.jpg "January 15 Beauty Essentials")
After so many late nights in December, January is a much quieter affair, mainly spent cooking and relaxing at home in the evenings to ease me back into the work routine. January also brings with it harsh weather and constant temperature changes from office air con to home heating and bitter winds. As a result I like to ease off my usual makeup routine to give my skin a bit of a break. At night, I apply some extra TLC to make up for what I put it through during the party season! Here are my January beauty essentials.
1. Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle Cream (£18)
My nails have always been really weak and break easily. In summer my hands are fine, but in Winter as soon as the cold hits them they go so dry that I need to use a hand cream regularly. I was given this hand cream as part of a gift set earlier in the year and recently popped it in my handbag to use when out and about. Since using it regularly I’ve noticed a difference – my nails are growing better with less splits. I’ve nearly used the whole tube now and it’s an empty that I shall definitely replace.
The next 3 form my nightly ‘before bed’ routine.
Over Christmas I decided to take a break from eyelash extensions *gulp*. My natural eyelashes feel very short now so I’m helping to encourage natural growth by applying a little Vaseline to my lashes each night, which I comb through with a clean mascara wand. You can use olive oil instead, but I prefer Vaseline since it’s a) easier to apply and b) won’t leave stains on my pillow!
3. Decleor Hydrotenseur Anti-Fatigue Eye Serum (£27.65)
Kim Kardashian recently admitted that she doesn’t smile very often as it gives you wrinkles. I think I’d rather accept a few lines on my face in payment for all the great memories that created them! That being said, I’ve been religiously applying this for the last couple of months. Prevention is better than cure after all. I’ve tried a couple of other eye creams in the past that just gave me puffy eyes, but this is a watery consistency which sinks in well and doesn’t lay heavy. I have a few fine lines and haven’t seen miracle results but it does seem to tauten and smooth out the skin. The bottle is lasting very well, despite my ‘the more I apply the younger I’ll get’ philosophy, which is helping me to justify the price!
4. L’Oreal Wrinkle De-Crease Collagen Re-Plumper Night Cream – 50ml (£8.66)
Spotting a theme here?! Recently I’ve become very conscious that I need to treat my skin well now to reap the rewards later. This is an intensive cream that has helped to keep my skin hydrated over the winter. I sometimes get little dry patches on my cheeks but so far this year that hasn’t happened.
Finally, one for the morning after!
5. Benefit Erase Paste Brightening Camouflage for Eyes & Face (£20.50)
I purchased this after seeing it featured in this post fab post from Ruth Crilly (A Model Recommends).
http://www.amodelrecommends.com/2014/10/27/cover-dark-undereye-circles/
I had been using Benefit Boi-ing previously, which is a really good cover up but a bit heavy for use under the eyes.
I used this paste once initially and wasn’t too impressed – the reviews for it were so good that I felt a bit let down that it didn’t completely cover the discolouration under my eyes. A few weeks later I decided to give it another go and made a much better go of applying it. The directions had said to use sparingly and I think the first time I’d just been a bit overcautious. I’ve used it daily ever since.
The consistency is lighter than Boi-ing and a little goes a long way. Again, it’s a price that I feel I have to justify to myself, but I can see the pot lasting a long time. A lot of other ‘fair’ concealers show up against my skin which is the palest of pales and actually end up drawing attention to my dark circles, but this blends in really well and brightens the area without the ‘panda’ effect.
Do you go into beauty detox mode in January? What are your Winter essentials?
xo
