Golden Ointment from Lanolips Reviewed

Dry skin can be really damaging to self esteem. For years I've had incredibly dry, sore elbows that just wouldn't go away no matter what I tried using on them. Because of this, when I was given the chance to try out the new festival sized mini's of both the 101 Ointment* (review to come) and Golden Ointment* I was particularly interested to test them out on my poor old elbows.

The Golden Ointment* comes in a very cute vintage inspired tin that is no bigger than a tub of lip balm and contains 12.5g of product, perfect for dropping into your handbag or stowing in your travel kit for festivals or summer holidays. I am not personally a fan of using lanolin on my lips for personal belief reasons but this ointment is the first thing that I have used on my elbows that has actually worked in softening and hydrating the sore skin and making the pain go away. I have also used it, to amazing effect, on my legs and feet when I get eczema flair up and found it to help so much with speeding up the healing process and lessening the urge to scratch it and make the area worse.

Lanolin is an amazing ingredient, extracted from the wool sheered from sheep, it is the yellow waxy substance that provides a protective barrier in the wool and stops sheep who stand in the cold and rain for hours getting cold and soaked through. In cosmetic use it is amazing for locking moisture into skin and hair, providing a protective layer on the skin for people who work in harsher conditions and is also classed as a vegetarian ingredient so extra yay!

The Lanolips Golden Ointment* harnesses the brilliance of lanolin as an ingredient and enhances it with the addition of very moisturising yet anti-bacterial Manuka honey, castor oil and apricot oil so that the product is the very best it can be for giving you an indulgent and deeply nourishing effect.
My one problem with this product is the use of glycerin in the ingredients. Glycerin is derived from animal sources and is not vegetarian, by using glycerine instead which is made using non-animal derivatives the product could have been kept vegetarian and been made suitable for so many more people.

Over all I have been incredibly impressed with this product, and the mini pot makes it perfect for carrying around and applying whenever needed on the run. I now never leave the house without this little tin and will definitely be re-purchasing for years to come. The amount of relief I've been given from using on my elbows and eczema has been huge and after years of being self-conscious about my elbows I finally feel more confident in showing them. I cannot recommend it enough.

You can pick up the travel tin of Lanolips Golden Ointment for £7.99 from most larger pharmacies, Boots and Superdrug stores. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Annie xx

When the Day is Done! Evening Skin Routine

So my last post showed you how I wake my skin up in the morning, now its time to send it off to sleep in the evening.

I may be all about quick and easy products, but I do spend longer on my routine in the evening because I find it nice and relaxing to wind down at the end of a day. The products I use though are still all nice and quick and simple to use.

I start off by wiping away the majority of my makeup just using a plain old face wipe, usually the Pure age defiance ones simply because they're 2 packets for £1 in Poundland :P
Next, depending on how my skin is feeling I either slather Lush 9 to 5 cleansing lotion all over my face and wipe it off with a cotton pad or I mix a small amount of Lush Let the Good Times Roll cleanser with water to form a a paste which you massage into the face for a light scrub and cleanse before rinsing off with water. Most days I stick to the 9 to 5 because its easier but Let the Good Times Roll leaves skin feeling so smooth and smelling like caramel so its a nice treat :)
This is then followed with a spritz of Lush Tea Tree Water toner *review here* to close up the pores a bit.
After this, I use Lush Full of Grace solid face serum. To use this you warm the bar between your hands to warm the product and make it easy to smooth straight on to the skin. The function of a serum is to act as a catalyst and really accelerate the drawing of products in to the skin so you get more of an effect from them, and trust me, Full of Grace really does work to make a difference.
Then we're on to spot zapping with a little coating of Grease Lightening over any blemishes I want to see the back of. I always put this on before moisturising so that it acts as a protective layer between the spot and the cream so they aren't made any worse.
Nearly there! Now I use my much loved Neals Yard Rehydrating Rose moisturiser *review here* which really soothes my skin and leaves it feeling soft, plumped and refreshed before finishing off with Tri-pentox Age Defying Eye Serum *review here* in little arches around the outside of my eyes. I use this eye cream at night because its a little thicker and creamier than the Lush one I use in the morning so it feels nice to let it sink in and work its magic over night. It really does help with reducing dark circles and puffiness too.

Over all, this routine probably takes me around 10 minutes, or 15 if I decide to be really thorough. What I haven't shown is that I also use a face scrub around 3 times a week but recently I've been trialing a few different ones ready to give my opinion so I've left those out for now.

Annie x

Rise and Shine! Morning Skin Routine

I just wanted to start of by saying how relieved I am that people enjoyed yesterdays post and their little snoop around Annieland, and thank you for all the lovely comments :)
Todays post is going to be a lot shorter, less rambley and back to the beauty.

Now I'm not a morning person, not by a long shot and would much rather grab an extra 5 minutes in bed than scrub and cleanse my face so my morning routine is quick, simple and leaves me feeling nice and fresh before popping my makeup on.
I start off using one of my must have beauty products, Lush Tea Tree Toning Water *review here* and spritz it straight on to my dry face to wake me up a bit and refresh before wiping it off with a cotton pad. This helps to clear away any night time grime and wake up my skin.
Next I use Lush Enchanted Eye Cream which I think is a totally under-rated product that deserves more love  (needless to say, review to come haha). I apply a small amount in an arc shape around the outside of my eye. I find that it really helps to plump the skin, make me feel more awake and reduce any dark circles or eye bags.
After this I use a small amount of my Neals Yard Rehydrating Rose Daily Moisture *review here* all over my face. Because its a lovely light moisturiser I find it sinks in really quickly and doesn't leave my face feeling clogged all day.
Finally, I apply a thin layer of Lush Grease Lightening which is a spot treatment over any blemishes. The reason I do this last and make sure to do it every morning is because rather than sinking in to the skin it dries and leaves a little protective barrier over the spot which is unnoticeable but really helps to speed up healing.

And thats all, after that, depending what I'm doing, I will either pop on my makeup or just go about my day feeling all fresh and clean. And the best part is that it only takes a couple of minutes every morning so I don't have to worry about the time.

What's your morning routine? Does this sound like something you'd be able to stick to daily?
Annie x