Oily Skin care routine that actually works!!!!

For a long long time I have been trying to manage my oily skin, i  have tried an endless amount of products ranging from £ to ££££. I have spent many hours researching what i can do from home made masks, bases, gels, everything  to no avail.

Until last week I devised myself a skin care routine only for my pores as i had found a few things that worked so decided to mix them together as a little routine for two weeks. Not only are my pores disappearing before my eyes, my skin is less oily, tone is more even, white heads are vanishing and blackheads which i use to get every week and wouldnt go for months are not only going but new ones are not appearing. This routine works for me and i dont think ill be quitting it any time soon.

Now before this my skin use to get oily within 30 minutes of makeup, and look like an oil slick by th end of the day. It was disgusting, made me feel horrible and icky, and it made me break out majorly. Now my skin does not get oily, but has a more comfortable moisturised sheen that looks good, and it doesnt get like an oil slick even if i have been at uni 10 hours!!! Now thats what i call an improvement!!!

But i should mention whilst ive been doing this i have increased my water uptake by about 4 glasses, but its only 8 glasses a day so your average really.

Anyway pasted below is my skin care routine; i will go through the individual products after.

  AM: Cleanse with organic surge facial wash, tone with lemon and rosemary essential oil water, moisturise with aloe vera and nelsons moisturiser

  PM: cleanse with organic surge facial wash, tone with witch hazel, moisture with nelsons and use face oil mix

Every Sunday :Steam, do kaolin mask, do fullers earth mask, magnesium carbonate, tone with witch hazel do weekly peel, cleanse, tone with lemon and rosemary, moisturise with nelsons and at night use face oil mix

Organic Surge facial wash:
a couple years ago i had the worst acne breakout of my life. FACE = SMALL POCKS .... seriously... i blame the exam  + period = not good! 

anway i switched to this facewash, its just brilll.. i think ive done a review on it ,... anyway its good for all skin types not particularly oily,, but it does me good! oily skin can get dehydrated wich exaberrates the sebaceous glands, so dont over do it with the anti - oil products. I wouldnt call it cheap , but it lasts me ages, 1 squirt of this goes a long way!!!
I usually buy mine from amazon as they have good deals.


Lemon and Rosemary water
This is a creation of my own making, i kinda just mixed it up because i knew lemon was good for oily/congested skin types and so was rosemary. i think this is the main miracle for my routine. It makes me feel refreshed, clean, and i know its working under my moisturiser throughout the day against bacteria, and oil. Got to love it!

Recipe: mix 5- 7 drops of each essential oil in 200 ml of water and 50ml of glycerin. Put in a bottle, preferably a dark one to protect from uv light. Shake before each use, dab on cotton wool, swipe gently over face.

I bought the essential oils from http://enaissance.co.uk/  Its a great website with lots of natural stuff for good prices. They also do 3 for 4 deal on essential and carrier oils  so its SUPER!


Aloe Vera

i mix this with my mosituriser as it kind of acts like a natural primer under makeup and without makeup too. It attracts water molecules to hydrate and plump the skin up and ready it for any moisture. its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory action helps fight against any spots that might be forming in you skin without you knowing!!!  Also helps keep me oil free for longer.

I buy mine from holland and barrets when they have a penny sale on so i buy 1 and get 1 for a penny. Not to shabby!  Anyway theyre about 200ml for £5.99 originally, but in the sale i get 2 for £6. It tends to last about 2-3 months so its not bad.


Nelsons mosituriser

I buy this form holland and barretts too. Im using this mosituriser right now as you get alot  in the bottle, and you only need a tiny squirt. Its a 125ml bottle for £8.39.  IT Might be alot , but ive looked around theres nothing better at this price. It doesnt make me oily, ok at moisturising, but it doesnt break me out, so thats good enough for me. I have tried a better one but it has its cons, ill emntion it below anyway.  But nelsons pure and balacning moisturiser will do for now.


Lavera young faces organic mint moisturiser

this is what big green smile.com had to say where i bought it from;
Moisturises your skin, reduces skin impurities and enables swifter recovery from inflammation. Antibacterial essences of peppermint, sage and rosemary, combined with zinc lactate in a special recipe to encourage normalisation of the skin.
Mild fruit acids regulate tallow production, giving a fine and smooth complexion. This antiseptic moisturising gel contains precious sage and rosemary water to give your skin silky smoothness.

i must agree, this is by far the best moisturiser ive ever had, it mositurises the perferct amount, keeping the balance between moistur and hydration. But it comes at  a price, its essentially the same as nelsons, but you have to use alot of this moisturiser and its a small bottle too. price £8.80 for 30ml

Witch Hazel

Now i use witch hazel along with my rosemary and lemon toner because this is more of a lceansing toner ,wehereas the lemon and rose is more of a protective, hydrating toner.
Witch hazel is another critical ingredient in my routine, since you can see the difference with this straight away. Skin looks so clean after this its amazing, it has an astringent effec allowing it to clean and tighten pores. Nothing can shrink pores, but you can minimze the look of them, and this does exactly that. It prevents balckheads and cleanses deep down.

I brought mine from http://enaissance.co.uk/. They  do different size bottles at a range of prices. generally the bigger the bottle the better value for money. I bought 500ml for £7.76 .. its really worth the price.

The powders for the face masks you can buy at http://www.ferobeauty.com/ They do good prices on facial powders, makeup brushes , and acessories. i bought a range of facial powders about 2-3 years ago, under £30 and ive still got alot to go!

Tips on how to grow long healthy hair

TIP1: HAIR CUTTING

When deciding to grow long hair you might think it would be easier and faster to grow without trimming it regularly,but not trimming it is one of the most worst things you can do, and may even hinder growth. Just think would you rather have long, scraggly, frizzed up dry hair, or hair that takes a little longer to grow, but is healthy,manageable and split end free.
The general advice is to cut hair every 4-6 week's, but taking into account hair grow's at maximum rate of 0.5 inches a month, you wont be growing your hair at all, but cutting whatever did grow in the last month. So I would say get it cut about 6-8 weeks, and trim about half an inch off, providing that you treat your hair well this should be sufficient.

TIP2: HEAT
What I mean by treating your hair well, is that you refrain from using heat tools or use them to a minimum. I try not to use heat tools at all, but well right now its winter and im in England so its friggin FREEZING! hence I occasionaly succumb to using the hairdryer :(, Its probably not great for your hair, but most of the time I just go to sleep with it wet and it tends to be okay. Heat will fry your hair! its best to omit all heat, then again what the point of having long luscious hair if your not going to style it occasionaly!! so, post styling do treatments( ill come on to that later). In the shower, try not blasting your hair with scalding water, keep it at a reasonably mild temperature, and if you can handle it , blast with cold water for your final rinse, to flatten the hair cuticles for a smoother shinier hair shaft.

Tip 3: TREATMENTS

To grow hair, you need to minimize the risk of getting split ends, as once you get them , theres no such thing as 'repairing' a split end. The amount of times products claim to repair hair is just unbelievable. Oil treatments, protein treatments, moisturing masks etc, are all so nourishing for hair, so try do one atleast once a week. Make it apart of your routine before you shower, or as a weekly pampering session if you got time. You dont need expensive lotions an potions from your drug store, the greatest things for your hair are probably in your fridge or kitchen cupboard! Here are a few recipes, i have used, and swear by;

The most recent ive tried, and can no longer live without; Egg Protein Treatment;

1. Whisk 1 Egg till yellow and whtie bits mixed together, (2 if youve got exceptionally long or thick hair) I have waist length thin hair, and 1 egg was fine.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil of your choice( olive, sweet almond, coconut,vegetable oil, amla, gooseberry, you get the jist, mostly anything goes, if your unsure, google!)
3. Add 1tbsp mayonnaise, 1tbsp conditioner.
4. Mix it all up, and slap on your head from roots to tips, and keep the gunk on for an hour, or pretty much as long as you can stand it
5. NB- important to not let your head get to direct heat, or any kind of heat that you think woudl end up cooking an egg, as if this happens, eb prepared to get tiny bits of cooked egg out of your hair!

2: Oil treatment,basically most oils go. The best are coconut oil,In the short term, this is will give you uber-smooth hair, shiny, amazing silkiness, when its washed obviously. But I dont know how this works in the long run, but my grandma swore by coconut oil , she literally had this on everyday, and till 78 she did not have a single pure white hair, her hair was pitch black, smooth, no frizz, no hair loss, nothing. So this is abit of a miracle oil!

Olive oil, almond oil, essential oils mixed in to your oils are great. Alot of oils basically

3: Yoghurt. I know it sounds crazy but using yoghurt in your hair does makes it smooth, and shiny. Not sure how but it does, and it doesnt smell as bad as eggs and feels as cloggy as oil. Apply it in the shower in the beginning and shampoo out at the end of your shower

4: BEER!!! lol. Hey if it works for catherine zeta jones, its good enough for me! Beer has properties that thicken the hair shaft by coating it. Make hair shinier, smoother, silkier, and more manageable. I was amazed at what it did to my thin hair!! Mix with water, and use as a rinse after shampooing, But make sure to rinse the beer out. Or people are gonna give you some funny looks on your commute to work!!!. Seriously they will.... Sadly i speak from experience!