REN Glycolatic Radiance Renewal Mask

This is one of those posts that has been in the wings for ages now, I picked this mask up well over a month ago but it'd been out for a while and I had other things that I'd been blogging about and it just got pushed to the side a bit.

so my absolute first impressions of this mask was "feels like thin jelly, smells like herbal tea", which isn't exactly the best first impression I've ever had about a product. So I must admit as excited as I'd been to try this product, I had my doubts from the second I put it on my face. It's one of those gel consistency masks that feel a tiny bit like you're spreading lipgloss all over your face. I'm more of a standard clay mask type of girl when it comes to problem fixers but I love the Oskia Renaissance Mask so I persisted. 

It left my skin feeling soft and smooth if ever so slightly dry, however I'm happy to overlook the slight dryness on the grounds that I always go in with an oil after I've done a mask. The killer for this product is the smell. It's the kind of mask that I could only use when I'm laying in a particularly fragrant bath as it offends my nostrils. I'm aware that the effect that a product has on your skin is the bottom line but if it can smell nice it should.

My final verdict is: I'll finish it. It's not my favourite but it's nice enough for me to use until I finish it but I can't see a repurchase on the horizon. If you're fussed about scent like I am and you're happy to invest a little more money into a mask of this type the Oskia is similar in effect but smells amazing and I'd go for that over the REN.

The Beauty-Ban Wish List

As I mentioned in my Shopping My Stash post (clicky link here), I've been on a month-long beauty-buying ban this July, and with that I've developed a slight lust-list of products that I can imagine I'll be picking up as soon as August hits. I guess you can can take the girl out of the shop but you can't take the need to shop out of the girl, *sigh*. I figured that, while I won't be able to give reviews of any of these products until I actually pick them up, it might be interesting to see what I'm lusting after and why. Also, spoilers for upcoming review posts are always good, right?

Firstly, Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup has been on top form enabling-wise lately when it comes to the Charlotte Tilbury Goddess Skin Clay Mask and I'm fighting hard to resist the hype right now. I've been eyeing up some Charlotte products for a while now so I see a treat-filled trip to Selfridges on the horizon to get me some of that action.

I've also been seeing a lot of hype round Revlon's Gel Nail Polishes recently, and while I'm not a huge nail polish lover, these seem like a product for me as they're pitched as a super-long-wearing polish option, and I might be able to get on board if I only have to paint them once a week.

I've been seeing an awful lot of LilyPebbles looking very 90's chic in a combination of MAC Soar Lip Pencil and their Mare Lipstick and it's got me itching to try the two. I've not made a purchase from MAC in ages but I love their lipsticks and already have a few and my stash could always use a new lip liner, the only MAC lip liner I have at the moment is the shade "Redd" but it's lovely.

The REN Wake Wonderful Night-Time Facial hasn't been blogger hyped yet as far as I can see but I've seen a bit of marketing around it and apparently it's a relatively new release from REN. I've tried a few of their products before and they've worked great for me and night-time facial type products are something I generally really like so I'm waiting patiently to pick one up.

And finally, a Hirons recommended product. Would it be a lust-list post without one? The Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Peel Pads. While at 22 years old I'm not in need of anything un-wrinkling just yet, these are AHA based exfoliating pads and they sound lovely. I've been interested in picking up some Peter Thomas Roth products ever since Anna from VDM first mentioned their Pumpkin Enzyme Mask and I can see a Cult Beauty order on the horizon.

So that's the round up of the top 5 products I'm needing in my stash right now, if you've got any recommendations I'm all ears and I'm also open to requests for post ideas or products that you'd like to see reviewed on the blog. Give me a shout if you have anything in mind!

KIKO Do Face Masks

I've been dying to get my hands on some KIKO products ever since I watched Lily Pebbles tutorial where she used one of their eyeshadow sticks (conveniently placed link: here). So a few weeks ago I made an order and while I haven't managed to form an opinion on everything I picked up just yet (watch this space) I picked up a few bits from their skincare range and I thought I'd let you know what I thought.

While the packing is a little bit basic I do think they look quite nice for a budget mask and personally, I like it when budget brands don't get too fancy with their packaging - for me it says that the company have spent money trying to make the formula of the product as good as they can make it rather than spending money trying to tart up a product to the extent that they have to sacrifice the quality of the product. I also like that the colour of the packaging relates to the colour of the product, so if you get the mask in the green bottle, the mask itself will be green etc.

I thought I'd found a fail-safe product in their Hydrating Mask, I've tried lots of different hydrating masks before and while I don't love them all, I find that generally even the not so great ones get on with my skin quite well, but this surprised me. Firstly, it's quite a thick, creamy formula, a lot heavier than hydrating masks I've tried in the past and it has a tingle to it that I really wasn't expecting. The mask also has a light floral scent to it that is pleasant, but for me it does seem to be artificial and I actually found it to irritate my eyes quite a bit which has never happened to me before. It sets on the face after about 10 minutes of wear and then you remove with a damp wash cloth. For me it just wasn't hydrating enough and I think there are much better hydrating masks out there.

I was quite intrigued about the Peeling Mask, firstly because I haven't used many of them in the past but secondly because it has a AHA warning and my skin loves a good acid exfoliating product. Again it applies like a thick cream and set down like a clay mask before removal. The scent on this mask is a non-offensive florally scent that didn't cause any irritation on my skin or my eyes. This one also has a slight tingle to it but I didn't mind it because I expected that from an AHA-based mask and it left my skin feeling smooth, soft and nicely hydrated.

And finally I picked up the Purifying Mask. This one seemed like a really good pick as, again, it has an AHA warning on the box. For an AHA based product it didn't have much of a tingle but it did leave my skin feeling silky soft and, as it contains glycerin, it wasn't as drying on my skin as some other purifying masks I've used in the past (I'd still want to go in with a serum, oil or moisturiser over the top though). As well as the AHA's it also has a slightly grainy texture to it, soft of like little grains of sand suspended in a creamy formula which can feel a bit odd to apply. The only thing I wasn't massively keen on with this mask was the scent, it's quite a herbal scent that, for me, kills the luxury/relation feeling of a pamper routine just a little bit.

All in all? A mixed bag, I'll definitely use up the Purifying Mask and I really enjoy using the Peeling Mask so that might end up being a repurchase in the future. The only one that I really didn't get on with was the Hydrating Mask.