On Monday I showed you my Top 25 Makeup Products of 2015 (you can read it here). Today I'm showing you what else I loved during 2015 in the skincare, haircare, and body care categories.
Face
In 2015 the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water finally made it to our shores and I couldn't be happier. There is a pink and a green bottle: the pink is for sensitive skin and the green for normal/combination skin. Both remove makeup effortlessly and both cost a whopping R80 each at Clicks. I'm almost finished with my second bottle and there's already a third bottle waiting in the wings. You can read my comparison between this and the Bioderma Micellar Water here.
My favourite cleanser for 2015 is one that I bought on a whim. I've always liked Nuxe as a brand, so I decided to give this Purifying Cleansing Gel a whirl, and boy am I glad I did! The pump bottle is very handy and keeps everything nice and clean. The cleansing gel is quite a thick white gel and smells incredibly fruity and fresh. It doesn't foam, it just produces a lather on my skin. I like to use this twice a day, but especially in the evenings, sometimes with a hot cloth and other times with a facial cleansing tool such as the Olay or Sorbet cleansing tools.
I feel like 2015 was the Year Of The Spritz for me. I really got into thermal waters and face mists and my skin is thanking me for it. This thermal water from Avène is a goodie. I can't say that it's better than Uriage or Vichy, because to me, French thermal water sprays are French thermal water sprays. That being said, Avène is the one I currently have on rotation and it's saving my poor skin in these heat waves.
Facial oils also received a lot of airtime on my skin, but none more than the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I have to be honest, the first few times I used it I was a bit disappointed in that it didn't do anything. That was on good skin days. On bad skin days, when nothing seems to work and everything seems to aggravate the situation, this is the only thing that helps. Four drops applied at night before my moisturiser leaves me with smooth, clear skin come morning. Magic in a glass pot, I tell you...
If you've familiar with this area of the web you'll know that I have a mild obsession with face masks. So it will come as no surprise that three masks made it into my top beauty product post! I rediscovered the Origins Clear Improvements charcoal mask and it has solved many a skin issue over the past few months. It's a dark grey clay mask that you apply to clean skin, and then you leave it on for about 15 minutes. I've found that if I leave it on for longer (say 20-30 minutes), I get better results.
The REN Wake Wonderful Night-Time Facial is also a goodie. I use this twice a week after my Kiehl's MRC and before my night time moisturiser. It smells horrid, think rotting orange peels, but luckily the smell goes away after about a minute. You sleep with the mask on, and by morning your skin issues will be a thing of the past!
SKOON. skincare was introduced to us in 2015 and I was sent a little sample pack to try out. The absolute star of the show for me is the Ruby Marine Overnight Hydrating Mask. I've had this little pot for months and it's only just below half, *that's* how little you need. I apply this once or twice a week instead of my night time moisturiser. It smells deliciously coconutty and feels a bit oily on the skin, so I lightly blot my skin before going to bed. I wake up with the softest and smoothest skin. I don't know what kind of magical ingredients they put in there, but I hope they keep doing it!
My favourite cleanser for 2015 is one that I bought on a whim. I've always liked Nuxe as a brand, so I decided to give this Purifying Cleansing Gel a whirl, and boy am I glad I did! The pump bottle is very handy and keeps everything nice and clean. The cleansing gel is quite a thick white gel and smells incredibly fruity and fresh. It doesn't foam, it just produces a lather on my skin. I like to use this twice a day, but especially in the evenings, sometimes with a hot cloth and other times with a facial cleansing tool such as the Olay or Sorbet cleansing tools.
I feel like 2015 was the Year Of The Spritz for me. I really got into thermal waters and face mists and my skin is thanking me for it. This thermal water from Avène is a goodie. I can't say that it's better than Uriage or Vichy, because to me, French thermal water sprays are French thermal water sprays. That being said, Avène is the one I currently have on rotation and it's saving my poor skin in these heat waves.
Facial oils also received a lot of airtime on my skin, but none more than the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I have to be honest, the first few times I used it I was a bit disappointed in that it didn't do anything. That was on good skin days. On bad skin days, when nothing seems to work and everything seems to aggravate the situation, this is the only thing that helps. Four drops applied at night before my moisturiser leaves me with smooth, clear skin come morning. Magic in a glass pot, I tell you...
If you've familiar with this area of the web you'll know that I have a mild obsession with face masks. So it will come as no surprise that three masks made it into my top beauty product post! I rediscovered the Origins Clear Improvements charcoal mask and it has solved many a skin issue over the past few months. It's a dark grey clay mask that you apply to clean skin, and then you leave it on for about 15 minutes. I've found that if I leave it on for longer (say 20-30 minutes), I get better results.
The REN Wake Wonderful Night-Time Facial is also a goodie. I use this twice a week after my Kiehl's MRC and before my night time moisturiser. It smells horrid, think rotting orange peels, but luckily the smell goes away after about a minute. You sleep with the mask on, and by morning your skin issues will be a thing of the past!
SKOON. skincare was introduced to us in 2015 and I was sent a little sample pack to try out. The absolute star of the show for me is the Ruby Marine Overnight Hydrating Mask. I've had this little pot for months and it's only just below half, *that's* how little you need. I apply this once or twice a week instead of my night time moisturiser. It smells deliciously coconutty and feels a bit oily on the skin, so I lightly blot my skin before going to bed. I wake up with the softest and smoothest skin. I don't know what kind of magical ingredients they put in there, but I hope they keep doing it!
Body
In 2015 I was a bit of a floozy when it came to bath and body products. I used whatever I could lay my hands on, from Soap & Glory to Lush to The Body Shop. I loved about 90% of whatever I used, but the Soap & Glory Orangeasm body butter deserves a special mention. It smells like orange Game and sweet orange sweets. It's a thick and creamy body butter with tiny orange "massage" spheres that sinks into the skin immediately and leaves you moisturised without feeling greasy. It's unfortunately not available in South Africa, but if you want to smell like orange sweets, get a mule to bring you a tub!
Hair
When I cut my hair early in 2015 I had to find a hairspray that could hold my curls as well as not make my hair crispy and crunchy. If you're looking for the same thing, look no further, because L'Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray is the bees knees. And at less than R70 for a big can, who can argue with that? I also fell in love with the milk_shake Incredible Milk. It's basically an all-in-one miracle milk for hair. I use it post-washing and pre-blowdrying. It makes my hair super soft and manageable, and it seems my hair holds a curl better after using this. Also, it smells like a vanilla milkshake.
Multitasker
The award for multitasker of the year goes to none other than the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream! The many uses of this product just keep on amazing me. Not only can you use it on your lips, you can use it to tame eyebrows, soften cuticles, and moisturise skin. The past year I've used it on extremely dry and flaky skin, insect bites, as well as burn marks. Earlier in the year I had trouble with my eyelids: overnight they just started to flake off and I couldn't put anything on there without it looking extremely gross. So for two nights I went to bed with Eight Hour Cream smoothed onto my eyelids, and by the morning my problem was completely gone.
Those were my beauty favourites for 2015! What made your list? Let me know in the comments section!
Until next time!
Hildegarde
xoxo
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