What is thermal water and how does it work in skin care?

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If you walk into a pharmacie in France, you’ll immediately bump into a giant display of thermal water spray cans. A whole host of French skin care brands like Avène, La Roche-Posay, Uriage and Vichy sell thermal water sprays. What is it, what’s in it, what does it do and how is it different from regular water? What is thermal …

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How to choose a skincare mask

clay-masks

There are a lot of masks out there – which one should you use to boost your skincare routine into hyperdrive? Let me help! What is a mask? A mask is a treatment that you put on your face for an extended period of time (between 10 minutes and 10 hours). You’re not meant to be seen in public while …

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French Sunscreen Comparison: Creamy Edition

french sunscreen la roche-posay uriage

Here’s the next installment in my sunscreen review series – this time we’re looking at La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Comfort Creme SPF50+ and Uriage Bariésun Creme SPF30. Both of these French sunscreen are targeted at dry/normal skin, not oily/normal skin like mine, so it’s quite likely that they’ll behave differently on drier skin. Unlike the fluid sunscreens I’ll be reviewing …

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October Favourites

I’ve been trying out a lot of products lately – these are some of the ones I’m really loving that I thought I’d give some mini reviews for. Face of Australia Gentle Make-up Remover* – This make-up remover is everything I want in a make-up remover – gentle, efficient, doesn’t leave an oily residue. Mary Kay Cream Eye Colour in …

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French sunscreen and skincare purchases

Sunscreens from French brands are a pretty big deal right now – they have a reputation for being well formulated (no grease! no white cast!) and include super stable and effective sunscreen ingredients. I visited France recently and hauled a whole bunch of French sunscreens to try, along with a few other skincare goodies. Most of these brands are available …

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My Skincare Regimen (in excessive detail)

A few people have asked me about my regular skincare routine, which I described briefly in my interview with Beautiful With Brains – here it is in more detail. I generally use the same steps, but I often substitute in different products. It gets pretty complex, but I hope it makes sense! I’ve included a summary chart at the bottom, …

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How to read an ingredients list: Face moisturisers

Earlier this week I posted about the different types of base ingredients in moisturisers: occlusives, emollients and humectants. I’ve dug up a few facial moisturisers I have lying around to deconstruct. When looking at most product ingredients lists, the ingredients will be in order from the highest concentration to the lowest. Typically, when deciding if a moisturiser will suit your …

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Winter dry skin skincare regimen

Since coming to Switzerland and experiencing my first European winter, my skin has simply freaked the fuck out. Lots of little bumps, dry patches, full on pimples that wouldn’t go away. Being super smart, I’d forgotten to bring my thickest winter creams, but I managed to work out a decent skincare routine with what I had and what I could …

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