Skincare Sunday: Battling Blemishes

Blemishes. The majority of us have them, and if you don't then well I officially hate you (not really, but can I have your skin please?). My skin is notoriously bad 110% of the time and after about 6 years of suffering, I am only just finding products that work for my skin and are helping to make so my skin is only bad about 90% of the time. Often when I read about hyped up products on blogs, I often wonder if beauty bloggers are raving about them because they actually love them. Or purely because products were sent to them by PR companies and brands.

Like I said, it has taken me an extremely long time to find products that make a visible difference to my skin. One of the biggest helpers in my fight against spots and blemishes has to be the Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Deep Purifying Cleanser. It is a gentle milk cleanser and I like to use it on a morning instead of my beloved Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. It is great for removing any remnants of makeup although I don't tend to use it on an evening if I have been wearing makeup as I prefer to use my Garnier Micellar Water followed by the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. The Soap and Glory cleanser seems to really help clear up my skin when it's suffering. 

When my skin is suffering, I follow up with a soothing toner - preferably with gentle natural ingredients. The Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic hydrates and balances my complexion perfectly. It adds just enough moisture to keep my skin look healthy and fresh, whilst soothing and calming those troublesome spots. One of the main ingredients is glycerin, which is brilliant for those with dryer/dehydrated skin as it adds moisture lost from harsh spot-fighting products. 

One of my latest rediscoveries are the First Aid Beauty (FAB) Facial Radiance Pads. Last summer I put my absolute faith in the SKINCARE GOD that is Caroline Hirons, and spent quite a little bit more than I would have liked on the toning pads. When I first got them, I couldn't really see any visible differences - but after rediscovering them, they have done a whole host of good to my skin. They contain various acids which help stimulate new skin cell renewal, banishing those horrible marks and scars left behind after a blemish has long since healed. 

Another rediscovery I have made recently is Sudocrem! I haven't used Sudocrem as a way of battling blemishes since I was about 14. I seem to remember it working really well, but wasn't a fan of buying it as it wasn't branded as a spot treatment and I felt awkward going out to buy 'nappy cream'. But with the launch of the new Sudocrem Skin Care Cream*, I now deem it socially exceptable to go out and buy some. It is a product aimed at every single skin type you can imagine. Whether you have combination, oily, dry, sensitive skin or everything in-between - it works wonders on blemishes! I like to apply it directly to my blemishes or as an overnight face mask. It can also be used as a moisturiser, but I ended up looking paler than I already am if thats possible, so decided this didn't work for me. The Sudocrem Skin Care Cream is incredible for soothing blemishes and when used overnight, you wake up with the softest and glowiest (is that even a word?) looking skin! Plus at only £2.11 per tube, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE BARGAIN. 

Have you got any skincare saviours that you want to share?

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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The Sudocrem Skincare Cream was kindly gifted to me by Sudocrem for the purpose of a review. If you have any queries or questions you can read my disclaimer or email me on the email on my contact page. 

Celebrating 1000 Followers With Bakerdays

UPDATE! The giveaway has now closed!

Hello friends! As I'm sure you may have noticed, in the last week I reached 1000 followers on my blog(!!) and the lovely people at Bakerdays got in touch to see if I'd like to celebrate with one of their lovely letter box cakes! I obviously said YES as who could turn down an opportunity for cake?!

When the cake arrived I was impressed that it actually did fit through the letterbox! I know, it’s a Letterbox Cake, so obviously it will fit through the letterbox, but I was still impressed! When I opened up the little box, the cake was inside a beautiful tin alongside a little note card, balloons, a couple of candles, some balloons and a party blower. I thought this was a lovely touch that made the gift seem a little more personal and worth the money - plus you can use the tin to store the cake in so it doesn't go all dry and stale!

I was excited to see what the cake would look like as I'd not given them any specific design ideas, just telling them to be creative haha! But when I opened it up THEY HAD WRITTEN MY NAME ON IT!! I've never had my name on a cake so it made it even more special! It had an absolutely gorgeous design and I'm so happy with it!

You can choose from six, yes six different flavours of cake - vanilla, chocolate chip, chocolate and vanilla layered, fruit, and theres even gluten and dairy free! My cake was vanilla flavoured, and this is exactly what I would have chosen if I'd have been placing an order! AND OMG IT TASTES FREAKIN' DELICIOUS! The cake itself lasts for around 14 days according to Bakerdays, but if I'm honest mine lasted about an hour before it was demolished. It would have been eaten quicker, but I had to photograph it for the purpose of this blog post!

You can personalise a cake with different messages, your own photos or simply choose one of over 400 pre-made designs with a standard greeting like 'happy birthday' or 'congratulations'. The letterbox cakes start at just £14.99 including delivery (price includes a 7 day delivery, you can pay to have it delivered sooner though). Simply go to their website to choose and create a special gift for someone (or even yourself if you're in the mood!).

Giveaway Terms and Conditions 

Bakerdays are offering the chance for one of my lovely readers to win one of their very own cakes so you can celebrate along with me! It's very simple, all you have to do is follow the instructions mentioned below. The giveaway will close one week from the date of this post (closes at 2pm on 02/09/2015), and a winner will be selected entirely at random by myself. 

1. Follow Bakerday's on their Twitter

2. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

3. Follow my blog on Bloglovin'

4. Consider voting for me as the Best Up and Coming Beauty Blog here

5. And last but not least, leave a comment down below so I can get in touch with you if you are selected as a winner!

Thanks for reading and best of luck!

Love Charlotte x

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P.S! I have been shortlisted for the Best Up and Coming Beauty Award in the #BloggerBlogAwards and I would be absolutely over the moon if you could go over and vote me as winner! Eeeeeeek!

Nokia Lumia 640: A Trial and Review

Since the age of about 11 I have been a true Apple fanatic. Since then I have owned multiple iPhones, an iPod and a MacBook Pro - absolutely loving all of them. As sad as it sounds, my life completely revolves around my phone and after having some form of iPhone for over seven years, I couldn't imagine not having one. So when Microsoft got in touch offering me the opportunity to take part in their Lumia Voices campaign and trial one of their Lumia phones for two weeks - I jumped at the chance! 

I was offered to trial the Lumia 640, one of the latest releases from Microsoft. I haven't had a Nokia phone (or anything else other than an iPhone for that matter) since I was 12 years old when I had a Nokia N95 so I knew it was going to take some getting used to. The opportunity was perfect timing as my existing phone is on its last legs and I was preparing to go straight ahead and buy an iPhone 6. As a blogger and a student, my phone is essential to my everyday life. It isn't just a phone, it's my personal assistant, my calendar, my alarm clock and my form of communication with the outside world. Apple is renowned for its sleek designs, amazing software and its ever-expanding app store having pretty much every app you could ever think of. So you can see why I couldn't see the point in checking out the competition. 

When the phone arrived on my doorstep, I was shocked at how beautiful it was! The sleek design, the bright orange hardware and the impressive looking interface. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. I didn't want to compare it to my iPhone but, whilst using the Lumia, I couldn't help it! There were so many similar features, some features that Apple do not have and some features that Apple has and the Lumia doesn't. 

Essentials // First lets talk about the most important stuff. It is extremely well designed. The sleek hardware makes it look so much more expensive than it actually is. I was shocked when I looked at the price!! I expected it to be about £300 but it is infact only £129.99 to buy outright/sim free!! It comes in a few different colours (black, white, blue and orange) and has the option to mix and match the different coloured backs which I thought was a nice touch! Alongside the impressive hardware is the brilliantly designed interface/operating system. After hating Windows 8 on my sister's laptop so much, I was really worried that I wouldn't get on with the tiled interface. I thought it would be so complicated to use but infact it was the complete opposite! Even my mum found it simple and she is pretty rubbish with technology (she gets impressed when she manages to attach a document to an email). Another impressive feature on the Lumia 640 is the battery life! My iPhone battery currently lasts 20 minutes (I'm getting a new phone soon thank goodness!!) so pretty much anything could top that at the moment! The specifications mention a 17½ hour battery life, but the most I managed to get out of it (with my normal usage) was 24 hours and 27 minutes! 

Connectivity // Unlike the Apple iPhone, you don't have to worry about planning how much memory you're going to need (16GB, 64 GB, 128 GB. etc), as the phone is only available as 8GB. It has space to slot in a micro SD card (up to 128GB) which are relatively cheap to buy and certainly cheaper than buying the storage already built in. The phone uses a micro-sim and is 4G enabled meaning you can use super fast internet if it is part of your phone tariff. According to the Microsoft website, you can also use the new wireless chargers that are making a scene on the market! You do however have to buy them separately as the phone just comes with a basic wall-USB charger. 

Camera, Video and Audio // This area was one of the biggest let downs to me personally. The phone boasts an 8MP camera and the ability to change the camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, aperture). The video was fine, but I didn't like the camera when it came to taking still photos. Although the quality of the images is pretty good, my real gripe was the fact that it does this strange thing where it takes a short video and clips the best frame to save as your photo. This annoyed me a little as I am so used to tapping the screen to focus and snapping a quick photo. As well as the camera, the audio bugged me a little because the speaker is on the back of the phone (rather than the front or sides), meaning that if you are listening to music or watching a video - you can't hear it if you put the phone down on the table! When holding the phone in your hand, you have to be careful not to cover the speaker with your fingers. As you can see in the second image, the speaker is positioned in the exact place where your hand would sit naturally.

Productivity // Cortana has to be one of the main forms of productivity with the Lumia 640. Similarly to Apple's Siri, Cortana is able to create reminders, set alarms and even open apps ("Cortana, play House of Cards on Netflix"). Microsoft have made sure that Cortana is fully integrated with everything on the phone - unlike Apple where Siri can only perform certain tasks.  Alongside Cortana, there are all the usual smartphone features, including; a calendar, email and an alarm clock. There isn't however a built in stop watch or countdown timer which I use regularly on my iPhone to make sure I down burn my chicken nuggets or my soufflés.

Overall I have been incredibly impressed with the Lumia 640, but I don't think I'll be swapping my iPhone quite yet! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and I'm actually kind of sad to see it sent back to Microsoft now that my trial is over.   

Would you consider buying this phone? Would love to know your thoughts and feelings in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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Countryside Attire

Living in the countryside (well when I'm not at university) can get very messy at times! Those impromptu walks through fields and woods can leave you absolutely covered in mud, and so cheap wellington boots are needed on a fairly regular basis. I was lucky enough to be sent these lovely black wellington boots* from Online Avenue.

I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming summer recently and planning out all the things I would like to do. So for all you hopeful festival go-fers, these (or one of their other designs) would be absolutely perfect for you! They are incredibly cheap and retail at £13.99 which is incredibly good value for a pair of ladies' wellington boots, especially when compared to brands like Hunter. Meaning you wouldn't have to worry about them getting ruined whilst your listening to your favourite bands and having the time of your life. 

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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**** THIS IS A SPONSORED POST BUT ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN ****