Origins skincare review

Zero Oil Deep Pore Cleanser - £18.50

Back in the days of my blemish-free face, oh how I miss thee, I was obsessed with the Deep pore cleanser from the Zero Oil collection. Whilst shopping in Boots the other week, my eyes gravitated to it and reevaluated what I've been doing all of these months without it by my side. What I love is that it's oil free - a god send for my extra-oily skin which barely has any dry spots. Also, the infusion of mint and saw palmetto are great relievers for my sensitive skin as often I wash my face at least twice daily to insure I've gotten rid of unwanted bacteria and my skin never irritates from repetitive washes. Saw Palmetto is known to contain a high concentration of polysaccharides, which in English, are used to enhance the immune system by working as an inflammatory. So, although it would be even more beneficial to my skin to take Saw Palmetto as a supplement, which I'd strongly advice, using it as a daily wash helps my acne at bay and reduces the redness of outbreaks.

Zero Oil Moisture Lotion - £24

The moisturiser to complement the face wash is so soothing to apply! A little definitely goes a long way with this product which is just as well because it is half the size of the face wash for a higher price. A penny sized amount is enough to cover my entire face whilst still being able to make my skin feel nourished. The moisturiser doesn't make me 'glow from within' or anything amazing necessarily, but it does the main job for me which is to mattify my skin to hugely prevent it from getting oily later on in the day. I was so conscious of my face being shiny on days out that I'd constantly be vain and check any mirror I might pass. With this baby I don't have to and can happily enjoy being with friends and family without worrying over my face looking like it had just been fried on with half a dozen of eggs.

Super Spot Remover - £15

Because I'm a salesperson's dream and will buy anything if they shove it in my face, I was instantly sold on buying the 'super' spot remover. The alliteration was enough to sell me alone. Jokes aside,this is some pretty powerful stuff and if you're looking for a gel that'll reduce blemishes, this is for you. The size of the product again is laughable but, you genuinely don't need a lot. I tend to only apply it to my blemishes in the evenings now as I realised that it works best then. I dab a tiny amount to the tip of my finger and work it into the problem area or spot. It used to sting me a lot, which I liked because I knew it was burning the pesky things off of my face, but I think I'm immune to the pain now and it still delivers great results. By the morning my blemish won't always be gone, but it will have reduced in size by incredible amounts! I keep this perfection by my bedside at all times.

I'd love to know of any oil-free products you guys try. I'm always on the lookout for the holy grail so if you have any recommendations please let me know. Or, if there's a product you'd like me to try and test I'd be more than happy to take one for the team.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

For my Sunday Fun day, I dragged my mum with me to the last showing of Alexander McQueen’s retrospective exhibition: Savage Beauty, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I was stunned to hear of McQueen’s suicide in February of 2010 because he was a designer like no other. McQueen in his heyday was most definitely my favourite designer – his shows were theatrical, and a juxtaposition of romance and menace. I knew I couldn’t miss out. So much so, that trust me to go on the very last day of the exhibition! *Face palm* The queue was ridiculously long but all worth it because of what awaited us in the beautiful, but often eerie, exhibition.

McQueen’s shows were the epitome of art. My favourite room proved so by being shrine-like and enveloped in his futuristic designs, animalistic headgear, and audio/televisions consuming the black space. I had to take a moment of recognition in every corner, just to make sure there was nothing I missed dangling from the nook and crannies in the walls. Despite there being so much to look at around me, at one moment in the midst of the noise and chaos surmounting, all screens and audio simultaneously transitioned into the infamous Spring/ Summer 1999 runway. This iconic show was concluded with Shalom Harlow having her white synthetic tulle dress covered by machines with neon paint. Amongst the room, everyone as if under order turned their gaze to the centre of the room where the actual dress stood, defiant and deserving of all our attention. It was a surreal feeling to be in the same room as the great Alexander McQueen’s designs, and it’s an experience I will truly never forget.

Obviously I wasn’t the only one who admired and thoroughly respected the work of McQueen, as over 480,000 tickets were sold for the £3million budgeted exhibition. I am super lucky and privileged to have seen his work in person, as unfortunately, it will most definitely never be exhibited again. For those that did miss out, I managed to sneakily take some photographs of outfits that mesmerised me. I wanted to take photo’s of everything as you can imagine, but the security were pretty hot on not allowing photography. Sorry guys! For now, enjoy and let me know if you have the chance to visit the Savage Beauty exhibition too! I’d love to know.

Honey, I'm home

3.1 Phillip Lim wool jumper / Helmut Lang black mesh leggings / Acne Studios tan boots

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What can I say? I've spent almost 2 months away from my precious blog. I know, I'm a bad person. But, at a push to find the positives, the time away has been good for me. I needed to get back into my groove of things in sunny, oops, I mean dreary England. On top of that, I managed to get my old retail job back at Harvey Nichols, so every night I've practically been comatose.

There's always good that comes out of bad and in my being away, I of course bagged some bargains at an extreme discount at HN. I hope the pictures of goodies will redeem my self just a tad. So go ahead and drool. Also, let me know what you think of my purchases. I tried to be smart with my money for once and although we're technically in Summer, I decided to buy bits that'll see me through Autumn/Winter. Let's be honest, it's not exactly the Maldives outside is it. *Sigh*