Review | Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask

Yesterday afternoon I had my bridal makeup and hair trial (post coming soon!) which was so much fun and a seriously pampering experience! It's made me want to really kick my butt into gear and get my skin as sorted as possible for my wedding in January, and using a face mask twice a week is one of my beauty targets! I'm also going to pop to the doctor's and have them check out my chin/jawline as apparently acne here is hormonal and I'd like to make sure I don't have any underlying health issues before embarking on my clear skin routine. 

Alongside skincare I'm starting Blogilates tomorrow! It's a series of daily pilates workouts delivered online via Youtube and I'm seriously pumped to be embarking on the Beginner's Calendar tomorrow morning. Here's hoping I can handle a mere half an hour of exercise...! Don't laugh, PE was never my strong point!

Anyhoo, with skincare in mind I decided to make use of another Lush goodie this morning, Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask (£5.95, 75g) which I picked up in a haul a few weeks ago. I used this once last week and had a few reservations as a result but thought I'd give it another go and see how it fared a second time around. Unfortunately this isn't a glowing review as I've found the mask to be rather drying, which is a real shame. 

Lush market Catastrophe Cosmetic as 'a deep cleansing mask... designed for regular maintenance to keep the skin clean and clear'. Over time 'regular deep cleaning can avoid spots occurring and keep skin in top condition' (is it me or should that say 'can prevent spots occurring  Hmm. Maybe I'm being pedantic!) Packed full of soothing ingredients such as calamine, rose absolute and chamomile essential oils, softening Irish moss gel and almond oil, Catastrophe Cosmetic seems like a gentle option for sensitive skin, as recommended to me by a Lush Sales Assistant upon hearing my combination/sensitive skin woes. The main ingredient, fresh blueberries, are chock full of antioxidants designed to help rid the skin of impurities, and talc is included to draw out skin clogging nasties. 

Sounds good, right? Want to see what it looks like on?! 

Yep, super attractive photo alert! This is certainly a far cry from the gorgeous makeup I was sporting yesterday afternoon! As you can see, Catastrophe Cosmetic is a rather sludgy looking grey blue colour, with chunks of blueberry skin visible in the pot and on the face. It smells pleasantly fruity and 'natural'. Lush masks generally have to be kept in the fridge, meaning they go on super cold which I love! I guess if you're a little sensitive to the cold you could take it out of the fridge fifteen minutes or so early and leave it to warm up a little. I sort of feel like the blast of cold could help boot my skin into action but who knows?!

The mask goes on quick thick and you could easily get at least four of five generous applications from the one little tub. I like to layer on masks quite thickly so I can be sure my skin is properly covered, and with Catastrophe Cosmetic you leave it on for about ten minutes to work it's supposed magic... It soon starts to dry and after the ten minutes is up I found that most of the mask removed itself simply as a result of me making funny facial expressions! Anyone else do this when wearing a face mask?! It flaked off in clumps (sounds lovely!) and then I dabbed at the remainder with a warm muslin cloth before splashing my face with lukewarm water and drying with a towel. 

The first thing I noticed was that my skin looked a little blotchy and red in places, which I'd noticed the first time but wondered if it was because my skin was going through a really bad patch at the time. Today, however,  I noticed it was definitely blotchy and I also noticed that my chin (acne prone area) in particular felt tight and looked dry. It felt sort of scaly and dehydrated rather than soothed, which wasn't really what I was hoping for. A little corner of sensitive skin next to my left eye felt quite sore and looked noticeable redder than usual, and I had to apply two layers of moisturiser all over my face to rehydrate my skin. After using it last week blemishes didn't feel soothed and they didn't appear particularly calmer either on the day or on the days afterwards. 

I really tend to stay away from masks that leaving any sort of drying effect on my skin as the last thing I need is for my skin to over compensate with bucket loads of extra oil. Having used this last week I didn't see a reduction in the severity of existing spots and it did make my skin feel quite uncomfortable on both occasions, unfortunately. Perhaps it's the inclusion of talc? I'm sure I've heard that talc can be quite drying. 

I'm quite dismayed, especially as the Sales Assistant in Lush was convinced that this would be the right mask for me as it aims to soothe skin while fighting blemishes, but alas, it just isn't right for me after all. I've read lots of great reviews from fellow sensitive skin bloggers so maybe I'm just unlucky in my experiences. 

It hasn't put me off trying other Lush masks as I've used and loved Mask of Magnaminty regularly in the past and found it excellent at tackling troublesome spots and blemishes, although it's a little too harsh for the rest of my face. I'd really like to try Oatifix for dry skin and Cosmetic Warrior for acne prone areas. I just won't be repurchasing Catastrophe Cosmetic as it seems to be doing a more harm than good. 

Have you tried Lush face masks? Which one is your favourite? Or perhaps you have a favourite mask from a different brand? I'd love some recommendations!

Baci e abbracci,

                                                       

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram

Disappointing Products | Skincare

I rather enjoyed writing my Disappointing Products | Makeup post so thought I'd write a skincare post to go with it. First things first, though. Skincare is extremely personal and individual, and I'm in no way suggesting that the products that didn't work for me won't work for you. By all means go ahead and give them a go, experiment, find out what works for you! I have particularly tricky skin that acts all sorts of crazy on a daily basis so this post is very much based on my personal experiences. I have a rather marvelous blend of acne, dermatitis, shine, and sensitivity to deal with, so it's probably no wonder I can't use some of the products others seem to love! *violins* 

L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution £4.99

The micellar craze is still going strong it seems! Until picking up L'Oreal's Micellar Solution I'd been using B's offering available at Superdrug which I really liked. I thought I'd give L'Oreal's offering a go, seeing as it claims to 'act as a purifying magnet on skin's surface to capture and draw out excess oil and impurities'. Sounds good, right? I have quite a few blemishes most days so I like anything that helps unclog my pores and freshen my skin. I'm a big fan of double cleansing, so I usually use a water followed by a hot cloth cleanser. 

While L'Oreal Micellar Solution did make my skin feel soft and cleansed, and therefore worked well initially as a pre-cleanser, it brought me out in even more spots. As in, a sudden face full of spots, all over, that refused to budge. The horror! I gave the bottle the benefit of the doubt and used it again a couple of times but the same thing happened. I noticed on Twitter that someone mentioned this might contain mineral oil and that this could be the culprit? Either way I've relegated this to eye makeup removal only as it was doing more harm than good!

Super Facialist by Una Brennan Tea Flower Deep Clean Pore Purifying Clay Mask £8.99

It seems this mask is something of a favourite among other bloggers BUT I just couldn't get on board with it, mainly because it smells like hair removal cream. You know, the stuff you smother all over your legs to defuzz... It starts off smelling OK but after a few minutes the scent becomes unbearable and I just couldn't get used to it no matter how many times I tried (about four, in case you're super curious!) Maybe I have a super sensitive nose?! I haven't heard anyone else complain about this so it could be that my sense of smell is a little cray cray. I just couldn't stomach the stench. 

Pore Purifying Clay Mask contains Salicylic Acid and Dead Sea mud for deep cleansing and oil absorbing, as well as soothing Avocado and Acacia Honey to rebalance and refresh the skin. Unfortunately though, I didn't really find this did much for my complexion. My chin still looked pretty congested afterwards and my skin didn't really feel soothed or 'rebalanced'. I feel a little confused writing this review as I know so many other people love it! Sadly it just didn't work for me. 

Elemis Freshskin Skin Clear Purifying Face Wash (£11.99) & Mattifying Moisturiser (£19.99)

I'm always on the lookout for products that promise to tackle problem skin as it seems as soon as I've successfully blitzed one blemish another one appears! I spotted these lovely blue and white goodies in Superdrug and finally picked them up when they were on offer as I can't resist a bargain! The Purifying Face Wash contains 'Vitamin A, zinc and botanical actives from iris and white willow bark', which aim to 'balance and purify'. It has a really pleasant minty citrus scent which I instantly loved, but unfortunately my skin proved a little too sensitive for this. I didn't really find it to be very 'creamy' and unfortunately it left my skin looking quite dull and dry. The Mattifying Moisturiser also has a nice refreshing scent and it applies very smoothly, sinking in quickly. Unfortunately, though, my skin felt quite sensitive afterwards and dry patches in particular appeared quite red and irritated. 

I felt quite deflated with these purchases, especially considering the price tag... BUT all is not lost! My fiance absolutely loves these and uses them all the time (maybe it's the blue packaging?!) He doesn't have sensitive skin and he finds both products give a great clean feeling without stripping the skin of moisture. I was very fortunate in that Elemis contacted me to ask for feedback after I had tweeted about my experiences, and they offered to send me some products better suited to my sensitive skin which I'm in the process of testing out. So far, so very, very good! I guess this is a lesson to really take your skin type into account when shopping for skincare products. I probably should have gone for something slightly gentler and aimed at sensitive skin, but it's so tempting when you have blemishes to reach for the strongest products available! 

Garnier 5 Sec Perfect Blur £12.99

I purchased this during my 'when I am ever going to find a decent primer?' phase (concluded by the discovery of Revlon Photoready primer, which is brilliant!) and instantly regretted it. I know this little pink tube has a legion of fans, but it really didn't work on my sensitive, oily, combination skin. Firstly, it felt quite silicone-y and I detest primers that feel like plastic... Which is unfortunate as most of the high street ones tend to. I didn't see a difference in the appearance of my skin at all once applied other than a slight mattifying effect, but this didn't last long and my makeup slid off my face after only a few hours. Majorly disappointed in this *sad face* Perhaps it's just not suited to my skin type, and it does seem that anti-aging is it's main angle so alas I may have simply picked something inappropriate for my needs. It's quite expensive at £12.99 so definitely give it a good swatch if you can before purchasing, just to be sure it works for your skin type. 

Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips 

These are admittedly really fun to use! You simply dampen your nose and stick one of the pore strips on, wait for the paper to dry and peel off gently after ten minutes or so. They have a refreshing medicinal tea tree scent that I love, but when I peeled off the first strip absolutely nothing had been removed from my nose. Not one single dot of dirt. My pores still looked clogged and there wasn't a reduction in blackheads. Major fail. I figured I might have somehow gone through the steps incorrectly, so I tried again a week later... But still, nothing. While these are fun to use and while they smell great, they did pretty much nothing at all for my skin. For £7.99 I expected a lot more and while I'll use up my pack just for the fun of walking around with a huge pore strip on my nose (only me?!) I won't be repurchasing anytime soon.

I'm penning a special skincare tag post this week so have no fear, a positive skincare haul is on its way soon! It's not all doom and gloom ;) 

Have you tried any of the above products? Have you used certain skincare products only to be disappointed? I'd love to hear your stories! 

Baci e abbracci, 
        

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram

Review | Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz

Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz

I don't often use toner as I'm prone to being a little lazy (!) but when I do I like to use one that soothes and refreshes my skin. Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz (£4.99 for 150ml at Boots) does just that, as well as delivering a relaxing dose of sweet smelling rose to help lift my mood. Rose is used in aromatherapy to soothe, relax and uplift and this spritz is a lovely way of adding a touch of aromatherapy to my everyday skincare routine! 

Containing 'refreshing rosewater' and made from 100% organic ingredients, Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz promises to be gentle on the skin, designed to 'delicately cleanse and tone'. Through their collaboration with the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, Botanics 'beauty scientists' are able to use approved active plant ingredients to 'bring you beautiful skincare that's proven to work'. The Toning Spritz aims to 'tighten pores and remove the last traces of makeup' when used after cleansing, resulting in 'smoother, fresher' skin. 

Quite impressive claims! Luckily, I've found it to deliver on its promises- phew! After using a gentle refreshing face wash in the morning and after hot cloth cleansing in the evening, I spray three or four spritzes of this on to my face, allowing it to sink in a little before gently dabbing away any excess with a cotton wool pad. I also use it on my eyes to remove any last traces of makeup and as it's gentle it doesn't sting or irritate at all. 

From what I can remember Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz used to come in an ordinary non-spray bottle before Botanics re-branded within the last year or so, and I much prefer having the spray nozzle. It adds a little something extra! At first, admittedly, I found it a little strange spraying something all over my face as my initial reaction is to scrunch up my eyes and hold my breath! I think this is probably because I've never particularly liked dunking my head under water (I'm not a huge fan of swimming!) and so it sort of triggers a reflex reaction! I've gradually gotten used to it though, and it's especially brilliant in hot weather as the cold spritz instantly cools me down. 

My skin feels noticeably softer and less irritated than usual after I use this, and the dry patches that often like to make an appearance on my chin and cheeks have become much more settled and soothed. Every last smidgen of makeup is removed and I no longer wake up with panda eyes in the morning- hooray! I'm not so sure about pores being tightened, but I don't really have noticeably large pores so perhaps I'm not the best person to judge! I can say, however, that this is a real treat to use and the beautiful natural rose scent makes it smell far more expensive than it is! 

I've been making an effort in recent weeks to follow a regular skincare routine, and having used this twice daily for the past week I can confirm that it is fast becoming a facial staple. I've also noticed that due to the uplifting and calming qualities of rose, a little spritz of this can really help calm me down if I'm feeling anxious or panicky. For me, that makes it even more of a wonderful addition to my skincare routine. Aromatherapy from a drugstore own brand at such a reasonable price? It's a thumbs up from me!

Browse Boots Botanics here

Baci e abbracci, 

        

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram