I recently had a wedding to go to which prompted this little Mecca haul.

 

I had acne in my late teens and early 20’s until my sister’s wedding prompted me to finally sort out my acne situation with a course of Roaccutane. But until I was 35 my entire skin care regime consisted of using St Ives Apricot Scrub on my face in the shower, the occasional clay mask and a basic moisturiser with SPF during the day which did nothing for my acne scarring or textural/tonal issues. With so much beauty blogger/vlogger coverage of what Retinol can do to help renew your skin, it was a given that eventually I’d start looking for a product that would address these issues.

I tend to be fairly brand loyal. When I find a product that really works for me, I am compelled to try out the rest of the range that the brand offers. Peter Thomas Roth is one such brand.
 

After researching dark circle treatments and reading heaps of reviews, I worked out that PTR Power K Rescue Eye Treatment might be the thing for me. The very generous Rachael at Kit Cosmetics Doncaster (now Mecca Maxima I think) was so lovely and gave me a HUGE scoop to try as a sample which gave me enough product to try properly for a full 2 weeks and in that time I saw a remarkable improvement in my dark circles. After that first successful trial I earmarked a bunch more products to try and buy within the PTR range and have slowly collected the following which have become core items in my beauty arsenal.

I finally have my lappy back up and running. Lots to do and write about. Better get a move on...

April

3 years ago my bathroom cupboards were overflowing with bottles of things I had bought to try or because they were on special yet had never really bothered to use. So to stop the wastage and make myself accountable I started a Project Pan to make sure I used them all up. In the process I discovered that I had been buying the same things over and over that I didn't really like because I hadn't noticed that it had simply been repackaged or because I forgot why I didn't like it the first time around.

My project pan quickly evolved into a log of my monthly empties, complete with short notes of what I thought of the product to remind myself whether it was worth repurchasing and more importantly when NOT to buy it again.

In 2014 I managed to finished 126 beauty items from 4 categories: skincare for the face, skincare for the body, haircare and makeup, with these 31 being from the last quarter of the year.

October

I’m generally not a morning person but being a mum means I have to be organised and motivated and basically cracking that whip to get everyone where they need to be of a morning. But I can’t start my day without a tiny bit of ‘me’ time and my morning routine is my little breath of fresh air before chaos reigns again. Regardless whether I’ve used an overnight treatment or just a night moisturiser, my morning skincare routine is pretty standard.

My love affair with serum’s started at a Dior counter a few years ago and while I didn’t find one that worked for me, the thin silky texture and the softness they gave my skin had me hooked. Many months later when checking out a foundation at a Lancome counter I was given a couple of samples of the Lancome Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector and the romance began in earnest.