Farewell to Carmine Beauty Box

This is just a quick post to say I have just received an email from Carmine saying that the are closing their service.  They are encouraging people to sign up to Glossybox, which would be fine but I have already subscribed to Glossybox.

So now Feelunique and Carmine have both gone - they were my favourite beauty boxes so I am left feeling a bit "meh".  I subscribe to Glossybox and new beauty box on the block, SheSaid.  I have been thinking of cancelling my Glossybox and I wasn't overexcited by my first SheSaid box but I will give it another go.

Hmmm, is it wrong that I am now about to do an Internet search on what other beauty boxes are on the market - is it possible to be addicted to these subscription services?!?

Dermalogica Body Hydrating Cream

I was given a large bottle of Dermalogica Body Hydrating Cream at Christmas.  I am a huge fan of Dermalogica's facial skincare range so I was pleased to receive this gift but it ended up sitting on my shelf for three months whilst I used up other body lotions that had nicer bottles and nicer smells!

However I started using this cream last week and WOW its amazing!  It has a very subtle smell, I'm useless at describing scents but I do think it has quite a fresh smell, the smell does fade quickly though so there are no clashes with perfume.

It is called a cream but it has a very light texture and my favourite thing about this cream is that it absorbs really quickly into the skin.  I get dressed straight away after using it.  This is so important to me as I really detest any product that sits on the skin.

Since I've been using this cream I have noticed that my skin feels softer - I find that really impressive as I have used various body creams over the years and whilst some have smelt lovely and have definitely kept my skin moisturised, none have made my skin feel as soft as this one has!

Its not the cheapest product with a 473ml bottle with a pump retailing at £36.50 but as ever you can find this product cheaper online!  However I will definitely splash out in future as I cannot fault it! 

Clarins Face Treatment Oil Lotus

I've had my eye on the Clarins Face Treatment Oil for a while and recently they repackaged all the face oils and have been pushing them, meaning they are constantly in my eye line when I zipping through beauty departments - eek! 

Last weekend I gave in and bought it for myself.  I chose Lotus as I have combination skin and lotus is apparently naturally astringent and the blend of rosewood, geranium and lotus purifies and tightens pores and refines the skin texture.  Sounds good I thought.  I was particularly keen on the tightening of pores!

The Clarins assistant told me to apply a couple of drops every night for three weeks to see a difference and then use the oil when I felt the need thereafter.

I used the oil for four nights and.......have broken out in spots.....ok its only three spots but normally I (luckily) have clear skin so am not over the moon that I have any spots at all.  I've stopped using the oil but am wondering what to do.....should I start up again, is getting spots a normal part of this oil - a breakout and then mega clear skin?  Or maybe oil just doesn't work on my skin?

I've previously tried Shu Uemura cleansing oils and they did nothing for me at all and left my skin feeling slightly greasy.

Has anyone else used the Clarins Oil - did you have any breakouts or did you find it worked from the off?  I'm going to have a think about whether to use or whether to bung onto Ebay!!!