Primed and ready – review of the Collection Matifying Pore Minimiser

Hi everyone

I didn’t start using primers until about a year ago, I’m not sure why it was just a step I missed between my skincare and my make up, now I can’t live without them. They keep my make up on, provide a smoother surface to put foundation on and act as a barrier for my skin from the outside world. I tend to try a different one each time I run out as I’m constantly on a search for perfection.

My latest one is actually quite new to the collection range and it’s the Primed and Ready mattifying pore primer. They do a couple in this range including Reviving and Anti ageing ones dependant on what you are looking for but I went for the witch hazel one. I often get breaks outs on my chin and I thought this would help

I’ve been using this for a couple of weeks now and I really like it. It is more like a gel in texture whereas others I’ve used have been cream. It goes on my skin smooth and does drag, it sinks in quickly meaning when I’m in a rush in the morning before work I don’t have to sit there and wait for it to soak in.

It doesn’t have a chemical smell or even the witch hazel smell which is surprising but good. It really does seem to mattifying the skin but without drying. When I was younger I used quite a few spot clearing washes, gels and creams and the main theme was that gave me really dry patchy skin so I’ve avoided them since. I really like the fact that it is clear so I can apply any foundation or BB cream and the colour will remain consistent. 

All in all in would really recommend this for oily to combination skin, although it doesn’t dry my skin I still wouldn’t recommend it to those of you with dry skin but if you check out the range there will be one for you. It has lasted me about 2 weeks so far using it just about every day and I still have about half left. 

I’d love to hear if you use a primer, what do you think of them and what primers have you tried, do you have any reccomendations?

Thanks for reading

AKL

Cruelty free shopping at Morrisons

Those of you who live in the U.K will have heard of Morrisons, it’s my local supermarket and can sell anything from dog food to camping equipment to beauty and as it is on my direct route home from work it makes the beauty section a bit dangerous. So I thought I would take a look around and see what Morrisons have to offer in terms of cruelty free products. Morrisons own brand beauty products all have the leaping bunny brand which is amazing but for some reason in my Morrisons there own brand is limited. So here is what I found.

The first thing I got was Bayliss and Harding handwash and moisturiser. I really like this brand and I often get it in gift sets at Christmas. These are push tops which is really handy to have around as I am more likely to use the moisturiser. I also got some exfoliating gloves, these are actually quite rough but I like that particularly on my arms and legs where the skin is rougher already. I have them in pink as well.

Next I got a whitening toothpaste, they do of course do a few different ones if you don’t want whitening, this is a really good cruelty free basic. They are a little lost amongst all of your named brands that are not cruelty free but as long as you are willing to look they are there.

Next an old favourite Batiste. I’ve never tried the hair spray version before only the dry shampoo but I’ve always liked that. This hair spray is not as firm as a lot of the ones I have but it is still enough to hold an up do. There is also very little smell or mist cloud (if you know what I mean) off this spray.

Last but not least I got more hair stay but this time it’s the Morrisons own brand so I can compare to Batiste. I recently brought a curling wand so I’m upping the amount of hairspray I am using. The own brand is firming hence the title of extra firm hold and the smell is slightly more chemically but at under a pound it’s a real bargain.

I’m going to continue to look out for the basics as they are really good for cruelty free shopping on the go. 

Where do you get your basics, do you have any recommendations?

Thanks for reading

AKL

Dairy free snack haul

Hi everyone

I love a good snack, it’s a boredom filler, keeps me going at work and generally fills my need for naughty food. Since I stopped eating dairy products snacking has become harder as all my usual (chocolate, sweets,pastry,cheese) snacks are all on my no go list.

So I decided to do a bit of a snack shop for none dairy snacks. I’m snacking in the name of research and I thought I would share my findings with you.

The first snack is is the Goody Good Stuff sweets. Sweets normally have gelatine in so there are very few sweets that are actually vegetarian never mind for vegans. These however are gelatine free and they are very yummy. These were from Sainsbury’s who do a massive free from range (I use massively purely in relation to other supermarkets :). I have a real sweet tooth and these were maybe just on the not sweat enough side but still when you need a fix they do the job.

Next I go a little more practical with my snacking with the Trek Cocoa Oat Protein flapjack. I think these may be designed for after exercise but they taste really good and are really filling. I’ll probably be saving these for work as they do quite well as a breakfast on the go however for fixing a craving I would just reach for my maple syrup and oats in my cupboard and make myself a tasty treat.

I can’t live without chocolate and although it’s good that I’m not eating so much chocolate one of the things I’ve been craving is hot chocolate. Obviously I have this with soya milk or almond milk but most of the hot chocolates contain milk so I tried Morrisons Free From Choccy Button and I melt them in the milk. For me these buttons are not sweet enough to eat on there own but in hot chocolate it’s very good.

I’m a big fan of the naked products, I’ve tried the bars and so I thought it was time for some nibbles. These are proberley my favourite snack. This is the Salted Caramel Fruit and Nut Nibbles, there are loads of different flavours but there are yummy. They only contain dates and raisins but they do taste naughty.

So that is my snacks in the name of research, this is just a sample of what is out there so I’m going to continue trying snacks (if I have to) :). What are your favourite snacks, do you have any reccomendations?

Thanks for reading.

AKL

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