How To: Deal With Puffy Eyes

When it comes to eyes, I'm a firm believer it's all about treating from the inside out. Those extra couple hours of sleep portray a tremendous difference in the appearance of my eyes, in redness, puffiness and brightness. When I find myself trolling home in the early hours of the morning or tearing myself from my bed equally early, my eyes start to suffer and there are a couple of products I pull out...

As soon as my eyes start to open I'll reach over to my bedside table where cotton pads get doused in Liz Earle Soothing Eye Bright Lotion, which I've raved about here, and patted onto my eyes making waking up a little more bearable. 

There are two masks that I keep on rotation if I have an extra 10 minutes, firstly Origins No Puffery Cooling Eye Mask, which I apply a thick layer of around my eyes and wash off. This stuff is seriously refreshing and the wonderfully cooling effect is fantastic wake up call for my eyes! I tend to keep this stashed away in my fridge for extra power. 

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask which I wrote about here are my pre-party saviours, that contain cucumber which includes Vitamin K, great for shrinking capillaries which helps reduce dark circles. Now I didn't see anything miraculous in that department but there was definitely some hydrating, less redness and soothing going on. 

If theres minimal time for pampering I'll reach for Coupe Eclat which I picked up from Beauty Mart. I'll break the little capsule and dab the liquid into my skin for some added brightening. My favourite out of the bunch has got to be Clinique Even Better Eyes, purely for the cooling massage tip. I'll apply this like an eye cream squeezing the tube as I run it along my orbital bone. Doing this feels instantly cooling and soothing, especially after a long day of staring at a screen! The actual cream is slightly light reflective which helps aid under my eyes in looking brighter, it has the smoothest almost velvet like texture that concealer applies like a breeze over the top. 

What do you reach for when your eyes a looking a little puffy?

Early Morning Saviours

Liz Earle Eyebright Soothing Lotion, Pixi Glow Tinkerbell Fairy Dust & Givenchy Magic Kajal Nude

Late nights and early starts, I'm sure you've all been there before! It's not a routine I tend to favour however should that situation occur I rely on a couple of items to help me fake looking as though I've had that extra couple of hours in bed. All about bringing light to the eyes, highlighting them and making everything appear wider and more doll like. 

First up, As I wake up I'll reach over to my bedside table, soak a couple of cotton pads in Liz Earle Eye Brightener and leave them on my eyes for a good 5 minutes. They are really cooling, soothing and reduce puffiness by miles. My eyes thank me immensely for dousing them with this stuff in the mornings - it's lovely!

A couple of simple steps I like to add to my routine, just to aid my face in looking a little less drained are simply dabbing a light shimmery eyeshadow into the tear duct of my eyes. Pixi Fairy Dust being my favourite product to do this thanks to the sponge applicator that allows a simple dot to be placed and blended with ease. This is usually followed by lining my lower water line with some sort of nude liner. Givenchy Magic Kajal Nude is basically just a fancier less pigmented version of Pixi Eye Bright Liner (post here), which I also adore. Nude liners help cancel out any redness in the eyes, help them appear wider and all in all help make me look more alive!

What do you use in the early mornings?

Currently Loving: Cream Cleansers

Cream cleansers are my preferred method of makeup removal as they don't strip the skin leaving that tight feeling but manage to take of the majority of makeup pretty quickly. In the evening I apply a dollop of cleanser all over my face to dry skin and massage in followed by soaking a cloth in warm water and removing. For eyes I massage the cream into my eyelids and eyelashes and wash away. I normally repeat this process depending on how much makeup I'm wearing and especially if I've been wearing sun protection. I've tried a fair few recently and here they are...

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish - (£14.25)

The queen of cream cleansers, winning many awards Cleanse & Polish is now one of my staples. After not being sure about it for a while, not being sure if it was worth the hype I now can't even begin to describe how much I love it! It manages to dissolve makeup and works perfect on all skin types, nourishing dry patches and calming breakouts. My skin just loves this stuff! There are also mini bottles perfect for overnight trips :D

Best For: daily cleanser with natural ingredients 

Ren No1 Purity Cleansing Balm (£30) - link

The really relaxing very rich and nourishing cleanser, I tend to save this for winter as it's quite rich so works best when my skin is drier. Ren is a fantastic brand that only uses lovely ingredients so I know I'm not harming my skin. One major drawback is that it's not for eyes, which means separate makeup remover needs to be used.

best for: morning time cleanse (as stings eyes!) and dry skin

Pai Camellia & Rose Organic Facial Cleanser (£25) - link

My favourite out of the bunch mainly because of the smell! It isn't the best at removing makeup but is very light and as it's natural is best for sensitive skin. Whenever I want to take my skincare back to basics or if I've had a couple of breakouts this is what I turn to!

best for: sensitive skin

Sarah Chapman Ultimate Cleanse (£40)

More of an oily balm but still very nourishing, Ultimate Cleanse was my first cream cleanser love. It works like a dream at removing makeup and is full of antioxidants, and vitamins. One thing I couldn't stand in the beginning but managed to get used to is the smell! 

best for: mature skin

Omoroviza Thermal Cleansing Balm (£46)

Hands down the most luxurious skin treat I've ever used which I do tend to 'save for best' when my skin needs a bit of TLC or is having a bad day. It's perfect for travelling thanks to the tiny pot and smells beyond divine. Removes makeup and grime really well and leaves the skin feeling so so smooth. It's a very dark grey colour that includes Hungarian Moor Mud which contains a lot of minerals that provide a lot of benefits for the skin such as strengthening the barrier and boosts synthesis of collagen.

best for: luxurious cleansing

I've finished a couple of these now and have added some new ones I would like to try to my list! Balance Me Cleanse & Smooth Face Balm being one of them... What do you think of cream cleansers? Which one's your favourite?

My Makeup: Peach Cheeks & Lips

I definitely go through phases with makeup, one that remains pretty constant is my love for neutrals but right now it's peach shades, especially as it helps me look a tad more bronzed without actually piling on the bronzer. With the sun out and Summer around the corner I feel it's time to take makeup back to basics and get more minimal during the day time which means focusing more on my skin that eye makeup. Although I'm tempted to try this look with a bronze smokey eye! To top it all off I've been wearing a lip colour that's more peachy toned to as a way of bringing everything together.

Skin
- To smooth out my skin I've been using Dr Brant Pores No More Primer, which is a lovely semi matt primer that just fills in any lumps
- For foundation I've gone back to Nars Sheer Glow as it's been very heavy rain in London this week so no need to apply anything lighter (review of foundation here)
- As always I have been covering up my under eye circles using By Terry Touche Veloutee Concealer. I seriously don't see myself being without this stuff! Very high coverage and so light on the skin (link to post here)
- For some peach cheeks I dabbled in a bit of Mac Peaches Blush and Liz Earle Blush in 05 Coral followed with some matt bronzer, Guerlain four Seasons in 01 Blondes being my one of choice

Eyes
- Starting off with the Mac Painterly Paint Pot primer (link to post here)
- Followed by getting out my Urban Decay Naked Palette and using the lightest shade Virgin all over the lid with Buck and Naked in the crease for some definition and Darkhorse along the lash line
- To enhance my lashes I used Dior DiorShow Lash Serum & Primer (link to post here) followed by L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black (link to post here)

Lips
- A lovely coating of No7 Nourishing Lip Shine in Peach

What have you been loving? Do you like using peach shades?

Liz Earle Beauty

Last week Liz Earle released her new beauty range featuring mainly skin products, blush, bronzer, powder as well as mascara and eyeliner. Liz Earle who is best known for creating the infamous Cleanse and Polish, which I briefly mentioned here, that has won many awards including recently the CEW award for most revolutionary beauty product of the last 20 years. As soon as I found out Liz Earle would be expanding into makeup I was thrilled, especially as my skin reacts so well to their natural products. I recently headed over to the Liz Earle shop in Duke Of York Square to have a look at the collection. The store is lovely, really spacious and smells so relaxing - they even have treatment rooms where you can get Liz Earle facials! :) Onto the products, I did purchase a few which I will be reviewing later. They are in the medium price range, from £11 for an eyeliner to £21 for a Sheer Skin Tint and are very practically packaged. I will keep you updated!

You can shop and browse the Liz Earle Site here

PS - with every purchase made in store you can choose a mini travel size sample :)