At Home Facial: Skin Pampering While You Study

Sorry for the quiet spell on the blog last week but I'm still learning how to be a student again! How do people balance work, school and the rest of life?! But I've snuck away from my text book, made a hot chocolate (there may be more than a smidge of Bailey's in it...) and curled up with my lap top to bring you this weeks addition of shenanigans.

While time is short I've had to figure out how to keep my skin from showing all the long nights and early mornings of late, but who has time for a proper facial these days, certainly not me, I'm lucky if I find the time to brush my hair and clean my teeth these days. So here is my at home facial that I do while studying, but any of you lovelies with a busy life can put this routine to use!

Step 1. Remove any make up.

I am currently on the last legs of my Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil that you may have seen in my Evening skin care routine post, but this is a quick and easy way to remove your make up from the day. I then use Bioderma Sensibio Micelle Solution to make sure every last stitch of make up and grime is gone!

Step 2. Clay Mask Time!

Any time I put this mask on I feel slightly racist, can anyone say black face? Awkward social aspects aside, Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask is seriously the bomb, it draws all the gunk from the week out of my skin; that being said it can sometimes result in little blemishes so I tend to do this mask a day or two before my day off from work so that if I get a blemish I can treat it with B. Kamins Blemish Gel and be back to work and no one is any the wiser! While this mask is drying hit the textbooks for the next 20-30 minutes!

Step 3. Cleanse, Cleanse and then Cleanse Some More...

Using a warm damp muslin cloth, gently remove the charcoal mask and then massage a generous amount of Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel (which is so amazing it got its very own post right here!) into the skin. Next comes my favourite part: Clarisonic time!

Step 4. Another Mask? Another Mask!

 Collagen sheet masks were my gateway drug to all other skin care, let's be honest. This is where I pop on a sheet mask, what I use varies from week to week depending on my skin needs for that week, for some of my favourites check out this post. Once I've popped on one of these bad boys I usually return to my desk to study for the next 45 minutes- 1 hour while my skin absorbs all the serum-y goodness.

After the full face sheet mask I like to use a separate eye mask (all these late nights of memorizing are no friend to my already shady under eyes!) and let that guy buck while I study; I found the bit that goes on top of my eye irritated my sensitive eyes so I trimmed it so that it fits the under eye and outer corner only and I can leave these guys on until they dry out now. 

Step 5. Concentrated Goodness

Here is where the serums come in; two drops of Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Serum and two drops of Tarte's Maracuja Oil patted into the skin and then BACK TO THE BOOKS!

Step 6. Lock It All In

Alright, so you've made it through an evening of studying and now it's bed time, but you can't let all your hard work go to waste, you got to lock that stuff down! Instead of slapping a thick night cream on I like to use a sleeping pack; equally hydrating but light weight and enhances all the goodness we've spent the last couple hours infusing our skin with. And don't forget your trusty night cream!

Any of you lovelies have any good tips for studying? Or juggling school, life and work? Let's here them!

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Monthly Favourites: May 2014

May was a whirlwind of a month over here at Facepalm base (aka the comfy overstuffed couch in my living room); this month I returned to school after a five year hiatus - I do not remembering being a student being so difficult! How do normal people juggle work, school and having a social life?! With that being said there's been some awesome discoveries this month, particularly in the skin care department!

Fragrance

Molecule 01 by Escentric Molecules. I got it! I finally got it! If you don't know what I'm so excited about you clearly haven't read this post yet! Pete, my amazing boyfriend got this for me as a birthday gift and I have been wearing it non-stop since. It's a really unique fragrance, more of a social experiment than a perfume but it layers amazingly with all of my other fragrances.

During a recent trip to Sephora with a girlfriend she was adamant that a smell a little rollerball from a company I'd never heard of and never given a second glance to before but holy hell am I glad she was so adamant! Vanille Coco by Comptoir Sud Pacifique is AMAZING! Seriously guys, it's like vanilla sugar and coconut had a baby; a sexy. sexy baby. The only was I can explain this fragrance without getting a little too risqué is to say it's like a romp through your wildest fantasies. With a shirtless Ryan Gosling by your side...

Skincare

Between work and school work I've had a hard time unwinding at the end of the day but Aromatherapy Associates Relax Body and Massage Oil has definitely been helping with this. I make my self a nice hot cuppa and slather my body in this wonderfully relaxing oil and curl up with a book (or Netflix if my brain is fried post studying) and have a little me time at the end of a hectic day.

Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel has been my saviour this month, I wrote a review on it here so I won't go too much into detail but I love it so much I've added the Oskia Renaissance Mask and Oskia Micro Exfoliating Balm to my Cult Beauty wishlist!

Lavanille's The Healthy Deodorant; armpits have skin so this is part of skincare, right?! I know like it seems like a bit of a random thing to have in my monthly favourites but this stuff is seriously awesome. I'm not really a sweaty person so I steer clear of antiperspirants (also, the thought of something stopping my body from what it is designed to naturally do kinda freaks me out) and this deodorant has filled the void in my underarms life. My armpits are super soft and wonderfully scented now, just in case you were wondering!

With all of the late night studying sessions and early mornings for work I figured it was time to pull double duty; I've been applying My Beauty Diary Dark Circles Intensive Eye Care Masks in the evenings and leaving them on while I study and so far the lack of sleep hasn't been showing in the mornings!

Bits and Bobs

Life: My birthday was on May 1st and I had a week full of celebrations with friends and family including dinner with my closest friends at my favourite local vegetarian restaurant Padmanadi's and a super cute Betsey Johnson watch from my mother!

Tea of the Month: Pomegranate & Acai Berry Tea Lemonade (mix 1/3 cup lemon juice with 6 cups of brewed Pomegranate Rooibos & Acai Berry Tea by The English Tea Company, sweetened to taste and served over ice) 

Book of the Month: This will probably be my last book of the month for a while as reading for pleasure is quickly becoming a thing of the past unfortunately. This month I re-read an old favourite that I read annually; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, no matter how many times I've read it I always find myself completely engrossed and moved by the book.

Netflix Obession of the Month: North & South, I binged watched this mini-series not once, not twice but THREE times during this month it was so good. I won't go into too much details as not to ruin anything but let's just say it's yet another British period drama and if you like Austen you'll love this romance filled mini-series.

Blogger/Vlogger of the Month: So my blogger/vlogger of the month is usually a beauty account but I recently stumbled upon SmarterEveryDay on YouTube and I'm hooked! Destin from SmarterEveryDay takes scientific principles that are usually quite dry and hard to understand and makes them easy and interesting (see: slow motion cats and How Houdini died)

Monthly Dose of Crazy Dog Lady:

I've been informed that for being the crazy dog lady that I am my mutts never seem to make it on the blog; so the newest addition to monthly favourites is the best dog photos of the month!

Meet the Mutts: Joe is my big boy, he is a 3 year old Rottie X that I adopted from Second Chance Animal Rescue Society back in July of 2011 and Reece is my little trouble maker. She is a 2 year old Pitbull X that first came to me as an emergency foster  back in October of 2012 while I was fostering dogs for Whitecourt Homeless Animal Rescue Foundation, her and Joe bonded immediately. She had Parvo and got really sick and spent awhile at the vet trying to fight the deadly virus off. Joe paced listlessly while she was gone; when she came home, she never left again.

What have you lovelies been loving this month?

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In Flight Pamper Session

Being in a long distance relationship means you are usually subjected to long haul flights more often than most and anyone that flies knows how much of a toll the recirculated cabin air can take on your skin and hair if you're stuck in your seat for hours on end. Since there's not much else you can do on a plane aside from back to back movie marathons you might as well make that time work for you and get some good quality pampering in!

I always like to have a good quality face wipe on hand to refresh myself when I'm feeling tired and grimy from 8+ hours of traveling. I've tried several brands and the First Aid Beauty Gentle Cleansing Wipes get my vote! They're gentle enough you can use them to remove eye make up but they're still strong enough to get off that mascara and liner; I also keep a pack in my gym bag for a quick refresh after a good work out!

I am all about serums and facial oils especially when things are getting dry but liquids can be a tricky thing to take in cabin so LUSH's Full of Grace is the perfect product for the job; a solid moisturizing bar that melts when warmed between your palms and can then be massaged into you skin to add a quick punch of easily absorbed moisture to your parched face. I also take a little chunk of Fresh Farmacy Cleanser that way near the end of the flight I can just nip to the toilet and give my face a proper wash; just lather the warm, massage your face and then use a muslin cloth to remove so that you don't have to worry about trying to wash your face in a teeny airplane loo.

If it's a long haul flight I like to do as much pampering as possible to make the time fly by I usually have some of my My Beauty Diary Dark Circles Eye Masks in my bag that I can pop on for a couple minutes because let's face it, no one looks well rested after 8+ hours of flying. I usually have my sleep mask handy that I can slide down over the masks so I don't look like a major weirdo and I'll usually listen to music and just relax for 15 minutes or so while these bad boys do their job.

After I remove the eye masks I massage any extra serum left on my skin into my ocular bone and add a little bit of the Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado to keep the delicate eye skin hydrated for the long haul; when using this I found the best way to apply is to pick up a TINY bit with your ring finger and massage it between your two rings fingers for a couple seconds first to warm it up and then tap it into the ocular bone as opposed to rubbing it, works like a dream!

I mix up my own leave-in hair treatment for the flight using 1 vial of Difiaba Luminessence Hydrating Serum mixed with equal parts of water in a travel sized spray bottle and just mist it through my ends to keep my hair from drying out. I love the Difiaba serum as it smells wonderful and leaves my hair shiny and hydrated.

The last step before I struggle for the rest of the flight trying to sleep (before eventually giving up and reading for the next several hours) is to add an overnight hydrating mask; I love Glam Glow's Thirsty Mud for this purpose because it smells amazing and when I rinse my face in the morning my skin looks like I never stepped foot on an airplane! I usually decant a little bit of this into a sample cup so that I don't have to faff about with the big pot of it in my carry on.

Clearly I use my flights as an excuse to get in some much needed pampering, I find it makes the flights go by faster and I feel relaxed and refreshed when I step off the plane, even if I didn't get a wink of sleep!

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