LANCOME HYDRA ZEN NEUROCALM MOISTURISING CREAM

When I first tried the Lancome Hydra Zen NeuroCalm Soothing Anti-Stress Moisturising Cream, mouthful, my skin was not too fond. Straight away my face was stinging and red, I was sure I was gonna have a mega breakout, so I pushed it to the back of my stash. I pulled it out again the other day and my skin was loving the little pot of thick, creamy goodness.

I'm not sure if there are different types of this (?) but while I was reading through other reviews and on the Lancome website, I saw a lot of images where the cream looked almost gel like - just a little thicker than Origins Gin Zing. I'm really still not sure what type this is, it's super confusing!

For me, this cream is really, really thick and immediately eliminates any dry patches or flakey areas I have however it's not exactly super hydrating. I'm sure you're getting a bit confused by this - one minute I love it, next it's not so good, so let me tell you how I go about this!

I do my entire day skincare routine and apply a serum underneath my usual Origins GinZing. If my skin is still feeling slightly dry - like I could do with a good exfoliation, I apply a thin layer of this and it instantly smooths out my skin. I leave it about 15 minutes before applying make up as it's slightly tacky, but any foundation applies so beautiful and smoothly afterwards. In terms of the whole soothing and anti-stress/redness thing, I can't say it makes much difference at all. If this is applied straight to my skin it does leave it feeling really sore and tender which is definitely not what I need!

I wouldn't get this again. Don't get me wrong, I love how it smooths my skin out, but it just isn't worth it. I got this in a gift with purchase so it didn't cost me a thing, but I can definitely cope with just adding a thick moisturiser or a better primer.

Have you tried this? What do you think?! I want to know about the texture of yours haha!

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ESTEE LAUDER BRONZE GODDESS

Whilst my parents jetted off on their holiday to Crete, I had only one request - please try and get me Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess! Knowing that it has sold out all around me due to being far too late on the band wagon, I felt duty free was going to be my last chance. Low and behold, my parents returned 14 days later with a bottle of the beauty in tow.

I find it very easy to get headaches from perfumes - most can be really overwhelming and completely overload your senses, but with Bronze Goddess it smells so... unartificial? That's not even a word. I've never really liked coconut at all, I even at one point convinced myself I was allergic to it - but the coconut scent in this is so creamy and smooth. It smells slightly citrusy and almost like sun cream which really takes you back to holidays, beaches and late summer nights.

The scent stays with you for hours and I always seem to sit there smelling myself. I literally have nothing but good things to say about this. It's like a dream - it's so, so beautiful!

Unfortunately it'd limited edition and is more than likely completely sold out now. Next year I'm going to pick up at least two!
Have you tried this perfume? What do you think?


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OPI THE PERFECT COUPLE

Firstly, I'm sorry blogging hiatus! Things got preeettty hectic over here this last week. Let's start off with the fact I now have a paid job! So my beauty obsession can continue to be satisfied whilst I'm at uni. Talking about uni - I move out on the 15th, which is less than two weeks away. Not only that, but on Friday the 13th I'll be in London for New Look's Fashion Week and on the 14th I'll be in Retford for some job training so currently I'm running around like a mad hatter trying to get things sorted for moving, going for more training in Retford (which is taking up a lot of valuable time) and trying to see my friends before they all move away. So I'm currently - on my one day off from everything - trying to type up lots of posts to get posting over these next two weeks. I'll be happy once September is over, I'm in a better routine and I can get back to blogging. I also managed to break my phone which I did all my blog photography on, but I'm now back with a bigger, better phone with a camera to rival many!

Anyway, on to the post...
On the 18th I'm going along to the Relaxation Den to have my first ever manicure! Crazy right, I've been obsessed with nails since I was around 15 yet I've never had anything done. So when they asked me what I wanted, I opted for gel polish to occupy my talons. I really want this to last me all through Freshers Week, and as my nails are incredibly brittle and break so easily I thought it time to give my nails a rest from the colour and a little bit of TLC.

In John Lewis I found a box with the infamous OPI Nail Envy and their amazing Avoplex oil for just £18.80, which is the cost of the Nail Envy itself - so I popped it straight into my basket (spending ban? What spending ban?). I've been using it for a couple of weeks and I really can tell a difference in my nails and cuticles. Now I'm not going to say that my nails are now hard, don't chip and don't break because that would be a lie, they do still break off occasionally but no where near as often as before.

On Nail Envy it suggests a weekly cycle of putting two layers on the first day, miss a day, one layer, miss a day, one layer etc then removing it at the end of the week and starting all over again. I think I'm going to change this up slightly and either do two layers then one layer everyday or do two layers each time and miss days - you catch my drift!
With Avoplex, I apply this everytime I do my nails. I let it soak in for about 20 minutes and then massage in the remainder. It's quite a dry oil which doesn't really offer immediate hydration, but my cuticles have been looking much neater and better tamed since using it - I rarely have to sort them out!

I can't say much for what nail varnishes wear like over this base as I'm trying to keep them free of colour for a while, but I'll give it a go soon! If you have any tips for manicures and pedicures (I'm scared about having a pedi! I don't do feet...) then please let me know! Have you tried the perfect couple?

You can find Hayley Loves on BLOGLOVIN' and TWITTER