I'm not dirty, those are my tan lines!

I was in a different country but my lifestyle hadn't changed, differences being that there was a beach on my door step. I love Wimbledon and couldn't bare missing a game, an extremely sad truth but I was prepared to sit in the hotel and watch Wimbledon rather than lying on the beach. Nonetheless I did get myself down there when the women's matches were on.

My day to day activities might not have altered but my skincare certainly did. Shamefully I avoided moisterizer the entire time, why? I simply didn't need it. I have combination skin and I didn't have problems with dry skin on my cheeks or excessive oily T-zone and thats all down to the help of Clarins Water Comfort One Step Cleanser. Seriously this product is awesome, one the best cleansers I've had that I could compare with the SKII cleasner.

Why do I love it so much? Firstly it smells gorgeous and it fended off dry skin so well that I was applying it on flakey skin on my arms that was dried out from sun bathing and the heat. This isn't just only a on-the-go product to cleanse the face with after a session from the gym, flight on an airplane, or out and about in the busy city, but a lock to keep the moister in. I used it as a toner rather than a cleanser because I personally like to wash my face with water, but that usually makes my skin feel really tight and dry, awful to apply moisterizer onto but this illiminated that tightness.

My regime that is simple and worked was: 1) wash my face with Lancome Clarifying Cleanser Pearly Foam (£19 Boots) 2) with a cotton pad apply Clarins peach water and give it a few minutes for the skin to absorb (£14 Debenhams) 3) apply Clarins factor 30 Sun Wrinkle Control Cream (£17.50 Debenhams)

The peach water is absolutely lush and gave my skin a smooth touch, great to apply makeup straight on as its so so moisterizing. This product for me banishes other toners, I hope to continue  using this in the winter, which in time will test whether it can fight off wintery complexions. For now I'm nearly past the half way mark in just 2 weeks (100ml) as I apply generously, the only flaw is that I hadn't discovered this sooner.

I say this would be ideal for travelling, especially long haul flights. I used to just use face wipes that didn't do much for moisterizing but this is refreshing. I give it 5/5 stars fo' sho'.

 

I'm Chinese and I'm GOING TO GET MY TAN ON.

For years I've been going back and fourth to Hong Kong for my summer holidays, but this year there's been a turn around and I'll be going to Spain for a week with the family instead. I don't know what's more shocking; me wanting to tan or going away as a family, as we've not been on one in years.

In the past I crumbled to the pressures of being and keeping pale, and on top of that spending a large sum of money on serums to fend off any signs of darkening. At the moment I sport a 'milky yellow' tone with freckles on just the right side of my cheeks, which are an addition from sun damage. When I went to HK I would sometimes feel embarrassed by my freckles and asked if I was mixed raced, that's no problem, my issue stands with the pressure of having a perfect pale slab of a face.

My friend who came from China to study for a year in the Uk had tanned considerably during the winter, and that was because she held an umbrella every time she was out in China; obviously that's kind of frowned upon here if its not raining. She started freaking out when I told her she had tanned since I last saw her in China, but I was thinking no biggie. I remembered my mum talking to me about being tanned in her generation: that the rich and upper class were pale as it was a symbolism of wealth and status, whereas the tanned were the peasants who had to work in fields all day to feed themselves. That is plausible, or there are controversial lines where Asians aspire to be white because they are more 'superior'? I'm a fan of Asian celebrity culture and I don't object to people getting their eyes widen or rhinoplasty, but its damaging to the young girls who feel that beauty is only achieved when they look remotely Caucasian.

Anyway that was just my nostalgic rant built up from my track history. I'm going to embrace every ray of sunshine, but before that happens I need to check my sunscreens.

Caution: no matter how high the factor is, the sun will still damage the skin when sun bathing in long periods of time. A common mistake people have is buying high factors such as 50 and not reapplying regularly because its assumed it'll last all day. Aka getting a higher factor doesn't mean you won't tan faster so please don't expose your skin to sun without any sunscreen.

For my face I'm bringing my Clarins factor 30 Sun Wrinkle Control Cream (£17.50). It smells lush and it offers UVB and UVA protection. The UVB protects you from sun burns (although staying in the sun for hours won't keep you safe) and UVA will contribute towards preventing anti ageing, both of these are right up my street and things you should look for.

For my body I'll be using Nivea Sun factor 50 (a few £s) just because my mum had bought bottles of them. I do quite like these but I've not yet used factor 50 so it might be stickier than usual. I'll still be able to get a nice tan and get that protection.

NB: I used Atorrege AD+ serum to lighten blemishes and brighten skin, which can be found in HK drugstores. I don't use it any more as I've ran out, but I recommend it to minimize appearances of sun freckles.

Review: Clarins Eye Revive Beauty Flash. Worth £26.50 20ml

There are tons of eye cream on the market to choose from, and when you finally have to make a decision on choosing one, which one do you go for? The first things I ask myself are what are the qualities I'm looking for in my eye cream i.e. moister and hydration, brightening, or anti-age. I'm only just 20 therefore anti-agents is a no-no for now, so this leaves me with hydrating and brightening creams.

So what's next? I turned to Clarins for something new as I've never bought products from them before, so I was a new customer hoping to be impressed, and I am! The cream isn't scented which is always a plus, because I don't want perfume diffused in something for my eyes (the skin around the eyes is a lot thinner and in my case easily irritated by heavily
perfumed products).

Tip: My rule to applying any creams would be applying all face/body moisturiser within 3 minutes of drying, as the damp skin will absorb the product by locking it in.

The biggest problem I had around the eyes was when I applied concealer and it got quite cakey. After using the eye cream day and night it reduced the dryness, making it easier to apply make up around that area without drying.

What's my verdict? I would suggest this if you're eyes need that extra push in moister. The main thing to keep in mind for first time buyers are to not expect everything to change after the first application (don't expect miracles). Always bare in mind creams do take a few days to take full effect, so no getting stressy about whether its working or not. I use eye creams on a daily basis and compared to the previous hydrating serum by Lancome, this is far better. This is a pricey product even I had to think twice about it, but I wouldn't dismiss it as it does what it says on the tin. You don't always have to purchase the product, most department stores especially Clarins will offer you testers. Tell me how you find this.

Look out for my review on the Garnier Roll On for eyes.