Top Five: Skincare Add-Ons

As the final installment of this Top Of The Pops Beauty Week I've chosen to discuss all those skincare bits that I may not have expanded for them all to have dedicated categories – but I do have more than decent representatives. This shall be a base upon which I'll build my experience with these types of products and, hopefully, be able to recommend more good stuff. Top Five Skincare Add-Ons feature a variety of skincare bolt-ons which cater to different needs and address various issues – and they're pretty darn good at it. I seriously think I wouldn't be able to maintain a decent complexion without these guys. As far as exfoliants go, I'm pretty much loyal to my Alpha-H Micro Cleanse. This is beyond great – it is an amazing product! Packed with my fave ingredient (glycolic acid) it serves me as both a face mask and a light but effective chemical exfoliant. It gets rid of persistent blemishes and it helps blemish scars fade away – fantastic stuff. Exfoliation get extended with the help of my good old friend, the trusty La Roche-Posay Effaclar Astringent Micro-Exfoliant Lotion. Is it a toner? Sure it is but that's not why I love it – it's packed with LHAs (makes it suitable for sensitive skin too) which keep my pores unclogged. I love that I get rid of dead skin cells in a non-abrasive way whenever I use it. I must've used up at least four or five bottles of this stuff by now. A true and only toner I personally think actually has a purpose is the Dr.Hauschka Facial Toner. You know, I've tried toners and toners but none of them suit dry or dehydrated skin. Most of them are geared towards pore shrinking and mattifying but this one feels incredibly soothing and hydrating. Along with the Dr.Hauschka Rose Cream it has banished patchy skin around my nose in a jiffy. Since face toners aren't generally considered as essentials I'm glad to report that this one will last a long time. I've been using it for 5 months and have used only 1/3 of the bottle. Face masks are perhaps the weakest link in my entire skincare routine. I haven't found many that do anything special to my skin (the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal mask sample has wowed me, though). For now, the only face mask I've ever found to be effective is the humble mud mask. My mud mask of choice is the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. It's effective, dries out blemishes, draws out impurities, deeply cleanses the skin and is an extremely economic buy. I really cannot recommend it enough for oily skin or targeted blemish treatment. I've discovered several great eye creams so far and I use them religiously now but my absolute fave is, hands down, the Caudalie Vinosource SOS Morning Eye Rescue. This is a no frills eye cream, it doesn't promise to move mountains nor does it contain fancy ingredients. It is a basic hydrating eye cream which is fabulous at cooling down tired eyes and mine are very angry-looking after hours and hours spent at work and in front of several computer monitors. It's also irreplaceable in early mornings and is a great base for any concealer. Not rich, this light and refreshing hydrating cream is the absolute winner in my books! I really hope you liked this week's posts at the blog and let me know if doing something similar in the future would be an interesting read to you.

Stigli smo do posljednjeg clanka u sklopu Top Of The Pops Beauty Week tematike i za danasnji post sam odlucila da posvetim paznju svim onim preparativnim proizvodima ciji repertoar nisam dovoljno prosirila da bi svaki dobio vlastiti clanak – ali ipak imam barem po jednog pristojnog predstavnmika za svaku od pet kategorija. Upravo ovi odabrani proizvodi ce posluziti kao baza na osnovu koje cu graditi svoje iskustvo i nadam se da cu nakon odredjenog vremena imati dosta vise slicnih proizvoda na listi za preporuku. Top 5 Preparativnih dodataka ukljucuje saroliku skupinu izuzetno korisnih i efektnih proizvoda koji rjesavaju konkretne probleme – i jako su dobri u tome. Ozbiljno mislim kako bez njihove pomoci ne bih u jednakoj mjeri niti sa istom lakocom mogla odrzavati njegovan ten. Sto se tice eksfolijacije, prilicno sam vjerna svom Alpha-H Micro Cleanse pilingu. Za njega bih cak rekla da nije dobar vec odlican proizvod! Sadrzi meni najdrazi sastojak (glikolnu kiselinu) i sluzi me kao 2u1 – maska za lice i hemijski piling. Bez problema rijesava problem bubuljica i flekica koje ostaju nakon njih, cineci da izblijede u sto kracem roku. Stvarno je odlicna stvar. Temu eksfolijacije nastavljam uz pomoc svog dobrog starog prijatelja, pouzdanog La Roche-Posay Effaclar Astringent Micro-Exfoliant losiona. Da li je tonik? Naravno, no to nije razlog niti funkcija zbog kojeg ga toliko volim – obogacen je sa LHA kiselinama (sto ga cini pogodnim i za osjetljivu kozu) koje odrzavaju pore cistima. Dopada mi se kako na njezan ali efektan nacin uklanja mrtve celije sa povrsine koze. Potrosila sam barem cetiri ili pet bocica sto dovoljno svjedoci koliko sam zadovoljan kupac. Istinski i jedini tonik za lice za koji licno smatram da ustvari cini nesto konkretno je Dr.Hauschka Facial Toner. Znate, isprobala sam mnostvo tonika i interesantno je kako rijetko koji od njih odgovara suhoj i/ili dehidriranoj kozi. Vecina je namijenjena matiranju koze ili sakupljanju pora no ovaj tonik djeluje umirujuce na kozu i hidratizira je. Zajedno je uz pomoc Dr.Hauschka kreme sa ruzom ovaj tonik u potpunosti ucinio da perutava koza oko nosa i obraza nestane. Posto tonici za lice ne uzivaju reputaciju neophodnih komada preparative drago mi je prijaviti da ce jedna bocica potrajati dugo vremena. Svoju koristim stalno vec 5 mjeseci uzastopno i potrosila sam samo 1/3 (sto stvarno nije lose). Maske za lice su, kada razmislim, mozda i najslabija karika u mojoj preparativnoj rutini. Zaista nisam pronasla dosta njih za koje bih vam mogla bez ustezanja reci kako sam vidjela neku znacajnu razliku prije i poslije koristenja (doduse, uzorak REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal maske me oborio s nogu ali je tek trebam naruciti u full-size pakovanju). Za sada je jedina maska koju mogu iskreno pohvaliti glede vidljivih rezultata skromna maska na bazi gline. Meni najdraza maska te vrste je Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. Efektna je, isusuje bubuljice, izvlaci necistoce na povrsinu, dubinski prociscuje kozu i izuetno je ekonomicna. Ne mogu je dovoljno pohvaliti svima vama koji imate masnu i/ili mjesovitu kozu – cak je zgodna i kao lokalni tretman za bubuljice (ako je ne zelite nanositi na cijelo lice). Tokom zadnjih par godina sam isprobala dosta okoloocnih kremica i pronasla sam par odlicnih koje sam u potpunosti usvojila i koristim ih na svakodnevnoj bazi. Ipak, apsolutni favorit u mojim ocima je Caudalie Vinosource SOS Morning Eye Rescue. Ovo je dosta jednostavna okoloocna kremica koja ne pribjegava trikovima da vas privuce – ne obecava da ce pomjeriti planine i ne sadrzi fensi-smensi futuristicke sastojke. Radi se o nekomplikovanoj kremici  koja divno hidrira njeznu kozu okoloocnog podrucja i fantasticna je po pitanju ‘hladjenja’ i umirivanja otecenih, umornih ociju. To je nesto sa cime imam problema jer provodim sate i sate uzastopno pred vise od pet monitora na poslu (+ sta mislite da radim kuci? trenutno vam tipkam sa laptopa). Takodjer mi je ova kremica postala obavezna ujutro nakon budjenja jer mi lijepo osvjezi oci a sluzi i kao dobra baza za korektor. Nije bogate vec lagane formulacije – u mojim ocima je pravi odlikas! Nadam se da su vam se ovosedmicni postovi dopali i javite mi ako zelite da nesto slicno napravim u buducnosti.