Antipodes Ananda Gentle Toner Review

I love toning mists for supplementing my dehydrated, acne-prone skin and this one by Antipodes is gorgeous.

Antipodes is an organic skincare line from New Zealand that uses botanical ingredients and plant extracts, some of which I've never heard of but sound rather interesting:)

This toner uses Waiwera artesian water which springs up from New Zealand earth that is mineral rich and was voted 'Best in the World' of premium bottle waters. It also includes raspberry extract (strengthens skin and decreases moisture loss), marshmallow extract (to soothe) and mamuku black fern extract (to regenerate). It has a delicate rose scent from the Bulgarian rose oil which also feels quite therapeutic.

Sounds quite impressive and having almost finished up my bottle, I do feel this hydrates my skin and is rather soothing and comforting. What I also like about this is that the spray is a fine, even mist so it doesn't require me using cotton pads or wiping away any excess.

Full Ingredients:

I bought this from Lovelula.com

Agera Oxy Facial at DestinationSkin

I recently purchased a deal through Groupon for an Agera Oxy facial at Destination Skin and a couple of weeks back I went to have the treatment.

The Agera Oxy facial uses Vitamin C as the key ingredient to brighten and hydrate the skin and I thought it might be beneficial as I have acne-prone skin with scarring.

I have to say that the consultation before the treatment was fantastic - I filled out a form as you would normally but after I had an in-depth discussion as to what my main concerns were in order of priority, the areas of the face where I tended to have the most trouble, my general diet and health, so that we had a clear picture I what I was hoping for and what was achievable with the treatment and also possible course of action for future treatments to address my concerns.

My consultation and treatment was carried out by the clinic manager and even though I like to think I know a little about the skin, she explained in detail and even drew a rough sketch of a cross-section of the skin (like the ones you learn about at school:) and explained what is likely happening on my skin.

Next my skin was more closely looked at through a skin scanner which highlighted my problem areas which for me were in particular the t-zone area where I am prone to a little shininess. She could see where my past acne had been (even without the scanner you can see it) and said that unfortunately on my medium (Indian) skin even if I got a spot and left it alone it would probably still scar - and from experience that is totally the case with me which is one of the things I particularly hate.

I then had my treatment which started off with a cleanse then a Vitamin C exfoliant was lightly massaged on the skin - as the ingredients are active and I had several new blemishes on my face she did not want to cause any damage to the area so it was not like a therapeutic type deep massage. Even though she said I might experience some tingling I didn't have such sensation and it felt comfortable.

Next the activator was applied and again was lightly massaged on the skin. After this was cleansed away and then a serum applied.

I was given a mirror straight after the treatment and to be honest my skin looked rather horrible - the treatment had brought all the impurities to the surface and it made me even more aware of all the blemishes I had (and ones I didn't know I had) - these looked a bit red although the skin in between did look a bit brighter and not as dull. This horrid look didn't last long as when I looked again about 10 minutes later it had all settled down and the following day was when I could really see a bit more clarity to my skin which I was pleased with.

After the treatment we went back to the consultation room and she gave me sunscreen to apply but in the skin scanner so that I could see exactly how the sunscreen protected the skin and those areas under the scanner looked a little violet coloured.

We discussed future treatments and that it may be beneficial to do a course of Vitamin C peels and pumpkin peels which I am definitely considering as I have looked into having a professional peel before elsewhere but not felt particularly confident in going ahead with treatment where I feel more positive now that I've been able to discuss what is involved and what preparation and care is needed when undertaking the treatments.

I have been impressed with my experience at DestinationSkin, not only the treatment but the time taken to discuss your concerns, ask questions (no matter how trivial they may seem) and guidance I was given.

La Roche-Posay Kerium Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

Continuing on from my previous post on products that are keeping my scalp happy, the next thing I'm liking is La Roche-Posay's Kerium Anti-Dandruff Shampoo.

If I need something to quickly address my flaky scalp, I reach for this as it's proving to be very effective at clearing away the flakies without feeling like it's stripping my fine hair.

I bought the cream shampoo formula for a dry scalp, and as the name would suggest it is a creamy texture that has a rich lather (this is a SLS shampoo).

It's easy to work into the hair and rinses out well without any residue feel, and as my hair is dry the creamy formula does provide a little nourishment although I still use a conditioner afterwards.

I feel comfortable using it frequently although now I only use it when I need it and alternate with an SLS free shampoo.

Ingredients:

I bought this from a pharmacy in London as my local Boots didn't have any of the haircare even though they stock La Roche-Posay.

Becca Pressed Shimmer Powders - Gypsy & Odette

I do like the Becca UFO shape:)

The pressed shimmer powders I think were my first purchases from Becca, I was just drawn to the prettiness of the shimmer and I consider these to be more refined then some of the other shimmer powders in my collection as they are totally non-glitzy and not particularly frosty.

Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder - Gypsy

Gypsy is a very pretty mid-pink with a beautiful golden shimmer. When applied to the skin, the pink isn't as strong as it appears in the pan as the gold shines through the pink equally.

Sometimes I use this on it's own for a subtle pink/golden glow but I like to also apply this on top of other pink shades to intensify the colour.

Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder -Odette

Odette is warm bronzy golden shade that again looks darker in the pan but when applied looks more golden. This does give a little bit of depth so I kind of use it as a subtle golden bronzer.  This one I use more on it's own as I like the warm glow it gives to the skin.

Top - Gypsy, Bottom - Odette

I think that these are quite deceptive as they do appear a bit different from the pan, but I like the versatility in way they can be layered with other products to subtly enhance the tones in powder.

Becca have the Pressed Shimmer powders currently at 50% off as they are soon being discontinued, I'm hoping they will have an alternative to these as it would be a shame to see them go completely.

Alison Raffaele True Concealer

I've been on the look out for a concealer to use on blemishes and I think I might have just found one that is ticking a lot of boxes for me.

The Alison Raffaele range has been on my radar for some time now, but as I've been distracted by other offerings, I kind of forgot about it until some festive browsing on Cult Beauty reminded me.

The line is created by makeup artist Alison Raffaele and is free from mineral oil, talc, gluten, fragrance. The line also includes fruit extracts to give skincare benefits and is suitable for sensitive and acne-prone skin. Sometimes I'm weary of using heavy, emollient type concealers on spots for fear of aggravating the area and I even though I usually don't have much of an issue, it's nice to have a formula without these potential irritants.

I was struggling to decide which shade to get but the descriptions on the Cult Beauty website have celebrity names against them to help so thankfully I picked the correct shade (no.5) which I find is perfect for my skintone (MAC NC40-42).

The packaging is a fairly standard tube with a sponge tip wand applicator, and the concealer itself is a light, creamy consistency that dries to a natural matte finish.

Top - Blended, Bottom - not blended

Top - Blended, Bottom - not blended

Even though the texture is a light cream, it has good pigmentation so it covers well and as the tones in this feel very real to my actual warm skin colouring, it blends very naturally and doesn't feel heavy in any way. The only thing I would say is that if I have a much drier spot, it does settle a tiny bit drier on that area, but generally it hides blemishes well. I also find that this works well on the under eye area to cover shadows rather than brightening.

Ingredients:

I bought this from the Cult Beauty website.