I've realised just recently that my skincare routine has taken a backseat. I was once that goodie two-shoes who would triple cleanse before bed to make sure every last scrap of makeup had left my face before hitting the hay, but all of a sudden I've found myself reaching for a pack of makeup wipes and totally disregarding any form of acid toner. I've moaned during the past month at the state of my skin; it's been patchy, blemish-y and shiny in all the wrong places. Feeling fed up of the state my face was in, I headed straight onto the Boots website in the hope of finding some super skincare products to give my skin the love (but also the kick up the backside) it needs to get back on the straight and narrow.

Boots have some incredible deals online at the moment, which gave me all the more reason to stock up on some of the products that I used to use time and time again until I forgot to repurchase them. One of those products being the Boots 3 Minute Clay Mask. Priced at £1.50 this is an absolute steal. I find it really helps to calm down my skin thanks to the extract of cucumber in the ingredients and it seems to make it appear much smoother and softer to the touch.

Rimmel's Hide the Blemish concealer has been around for years, and it's one of the first makeup items I ever owned. I remember liking it because it's very yellow-toned and has great staying power. I rediscovered this in my makeup collection the other day but it had worn right down to nothing more than a stump so I threw it out, but I'm glad I've ordered another one and look forward to giving it a go!

There's no better eyebrow pencil than Archery by Soap & Glory. I've tried so many drugstore/highstreet brow pencils and I always find they're too dark or too red-toned, or the nib breaks and never re-sharpens! This one has a super-fine tip so it leaves your brows looking soft and natural and it even has its own spoolie on the other end - perfect for saving that all-important space in your makeup bag.

Ah, the Clearasil pads. Whilst I'm aware i'm no longer a hormone-fuelled teenager, I grew up using these and they seemed to save my skin in times of desperation when a horror breakout occurred. I thought I'd give them another go as I have a few stubborn under-the-skin spots on my forehead and I've completely skipped using any sort of acid toner on my face for yonks. I figured these would do the trick and then some, claiming to not only even skin tone but also exfoliate, reduce shine & oil, unblock pores and remove dirt.

When I think of facial oils my initial thoughts are just "nope". I hate the texture for a start, but after reading the endless list of benefits I gave in and ordered the Botanics Organic Facial Oil. So many people have raved about this in the reviews section on Boots and I figured they can't all be wrong, so I pray this will be a product I fall in love with and banish my dislike of oils for good!

Last but not least, the Botanics Radiance Balm. Not something I necessarily need, but I tricked myself into thinking that this may just I've me the radiance i'm after, and I'm all for looking like a glowing sun goddess. I guess I just envisioned myself being hand-fed grapes while lounging on a sunbed in the mediterranean and, well, that was enough to get me to order it. 

Have you picked up any great beauty bits recently?

Chloë
x


(Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All of the products mentioned above were purchased by myself). 

Today I wanted to try something a little bit different for lunch. Lunch is somewhat of a privilege for me as I typically don't have a break during my standard working day. 

As today is my day off, I decided to venture out in the pouring rain to go and pick up some goodies to make my very own plant-based pizza. 

I bought two thin and crispy pizza bases from Sainsburys along with a bag of spinach, some sweetcorn, a tomato and some tomato purée. 

Whilst the oven was heating up, I spread the tomato purée out onto the base and shredded up the spinach to add as part of the topping. Then I sprinkled on some sweetcorn and basil along with some diced tomato and placed it straight in the oven at 200 degrees for around ten minutes. Et voilà! It was absolutely delicious and totally guilt free! I was very impressed with how it turned out considering it was my first attempt; here's to many more in the future!

I'm currently sat writing this whilst being drenched in sunlight.

No, I'm not in a foreign country, I am in fact sat in the middle of my lounge in England enjoying the sunlight pouring through the windows. Madness, I know.

Today I wanted to share my breakfast with you. Well, not literally, but I took a few snaps on my new camera (Canon EOS M) which I'm loving right now. The image quality is dreamy! My only niggle is with the battery life, but that's hardly surprising considering how much the little guy can do; there are tons of cool features and to be able to produce SLR worthy images from a camera that is about a third of the size is phenomenal!

Anyway, back to breakfast. This morning I woke up with a spring in my step, despite being struck down with a cold/cough a few days ago. There's a bug going around at work (that I'm blaming on the builders for coughing and spluttering everywhere) and it's honestly infected 80% of the workforce! So, with having the constant need to cough or sneeze every .2 seconds I decided to go back to basics and keep my breakfast simple by just having porridge. Delicious porridge at that, mind.

To make:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup hot water (boiled)
• 1/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened but it's personal preference!)
• 1 banana
• coconut sugar to sweeten

I've recently discovered it's a lot quicker to mix the oats in a bowl and wang them in the microwave than slouching over the stove stirring like no tomorrow to make sure the oats don't stick to the pan.

All you have to do is pour the oats into a bowl, add the almond milk and wait for the kettle to boil. Then, pour the desired amount of hot water in and mix everything together before placing in the microwave for 30-40 seconds (depending on the microwave's wattage). It may look like a watery mess at this stage but fear not; the heat from the microwave will help it to thicken. After removing the porridge from the microwave, all that's left to do is add your desired toppings! I opted for a banana, some strawberries and a sprinkle of dried cranberries.

Aaaaaand you're done. A quick, easy & super tasty breakfast that's ready in just a matter of minutes :)