a new year, a new skincare rountine

It's been a while since I shared my skincare routine with you all and I thought with a new year I should make a new routine. I wanted something quick and easy for morning but also I wanted to try out all my new products I received from Christmas (there's a lot..) There isn't much here overall but I have college everyday so I wanted something quick for the morning as well as for nights because I sometimes have late shifts at work and I just want my bed!

Now I always start my routine after washing my hair.

I kick off with Soap and Glory's Face Soap & Clarity face wash, not only does the smell amazing but it also helps to get rid of any make up from the night before. Afterwards to make sure my skin is make up free I run over my face with some wipes. I then moisturize my face with Botanics Ultra Skin Calming Day Cream, not only does this stuff smell great it also makes my skin feel refreshed and clean. To top it all of I continually use Asda's own lip balm during the day and Soap & Glory's Hand Food which is a thick mixture but makes my hands feel soft, amazing and smell wonderful. Normally in a morning as well as applying make up and doing my hair this routine takes me about 25 minutes max, perfect for a college morning.

As you can see my night routine is a little bigger and does vary. I use a lot of product on my skin on a night normally to either take my make up off and remove any grease/oil from being at work, it makes my skin feel terrible! I always kick off my routine after a bath filled with bubbles.

I tend to start off with Soap & Glory's Peaches & Clean Cleansing Milk, now this product is slightly odd for a face product, it smells nice but doesn't really lather up when applied, it still does work rather nicely. Then depending on my day, I get rid of any extra dirt/oil on my face with Boot's own cleanser & toner along with cotton wool pads. I then apply Botanics Ultra Skin Calming Night Cream, it makes my skin feel refreshed after a long day at work/college and it feels so clean, the cream contains 'marshmallow' which smells divine! Then to top it all off for the rest of my skin I use my favorite body butter which is Soap & Glory's own Righteous Body Butter, it's a thick mixture with a smell to die for, it takes a while to sink in but leaves my skin as smooth as a baby's bottom!

I know my routine isn't full of high end luxury products but I'm happy with what I use and the effect everything has on my skin. I love Soap & Glory products because they always seem well suited to my skin.

What products are included in your daily routine? 

Freebies from Family Members!

Don't you just love it when you visit a family member and they give you old cast offs of make up they either don't like or have never used. I do! My auntie is a prime example. Now I love my auntie to bits and I don't see her very much so when I do go round it's a treat for the both of us. She's ever so helpful whether it be books or make up she's there to help!

Now I've had these pictures sitting away on my computer forever on what I got from her a while ago simply because I was feeling a little dumb on the whole 'skin care routine' as my mums never quite helped out. As you can see my auntie is very giving simply because she may have the products to spare or maybe she just didn't like them/didn't use them. 

These are so of my favorite products she gave me. The book - well I'm simply a sucker for good books and my auntie has amazing taste! The other products however I was in dire need of to complete my skin care routine. She gave a me a cheap Boots cleanser & toner for my routine as well as eye make up wipes and some cotton pads. I also got the girly Lynx as she hates spray on deodorants and I rather like the smell of this one. 

Other bits and bobs included make up! Now some people think cast off make up quite gross but through my auntie I can explore different types of make up and brands without paying the price tag that sometimes is a little too much to explore a product! The reason why my auntie is so good at this is because we have similar skin tones (me and my mum are completely different) so the products we would both use are quite similar in the shades. One of my favorite things she gave me was all the lip balms I got a gorgeous Paperchase one and a Plamers Coca Butter which smells amazing.

Among this little haul I got MAC lip-glosses  Body Shop eyeliner, mascara and a gorgeous shade of foundation. I also got a lovely set of Soap & Glory eye shadows which I would never normally pick up. I also got a BB cream and a concealer - 2 products I've been desperately wanting to try out but had no idea where to start. 

Already from this little freebie haul I've got products I'm itching to repurchase despite the price tag being a little expensive. The foundation given to me was from Body Shop and costs around £13, normally I would say no (I may sound a little stingy when it comes to make up prices but I am a student with my first job so I aren't quite use to spending yet.)  but because of this I know it really suits my skin tone, is easy to take off and doesn't have a 'heavy feeling' that some foundations have. Sometimes like me all you need is a little push in the right direction for make up :) 

Weleda - Wild Rose Night Cream

Retails at £14.95 - 30ml.

Now I was rather excited to review this product which came in this month's SSB box! At first I really enjoyed the scent as I had smelt it when I had first opened my box. The reason why I was so excited for this product as it is a night cream. Now I've seen lots of good things about night creams and how they are a must within your skin care routine so I was excited!

I've been using it every night before bed this week and I know it's not a very long time to use and then review the product but I found some faults within the first time of using. Now at first glance (or smell) the scent was rather nice and different to other scents of night cream so I rather liked it. However after applying to my face for a few nights I got bored of the smell and really began to dislike it. Maybe it's just me but I rather dislike the 'wild rose' smell as it is rather overpowering.

However I decided to carry on using it despite the smell. In a morning my skin did feel rather nice and refreshed however another problem. After applying on a night the cream would take a long time to sink in and well I just though that was how it worked however half an hour after applying my skin just felt greasy as if I'd not taken my make up off which really did put me off. I carried on using and got the same problem every time after applying. Also I noticed on the first application that the cream was actually an off yellow colour which really put me off and as I like plain and neutral creams. 

Despite liking the idea of night creams I don't think this one is really for me. I don't like the smell all that much as it is overpowering and also I don't like the greasy feeling after being applied and also it just takes forever to skin in whereas my normal moisturizer takes merely minutes. I would not repurchase at all, I wasn't overly impressed. I think if I do start using night creams I'll have to scope around for a nice one which suits my skin.

My Daily Routine (looong post)

I'm sure lots of lots of people have done this type of post, so here I am sharing my daily routine with you! I know it's not much but I'm new to the whole 'lets take care of my skin every single day' plus I never know what products to buy considering I've only just got a job = spare money. I never use to be that great at keeping one either, after all I am a teenager and on holidays I tend to get up late but now after starting college I'm determined to get into one routine and stick with it.

Now it looks like I use loooads of products daily, but I actually don't. I don't actually use them all in one go either, some are make up, some are hair products and the skin products some are used in a morning and some on a night. I like to vary so I'm not always rushing around in a morning if I have an early start, which I do pretty much all week so I like to keep it simple.

Now I've always had trouble finding the right products for my skin and as I'm a student I never want to pay a lot! Which means cheap face wipes cheap moisture so I'm never quite happy with what I have.

Aapri Exfoliating Cleansing Pillows - £1.50 30 pillows per pack

Now these are a catch! They can be used morning or night and feel wonderful on the skin. You add a little water to the spotty side and just wipe over your face like you would a wipe or cotton pad. They feel smooth and lovely and smell amazing. One of my favorite products and they can be bought in most places, you just have to hunt around! I use these just before I go to bed and they are so refreshing.

Tea Tree Facial Wipes - £1 25 wipes per pack

Now I'm not overly impressed with these, other cheap faces wipes such as Asda's own are better then this. They smell lovely but for me they don't quite feel wet enough, when I use face wipes afterwards I'd like my face to feel refreshed and cool whereas these don't do that. But then again I don't spend a lot on face wipes they are purely for wipes the make up left over in a morning.

Boots Vitamin E Moisture day Cream - £3 50ml

Neither am I impressed with these. I've bought it twice and first time I really did love it, it made my skin feel amazing and it was just the right consistency. But now I find the cream a little bit too running and when I put the smallest bit on my face to rub in there seems to be loads of it.  use to use this all the time but now I'm on the hunt for something a little more suited to my needs.

I've always struggled with my hair too, when it was natural I would always have split ends and it would always take forever to dry. But now it's much shorter and blonde I never have a problem with it. I do occasionally use my straighteners (yes I do have some product to use for them) but it's easier just to style it with wax.

VO5 Heat Protect Serum - £4.07 50ml

Now I really do love this stuff. It has lasted me such a long time and it's cheap. I've never liked using protection products because sometimes they can get messy, make my hair greasy or I just didn't like them. Now I use this every day, I put it through my hair scrunching it in, then I brush it through and dry my hair. Always leaves it feeling amazing. 

VO5 Extreme Style [matt clay] - £3.96 75ml

Now this is another of my favorites. Wax/molding clay for my hair was always so hard to get right. They either felt horrible to put on, made my hair look terrible and well I'm not too great at using hair spray either. This one however is quite thick so you don't need a lot and rubs in really well so you can style with your whole hands. I really enjoy this product, I don't use it every single day but it's always there when I step up my outfit a little bit.

Soap & Glory -  The Righteous Body Butter £5.00 150ml

I have never been a huge fan of body butter. I've never really had the time to use it and well I never quite aw what I got out of it. However, this S&G one smells heavenly, when applying you can out quite a bit on and it rubs in really well and afterwards you can still smell it but my skin is 10x softer then what it was. I adore it.

Soap & Glory - Mist You Madly Body Spray £6.50 250ml

I will always recommend this S&G product. It smells amazing, no lie. It lasts a long time, I still have mine from February and I use it daily but also the scent really does linger. These products can be quite expensive but I would happily pay the £6.50 for the 250ml bottle whenever I needed to stock it. I use this instead of perfume and I will continue to do so, I adore the smell.

Soft & Gentle Deodorant

This is one of many I use during the month. I have this habit where not matter if I have one open that I use I will continue to open deodorants and end up with 5 open waiting to be used. I do like the smell of this however it doesn't feel as refreshing as I would like it to. 

You can find my full make up bag here

I use these items with question ever single day however I do like to spice up my eyes with my MUA Glitter Ball palette ever now and then when I have the time. I also like to stick with products I enjoy and like however I am branching out with masraca's and am trying one of MUA's next as well as there 'Undressed' palette.

Collection 2000 Pressed Powder Shade Ivory - £1.99 I have quite pale skin so I don't like anything to heavy on it hence why I don't use foundation because the coverage is too heavy and my skin is a little dry. I love this shade because it is pale but it does add some color to my when I apply it, it doesn't stay on very long though so I may need to invest in something new or just keep reapplying it.
Soap & Glory - Sexy Motherpucker Lip gloss £9.00 I adore this lip gloss. It's a wonderful color with 'lip plumping action' which I love to. However it is quite sticky sometimes and priced at £9.00 way to steep. It's a daily wear because the color goes with nearly everything and I enjoy wearing it, however when it runs out I don't think I myself will replace it.
Collection 2000 Extreme Felt Eyeliner - £4.00  One of my daily uses because it's quick and easy to use, gives full coverage and also the color always stays for a very long time. It doesn't smudge and always looking amazing especially with winged eyeliner. Also it's reasonably priced because I can use it every single day and it takes ages to run out! I got lucky with this because I've only ever had to buy it twice, it just seems immortal. 
Collection 2000 'Fake Lashes' Mascara - £4.99 Another favorite. This was gifted to me by my step-mum when she bought to and I thank her constantly. My lashes are reasonably long anyway however this gives them volume and makes them more noticeable. With two or 3 coats the stand tall and proud and always look amazing. I adore this mascara and at just a £5 I think is very good value, especially because it last ever so long.

There you have it, my daily routine and products I use. I know I haven't said when I use everything exactly but I tend to change it depending on the day. Sometime I shower first then do my skin care or vise versa. It depends on the mood. I'm sorry about the length of the post but I hope you enjoyed it and found some products you may be interested in. I also thought I'd over load you all a little due to the lack of beauty posts at the moment. 

What are your favorite products to use daily?
Let me know, all comments loved and appreciated!
Also I've just hit 100 followers, let me just say thank you all! :)

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