Nip and Fab Dragons Blood Cleansing Pads

I've been going through a phase of wanting to buy all of the skin care products that I could possibly get my hands on. I have been on a major skincare mission in a bid to get super soft glowy skin in time for my weeding next year, and also to prevent premature ageing.

One thing that I would love to have is fuller looking skin without the need of fillers. I need something which will renew the skin without the need for too much effort because I will admit that I am lazy. This is why my skin care routine has been less than perfect in the past. Enter Nip and Fab Dragons Blood Cleansing Pads.

Thy sound scary I will admit that. I told my mum about them and she just couldn't get her head around it. The Dragons Blood is actually a resin from the Croton Lechleri Tree, more commonly known as the Dragon Tree. It has been used in numerous products over hundreds of years, particularly for its renewing properties.

Each pot of the pads contains 60 circular pads which are ever so slightly textured. They feel a little oily and tacky at the same time which is some thing that I continuously struggle with because it feels so strange. This feeling doesn't last long on the skin but it is something to take into account if you're not a fan of that sort of thing. 

My skin instantly felt a little plumper after using these, and I especially noticed an improvement around my eye and cheekbone area. My fine lines had reduced quite considerably and my skin felt smooth and hydrated. I did have a little hormonal breakout on my chin too and it cleared those pesky little blemishes right up, which was pretty amazing to see them gone after only a few hours. 

I absolutely love these little pads of magic and they are a staple in my routine now. I was worried that they would be like the old pads that were popular when I was a teenager, the Clearasil ones which used to feel like thy were ripping your face off. I will definitely be using these for the forseeable future.

You can purchase these from Superdrug for £9.95 for a pot of 60 pads.

Face B4 : A New Holy Grail

A while back now, I was contacted by the lovely people over at Face B4 who asked me if I would like to take part in their Face B4 Skin Clinic. I jumped at the chance as I'm really tying to a better effort with my skin in preparation for my wedding next year. 

The Face B4 Clinic included using two products, which were the Anti-Bacterial Face Wash and Anti-Bacterial Serum. I used both of these together daily for around 6 weeks and was really impressed with the results, especially from such a simple routine!

The Anti-Bacterial Face Wash features a duo pump system which provides both a cleanser and a toner. Before using this, I removed my makeup with a regular cleanser first and then went in with this. The consistency is a lovely soft foam which feels extremely gentle on the skin. The instructions say to leave this on the skin for a minute or two before rinsing off, but in all honesty I found this a little to do because the foam tickled my face, but I did leave it for around 30 seconds. Once I had done this, I rinsed with warm water and patted my face dry.

My favourite product of the two was by far the Anti-Bacterial Serum. Quite often after cleansing my skin can feel a little tight, but this wasn't the case after using this. I applied one pump of this to my finger tips and then applied to my face in upwards motions. It doesn't feel greasy unlike other serums and sinks into my skin beautifully, rather than sitting on top like some other products I have used in the past. 

 These pictures were taken on the first day of the trial, half way through and after 6 weeks.

After using both of these, I have noticed a hug improvement in my skin. A lot of the redness has gone down, and my blemishes are pretty much non existent, aside from the odd pesky one that everyone has to deal with every now and then. I've found that my skin is much smoother, meaning that my makeup sits much better on my skin and looks much nicer. These really are game changers, and are definitely products that will be in my routine for a long time.

You can buy this product here from their website and from Boots. You can also find them on Twitter.

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*This post features a PR Sample. All opinions are my own*

The Wedding Series #6: Planning Tools

For a stationery fiend like myself, planning a wedding is an absolute dream. I'm always found in either the makeup or stationery aisle, and I love perusing the shelves of Paperchase as much as I do the beauty shelves in Boots. Once we started getting ideas and plans together for our big day, I realised that this was the perfect opportunity to get myself some planning tools and kick it up a gear. There are so many different things that I've found useful, and thought it would be nice to put them together on one blog post for other Brides and Grooms to be.

Pinterest Boards:

This little gem is by far my favourite thing ever, not just for wedding planning. However, if you are planning a wedding it might just be a life saver. Creating a wedding board on there has been a great way to put ideas from hundreds of different places and help us to understand more of what we actually want for our wedding. It has also been great for discovering ideas that would otherwise have never thought of. You can find my wedding ideas board here. 

Wedding Magazines:

I can't even begin to tell you the excitement I felt when I went and bought my first Bridal Magazine. It really is a lovely feeling flicking through the pages and thinking of your own day. I have found these really useful when planning our wedding because there will be such a wide variety of items in there. My favourite is when they include 'real' weddings in the issue as it gives a more realistic view of weddings. One thing that I enjoy doing is taking clippings or keeping pages of something that I really like, or want to show to a supplier as sometimes it's much easier to show a picture of what you want, rather than trying to explain. Hands down my favourite wedding magazine is Perfect Wedding.

Wedding Planner/Diary:

This is fairly new to me as I only got one a few weeks ago, but it certainly has been a god send. Imagine a filofax but solely wedding related. It's been a great little tool to keep track of costs, names, and contact details of suppliers, along with a check list of things still to do. This little beauty has not left my side since getting it and I just know how much I'm going to be relying on this as the day gets closer. It also makes a lovely little keepsake to look back on. 

These have been my favourite helpers when planning our wedding. I'm always on the look out for more tips and tricks on planning, so if you have any ideas I would love to see them. 

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