Clarins Radiance Plus Golden Glow Booster

I didn't quite anticipate that come the end of July and beginning of August this year I would be wrapped in blankets on the sofa drinking hot chocolate. A slight exaggeration but typical of the British summer, it hasnt't quite reached my perhaps unrealistic expectations of sunbathing in the garden on a daily basis. Lack of sun unfortunately means lack of tanned, glowing skin, leading many to turn to the tan-faking products on the high street.

Clarins' revelation, the Golden Glow Booster, is designed to be mixed with your existing moisturiser, day cream or serum of choice to result in a radiant, glowing sheen to your skin. It is odourless so it is not going to clash with the scent already in the skin product, and it is formulated with aloe-vera extract for its softening qualities. It is primarily intended for your face and neck, but I don't see why you can't add some to your moisturiser and use it on your legs and arms before a night out if you fancied.

As you can see, the bottle you get is tiny (15ml) and resembles an eye-drop container, but it makes it really easy to distribute the drops in your moisturiser evenly by pressing the top of the bottle. Also, as you only need a few drops per application it should last a while. You apply it to your face and neck as you would a gradual tan once it is mixed in with your product, I usually use a day cream, and it develops over a short period of time. The colour gives a subtle glow that is really natural looking, and you can darken it by increasing the amount of drops. I love using products like these as I find that the more tanned my skin, the less make-up I need to wear. I also find that even when I am on holiday, my face and neck tans a lot more slowly than the rest of my body - not a great look - so this will be ideal to even things out a bit. 

If you want to give it a try, you can get it from Escentual for £19 (for 15ml), who have a 20% discount on everything until the 18th August using the code ESCENTUAL20. 

July Favourites

A round-up of the products I have been indulging in this month, including another one of John Frieda's Beach Blonde range and my first Clinique cleanser. 

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Cleansing Gel | Feel Unique £18.00 for 125ml

I got this from Duty Free on my way back from Spain as a means of using up the rest of my euros (that's my excuse anyway). I haven't tried that many of Clinique's products, not for any other reason than they haven't crossed my path very often, and the ones I have tried have been samples of their serums and make up. Firstly, I love Clinique's packaging - very simple and hard-wearing. The cleanser itself has quite a watery texture so it is very easy to apply, and I noticed that it left my skin feeling silky - almost gel-like even when I had rinsed it off. My skin is not so bad at the moment so I haven't noticed its power on the anti-blemish side of things, but the reviews I have read sing its praises in its ability to fight off an outbreak. I have a lot of cleansers which are mostly all great so it just comes down to personal preference, but this is an investment that I'm glad I made as it will last me a long time and a fail-safe way of reducing blemishes when the dreaded time comes.

Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser | Feel Unique £7.50 for 50 ml

I bought this in Spain after getting carried away in the Spanish pharmacies that stock all the great French beauty brands that I have become obsessed with, such as Avene and Vichy. This was one of the only things that was small enough to carry back in my hand luggage, being only 50ml, and I was sold by the unusual Grape and Sage combination. It comes out completely in a foam, which is great for getting a quick lather to cleanse your face. The scent is nice, not too overpowering as you might expect being flavoured with sage. It would be a great cleanser to take away with you on either long or short holiday as it is a lot bigger than the travel size cleansers that are miniature and don't last very long.

Topshop Nail Varnish in School of Thought | Topshop Similar Colour £6

I bought this in Topshop's summer sale this year as I was getting bored of wearing the same reds and nudes all the time. Topshop usually have really good reductions on their beauty products come sale season, and I got this one for only £3. The shade is very mermaid-esque, very vibrant and bold. I prefer to wear colours like this on my toe nails as you don't have to worry about it clashing with your outfit. I took it on holiday with me and it looked great with a tan and flip flops. Topshop don't have this particular shade on their website at the moment, but a similar one is 'Plankton' which has more of a blue tone. 

John Frieda Beach Blonde Kelp Help Deep Conditioning Masque | Boots £6.29 for 150ml 

I am obsessed with the Beach Blonde range that John Frieda has relaunched this year, which you might be able to gather from my Instagram feed, so when Boots had this hair masque on offer I couldn't resist. I don't use hair masks very often as conditioner usually works fine for me and it is just another thing to buy, but my hair is quite dry from spending a week in the sun and demanded some TLC. It smells amazing - minty and fresh, just like the other products in the range, a scent that takes you straight to the beach. Even after using it only once, my hair has felt noticeably silkier and sleeker opposed to using only the conditioner after blow-drying. The smell lasts for days in my hair and the tub is quite big so it should last a while. It's safe to say it has re-kindled my appreciation for hair masks as they really do make a difference. 

Travel-Size Beauty Buys

After just returning from my first proper dose of sunshine this summer in Menorca, I thought I'd share the beauty products that I took away with me. They are all under 100ml so ideal for hand luggage. 

 

John Frieda Beach Blonde Shampoo and John Frieda Beach Blonde Detangling Conditioner | Feel Unique £1.99 each

This is my favourite shampoo and conditioner combination this summer which I have already reviewed in a previous favourites post; the John Freida Beach Blonde range. These travel-size containers are maybe not the best value, as you can get the full size product for only triple the price, but I couldn't resist bringing them away with me as they are ideal for beach holidays. The minty scent is really refreshing and unlike the fruity shampoos I usually buy, I love the smell and texture of my hair after using them. However, a downsize is it is really hard to get the product out the small tubs as soon as you have used it once or twice, so  it seems slightly wasteful once you get to the end - a squeezy tube would be much more effective. Aside from that, I love this range and I have just re-ordered the full size versions from Boots as mine have just run out. 

John Frieda Beach Blonde Sea Waves Sea Salt Spray | Feel Unique £1.99

I have a love/hate relationship with salt sprays as they tend to make my hair much frizzier than it should be if I don't use it properly, so a travel-size version was great for trying this John Frieda one out. To my surprise, I found it was a lot less frizz-creating than I anticipated, but rather made my hair slightly wavier after I'd blow dried it. It is the most effective on my hair after washing and leaving it to dry naturally as it gives a prominent beachy effect that it promises, which is something I don't tend to do too often, but if that is your routine then this is perfect. 

Korres White Tea Gel Cleanser | Feel Unique £3.00 for 16ml

I had wanted to try the Korres White Tea Gel Cleanser for a while as most of my cleansers are lotion based and I love all things tea, so the travel-sized version was ideal in giving it a test drive before investing. I really liked the gel formula, it was moisturizing and I found a little bit was enough to cover my entire face. It is quite expensive for what it is, as there are so many other great cleansers for half the price, but I did enjoy using it and I loved the simple packaging. I think the Korres brand is great for holiday skincare - I am really keen to try the Santorini range as they scream summer holiday. 

St Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub Exfoliater | Superdrug £1.20

St Ives has been my go-to brand for exfoliators for as long as I can remember - they were the first one I tried and haven't looked back since (aside from trying out other brands occasionally). They are really thorough and give great results, while being so affordable. This 30ml tube for just over a pound was great value and a must-have when you are on holiday - either before shaving your legs to remove all the dead skin cells or if you inconveniently burn and your skin starts to peel it can help smoothing that out. It smells amazing, too. 

L'Occtaine Youthful Body Velvet Balm | L'Occtaine £42 for 200ml 

The L'Occtaine products that I took away with me are slightly cheating on the travel-size theme of the post, as on the website they are only available in the full size 100ml and 200ml sizes (you can get away with the 100ml size in hand luggage). I picked up these travel-size editions with a voucher I tore out of the latest InStyle magazine which were giving away this duo (this might still be available in L'Occtaine stores as I only picked them up two weeks ago). The velvet balm is in the prettiest little pot which is reminiscent of a lip balm container. The product itself smells amazing, and the texture is really silky and so nice to apply to skin that has been slightly sun-fried in the foreign heat. I'm not sure if I would buy the full-size version as it is slightly above my price range... but it is definitely worth trying if you can pick up this for free. 

L'Occtaine Almond Supple Skin Oil | L'Occtaine £34 for 100ml 

I really enjoy using skin oils as my skin is quite dry, so I knew this would be good to take away abroad as the sun makes it even dryer. It absorbs really easily and it makes your skin feel great after using it. If it wasn't a luxury product, I'd definitely use this on a day-to-day basis as it works wonders and smells lovely. 

Rimmel Salon Pro Summer Shades

As soon as the sun comes out in Spring it is definitely time to banish (at least for a while) the plums and navies in your nail varnish collection and give the lighter shades some air time. 

These two Rimmel nail polishes, part of the Salon Pro ranges, are my favourite shades this summer for both my hands and feet. The nude shade is part of the Kate Moss collection, similar to some of the new shades that have just been launched. It has peachy tones and it comes out much lighter than you'd expect. I love wearing shades like this on holiday as they are great at enhancing your tan, like pastel colours do. The red shade is much more vibrant. It feels really summery and brightens up most outfits. The consistency of the nail varnish is great - if I manage to apply it successfully without smudges or chips, it can look quite salon-like. The rectangular brush shape that larger nail varnishes seem to have makes each application a lot easier, meaning you don't need too many layers (hence avoiding gloopiness!). I have read mixed reviews about this range, so maybe they are not for everyone, but I really recommend trying them out. I have yet to find a shade that I like as much as Happily Evie After in any other high street brand. 

Rimmel Salon PRO Shade 115 in Happily Evie After | Superdrug £4.49

Rimmel Salon PRO Shade 244 in Goddess | Superdrug £4.49