Anyone that reads my blog will know that I absolutely adore Premae's products for many reason's but the main being that it has cleared my acne up no end!

At the end of Febuary I signed up for their Premae Donna box, it's £65 for 2 months and gives you total freedom of choice and the ability of keeping stocked up with your favourite products at half the price. On the 1st of each month you are able to choose any 3 products you wish (you can't choose 3 of the same product however), the subscription is for 2 months and you can renew or cancel with no strings attached. As I won't use anything but Premae's skincare now I thought this was the most savvy option! This month I chose...

Balance Rescue Gel Face Wash 

I order this face wash every month, it's a solid part of my skincare regime now. This is a refreshing gel cleanser that cleanses and polishes your skin, delicately yet thoroughly. Ideal for oily or acne prone skin (as is mine) it really cleanses away build up's of excess sebum and keeps my skin shine free. Use this alongside their Balance Rescue Face Tonique and Harmony Serum you will have perfect skin!

Plush Therapy Masque

I had recently used up a sample of this masque which I absolutely loved so I decided to purchase the full size version this month. I use this once or twice a week to really decongest my pores. Used alongside the Balsnce Rescue products it really helps to keep excess oil under control thus preventing any nasty zits!

Triumphe Balm

I've only been using this balm for a few days and can already say that I love it! The Triumphe range is aimed more at ageing skin as it is packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Of late I have started to notice some fine lines around my mouth and forehead *gasp* so I thought I would give Premae's award wining balm a go. It has a rich formula, hydrating yet non-greasy and a gorgeous smell of frankincense. I have been applying before bed and when I wake my skin is so soft!

I couldn't add any links to the products I'm afraid as Premae's website is under a little construction at the moment, if you are interested in any of their products then just pop the lovely ladies and email, they're ever so helpful.

Jodie 

xoxo

Where I'm at (with PCOS)...

The one thing being diagnosed and enduring PCOS has made me learn is to be grateful. No girl likes to get a zit does she? Waking up, looking in the mirror and seeing a nasty pimple on your chin is never fun but I have now learnt to be grateful for just that little pimple and not a mass of painful cysts like I was experiencing last year. 

Although for years cervical pain from cysts and painful, heavy periods would drag me down what really got me down was the acne. We're not talking a few pimples here and there, we're talking huge spots and painful cysts on my jawline. Unless you've had acne (without sounding vain) you can never imagine how much it drags you down.

This was me in November 2013. At a total loss. My usual skincare wasn't working. Make-up only made my skin worse and the blemishes more apparent. I put faith in a new found organic skincare brand and starting a drug to help the hormone levels in my body I started to feel more hopeful. Within weeks of using Premae's Immaculate Collection (comprising of Balance Rescue Cleanser, Balance Rescue Tonique, Harmony Serum and Harmony Balm) my skin was making remarkable progress.

In January I participated in a selfie diary with Premae where each week I would send them an update of my skin's progress, you can see the results for yourself...it's amazing! 

When ever I'm having a down day (like earlier today!) because I've got a couple of pimples I think back to where I was a few months ago. Suffering awful cervical pain and having the constant depression of trying to ply make-up on to my face to cover the awful acne each morning. I look at these photos and I feel grateful. Any lady with PCOS will know it is an awful illness that knocks your confidence and at times takes away everything that makes you feel like a lady. Excess body and facial hair, acne, hair loss, weight issues and awful pain. It's a constant battle. For now I feel lucky I have found something that seems to be working for me. The hirsutism is still an (embarrassing) issue but my skin is making progress everyday...

Jodie

xoxo

You Beauty March Edition Review

You Beauty March Edition 

This is my first review of one of the beauty box subscriptions I have and this subscription is possibly my favourite. You Beauty is fantastic value for money at £6.95 per month including p&p. They email you at the end of every month giving you a sneak preview of what will be available to choose from the 1st of the month. You choose two items of your choice and then they top it up with a few lovely extras. To be sure to get the items you want I always order my box on the 1st of the month and it is promptly despatched and delivered a few short days later. So, here's my choices and extra's for this month....

BeautyLab Glyco Face Wash

One of the best-selling products in the range,BeautyLab®London GlycoWash is a high performance, multifunctional wash - the perfect cleansing solution for most skin types as it removes impurities, unclogs pores and accelerates cell renewal cycle, resulting in fresh, radiant and youthful looking skin. 

The BeautyLab®London GlycoWash combines five high performance ingredients to visibly improve the skin’s texture and tone, leaving it thoroughly cleansed and refined. 

Ingredients:

GlycoPure™ Glycolic Acid (5%) to promote and increase cellular regeneration.  

• MultiSal™ Salicylic Acid is a cell renewal active encapsulated for triggered release technology to efficiently work for longer on your skin.
• Pomegranate Enzymes gently exfoliate the epidermis giving a fresh and healthy appearance. 
• Willow Bark acts as a natural anti-inflammatory.
• And Lavender helps to calm and soothe the skin.

Suitable for: Dull and Congested Skin, Enlarged Pores, Ageing Skin, Uneven Pigmentation, Sun Damaged Skin, Acne Prone Skin

Retails at £32 for 100ml

Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter & Muslin Cloth

The Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter:

This cleanser is an indulgent make-up remover for the whole face. It gently and efficiently melts away make-up and impurities, leaving skin feeling clean, refreshed and pampered.

• Gently melts away make-up, leaves skin feeling clean and petal-soft and removes all types of make-up.

Retails at £12 for 90ml

Now onto my lovely added extras...

The Vintage Co Tweezers

Retailing at £8, these gorgeous floral patterned tweezers are made from a high quality stainless steel and are a make-up bag must have for every girl! 

Dragonfly Tea

I received two sachets, each different blends, these were Moonlight Jasmine (organic green tea) and Swirling Mist (organic white tea) which I personally cannot wait to try as I love my herbal tea's!

All-in-all You Beauty's March Edition was excellent value for money filled with high quality items of which I can't wait to try!

Jodie 

xoxo

How much is my face worth?

How much is my face worth? Tag

Ok so after being tagged in Cloe Anne's blog on "How much is my face worth" I was excited but now shocked to list the basic products I use on my day-to-day look. So here goes...

Premae Balance Rescue Face Wash £22.50

Premae Balance Rescue Face Tonique £19.50

Premae Harmony Multi-Vit Serum £22.50

Premae Harmony Creme Balm £35

Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream £35

Mac Prep+Prime Skin £20.50

Mac Studio Fix Foundation NC15 £21.50

Bobbi Brown Corrector Light Bisque £18.50

Bobbi Brown Concealer Ivory £18.50

E.L.F HD Powder Corrective Yellow £6.95

HD Brows Eyebrow Palette £19.96

Maybelline Brow Drama Medium Brown £4.99

Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Lightscapade £22

Illamasque Eyeliner Cake £15.50

Illamasque Sealing Gel £7

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara £22

Bobbi Brown Blusher £19

Mac Fix-It Spray £14.50

I've not included eye primer, eyeshadows or lipsticks/balms/gloss as these will vary day-to-day...I've also not included the Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener £19.50 that I keep in my bag for touch-up's! So this gives us a grand total of...

£341.40

I am horrified at how much my daily routine costs...and just how many products I use! I have definitely earned my stripes as a skincare and make-up junkie! 

But I may add that I am secretly smug that I can shower, have breakfast, do the above make-up routine and my hair all in an hour before work in the morning...not bad going!

Looking forward to seeing your totals!

Jodie 

xox

Fushi's Rosehip Oil Review

Fushi Rosehip Oil

So I thought I'd let you know about some other fabulous natural skincare products I have been using on my battle against PCOS!

In my last blog I touched on...that's a lie I professed my love for Premae's Immaculate Collection and the amazing results my skin achieved after just one month of using their products. The other rainy day I decided to have a facial at home...whilst browsing through my collection of face masks I can across a product I had received just before Christmas but hadn't used as in all honesty...I didn't know what it did! Que Fushi's Organic Rose-hip Oil.

I quickly took to Google to try and research the properties of Rose-hip Oil and after reading that celebs such as Miranda Kerr get their glow from slathering themselves in it at night I immediately couldn't wait to try it! The product description is as follows...'Rosehip oil is rich in Vitamin A and C, which helps to delay the effects of skin ageing, assists with cell regeneration and promotes collagen levels. It also contains a high amount of essential fatty acids and Vitamin E, which further promotes healthy skin. Rosehip oil is very beneficial for ageing skin, scarred skin, stretch marks, dermatitis and for repairing sun damaged skin. Free from artificial chemicals. Directions: Apply externally to affected area twice daily.Ingredients: Rosa canina (Rosehip seed oil).

Now, I have only been using this product for a few days so I can't give it a fair enough review as to the results but...I love it! It doesn't aggravate my skin and after applying you can barely tell at all that you have it on. The smell isn't particularity pleasant, at the same time it's not unpleasant. After cleansing and toning I have been applying this beneath my serum at night and my skin seems to have a glow about it in the morning! The 100ml bottle it comes in would last forever as you only need a small amount on the fingertips to apply and it quickly absorbs and at around £13 a bottle it's a bargain!

Have you tried Rose-hip Oil? What are your thoughts?

Jodie

 xox

Premae's Immaculate Collection Review

Ok, so after reading thousands of blogs myself and always appreciating and offering a virtual hand of support to some of these ladies as they expose themselves so bravely to the world I was often left feeling as though I'd like to give something back...I mean if these ladies hadn't taken the time to blog then I wouldn't have found their truly life changing contributions and hey, maybe someone might find one of my contributions in turn just as life changing? Well, there is something that greatly changed my life a year ago, something that unfortunately fellow sufferers still find awkward and embarrassing to talk about...PCOS.

PCOS is what set me on my "quest for perfection". Now whilst I have always loved make-up and skin-care products (hell, what girl doesn't?!) my love for them has over the last 18 months turned into an obsession. With PCOS comes some nasty symptoms. Now the irregular, painful and heavy periods I can cope with, just about...but it's the, at times, soul destroying symptoms that really get you down. Whilst my skin is under control at the moment, through some lifestyle changes, hormone balancing treatments and the right skincare routine, 12 months ago I was at my worst. Predominantly on my jaw-line I had the most painful spots and under skin cysts ever! In fear of seeming vain I kept my struggle to myself and this is where my make-up love turned into an obsession! I was desperate to find foundations, primers and concealers that would mask the problem...I had gone from wearing my favourite tinted moisturiser that I wore for around 3 years to wearing several layers of primers and foundations and carefully blended concealers. Now whilst the added layers to my face gave some confidence, it wasn't helping the underlying problems and I was often left with that "cakey" look that us ladies are desperate to avoid! Leaving a trusted brand that you have been with for years because of such a dramatic and desperate skin situation is over-whelming...I spent hours everyday in search of the 'next best thing'. This is where I realised I was over-complicating things...I needed to go back to basics! Now, 3 months ago I discovered a new brand through a sample of their Harmony Serum in my Glossybox...Premae.

                                                                    

That was how my skin looked in November of last year. Pretty nasty huh? Now at the time of taking these photo's I was using Clinique's 3-step routine and it just wasn't helping. I'm in no way saying that the brand is rubbish, I had used their make-up and skin-care for over 3 years...it's just as my body was changing the products in my routine weren't helping me. Back to Premae. Now I only received a sample of their Harmony Serum so at the time couldn't vouch for any of their other products, but after only a few uses of Harmony Serum my skin was making huge improvements.

As I didn't have a cleanser from their range to use alongside the Harmony Balm I just carried on using my Clinique cleansing bar. Within a week a really noticed a difference. My skin was less irritated and aggravated and the painful cysts were starting to subside. That was it, once I could see the difference I was hooked on this product and I took to their website to purchase a full sized bottle of the serum. This is where I discovered they did a miniature collection of the full Harmony range. In the collection was a 20ml Face Wash, 20ml Face Tonique, 20ml Harmony Serum and 10ml Harmony Balm, enough to last you 30 days and to see how your skin got on with it. This was the best thing I ever did! Every week my skin was getting better and better, the spots have completely gone and the acne scarring has substantially lightened. Every week throughout January I was sending a "selfie" update to Premae and their replies were always messages of joy and encouragement. You can check out my selfie diary skin update here.

This is where I am now...4 weeks after using the full range...Pretty impressive huh? I'm overjoyed with the results and this is one brand I shall be sticking with...thank you Premae! So now I have got that part of my PCOS under management there's just the other horrible parts of PCOS to deal with...

Jodie

xoxo