To tie in with my 2013 Blogging and Beauty Resolutions, I thought I'd show you the various French skincare bits I picked up in Poland that I intend to revamp my beauty routine with, plus some Polish extras thrown in for a good measure. There's quite a bit, so let's get right to it!
I asked one of my Santas for some Avène products for Christmas, namely the Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream (which, along with other Avène products, you can now buy on drugstore.com) for when my skin is being a bit more reactive, and the Soothing Moisture Mask, which I'm really liking so far. I'd only tried some of the acne line from Avène previously, so I wanted to get a better feel for the brand and thought that the more soothing, hydrating products for sensitive skin are just what my face needs at the moment. I also decided to purchase Avène's Thermal Spring Water spray to try - I used Vichy in the past and wasn't too impressed but wanted to give thermal waters another go.
Speaking of Vichy, my mum actually gifted me this little trio of deluxe samples that she got as a free gift. I like having a smaller size of the thermal water to take with me on the go, plus I'll be able to compare it to the Avène one. The round blue lid depicted below is a mini glass pot of Aqualia Thermal facial moisturizer, and there's also a small bottle of their micellar cleanser, Pureté Thermale 3-in-1 Calming Cleansing Solution.
I've also decided to stock up on toner and picked up the La Roche-Posay Physiological Soothing Toner (I can't seem to find this product on their US website, interesting...), as well as Bioderma's Hydrabio Serum Moisturizing Concentrate for Very Dehydrated Sensitive Skin - I've read a lot of rave reviews about it and wanted to try this next when I run out of my night time serum. The third box you can see on the right was a Christmas gift again; it's from a Polish brand Tołpa, which uses peat extract in their products, and it's a Mattifying Correcting Cream; I wonder if I could get away with using this as a moisturizer/primer in the mornings. I also got a body massage serum from the same brand and it smells absolutely divine, very much like sandalwood (it's the big brown pot in the first photo).
Last but by no means least, I had to make a stop at Inglot to purchase some more of their eyeshadows. They had a new collection out with some gorgeous metallic taupey shades, so I got two of those (no.152 and 153), as well as two from the permanent line - a shimmery deep emerald green, no. 414, and a matte purpley brown, no. 344. I will swatch these for you very soon; I can't wait to play with these new taupes and the green!
I think I am now very well stocked in terms of skincare and can safely say I won't need to purchase anything for at least another 6 months (huh, we'll see about that...). One thing I forgot to include in the photos was a pot of Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm, which is much raved about on the blogosphere; can't wait to (literally) dig my fingers into it! Did you get any beauty bits under the tree or picked something up in the sales afterwards? Please share in the comments, I'd love to know!
I asked one of my Santas for some Avène products for Christmas, namely the Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream (which, along with other Avène products, you can now buy on drugstore.com) for when my skin is being a bit more reactive, and the Soothing Moisture Mask, which I'm really liking so far. I'd only tried some of the acne line from Avène previously, so I wanted to get a better feel for the brand and thought that the more soothing, hydrating products for sensitive skin are just what my face needs at the moment. I also decided to purchase Avène's Thermal Spring Water spray to try - I used Vichy in the past and wasn't too impressed but wanted to give thermal waters another go.
Speaking of Vichy, my mum actually gifted me this little trio of deluxe samples that she got as a free gift. I like having a smaller size of the thermal water to take with me on the go, plus I'll be able to compare it to the Avène one. The round blue lid depicted below is a mini glass pot of Aqualia Thermal facial moisturizer, and there's also a small bottle of their micellar cleanser, Pureté Thermale 3-in-1 Calming Cleansing Solution.
I've also decided to stock up on toner and picked up the La Roche-Posay Physiological Soothing Toner (I can't seem to find this product on their US website, interesting...), as well as Bioderma's Hydrabio Serum Moisturizing Concentrate for Very Dehydrated Sensitive Skin - I've read a lot of rave reviews about it and wanted to try this next when I run out of my night time serum. The third box you can see on the right was a Christmas gift again; it's from a Polish brand Tołpa, which uses peat extract in their products, and it's a Mattifying Correcting Cream; I wonder if I could get away with using this as a moisturizer/primer in the mornings. I also got a body massage serum from the same brand and it smells absolutely divine, very much like sandalwood (it's the big brown pot in the first photo).
Last but by no means least, I had to make a stop at Inglot to purchase some more of their eyeshadows. They had a new collection out with some gorgeous metallic taupey shades, so I got two of those (no.152 and 153), as well as two from the permanent line - a shimmery deep emerald green, no. 414, and a matte purpley brown, no. 344. I will swatch these for you very soon; I can't wait to play with these new taupes and the green!
I think I am now very well stocked in terms of skincare and can safely say I won't need to purchase anything for at least another 6 months (huh, we'll see about that...). One thing I forgot to include in the photos was a pot of Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balm, which is much raved about on the blogosphere; can't wait to (literally) dig my fingers into it! Did you get any beauty bits under the tree or picked something up in the sales afterwards? Please share in the comments, I'd love to know!
