Charlotte Tilbury Goddess Skin Collection

In my "What I Got For Christmas" post, I mentioned the Charlotte Tilbury Gift Of Goddess Skin Travel Set. While I'm not the this is a permanent product in the CT range, I did notice that there's a full sized version of the set available on her website and all of the products are available to purchase individually so I figured I might as well let you know my thoughts on the products.

So for pricing, the travel set that I have is still showing as available for £39 on CharlotteTilbury.com and the full sized set is £150. Both sets include the Goddess Skin Clay Mask (£45), the Wonderglow Instant Soft-Focus Beauty Flash Primer (£38.50) and the Charlotte's Magic Cream (£70). The products in the travel set are all 15ml each. All three of the products have the classic sweet-rose-esque Charlotte Tilbury Skincare scent, although to varying degrees. The scent is most obvious in the Magic Cream and least obvious in the Goddess Clay Mask.

The Wonderglow is an interesting product, while I can see the appeal I'm not sure it's something I'm going to use a lot myself. It's supposed to give luminosity to the skin but I can see obvious fine glitter in the product. While it does seem to offer a perfected look to the skin without giving much in the way of coverage, it's not completely natural looking. It's not at all heavy on the skin and I think the formula would work on most skin types if this is the look your going for. This strikes me as the sort of base product you might reach for if you're wanting a minimal but perfected look for a beach-y holiday.

The Goddess Skin Clay Mask is nothing special. It's a very creamy texture for a clay mask and the scent is pleasant but it's not standing out for me against some other clay masks I've tried. Bearing in mind that the full size is £45 for 75ml. I love the Aroma Actives Deep Cleansing and Purifying Clay Mask and I've found that for as little as £9 for 100ml, similarly to the Charlotte Tilbury one it's a creamy clay mask and it has a little more moisture than most and while this is a little more difficult to find (I get it from Sainsbury's), it's significantly cheaper.

So this review isn't looking too positive so far, but the Charlotte's Magic Cream is the game changer. For me this is the pick of the set and it's something I really like and will repurchase once I use up the small size. For a face cream, while £70 is up there, it's not outrageous. It has SPF 15 so it's a day cream rather than an all purpose moisturiser but Charlotte Tilbury has recently released the Magic Night Cream which I'd be interest to try. It makes a great base for makeup whilst still having a really nice moisture content. Just a really great day cream.

A Treat for Tired Muscles? Mio Workout Wonder VS Neal's Yard Arnica Salve

I've been eluding to a serious workout routine on this blog for a while now, and I figured I should probably just out myself. The intense fitness class I've been doing for the last 8 weeks is Pole Fitness. My friend and I signed up when we found a Groupon offer and thought for £18, the 6 1-hour-long sessions would be at least a laugh if nothing more.

After I got home from week 1 having fully enjoyed myself I was glad I did it, but within days my muscles were aching and I found even the smallest of movements painful and so invested in some muscle relief products, the two that I've tried being the Mio Workout Wonder and Neal's Yard Arnica Salve. I like both though I think they're good for different things and cater to different needs.

Firstly the Mio offering. This was the first muscle relief gel I'd tried and it really did the job. It was instantly cooling on my muscles as I worked it in and after the slightly uncomfortable tingling it left behind my muscles were completely ache free. It comes in a pump aplicato so you don't have to stick your fingers in pots which is nice and the smell is refreshingly minty. This is definitely an intense product and it really does leave a cold, tingly sensation behind for a good 10 minutes on application but if you're finding yourself struggling to move after a day at the gym this would be a good one for you.

The Neal's Yard product is less well-suited to what I want in a product like this, but for a typical program would probably work fine. It's designed to be used both before and after a workout however for Pole Fitness you can't use any form of moisturising product on your skin for 24 hours before a class due to it making you slip to easily and thus makes if difficult to hold poses. With this in mind I was only using the Arnica Salve after classes, and for a few days after my classes, it's a much more gentle formulation and so you can use it underneath your moisturiser every day if you want. With it being Neal's Yard it is 99% organic and doesn't contain any chemicals so if that's what you look for in products this might be a good one for you.

All in all I prefer the Mio Workout Wonder, the minty smell and the cooling sensation are just preferable to me personally but I still use and like the Arnica Salve.