Morning Skincare Routine

Hey beauties, so i'm back with another blog, this time i want to let people into the ways i look after my skin everyday. 
So i thought of doing a morning and evening face skincare routine, and i'll talk about the products i always reach for and what works best for myself and also the ones i recommend.

I'm going to do two different blog posts to be able to fit it all in so there will be one morning blog post and one evening posted soon!! 

So every morning can be different, each and every one of you will probably agree that one morning we can be totally in to sorting our faces out and then other days we just cannot be bothered. Like Sundays... Sundays i can never really be bothered. BUT looking after our skin is just as important as brushing our teeth twice a day!! 

My first steps for my morning routine is preparing everything, making sure i have my products right in front of me so that when i'm washing my face i don't have to awkwardly reach for them.. I fill up my sink with warm water, not too cold and not too hot, just nice and warm. I then dampen my face with the water. I tend to find that if i put my cleanser onto a dry face it just doesn't feel right and tends to dry it out even more, so i like to make sure my face and neck are dampened before reaching for my first product. 

My cleansers tend to mix between two products, i have tried lots and lots of facial cleansers but these two tend to make my skin feel a lot more cleaner and softer. The first product is by a brand called NSPA, which are Nirvana Spa based in the United Kingdom. The reason i always tend to reach for this one is because its so affordable and so reliable. I love cleansers that make you feel awake and fresh after you've washed, and this one is a deep cleansing formula so you know that its working if it makes you feel fresh. So i just love it. It's a foaming cleanser,  which makes it more easier to apply i find, so i would literally pump two pumps into my 'clean' palms/fingertips and massage it evenly into my face and neck until absorbed, and then rinse it off with warm water. 

The other facial cleanser i love to use is the Simple's kind to skin vital vitamin foaming cleanser. Again it's foaming formula is great for my skin and i love using Simple products because its specifically designed for sensitive skin, which s great for when my skin is feeling agitated because of my KP (keratosis pilaris, spoken about in a previous blog). Again i would use the same steps, making sure my skin is dampened and i would gently massage it into my skin until absorbed and then rinse off with warm water. 

After i cleanse my face, i would apply an exfoliater to my skin, i usually only exfoliate my skin every two to three days, because over exfoliating can really dry out your skin. I use quite a few facial scrubs to my skin, but there is only really one that I've stuck too, and again its by Simple. This one is an oil balancing formula with very tiny and gentle beads. I always get oil mainly around my nose and only slightly in my chin area so this helps to balance it out a bit. I love the fact that it has witch hazel ingredients added into this as well as it's really good for the skin, and like i previously mentioned, it only has super super tiny beads to exfoliate your face with. I don't like using too harsh a scrub because i hate the feeling of an overly dry face and also the feeling that I've worked a product too hard into my skin. This ones also great as it's an antibacterial one, so to me it feels like it adds to the cleansing on my face. I just love Simple skincare because they're products have no harsh chemicals or fragrances added and they are just packed with vitamins!! 

I would only use a small amount, massage it onto my face and neck area and then rinse off. 

So after a good facial scrub i like to add a treatment to my face, I would either use a facemask if i have the time or just add a serum and a cleansing lotion before moisturizing. 

The cleansing lotion i am using at the moment is specifically for treating blackheads, those pesky little things!! 

So this one is by Neutrogena and it's called the Visibly Clear, Blackhead Eliminating. It's a pretty simple product, you apply it to your face and neck area twice a day and withing a few days it visibly reduces the appearance of blackheads in your problem areas. I had to admit, i found it hard to believe that a product like this would help improve the appearance of blackheads, but it literally has.. Within a week i started seeing changes. I normally get blackheads around my nose and on my chin and now some of them have gone and some of them are just clearing up, so i would strongly recommend this product!! 

I add this to a cotton pad and sweep it across my entire face and neck area.

The serum i like to use and would recommend is called Cellular Repair by MADARA, . This is an organic skincare brand, which is one of the reasons i love this.

So i admit this product is for anti aging, BUT i don't care i still use it only because i love the way it makes your skin feel. This product helps to visibly improve the smoothness of the skin and reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Again, it's not something a 20 year old would need but this little product packs enough punch. It recharges the skin with essential moisture and vitality.

I apply it evenly onto my face and neck areas, gently massaging it in making sure all areas are covered. I would also use this in my evening routines. 

At the end of all my treatments, i always finish with a moisturizer or facial cream. My two favorites at the moment are Nivea's daily essentials express hydrating primer, which i know is classed as a primer but to me it's formula is too thick for a primer and much more better as a moisturizer as it feels very refreshing for super dry skin and it even though its quite thick, it glides onto your face, leaving it very soft and hydrated.

My second favorite is for when i'm going out somewhere really nice, as it smells amazing!! 

It's called Cream Creme by Royal Apothic. The products packaging is super pretty and girly. The cream has a slight thickness to it but not too much.. 

Again, i love this product because of the way it leaves you're skin feeling afterwards. It's a very hydrating formula, which i was rather worried about when i got it because of the strong fragrance produced by it, but it's the total opposite. The fragrance just adds to it. The cream also has very light exfoliating pigments in it, so it's great for the days when i don't use a facial scrub. The ingredients are also fab for my skin type, as it contains Lactic Acid which is good  for my KP and dry skin and also has vitamins A and E as well as containing Olive Oil!!  

So there you have it! A fully detailed explanation of the skincare products i use daily on my face every morning, stick around to read what i use for my nighttime routine!

Hope you enjoyed reading. 

xXx

Keratosis Pilaris!

So for the first proper blog of the month, i've decided to write about Keratosis Pilaris or KP for short. I have got Keratosis Pilaris myself and even though it's a harmless skin condition, it does drive me crazy sometimes. The reason being is because the appearance isn't very attractive and when it tends to flare up, the itchiness is insanely annoying!

I've decided to write this blog because on my instagram account i've been having people message me asking me about what i use to maintain it and what it really means. Well, for those of you that don't actually know, read on! 

Keratosis Pilaris, is a skin condition that is very common for most girls and women. It can also be known as 'chicken skin' because the appearance of it can somewhat resemble the appearance of a plucked chicken (only slightly) because it's condition forms these tiny bumps on your skin. KP is where the body produces too much keratin, builds up and blocks the hair follicles causing the tiny little bumps to form. KP can be inherited, although a lot of cases are women who have just developed the condition. KP can also be formed if you develop or have developed eczema.

The very unfortunate thing about KP is that it can never be cured!! Not even science have produced a cure for this yet! 

I've never really had a problem with my KP until back in September 2015 when i woke up one morning with horrible itchy patches on my arms and slight ones on my legs. They were warm to the touch and like i previously mentioned very very itchy!! I knew it was my KP playing up because it was only the sections of my arms and legs with the bumps that was 'flared' up it was never the underneaths of my arms etc. Within a couple of days, the situation got very uncomfortable as it had spread to my face which as you can probably imagine was very horrible to have, when you wanted to go out to places and couldn't bear the thought that people were looking at you thinking you had some contagious disease. Which by the way, i shall mention now that KP IS NOT CONTAGIOUS!! (pictured below). 

So after a few very uncomfortable and itchy days, i decided to go and have it checked out just in case it was my KP and i had developed an allergy to something else. 

I was right... KP it was. The doctor prescribed me some gels and creams that i would have to use for a week or two to see if my symptoms would die down. 




The creams the doctor prescribed were called 'Hydrocortisone Cream 0.5%' and a 'Doublebase Gel' which would ease the itching. Overall, they were very good creams and the symptoms starting to go down within two to three days. 



With me being a very paranoid person, i searched high and low for different treatments that could help stop the KP from flaring up again and i came across this cream called 'AmLactin' which i purchased on Amazon. It's specially designed for KP sufferers and although the bottle cost me £20, it was a great purchase. 
The lotion itself has the features to hydrate, exfoliate and renew the skin. If used twice daily, the skin will soften and hopefully flatten the bumps caused by KP. It's fragrance free, non greasy (which is a bonus because i hate applying moisturizers and then putting on clothes and it's all sticky and horrible) and also long lasting. I strongly recommend this product to any person who has to put up with these horrible itchy bumps!!






 A few tips for those of you that have Keratosis Pilaris:
- Don't take very hot baths, if you are having a bath make sure the water is a suitable temperature, for example imagine your bathing an infant. 
- Dont itch!! I know it's very annoying but itching the problem can only make it worse, i found out the hard way!
 - Keep the skin well hydrated! This means drink plenty of water and moisturize you're skin daily.
- Use only gentle and mild soap or cleansers, I tend to reach for the 'Simple Skincare' range because its suitable for sensitive skin and contains no fragrance or harsh chemicals. 


If you happen to want to know more and have any question then please follow my instagram account and/or twitter. 
Instagram: kayleighfryer16
Twitter: @kayleigh_fryer

Thanks for reading my lovelies!! 

xXx

I'm back!!

Hey guys, so i know it's been a while... like a HUGE while. But i'm back!!

I haven't written any blogs because this past few months have literally just flown by. I've been busy with work and several other things. BUT, i am hoping to get back into my blog writing as i enjoy just generally talking to a computer screen, or hopefully some of you guys out there that might happen to come across my blogs. 

So just a quick update on life in general. I am now 20 years old! crazy - i know. These past few months like i said have been hectic. I've been busy going places with my family and close friends, like London!! Oh my GOD! Can i just say London is incredible!! I have been there once before but it was with school and didn't give you the full on London experience, but this time around, it was purely amazing. I had my first experience of the London undergrounds which were in a way kinda scary, but altogether very fascinating. I can still hear the man saying " Mind the gap between the train and the platform". It was literally at every stop.  We went to other incredible places like Madame Tussaud's (don't know whether i've spelt that right)  which again was amazing!!

I've been to other awesome places but i won't bore you with the details. Anywho, so parts of this year was incredible as explained, and others were pure crap. To start of with this year was basically doctor appointments and hospitals. 
July 21st, i was sat at home watching tv with my mum, when the house phone rang. It was like 9pm in the evening and we never expect a phone call at that time unless something was wrong. Immediately thinking it was my nan, who bearing in mind is 93 years old, ran to the phone to it being my dads work, telling us my dad had an accident at work and needed to go to hospital. We rushed to his work and took him to hospital ourselves to be with him. He luckily was fine and had just badly hurt his shoulder, so he had to have an x-ray to be on the safe side, but all was well. 
But during the time at the hospital, i was fasting. I wasn't allowed to eat for 12 hours, due to having blood tests at 8:30am the next morning. So it was a terrible night as you can imagine. We were in hospital from 9:30pm - 1:00am. I roughly about 5 hours sleep that night, and was horribly weak in the morning. The blood tests had to be done because i wasn't feeling very well, i was always tired, constantly thirsty, and had symptoms of diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family so i was very concerned at what the outcomes would be. About 2 weeks later i had my results and thank God, everything was fine and it was just put down to stress.

Then in September, I had to go back to the doctors because I suddenly flared up with this rash all over my arms and face. Finding out after some tests that it was Keratosis Pilaris skin condition flaring up for no real reason. I was prescribed all sorts of creams and gels, and in a matter or 3-4 weeks I was back to my normal looking skin. 
Again, this is another matter I want to write about, as I've had a few people on my Instagram page asking me all sorts of questions about KP so thought it would be a great idea to just do a blog about it. 

And lastly in November, my nan because very poorly, and was amitted to hospital. Luckily she's getting back to her normal, chatty self. But was very worrying and scary, as they still don't know 100% what it was that caused her illness. 

But hey-Ho, new year, new beginnings and all that. 

Happy new year you lovely people and just watch this space!!!! 

xXx