Hello everyone.

I hope you are all keeping well?

A couple of weeks ago I was very kindly sent some exfoliating face scrub to try from Procoal London. Over the last couple of months, I have been trying to find a skincare routine to help improve the overall look and feel of my skin which, if you haven’t already read it, I wrote about here.

What I have found to be working relatively well has recently caused me to have a few break outs, possibly from hormones or stress or who knows, it might even be my skin not happy. But this is where I’m seeking new ideas to prevent it from happening so I thought I’d give Procoal London a try.

So who is Procoal London (PL)?

PL is a company started by a husband and wife duo who had a vision to create ethically-made products. They strived to create products that were created from natural ingredients (see below) and also where they have used synthetic ingredients it has a proven history of safe use and their website states it has never been tested on animals. As well as skincare products, PL also have teeth whitening kits, shampoo bars and body care products available to buy on their website.

The face scrub that I was sent to try contains four key ingredients which I will go into detail shortly, but for me I hope the face scrub helps exfoliate, cleanse and detoxify my skin in a gentle but effective way.

The activated charcoal helps to clear deep seated pores, removing pollutants to purify your complexion, whilst the Calendula oil helps to restore your skins water balance and improves moisture retention over time. The third key ingredient is pumice, this helps to gently exfoliate dead surface skin cells and unclog pores, whilst lastly, the Allantoin helps to reduce skin irritations and stimulates the growth of healthy skin tissue.

As well as cruelty-free, it is also free from parabens, SLS (Sodium lauryl sulfate), mineral oil and paraffin and is currently developed and formulated in the UK which is great for the UK economy.

I will admit that because I don’t always get on with face scrubs as I feel a lot of them can be harsh on my skin, however, my first impression of this product was how gentle it felt on my skin. After dampening my skin, it was recommended I use my fingers to apply the product in small circular movements, which I thought might be a bit messy but surprisingly it was really easy and not that messy. The colour of the product when squeezed out of the tube is a white based colour with a paste texture but has flecks of charcoal in it which mixes together when you massaging it into your skin. One thing I usually worry about, is when I remove facial products, making sure I don’t any behind as the last thing I want to do, is end up walking around all day with what could look like a dirty mark. This wasn’t the case at all, I just simply used a cloth and warm water and it came off with no fuss at all.

After using this face scrub for a couple of weeks, I must admit I have really noticed the difference. I feel my skin is a lot softer and the break out that I had described earlier has pretty much gone. I am now hoping this product is the reason behind this.

So to sum up and conclude, PL was hassle free to use and has now encouraged me to continue using it and consider trying out other PL products. Do you use facial scrubs? If so you might want to check out the PL “Activated Charcoal Exfoliating Face Scrub” if you do, let them know that you’ve tried it on my recommendation and it would be great if you could perhaps let me know how it works for you.

*This product from Procoal London was very kindly gifted to me, however all opinions about the product are my own and all results described above are purely based on my own use as I have not tried it on any member of family, although I am tempted to see if my partner would like to try it to see what results he gets compared to me.

PS, I’d be annoyed if it works better for him than it does for me.

I recently posted about my skincare routine which I will leave linked here if you would like to check it out. In that post I mentioned that having a good skincare routine helped my make up sit better on my skin and so I thought I would share with you what my current typical everyday make up looks like and show you the products that I’m currently enjoying.

I don’t always use a primer but if I’m going to be out of the house for most of the day, that is the first thing I apply. My favourite primer to use is the L’oreal “Lumi Magique primer” as it blends well into my skin and adds a glow that shows through my base make up, making me look a bit healthier. For foundation I use the Rimmel “wake me up foundation” in the shade 100 ivory and apply it with a damp beauty blender. This is a anti fatigue, skin brightening foundation that also contains vitamin C and has an spf 20 as well and I pair this with the Rimmel “wake me up brightening concealer” which I use under my eyes and pat in with my fingers.

For eyebrows, I use the Fleur De Force for Eylure “fix & colour” in the shade light followed by the Rimmel “Brow this way” styling gel because the fix part of my Fleur one has actually run out. As I’ve already brightening my skin with the first three products, I just want to add a bit of a shimmer and so I apply my MUA Luxe “Ombre 3 shade highlighter” on my cheekbones, nose and cupids bow, using a small brush to blend it out. To add a bit of colour I also apply my Rimmel “Lasting finish soft colour blush” in the shade 010 santa rose, applying this with a contour brush to get the right shape for my cheeks.

The last thing I focus on it my eye make up and I’m currently loving using my Matalan eyeshadow palette, which was such a bargain at £10! There are so many different colours to choose from and the pigmentation of the shades are amazing quality and last all day too. What colour would you use? For this particular day, I used a lighter pink shade all over my lid and then went in at the crease with the darker pink shade before blending it out with a standard blending brush. I also use the same brush to lightly colour under my eye to really make my eyes pop. To finish off the look I add my Rimmel “Waterproof wonder’full mascara with argan oil”. Not only does this lengthen and add volumn to my lashes, it also nourishes them and lasts all day too which is great.

I have been trying to experiment with the colours of eyeshadows I use so I will definitely show you some more versions soon.  Which colour do you think I should try next?

Hello everyone!

So for my first beauty post, I thought I’d go back to basics and talk you through my preferred skincare routine.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to realise that make up will look so much better if you look after your skin, what do you think? I used to think that the secret to great make up was a good primer, I’m not sure how true it was.

I believe it all begins with looking after your skin, am I correct in saying this or is it just a theory? However in the meantime what I decided to do was to visit my local beauty counter to establish what my skin was like and decided with the recommendations I got to see what would work for my skin. A few years later and whilst I’m not using the same skincare, I still know what makes my skin happy and at it’s best. Previously under the recommendation I used the Clinique 3 step programme. I decided to change because I felt it was harsh on my skin. So I now use the Garnier micellar gel wash to cleanse my skin. I find this really works into my skin and gets rid of any grime. I then want to add a bit of moisture back into my skin as its sensitive, so I apply the Clinique “all about the eyes” all around the eye area. For the rest of my face, I use The Ordinary “natural moisturising factors & HA cream” I use this because I feel it soaks better into my skin and makes it look plumper, has anyone else used this product and thought the same? I prefer this to soak into my skin for about 30 minutes before I start to apply my make up. By doing this I’ve found that my make up sits on my skin much better and also lasts longer.

In the evening, if I know I’m in for the night I take my make up off to allow my skin to breathe, also just in case I become too tired and fall asleep without removing.  I use the same branded gel wash that I use in the mornings to take off all of my make up and any dirt from the day and as mentioned I find this best for my sensitive skin. The next step I alternate between two products. The first being Alphah “liquid gold with glycolic acid” which I use every other day because it can be quite harsh to the skin, because for me I find it helps close up my pores and makes my fine lines appear reduced, (saves getting any wrinkles ladies) lol. The other product I use is Olay “7 in one night cream”  for extra moisture, as wearing make up daily dries out my skin rapidly. Every day without fail! I’ll use my Carmex lip balm because I nearly always wear a lipstick and if I don’t use a lip balm I feel it dries my lips.

I try to apply body lotion at least three times a week to make sure my skin doesn’t end up too try. One of my favourite body lotions is the Vaseline spray because it is just so quick and easy to use and soaks into the skin almost instantly.

This is currently my skincare routine. I’ve previously tried to add in so many steps and use various different products to try out on a daily basis, I just don’t have time for or I don’t find useful. This routine fits into my schedule and my skin loves it at the moment, unless a better product becomes available or you, my audience, might give me some further advise and/or tips to try!

Now I’ve given you some ideas of my routine and out of my post above I find that I can’t live without the Clinique “all about the eyes” cream.

So my question is, what is one skincare product that you couldn’t live without?