Cleansing with Boots Botanics

As usual I got lured into buying my first Botanics products by little red 'Offer' label in Boots. I have tried quite a few products from this range since then. Overall I really like this affordable natural range. Products are formulated without parabens and packaging is often made using recycled materials.

Three products I've been especially enjoying are from cleansing category.

Gentle Cleansing Cream All Bright - I got this little guy when my skin was going through dry phase. It will go through it again now that Autumn is here and Winter is getting closer.
Creamy formula of this feels lovely on the skin and removes make up pretty well. To remove everything it needs two applications but it can be used as a good make up 'melting' stage before deep cleansing.

Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm - This stuff is very different to previous hot cloth cleansers I owned (Liz Earle and Superdrug). It's not a thick cream but it has a super thick, almost a paste type formula. It comes with one muslin cloth which is little bit thicker than the ones from Liz Earle but still gentle enough.
This cleanser works really well. It deeply cleanses and smooths the skin just like the packaging says. My skin always feels really nice after using it and my black heads seem to be reduced. It's a very efficient product. I've been using it for quite some time now and it's hardly got a little dent in it.

Microdermabrasion Polish - I would say that this basically is a face scrub. But a really nice one. It's got loads of tiny tiny particles that very gently but effectively remove dead skin. This is an extra step in a cleansing routine and I wouldn't use it more than twice a week. I'm not sure about the whole radiant youth effect but it definitely cleanses very well and makes my skin looks very clean and fresh.

Any fans of Batanics out there? I would love to hear your recommendations :)

Sylwia x
 

Braun Silk-épil Xpressive Pro 7681 Epilator Review

I have been using an epilator for many years now. I have never gone back to shaving since I bought my first Philips Ice Epilator about 6 years go. It had a detachable part which sat in the freezer. I had to attach it before epilating and it gave a lovely cooling effect. Eventually however I got used to epilating so much that I didn't use the part at all. After many years of use the epilator itself was still going strong but the wire snapped and that was the end of it's life.

I did some research and went for Braun Silk-epil. This is much of an upgrade from my good old Philips. It's chargeable, it can be used dry or wet and it has quite a few different heads and caps. It has two different speeds but I always use faster speed as I am used to it. It has a bright light which comes very handy when epilating.

I have read some opinions saying this is the least painful epilator out there. Perhaps that's true but I didn't really experience massive difference from my Philips one (that's without the frozen cap). It have always felt little pinching but nothing that I would call a pain. Hair have to be fairly short thou, the longer they are the more you're going to feel it.
Althou I'm all tough when it comes to legs I can't work up my courage to epilate my underarms. I just can't do it... maybe one day... There is a cap with a lot smaller epilating surface provided for that purpose.

My epilating advice:

• Don't epilate long hair
• Pull the skin taught. It will be less painful but it will also help the epilator to grab the hair
• Exfoliate your skin regularly to avoid in-grown hair
• You could use it while in the shower but I find that it doesn't slide on as easily as on dry skin
• If your hair grow fast, epilate approximately once a week. Thanks to this you will catch hair that grow at different stages

I also use Braun Silk-Epil for shaving my underarms. I have to admit it is not my favourite way of shaving. I do prefer good old razor. But it is convenient and it saves me some pennies. The only razor that doesn't irritate my underarm skin is Wilkinson Intuition with soap attached to it. But replacement pads are quite expensive and the razor tends to get rusty pretty quick if not dried properly (can't really wipe it cause it has soap around it :/). So I switched to the Braun electric shaver. There is one thing that frustrates me about this method of shaving. It is only possible to do a good job if underarms are fully dry. Even drying them very well after shower isn't good enough. It's hard to explain but if there is any kind of moisture on the skin it just won't slide/glide on the skin and won't shave. Other than that I have no problems with it.

Another handy tool Silk -Epil has is a trimmer. It is attached to the shaving cap and has lock/unlock button. I like to use it on my bikini area. As we know skin around there can be very delicate and sensitive. Therefore I avoid shaving or epilating it altogether as those horrible red rash looking like spots come out after. Trimming is a great alternative. Trimmed hairs are so tiny that they're practically invisible. Skin is happy and not irritated.

One last thing to add is that Silk-Epil comes with those wipes that are supposed to be used before epilating. I have never used them so can't say much but I need to check them out to see if they help/make any difference.

Sylwia x

Foot care - Ped egg and Burt's Bees

Unfortunately my feet aways had a tendency to build up a lot of rough hard skin on them. I have always used these black filing pads and they seemed to work ok. But it was never quite as good as I would have wanted.

I have been running on a treadmill for a few months now and 'feet situation' started to get worse and worse.

I have invested in a Ped Egg. Just like many other people I was frightened of the 'cheese grater' look at first. I can say now that it's completely safe to use and it did not grate my feet to the bone :)
I don't know if Ped Egg is the best thing for rough skin but it certainly is far better than typical filing pads. First time took quite a long time to get rid of all of the roughness. But I've been using it regularly since then and it only takes couple of minutes now.

I still use my filing pad but only to smooth the skin out. Ped Egg leave it a bit 'scruffy' feeling. Couple of swiped of the pad and my feet feel so much better.
I've been also recently using Burt's Bees Coconut foot cream. However I would call it a gel rather than a cream. It has a clear, stickyish texture to it.
I do quite like it so far but it does not sink in very fast. I have not yet found a foot cream that would do. That's the only reason why I have hardly ever bothered with a foot cream.... not sinking in fast enough. I just hate that slippery, greasy feeling on my feet!

My simple, quick routine seems to be working so far and brought my feet back to their normal looking state. But it's not just about the look. Hard skin did actually cause me pain which was very unpleasant.

I would love to know your foot product recommendations as I could probably improve from here :)

Sylwia x