REN Skincare

The starter kit in a lovely neat box

For my birthday back in May I was given a REN Skincare starter kit from their sensitive skin range.

It's a great (and at £13 an affordable way) to try new products and I've been enjoying using them, but with mixed feelings so far.

The kit contains their Smooth and Renew Mask, which is "formulated to gently exfoliate and detoxify", Hydra Calm Cleansing Gel ("formulated to leave sensitive skin cleansed, refreshed and soothed without irritation, tightness or discomfort), Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream (to leave skin "optimally hydrated") and the Omega 3 Night Repair Serum (which promises to "replenish skin lipids" - what ever they might be...)

Naturally I wanted to put it all on my face at once. Somehow, I held back, and as it was a sleepy Sunday morning I thought the face mask would be a good start.

The face mask has a thick, gel like consistency

Unfortunately, the first thing that took me by surprise was the smell. None of the products have any sort of scent described on them, but this mask mainly made me think of honey and I wasn't overly keen on the smell. It is very thick, with an almost gloopy texture to it and almost feels slimey (but not unpleasant) when putting it on.

It doesn't feel like an exfoliating mask normally does (ie packed with scrubby beads) but my skin did feel nice afterwards.

Following the mask I put on the day cream, which has a nice thick texture and melted into my skin quickly. It absorbs well, without leaving your skin feeling like you haven't put enough on.

Again though, there is something in the scent I am not overly keen on.

That evening I moved onto the cleansing gel. It is completely clear, and more liquid than gel. It does make my skin feel squeaky clean and in fairness, exactly as it promises on the packaging, my skin doesn't feel dry, tight or slightly irritated after using it.

Finally, the night time serum. It's the first time I've ever used a serum, normally I put on E45 or Sudocream (I like to call them vintage classics) before bed.

The products are a generous size 

Just the right amount comes out of the pump bottle; I remember reading an article once about how much product to put on your face at night - apparently millions of us are far too generous with serums and creams at night, resulting in the bulk of it just being rubbed all over our pillows, not a pretty thought)

It feels rich but not greasy and I worried it might clog my pores and bring out spots, but my skin looks and feels lovely in the morning.

So all in all my favourites are probably the cleanser and the over night serum. I've had a little look on the REN Website and have spotted the full sized cleanser is £17 for 150ml and the overnight serum is £34 for 50ml.

Do I like the products enough to pay full price? Sadly no. They do make my skin feel good but I can't say they have transformed it enough to make me rush out and buy the products at full price.

I do appreciate you pay for quality -these products have no SLS or Parabens (which wreck my skin), but neither do Naked Bodycare's products, and their cleanser is currently £2.99 and their incredible face cream (which lasts ages) is only £7.49.

However, I would consider buying this little kit again, if you travel a lot (I live a few hours away from most of my family which sometimes means regular trips away with as little luggage as possible), then this kit is perfect, as the products feel really luxurious for a travel product, and they are the ideal size as well!

Have you ever used REN Skincare? What are your favourites in the range?

A weighty issue

For years I've been rather blessed - I've been able to more or less eat what I fancy (at uni I could demolish one of those huge Dairy Milk bars and see no side effects- y'know -the really big ones designed for sharing), but then at the end of last year I started a desk based job. Not just any desk based job - one with a coffee shop serving home made cakes for less than a quid (I know! Less than a quid!) and lunchtime cheers of "yeah, sod it it's Tuesday, let's have fish and chips for lunch!", post work trips to the pub (rose spritzer please) and an endless supply of sweet treats in my office drawers. I used to hate reading articles in lifestyle magazines about eating healthily at work (perhaps it was just my envy of all those in 9-5 office jobs while I was hating retail) but now, I can kind of see how tricky it can be to eat sensible at an office job when you can just pick at food all.the.damn.time. In retail, outside of your lunch break there was no time for extra snacking. It's silly, as I do like fruit, veg and healthy options; my sweet tooth is the downfall and once I get a taste of chocolates or sweets it's game over.

In just 8 months my change in habits (a bag of crisps here, a bottle of cherry cola there) has taken it's toll, making me half a stone heavier already. Now, frustratingly, as someone naturally a little smaller it brings on comments of "oh well, it's not going to hurt you're only little", and right now, it may not be the end of the world, but if my habits continue I will be at least a stone heavier by the end of the year! To give context, I have gone from 8st to 8.5st  - so not devastatingly huge - but it got me thinking; weight isn't just about what's healthy, or what supposedly looks good, it's really about how you feel, and right now I just don't quite feel like myself.

My rather delicious afternoon snack today - I often buy fruit
reduced at the end of the day, not only because it's a flipping bargain
but it's also when the fruit is ripest, sweetest and yummiest! 

I used to eat FANTASTICALLY at work when I started my first full time job in retail - cereal or porridge for breakfast, nuts and seeds to snack, a home made sandwich and a huge fruit salad for lunch, and combined with being on my feet all day it was easy to stay slim. On my days off I ate whatever I fancied - usually a huge bowl of breakfast cereal mid morning and half a pack of biscuits in the afternoon, far from ideal, but shh, it was only two days a week.

So, wary of being a cliche, this Monday is a fresh start, eating habits are back on track and exercise is planned in. I was constantly active as a child and teen- dancing, swimming, gym, netball, basketball...and the key was having it on fixed days and times. Now it's too easy to go "nah, I'll run tomorrow as I'm tired / it's chilly / I have housework to do / I need to gaze at the cat / *anything to avoid it*

If I had a pool like this I would swim
every freaking day

Today I am off work and went for a swim for the first time in a long time. I used to swim for a club and training was brutal - we averaged 120 lengths in a 90 minute session with additional sprints and relay races at the end - to really force every last bit of energy from us. So today I started gentle, with the aim of doing 50 lengths instead of just swimming till I gave up. It worked lovely, did 10 lengths to warm up, small rest, another 20 lengths, small rest then my last 20 lengths. I got into the only designated "proper" swimming lane, making it easier to keep up the pace and I also pictured my old coach barking at me to "KICK THOSE LEGS HARDER EMMA" and this memory certainly gave me a kick up the backside. Before I knew it I had done 50 lengths in 45 minutes, and despite the jelly legs I felt great. That's the thing-those post exercise endorphins definitely aren't a myth.

It also reminded me that exercise shouldn't be a chore - all the activities I did as a youngster I did because I loved them, so I am trying to recreate that and have found a netball group to join in September that I can't wait for. I am also hunting down a good local street  dance / hiphop class that is just for adults. 

This post has ended up far longer than planned, and also far more like a diary entry than I intended! Today has just been a reminder that it really is ok to be any size - as long as you are comfortable and look after yourself - and most of all do the exercise you LOVE! Be it the gym, swimming, running, dancing, team games, whatever it may be, if you actively look forward to it then you are already on the right track.

I've now bordered in to preachy / lifestyle magazine style of writing, so to offer reassurance I did spend the rest of my morning curled up with endless cups of Earl Grey and a book on the sofa - my jelly legs had earned it after all!

Losing my marbles

Blogging has accidentally taken a back seat lately, mainly due to work being busy and secondly due to the fact I now need glasses while on the computer (sad face) I've been getting terrible eye strain and headaches, so after staring at a screen all day at work I've not felt like looking at another one in the evening.

I had the chance to have a real play with my nails this afternoon; I purchased some bargain dotting tools from ebay and wanted to play! Turns out nail tools don't suddenly make you a talented artist...

So I began searching for nail art that can look random but still good and found marbling. Turns out beauty bloggers have been toying with this for a while - with the water marbling method being slated left right and centre - it just made me think why on earth would you want to faff with all that in the first place anyway?!

The plastic bag method seemed to be a popular - and most importantly easy - option so I gave that a go! 

For the base I used a two coats of a white Barry M polish. Once this was dry I put on a few blobs of a fab, Barbie-like pink O.P.I polish, a sky blue Barry M and surprise surprise, my trusty purple Barry M gelly polish.









Then it was time to do the plastic bag bit. I quickly discovered if you press too hard it will look rubbish and lift most of the colour off!

So after a couple of goes I very lightly pressed and slightly moved the plastic around to encourage the colours to really mix.

I wasn't sure initially about it, it looked rather messy while wet - but my favourite swirled nails (see first post!) look awful while wet so I decided to wait it out...

It took a lot of cotton buds to clean this up!

 Once they were dry I added a generous
top coat and I quite like the final effect!

It took a lot of cotton buds dipped in nail polish remover to clean up my cuticles, fingers, hands though....

It's a great way to experiment with colour and I will  definitely keep practising this look.

Next I want to master ombre nails - tutorials make it look so easy but every time I try it just looks like a maniac has sponged my fingers with poster paint, not good.

Do you have any tips for the perfect ombre nails?

Sunday Bumday

 Sundays truly are a day to relax, potter and do nice things like try out new nail looks!

I like being able to spend a little more time on my nails on a Sunday and this week I tried doing glitter half moons and am rather pleased with the final look considering I didn't use any nail art tools and just went for it!

Dusky pink and gold, so pretty

 I used two nail varnishes I spotted in Asda which were 
an absolute bargain!

After lots of searching around for a perfect pink - you know when you have an idea in your head but can't find it or describe it - I spotted this on their shelves today and wanted to squeal with joy. I then noticed their 3D glitter polishes which again were only £2 and thought I'd see if it rivals Barry M's glitter varnishes. I was super impressed, the glitter was thick, sparkly and dried fairly quickly. Definitely as good as Barry M. 

The normal Asda glitter polish looked a little watery so definitely go for the 3D ones. 

So just two coats of the pink then I had a go doing the half moon outline just using the brush then filled in with plenty of glitter and a quick top coat. Next time I will use a cocktail stick for a neater and more consistent shape but they haven't turned out too bad! I think this colour combo will look great with all fingers painted pink with a gold feature nail. It feels really pretty, girly and also striking!

The challenges of being a pale face in summer

My complexion is very, very, very, very pale - descriptions of my skin tone vary from "English rose" (I'll take that) to "Caspar the friendly ghost" (I'll leave that one)

When we started to have a bit of sunshine I caught a little bit of a tan on my shoulders (or as someone else said: "you are now the colour of a normal person", cheers for that) but it does mean my normal foundation looked a little odd.

No 7's Stay Perfect foundation in Calico is a great shade, easily the closest I've found to my normal skin tone. Usually "ivory" and "fair" shades are a bit white and anything else looks too orange. I tried out their make up matching service a while back, not the best service in the world, but it did lead me to this foundation.


It's £14 which is the most I've ever paid for a foundation (I knooooow, but I just can't afford high end make up) but I can usually hang on till there's an offer; Boots are forever churning vouchers out from the tills or the Advantage Card stands if an offer isn't already on.

However, lately, with just the tiniest bit of a tan the colour is making me a look a little mismatched, and the pale face/dark bod look is not a good one. 

I tried bronzer, and it made me look, well, dirty (and not the kind of dirty the boys like, *snigger*)

For a while I've been using Rimmel's Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch in Shimmering Sand. I've been trying it out as a highlighter (I just can't afford Benefit's High Beam, sad face) and it's not bad. Then I decided to mix a little with my foundation and it gives the perfect colour. It just makes the foundation a tiny bit darker without being orange or giving the grubby look of bronzer. As it is a shimmer gel it also makes my skin look nice and glowy too, what a winner! 

Just a small amount of the Rimmel
Shimmer is needed

Then the final effect is very subtle!

I felt like a scientific genius mixing the two and I now want to try more make up combos! Any other genius product mash up suggestions are very welcome!

An ode to Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara

Ok, maybe ode is too strong, but this is the one product I haven't strayed from in about 8 years. Well, actually, I *did* use one other mascara in that time - I tried L'Oreal's Telescopic Mascara when it first came out and it just reaffirmed my love for the Masterpiece mascara.

So why so good I hear you ask? It's only mascara right? First up, this mascara just.does.not.clump. Eyes are a big part of my look; I have been fortunate and blessed with quite long eyelashes, so I like to make a feature of them, which for me means wearing a lot of mascara while avoiding the spider legs look *shudder*

It's extremely forgiving - I can put on a good few layers and my lashes never look clumped. The brush is a great shape and reaches all lashes easily, right up to the corners.

It doesn't really budge (I tried the waterproof and the Max version, but the original truly is perfection) and most of all - it's a great price! at the moment it's just £7.99 on the Boots website, normally it is £9.99 which I still think is perfectly reasonable for such a great product.

People ask me a lot "where do you get your eyelashes done?" and "are your eyelashes natural?" and they are always surprised when I tell them it's just thanks to this humble mascara - and more than a few I recommended it to said they loved it.


The only additional thing I do with my eyelashes sometimes is curl them - curlers really do open up your eyes! I've tried fancy pants heated ones but find a bog standard traditional curler works best, but for gawd's sake make sure you have the little rubber bits on them! A friend sliced her eyelashes off with curlers, and well, it wasn't pretty...

In the photos I have used curlers before putting mascara on and have left my eyes otherwise bare - normally I wear eyeliner or shadow but I really wanted to fully show off the product in this post. If you really want to go wild you can curl them again once you have put a light coat of mascara on,and then top it up with another light coat of mascara (again - this is why this mascara rocks as it will let you do this without giving you scary lashes) Doing this will just give slightly more impact - great for a night out!

I also don't believe in the zig-zag method of putting mascara on that is so commonly recommended. I just apply in upward strokes and even put it on slightly behind the lashes - it really helps get the mascara on right to the tip of the lashes - sometimes I find just applying at the front gets the root of the lashes really well covered but leaves the ends of the lashes looking a little light.

It really is one of the few products I use religiously - I still flirt with different foundations, blushers, and I am currently on the hunt for a great primer that won't break the bank- recommendations welcome! 

But when it comes to mascara I never use anything else. I tend to wait for it to go on offer at Boots (I only really shop there thanks to their loyalty card, I save up my points for perfume; it's always a joy seeing the cashier's face when I ask to pay for a £60 perfume with my points...) But I digress! 

Do you have any make up products that you just can't live without?

Less is more

For many years I worked for a fantastic clothing and accessories brand (Monsoon Accessorize if you must know), which meant that over the years as well as accruing a rather fabulous jewellery and handbag collection, it also meant I got rather used to being really dressed up, all the time.

Since discovering New Look's supersoft skinny jeans last year my wardrobe has completely changed. As a sufferer of eczema and sensitive skin in general, I often found traditional denim jeans a little scratchy and rarely wore them. For many years I was known as the super girly girl, always in pretty frocks and lovely skirts, never to be seen in jeans. While this girly-ness is still a very big part of my wardrobe, it is nice now that on some days I can fully embrace dressing down.

Love a statement necklace!

Apologies for the terrible quality picture

A couple of weeks ago I popped on a grey tshirt I've had for yonks from the kids section in New Look (VAT free clothing for the win!) with a pair of their light blue supersoft skinnies (which were an ebay bargain)


As it was a warmer day I just rolled them up to wear with sandals and popped on a fab statement necklace.

The colours of the necklace really lifted the outfit then I added a chunky bright blue plastic ring which I've had for years from Accessorize and I was done! Normally there would have been at least one more ring, an arm full of bangles, a hair accessory and no doubt some earrings too. I'm finally learning that I no longer have to wear every accessory available to advertise products for the company I work for and I am accepting that less really is more! 

The other half was also extremely complimentary, liking my more laid back look (and let's face it, most guys are suckers for girls in skinny jeans...)

I know magazines forever harp on about dressing in simple wardrobe classics and this is nothing new to most, but it was just a joy to still feel really good in an outfit I wouldn't have even considered a few years ago.

So here's to looking low key and amazing all at once!