Sorting my skin out with Soap & Glory

I'm a long term fan of Soap & Glory products.  Their hand creams have been my go to favourites for years now (Hand Food and more recently, Endless Glove) and Scrub Your Nose In It is the best face scrub I've used in a long time.  They are staples in my life.

Despite this, I've never branched out to their other skincare ranges.  I decided recently that it was time to try something different for my skin.  I'm nearly 32 and with the birth of Felix, I've noticed some changes in my skin.  Not good ones.  It's probably down to late nights, early mornings, disturbed sleep and age, but I've noticed the fresh face disappearing (if it was ever there!) and wrinkles creeping in.  I think I'm quite lucky really, before now, there's been little sign of age on my skin, but it has to happen!

I've always looked after my skin, washed it twice a day, moisturised twice a day, always used an eye cream (since age 11!) but I thought it was time for something more appropriate.  I wasn't quite sure what to go for, but very helpfully, the folks at Soap & Glory provide an online Skin Diagnosis Tool which is very kind!

I have combination skin and am quite prone to break outs, so after completing the questions about my skin, I got a recommendation for quite a mixture of products, some to protect against ageing and some to prevent break outs.

After having a good read up about all the products recommended, I decided to plump for Make Yourself Youthful Super Serum (online reviews really raved about this but also mentioned it hadn't caused acne), Make Yourself Youthful Rejuvenating Eye Cream (need to combat those under eye wrinkles!), Beauty Sleep Accelerator (something to use at night to work hard on my poor skin!) and The Fab Pore Purifying Mask & Peel (something to use a few times a week against those spots).

I ordered my products through Boots and had them delivered to my local store.  On Friday they were ready for collection, so, very excitedly (me that is!) I dragged the boys into town to pick up my products.  The evening could't come quickly enough so I could get the boys in bed and drink wine try the products out.

I washed my face and used the mask first, leaving it on for a good 15 minutes so it could do it's work.  It was easy to apply and smelt nice.  I liked that it didn't go hard and uncomfortable whilst on and was quite easy to wash off.  My skin felt really soft and fresh afterwards.  I followed it with all of my new creams.

Every single cream smells lovely.  They all sink into my skin easily and none of them feel heavy.  You don't need to do loads of rubbing, just massage them in gently.

I've been using them for 4 days now and personally, I feel my skin is looking brighter.  I have had a few new spots appear, but that is most likely my skin just adjusting.  I've certainly not had a major break out or bad reaction.

Happily, the creams all work well under my make up so I don't have to wait ages after applying them before I can put my make up on.  This has been an issue with other creams in the past.

All in all, I'm very happy. Soap & Glory - I love you!

TEN Skincare review

Did you know I'm pregnant?  You didn't? Where have you been?  Ok, ok, I know that you know...When I was pregnant with Ethan was hugely paranoid about stretch marks.  As it turns out, I was lucky, I didn't get any.  Whether this is down to my genes or skincare routine, I don't know for sure.  I suspect genes have a big part to play - my Mum doesn't have stretch marks after having my brother and I.. however, I'm not one to take a risk and leave it up to chance. Last time I applied Bio Oil and other lotions and potions liberally, twice a day, if not more when my skin was feeling tight and stretched at the end..  I'm not writing about Bio Oil today though.  No, lucky old me, the lovely people at Clever Skin Care have given me some stretch mark cream from TEN Skincare to try out.

I've been using this cream for about 6 weeks now I believe, applying it every day, most days twice a day (unless I forget).  I'm applying it all over my belly, the tops of my legs, side/hips and on my boobs.  My first impressions were good.  The cream is a lovely consistency and has a nice smell.  It's not overpowering at all, just a nice light fragrance.  It sinks into skin nicely though of course massaging it in is one of the huge benefits!  Now, as I said above, I suspect my genes have treated me well in the stretch mark department, but there is something I do suffer with that this cream is REALLY helping with.  Itching.  My breasts aren't small normally, but when pregnant they become vast (I'm not joking, last time I reached a 30J).  All that growing and stretching equals sore itchy skin for me.  Applying this time twice a day is reducing the itching I feel considerably.  I really notice on the days when I forget to apply it - my boobs are much itchier.  So, in my mind, this cream is worth it's weight in gold just for the anti-itch properties!!  Just something to note, before I used this cream I used other moisturisers on my boobs but they made no difference.  I'm not saying that there isn't something else out there that would help as well, but the fact is, this cream is helping me!!

Stretch mark wise, it's too early to tell I think.  Scientific evidence tends to suggest that it's not so much the properties of anti stretch mark creams that make a difference, but the actual act of moisturising and massaging you skin regularly.  That is quite probably the case, but if you ask most women, I think you'll find they air on the side of caution and buy some sort of "bump" cream to apply when pregnant!!! I know I did last time, and when this one runs out, I will again!

Something I like about TEN Skincare is their philosophy - a good mixture of science and nature (isn't' that the name of a Bluetones album - I love them!).  As much as I can, I try to use "natural" products on my skin. I'm a big Lush fan and my body moister of choice is by Jergens Naturals.  This anti-stretch mark cream has lots of lovely ingredients including jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, avocado oil and shea butter. It doesn't include parabens, ethanol, SLES, formaldehyde, dyes, colour, phtalates, lanolin, soap, paraffin mineral oil and nitrosamine. This makes it safe for you and your baby when it arrives - great news if you are continuing to apply the cream to your breast area and are breastfeeding!

Would I recommend TEN stretch mark cream? Yes, I would. In particular I would recommend it to friends who I know are suffering from itchy, stretched skin. Is it worth the money? Well, it's not cheap (RRP is around £34.50 for 200ml and you can buy TEN Skincare from Clever Skin Care) but I feel it's going to last a long time. So far it's lasted me a couple of months almost and I still have loads left - this is with applying twice a day. You never know, it might last the whole pregnancy. Last time I must have spent at least £40 if not more on Bio Oil... All in all, it gets a thumbs up from me!

***I was provided with TEN Stretch Mark Cream to try out and review for free but I have not received any compensation and all views provided are my own***