REN Clarimatte Skincare range: Review

 
Hi Dolls,

Hope you are all wrapped up at home in your cosies. Looking at the current weather here in the UK, all it makes me want to do is hibernate at home in front of the TV!

Its no secret that as you are getting older, your skin needs more looking after. Its the first place to show signs of neglect and ageing and vice versa, especially in the colder winter months. I think I can safely speak for the rest of us when I say it is primarily during the winter months that our skin tends to play up the most.

I am always on the lookout for new skincare products, I love my regular products but felt like trying something new particularly as I do not really have a solid regime when it comes to skincare (terrible I know!)

REN Skincare is one that I happen to come across all the time and is often hyped about in the Blogging world, that too with nothing but positive reviews of their products.

One of my many new years resolutions in terms of beauty was to really start paying more attention to my skin care regimen this year and with that, I was very excited to try out my two samples of their T Zone Balancing Fluid* and their Invisible Pores Detox Mask* from the lovely people at REN skincare. After informing them that I had combination skin, I was happy to have received these samples from their Clarimatte range especially designed for combination skin.

On their site, they describe their Clarimatte range as "Includes cleanser, moisturiser and a treatment mask to leave your skin looking beautifully balanced, mattefied,clear and radiant"

 

Seeing as I received 5ml sample sizes of both products, I only managed to get a weeks use of them so it wouldn't be fair and accurate to give a detailed thorough review. However, lets talk about first impressions atleast.

 

The very first thing I loved about their T -Zone Balancing Fluid was that it had a lovely lightweight texture that seemed to absorb fairly quickly onto my skin. Due to the small quantity of the product, I used a small squirt just around my T- zone area and it did instantly feel matte although I have to say, I am not a sufferer of excessive oily/combination skin. My skin also did feel nice and soft straight away upon first use.
 
 

 

This is generally great for combination/oily skin for its mattifying and balancing properties and perhaps those with Normal skin can get away with using this too if you like that 'quickly absorbed' feeling, yet I am not so sure it will work equally well for those with excessive oily skin simply because I do not think it is balancing/ mattifying enough.

I quite liked the fact that this didn't have that overpowering strong scent as most products do, it smelt quite botanical and spa like, very similar to Elemis products.  A full sized 50ml bottle of the fluid retails at £21.00 on their site.

 

I was very excited to try their Invisible Pores Detox Mask as it has been a while since I have tried anything for my pores in terms of a mask. REN describe this product as " A detoxifying clay mask designed to reduce the appearance of pore size and leave the skin purified, smooth and toned." and it sounded like exactly what I needed!
 
 

 

I only managed to get one use out of this. I was particularly wanting to focus on the T-Zone areas such as my nose and chin area . REN suggest using this at least three times a week if desired. I applied a generous amount of the mask on the areas I felt needed it most

and let it soak in for 25 minutes as recommended before washing off in a rubbing motion with warm water.

 

The mask application was like a thick white cream that didn't irritate my skin at all thankfully and hardened like clay after a few minutes then became creamy again when washing it off. Again, no off putting strong scent although there was a faint lavender scent if I remember correctly. 

I am not sure if the one time was enough in drawing out impurities and reducing the size of pores and blackheads sadly, however my skin did feel very smooth after. A full sized 50ml pump bottle of this retails at £18.00.

If you are new to the brand or simply want to try some of the products before buying full size, REN offer the Clarimatte travel size range for an affordable £12.00.

Truth be told, initially, I was put off their prices for most of their products, however REN products are no doubt full of natural extracts, high quality ingredients with no nasties whatsoever so you can be assured you are not putting any rubbish into your skin. What's more, they are all free from parabens, sulfates, mineral oils, synthetic fragrance and colours and so on. (Basically all the bad stuff) so surely the products are worth their price? After all, it is your skin that will thank you for it.

Have you tried any REN skincare?

 

Billion Dollar Brows : Review

Hello lovelies, happy new year and I hope you are having a good year so far. :-)
 
I have always been a big fan of eyebrow products, its the one routine in my makeup application I never leave the house without. In fact, come to think of it, more and more girls have become obsessed with achieving perfectly groomed brows, we all agree, a nice set of brows make such a difference to your face from framing the eyes to defining facial features and so on. And the true beautyholic that I am, I am always on the lookout for new products to help me get the 'look'.
As you can imagine, years of experimenting as a teen with tweezers in one hand, and curiosity in the other, the sparse scary looking brows I have today need all the help they can get.
 
A few weeks ago, I came across Billion Dollar Brows (BDB) on Twitter and it was great to hear about another brand in the market. More and more brands have now started to introduce an eyebrow range in their line. but with so many to choose from, it can be quite overwhelming finding a product that suits you.
 
Although, I hadn't come across them before, a little digging later, I found that they have become quite big in the US in the past few years. Initially, their product line consisted of just their Brow Boost -an enhancing serum which quickly became so popular, they later followed it with brow pencils, gels and powders.
 
Having quite sparse brows, one thing I have always struggled with is getting the shape right to suit my face and creating a natural look. Truth be told, I have never favoured eyebrow pencils much purely because I found that powder especially those with a waxy formula gave more of a soft, natural defined look so I was actually quite looking forward to trying their Universal Brow Pencil £17.00* It is a dual ended pencil that comes with the product on one end and a spoolie (and a sturdy one at that) on the other for grooming your brows.

 "No More Guessing Games! Formulated to work with all skin tones & hair colors this amazing pencil goes on smooth and natural. Perfect for creating beautiful, natural brows for when you’re on-the-go. The pencil’s versatile color works with almost all hair colors and skin tones."

The Universal Brow Pencil has a really lovely formula and comes in a nice taupe brown that would compliment most skin tones as they say, it certainly flattered my skintone. Even when pressing on hard, it is still manageable to create soft feathery strokes that do not give a harsh effect.
Because I have gotten so used to filling my brows with shorter in length flat angled brushes in powder kits, the size of the pencil was a slight issue for me. I tried to create a defined arched brow yet I found with the larger width of the pencil tip, I couldn't quite manage to create a subtle effect. Otherwise, it is a lovely little pencil and really travel friendly as it wont crack up on you like a powder kit may if damaged.

The lovely people at BDB also sent me their Brow Gel £17.00* to try out.

"Our Brow Gel will lock in your look, giving your eyebrows a long-lasting, radiant glow while keeping them perfectly in place all day. It’s the perfect finishing touch for giving your brows a polished, perfectly manicured look."

Believe it or not, I have never actually owned  a brow gel (tut tut)! so I was very excited to try this one. This little baby is great for taming your brows without looking like you have 'gelled' them down. I actually used this just to neaten up my brows before using both The Universal Brow Pencil and my usual eyebrow powder kit and it works wonders, it helps the product go on well, didn't seem to crust or flake and was great if I wanted to retouch during the day. You actually only need to use a little as it goes a long way and is great for taming and keeping stray hairs in place. Thankfully, the gel didn't seem to have an off putting scent either. The packaging gets a big thumbs up from me, I love the clear tube so you can actually see how much product you have used/have left but most of all, I love the fact that the BDB Brow Gel is designed so that when you insert the wand back and forth into the tube, you do not end up with a nasty goop of gel!

BD Brows can now be found at most salons where they use their Brow Buddy tool (which shows you where to start, arch and end your brows with precision and ease) and products for recreating the perfect brows for salon goers. Whether you are a makeup artist, eyebrow fanatic or just someone that takes pride in their brows, either way Billion Dollar Brows (BDB) are definitely without a doubt worth checking out.

Have you tried any BDB products yet?