Recent Arrivals: Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel

Those of you that follow me on Instagram may have seen my recent arrivals from Cult Beauty and how flippin' excited I was to try them all out; well, I've dabbled and there's one item in particular that's standing out from the crowd and that is the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel.

I was first turned onto this product after watching Viviannadoesmakeup's Skincare Hall of Fame video and knew I just had to try it! It is everything I wanted the Omorovicza Thermal Cleansing Balm to be and if you don't know what I'm talking about, click here to get in the loop!

Photo courtesy of Cult Beauty

I've only been using this cleanser for about two weeks now so this is more a first impressions review than anything else, but so far I'm hooked! Let's just say it's replace my MAC Lightful Cleanser and you all know how much I loved that guy... So just why is this stuff so amazing you may ask? Let me break it down for you...

1. It's pink! Yup, that's actually a selling point for me.
2. It has an amazing rose and chamomile scent that is super calming, especially at the end of a hectic day.
3. It doesn't leave an oily residue like I've found certain other balm type cleansers do.
4. It has a pump! No more dipping my fingers into a tub every day, and the pump dispenses the perfect amount to cleanse the whole face without being wasteful.
5. My skin is looking more radiant than ever, even after only two weeks. And even the spots that tend to creep up at that time of the month have been held at bay.
6. It's chalk full of vitamin-y goodness and natural ingredients (Pumpkin Enzyme, Vitamin A Palmitate,Vitamins C and E,Omega 6, Magnesium and Vitamins B2 and C)
7. The price! It's £32.50 for a 150ml in comparison to £55.20 for 50 ml of the Omorovicza cleansing balm.

The only downside to this cleanser I have found so far is that you can't use it in the eye area so you've got to remove your eye make up another way, but that small inconvenience is SO worth it!

Have any of you lovelies tried this cleanser, what did you think?

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Molecule 01: Science Meets Beauty

You may remember my Top 10: Wishlist Items post from back in March where I shared my most lust-worthy items; since that post I've been gradually making my way through that list, treating myself every now and then to a more luxurious item but try as I might I could not find anyone that would ship Escentric Molecules: Molecule 01 to Canada. Imagine my surprise when I opened my birthday gift from Pete then and low and behold in that massive cardboard box filled with tissue paper there was a little black box nestled safely inside.

Eccentric Molecules: Molecule 01 has been described as being "created solely from the aroma-chemical Iso E Super, traditionally a perfume basenote that adds allure to a scent, which works as more of an effect than a fragrance. The scent has a subtle, velvety, woody note which will meld with your natural pheromones, vanish, then re-surface after some time, making it totally individual and personalised to the wearer. You will rarely smell this fragrance on yourself, Molecule 01 perfume is more about the effect it has on others." 

The concept of wearing a fragrance you can't really smell yourself is a strange one but I like to think of this perfume as more of a social experiment than anything else; I've made many friends and family try it on just I can smell it and it honestly smells so different on everyone, always warm and slightly musky but still unique.

I was wearing this to work one day and had a rather interesting reaction; one co-worker said that my perfume was a bit strong and another co-worker standing right beside her said she couldn't smell it at all, meanwhile I had clients all day complimenting me and asking what I was wearing.

All in all, this isn't a fragrance I wear every day because I do enjoy being able to smell my fragrance but I do love this so much, I'm curious how it would pair with another scent as well so I'll report back my findings on that after some experimenting! 

A Week in the Life of My Hair

So I've had a lot of people asking how I keep my chemically abused hair so soft and shiny. It's not secret; I am a dye junkie (I haven't seen my natural hair colour for over a decade...),  heat styling villain and a teaser extraordinaire and this is what I do to keep my used and abused locks looking so luscious and healthy! 

Day One...

I like to start fresh with a deep clean. I usually make my own deep cleansing shampoo concoction using two parts shampoo one part baking soda, I give my hair a good scrub making sure to really pay attention to my scalp to remove the product and oil build up from the week before. I then follow this with a hair mask- right now I'm using and loving the Klorane Desert Date Mask, which I usually let sit for 20 minutes and then rinse out.

Before blow drying I work two pumps of Charles Worthington Pro Heat Repair Milk into my hair, it protects my hair from heat styling as well as added a nice glossy shine!

Bonus Step...

Every second week I like to ramp up my mask routine a bit; since adding the purple to my hair last month my hair has become a wee bit more maintenance. The deep cleansing shampoo has a tendency to strip some of the colour out of my purpley bits so to stop them from looking disheveled I like to whip up a hair mask using the Klorane Desert Date Mask mixed in with some of my hair colour, currently I'm using Lariche Directions Hair Colour in Violet.

Day Four...

By day three or four my hair is starting to get a little bit greasy and unmanageable so instead of filling it full of dry shampoo I go for a light rinse with Macadamia Natural Oil Flawless. I find that it gently cleanses the hair without stripping it of it's natural oils so you can go a couple days longer in between shampoos. I would however mention that I only recommend using this once a week because I did try to use it twice between shampoos and it left my hair feeling a bit oily and weighed down.

Days Five through Seven...

This is when I start to bust out the dry shampoo I love my Batist Dry Shampoo, I've tried others but I always end up coming back to this one. My hair during this phase usually goes from down on day five, to a ponytail on day six and to a top knot by day seven (the girls at work have even joked that they know how many days it's been since my last shampoo just based on the way I style my hair, looks like my secret is out!)

Before bed on day seven I like to thoroughly coat my hair with Charles Worthington Overnight Ultimate Hair Healer to give it that little bit of extra love at the end of a long week.

If you don't live in the UK and would like to try out the Charles Worthington stuff this website ships worldwide!