Friday, November 11, 2016

Autumn Winter Beauty Kit



My essential kit


This time of year is notoriously bad for our hair/skin and for some reason mine can be particularly bad, so I have used no end of products to keep myself in a better condition in the Autumn Winter months over the past few years.

My dry super thick hair can get extra dry and straw like if I'm not careful, I must admit I don't care for it as I should, I abuse it with heat and rarely use protection sprays - wrist slap well on its way. My hands have got worse as I've got older and the last 2 years in my thirties have seen them change so much and get dry to the point of splitting with this year being the worst ever so far. I think as a Mum we wash our hands so much more, which really doesn't help if you don't get chance to stop and think about hand cream every five minutes - who does?

Our face takes the biggest hit, short of wearing a balaclava to keep the cold away, our face is open to the elements all year round and really needs some extra care, especially now and even more so if you are a little older with terribly badly behaved skin like me. Gone are the days of 'wash and go', now it takes a much more thorough routine or it really shows.

I've found a few products that have really been helping this past few weeks, so thought I would share what I'm using right now to combat all of the above. If you have any other recommendations please do let me know in the comments below.






First up is one of my favourite hair masks from Avon. I'm an Avon rep but do it purely for ease of ordering for myself and a few friends and family. I don't make money from it so I purposefully haven't put a link to my shop in case it sounded like a sales pitch, but I can thoroughly recommend these. This one smells lovely, goes on smoothly and gives really good results combating frizz and boosting moisture. I've tried a few of the Avon hair products now and my favourite are these potted masks and the Argan Oil range, they are really well priced and work well especially this time of year.

Next up is my new favourite product for my dry hands. As I've said they have been awful this year, just a couple of weeks ago they were so sore they looked burnt even and were cracking in places which made them really sore. I was sent a sample of O'Keeffe's Working Hands cream to see if that would help and it has literally been the only thing I've used that has actually taken the itching and irritation out, provided relief and after a few uses cleared and softened my hands. I went to bed the other night with cracked hands again and with just a little of this I woke up with soft hands that were no longer sore! There's no fancy packaging or scents here and it really is one of those 'does what it says on the tin' things which as anyone will know that suffers from dry hands, that's all that matters! I couldn't recommend this product enough and I've just seen they do a foot version too which I can't wait to try.

For my skin now it's all about the oil. I find some to be too greasy but after reviewing this Jojoba oil a while back I can safely say this is my favourite. This gives all the benefits I want from an oil on my skin without looking or feeling like I've just finished a shift at the chippy! This product is great value right now and another favourite for this time of year.

Last up is an all over body treat. I was sent a sample of this recently and fell in love. I love bath salts and this one from Chris James Mind Body contains essential oils so it smells amazing and gives you an all over detox while you soak. This one is great for aching muscles which are always worse this time of year, it's a real treat and a new firm favourite.


What's in your survival kit this season?