brightening skincare

Tropic Skincare Facial Serums

- Vicki 2 Comments
Tropic Glow Berry Brightening Serum

Tropic Skincare Serums

*Gifted. Tropic Skincare seems to be one of the best kept secrets in the beauty world, they’re a cruelty-free all natural, British beauty brand that produce products of incredible quality and that actually give effective results. I have tried a few of their skincare, body care and makeup releases, and they always exceed expectations. I find myself recommending them to friends and family of all ages, it is skincare that you can really rely on.

So I have been trying out two of their serums, Glow Berry & Rainforest Dew. They’ve been helping hydrate and give my skin back it’s natural healthy glow.

Tropic Skincare Glow Berry Brightening Serum*

I’d say my number one skin concern is dull skin, not all year round, but certainly over the darker, colder months. So having this brightening serum in my skincare routine these past few weeks has been wonderful for combating dark spots, uneven skin tone and giving my skin back its natural glow. This serum has a very fluid consistency, I apply it as part of my evening skincare routine and I keep it in the fridge as instructed by tropic as it keeps the active ingredients at their best.

Vitamin C – Which we all know is a fantastic ingredient in brightening skincare, it helps with pigmentation, boosts collagen production, protects against free radical damage and helps give your skin a natural radiant glow.

Kangaroo Paw Flower Extract – This plant is endemic to Australia and is incredible at nourishing the skin, tightens and firms skin (which helps to minimise your fine lines) as well as targets the visible signs of ageing. So your skin will look and feel smooth and lifted.

Super berries – A powerful blend of antioxidant-rich strawberry, muntries, riberry (endemic to Australia) and Tasmanian pepperberry extracts give complexions a boost of radiance, help reduce hyperpigmentation and UV related sun damage. Boosting your skin’s radiance and healthy glow.

Tropic Rainforest Dew Hydrating Serum

This is a really lovely nourishing, hydrating and soothing serum, I have found applying this as part of my morning skincare routine works well for me. It helps my skin retain moisture so it stays hydrated and soft throughout the day. I love the dewy effect it gives, it is great under makeup and the dewiness makes my makeup sit so well and look healthy all day long.  Again it is very lightweight, similar in consistency to the Berry Glow serum, 3 drops are usually enough for my face. As with all Tropic products, it is packed full of incredible natural skin loving ingredients,

Plant Peptides – encourage cell renewal, encourage collagen production and improve skin’s elasticity and plumpness.

Evergreen Fern Extract – This is a soothing ingredient, great for calming and reducing redness.

Hyaluronic Acid – This has become such a popular ingredient in skincare over the past few years, it helps skin retain moisture which keeps it plump, hydrated and replenishes tired looking skin.

Matcha Tea Extract -Wonderful at protecting and reducing the effects of free radicals on your skin. As well as being soothing and anti-inflammatory, so this combined with the evergreen fern extract really help calm and sooth.

So if your skin is in need of a serious moisture boost, especially over the Winter months, then I highly recommend this Rainforest Dew Serum.

Tropic Glow Berry Brightening Serum

If you’re looking to include or add a new serum to your skincare routine, these two options are pretty amazing. Glow Berry is ideal if you want to target more dull, fatigued skin and even out skin tone, and the Rainforest Dew is for anyone that is suffering with dry skin or just loves that fresh, glowing look.

*Products in this post were gifted as PR samples, but the review is 100% my own

Monu Skincare

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Monu Skincare

Monu Skincare

MONU Moisture Rich Hydrating Mask* £22.50

This is one of those masks which doesn’t set which I do like because they don’t go tight on the skin which can often feel quite drying. This has a thick cream texture and it feels very cool on the skin, I apply a generous layer with a makeup brush and leave it on my skin for at least 15 minutes. I remove it using a warm damp cloth & it leaves my skin looking refreshed and bright. This is a very good mask for the colder months because it contains geranium essential oil which is great at calming the skin and I get very red skin in the colder months so this will help a lot.

MONU Instant Radiance Brightening Boost* £22.50

I have used this product before and liked it. I thought it helped brighten my complexion it is aimed at more Mature Skin or those that have Sun Damage but I think it can be used by people of all ages and It’s an ideal product for people with dull complexion as it leaves your skin instantly smooth and looking radiant. It gives your skin a good boost of Vitamin C to help keep it looking radiant and evens out your skin tone. I also think this wears well under my makeup and helps my skin look radiant all day long. Its nice and lightweight but quite hydrating too. I have enjoyed having this back in my skincare routine.

MONU Hand and Nail Cream* £11.95

This is a very rich formula and I found it a little too thick, it might be better if you like your hand cream to feel more like a treatment or if you used it overnight so you wake up with very soft smooth hands. I like to put my hand cream on throughout the day and this was a little too heavy on my hands. I wasn’t too fond of the scent either, the scent is Lemongrass and Lavender so it is relaxing but I thought it was a little too intense. I did pass this on to my Mum who said she likes it, so every cloud!

MONU Line Smoothing Skin Perfector* £22.50

Oh I really really like this product, it says it is a cream but it feels more like a serum. I like that it feels so lightweight and gives your skin an instant smooth velvety soft appearance. It promises to tackle imperfections to enhance your skins natural appearance, I think it does a great job at making your skin look healthy and glowing. It has soft focus technology and it blurs / smooths imperfections and reflects the light making your skin look wide awake and fresh. I don’t always like my skincare to have a scent but this smells like a luxury spa and that would be the Bergamot and Neroli essential oils, two of my favourite scents.

MONU Active Collagen Eye Patches* £26.95

These baffled me at first I’m used to these having the product already on & they adhere to your skin but these were dry & I was like ‘what am I meant to do with these’ but I figured out that you have to dampen them and pop them under your eyes. I got there in the end. I love using eye patches / masks and find them a really effective way of reviving tired eyes and these Monu ones were very good at plumping that area & giving it an instant boost of hydration. I suffer from very dehydrated skin under my eyes and I love having using eye masks a couple of times a week to help keep the skin looking revitalised and smooth. These are individually packaged so you can through a pack in your makeup bag when you fly and they stop you getting off the plane looking like you haven’t slept for a week!

Monu Skin Types Chart & Colour Coding

I think the Skin Perfector along with the Active Collagen Eye Patches are my favourite products from the line up! I was also surprised to see just how extensive the MONU skincare range is they have so many products to suit every skin type. I also like that they have a simple colour coded system so you can see what products / ranges are most suitable for you by the colour.

Let me know if you have tried any MONU products & what you loved and would recommend.

MONU products contain no damaging chemicals, artificial perfumes or synthetic colours and they are 100% cruelty free.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

Estée Lauder Even Skintone Illuminator

- Vicki 1 Comment
Estée Lauder Idealist Range

Recently there has been a new serum in my routine & I’ve been quietly declaring my love for it. I thought it was about time I shared it with you. I have been using the Estée Lauder Even Skintone Illuminator* from the Idealist range, this range targets dull, uneven skintones and focuses on giving the skin a fresh illuminating glow whilst evening out pigmentation, redness and smoothing pores. Just what my skin needs, especially with Spring just around the corner.

Estée Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator

In a nutshell – This serum features exclusive CorrecTone Technology, a comprehensive triple-action complex compromised of highly effective, anti-spot ingredients, powerful antioxidants and soothing anti-irritants to address the signs of an uneven skintone.

This is an oil free serum and has an illuminating pearlescent colour which gives the skin a lovely fresh glow and it does have a slight citrus scent too but noting overpowering and once the serum has been absorbed the scent fades. The serum feels very lightweight and is quickly absorbed without leaving the skin feeling tacky or greasy. You apply this on to clean skin and then follow with the rest of your skincare regime (SPF, moisturiser). I don’t find this serum to be particularly hydrating but it leaves my skin feeling smooth, soft and noticably brighter.

Estée Lauder Idealist Range

I have quite a few old dark acne scars, redness around my nose and quite a few areas where the pigmentation in uneven. This serum not only helps cover them and has an instant brightening effect but also over a period of time help reduce them. I’ve been using this serum for a little over 5 weeks now & have noticed these areas looking brighter, more even and my complexion looks a lot more fresh and bright. I am excited to see if these areas continue to improve over the coming months.

I like how this sits well under my moisturiser, its a non greasy, oil free serum and once applied has a smooth velvety finish. It adds luminosity to the skin but is in no way sparkly or glittery so don’t worry you won’t look like a disco ball (no one needs that).

This Even Skintone Illuminator comes in a distinctive light blue and gold bottle which has a handy pump, its very pretty and the pump dispenses just enough product without wasting any. Unlike the ANR this is a hard robust plastic which I like a lot more. Glass packaging tends to make me nervous & it is near impossible to travel with. This packaging is much more travel friendly.

Estee Lauder Illuminating Serum Swatch

So far I’m impressed with this & would recommend it, if like me you want to brighten your complexion and address any dark spots or redness. As with most Estée Lauder skincare it is quite pricey but one pump of this gives you enough product to use on your face & I like to use it once a day in the morning & 5 weeks on I still have a lot of product left. So a little goes a long way. What I am trying to say is it is worth the price tag!

You can purchase Estee Lauder makeup from Harrods, they have quite an extensive selection. Oh & the best part is it comes beautifully packaged. Let me know if you have any Estee Lauder product suggestions, I am already a fan of the ANR range but would love to try some makeup from them too. So send your suggestions this way.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

Origins Dr Weil Mega Bright Eye Cream

- Vicki 10 Comments

Origins Dark Circle Minimizer

Harvard-trained medical doctor and botanist Andrew Weil has again teamed up with Origins to develop this new Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer*. Origins say this eye cream will  ‘keep your eye area looking bright and also helps strengthen fragile, dry eye skin to help the appearance of darkness from circling back’. I have to say I agree 100%.

Origins Eye Cream

This Origins eye cream has a thick creamy feel to it, the consistency reminds me of the Kiehl’s creamy eye treatment with avocado. I’ve been using this mostly in the morning, as I said it’s quite thick and is nice to apply, it gives you an instant feeling of hydration. As soon as you put this on your under eye area feels smooth and looks luminous and fresh. Perfect if you have dehydrated under eyes.

It works as a really good base for concealer as its so rich and my concealer sits really well on top of it. It stops any creasing and keeps the area hydrated all day. This cream is packed full of skin benefits such as,

  • White Peony for its anti-oxidant properties
  • Ume, from the fruit of the Japanese Plum Blossom tree, to help minimise the dark circles
  • Grapefruit to help reduce puffiness
  • Magnolia Extract works to tighten and strengthen the delicate under eye skin
  • Molasses for brightening & evening skin tone

You only need a small amount of this cream and it is easily absorbed and keeps the skin feeling soft throughout the day. I would say my under eye looks brighter (which makes me happy), but I think I also have my cleaner diet to thank for that. I have been eating more fresh fruit and vegetables this year so I’d say a good diet, combined with this Origins cream are making a good team. I’m hoping that as I continue to use the Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer for a second month I see even more results and a reduction in discolouration.

It is a lovely addition to my skincare regime and I think this pot is going to last me quite a while. So if you’re someone that needs help keeping the dark circles at bay, puffiness to a minimum and longs for brighter under eyes then this Origins Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer is a must for you.

Origins Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer 15ml £32

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However, if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.