Ode to Beauty - The Products I'm Currently Using

Inspired by a few blogs I read over the weekend, I thought I'd write a post on my current beauty regime. I don't claim to have any knowledge of skincare, I had horrendous eczema throughout my childhood, followed by late-onset acne during my thirties & early forties but with my 58th birthday just 18 days away, I'm finally at peace with my skin. 

  My face tells the story of my life. I'm a long-time party girl and a sun-worshipper, I endured chronic pain from an undetected birth defect for the first 39 years of my life, had a high-flying, stressful career that nearly killed me and, like most women of my age, dealt with parents (and a grandparent) with cruel & incurable illnesses and their subsequent deaths. I've earnt every one of my wrinkles. I'm not daft enough to believe that anything you can buy off the shelf will make you look younger, it's all down to genetics at the end of the day. I'm just happy not to wake up scabby or spotty!  

I don't use cleanser, its soap and water all the way. I wash my face with Patounis pure olive oil soap and a natural honeycomb sponge.

Earlier this year one of the discount shops in town was closing down and was selling these normally quite pricey (ie., over a tenner!) ethical, sustainably produced, vegan & cruelty-free Beauty Kitchen products for £1 each. I've been making my own facial oil for a couple of years but thought I'd give the Abyssinian Oil Facial Concentrate a go and so impressed that I went back and bought another three bottles. I use this morning and night after I've washed my face. The Seahorse Plankton Eye Lift and Illumination Serum is fantastic and soon sorts out my early morning puffy eyes, the shop only had one of these but I managed to find an eBay seller offering two bottles for £5 (funnily enough, it turns out she lives in Walsall so she probably bought them from that shop!). The Handbag Beauty Balm is a fantastic all-rounder, I use it around my eyes at night but it works as a lip balm and for removing eye make-up, making it perfect for travel.

A couple of times a week I use this Hyaluronic Booster as an alternative to my facial oil. I remove my eye make-up and lipstick (I've never worn foundation) with Nivea's Double-Effect Eye Makeup Remover (I'm always looking for special offers, at the moment it's £2.99 in Bodycare, £1 cheaper than Superdrug.) These Barry M reusable make-up remover pads came free with a promotion back in January, I chuck them in the washing machine when they're dirty. 

  When I remember, I use one of these Body Shop Ethiopian Honey masks (another find from the closing down sale), I'm down to my last 15 so I'm trying to eke them out! The Beauty Kitchen Quick Fix Mask is really good, just the job when I'm looking a bit jaded after a week at a festival. 

Apart from the night before I go swimming, I've always used a body moisturiser after showering. At the monet I've still got a good stock of The Body Shop British Rose body butters, another bargain from the shop that was closing down. This Aromaco solid deodorant bar from Lush is in its second year.

I usually just use Patounis soap with my sponge (bought from Kalymnos back in the summer) in the shower but spotted these two still-sealed Philosophy shower gels in a charity for £1 the pair - they retail at £15 each, a saving of £29!!

I was running low on my Lush shampoo and conditioner bars so picked up this Luxurious Lengths conditioner from Lidl (on offer for 99p) and snaffled this Aussie shampoo, also especially formulated for long hair when I spotted it on the clearance shelf in Asda for 75p. The Aussie shampoo smells like Aperol Spritz, making my weekly hair wash all the more enjoyable! 

A special shout-out to this new product from Cutex, It's the best nail polish remover I've ever used, it even removes glitter in seconds. It currently retails at £2 in Bodycare. 

Have you tried any of these products or is there any beauty product you've recently discovered that you'd care to share?