Pixi Correction Concentrate - LMB Cult 60

Acne - What it is and What Ingredients can Help

Acne is a common inflammatory skin condition consisting of whiteheads, blackheads, inflammatory lesions and spots. It includes increased sebum, irregular skin shedding, inflammation and an increase in propinobacterium. Successful treatment will aim to reduce oil production, speed up skin cell turnover, reduce inflammation and fight the bacterial infection. Reducing inflammation is particularly important in reducing the occurrence of scarring.

Initial treatment plans include topical application of products such as benzoyl peroxide, retinoids or antibiotics. Next there will be systemic treatments such as oral antibiotics, hormonal treatments (such as the contraceptive pill) or isotretinon.

If you suffer from acne it's always a good idea to go and see your GP and/or a dermatologist but if you are looking for products to help then these are some ingredients to look for. I know it's tempting to go from a strong cleanser and having clean skin is incredibly important, however, over stripping the skin is going to cause increased sebum production and more problems.

🎈 Salicylic Acid
This softens keratin, removes whiteheads and blackheads, is mildly anti-inflammatory and works as an exfoliant, encourages and regulates skin shedding and therefore prevents the clogging of pores and hair follicles. It also decreases the secretion of sebum.
Garden of Wisdom Salicylic Acid 
Mario Badescu Anti-Acne Treatment
Inkey List Beta Hydroxy Acid Exfoliant

🎈 Benzoyl Peroxide 
Reduces sebum, inhibits the growth of acne bacteria and gets rid of blackheads and spots. It takes around 4 weeks to start working and because it can cause skin irritation so it's best to build up your usage of it.
Acnecide 5% 

🎈 Sulphur 
This is used to treat various skin conditions as it's anti-inflammatory and it's antibacterial properties properties stops the growth of some bacteria. It also absorbs excess sebum. You don't want to overdo this as it can increase sebum production and can change the skin barrier.causes mild shedding of the top layer of skin. Helps clear away dead skin. It's a natural occurring mineral found in hot springs, clay and volcanic ash. Can soothe rosacea by reducing inflammation and killing bacteria. Its an essential part of collagen production.
Kate Somerville EradiKate Cleanser
Dr Dennis Gross Clarifying Collodial Sulphur Mask
Indie Lee Clearing Mask

🎈 AHAs 
Glycolic acid is the most frequently used as it induces desquamation and exfoliation of keratin. They also have antimicrobial properties and uses often see significant improvement by 45 days.
Superdrug Glycolic Toner
Garden of Wisdom Glycolic Toner 

🎈 Retinoids 
Dermatologists have agreed that these are essential in the treatment of acne. They regulate skin shedding, help reduce the amount of blackheads and whiteheads and are anti-inflammatory.
Garden of Wisdom 5% Retinoid 
Skinceuticals 0.3 Retinoid 

🎈 Niacinamide 
Helps keep your skin hydrated and firm. Soothes acne and rosacea as it's a great anti-inflammatory. Encourages the production of ceramides which for a protective barrier. Works best at a concentration of 5%. Helps prevent trans-epidermal water loss. Helps slow the transfer of melanin so helps with pigmentation.
Garden of Wisdom Niacinamide Serum

Recently for the Facebook group I did a chart of my favourite products for oily skin which might be helpful for you.

IT Cosemtics CC Cream

The coverage of this is great a little goes a long way and the finish is beautiful. It's easy to apply and lasts all day. As I explain in my quick review video below my only problem with this is the dimethicone in it - a silicone which can make people break out - but this only effects some not all and basically this is a lovely product. 

It has an SPF 50 in it using Titanium and Zinc Oxide better for your skin and the environment. It's £31 but a little of this goes a long way so it should last you at least 6 months if you like a light-medium coverage. It is buildable but even if you like a fuller coverage it shouldn't take much! 

You can get the CC Cream from Boots, Cult Beauty, IT Cosmetics, 

IT Cosmetics is cruelty-free but owned by L'Oreal which is not. 

I was sent some of these products as a gift or for review purposes but the choice to feature it was entirely my own. 

Come and join in the conversation on Facebook at the Corinna Harrod Beauty Group - just send me a request and I'll add you.

If you haven't already then Subscribe to my YouTube channel - and do let me know if you would like me to do a tutorial or review for you. 

Dr Dennis Gross C + Collagen Deep Cream

Some brands I avoid like the plague, not because I've tried them and they don't work for me (Zelens) but because they're expensive and I'm worried they will work. This careful plan came crashing when a friend bought me a ticket for a Caroline Hirons event at Space NK in Kensington where she would be talking about the brand. The talk was great as was the goody bag and in it was a little pot of the C + Collagen Deep Cream. I tried it and now I'm hooked.

Moisturisers. They're a tricky beast. How much actually goes in? Do they make any difference at all. A lot of the time they are a soothing barrier to the outside world, all well and good but not something you should spunk your skincare budget on (that would be the serum). This has weedled it's way into my affections not only for what it does but for what it doesn't do.

For me a morning moisturiser is far harder to get right than a night time one. If I turn tomato red in my bathroom at 10pm I don't mind. If I have a burning face at 8.45am, precisely the time I'm supposed to be leaving to take Ned to school, that is a bad start to the day. So I'm careful. I used to use my Medic8 C Tetra in the mornings to help post-nightime retinol usage but that's on it's last drops so I vary between the Superdrug Naturally Radiant moisturiser (yet to be reviewed on here) and my trusty Origins Make Difference + Cream which is especially lovely in this cold weather. No I sparingly put this on and love it and it was my most missed product during my week away in Birmingham (doing my Level 2 Award in Facial Skincare).

The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

This was supposed to be a review of something else but I thought I wouldn't start 2018 on a bad review so instead I'm going to tell you about the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter from The Body Shop. Ideally I wouldn't review any product with the word 'Sumptuous' in the title but needs must.

I received this as part of a goodie bag from a Body Shop event with Alessandra Steinherr about 7 months ago. I wouldn't have chosen it for myself, Camomile in any form (especially tea) does nothing for me and though I do love a balm cleanser, this sat unlooked at in my skincare stash for quite a while. In fact it was only when I had a post-baby sensitivity flair-up (again!) that I thought I would give this a go. And I'm glad I did.

I really like that it comes in a tin, slightly annoying to put the lid on if you've got the cleanser on your hands but yay for no plastic and doesn't take up a lot of room in your washbag if you are travelling. Not sure how well this would do if it got really hot though - could leak.

Oskia Ranaissance Cleansing Gel

Lean in close, I'm going to whisper this, but I may have a new favourite cleanser. I still love the Emma Hardie Amazing Face cleansing balm but the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel is giving it a run for its money. The first thing I've noticed about this is that its one of the few skincare products that while it claims to be illuminating does not make my sensitive skin tingle or go bright red. I've been using it for about 4 months and on those weekends when I've been away and have wanted to just take easy to use, hero products this has been the only cleanser I take with me.

Ideally I would use this as a second cleanse but when needs be this works well as a first or only cleanse, it gets make-up off an my skin is left feeling incredibly clean and soft. I genuinely believe that there are products in here that are working on my skin - and I don't get that very often.

Pumpkin Enzyme gently exfoliates the skin, Vitamin A Palmitate which is a derivative of Retinol but slightly gentler making this cleanser great for sensitive skins, though whether in these amounts it will have any of the desired effect (gentle resurfacing and promotion of elasticity) is unlikely. Vitamins C and E are great for deal with free radicals and pollution, which is great for us city dwellers. My skin feels firm but not tight, clean but not irritatingly so and really soft and smooth.

MUA Pixel Perfect Multi-Blush

MUA is one of those incredibly cheap high street/drugstore brands that you probably would never buy anything from because they are never kept clean by any shop. They have been around for ages but disappeared from view almost completely for years - there was one disgusting rotating stand in my local Superdrug that I used to get the odd thing from my I'd hazard a guess and say over 80% of the products have been opened and used or broken.

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Acid Pads

I have never knowingly used anything actually from Superdrug before. At least I can't remember it if I have and what an introduction these Naturally Radiant Glycolic Acid Pads are.

Nowadays I see people spending extravagant amounts of money on skincare. Of course if you have the money and skincare is your jam then go for it but I know that I for one definitely splurge on skincare when frankly I have enough to get me through the next six months at least. If you, like many are really changing the way you look after your skin then this is actually a great way to save yourself some money - I think this is just as good as other AHA 'toners' I have used and at the time of writing these were cut to be £2.95. You get 60 pads which is at least 2 months worth but probably longer if you don't use them everyday.

Kiko Velvet Touch Creamy Blush Stick

Kiko is a brand that can be quite hit or miss. They have some incredibly reasonably priced products so whenever I go in there I end up coming out with a few products to try and most of them are good to great - some of them go straight in the 'giveaway' box. One thing I should mention is that their packaging always fails... anything twist up from them has stopped twisting efficiently fairly early on. That's ok - you get what you pay for and with most make-up products a large majority of what you pay for is packaging.

Anyway, I bought this Velvet Touch Creamy Blush Stick in Golden Peach about two years ago and for some reason it never made it into regular use. It was only when I was testing the Ilia Multistick earlier in the year that I remembered I had this and when and dug it out of my blusher stash and started using it. The colour I have is really lovely, I much prefer it to the famous NARS Orgasm as it's less harsh on paler skin but has the gold flecks through it.

Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser

An impulse purchase from a brand I'd wanted to try for a while. It was a toss up between this and the Rosehip Cleanser but frankly, I don't seem to have much luck with Rosehip on my face so I went with the Brightening Cleanser. And I'm kind of into orange at the moment.

I don't like to overload my skin. In the morning I usually cleanse, acid tone (sometimes) and moisturise. I sometimes use a Vitamin C serum if I have one. If I do too much my skin gets cross and then I have to wear more make-up when I actually want my skin to be good enough to wear less. Are you keeping up? I've been after a good, fairly basic, easy to use cleanser for the morning for a while - one that would play nicely with my other products. This does just that.

Morning Cleansers

The move to our new bathroom made me realise that I probably have a bit too much skincare. I tried to rationalise it but really I like to use products depending on what I feel my skin needs at the time. I love cleansers and sort of feel like I could never have too many. Here's a look at my current favourite cleansers to use in the morning and a little bit on why I like them. My skin type is combination normal/dry/dehydrated. It's in fairly good nick at the moment as I've been testing lots of lovely oils and serums. Still not drinking enough water though.

Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser
Really lovely as a gentle exfoliating cleanser. Has never irritated my skin even when it's been feeling sensitive and just nice to have something effective that doesn't make me a tomato. I haven't tried the other cleansers from Tata Harper but I want to based on this. Read my original review here.

Gold Collagen Hydrogel Face Mask

I don't have a lot of time for face-masking. That's what I think but actually I do, I just need to be a bit more organised about it. I often feel like a face mask, like a bath bomb, is best enjoyed when you have actual time to sit and relax it but in reality, unlike a bath bomb, a face mask will do what it does whether you sit with your feet up in a zen like state or just stick it on while you're doing the online big shop (or indeed the in-store big shop if that's what floats your boat!).

For the Gold Collagen Hydrogel Mask I do like to use it in bed while I read my book. It's a sheet mask so you can wear it when you are up and about but being propped up in bed with my book is enough for me and it encourages me to go to bed with enough time to actually have time to read which is something I really miss since having the boys. I also like to give the ingredients time to themselves on my skin which they probably wouldn't get earlier in the day (not able to do a barefaced school run sadly).

The Body Shop Vitamin C Glow-Boosting Moisturiser Quick Review

I bought this hoping to have found a great high street Vitamin C product but was disappointed. I don't like giving skincare bad reviews, and this isn't really one, as everybody has different skin - this just didn't do it for me but a lot of people have been asking me about it.

Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Tinted Moisturiser

As you know I am completely in love with Origins so I was really pleased when they released a product that got the attention it deserved (I hope the sales matched this!). The GinZing Energy-Booting Tinted Moisturiser was the base of the summer and although it's definitely Autumn here in the UK I'm still wearing this pretty much every time I have any base on at all.

Now this is limited to who can wear it - anything from ivory to olive should be fine, anyone darker than that you are going to find it ashy even if the colour is basically fine. This comes out of the tube white and changes colour as it is applied to the skin. You can use your hands to apply it though I prefer a brush (you could of course use a sponge applicator or Beauty Blender too). I find that it tends to show a tide mark on the neck if you are not careful so a brush is good for blending.

Daniel Sandler Watercolour Customisable Colour Set for Cheeks

Definitely one of my favourite releases of this year and one of those products that you long to try and doesn't disappoint. I've been a fan of the Watercolour Blush's for years. I use them on every bride, over 90% of my other clients and they are definitely in my top five most recommended products and the one I get asked most about ('what colour should I get?' - bit of a responsibility!). Getting a full set in my kit has been the dream and one day I will achieve this (though doing make-up seems like a distant dream as I sit next to my 5 week old!). These have been out for a little while but arrived the day I properly went into labour with Jack so this review has been a bit delayed!*

Urban Decay All Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray

You all know how I'm a bit 'meh' about setting sprays. They do sometimes work but most make-up is pretty long lasting nowadays and frankly I'm happy to look a bit worn in and then take it all off asap as soon as I get home. I'm not out partying that much at the moment. I was sent this to try however, and try it I did and was very pleasantly surprised.

Now I don't want to sound completely bonkers but this actually worked. I managed to conincide testing it with a bit of a heatwave in the UK (don't worry it's rained all day so normalty is restored) and my make-up stayed on my face. It not only stayed on but looked really fresh and nice. I sort of became addicted to using it because it was such a novelty even though frankly my kids don't care what my face looks like and my husband is avoiding me as much as possible because I have late-stage-pregnancy rage.

NARS Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer

It's rare for me to rush out and buy a new release because over the past 11 or so years of doing this I've had to learn some discipline. If I could I could quite happily spend hundreds of pounds on products within the next five minutes and still feel like I hadn't scratched the surface on my wish-list. I could bankrupt us on make-up and beauty.

But after reading a couple of good reviews for the new NARS Sun Washed Diffusing Bronzers and I wanted one. A bit weird as NARS is not one of my go-to brands (not deliberately I just feel like I'm so behind there I don't even know where to start ... I have a long wishlist) and I just don't really have a lot of bronzers for myself.

Then I realised that this, of course is exactly the reason. It is a genuinely legitimate purchase. I don't have a lot of bronzers, it's incredibly hard to find one that looks nice on me and not a bit over the top. I love the Luminous Bronze Light from the Ambient Light Edit palette but use it sparingly or look a fright. A good, wearable bronzer for those of use with pale skin who don't want to look super shiny is hard to find. And I think this is it.

The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10% + HA 2%

Two things worth mentioning from the get-go. 1. It's rare that I radically change my initial opinion of a product 2. I don't usually see that much (positive) difference when using different skincare - I may see slight changes and my skin may feel better but it's rare for it to be really noticable. When testing The Ordinary's Lactic Acid 10% not only did my initial opinion do a complete U-turn but my god I could see the difference.

For my first order from The Ordinary I choose three things; hyaluronic acid which is the basis for a lot of serums that cost about ten times more than this one, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F as an alternative to my beloved Ole Henriksen Truth Serum, and Lactic Acid 10% (the HA 2% stands for Hyularonic Acid) as an AHA since I don't use Retinol while pregnant and my face was looking pretty horrendous. More on the other two to come but it was the lactic acid that was a real eye opener.

Now, having done this for over a decade you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now but I obviously haven't. So excited was I that I tried them all at the same time, at different times of day, and at the same time used a new SPF and my spots went from quite bad to absolutely horrendous. I thought it was the SPF but also suspected the lactic acid which I had just started slapping on my face at the end of the day. I had no choice but to stop using everything new, give my skin two weeks off and then start again one new product at a time. Like I should have done in the first place.

Pixi Double Cleanse (with Caroline Hirons)

I have been meaning to review this for a while but as you know I like to be thorough. I have to confess I assumed when I bought this that there would be no point reviewing it as it would just a flat out rave on how great a product this is. It is, but not without a few things worth commenting on.

As you may or may not know the Double Cleanse is a product developed with skincare queen Caroline Hirons, a woman who has worked in skincare for decades, knows what she's talking about and isn't afraid to voice her opinion. You know that if she has collaborated on and/or put her name to a product it's going to be good and it's going to do what it needs to do. And the double cleanse, does. But it's not a simple review. I've been using this about 5 times a week since February 2017 and I think I will probably be re-buying when it runs out. I'm about halfway through I think.

Concealers

When I first started wearing make-up concealers came in a lipstick-style bullet. Chalky in texture and very limited in colour they were ok for covering a spot if you had a whopper. They were pretty pigmented and unblendable.

Now a lot of clients I work with, especially those over 35, have not kept up to date with how concealers have evolved. Often using a heavier coverage foundation and skipping the concealer altogether which makes it hard to get a natural finish. I often get asked how to get dewy skin without losing coverage and I always recommend a lighter, dewier foundation and a good concealer. They've come on a long way since the 80s/90s bullet. Now you can get the coverage you need, where you need it whilst still keeping a light coverage everywhere else.