Last month I went through to Edinburgh for a wee visit to Kiehls in an attempt to suss out my skincare routine. I'm lucky to have always had quite decent skin and tend to avoid any massive breakouts, unless I've fallen asleep with all my makeup on or just had a spray tan (bad one for clogging up the pores) I'm determined to ditch my lazy ways and start looking after my skin properly.
I absolutely love the look and feel of the Kiehls stores. They are staying very true to their roots and the old school apothecary/laboratory vibe with a modern twist is just awesome! Cheree started off by doing a little swatch test on my skin to determine my levels of oiliness and hydration. Turns out they are two totally different things, which I did not know. Doh. She then went on to give me a consultation and product advice based on this. I'm quite happy with the state of my skin at the moment so as I mentioned before I tend to be quite lazy with my routine. I complained about having no time and just 'forgetting' in the evenings to give my face some TLC before bed - so she advised me with some super straightforward products that I could use on rotation throughout the week. While Cheree picked me out some recommendations I had a wee wander about the store.
The motorbike, retro New York style shave bar and use of neon lighting throughout the store were my favourite elements. Pretty cool eh?
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I am slowly but surely working my way through the routine Cheree advised me. It was the first time that someone had told me WHAT to use and WHY. How many times you should, and shouldn't, etc - totally tailored to my skin type and my needs.With boxes full of glossybox samples of various brands of skincare which have gathered dust over the past year I can honestly say that I just get overwhelmed with most products. Mainly because I don't fully understand how to use them or in which sort of rotation/order. My favourites so far are the Overnight Biological Peel, the Ultra Facial Oil Free Lotion, and famous Creme De Corps Rich body butter. I have bookmarked them in a little wishlist below of full sizes I would love to purchase, along with their Orangeflower & Lychee Fragrance Blend (which I didn't smell in store but I have found online afterwards and I'm desperate to try out this summer scent!) It sounds good enough to eat :)
Kiehls have some lovely stuff for guys too which I'd love John to try out, and I've saved a gorgeous Mothers Day set that I found but I'll share that in a post this week along with some other inspiration pressies.
I've not been able to do any exercise at all while my knee has been bad, but it is starting to loosen up now and I'm off my crutches and heading back to bootcamp tomorrow. I've put on a few pounds since I had the accident which is really disheartening as I was doing so well, but there's nothing I can do about it :( So tomorrow I'm back on it and the yummy chocolate bath bombs above are the closest thing I'll be getting to real chocolate any time soon! They were included in a wee box of goodies kindly provided by Best British Bloggers to help me get back on track...
The rest of the parcel included Maxitone chocolate flavour protein shake, protein bars and a shaker. Maxitone are currently running a competition called Thank You Protein - where by sharing your 'thank you' moment to whoever or whatever has helped inspire you with your fitness/body shape goal, you can win a bunch of prizes including a years supply of Maxitone products and a years membership at a local LA Fitness gym. Not bad if you ask me :) So if you have a little anecdote you should definitely enter the competition. I'd also love for you to share your stories with me to give me a wee confidence boost for tomorrow ♥ Quite nervous about getting back into things again as I'm sure my stamina levels have fallen and I don't want to do anything too extreme while my knee is still quite stiff.
The products I have are from the sculptress range, and the chocolate shake is quite pleasant to drink. Pretty much just like a chocolate milkshake! I was taking it after breakfast before my mid morning class, then again in the evening before dinner. I will continue to do this when I restart my routine again tomorrow as it seemed to work best for me and I found it gave me a good wee energy boost too. I wasn't as much of a fan of the caramel crunch protein bars, they have a nougat texture but actually tasted a bit better after I kept them in the fridge. But my trainer said they are really effective which I had started to notice so I am definitely going to continue with them.
I'm feeling quite inspired and excited for a new week considering I've had a lazy sunday and I've not really moved all day. I don't want to leave this post on a sad note, but as I was sorting through some instagram photos for my next post I came across this one below of Dougal, Alfie and Oscar and I started welling up. Wee Alfie passed away a few mornings ago and I didn't realise how upset I would be. He's been in my life for over 2 years now and saw me through the moves from my old flat, to back home, to where I live now. This is the last picture of them together which I got last week, so rest in peace my fuzzy little pal and I hope you're rolling about in heaps of parsley in piggie heaven :)
