Liplicious :)

I am obsessed with lip balms, due to having lips that like to chap and peel at random. Here are just a few that I've tried and tested over the years...

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter: I have been using this for years as my main ‘intensive’ lip balm. I put it on just before I go to sleep to keep my lips soft and un-chapped, and can usually still feel it there the next morning. Usually I take for granted just how good it is - until I run out and have to use another one, when I wake up to find my lips drier than the desert and flaking like crazy.

Figs & Rouge: I got this in a Glossybox several months ago and it quickly became my go-to balm for top ups during the day. It provides a nice base for under lipstick without being too glossy and changing the colour too much. It also smells lovely, but I used it at night recently and wasn’t as impressed as I am with the Palmer’s.

 

Burt’s Bees. I recently tried this for the first time and was quite impressed. It smells good enough to eat, isn’t greasy and did a good job of keeping my lips hydrated throughout the day.

 

E45. I got this free with some cold and flu medicine when I was last struck by the plague. It doesn’t do a thing to either prevent or cure chapped lips.

Looking your best while feeling your worst

So it seems as though winter is well and truly on its way, and with it has come a cold. And as if the coughing and sneezing isn’t bad enough, it always comes with a side order of dry flaky skin and cracked lips. It’s so tempting to reach for a hardcore exfoliator and scrub like your life depends on it, but it won’t do your skin any good in the long run. Instead I usually reach for the miracle cure that is aloe vera. It soothes red skin and gets rid of flakiness insanely quickly. Mine is from SBC Gels, priced at £11 for 125g, but a quick search on Boots and Superdrug revealed a wide variety to choose from.

 

 For my lips I turn to one of Lush’s lip scrubs. They look quite dry and powdery in the pot, but they’re surprisingly gentle and feel very moisturising when using them. Plus they smell and taste great – I went for ‘Sweet Lips’ which has a chocolate taste but could quite happily have come home with all of them.

I have 2 go-to lip balms: Palmer’s Cocoa Butter (are you sensing a theme yet?) and Figs & Rouge in Cherry & Vanilla. Again, both smell good enough to eat, and leave your lips feeling soft, smooth and moisturised.

  

Hair Routine

I’ve been using Aussie shampoo & 3 Minute Miracle conditioner for more than a decade. What can I say, when I find something I really like, I’m loyal! I use two depending on my mood: Frizz Miracle and Miracle Moist, however if I’ve just dyed my hair I use the little bottle of conditioner that comes with it (and usually resolve to write to L’Oreal begging them to make a full size bottle of it). 

Before I rinse the conditioner off I run a wide toothed comb through my hair to get as many tangles out as possible, and I’ll repeat as I’m rinsing to get any that I missed.

I leave my hair wrapped up in a towel for anything between 15-30 minutes, then use my VO5 Miracle Concentrate Elixir with Argan Oil. Most of the reviews I’ve read stated that only a couple of drops are necessary, but I found that it wasn’t really doing anything. Now I use about half a dropper’s worth of the oil every time and I find it does a much better job. It can also be used on dry hair to give a bit of extra help which I usually need when I leave my hair in its natural wavy state (I’ll do a separate post on that).

And the most important bit of all: heat protection. Although I only wash my hair 3 times a week, I blow dry & straighten every time, and need to go over the ends most mornings with my GHDs so a good quality heat protector is a must. I’m currently using John Frieda’s Frizz Ease Heat Defeat Protective Styling Spray which I find does a really good job and is one that I repurchase.

Pamper Party

My skin has been in dire need of a bit of tlc recently. It has been dry, rough and dull, so I decided to give it a treat.

After a nice hot shower to open my pores I exfoliated gently using St Ives Gentle Apricot Facial Scrub, concentrating on the worst areas around my nose and chin, and giving better areas just a light going over.

I then followed with No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser, covering my face with the muslin cloth soaked in hot water for about 5 minutes. As per the instructions, once I had rinsed the product off with warm water I then gave a final rinse with cold water to close my pores again. 

After drying my face with a soft towel I opened my free gift from this month’s Instyle magazine: a 7 ml sample of Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser. 

Both the Hot Cloth Cleanser and the Radiance Moisturiser are incredibly rich, but don’t feel like they are clogging your skin. My face looked bright and refreshed the next morning and was baby-soft for days. Definitely a combination I’ll be trying again.