Formula 10.0.6 Overnight Success Spot Minimising Patches Review

 These patches are meant to be placed on top of pimples. They contain tea tree oil, which has bacteria-killing properties. They also contain salicylic acid, which is great for reducing pimples because it opens clogged pores to get rid of the bacteria inside. The patches are meant to be left on the pimple overnight (as the name suggests).

Okay, gross confession time. I have a terrible habit of picking at blemishes. I know it's gross, I know it just aggravates the problem and introduces new bacteria and potentially worsens scarring but I just can't help it. It's almost a compulsion.

Hence, these patches are the perfect solution. I apply acne cream, and then I apply one of these bad boys on top of the pimple, and the plastic film stops my fingers from touching the pimple. Amazing, right?

Used on their own, they definitely minimise pimples but don't get rid of them entirely. The patches also tend to work better on pimple that have already popped, rather than those still coming to a head. However, with the addition of acne cream, they are obviously more effective.

As you can see from the picture, the patches are round and translucent. There are 21 patches on each sheet, and you get four sheets in each box (each individually wrapped in their own sachet). They are $7 from Priceline.

I will definitelty repurchase these and they are probably going to be a staple in my skincare routine!

Post-shower Moisturisers

In winter, there are few things I love more than a hot, steamy shower. However, all of that hot water can also lead to dry, itchy and scaly skin. This is because the heat from the shower melts the oils in the outermost layer of the skin, which are then further stripped away by soaps, scubbing, shaving and other shower routines. This is actually a good thing, because these same oils can trap dirt and bacteria, thus causing body odour.

However, left untreated, your skin will become dry and scaly. This is especially the case in the dry air of winter. Hence, the need for post-shower moisturisers! :) List below are my favourites.

Magic Essence 100% Cold Pressed Jojoba Oil

 Jojoba oil is what's known as a carrier oil, which means that you can add small amounts of essential oil to it to create a good massage oil. However, I preferred to use it on its own. It's known for being chemically similar to the skin's own natural oils, which makes it a good body moisturiser for all over. It also doesn't have much of a scent.

I bought a 100ml bottle from Magic Essence for $15, and used every day it lasted me for four months. To use it, I poured a little bit on my palms, rubbed them together to spread the product, and then rubbed it into my skin. It definitely left my skin lovely and moisturised, without a greasy residue. 

Yes to Carrots Body Butter

This one has been one of my favourite post-shower moisturisers. Pictured is an unopened tub (a repurchase); I finished my old one all up before I started using the jojoba oil.

It is labelled as a 'butter' but the texture isn't thick at all - it's more like a thick lotion. It sinks into the skin really nicely. It also contains some nice sounding ingredients, including dead sea mud and various herbal extracts. I'm not sure if that gives any added benefit to the body butter, but I love using it due to the texture and how it leaves my skin. 

Beauty Essentials (BE) Dry Skin Lotion

I am actually pretty impressed by the products in the BE range. They're Priceline's 'home brand', and their prices generally reflect that; most products are priced for under $10. That isn't reflective of their quality, however - most if not all of the products are paraben free and contain some form of fruit or herbal extract, alongside the common ingredients like sulphates and silicones. Pretty standard stuff. The packaging is also always really clear. 

Anyway, pictured above is their lotion for dry skin. This is definitely for dry skin only - I wouldn't use this anywhere prone to sweatiness, oiliness or acne. It contains mineral oil, which forms a barrier on the skin to lock moisture in. It also contains olive oil, which is moisturising but also known for blocking pores. The lotion smells nice and mild, kind of like baby powder. I have been using it on the dryer areas of my body, such as my elbows, knees and feet. It sinks nicely into the skin and leaves it feeling soft.

Dr Lewinn's Bio Care Oil

Once again, I would avoid using this anywhere prone to oiliness or acne, since it contains coconut oil, which is comodegenic. This oil has a herbal lemon kind of scent, which I am assuming is the lemon myrtle. It claims to fade stretch marks and scars. I have only just finished the whole bottle and personally haven't seen any reductions in the stretch marks around my hips and thighs (maybe this is for prevention rather than a cure), but it does leave the skin feeling smooth and moisturised. A 100ml bottle costs around $15. 

Adore Beauty - Royal Goodie Bag

I mentioned in my post about my first time ordering from Adore Beauty that I received a nifty goodie bag of samples. I thought that I would put up some pictures!

The contents of the goodie bag

Contents:

Trilogy Gentle Facial Exfoliant - 30g
Two Gatineau samples
Philosophy hand cream
Jane Iredale PureLash Eyelash conditioner
Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara - 3g

The Gatineau anti-aging products I may pass on to my Mum, since she's always keen to try out new anti-aging products.

The Philosophy hand cream is the perfect size for my handbag.

I've heard mixed review about the Benefit mascara - on one hand, it stays put without going anywhere, but on the other hand it's apparently very difficult to get off! Still, I'm open to trying it. The bottle looks really cute and lovely.

As for trilogy - this brand is known for its rosehip oil (although I've never tried it). I've actually thought about buying a new exfoliating cleanser, so this has arrived at the perfect time for me to try one out.

All in all, this was a lovely addition to my first order from Adore Beauty. I love freebies, obviously! :)

Product rave - Rosehip Oil - Kosmea and Essano (with acai berry)

I started using rosehip oil almost a year ago (July last year), which was when I started becoming more interesting in makeup and skincare in general. I've always had acne-ridden skin as a teenager, and I'd figured that the way to treat that was to keep as much oil off it as possible. Hence, the possibility of putting more oil on my face never even occurred to me.

However, as it turns out, stripping your skin of oil tends to make it produce more oil. I have combination skin, so the areas around my cheeks tend to be pretty dry. However, my T-zone was producing oil like nobody's business.

Since I've started using rosehip oil, my skin has begun to balance itself out. My T-zone still gets pretty oily, but less so than before. I've also seen a reduction in breakouts. I still get acne, but less of it, and not as much in my forehead area (which used to be an acne hotspot for me.)

Also, the drier areas of my face have become much more hydrated. Previously, it had gotten to the point where there were flaky patches of skin visible under my foundation, but while I still get dry patches - especially in winter - my face feels much more hydrated. Sometimes I put a drop of rosehip oil in my palm and dab it onto the dry parts before putting on foundation - this definitely helps!

I also have some pigmentation left from acne scarring, which rosehip oil is supposed to help fade. I haven't seen any overnight miracles on this front, and while my scar marks have faded this could just be a natural consequence of time.

So far, both of the rosehip oils I've tried have been lightweight and non-greasy. They sink into the skin easily and leave it soft and moisturised.

I apply the oil after having cleansed and toned my face. Recently, I've also started using the SK-II facial treatment essence, so my skincare routine is: cleansing > toning > SK-II > rosehip oil. Two drops is usually sufficient for my entire face, and an additional two drops for my neck and decolletage.

The Kosmea Certified Organic Rosehip Oil is different to other rosehip oils in that it is made from the whole fruit. The obvious difference is that the colour is much richer and orange than other rosehip oils which I've tried. The scent is the same - a kind of wheaty, bread-like or flaxseed type scent. It is also priced along the higher end of rosehip oils, at $25 for 20ml, and $42 for 40ml (above is the 40ml bottle).

I bought the Essano Certified Organic Rosehip oil with acai berry oil because the pink box caught my eye. I think that this is a relatively new product, because I haven't seen it in the shelves before recently. It also contains Acai Berry Antioxidant Oil, which sounded interesting. I don't know whether the acai berry has given any visible increase in benefits, but it is nice to have it in the oil. This one is $17 for 20ml.

Both bottles were dark glass to protect the oil from sunlight, but I always stored them in their box for extra protection. They also both came with droppers, which was super handy as a little of this oil goes a long way.

I don't, at this point, have brand loyalty to a particular brand of rosehip oil. I'm open to trying a bunch of different brands and seeing how well they work. The next brand I've lined up to try is Antipodes, which I picked up today from Priceline. Their Divine Facial Oil is a blend of avocado and rosehip oils, with orange and jasmine. It sounds pretty interesting, and I'm curious to see if it will work as well as straight rosehip oil.

Overall, I can't rave enough about rosehip oil. I never thought that adding oil to my skin would be the answer to my skin problems, but this has absolutely worked a treat. I would definitely recommend this to people with blemish-prone, oily-combination skin, or people with dry skin problems.

Adore Beauty

I've been saving to try out the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence for a while now, and I finally decided to order it. It was the first time I had ever bought anything from Adore Beauty, and I am very happy to say that it was a great experience. 

I have to say that I was a bit nervous purchasing such an expensive product from an online retailer. However, Adore Beauty is listed as an official stockist for many brands, including SK-II, so that allayed my fears somewhat.

I received $5 off my order using the code 5save5. As I ordered this during the Queen's birthday long weekend, I received a free goody bag containing 5 samples. Also, as my order was over $50 in value, I received two free samples. Aaaaaaand... all Australian orders from Adore Beauty receive free shipping. 

Score! 

I paid using a Paypal e-cheque, and something went a bit wrong with my order. For some reason, the order had gone through on Paypal but wasn't showing up on my Adore Beauty account page. I sent an email to their customer service to confirm that the order had gone through and they got back to me very quickly. Later on, I wanted to add the Queen's birthday goody bag to my order, but as the order wasn't showing up on their system while the Paypal e-cheque was being processed, they weren't able to add the goody bag until the Paypal e-cheque went through. 

Oh, the suspense, the nail-biting drama... Anyway, the e-cheque eventually cleared, but by then my original order had already been shipped.  However, the customer service were lovely and sent the goody bag out separately anyway. Overall, the customer service was fantastic and even though there was bit of a technical glitch, they managed to work around it. 

Everything arrived two days later packaged securely in a small cardboard box, with brown packaging paper inside to act as a cushion. And Adore Beauty also threw in an individually wrapped Tim Tam as well! I thought that was a really nice touch. :)

Overall - A+ would recommend Adore Beauty to anyone looking for an online retailer and official stockist for high end brands. 

I will post my review of the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence once I have been using it for a bit longer. :) 

Priceline 2014 Mega Skincare Goody Bag

I actually ran out of makeup remover wipes last week, and I'm also running low on sunscreen (which is a must even in winter here in Australia). However, I've been holding off on buying anything because I had a feeling that Priceline would announce their skincare goody bag soon; they always do so around mid-way through June. And lo and behold, I was right.

This year's skincare goody bag promised $340 worth of value, including products for some brands which I was keen to try, such as Antipodes and Manuka Doctor. Exciting stuff!

The bags are on sale at Priceline until Sunday 22nd of June, and to be eligible for one you need to spend $65.

Here's what I bought to be eligible for a bag:

Sukin Face Moisturiser - $8 (on sale)
Yes to Carrots Body Butter - $12 (on sale)
Swisspers Spa Facial Cleansing Wipes with Mango Extract - $5 (on sale)
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer SPF50+ Sunscreen - $12
Antipodes Divine Facial Oil - Avocado and Rosehip with Sweet Orange Rind and Jasmine - $23 (on sale)
Beauty Essentials Foam Cleanser - $3 (on sale)
Beauty Essentials Mud Mask - $3 (on sale)

... which brings us to a total of $66. Thankfully, I managed to stay within budget!

And listed below, the contents of the bag:

Group photo!

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E Intensive Relief Concentrated Cream + a sample sachet of moisturising lotion
My Mum loves Palmer's so I might pass this off to her.

Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream - 15g sample
I am excited to try this night cream - the sample is a pretty healthy size. It also contains UMF 20+ Manuka honey, which is listed in the top 5 ingredients, so that means there must be quite a bit in there, right? Hopefully this will be good for oil-control and blemishes.

- Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
This smells divine. :) But it is more of a balm than a cream, in my opinion.

- Models Prefer Black Eyeliner Pencil
Never tried this before, so I've no idea if it's any good.

- Models Prefer Cosmetics Bag
This will come in handy for storing stuff.

- Dr Lewinn's Firming Eye Cream
I've never tried this before, and I don't use much of Dr Lewinn's products in any case as it's mainly targeted at anti-aging. But I'm happy to give this a go!

- Essenzza Fuss Free Naturals - Natural Facial Cleansing Wipes with Citrus and Pineapple
This smells lovely. I use facial cleansing wipes when I'm feeling lazy, so this will definitely come in handy.

- People for Plants Mist Toner with rose otto, burdock and kakadu plum
I don't use toner as often as I probably should, but I will try and use this regularly. The ingredients sound intriguing - especially the kakadu plum, which is native to Australia. Let's see how this turns out!

- ModelCo Face Tan Hydrating Self-Tanning Gel
I will probably never use this, as I don't use self-tanning gel, and I've heard some pretty bad things on the beauty blog vine about ModelCo, which also doesn't help. Not sure what to do with it.

- Simple Eye Make-up Remover pen 
This product sounds awesome - I always mess up eyeliner, so I am looking forward to seeing if this will help me get that perfect winged look.

- Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub
This smells like orange essence - it's really quite nice. I've used this before and remember liking it.

- Biore Combination Skin Balancing Cleanser
I have combination skin, so I'm excited to see what this will do for me.

- Beauty Essentials Dry Skin Body Lotion
This seems like a good post-shower all-over moisturiser.

- Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Facial Cleanser
Sounds interesting. I've never used anything from the Neutrogena Naturals range, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

- Nivea Anti-Aging Q10 Hand Cream
I have too many hand creams, so I might pass this off to Mum.

- Derma Sukin Daily Gentle Wash 
I think this is for face and body.

- Puretopia Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub
I am actually at the tail end of finishing a bottle of this. I really like it - it's very gentle, and it doesn't leave my face feeling very tight or dry. The scent is not the most pleasant thing ever, but it's very mild so it's not too noticeable.

- Montagne Jeunesse Trial Size Dead Sea Mud Pac Mask (6g)
I love trying masks. This looks like it has enough for one use.

- Thursday Plantation Macadamia Oil
This also has lavender oil (which is what it smells like). It looks like it will be a good post-shower moisturiser. I also like the pump bottle (although I hope it doesn't get stuck or anything).

-  Suvana Organic Paw Paw and Honey Balm
Love paw paw balms, so this will come in handy - especially during the winter, as a possible night-time lip treatment.

- Avene Eau Thermale spray - 50ml
I will have to do some research to see what this is for. I've seen this product but never really understood the purpose of water in a spray can. I get that the water is supposed to be therapeutic, but there are very limited scientific studies to back up this claim. Is it a toner or something? I will have to look it up. :)

- Hope's Relief Goats Milk Oatmeal Soap-free soap bar
I love goats milk. This sounds like a really gentle and moisturising soap - good for dry winter skin.

- Yes to Carrots Lip Butter in Berry
I will probably give this to my sister, as she loves lip balms and wear them religiously... whereas with me, they tend to end up living in my various handbags for years on end.

- A chapstick
Also going to my sister.

- 3 Manuka Doctor Samples - I am really excited to try this due to the hype surrounding bee venom. Bee venom! On your face! It sounds... awesome!
    > Manuka Honey and Bee Venom Face Mask sample 7ml
    >ApiClear Skin Serum for blemishes sample - 5ml
    > ApiRefine Wrinkle Filler sample - 3ml

- a 5-pack Swisspers Cucumber Facial Cleaning Wipes
- Swisspers Natural Aloe Gentle Eye Make-up remover
- a compact mirror

And also a bunch of vouchers for various brands featured in the bag. These were mainly $5 off type deals, and most of them expire in July. I don't know whether I'll be using any of these, as I think I have enough skincare to last for, well, a while, but I might give them to someone.

This all came packed in a silver tote. I don't know if I'll get any use out of the tote, but it'll be handy to keep around anyway. It was also pretty sturdy, given that I used it to carry all of my stuff home. (So much stuff!)

I can't find my camera cord at the moment, but I once I do I will put up some pictures, just so that you can appreciate the sheer volume of stuff. Seriously, Priceline has outdone itself.  Found it!

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to trying some new products, so I will keep you posted on how that goes. :)

Here goes...

I've decided to start this blog to document my journey to finding my holy grail skincare and make up products. I buy my fair share of products, and I am always open to trying new things. In particular, I am always on the lookout for products to help acne-prone and/or combination skin, oil-control and scar marks. So, here goes...