Skin Analysis: What is your skin type?

Sorry this is a week late but i have been having issues, namely HAIR issues, i shall explain that though in another blog post... for now, as promised here's a definitive way of determining what skin type you are so you can buy the correct cosmetic products to help enhance and even-out your skins' appearance, also featuring a few celebrities. After each type I've linked a few beauty products ideal for that skin type; some high end, some drug-store. 
HERE is Clinique's step by step choices using your skin type.

1)Normal Skin
 This skin type is very VERY rare- in fact it's quite likely that no one you know is going to have completely "Normal" skin all over. Your skin can Combine two skin types, as in one can commonly be "Normal" with an "Oily t-zone" (this is Combination skin as described in the next point) but it's highly unlikely they will be "Normal" all over. 
A Normal skin type is identified by it's even appearance, matte finish, no visible pours and no redness or "sallow" (yellow) appearance. - Usually someone with combination skin will have Normal skin on their cheeks and upper forehead. Basically, all-over "Normal" skin is only achievable through Photoshop. 

2)Combination Skin
Combination is the most common, simply because it covers most bases- it is literally a Combination of two or more of any of the mentioned skin types in this post. As simple as that. Obviously products in stores that are for "Combination" skin are usually designed around people with "Oily and Normal" combination skin. But some can be tailored to specific combinations like "Mature and Dry" etc.. so just read packaging carefully.
Dermalogica Normal/Oily Skin complete KIT
Nivea Oily to Combination Day Cream

3)Dry Skin
 Dry skin will have a naturally Matte appearance, will appear flaky on the surface (NOT to be confused with Psoriasis or Eczema). There will be very small or no visible pours when looking closely in the mirror, and skin will be quite thin, with capillaries on your cheek area (small, teeny-tiny thin red lines).
 You will want an oil-based or cream based make-up remover for daily use, and a cream cleanser. If you use toner (which you should!) it should have a very low or no alcohol content. If you want to pamper yourself you need a non-setting mask, aka: avoid clay masks! If you can still move your face while it's on then it's the one for you! And your daily moisturizer should be high in oil content. 
Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster
Dermalogica Dry Skin Kit
Eucerin Dry Skin Relief - Face
Garnier Skin Naturals Moisture Match For Dry Skin.

4)Mature Skin
 Believe it or not you can be classed as having "Mature skin" from the age of around 25 plus. No it doesn't mean you need to retire now and put away the hot pants! It's simply a way of categorizing your skin type. All it means is you've lost some of the elasticity in your skin, this happens over time to everyone and means your skin is no longer producing enough collagen to fight against gravity, so your skin may begin to sag around your neck and cheeks.
 You will have visible lines and wrinkles around your eyes, mouth, and on your forehead- perhaps small but if they're their i'm sure you'll have seen them! 
 Your skin becomes thinner, and more sallow (yellow) in appearance, and will seem quite dull. Older skin also begins to develop Pigmented areas or "Age Spots". 
Ideally you'll be wanting to use a cream cleanser and a refreshing toner. Any anti-aging beauty product will be great for your skin, although as a side note, do be aware that any product can claim to be anti-aging if it has a SPF factor. 
A great treat for your mature skin will be an Exfoliating Peel mask. It'll pull away the drying surface skin and reveal the newer younger skin underneath. 
Also ALWAYS use neck and eye creams. Daily! Make sure it has an SPF of at least 15 and that you keep up to date with your skin care, as well as looking after your skin dietary-wise; AKA drink plenty of water. Correct vitamins etc...(see skin health note below) 
Olay Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream
Boots Time-Delay
Cliniques Range of Anti-aging

5)Congested Skin
 This can happen to any skin type, it's usually known as acne or more commonly; spots and black heads. Full blown Acne can be a horrid thing to try and battle but always seek dermatological advice from your local beauty therapist and your GP there are a lot of things out there you can get to help. Do not be ashamed to ask for help. Although you may be finding it hard or even being bullied there are so many awesome things available now to help you! I'd hate to think some poor girl/guy will suffer through it without seeking help that could potentially clear it up for good!  
For the other people who merely suffer with the occasional spot or black-head bare in mind you become more prone to spots if your hormones change (puberty, before your period, or during the menopause) so get on top of it with exfoliating at least once every 28 days or using a very gentle exfoliant or mask every week. Never exfoliate every day as this wont give your skin time enough to recover from its intense scrubbing. 

Miss Diaz is always exploited in the press with her "Bad Skin". 

But as you can see here most of the time she's on top of it and seems to look after her skin well!

Dermalogica Pure Night TreatmentDermalogica Clearing Skin Wash. Dermalogica Concealing Spot Treatment
Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Cleanser

6)Sensitive Skin
 Redness in the skin, plain and simple. It's the easiest way of diagnosing this. I have it. And i hate it. If the temperature of the room suddenly changes my cheeks go a lovely scarlet shade and stay that way for hours after. The redness can also be set off by make-up application, make-up removal and even just TOUCHING the skin. The redness and constant "Highly-flushed" look is easily treated with products designed for sensitive skin... it usually caters for combination sensitive too so it shouldn't be too oily or drying. It should just be a nice medium that is nice and cooling to the skin, to keep it nice and calm. 
You must avoid any Exfoliants that have sugar/seeds/beads etc in, anything gritty will tear-apart your skin and make it redder than ever. Should you need to exfoliate due to congestion etc... try and find one with a mild acidity- this will essentially burn away any dirt and grease. A non-setting mask, which keeps the skin nice and cool is ideal. 
Dermaligica Cream Mask/Exfoliator.

Clinique Redness Solutions


7)Oily Skin
This is a common skin type. Not many people may actually have surface oil nor a shine to their skin but it is an obvious identifier. It is also common to have large visible pours, commedones (black heads), thicker skin and a yellowish appearance.  
A make-up remover designed for oily skin is ideal, usually cream based. You'll want a slightly harsher toner, perhaps with higher alcohol as this will dry out the skin, and a good moisturizer that's light. 
If you want a treat a clay or setting mask with grab any dirt through that oily layer and cleanse the skin of the oily texture at the same time. 

Poor Katy Clearly has visible pores, and congestion as a result of her oily skin type. But we wont let that stop us from freakin' loving the girl.

Dermalogica Oil Control lotion

Garnier Skin Oily Skin Cleanser


8)Dehydrated Skin
Now this isn't necessarily a skin "Type" as such- as it's usually a temporary problem that can be fixed with the correct intake of water and changing the products you're using on your skin. I'm featuring it as a type because so many people do have it- and it will have an obvious lack of moisture, the skin will feel tight, almost like its pulling, and it will be flaky, especially if your flaky areas are appearing in your oily t-zone. I am guilty of suffering from this so this leads nicely onto my final section; 
(Drink This)

Skin Health
All of the above can change rapidly dependent on the factors listed below, so it's a good idea to check none of these things have changed before you continue using the wrong products for your skin and making it worse;

Hormones
Products Used
Diet
Water/Lack of fluid
Exercise
Alcohol
Weather/climate/holiday
Allergies
UV/Sun Exposure
Smoking
Health issues (illness)
Stress
Medication
Sleep (lack of)
Genetics 
Drug use. 

Small haul! Local shops and Charity (thrift) shops!

THINGS!
I don't have a lot of money floating around at the moment so i've had to be especially stingy with money this week. I also had an unexpected bill of buying my poor lil corn snake a new heat matt as hers broke! :( but mooch is fine now, all warm and snuggly with her new (and expensive) heat matt! - I'm thinking i may need one. I'm ALWAYS COLD at the moment.

Moving on!

My Eyeko Eyeliner pen ran out the other day, only a small sample one from my Birchbox, but i couldn't buy another one (£10) so i had to find a suitable alternative, so i found this Seventeen Brand at BOOTS (uk) and they do this liquid, felt liner "Make Your Mark"ïn black for only £3.99. (Boots have a 3 for 2 offer across the store at the moment too!) (Also the Seventeen brand do a new blusher called a "powder press" its a nifty lil' gadget and i reckon it'll be a new "big thing" so go and get t before it gets too expensive!)

It works just as well as the Eyeko one and dare i say is even a bit bolder and darker. Perhaps not as long-wearing but i'm not planning on keeping eyeliner on for 14 hours.

Next was POUNDLAND. A great British institution, where you can now buy brand-name products for only...you guessed it £1! Thanks to rubbish packaging or teeny tiny spelling mistakes on the bottle... their loss! MY GAIN! MUUUWHAHAAHH, so i managed to pick up...for the grand total of £1 each... a Gel-like Nail polish in a Burgandy-Pink shade from a brand called "Pretty", a Rimmel pearlescent Nail varnish in a petrol-tone purple/green/blue wich is AMAZING. A purple handled Kabuke Brush, with lace print and butterflys on the handle too, you cannot tell it's a cheaper brand... well i guess for now untill the hairs fall out! And a Celvin Klein cream eye-shadow in a Pearl-white, i also previously bought an identicle CK eyeshadow in a brushed steel colour.
I also picked up a reed diffuser for my living room, some scented candles and some odd make up applicator sponges which are always handy! So i was quite chuffed with that!


From Primark... for £2.50 i got these MY FREAKIN' LITTLE PONY Socks, if you've read my blog i need not remind you of my unhealthy obsession with MLP and how i must COLLECT ALL THE THINGS! So seeing these i nearly cried! They also apparently had leggings...but i've missed that boat, there we're none left in my entire store! *weep*


From one of my lovely local charity shops i found this Beauty/Vanity case, it was part of a gift set for Sarah J-Parkers "Lovely" perfume as it's branded on the front and the "SJP" is branded inside, bit i loved the colour, the pattern of the fabric inside, also the little pouch and mirror detail inside too, and it was only £1.50 so now it's on my dressing table as my new home for my eyeshadows. :)


Wilko's i bought some Scented candles, they were in the sale for 75p, and a garland of pale-dusty pink fairy light flowers to decorate my vanity mirror. They're so pretty. (You'll see them set up in my next post) They were also in the sale for £5.


And finally, but by no means least... i bough these two amazing new additions to my office room, also from a charity shop, they were only £2...
LIME-GREEN GNOMES! i mean...who the hell DOESN'T need a pair of Metallic, lime-green gnomes to brighten up their room!? And their chubbly little faces are staring at me right now. I need to come up with names for them, so far the one with the pipe is "Phil".

Any name ideas let me know!

Thanks for reading guys! XxX

Balmi Lip Balm Review.

I think this was my accidental find of the year! I've been hunting around for a decent lip-balm all winter and i finally found one!!!
Balmi, link; HERE

The lip balm is around £5. But well worth it. I bought the coconut one and i used it twice and my dry lips were gone! Also because of the square, sturdy packaging (like with EOS lip products in the USA) it feels a lot better when you're applying it, there will be no snappages and because of the triangular mould of the inner balm itself its really easy to apply. It also has a handy key-ring attatchment so you can clip it onto your bag or purse so you know where it is at all times! Highly recommended!
Available in a veriaty of different flavours from BOOTS (uk)

Golddigga shoes, chav brands, and I realise I'm totally over-opinionated.

Let me get this little rant out of the way; I'm pretty much just generalizing and being an over-opinionated douche, so don't have a go at me! But Golddigga as a brand is something I usually associate with the british phoniminon of "chav's". Not to say that anyone and everyone who wears the brand are chav's but when I see the trademark chav's about town they're covered head to toe in brands like Golddigga, Superdry, Timberland, Burrberry, Addidas, Rebock, Tapout... and not necissarily the genuine brands, mostly knock offs, which annoys me in itself as not only are the brands being ripped off but then associated with chav's and that teamed with weighty cheap looking jewelery, socks over jeans and baseball caps means when it comes to the average person wanting to buy these brands you instantly feel guilty at being associated with them. Saying that, Golddigga make some of the comfiest, craziest yet amazing shoes ever. I've found I'm buying more and more of them, especially from dare I admit it...sports direct, where they are super cheap as they're all always on sale. Like I said earlier, what annoys me is that I now feel like a chav as i'm shopping in Sports Direct for Chav brands...and I'm labeling not only myself but everyone else too and I'm usually the first person to moan about labels.... arrrgh!!! Anywho first up is my most recent pair of Doc Marten like ankle boots, they're bright freakin' awesome pink, with little love-heart eyelets... so cute...need a bit of wearing in and squeak where the tongue rubs against the outer edge, I may have to Vaseline them up

Then my second pair of ankle boots are this awesome black denim, printed with vintage flowers.

And third, these ankle boots with cute little characters all over them, and little houses, so cute...

Also by Goldigga are these lil' lace up flats. Kind of a soft sorbet yellow with beautiful dainty flowers all over. Not much grip, and definitely need wearing-in before you can wear them all day but they're lovely.

I'll do some style posts soon with these shoes. Thanks for reading! :)