Let's Face It - My Favourite Face Masks

Show me a girl who doesn't love an at-home pamper session with a face mask and an optional (read: necessary) glass of wine, and I'll show you my best "I Don't Beliee-eeve it" impression.

As much as I'd love to book myself in for facials every other week, it's just not practical. Instead the bathroom cupboard has become a breeding ground for face masks, a collection which has grown even after I snapped the shot above not 2 weeks ago.

Lip Balm Low-down

La Roche-Posay and Nuxe lip balms

Christmas might be over but winter is far from finished. It takes its toll on just about everything. Skin, hair, hands, lips - you name it, and there's nothing I hate more than sore, cracking lips.

A year ago I stopped using any and all lip products that contained petroleum, which has done wonders all in itself in helping my lips stay naturally moisturised and reducing my dependence on constant reapplication.

In recent weeks I made a point of seeking out my ideal lip products, and tonight, the results are in.

One of my first beauty-blog-buys was Nuxe Rêve de Miel. Very much a lip treatment in my opinion. A very rich balmy texture, it's almost slightly grainy when you apply it but whatever that is melts away on application. This little frosted pot of pout perfection lives exclusively on my bedside table where I liberally apply it before drifting off. In the morning my lips are soft and smooth and often times I barely need to apply any lip balm during the day, or at least not until after lunch. Even the most weather-worn lips are brought back to life in a matter of hours with this little wonder. The texture is non-greasy, almost semi-mat so dabbing a smidgen under your daily lip colour and you're only laughing.

Cicaplast is a range within La Roche-Posay well-known for being, well, brilliant. Baume B5 has a cult following for being an all-purpose wonder product, I named it last year as one of my Dry Lip Superheros (also featuring Rève de Miel) as a great emergency treatment for sore, swollen lips. Now, somehow, the magical properties of Cicaplast has been channelled into a neat barrier repairing balm which fills in cracks and creates a soothing barrier that repairs and protects long suffering lips. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Levres came into my life only a few short weeks ago but I've already repurchased a new tube and re-gifted a tube to my sister, who sings its praises to the tune of "you don't have to apply it as often as other lip balms and it's particularly good overnight."

As my first tube of Cicaplast Levres began showing signs I ventured out to repurchase and got drawn in, in the name of blog research, to Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Moisturizing Stick. Could it be that honey-scented miracle I knew and loved was available in a handbag friendly twist-up? Well, not exactly. But it's close. The formula isn't a rich, obviously to allow for the new application method, but it is effective. I find it's the perfect accompaniment to it's more luxurious sister as a top up during the day.

On the same day, my eye was drawn to La Roche-Posay Nutritic Lips. Nutritic is the range that produced the moisturiser that saved my skin, and to which I owe nearly two years of flake-free face so when I read "transforming care for very dry lips" my heart skipped a beat. As a standard stick lip balm goes it does exactly what you need. Keeps lips soft, moisturised and generally satisfied. It will remain in my collection as my "oh crap I need lip balm" lip balm.

Nuxe Rêve de Miel comes in at just under €12, Cicaplast Lips €6.50, Rêve de Miel Moisturizing stick €6.99 and Nutritic Lips at €4.

Do you take lip balms as seriously as I do?

Lots of love

Lisa

xXx

My Skincare Regime - Evening

Proactive and reactive skin care...

Night time is when your skin repairs and rejuvenates itself, this is how I help it along ...

Spot the difference - Vichy Normaderm Hyaluspot

I used to find it really difficult to find advice for dry and dehydrated skin. So I hope I'm not annoying anyone in how I keep bringing everything back to that - but I guess in a way it's unavoidable.

Treating blemishes when you have dry skin is pretty difficult, because they can often be so harsh and drying that they end up being more of a problem than a solution.

But not anymore, thanks to Hyaluspot from Vichy's Normaderm range.

Bad phone picture - but good product!

Weather Worries - Dry Lip Superheroes

French Pharmacy favourites - taking pride of place on my bedside table

This is a quick, spur of the moment post because I know it's something that will be troubling a lot of you out there. Dry, chapped, sore lips - it's rampant at the moment. This freak weather we've been having; snow, wind, ice, sun, more snow, frost, is playing havoc with our hair, skin, lips everything. And while I have my go-to rescue remedies for my skin and hair, finding something that would save my lips from ... let's just say it, cracking (shiver) was harder to come by.

Don't be left red faced - La Roche-Posay Rosaliac UV

The lighter your skintone the more likely you are to experience some redness, us Irish gals are terrible for it. 

My skin flushes at the slightest thing. Heat, tiredness, alcohol, spicey food - anything. Ever since I was little I have memories of my cheeks getting warm being asked to read something in class, or generally going bright read in almost any situation. In my mind, I feel like my face is always flushed. (Mental tomato face you may say...) For this reason, I wear medium coverage foundation and avoid any blushes that are too pink or red toned. It's almost a fear at this stage, having had it pointed out to me enough times ... yeah, thanks for that by the way

Redness is also a sign of sensitivity - your skin reacting to its environment. So in covering the redness, in an ideal world you'd want to be treating your skin's sensitivity so, hopefully, it's less likely to react.

We all know about opposite colours canceling each other out - so anti-redness products are generally green, and unfortunately they're often quite caky. The problem becomes covering the redness while maintaining the natural look of your skin and avoiding the zombie-look.

La Roche-Posay Rosaliav UV - yes, it's green but don't be scared!

Falling for the hype - Effaclar Duo or Effaclar AI

My love for La Roche-Posay is probably already pretty apparent from my glowing review of the Nutric Intense Riche. But that's not where it started.

A few weeks before that I had a Dundrum voucher and a problem - my skin was breaking out in what I thought were random places. Mostly on my cheeks, forehead and nose. So I needed something to treat blemishes. I mentioned this to Avril (of Blushful Beauty) and she said La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Duo was making waves in the beauty world. 

Now, when it came to it do you think I could remember the name? Of course not, but eventually I did find myself in front of the La Roche-Posay counter and I had narrowed it down to two:

Hallelujah, my skin is saved - La Roche Posay Nutritic Intense Riche

I often hint at the state my skin is in - and I realise I never really explained what I was talking about. To be honest, it was embarrassingly bad. Very dry and flakey - hardly lasting a day with any moisturiser I tried and I was also starting to break out (and only in one or two very specific areas too). Anyone who has seen me recently was probably too polite to note the flakey concealer drying out my easily-dried out skin (I'm looking at you Collection 2000) or how my foundation was okay from a distance, but not that great up close. I only posed for pictures from a certain angle, and I've even avoided going out because I was having "a bad skin day" - but of course I'd never admit that.

So my skincare regime was undergoing an overhaul. While it was going well I had yet to find a moisturiser. Then Beaut.ie were looking for participants for a trial of a new La Roche Posay product for people dry skin. I signed up, forgot all about it and then somehow made the cut! So I was sent out a pot of La Roche Posay NUTRITIC INTENSE RICHE and then something magical happened.

It worked.