Skin | Winter Hand Cream Essentials

Winter means a lot of things but one of the least favourable is dry skin. The skin on my hands is dry and damaged at the best of times (no matter what product I use) but winter is particularly bad. I have purchased and tried a lot of different hand creams in my life and have put a collection of what I think to be the best of the bunch. Some are on the the go at the moment and some are definitely on my list of options when purchasing more. 

Skin | Loved in Spring

Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser - available here

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream - available here

L'Occitane Shea Buter Lip Balm - available here

After participating in Buy Nothing New Month during October I made a decision. Being a beauty blogger who purchases enough products throughout the month to be able to select favourites is not something that I want to be. It isn't sustainable for the environment or my wallet. And so, once a season (probably towards the end) I will let you know products I have really been enjoying in their own categories. Headed towards the end of November (and Spring) I thought I'd share the cream of the skin care crop for this season. 

Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser: after acne treatments as a teenager my skin was left incredibly dry and the part of my face that has noticeably never recovered is the skin surrounding my eyebrows. Since the medication, I haven't been able to wax my eyebrows without fear of losing skin in the process; this may be explanation for my brow obsession. This product has totally helped with adding moisture back into my skin. I apply it liberally to my brows, brow bone and under eye area every night and wake up with super soft skin. I still haven't felt confident enough to get my brows waxed again but I'm thinking when the pot runs dry it is a definite sign that they are ready. 

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream: as October came to an end so did my supply of Heel Genius from Soap and Glory. I was on the hunt for a new heavy duty night cream that could double for both my hands and feet. When I stumbled across this in Coles I had no hesitation in trying it out. Palmer's is well known for super hydrating moisturisers and this product is no different. It really is a concentrated product and I only need a small squeeze that easily covers each foot and both hands. If I have enough time in the morning I like to put it on under my socks as well. 

L'Occitane Shea Buter Lip Balm: as the most expensive lip balm I own I save the use of this beautiful product for once a day use and station it with the rest of my makeup products that I apply in the morning. I have been a long time user of Blistex Lip Conditioning Balm (and will continue to be) but the shea butter in this product is such a nice way for my lips to start the day. As I don't wear anything but Blistex at work and because I work in an air-conditioned environment the small addition of this heavily moisturising L'Occitane product into my daily routine has been very beneficial. I received this balm as a gift and am unsure as to whether or not I will repurchase but if I can, I will. 

Thats all of my skin favourites for Spring. I'm noticing as we venture through this blogging journey that I am expanding my collection of skin products a lot more than I thought I would. Summer will probably see my SPF collection expanding. If anyone knows of a good oil free (non-comedogenic) high SPF moisturiser please let me know! 

Erin xx
PS. Cheers to Jess for posting on Wednesday as I have been fairly under the weather of late.  

Seasonals | Scents

L'Occitane Jasmin & Bergamote Eau De Toilette (available here)

I noticed today that the Jacarandas are finally blooming in Brisbane (not that its late in the year for this kind of activity - early, actually) and got to thinking about how much I miss the beauty of spring throughout the year. I'm a sucker for nature's flora bottled and ready for my nose and body. These are some of my new favourite floral scents at the moment.

First up we have this accidental find by L'Occitane that my mother bought instead of the hand lotion in the same scent. She offered it to me and I have little to no ability to turn down free perfume. This is a lovely floral scent, very light overall and not what I would call sweet; the Jasmine is very dominant. I'm not exactly a perfume expert so I can't ramble on about the subtleties of this product but I can say that I love it. It lingers around for hours on end which I know is definitely a good thing. The packaging does allow you to get carried away with it your application. It sprays a lot wider than most I've had before. 

This is getting me a few steps closer to those beautiful Jo Malone scents (oh my god) that are sadly very out of my price range. 

BX Earth Good Morning Sunshine Body Wash with Lemon Myrtle and Crown of Gold Extract and Hand Care Wash in Desert Lime and Coconut*

I've already acknowledged my love for BX Earth's natural and amazingly scented products (here). Having now tested out the rest of their range I am totally converted. Aside from their witty names, they seem to have a knack for combining some really lovely scents. I will admit that there are a few that don't hit home with me as I can't go overly sweet when fruity flavours are involved but, again, I am a sucker for florals as well as intense natural citrus. Bright citrus scents are always so rejuvenating in the morning and are definitely a must have for spring and summer. My favourites in this range also emphasise Australian natives like lemon myrtle, Kakadu plum and desert lime. Australian flora ranks very highly in books as my family's heritage reigns from the dry western countryside and it reminds me of my grandmother's favourite flowers. 

Like I said in my previous post, I found Hey Settle Petal in Coles and am pretty sure the rest of their range is available there too. If you see them I totally recommend picking some up because they're super cheap considering the quality of the product. Let me know if you do and we can compare our favourite scents. 

Erin xx

*Note: PR Sample