In April I've Loved...

Along with the banana, strawberries, honey and lemon smoothies I'm getting into the habit to drink every afternoon, these are the things that I've loved in April...

Beauty.

Yummy Mummy Shower Gel & Body Conditioner ℅ Lush.

My skin has been so sensitive, itchy and problematic that I'm blessing the existence of gentle natural body products, the only ones I can actually put on my skin nowadays! My favourite shower combination of the moment comes under the name of Yummy Mummy, in both shower gel and body conditioner form: the range is available now at Lush exclusively for Mother's Day, and I can't think of a better gift to give to a mum! The scent is sweet and floral with geranium and orange notes, the shower gel has some pretty silver glitters in there (which doesn't stick to the skin, but shine while you're foaming it up on your body) and the body conditioner contains organic cocoa butter which makes it such a good moisturizer without feeling sticky or thick on the skin. I probably need to stock on these two before they're gone!

Garnier Micellar Water - Natural Organic Deodorant ℅ Earth Conscious.

I've always been such a fan of Bioderma that I wasn't able to think of switching it up with something different one day. I haven't changed the typology of the product at all, but one day, in desperate need of a makeup remover that was a bit cheaper than my usual choice, I picked up the Garnier alternative - this is how I got to cynically try the Garnier micellar water to discover it's actually a valid alternative to other expensive offerings. It's as gentle as Bioderma and as good to remove my makeup (even though I'll always be partial to my beloved Bioderma, you know!).

As I said, my skin is being very dull and problematic over all my body, so it came the day when I stopped using all those alcoholic deodorant that were just a torture to me and got back to my Natural Organic Deodorant by Earth Conscious. It smells like lavender and comes in a creamy consistency that is extremely easy to apply. It doesn't last as long as other non-natural deodorants, but it doesn't ever cause itchiness or redness on my skin, which is a huge bonus!

Style.

ASOS JOB ON Lace Up Leather Shoes.

I remember featuring these shoes in my first spring wishlist this year: I've spotted them months ago and kept my eyes on them ever since, until they went on sale and I received a 10% off coupon via email - it was meant to be. Not only they turned out to be the cutest shoes I own, but also the comfiest softest pair I could ever wish for! They're made of soft real leather, and there's something about the colours that make them perfect to be paired with any spring outfit really!

Home.

IKEA 365+ Glasses & Coasters.

Since the day I've spotted and bought this glass set, I've been obsessed: they even inspired a couple of DIY projects, but not only that, they're also super pretty to drink coffee or smoothies in! I love the simplicity of the clear glass and the cork coaster combination, so much that I have a feeling I'll be adding more similar homeware to the collection!

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These are my favourites for the month of April! I'd love to discover new things in the next month, so let me know what you've loved this month! x

Get a tan :: a guide!

With the weather starting to be nicer and warmer, the occasion to go out bare legs start to be more frequent, even for one that wears tights as long as she can. If some of you are as pale as I am, you'll understand how revolutionary was to me to introduce self tanners in my life, and if one thing is for sure is that, starting from now, they are a firm staple in my late spring and summer days (especially since I'm not the huge fan of natural tanning!). After typing down my Guide to mark free self tanning almost an exact year ago, I thought it was about time to share my self tanning tips all over again!

CLEANSE, SCRUB, EXFOLIATE ; Something that hasn't change during this year, is the importance to me to cleanse and scrub my skin before using a self tanner. You want to apply it on a clean and smooth skin, and no doubts the cleaner and smoother it'll be, the more your tan would look natural and last longer!

Especially if I'm applying my self tanner all over my body, I think it's important to start scrubbing a week or a few days earlier, and then scrub again the same day of the application!

MOISTURIZE ; No one likes their tan looking like patches of skin are falling apart, this is why to me it's very important to hydrate especially where my skin is very dry and flaky. This isn't something of a quick process, it's necessary to have consistency with it and apply a moisturizer every day (or almost) both before and after applying a self tanner. Having a nourished skin means the tan will look at its best and last longer!

Being I probably the laziest when it comes to apply moisturizers, I've been quite the fan of all those body conditioners that only need to be applied in the shower and rinsed off. I highly suggest to try one of them it you feel the same as me about sticky legs in tight denim!

PICK A FORMULA ; Coming to the self tanner itself, I bet we all have our preferences. As much as I like mousse formulas for my body, I go hand in hand with a serum and nothing else for my face. However there are so many different formulas one can chose from, that there's something for every taste really: mousse, serum, spray, lotion, cream and more usually all available on online beauty retailers that stock a wide range of tanning products like Just My Look.

If you're new to self tanning, try the mousse option (try Fake Bake): to me, it's the easier and quicker to apply and with a tiny bit of practice it's easy to achieve a perfect tan effect! I'm not the big tanning accelerators fan, but if you are after a natural tan and are considering one of them, then never forget the importance of a SPF!

DON'T DO IT WITH BARE HANDS! ; Always use a tanning mitt, it will gives a nicer smoother effect, plus your hands won't turn and stay orange for days afterward!

BE CONSISTENT ; Especially if you're going for a serum or a gradual tanner, remember to be consistent with both the tanning but also moisturizing and scrubbing, to avoid to build up too much unnatural colour and create darker patches.

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This are all my tips and tricks for a beautiful and natural looking fake tan! I'd love to know if you have more advices - as one never really knows enough tricks to make her tan look at its best, right?! x

* don't forget to enter my blog's first birthday giveaway! *

In January I've Loved...

Whoa, wait, is it the last day of January already? It feels like 2015 has only started yesterday! January wasn't my favourite month, however I'm pleased to say I was able to try a lot of new things that obviously could make to my monthly favourites, and yes, this includes a lot of chocolate but also a few healthy choices that was an anchor to me for my January detox! If you'd like to read about what I was up to in January, simply check my January Highlights, otherwise let's just jump right into my most favourite things from the last 30 days...

LINDORS ℅ LINDT

FOOD

The most exciting highlight of the month was that day when the postman came and brought a huge box full of Lindt treats! Isn't it everyone's dream?! I've always been a fan of classic Lindor Milk Truffles* but I was so pleased to finally try the delicious and indulgent Lindor Strawberry & Cream Truffles*, that are just perfect for anything Valentine's Day related, including recipes, cozy nights in and moments of sweetness!

As for the healthier food choices, I'm quite enjoying the Clipper Green tea with Echinacea which is just my new favourite afternoon treat! Green tea is so good for our bodies but not the best flavour to me, but echinacea makes the whole thing a lot more interesting: it quite completely covers the flavour of green tea and make it tastes more citrusy and good! If you'd like to introduce green tea in your lifestyle but don't quite enjoy the original flavour, I can't suggest this Clipper offering enough..!

Lastly but not least on the food front is my new IKEA Produkt Milk-Frother: as you might remember I haven't had a milk frother anymore for a long time, then I spotted this so inexpensive IKEA utensil and I just thought to give it a try. It is so good and easy to obtain a perfect foam - yes, it's not velvety enough to experiment with latte art, but it's just good enough to get a very nice basic latte in no time at all!

MEMORIES

It's been a very long time since the last time we printed our pictures but it's always my favourite parcel to unwrap, so I ordered a few other prints from the last 6 months! I love going back to those memories once again just by browsing through a few pages of our photo album - it's just so nice to have your pictures printed instead of only digital files, you get the occasion of seeing and reliving those memories surely more often than you would if you don't ever print them!

STYLE

On the fashion front, I can't *not* mention my new Sugarhill Boutique Starstruck Glitter Skirt - it's just the cutest and most flattering skirt I own at the moment, needless to say I'm wearing it a lot. It's thick enough to wear it during this season, and obviously pairs amazingly with anything really. Something that has just joined my wardrobe recently is my new Sheinside Wine Red Sweater (similar) - I'm totally a fan of 2015 Pantone color of the year: marsala is definitely a colour I could wear all year around, but I realized I didn't own a lot of wine red clothes in my wardrobe, so this Sheinside sweater was the perfect addition!

BEAUTY

As I've already told you in one of my recent posts I'm trying to stick to only coconut oil to cleanse/moisturize my skin. I had very bad skin, so it's nice to go back to something organic and natural, and I'm quite surprised about how nicely my skin is reacting to it. It has only been a week or more, but so far I'm not going back to anything I was using before!

What's on your January favourites list? x

Back to Basics.

My skin was being very itchy and nasty lately over my whole body. It was going on since a long while, months, years, and it seems something chronicle and I couldn't really see an end to it any time soon. So now I'm making the switch to all natural basic skincare (and haircare too) to see how it goes! I can't deny the definitive push was given to me while reading this post by Freya; I started thinking: "why am I still thinking oils can only be bad for oily skins?" and decided to finally give the whole coconut-oil-only thing a whirl. I'm doing it since only a few days, but so far so good and my skin is reacting wonderfully, not even near to my most positive expectations! Now every time I take a shower, I firstly wash my hair with my favourite shampoo from Lush, then I wash my body with nothing more than natural shower gels or, even better, castile soap (any harsh bath sponge is strictly forbidden) and then I cleanse my face with pure virgin organic coconut oil and nothing else! If I feel like I need a bit of exfoliation I only commit myself to my beloved Let The Good Times Roll (cleanser + exfoliator in one means I can really keep my skincare stash to the minimal!). A bit extreme? I know, but so far I've seen the best results I was hoping to see since a while!

Are you planning to go natural with your skincare products any time soon? Let me know if you have some natural gems one with oily skin and bad dry patches needs to know about! x

Best discoveries of 2014!

Now that 2014 is done and dusted and we're all ready to welcome 2015 in, I have one last post to honor a few of the things that made my 2014 a very nice year. These are the best discoveries I've made the past year, that really needed to be shared: some of them are smart, other revolutionary, other just pretty damn cute, but just in case you weren't aware of their existence, I have a small list of things you should know about!

In 2014 I've discovered chai latte, travelled to beautiful London and found out it's my favourite between all the cities I've visited so far, tasted macarons for the first time, gone for my first ever road trip, made lots of day trips to beautiful Milan to see it flourish in every season of the year, bought pretty things, wore pretty dresses, eaten lime infused dark chocolate and a lot more chocolate, spent countless hours sipping tea of every flavour, discovered new favourite recipes and enjoyed it all until the end! It was a good year after all - it's easy to say 'this year was not as I wanted it to be', it's more difficult to see what was good about it after all!

Below you'll find a few of the material objects I've discovered the past year that are definitely worth to be shared! Others that are not pictured must be: my beautiful ASOS Scallop Stitch Satchel Bag, my cozy IKEA Gurli Throw, the ingenious Interstellar and Masters of Sex and the fascinating Game of Thrones!

Yankee Candle Vanilla Lime Scented Sachet // Harrods Pocket Shopper Bag //
H&M Sweatshirt // Diptyque Baies* // Kikkerland Scented Tea Erasers

Lush  Let The Good Times Roll // Dior Creme de Rose Lip Balm //
L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash Effect Mascara

Lindt Excellence Dark Lime Intense* // Ladurée Macarons // IKEA ENIGT Mug //
Clipper Tea Zen Again // Yogi Tea Black Chai 

Pamper Time!

It doesn't happen that often that I close the bath door and indulge in some me (and only me) time but recently I'm feeling pretty stressed and bad mood is always around the corner and when my body feels physically tired all I really want is some pamper time. You know when you buy all those very expensive bath products that you feel guilty to use up and keep there for those special moments? This is what I'm talking about. I'm not one that can really sit down and relax for a couple of hours even those times, but I like to have that proper half an hour for myself once in a while and completely forget about anything else - and I really find being able to have some quality me time can be so good for my body and soul!

SCRUB!

This is maybe the only pamper thing I actually do on a regular basis (read: once a week), but since my pamper time always starts with a bath or shower (shower most of the times), a good exfoliation is needed. I'm building this weird love affair with any scrub from & Other Stories and after trying and loving their Sugar Crush scrub, I'm now pretty much obsessed with their Equatorial Dreams offering and please do yourself a favor and go ahead and stock up on this one now that's on sale because you can't say no to a deliciously scented and good quality body scrub for only £3! This is one of those products that smell very intense, so much that it totally fills the bath with its amazing and tropical scent every time I use it in the shower - and this is what makes a good pamper product. Plus this is even more exfoliant than the others I tried from them, so if you're looking for soft limbs, you can't go wrong!

Not to mention the tropical orchids scent pairs so good with the floral rose scent of the REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash which has a spicy and warm scent that compliments so well the freshness of the scrub. I believe I found out how heaven smells like...

MASK IT!

When you say 'Pamper Time' I think about face masks and I'm not even one of those who like to wait 20 minutes per mask and relax in the meanwhile, but I do love a good face mask combo, especially when it's quick and doesn't involve thoughts that fly away too much freely. To me it's not about thinking, laying and relaxing, it's just about having time for myself and nothing else really and this is why I love when you can get on with stuffs when you've a face mask on. The combo of the moments is Soap & Glory No Clogs Allowed Mask + Jurlique Rose Moisture Plus Moisturising Cream Mask and that's exactly as it sounds: I pair a detox, dehydrating, oil absorbent mask with a moisturizing, rich and nourishing one, and that's because my skin is very oily in summertime and I hate it so much!, and that S&G is really good at getting rid of all that excess oil, but it's also very dehydrating and I always feel the need of re-incorporate some (good and not annoying) moist in my skin right after, and this is why I go for the Jurlique offering, which not only is very hydrating (and will be quite good for dealing with drier skin in wintertime) but smells adorably as well (it totally smells like this beauty). It takes only 20 minutes for both of them (5+15) and I'm always left with soft hydrated but not oily nor sticky skin, which is quite amazing if you ask me...

MEANWHILE... MOISTURISE!

As I said I'm not a fan of laying down when waiting for a face mask to work, I much more prefer being busy with something else always focusing on myself, so this is the time when I mess around with nail polishes and other girly stuff, but what I can't forget recently is moisturise the rest of my body because I don't ever do it and it really needs some attentions. Nope, it's just that I have bought this Laura Mercier Crème Brulee Soufflé Body Crème because... who would say no to smelling like a creme brulee?! And I just want to apply it every single time, especially if I have an evening pamper session because I love how my pjs and bed linen smell for days after I get inside of them with this on. This is the answer if you're pretty lazy when it comes to moisturise your body like I do, no joking!

What do you like to do when you decide to have some 'me time'?

Carrying with me (travel essentials)

This summer I'm not going anywhere fancy really, but I'm spending a pair of weeks at my boyfriend's place and this made the perfect excuse for packing and showing what I like to carry with me when I'm travelling. Not that these are all essential for real, I've a bit overdone being that I had no limits of space or weight, but beside skincare which is my weakness and I just feel like I need to bring it all with me wherever I go, I tried to keep it quite light and minimal.

BODY & HAIR

For my body and hair I packed everything in my Muji TPU Large Pouch which is also super handy if you're flying but which keep everything very organised and waterproof especially when you're carrying bath or shower essentials. The REN set smells delicious and fruity and it's tiny and compact which makes everything easier since you don't have to carry a big shower gel or moisturiser and it's perfect for flying, while the Lavera shampoo and the Breeze deodorant are becoming my favourites and I simply can't go without them. Not a huge fan of the La Saponaria hair conditioner though, but I have to finish it (even though I'm actually stealing my boyfriend's conditioner a lot)...

What I brought: REN Neroli Duo, Lavera Basis Sensitive Mild Shampoo, La Saponaria Balsamo lino e mandarino Breeze Neutro 24h Deodorant.

SKINCARE & OTHERS

As I mentioned I went a bit crazy with skincare and found out that actually not all that stuff was useful, however my skin can be crazy in summertime and I need to feel safe when I'm not home and know I won't have to hide my face for a week. So I brought a few options between my Eczema Treatments as well as all the oily skin essentials I'm using lately now that my skin is oilier. Some of them are the perfect size for travelling which is good as it means they fit in tiny rooms in your bag, and in general all of them are not bulky at all. Other than that I can't live without my cleansers, my eye creams and a few products from my Makeup Removing Routine, but I also brought a self tanner and body SPF just in case...

What I brought: Bioderma Sebium H2O, Lush Let The Good Times Roll, Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+], Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5, Botanics 80% Organic Hydrating Eye Cream, Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Cream*, Caudalie Polyphenols C15 SPF20 Anti-Wrinkle Protect Fluid*, The Body Shop Honeymania Eau de Toilette*, Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Protective Sun Lotion SPF 15, Little White Lie Wash Off Darker*, Kiko Self Tanning Applicator

MAKEUP

Makeup-wise I'm sticking to a very simple and minimal routine of which you can read more on here; I brought a few options just to switch things up a little bit and went for a face powder because my skin is super oily recently and I need everything that could help me with that situation. But in general I'm being loyal to these same products which require only a pair of brushes.

What I brought: Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, Rouge Bunny Rouge Tinted Moisturiser Sketches On Water*, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Soap & Glory Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder, Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 Healthy Glow, NARS One Night Stand Blush Palette, Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight, L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara, Real Techniques Buffing Brush from this set, Sephora Classic Mineral Powder Brush #45, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

What about your travel essentials?

The Shower

I've never been a bath kind of girl and even though last winter I started enjoying a relaxing bath now and again, I definitely prefer showers especially in summertime, which are a lot quicker but can be super relaxing as well. Needless to say that I've built quite the collection of in-shower products, but these are the ones I'm going to recently when I feel the need of a relaxing pampering shower experience...

Hair - I wasn't a Lavera hair products fan at first but since I bought quite the stock at the beginning of the year, I'm inevitably using them on a daily basis in order to finish them. I have to admit I quite like the Basis Sensitive range (especially the scent), in particular the Lavera Basis Sensitive Mild Care Shampoo (£5.45) and the Lavera Basis Sensitive Hair Conditioner (£5.95) which create a great combo together. They have the same subtle almond-y scent, which is absolutely delicious and super relaxing, and whilst the shampoo really goes deep down and gently clean my oily scalp (even though I always feel I need a bit too much product to feel satisfied), the conditioner does a good job in lightly hydrate my hair without weighing it down - however I wouldn't suggest it if you have hair prone to tangles. Something I'm applying between the two is the Argan Dew Restorative Hair Treatment*, of which I only have some little samples and which I'm only recently testing, but which has already left me pretty satisfied. It's an Argan oil, Jojoba oil and Shea Butter based hair mask which aims to deeply hydrate, repair, protect and re-energize your hair in only 5 minutes. The scent is subtle but relaxing which makes this mask perfect for any pampering shower. I also apply the Argan Dew Miraculous Oil* on damp hair right after the shower, which should be lovely on dry hair, however having oily hair I'm not sure I'm a fan.

Body - As for my body I was all about the & Other Stories body wash however I finished my last one, so at the moment I'm enjoying the super inexpensive Petit Marseillais Gel Douche Lait de Vanille (£3.10) not because it aims to be something particularly good for your skin, but simply because I'm a vanilla lover and I adore the scent which makes every shower so relaxing and nice. I'm a scrubs lover and I just love testing new formulas even though I just the #1 fan of the & Other Stories offerings once again, but I'm enjoying the Soap & Glory Flake Away Body Scrub (£8) which has the classic Soap & Glory scent (nice) and it's quite good at scrubbing away any dry skin, though I just can't still say it's equal to the & Other Stories offerings. When it comes to hydrate my body I'm the lazier girl and I just feel like all those in-shower body conditioner were thought for lazy girls like me. Not that I always remember to apply the Nivea In shower Body Moisturiser Dry (£3.56) but it's nice to have a quicker in-shower option at your fingertips - this one you just apply it on your body and then rinse it off like a hair conditioner but for your body. I'm quite the fan of the concept and I'm quite keen about trying the Lush offerings but they maybe are a bit too expensive.

Face - When in the shower I like to wash and cleanse my face with a gel formula and I find when you're having a hot shower it's the best time to deeply clean those pores of yours. I'm loving the Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel (£12.31) which containing papaya extracts which are natural AHAs, not only deeply cleanses your skin, but lightly and gently exfoliates it too. It prepares my skin to a good after-shower face mask session, and recently I'm loving the Lush Cupcake Fresh Mask (£6.25) of which I've already talked recently here; this is a lovely multi-purposes face mask which is definitely amazing on skins on the oily side, but never leaves my skin dry or itchy, whilst creating a nice matte texture. It also contains some bigger grains which act like a scrub when you remove the mask after the 10 to 15 minutes are passed, making the whole experience even better. My skin always feels oh so soft after this quick but effective routine, it's just the best Sunday pamper treat for your face.

What are you using in your shower recently?

Summer skin wardrobe

Now that the temperatures are rising, my spring skincare routine doesn't suit my skin anymore. I know some girls always have the same skin type during the whole year, but even if my skin is always combination to oily, when summertime comes it always becomes oilier and I start suffering of eczema and dry patches a lot less than in wintertime. I've recently purchased some new skincare staples for this time of the year that will come useful during the whole summer period, and thought some of them may suit some of my readers skin type being for combination/oily girls like me, so here they are...

The main thing I wanted to change was my cleansing routine, as I usually stick to cleansing balm or oilier options in wintertime which aren't the best choice in the warmer months on my skin. This winter I tried the Lush Let The Good Times Roll (£6.40 / 100g) cleanser and I really liked it and very appreciated the fact that they decided to stop making it only as a limited edition in wintertime since I think this can be great in the warmer months as well, as this helps a lot in keeping oil at bay and lightly exfoliate the skin in the meanwhile. I love using this every other day as a morning cleanser to remove every little residue of what I placed on my skin the night before - it also leaves your skin with a smooth lovely texture, a beautiful radiance and smelling delicious like fresh baked cookies. As for the rest of the week's mornings and evenings I decided to test the Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel (£12.31) which I only got a few days ago and so I can't say much about it, but as soon as I read about its formula, I immediately decided I was going to love it: containing papaya extracts which are natural AHAs, this lightly exfoliate over clogged pores and leaves the skin super fresh. I love that it's a cleansing gel as my oilier skin always loves gel formulas, and so far I'm really enjoying the refreshing feeling and the super fresh and clean scent.

I'm remaining faithful to the La Roche-Posay Effaclar range this summer and in particular I'm loving the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Astringent Micro-Exfoliant Lotion (£8) and the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo [+] (£10.33). I've talked about these two a lot on here, but I still think they're a great combo and amazing products for anyone who suffers of acne or has acne prone skin but don't want to apply anything too aggressive. The former is a chemical exfoliating toner containing BHAs which are my best allies against acne, while the latter is a phenomenal serum on my skin which fight acne, clogged pores and acne scars and has the most lightweight and neutral texture.

On the acne front I'm also trying the Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads (£24.95) which contain both AHAs and BHAs and 2% of Salicylic Acid which is such a great ingredient for anyone who is trying to get rid of acne. I'm not a fan of the peach-y alcohol scent which physically bothers me, but I'm liking using these pads twice a week or when I see my skin needs help against blemishes and I find these are really nice and helps a lot in reducing acne appearance.

As regards hydration, my main concern is the eye area which is always a bit dry and for that I'm still using the Botanics 80% Organic Hydrating Eye Cream (£8.99) and the Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Cream* (£26) of which I talked in this post recently, but both are lovely in fighting my under eyes dry patches and I can't be more grateful for that. The former is great in the morning being so lightweight that absorbs so quickly and it's perfect to go under the makeup, whereas the Caudalie offering is perfect for the evening as I like to leave it on overnight so that it has all the time to sink in and deeply hydrate the skin. From the same Caudalie range I'm trying the Polyphenols C15 SPF20 Anti-Wrinkle Protect Fluid* (£29), a super lightweight hydrating face lotion which goes on very smoothly and not only has anti-aging properties but also SPF20 so it's perfect for summertime and to go underneath my makeup.

Lastly being that pale girl I am I always try too look more alive in summertime by using a self tanner and recently I'm really liking the Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster (£15.80) which is a light self tanning serum to be mixed with your usual face cream or lotion that build a natural gradual tan.

I'm still using all the products I mentioned in this post as well and if you suffer of eczema you may be interested in reading it. As for the rest I'm really liking this routine and can't wait to test everything out properly and report back.

Does your skin need different routines in summer and winter?

Lush Cupcake

I'm quite a fan of face masks but not a hoarder even though I tried a few during these last few years of being a beauty addicted. I never tried a Lush mask though because they just look too expensive for the quantity of product inside the little jar and for having such a short deadline, but having the chance of recycling and doing something good by returning their black pots and receive a free fresh mask in exchange, was just what I needed to try one of their most famous fresh face masks which was on my wishlist since forever.

I expected Lush Cupcake (£6.25 / 75g) to smell like chocolate but I wasn't disappointed but surprised about its actual scent, which slightly remember chocolate and sweets, but also has a sort of natural herbal-y fragrance and a fresh touch to it; I really like the scent and think it's pretty suited for a good relaxing face mask session in the evening which is when I like to apply it. Containing Rasshoul mud and cocoa powder to absorb the oil and deeply purify the skin, fresh mint to tone and refresh it, and cocoa butter to hydrate, this fresh mask can actually suit a lot of skin types even though I thought it was mainly for oily skins which is actually not true in the slightest. This mask does dry a bit on the skin when 10 to 15 minutes are passed, but it doesn't dry the skin out thanks to its hydrating properties, and leaves my skin so soft and feeling super clean but not dry in the slightest. It's just a super pleasant feeling of deeply cleansed skin, not to mention that being that this is a fresh mask made from fresh ingredients it has to be stored in the refrigerator when you don't use it, and there's nothing better than a super duper cold face mask to be applied when it's 35°C outside.

I had my mum and sister trying it as well and they both loved the scent, the relaxing and cooling feeling and the clean skin feeling as a result. We all have different skin types and probably it worked better on me and my sister skins, both acne prone, mine combination to oily and hers oily, but I just feel to suggest it to any skin type. I still think it's a bit too expensive for the quantity and the deadline, but considering it's an all natural, vegan, vegetarian, not tested on animals mask, and being that it's actually quite good, I still think it's worth a try. I didn't see any huge difference in my skin after using it, but this is something that happens to me every so often with face masks, however my skin felt smoother, softer and a lot cleaner from the inside, which was nice.

Have you tried this face mask?

Makeup removing

I never wrote about my evening skincare routine as I'm still looking for loyal products to stick to, but something I now am super faithful to is my makeup removing routine which happens only a few times a week when I do actually wear makeup, but which I find to be the perfect one to feel my skin super clean without using products that dry it out but that are super gentle and somehow as natural as possible.

I think cleansing your skin is such an important step and the starting point in any good skincare routine, removing your makeup in order to have a clean skin on a regular basis is better than applying any other product that claims to be phenomenal. I could never sleep without having removed all my makeup and deeply cleansed my skin before bed but I used to really struggle in finding some good but gentle products that did their job without stripping my uber sensitive skin. I'm so happy now to have found such a functional routine and maybe this post could help anyone who is dealing with sensitive skin and can't find products that are gentle enough.

Eye makeup - my eye areas are the most sensitive spot of my body and I tried literally several and more eye makeup remover but all of them either they didn't remove waterproof makeup (which is what I use on a daily basis) or they were way too aggressive and dried my skin out. Until when I finally gave up and decided to try some organic coconut oil - you can find it online here or here but I'm using the CMD Rio de Coco Organic Coconut Oil (£7.99) which is not super expensive but comes in a super cute and versatile glass jar. You may know coconut oil is known for being such a multi-purpose product to be used as a beauty treatment or even when cooking, but the main use I get out of it is to remove my eye makeup. It's super gentle and removes even waterproof mascaras without drying out the skin but actually hydrating it in the meanwhile. As I said my eye area is so demanding and difficult to treat but with coconut oil I never had problems at all.

Face and makeup residues - this will be so foregone but for my face makeup remover I'm only loyal to the Bioderma Sensibio H2O (£6.66), the most famous micellar solution out there now, but it really deserve all those kind words. It's super gentle, has no fragrance, is light and it seriously goes on like water and it actually feels like it is water as it never dry the skin out or strip it in the slightest, but still removes the majority of my makeup, even the most long wearing. I also use it to remove any coconut oil mixed to my black mascara (a.k.a. panda eyes) residues or to actually melt down any mascara residues that are may harder to remove.

Cleanse - I just can't go for only a makeup remover and forget about cleansing my skin - I just don't feel right. I know and can feel there will still be some makeup residues on my skin until I deeply cleanse it, however nowadays even the best deeply cleansers can be so gentle and being that kind of cleansers lover I am, I do have quite a collection of products from this category for any occasion or skin need, but two I'm loving recently and that cover both dry and oily skin days are the Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm (£14.50) and the Lush Let The Good Times Roll (£6.40). The former is such a good cleanser for any dry skin which may find cleanser usually strip their skin or leave a tight skin feeling, as being a cleansing balm it goes on very oily and melt down to a lightweight milk when you rub it into the skin with wet hands, but it won't leave any oily film as others cleansing balms can do so it can be suited even for other skin type. It's super good in removing what it's left of your makeup and I can also apply it on my eye to melt down any eye makeup residue and it never caused me problems. The latter is something my skin loves during summertime and that I just repurchased lately as soon as my combination skin started to feel oilier with the warmer weather. It not only smells super delicious like a fresh buiscuits dough but even though it acts as an exfoliator as well, it really is super gentle and never aggressive - however I use it only once a day. It removes every makeup residue and leave your skin feeling super smooth and looking radiant and it's all natural.

What about your makeup removing routine?