The lip lovers perfect little gift...

Coming from a family that doesn't give Christmas presents but rather just all get together to eat our body weight in sweets and poultry I couldn't do a full fledged Christmas gift guide but on a rare shopping day in London I decided to seek out this adorable little gift set with my John Lewis vouchers in hand.  I'd watched Vivianna's gift guide and instantly fell in love with it and coming in at around the £17 mark it's great value for money. 

I'm probably one of the only girls on the planet that still hasn't tried the infamous Instant light natural lip perfectors and this gift set having two mini's in the shades 01 and 06 meant it was a no brainer! The set also comes with a mini Rouge Eclat satin lipstick in #13 and a Gloss Prodige in #04.  All wearable neautral shades and the Clarins attendant was lovely and picked out all the shades from their testers so that I could actually see what came in the box and let me have a quick swatch but I had walked into John Lewis knowing I wanted this and with some John Lewis vouchers from my wedding burning a hole in my purse I took it without a second thought.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not you have to agree this is the season for gift sets and a bargain so If you're looking for the perfect little gift for a loved one or just a little treat for yourself like me I'd recommend checking out your local Clarins counter!  

My little winter skin life savers...

And here they are!  I am one of those very fortunate (not) people who's skin shrivels up like a prune as the weather changes.  Pair that with being horrendously ill for the past week and my skin has just been hating me and craving some TLC... 

So along with getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of hot lemon water and popping numerous vitamins and pills I've been reaching for some skin saviours to try and look human again.

I've had this bottle of Espa Balancing Herbal Spafresh Spritzer for about a year and have literally only used a quarter of it because I tend to savour every spritz and use it very sparingly.  It has a calming herbal scent and just gives my skin a little instant boost.   

With a blocked nose and cheese grater throat comes dry sore lips and despite piling on lots of The Body Shop coconut or honey lip butters the only thing that has really soothed my lips is the Blistex Intensive Moisturiser.  This stuff is instant gratification and relief in a tube, it just gets the job done. I love it!  

I have never really tried anything from the 'Yes to..' range so I decided to pick up the Yes to Carrots Rich Moisture Day Cream for normal to dry skin.  This is so good I want to slap it on every five minutes just because it feels so good and smells like floral carrots.  If thats possible...??  I'd say this moisturiser is a one-size-fits-all as my husband who has very oily skin has been loving this too.

The newest additions to my little skin stash are the Nivea Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream and the Boots Botanics Super Serum Triple Age Renewal.  Both of these products are geared more at anti-ageing than hydrating but being somebody who doesn't generally use either an eye cream or a serum (shock horror!!) I think my skin has just been enjoying the extra layers of product and having noticed a few laughter lines around my eyes I'm hoping I can nip that in the bud ASAP!!

I will always have a jar of the Clarins HydraQuench Cream in my cupboard ready to work its Hydrating magic when nothing else will cut it.  It's a thick but light moisturiser that just sinks into the skin and leaves it feeling plumped and soothed.  It's like a little skin drink in a jar that I think I will love forever.

Finally I like to conclude my routine with the Loreal Paris Skin Perfection Anti-Fatigue Perk-Up Cream.(link)  Aside from having the worlds longest name this cream does what it says on the tube and more.  It's a skincare/makeup hybrid which goes onto the skin as a grey tinged moisturiser and once blended morphs into a good skin day dewy tint that matches my skin tone perfectly.  As the name suggests it instantly perks up fatigued and dull skin and leaves you looking awake and healthy.  This has to be my absolute favourite product of the bunch at the moment as it just makes me look alive again especially throughout the past week when I've felt a bit like the walking dead and not having slept for days.

I hope this post has been a little bit helpful for anybody feeling as poopy as I am or for those suffering with their skin with the current climate.  Let me know your skin saviours, I'd love to know!

My current skin saviour...

You know that feeling when you're feeling run down, exhausted and like you just want to crawl into bed and come out when its summer?! yep that has been me this past couple of weeks paired with the virus from hell! I've had achy joints, fever shakes, the lot but my skin has looked pretty good all down to this wonder bottle.  Clarins usually bring it when it comes to skincare and this toning lotion is not exeption, it's made for dry skins like mine and alcohol free so it isn't stripping or drying at all.  The standard sweeping of the cotton pad ritual with this has been all I've been able to manage in terms of skincare routine these days but it must be working as my skin is clear and radiant in the morning.  Priced at £19.00 for 200ml its fairly standard Clarins pricing however for the results totally worth it in my opinion.  Only the smallest amount is needed for a full face and neck sweep and this bottle is still going strong 6 months post purchase however I must say I don't use this everyday.  This being my good skin in a bottle skin saviour of the moment means I whip it out in dire times of need and am never left disappointed!