Category: Acne & Skincare Reviews

I had adult acne for nearly 6 years in my early 20s and still have spot prone skin. As a result finding effective, reliable, affordable skincare is very important to me hence sharing honest, in-depth reviews.

Is It Worth It? Elemis Superfood Midnight Facial Nourishing Sleep Cream Review – Used On Spot & Acne Prone Skin

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It’s no secret that I adore the Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm. Since discovering the iconic balm I have deal stacked and bargain hunted to the best of my ability to keep it in my life constantly. Question is, does the Superfood Midnight Facial live up to this too?

This product was kindly gifted to me with no obligation and truthfully I wasn’t sure what to expect as I really didn’t enjoy the cleansing balm from the Elemis Superfood range.

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Elemis Superfood Midnight Facial Nourishing Sleep Cream – RRP £46 for 50ml

When a friend told me to get this open ASAP in the winter time I was initially doubtful and didn’t think I’d like this much. Not because I didn’t trust her judgement but because we have very different skin types. Where mine is combination and spot prone, hers leans towards dry. I didn’t think for a minute we would agree on loving a moisturiser. This does say suitable for all skin types, which usually makes me roll my eyes as acne prone skin is remarkably different to dry skin but I’m letting that slide in this instance.

Once again I’m almost a bit annoyed at how much I like this product because of its higher, more luxury price tag. Silly things that I love about this product before even fully using it include the packaging. I think the bright pink jar looks delightful and I will absolutely be upcycling it. I also found myself really enjoying the jar format more than having to squeeze out a tube. I could totally empty this product with no trace it was ever full with ease.

The moisturiser is a beautiful thick gel texture. Gel moisturisers are absolutely my preference as someone with combination skin. This product feels refreshing to apply and it absolutely provides nourishment and hydration without feeling heavy or sticky. The product does have a sweet, borderline fruity smell. I am shocking at describing scents but I would say this almost evokes posh sweets for me, almost like elegant Love Hearts or Refreshers!

I didn’t experience any issues at all with breakouts or irritation when using this. I was a little concerned that the gentle, but notable fragrance would annoy my spot prone skin but it didn’t at all.

All told this has been a wonderful experience to use and I would gladly use it again. I wouldn’t be against using this in the summertime but think this would be more of a Spring, Autumn and Winter product for me. I’m really pleased I have 2 15ml mini tubes of this in my stash and will be keeping an eye out for discounts and beauty boxes to get myself another jar of this in the future.

Elemis have kindly given me a 20% off code for their website – ELEMIS202DR8

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My High End Beauty Favourites – A Review Of Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm – Used On Spot, & Acne Prone Skin

I’d seen this product get a lot of hype online for being a cult favourite. I’ve tried quite a few cleansing balms, but higher end and more budget options, and found that regardless of price that the £13.99 cleansing balm from JunoCo was the best. For me it topped Heimish, Farmacy Green Clean and several…

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Review Of The Marks & Spencer Pure Ultimate Cleanse Rose Cleansing Balm. Is It An Affordable Alternative Dupe To The Iconic Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm?

I fell in love with the Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm at the start of this year. Since then I’ve bargain hunter and deal stacked my way to adding another 2 tubs to my beauty collection as I do not want to be without it. My only gripe is that Elemis isn’t cheap, but given…

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The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter Review Of The Balm Make Up Remover – Used On Acne Prone, Combination Skin

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I first tried a mini of this product a couple of years back after picking one up for free with my £5 birthday voucher for being a member of their loyalty club. I recall it being a positive experience to use, several product attempts later and I found myself using my birthday voucher this year towards the full size product.

Things I Love About The Product

I think the price (correct at time of publishing) of £12 for 90ml is great. There are lots of cleansing balms available from high street drug stores priced at around £10 and whilst they initially seem affordable their price per 100ml or 100g is much higher than this option from The Body Shop.

As well as being more affordable overall than some drug store products because this is from The Body Shop there are more environmental benefits. I love that the packaging is made from aluminium as this is infinitely recyclable, the tins are actually really handy to purpose for storing items like jewellery and hair accessories. Other cleansing balms I’ve purchased previously have come in shrink wrapped boxes with additional spatulas and I’ve found it all rather unnecessary. I like the simplicity of The Body Shop packaging. The product contains Community Fairtrade Shea Butter which ensures the workers making the shea butter are fairly paid, and The Body Shop ensure local community projects are invested in such as healthcare, education and sanitation projects.

My Experience Using The Product

The Camomile Cleansing Butter has a gentle, fresh, floral scent. It is noticeable but by no means overpowering. I prefer cleansing balms to have some scent to them. I often get bored of cleansing balms that are virtually scent free, even if they do an excellent job of removing make up I tend to find them rather forgettable. The more I used this the more I found the subtle scent to be a little uninspiring, I wouldn’t go so far as to say boring, but then I am used to rich, indulgent scents like the Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm and the M&S Pure Rose Balm.

Another win for the packaging. Some balms I’ve used in the past have an inner lid which a spatula sits off that you either have to lift out, or up if there’s a hinge and it can be a bit of a faff. I like the simplicity of this, untwist lid, use, replace.

The product is very effective at removing makeup whilst being gentle on the skin. I found it melted down onto skin incredibly easily. When scooping it out of the tub it didn’t feel as smooth as some other cleansing balms I’ve used in the past but once its on the face it feels lovely. It isn’t a million miles away from the textures of the B By Superdrug Cleansing Balm or the Elf Holy Hydration Balm. Just a bit more firm to scoop out.

It works well, the packaging is great, the scent is pleasant. For me it just doesn’t feel super memorable. I wish I’d got my hands on their limited edition version which came out in 2023 for a brief time as this has a stronger scent which may have helped keep this more in mind for me.

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My Favourite Skincare Finds of 2023 Review – SPF 50 – Eucerin Oil Control, Heimish Artless Glow Base, Heliocare Oil Free Gel

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It will come as no surprise that Eucerin’s Oil Control SPF50 remains top of my SPF list as it has done for I think 3 years now. The other two products were new to me this year. One I opened and initially wasn’t sure about but I keep clinging onto it, refusing to empty it which proves to me I really like the product as I don’t want it to end. Let’s review these SPF highlights, all of which I’d happily use again.

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Eucerin Oil Control SPF50 – RRP £16 for 50ml

This product often features on Boots £10 Tuesday, particularly in sunnier weather so I’ve used these offers over the years to stock up. I think it is priced reasonably and the non greasy texture which doesn’t cause my skin to break out makes wearing SPF every day super easy. I really like the packaging and texture of the product. It is like a lightweight cream. I’m really not a fan of liquid, runny SPFs as I find them a huge mess to apply. This does provide a subtle mattifying effect without making skin look unhealthy and dead. I can’t comment on white cast as I am incredible pale. I’ve lost count of the number of bottles of this product I’ve used. My only criticism if forced to find one is that it is hard to know when a bottle is about to empty.

Heimish Artless Glow SPF50 – £19 for 40ml via Sephora (but as low as £11 from sites like Yes Style or Stylevana)

Until perhaps the latter third of 2023 I’ve always been a mattifying product person. I blame years of acne skincare and thinking my forehead looked like a shiny beacon. I’d heard brilliant things about this product and was curious so when Heimish kindly offered me the opportunity to select a product to try with no obligation to publish on my blog I opted for this one. At first the glow was such a shock to me, like looking in the mirror and not recognising yourself, that I wasn’t wholly convinced. But the more I got used to it, the more I grew to love the product and now I just can’t bring myself to empty the tube. This provides a subtle, healthy looking glow without making me look oily or shiny. It looks beautiful underneath light makeup, I think it gives my skin that almost lit from within look. The texture is a light cream. I don’t find this greasy on my face, although I will say the Eucerin product has more of a dry touch finish. It does have a scent to it, I’ve seen others describe it as rose-like but as someone who hates roses but still likes this product that isn’t it for me. I’d describe it as almost sweet and perhaps a touch floral but it isn’t overpowering.

Eucerin Oil Control has been with me since 2021 – I prefer it over the cult La Roche Posay Anthelios

Heliocare 360 Gel Oil Free SPF50 – RRP £31 for 50ml

I’d heard amazing things about Heliocare SPF on Instagram so I was really excited when I was gifted some products to explore with no obligation. Much like the Heimish product this has a light cream texture that is almost runny but not at all messy to apply which I like. This comes out of the tube with a pale peach colour which initially I was concerned would show up on my very pale skin but it doesn’t. The colour of it doesn’t provide any tinted coverage either which I prefer as most of the time products like this make me look slightly orange. It has a fruity scent which I really like and it applies well on top of other skincare products once sufficient time has been allowed between routine steps. It isn’t as mattifying as the Eucerin product but it has a similar dry touch feeling once rubbed in. Another really lovely, easy to wear product.

Code: FSFARD gives 10% off Heliocare’s website

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My Favourite Skincare & Beauty Finds 2023 Review – Heimish Matcha Biome Oil Free Gel Calming Moisturiser & Tolpa Sebio Anti Blackhead Enzymatic Cream

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One thing I’ve learnt in the last 18 months is Heimish make some incredible gel moisturisers. Last year I crowned their Watermelon Gel Cream as one of my hero products of the year and vowed never to buy Clinique Moisture Surge again as it was equally as good, if not better, and a fraction of the price for a whopping 100ml tub. What can I say other than Heimish have done it again with this stunning Matcha Biome Gel Cream. Tolpa also feature in this post with their beautiful gel moisturiser. I bought my first bottle on clearance from Lloyds Pharmacy online earlier in 2023 and the product was so memorable that I’ve included it in this annual highlight series. If I’m being brutally honest quite a few products I try, whilst they’re nice, end up being a bit forgettable so I love it when a product jumps out at me quickly when I think back over the skincare I’ve used through the year.

Heimish Matcha Biome Gel Cream – At time of publishing £9.19 via Stylevana for 100ml.

Before I jump into all the reasons I love this product, which was received as PR with no obligation for transparency, can we please take a moment for the price. Even around the £20 which I’ve seen this for when not on promotion it is incredible value for money as the tube is a huge 100ml. Most standard moisturisers these days are around 30ml so it is over 3 times that, without the accompanying price tag.

I love the fresh, lightweight, non sticky texture of this. It felt like an absolute dream to apply. It didn’t cause my combination, spot prone skin to break out and provided enough hydration that my skin was very happy. I’d absolutely buy this again in a heartbeat. I think the only plus this product has for me over their Watermelon Gel Cream is the packaging as I prefer a tube format. But I’d happily use both again, especially in the summer.

For transparency both of these Heimish product were gifted with no obligation to publish on my blog

Tolpa Derma Face Sebio Anti Blackhead Enzymatic Cream – £9.99 for 40ml

I’m so pleased this year that the vast majority of my skincare favourites of 2023 fall under the £15 mark as it makes it that much easier for me to justify repurchasing them. I loved the experience of using this Tolpa product. The packaging is an aluminium tube which is infinitely recyclable. The moisturiser is another beautifully, silky gel texture but unlike the Heimish product this had a scent which I’d describe as fruity, tropical and fresh. It wasn’t overpowering or off putting and I really liked it. I can’t definitively say that I noticed any particular great improvements to blackheads but it helped to maintain clearer skin and felt beautiful to use. Another product that I look forward to using again.

Products that were close to making the cut but didn’t include Weleda Skin Food Light. I adore the scent of Weleda products but discovered I actually prefer to use this on eczema prone areas of my body rather than my face unless it is incredibly dry which doesn’t happen often at all. In December 2023 I opened the Elemis Superfood Midnight Facial which feels beautiful but is too new to me for me to confidently include it here.

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An Affordable Dupe For Clinique Moisture Surge? Heimish Watermelon Moisture Gel Soothing Cream Review – On Combination Acne Prone Skin

For transparency this product was gifted but I wasn’t obligated to share this blog post. I genuinely didn’t expect to like this product anywhere near as much as I do. When Heimish reached out to offer me the opportunity to try 3 of their products of my choice I almost didn’t pick this one. In…

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My Favourite Moisturisers For Every Occasion – Winter, Summer, Breakouts & Dry Skin – Heimish Gel Cream, REN Evercalm Day Cream, Cetaphil Rich Night Cream, La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo

I dealt with adult acne for the best part of 5-6 years. In 2020 after years of being too scared to experiment with skincare in case it made things worse, along came another acne prescription which led me to completely changing up my skincare routine. From here on out I’ve loved trying new products and…

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Rate Or Hate? A Review Of The Moisturisers Tried In 2021 – Acne Prone Combination Skin – La Roche Posay, Avene, REN, Emma Hardie, Peace Out

Onto the next category in my 2021 round up of all the skincare I tried this year. Throughout this year my goals have changed to have an even stronger focus on reducing environmental impact which does play a part in my reviews. 2020 Rate or Hate? Reviews Of Moisturisers I Tried In 2020 For Acne…

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