My history with clinique and why I love it

Hi guys!
If you have read my previous posts you will probably know that I use the clinique three step system all of the time because I do love clinique skin care.
It all started when I first discovered juicystar07 on you tube, I had never even seen a beauty guru before but I loved watching her videos and would pretty much try most things she recommended. In a holiday video she mentioned the clinique three step system and how much she loved it so the next day I went straight the clinique counter in boots.
I bought the travel size ones in level 3 for oily combination skin, and loved them but at the time I was still suffering from acne so when I heard that they had a blemish control version I had to try it.
At the time they didn't have the smaller sizes in this range so I spent about £70 getting the full size.products which ended up being a waste of money as this range just made my skin worse. I went back to the counter and the woman explained that it could take up to 2 weeks for my skin to purge and then calm down but 4 weeks later my skin was still a mess!
I stopped using the products and my skin gradually got better and I tried other new skincare products from other brands. 
But then I saw juicystar07 mention the original 3 step system and decided to give it another go. 
While I was at the counter I saw blemish control foundation so decided to try that too. The woman matched me up wrong so I ended up not using the foundation I had bought but I did love the powder!!
Since then I have used the 3 step system religiously and if I try any other products I try them in conjunction with this! I love the way it makes my skin feel and I know that it works for me.
I have also tried samples of other products such as the eye cream and moisturiser which I have incorporated into my skincare routine but not daily as I use them when I want to feel a bit more pampered.
Clinique is probably the only brand that although I had a bad experience with them I will continue to use them probably for the rest of my life. They are always bringing out new things to try and I am gradually trying their makeup range again.
I love their lip crayons and am planning on buying the baby tint range next! I am also wanting to try their foundation and powder again, and they have some pretty primers too which look fab!
I have also recently started using the take the day off balm which is amazing and I will be doing a product review very soon as it is the only thing that can remove benefit they're real mascara (apart from the makeup remover specially made by benefit) and it leaves my skin super clean!
The thing I love most about clinique is that they have something for everyone and for every skin type. My sister has dry skin and I got a sample of the face wash and moisturiser for dry skin and gave them to her as I can't use them, and she loves them too! She never used to care about what she was using on her face but now she has seen how amazing her skin looks and she is hooked! This is the brand that I would most recommend to people for everything: makeup; skincare; nail polish; makeup removers; brush cleaners they do it all!

Have any of you tried these products?

Oh and I wasn't paid in any way to do this post I just really love clinique!

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B.liv review

Hi guys!
I was sent some products to try by b.liv which is a range of products by cellnique.  I did not pay anything for these products but all opinions are my own.
I should also point out that I also used the clinique three step system throughout this routine as I have been using it for years and know that any reaction whether good or bad that I experience now is down to the other skin care products that I use.
The photos of these products are all at the end of the post as I can't figure out how to put the photos within the post using blogger mobile,  if anyone can  help with this please let me know.

I was sent no spots bye dots blemish clearing gel, shrink and tighten large pore reducing serum and sensitive salvation repair and rescue original Japan silk mask.

The blemish clearing gel is to be used twice a day,  once on a morning and once at night. It is recommended to use one to two pumps,  but I found that one pump was enough.
The gel is clear and not as thick as I thought it was going to be. It also smells amazing! I usually don't like using scented skincare products but this didn't have any negative effects on my skin at all, and even LJ mentioned how nice it smells. It actually made me look forward to using it. I used one pump with my champneys face brush and it left my skin feeling smooth and although I don't get many spots now, the one I did have disappeared really quickly while using this and it reduced the redness on my forehead and cheeks although I am not sure it is meant to.

The pore reducing serum is a lot less thick than the serum I was using, and is also clear. It is also meant to be used twice a day after the gel. I was a bit surprised by the texture of this as I was expecting it to be thick but it worked well. It says to use a pea sized amount and one pump was more than enough for the whole face. It also smells the same as the gel but not as strongly.
I don't have very large pores but the pores I do have seemed visibly reduced.

The silk mask was probably my favourite part of this range. It is meant to be used 2-3 times a week but as I only had 3 I used it once a week. I am used to having face masks that need to be rubbed into the skin and then washed off after a certain  amount of time, but this mask is one that is just lain over the face and left for 20-30 minutes. I loved this as it meant that it was a lot less effort and a lot less messy. The mask was soaked in a serum, which soaks into the skin while the mask is on the face and the excess serum is rubbed into the face after the 30 minutes. This was genuinely a new thing for me to experience, and I did enjoy it.
After about 10 minutes of the mask being on my face, the skin began to feel a bit tingly but in a good way. It felt very cooling and relaxing. It did freak me out a little bit having the excess serum and I will admit that I had to double check the instructions as it felt a bit weird but after using the mask my skin felt amazing.  It felt smooth, and looked so radiant.

Overall I did love this range, and I would recommend it to everyone with skin like mine or with acne prone skin or large pores. Although it is scented, it did not affect my sensitive skin. And my skin looked and felt amazing, which also meant that my makeup went on a lot smoother than usual.

The lovely people at the company have given me a promotion code to give to you lovely people if you want to buy these products. You will get 20% off any product on the site, except for promotions and sets. The code is KLW20 and the website is www.bliv.com

The letter that I got with my samples stated that the products I received (had they been full) would have cost $20. I think this is a very fair price as the samples weren't even quarter full and lasted me about 2 weeks using them twice a day.

If you do try these products please let me know what you thought of them

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Dream dots

hi guys!!
I was recently sent a product to try which I am going to review for you now, I did not pay anything for this product but all opinions are my own.

As you guys know I do occasionally get spots, not as much as I used to but I do still get them, and I have tried many spot gels and creams over the years.
If you are anything like me there will have been times when you took your makeup off on a night before bed and noticed a spot forming, or one that has already formed! When this happens I usually go to bed with the knowledge that the next day I will have to apply twice as much makeup to cover it, and if I wear spot gel or cream I know that it will be more noticeable.  Which is why I wanted to try these dots for spots.
Dots for spots are applied overnight, after cleaning your face before bed, and you take it off when you wake up in the morning.  This product states that it is 'A non drying way to help calm, clear and heal spots overnight.' I was excited to try this, but I have to admit that it didn't work as well as I hoped. I think I built up the product in my head so when it didn't make the spot completely disappear after one night I was disappointed. I used a dot for the next two nights and on the third morning the spot had healed remarkably well, and after the second night it was no longer red or painful.
There are 24 dots in one packet, and they cost €14.95 per pack of 24. I'm not sure what that is in English pounds, but there is free shipping worldwide.
If you are like me and don't like applying the gel or cream under makeup during the day, and nothing really works after one night, then this will be perfect for you.
The only thing that I really didn't like about the dots is that it hurt to remove them in the morning, but I think that is because I have a low pain threshold, so it probably wouldn't bother other people.

They have a website www.dreamdotsforspots.com if you guys would like more information, or you can find them on twitter.
Alternatively if anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them.

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Benefit they're real mascara

Hi guys!
As you all know I haven't been overly impressed with benefit lately (as much as I really wanted to! ) but I started using the sample of they're real mascara that I got a few months ago.
I wasn't expecting much and I will be honest and say I only used it because it was the only mascara I had and the no7 one had run out.
But oh my word I am so glad that I have it! The brush is similar to the no7 one, which separates the lashes and stops clumping. The mascara made my lashes look amazing and the best thing is that it didn't even smudge when it rained.
The only downside is that the micellar water I have doesn't remove it so I might have to purchase some proper eye makeup remover or even the one made specifically for the they're real range.
When this sample runs out I think I will repurchase it!

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Urban decay de-slick makeup setting spray

Hi guys!

As mentioned in my haul video, I did use this about five or six years ago but when it ran out I didn't repurchase it. I did love it so there is no reason why I didn't buy it again other than I couldn't get it from my local Debenhams. 
I repurchased it now because with the warmer weather I have been getting oily during the day more than usual and was having to apply powder two or three times throughout the day and this was leading to my makeup looking a bit cakey. I remembered using this and thought if I use this I won't need powder as much and so my makeup will look better.
I have been using it every day since I bought it and I love it but I'm not sure it's quite as good as I remember.
The packaging is quite cute, the box is white with silver writing and the bottle is the same. It has a silver lid and under that there is a clear plastic lid.
It doesn't have a smell I don't think which is good as some products I can't use because I hate the smell.  It says to spray this in a t and a c shape over your face after applying your makeup but I apply it after my moisturiser and then again after my makeup has been applied. It does take about 30 Seconds to dry, but it is quite cooling so I actually love it applying it this month as when I am getting ready on a morning it has been really warm lately and this cools my face down. 
I do still have to powder once a day while at work which is an improvement on before, but I think I was hoping that this would make my face stay matte all day which is a bit of a challenge so I can't blame urban decay for there being a slight bit of oil. But what I will say is that when my face was getting shiny before my makeup could transfer to other surfaces from my face, so if I touched my face with my fingers the foundation would rub off but after spraying my face with this setting spray my makeup doesn't rub off anymore.

This is about £20 from urban decay and you can buy it in debenhams (although not the one in Sunderland) and i think it will last a little while as it is still nearly full.
Have you tried anything like this before? Or have you tried this product?

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First impressions- chanel perfection lumiere

Hi guys!
As you know if you read my blogs, I have been wanting a new foundation for a little while now as the one I was using (no7 beautifully matte) is a but too high coverage for the summer. Although to be honest this is the first year that I have wanted to get a lighter coverage foundation!
I was undecided between the chanel perfection lumiere and the vita lumiere aqua foundation as I watched the reviews that fleur de force and ingrid nilsson did and wanted a chanel foundation. Because I couldn't choose I sent my fella to get one for me while he was already shopping and let him make the decision. Bit risky but if I had gone I would have ended up with both!
He came back with the perfection lumiere one in 20 beige, which cos £36, the most I have ever spent on a beauty product in my life!
I used it the very next day and I though the colour was a bit too dark for me but it actually matched me perfectly and seemed to get better throughout the day.
The packaging is luxurious,  it comes in a glass bottle with a black pump and it feels so sturdy as if it wouldn't break if you dropped it. The glass is see through so you can see the colour of the foundation and how much you have left.
I shook it but I'm not sure if you're meant to! I use two pumps for my face, and it is a lot more liquidy than any other foundation I have used which is good as it provides a lighter coverage.
I used  brush to apply it, and it went on smoothly over my primer and looked flawless. It does look slightly more beige than my skin when I first put it on but it looks perfect after a few minutes.
It has a smell that I can't quite describe, I actually really like it as it is quite sweet I think. Not at all what I expected it to smell like!
It does look shiny during the day but it doesn't claim to be mattifying and I had the same problem with my old foundation.
The coverage it gives is lighter than what I am used to but looks more natural, it doesn't cover any blemishes I have very well but that is what concealer is for really.

This is perfect for what I wanted and will be fab for my holiday. It is a bit pricey bit with foundations I think you get what you pay for. I haven't been using it for too long so I will do an update after about a couple of months but so far I love it.

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My night shift makeup

Hi guys!
This is a bit of a different post, I am just going to be describing the makeup I wear for a night shift as it is different to what I wear when I am at work during the day. The reason for this is that on a night I am the only person working in my department and the only other person I see is the one person working in haematology.  I love wearing makeup but I do wear it just to make myself feel better about myself, and I think it makes me look prettier.  On a night shift when no one is going to be seeing me I like to wear a little bit of makeup but I don't see the point in wasting my expensive makeup when I'm not going to be looking in any mirrors or be seen by anyone else.

Last night I wore a very light layer of no7 beautifully matte foundation, a quick sweep of the revlon highlighting palette, one layer of bad gal mascara by benefit and the clinique chubby stick in woppin watermelon. That is literally the only makeup I wore and it actually lasted until 6am without separating or looking oily which is unusual.
I think this amount of makeup looks natural for me and allows me to wear my 'mask' without wasting expensive products.

Do you wear different makeup in different situations?

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No7 protect and perfect advanced serum 25+

Hi guys!

I have mentioned this product in my YouTube video and I think in my blog post about my mini haul.
The back of the product says that it takes two weeks to make the skin look more clear and radiant so I didn't want to do a proper review of this until I had been using it for more than two weeks.
The packaging is okay, it is in a white tube with blue writing and a blue cap. The product itself is white and feels quite thick,  i don't know how to describe it other than it seems thicker than a moisturiser.
I use this twice a day, on a morning and a night after I have cleansed my face and used the clinique toner. I use a pea sized amount and apply it all over my face with my fingers. It feels quite creamy to go on, and sinks into the skin really quickly. It leaves my face feeling velvety smooth even before moisturiser.
I have been using this every day since I bought it and it has now been about three weeks since I got it and honestly I can tell the difference. I didn't think my skin was too bad anymore but it seems like it has a more even skin tone,  it looks clearer and it appears more radiant than before.

This is £23.95 from boots but there are always offers on these products so you can usually get them cheaper.

I would recommend this to anyone, it is designed for people aged over 25 but I am only 24 and it works fine for me.

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