualumiere 

Now working for Debenhams I always have a chance to have a nosie at all the new higher end products that come out and as I had a gift card to spend I thought i'd treat myself to a Chanel foundation. I have never really used any Chanel products and I was really excited to try it out! It's quite pricey at £33.00 for a 30ml bottle, so considering it's quite expensive I was expecting it to be amazing. I'm not going to sit here and completely slag off this product because I can see that it has been brilliant for lots of other people and I am one of only a few if not the only one I have seen that has said anything bad about it. After using the for a couple of weeks my skin got so bad that I had to just stop using it!! My skin broke out really badly, to an extent that the spots were so sore and my face was really greasy! Now I know this foundation is meant to give you a fairly satin finish so it may just be that it didn't suit my oily skin. Also being someone who likes a full coverage foundation I realised this product wasn't for me. So in my own opinion I wouldn't recommend this foundation to somebody with an oily skin. 

Revlon Colourstay - This has to be my favourite foundation I have ever used! It's amazing, I swear by it! It's that foundation that will always be replaced in my makeup buy every time it runs out! I particularly love this foundation because it comes in two options - combination/oily skin and normal/dry skin. So I have no problems with my face becoming greasy towards the end of the day. It gives a medium to full coverage and comes in 12 different shades. It's still slightly expensive priced at £12.49 (Superdrug) but it lasts quite a long time as you really don't need to put loads of product on your face because it's got such a good coverage that a small amount will give you a completely flawless look. 

Mac - Studio Fix Fluid - I do like this foundation, I think the coverage is really good. Probably one of the best coverage's out of all the foundations I have used, it also has SPF 15. However I really don't like the colours they do. They come in 'NC' which is Natural Cool for people who have yellow undertones to their skin, like somebody with an olive skin tone and 'NW' which is Natural Warm, for people who have pink/red tones in their skin. I find the colours I have tried in these are either too pale or far too orange and when I say orange I don't mean dark I mean bright orange! They do have a large selection of colours I just have never been able to find a decent colour for my skin. This foundation is priced at £19.50 and is available from Debenhams. 

NYC - Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup - Finally it's foundation by NYC (New York Color) this foundation really surprised me, I actually got it given to me by my Auntie who had bought the wrong colour! It was slightly too dark for me but luckily I was going on holiday a few weeks later so I took it with me as a backup foundation thinking it wouldn't be that great anyway! But when I tried it I loved it! The coverage was really good and it's oil free so there was no shine or greasiness after it had been on for a few hours. The colour I also really liked, it was a really nice golden brown colour and it looked really good with my tan. It says on the NYC website that this foundation helps to control shine for up to 12 hours and I totally agree, as I said earlier my skin is really oily so most foundation make me shiny at the end of the day. This foundation is really good value at round £2.99 and is available from most Superdrug stores. 

Summer Fashion Haul.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that I'm off on holiday on the 9th of July! I'm going to Menorca with My Boyfriend and Family, I can't wait! So over the last few weeks I have been picking up some things for my holiday, I haven't actually been proper holiday shopping yet but I have got myself a few bits from various places I've been recently. 

I've been slacking a lot with posts recently because I haven't had any time at all. Today has been my only day off in a whole week so I'm glad I finally have the chance to write a new post! On my day off today I visited a new Asda which has just been built near where I live and I was surprised at their gorgeous range of 'summer clothes' so I picked up this gorgeous bandeau bikini and at £2.50 for the top and £2.50 for the bottoms you can't go wrong! I'm really into bright colored bikini's, I think they make you look more tanned! All of the popular sizes had gone in the bottoms so I had to get a size bigger, which is okay because luckily it has tie-up bottoms so I can just tie it tighter!  (Sorry the picture isn't great! It was really hard to try and get the bikini straight!) 

I am really loving pastel colour nail polishes for the summer, I think they look gorgeous and really summery! So when I went into Boots. I picked up a few of my favourite brand of nail polishes which is Barry M. I love the way they go onto your nail and they stay on for a fair amount of time before chipping. I think when I bought these they had a 2 for £5 offer on Barry M products so it was a bargain! 

From Left to Right; Lemon, Strawberry and Block Orange.

Also when I was in Boots I came across this 'Stay Straight Anti Humidity Spray' from Mark Hill's Holiday Hair range. I love Mark Hill's hair products, I always use his 'Sexy Straight' shampoo, conditioner and hair protection spray but I never new he did a holiday range. I was so excited when I came across these because I have such a nightmare with my hair on holiday as it's so thick the heat and humidity make it almost impossible for my hair to stay straight and by the end of each night it just looks a mess! There's quite a few products in this range and the price isn't too bad! These include - Sun protection spray, Shampoo, Conditioner, Beach to bar dry shampoo and hair straightening polish. They also come in travel size. Here's the link to the boots page if you'd like to get yourself any of these products; http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/EndecaSearchListerView?storeId=10052&langId=-1&catalogId=11051&stReq=1&searchTerm=mark+hill+holiday+hair&newDepSearch=&x=0&y=0#container

I only picked up the humidity spray (£6.12) but I am definitely going to be purchases the other items before my holiday!

Finally, I went to Primark really quickly a few weeks ago. It was really close to payday so I didn't really get much but I did pick up these gorgeous sandals. I can't remember how much they were but i think they were £12 which is fairly expensive for Primark but as you can see from the picture above they do have loads of detail on them and they are gorgeous! They have so many different colours on them that you could wear them with virtually any outfit! So they are also really versatile :)