My Must-Have Masks

Face masks have always been a really popular product type in the world of skincare and with good reason. They tend to be my go-to product for a quick fix when my skin's misbehaving and I've tried an awful lot of them but here's a run down of my favourites from the ones I've tried:

For the dry or dehydrated out there, there's a lot of moisturising masks on the market and, while some budget options are quite good, my absolute favourite one is the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask (£23 for 100ml). It's essentially a super heavy duty night cream and you apply a thin layer before bed for a boost of hydration. The scent is nice and fruity and it leaves the skin feeling soft and supple. If the Origins is out of your price range my affordable alternative would be the Super Facialist by Una Brennan Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask at £9.99 for 125ml. This is more of a quick fix type mask than an overnight treatment but it works well and the rose scent is lovely.

Clay masks are something you really don't need to spend a lot of money on if you don't want to. My absolute favourite clay mask is the Aroma Actives Deep Cleansing & Purifying Clay Mask. It's around the £10 mark for 100ml and I pick this up from Sainsbury's (although this product isn't available on the Sainsbury's website), I like this one because it's an effective clay mask but it doesn't strip all of the moisture out of the skin like some clay masks do. If Aroma Actives isn't available near you or if you just fancy splurging on a more luxe clay mask, the Charlotte Tilbury Goddess Skin Clay Mask is a nice one. My only problem with it is that, at £45 for 75ml, I think it's quite steeply priced for something that works very similarly to the Aroma Actives one.

The final mask type I'll be talking about today is the exfoliating mask. I have two that work very similarly and they are the Oskia Renaissance Mask and the Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask. They're both an orange-y pink gel texture with a soft rose-y scent. They both go onto the skin with a jelly-ish texture and neither of them will dry or "set' on the face. I personally wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them in a blind trial and they're quite similarly priced with the Oskia being £48.50 for 50ml and the Tata Harper being £45 for 30ml. I'll leave either of these on for 3-10 minutes, rinse off and my skin feels so smooth after use.

A good exfoliating mask for me has some slightly pricier ingredients in the formula and, because of that, I haven't been able to find a more budget friendly option. However if you're strapped for cash and need some exfoliation in your life I'd recommend a more affordable exfoliating toner which you can use 2-3 times a week like the Pixi Glow Tonic (£18 for 250ml) or the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads (£22 for 60 pads).

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate - The Review

I'm sure a few of you notice that Space NK had £10 off when you spend £60 with them online this week, so as a beauty lover with a love for a bargain, I ordered myself a few things that had been on my beauty hit-list for a while, one of them being the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Complex.

So it took me a few goes to work out how to use this product. It say's nothing on the bottle nor the box! "Apply to a freshly cleansed face", what good is that? So not knowing where to use it in my routine I tried it first in place of a serum which worked nicely, very hydrating when paired with a moisturiser and provides a little bit of slip for the cream products. But then I saw that the front of the bottle mentioned the oil content and used it as an oil step, on top of a hydrating serum without a moisturiser and it's lovely. I personally think it works as one of those serum-in-oil formulas where you can just cleanse, tone, this and be done, and who doesn't like a does-it-all product? And the smell is like a less intense MV Organics Rose Plus Booster, rose-y and sweet.

And so another oil makes it to the skincare hall of fame. I would do an updated favourite oils post, but my collection is no where near complete yet and so it would only need updating again in a few months time.

No7 Beautiful Skin Overnight Revitalising Eye Balm Review

So recently I've been looking for a nicer eye cream to add to my skincare stash. Since hitting 22 I've noticed that the skin around my eyes has become a lot drier than it used to be back in my teenage years and I'm beginning to feel the need to use more preventative products on my skin as I slowly creep towards 30 *sigh*.

My friend has super-dry, super-sensitive skin and she uses the No7 Beautiful Skin Overnight Revitalising Eye Balm and so I gave it a try and it's lovely. It's a clear gel consistency that sinks in quickly and feels nice and hydrating for a night-time eye cream option. With it being No7, it's nearly always on offer in Boots and at under £15 for 15ml, it's much cheaper than some other eye creams I've tried.