Read My Lips : Lip care tips!

So since I’ve started doing the #100DaysOfMakeup challenge, I’ve pretty much been abusing my face and it has definitely been staging a protest no matter how much I take care of my skin afterwards. The good thing about eye looks is that we all have two eyes (duh) so when one starts getting sore, I can switch over to the other one. My lips however are a whole different story. Whilst some lipsticks are moisturising, putting them on and taking them off repeatedly has not done anything good for my lips. If you read my skincare post, you’ll know that I suffer with dry lips. But never fear! I have some tips and tricks to help!

My first tip fits in with your normal skincare routine. If you’re like me and moisturise before bed (which I highly recommend), just make sure you swipe some of that moisturiser over your lips. I’ve only started doing this recently and I have to say, I’ve noticed a massive difference. I wake up in the morning and my lips are nice and soft so that vicious circle of dryness-biting-scabbing-more bitting hasn’t been starting.

When it comes to getting the most out of your lipstick when you apply it, I’d suggest getting a lip scrub. It’ll remove any dead skin if you have dry or chapped lips (like me) and provide a smooth surface to allow you to get the most out of your colour, especially lighter colours. Of course, the same thing applies to your lips as it does your skin. After you exfoliate you should always moisturise, so make sure you have a trusty lip balm handy. If you’re looking for one to try, you could go for EOS Lip Balm Sphere (Summer Fruit) . Aside from it being super moisturising, it’ll also smell nice!

Of course, if you’re not a lipstick wearer and suffer from chapped or dry lips, you can still exfoliate and apply lip balm, it should help massively. Just remember to keep your lip balm handy to reapply throughout the day.

Hopefully this helps you in some way. This is solely from personal experience so I’d love to hear your tips if you do anything different.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Bare Faced Beauty : My Skincare Routine!

Everybody knows that wearing makeup day in and day out is not good for your skin. It can bring on breakouts, blackheads, it can dry out your skin et cetera, et cetera. Therefore it’s super important that you take care of your skin so we can continue looking radiant and provide ourselves with the perfect canvas to paint on. With that said, I thought I’d take you through my current skin care routine so you can see how I be kind to my skin and hopefully give you some tips on how to be kind to yours.

The trouble I have with my skin, is that it tends to be quite dry and it’s very sensitive to harsher weather like cold and wind. I’ve tried lots of moisturisers in the past, but I found that a lot of them either didn’t keep my skin feeling moisturised for long enough, or were far too oily.

However, the one that I swear by is Astral. My mum was actually the person that introduced me to it, and considering my mum looks a lot younger than her sixty years, I am inclined to believe what she says about it working. A little goes a long way with this moisturiser. A pea sized amount dotted over the face will cover it and leave it feeling replenished without leaving it feeling oily. I moisturise every morning, but I will moisturise again either after I’ve showered, or after I’ve taken off my makeup. It’s a particularly good idea to moisturise before bed because when you wake up in the morning your face feels soft and beautiful!

In terms of blackheads and dirt, I’ve recently started exfoliating. Since I exercise and wear makeup a lot, my face really does get dirty and my pores end up feeling tight and blocked. So, after I’ve done my daily workout and I’m getting a shower, I use Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub and give my face a good old scrub. On the tube it recommends exfoliating in the morning and at night time, but I find that it leaves my skin feeling a lot more sensitive, so I suggest either once a day, or whenever you feel like your face feels particularly grimy! Always apply a good moisturiser afterwards too.

For the times when I do get spots – because lets face it, everyone comes under attack every now and again – I have two solutions depending on what my week looks like or where in the development stage the spot is. If I have a special occasion coming up like a night out or a party, or if a spot is only just forming beneath my skin, I first zap the spot with a little TCP on a cotton ball (it’s a little smelly, but it will dry that zit out!) and then, with a Q-Tip, I apply Savlon, which is an antiseptic cream that creates a barrier to stop anymore bacteria going at the spot and treats the spot itself. Usually after just one application, the spot has dried up and is barely noticeable. Two treatments and the spot usually disappears.

If however, I manage to miss the window before the spot gets a head on it, or if I’ve got nothing special coming up and can afford to give my skin a rest from irritants that may worsen the spot, I chose to treat it with Witch Hazel which again, dries up the spot pretty quickly. To all you spot squeezing lovers, I beg you, don’t do it! You’re at much greater risk for scarring if you squeeze your spots, and you just end up transferring bacteria all over your skin from touching the offending thing and you could end up with more.

Lastly, I move on to something that has caused a horrible habit of mine; dry lips. Once my lips get dry, I can’t help but to bite them, but that leaves them sore and swollen and starts a vicious cycle of when it heals, the skin is a little dryer so I bite it again. However, a recent browse on beautybay.com may have provided the solution for me. Evolution of Smooth, or as they’re more well known, EOS, have lips balms that even celebs can get behind, and if it’s good enough for Demi Lovato, it’s definitely good enough for me.

What’re your skincare top tips? Have you already tried EOS lip balm? Tell me in the comments!

I hope you can take something away from this. If you want to read a bit more about EOS you can click here. I’ll leave a link to some of the products I use at the bottom of this post too.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Astral Moisturiser
Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub
TCP
Savlon
Witch Hazel