Investing in Skin is In: How to spend your money on the right products

As a poor student, I can find it hard to justify spending my carefully saved pennies on skincare and make up, purely because they are things that can be used up and need to be repurchased. When it's something like a bag or a pair of shoes, you know that you'll have them for awhile, however with skin care it seems like you're basically washing your money down the drain every morning. Right?

Wrong.

To paraphrase Caroline Hirons, you have your face for life, so you're better off looking after it. It's not like I've never been interested in skin care before - as a bit of an oily faced gal, I have been into the old cleaning/ toning/ moisturising routine for a while now, however it's only recently that I've found myself stepping outside my Clinique/ drugstore bubble and investing in higher end skin care.

It can be a bit of a minefield when it comes to actually spending money: which products are good, which are bad, which ones do the same as each other, whether they are worth the price tag or if a $7.50 cleanser from Priceline does the same job. For me, I want to spend money on a few products that do an amazing job. I can't afford to buy a cleanser with a $40 price tag to find out that it isn't great: if I'm going to spend the money on skin care products, they need to deliver.

I've been stalking reading a few of my favourite blogger's websites: Caroline Hirons, Lily Pebbles, Vivianna Does Makeup, Liana Beauty to name a few, as well as watching their videos, to find out what works for them and whether it might work for me. I need to stress that this is just a starting point: everyone has different skin and so it's best to look in a few different places for reviews to see if products will work for you. Chances are, if your favourite blogger/ Youtuber constantly talks about their dry skin, the products they use to inject moisture back into their face won't help with your oily problem.

A lot of posts on blogs can be sponsored and I've learned to be a bit weary of them - sure, the product might actually be fantastic, but they might be receiving such a positive review because the blogger is being paid a tidy sum of money to talk about them. That's why I like looking at favourites videos and looking at the same products that are popping up time after time - that's a pretty good indication that they're talking about the real deal. I also like looking at the reviews on Cult Beauty, and just having a general look at the products on Cult Beauty. They are only put on there due to their cult status - if they're available there, they must be pretty good. It's a great starting point because you're starting with products you know are popular, and then it's easy to have a look at different reviews to see if they can help you.

In recent times, I've purchased the Origins VitaZing moisturiser (twice), the Origins Night-A-Mins moisturiser, Hydraluron, the Origins clay mask, Bioderma and the Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Brightening Toner. I'll try and pop up some reviews for those in the coming weeks, however in short: couldn't really tell if the moisturisers were doing anything (although my skin looks a bit softer and my skin stays more matte), Hydraleuron is great because it made my skin clearer, and the Origins clay mask was pretty good. Bioderma is pretty good, and the Clarins exfoliator is one product that will (hopefully) never leave my routine. I'm now delving into the cleansing/ oils pool and I'm waiting for Pai Rosehip Oil, Alpha H Triple Action Cleanser and Oskia Renaissance Cleaning Balm to arrive in the mail.

It's so important to look after your skin as you're going to have your face for life - once again, to paraphrase the skincare God Caroline Hirons - if you spend all your money on clothes and shoes, you'll be an 80 year old with millions of wrinkles and a vintage wardrobe.

I'll just take the vintage wardrobe, thanks. 

Nailed It #1: Lincoln Park After Dark

The Perth weather is definitely not as chilly as I would like it to be at the moment, so I'm channelling my inner Winter wishing with dark purple/ almost black nails from OPI in Lincoln Park After Dark. I'm not usually a dark nails girl but I really like how clean and sophisticated this colour looks on the nails. It can look a bit trashy (in my opinion) when it's chipped, so best to pop it in your hand bag for emergency touch ups on the go. I used my OPI Rapidry as a topcoat, and a Revlon clear coat for a base.

What have you been wearing on your nails?

Empties #1

Doesn't everyone have a pile of half used products loitering awkwardly around their bathroom? I did, however I have made it my mission to get rid of a whole bunch of them. Here's what I've used up so far.

My Body Shop Strawberry Body Wash (travel sized) did the job and smelt great, but unless it was for a special occasion or present, I probably wouldn't repurchase it - you are pretty much washing your money down the drain as it is quite expensive for what it is. The St Ives Apricot Face Scrub was much more reasonably priced, however I felt like this was a bit too harsh to use on my face so I resorted to using it on my legs as an exfoliator before shaving. It definitely did the job, although it made a huge mess of my shower. I'll probably repurchase this, but mainly use it for when I need a really good exfoliation for fake tan, but otherwise, I'll stick to a mitt.

After exfoliating, I loved using my Body Shop Mango Body Butter. I can't get past the smell of this. I'm not really a mango person but the scent of this is incredible and was probably my favourite part of this product. It was definitely very moisturising and although it didn't sink in straight away, this body butter didn't linger on the skin the way that some do. I would definitely repurchase this, probably in numerous scents. In the shower, I also really enjoyed my Redken All Soft Shampoo because it made my hair really soft. As someone with coloured hair, this is something I really look for so I would purchase this product again, along with the accompanying conditioner.

For skincare, I really liked using my Origins Vitazing Moisturiser. It's very light and has quite a gel like consistency - I've already repurchased this. The smell is absolutely divine and a little goes a long way so the small pot lasted me a good few months. I've got a few of my Clinique Anti Blemish Toners left after bulk buying in America, however although it does do the job of keeping my skin clear, the alcohol in the product is quite drying. I won't be repurchasing any more of these after I finish my last one - I'll be on the hunt for a new toner!

As for make up, I used a few foundations and a mascara. First up was my Mac Studio Fix Foundation. Going to be honest, I finished this one AGES ago and so I don't remember too much about it. It wasn't high coverage however when buffed into the skin, it did the job. It was probably a little too yellow for me so I will keep that in mind if I buy another Mac foundation. I wouldn't repurchase this as it doesn't stick out in my memory unlike my Revlon Colourstay Foundation. This foundation has fantastic coverage and they've since changed the packaging so it has a little pump - perfect. They have also slightly changed the formula apparently, although I haven't been able to tell the difference.

My Model's Own Mascara came in a set and at last check, you can't buy it alone however hopefully this changes. I really liked this mascara because it was lengthening and thickening at the same time. It is a drugstore product from one of the lower end drug store brands so I can imagine it would be priced quite reasonably. There was some flaking towards the end of the day in this mascara however it was quite a decent product considering the price point of the brand. Especially in Australia, mascaras tend to sit around the $20-$25 mark (*cry*) and so I'm always on the look out for a good, cheap one to make my lashes pop.

Phew - now I can finally recycle these and get my top drawer back! What products have you finished lately?

The Weekend Shop

In celebration of Autumn being well and truly upon us (well, almost…the Australian weather is choosing not to cooperate) I decided to update my Autumn/ Winter wardrobe with some essentials for the colder months.

Black jeans
I am a jeans girl through and through, however I haven't owned a pair of black jeans in years. After buying a denim jacket, I really wanted a pair of black jeans to wear with it, however I find jeans shopping so traumatic (#firstworldproblems). On Friday I bit the bullet and went to Just Jeans, where I tried on a few pairs but fell completely in love with this Levi's Extreme Skinny Oslo pair. Very skinny, very black, and just the right length. Very, very perfect.

Nikes
Before I found these shoes, I thought they would be the death of me. How hard is it to find black and white Nikes? Very hard, apparently. I wanted these for gym work, as well as to wear rolled up with jeans, which is why I wanted the neutral colour combination. I was definitely tempted by the hot pink Nikes I saw, however after searching high and low (and online and offline) I found these at the Foot Locker. They are meant for men, however one pro of having quite large feet (a size 10.5 in these!) is that they fit me. I'm so glad I waited to get the black and white ones as I already have a few ideas of what to wear them with.

Chelsea boots
I saw the Zu Bruce boot online a few weeks ago and fell in love with them (especially because they were 25% off!) however when I went into the store the sale had ended. Although they were leather, I didn't want to buy them without the sale being on because $160 on a pair of shoes is a lot of money for a student. However, on Saturday I went to show my friend a photo of them online, and low and behold they were on sale again! We quickly dashed to our local shopping centre and I bought them (while she also purchased a pair of boots…oops). Definitely worth it, and I can't wait until it's cold enough to wear them.

A lot of black in this haul! What have you picked up recently?