Cult Beauty Summer Goody Bag

I received this over the weekend. A plethora of skin and makeup products, some full size, some sample sizes and some teeny tiny, but too cute.

I was keen to try the Fiberwig Mascara, and the Nudestix Lip and Cheek Colour. I am currently on an SPF50 obsessive journey so the Alpha H is a welcome addition to try and the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel is already a staple.

The bag is a beautiful ocean blue, certainly no ocean lapping on British shores is this colour! 

I am a bit of a sucker for a good bag and have to say that having purchased each of the Cult Beauty Bags from winter of last year and spring of this year, each time they have not disappointed, and the bags themselves are very good quality.

In order to qualify for this (free with a £95 or over spend), I purchased Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser (£60) and Omorovicza Mineral Concealer (£35).

I have wanted to try Tata Harper cleansers for a while and this one piqued my fancy - I have tried it as a second cleanse although I do have these sorts of cleansers coming out of my ears. So far so like but I need to try it more in order to decide if it is a repurchase or not.

The Omorovicza Mineral Concealer was another longed for but un-needed purchase, but searching for concealers like searching for bases is a long and arduous task and one does need to try and experiment and reject many before finding a success. On my first few trials I like the shade - Ivory is a yellow but a neutral yellow to my eye. The texture is cream to powder and the coverage is good. Again I need to try for longer to give a full review. The packaging is glorious.

Cult Beauty Summer Goody Bag

I received this over the weekend. A plethora of skin and makeup products, some full size, some sample sizes and some teeny tiny, but too cute.

I was keen to try the Fiberwig Mascara, and the Nudestix Lip and Cheek Colour. I am currently on an SPF50 obsessive journey so the Alpha H is a welcome addition to try and the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel is already a staple.

The bag is a beautiful ocean blue, certainly no ocean lapping on British shores is this colour! 

I am a bit of a sucker for a good bag and have to say that having purchased each of the Cult Beauty Bags from winter of last year and spring of this year, each time they have not disappointed, and the bags themselves are very good quality.

In order to qualify for this (free with a £95 or over spend), I purchased Tata Harper Refreshing Cleanser (£60) and Omorovicza Mineral Concealer (£35).

I have wanted to try Tata Harper cleansers for a while and this one piqued my fancy - I have tried it as a second cleanse although I do have these sorts of cleansers coming out of my ears. So far so like but I need to try it more in order to decide if it is a repurchase or not.

The Omorovicza Mineral Concealer was another longed for but un-needed purchase, but searching for concealers like searching for bases is a long and arduous task and one does need to try and experiment and reject many before finding a success. On my first few trials I like the shade - Ivory is a yellow but a neutral yellow to my eye. The texture is cream to powder and the coverage is good. Again I need to try for longer to give a full review. The packaging is glorious.

MV Organic Skincare Gentle Cream Cleanser

Another day, another am cleanser. This is the Gentle Cream Cleanser from MV Organic Skincare, an Australian brand which I stumbled upon after reading this post by Sali Hughes, and I love a good organic skincare range, and the idea of rich and unctuous appealed, my skin maybe oiler but it is thin and ageing and reactive and sometimes all it wants is uncomplicated comfort.

This 70ml cleanser came as part of a travel set which had an offer on at the time on Cult Beauty, and in the set were the 70mls cleanser, 70mls of the Rose Hydrating Mist and 70mls of the Rose Soothing Protective Moisturiser.

The texture is delightfully thick, obviously not so thick that it cannot be pumped out but it comes out in a satifying dollop.

And it is beautifully soothing and comforting. The scent has some rose but it is more gently citrus to me, I have used it to remove makeup and it does that with a second pass, but it is more an am cleanser for me. I like to apply dry hands dry face, massage in to allow to sink in which is does, and then to re-activate with the addition of some water, massage again and then remove with a cloth of some sort. 

I have gone on to purchase the 120mls size.

Now in the kit was a little tool to enable one to get the last dregs of product out when the pump no longer works, and this is a godsend to all products with pumps. I hate products with pumps because invariably they cease to work with a good couple of days worth of product left - this little tool is perfect, and effective.

Ingredients - Water, Camellia (Camellia Oleifera) Oil, Ceteary Glucoside, Cetearyl Alcohol, Vegetable Glycerin, Olive (Olea Europaea) Fruit Oil, Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Vitamin E non GM (Tocopherol), Honeysuckle (Lonicera Caprifolium) Flower Extract, Honeysuckle (Lonicera Japonica) Flower Extract, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, with essential oils of mandarin, chamomile and rose geranium.

£34.50 for 70mls or £54 for 120mls

Sunday Riley Charisma Creme Cleanser

I have almost finished this up and it has taken me the best part of four months of regular am and pm use to work out how best to use it.

So this is a cream cleanser aimed at dry to normal skin. It claims to remove makeup and I have found that it does with a bit of work ie a good couple of passes, but I tend to use it more as an am cleanser or a cleanser post makeup removal.

It is housed in a functional plastic pump which is see through enough to see when one has almost used up. And the pump is lockable.

It is very light and liquidy and spreads easily around the face.

And here is my problem, I find that it tends to sink into the skin, which is fine but it does not easily emulsify with the addition of water so I find it quite difficult to remove which irks me somewhat and it seems to leave a bit of a film on my skin which I am not sure I like although it does not have any adverse effect.

I like to use it a bit like a treatment mask which to be honest is how I use all my am and post makeup removal cleansers.

I think the ingredients are rather impressive for a cleanser which is why I like to leave it on my skin for a bit.

For me the best way to use this is to apply a decent amount, at least 3 pumps worth, apply to clean dry skin, massage for a good couple of minutes, maybe adding a tiny amount of water to loosen a bit, massage a bit more, leave whilst I am in the shower and then remove.

What I have found is that it is non irritating and non stripping but suprisingly deeply cleansing.

£35 for 125mls I think I will be repurchasing despite my raptures over Aurelia Miracle Cleanser.

Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel

I purchased this on a whim as is so often the way for me. I like Oskia as a brand, it is British, the website is full of considered careful information about why ingredients are used and what function they perform.

This is a rather fun cleanser, it pumps out as a gel, not dissimilar to EA 8hr cream in looks, although the texture is definitely a gel, with a slight gel feeling and a beautiful gentle slightly rose like scent.

The gel has enough oiliness to allow slip across the skin without sinking in without a trace and then hey presto with the addition of water it becomes the most enticingly beautiful light pink milk.

Ingredients listed below;

For my skin, I tend to use it as a second cleanse pm or an am cleanse - because I have a shower am and pm it is ideal to apply and massage before stepping into the shower and allowing it to perform its magic before applying water and rinsing away.

I have used it to remove makeup but I prefer a balm cleanser as a first step.

Around £28 for 100mls , lots of interesting and informative information from the Oskia website and delightfully available now from SpaceNK

Nude Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly

I received a sample of this product after a recent SpaceNK trip.

This is a newish cleaner from Nude Skincare. I think it is a most enticing name, what fun to clean one's face with jelly.

The product is a gel texture, with a slight herbally scent maybe? It is difficult to say, the scent is neutral to my nose. It is easily spread, and emulsifies with the addition of water.

Not the greatest of photos and as can be seen in the background I did go on to buy the full size.

This does remove my makeup but I would not use it primarily for that, for me and my skin it is an anathema to use a product which washes off as the first step in makeup removal. For me this is an am cleanser, and maybe a pm cleanser after the makeup has first been removed.

What I like about this product is that the packaging is slim and elegant - sad but true packaging has a big influence on my intent to purchase, and I could make all sorts of snorty nudge nudge double entendres about packages and satisfaction, but I won't, suffice it to say the slim elegance of the tube with its matte lilac shade is visually pleasing.

I also like the fact that the ingredients list is relatively uncomplicated;  Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Coco-Caprylate, Water, Glycerin, Sucrose Palmitate, Sucrose Laurate, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Iris Florentina Root Extract, Bixa Orellana Seed Extract, Tocopherol, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Fragrance, Limonene.

And it is a joy to use, the texture is dense enough to allow for some concentrated massage, when the water is added it becomes a thick lotion rather than a thin runny lotion and it does rinse clean away.

£32 for 100mls. I purchased mine from SpaceNK