theBalm Meet Matt(e) Hughes Mini Set

Hi everyone! It's been so long since I blogged but October so far has been a VERY busy and not going to lie very stressful month! I'm definitely feeling the pressure now of being a recent graduate and a '20 something' year old who has no clue what they want to do with their life. Every time someone asks me what I'm doing now I've finished university I feel like it stresses you out more and more each time and you literally feel like you're about to scream at them to shut up even though they are just being nice! Thankfully I'm going on holiday in a couple of weeks so I'm hoping that will cheer me up and also getting back into blogging should hopefully take my mind off things! That being said it makes me so happy seeing all the gift sets being released around this time of year and it inspires me so much to try new products to post on my blog. For ages I've seen the liquid lipsticks by theBalm which are called Meet Matt(e) Hughes but I'd never got round to trying them, however I saw Debenhams had a set of six of the liquid lipsticks in a gift set in mini size so I thought I'd buy it and see how the colours were and how the formulas performed. 

I felt like the shade range in this was perfect for me as they aren't too bold, there is a red shade and a slightly berry toned shade however they aren't too full on which usually puts me off. I have to admit matte finishes really aren't my favourite, however I love theBalm and I felt like this set had such pretty shades and I do love a gift set so I wanted to try them anyway and maybe see if it turned my head more towards a matte finish.

One of my biggest issues with this set is that it is such poor value for money, which I really didn't take into consideration at the time of buying which is my own fault however it really is disappointing how little product you get when you look at the price. From Debenhams this set retails at £25, however you only get 1.2ml of product in each mini, so that totals 7.2ml of product. In comparison a single full size liquid lipstick is 7.2ml for £13.50. So you're paying almost double the price of a standard liquid lipstick for the same amount of product which I think is so ridiculous. I do love trying a range of shades but I feel like this set is such poor value for money you may as well just buy one full size, or two full size products which would be almost the same price as this set anyway. 

Left to right: Charming, Sincere, Committed, Doting, Dedicated, Loyal

Despite the issues with the price of this set and the amount of product you receive I still had high hopes for the formula and the shades because when I swatched them I thought they looked so pretty and basically were some of my ideal shades especially for this time of year. They also swatched very pigmented and didn't seem too drying, however when I actually wore them on the lips they were so disappointing. They felt very 'gloopy' and messy to apply and once applied I pursed my lips together they actually started to crack and flake off. As well as that the smell of the product put me off so much, it was very minty but very sickly as well and I already don't like the smell of mint so it wasn't for me at all unfortunately.

I hate feeling like I'm coming on here and having a whinge but this product really was a disappointment for me especially as I have only had good experiences with theBalm before, it is a shame because the actual shade range is pretty and I usually love gift sets where you can try a range of colours from a product you have never used before but the value for money and the actual performance of these were just too poor so I definitely would not recommend. Let me know if you've seen any good Christmas gift sets out already in the comments!

Vichy Double Glow Peel Mask

Hi everyone! How crazy is it that it's now October, I'm so happy though because I've got lots of nice things planned for this month, plus the run up to Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year! I'm that person that never even does anything for Halloween other than stay in and watch scary films, but I'm still obsessed! Recently I've been talking about how bad my skin has been so I've been trying out a few different skincare products, especially face masks because I'm so into them at the minute to try and improve it, thankfully my breakouts have calmed down now so I mostly just want to work on the texture of my skin which is very dull and dry. Vichy is a brand that I've had nothing but good experiences with in the past, but I've only really tried their makeup before so when I saw they're new face masks floating around on the internet I thought they looked so interesting and I actually tweeted about how I thought they looked really cool, so when Vichy contacted me asking if I'd like to try one of the face masks I was so excited and of course said yes! 

There is actually three variations of their new face masks and I chose the Double Glow Peel Mask* however there is also the Pore Purifying Clay Mask which is formulated with two types of white clay to absorb impurities and excess sebum and to minimise pores and purify the skin, this one is designed for those with oily to combination skin with congested and blocked pores. There is also the Quenching Mineral Mask which is a gel mask enriched with vitamin B3 and glycerin, this one has a cooling effect which provides instant hydration. I was actually so torn over the peel mask or the Quenching Mineral Mask as that one also sounded perfect for me because I do have dry skin but in the end I went for the peel mask based on the fact that my skin is SO dull and tired, definitely one of my biggest skin issues. 

The Double Glow Peel Mask that I chose is a double action face mask with volcanic rock and AHA to exfoliate and remove dead skin cells. This is said to leave skin more smooth and luminous and a pick me up for dull, tired skin. Anything that claims to leave skin luminous and smooth I'm all for because I have a lot of skin texture which prevents makeup from applying smoothly which gets me down so much!

I absolutely love the packaging, the jar feels very heavy and it looks luxurious, to me considering the packaging it does appear more high end however it does not have the high end price, you can get these from Boots for £14, they aren't as cheap as some other drug store products but I still think they're a really good price considering how it performs. You get 75ml of product as well which I think is quite a lot for a face mask plus you don't have to use too much product so I think you will get a lot of use out of this. There is a scent to this product which I did want to mention, I actually do like a scent in my products and this one doesn't bother me at all, I find that it smells quite perfumey so for those who don't like scents you may not be that keen, but I didn't find it overpowering.

One of my favourite things about this product is the gel texture of it, which I really was not expecting as it is also said to have exfoliating properties, the instructions that come with the mask actually state to apply and leave on for five minutes, then massaging into the skin after the five minutes before rinsing it off with water. What I found was that you couldn't really tell the mask was an exfoliant until you massaged it into the skin when you could actually feel what felt like a slightly beady, gritty texture. When you first apply the product it honestly feels so cooling and refreshing, I loved how it felt on the skin so much! You are advised to leave this on the skin for only five minutes which is what I was doing the first few times I'd used it, I'd seen a few people say they had left it on for longer and it made their skin a little bit red, but after a few times I left it on for about 8 minutes instead and I didn't experience any redness but I have no issues with sensitive skin, so if you do I'd definitely suggest only leaving it on for 5 minutes. When it's sitting on the skin it does start to feel tingly but I absolutely love that because I feel like it's actually working and doing something, it's not uncomfortable at all though which is something I was worried about especially because of the word 'peel' in the name it made it seem a bit scary, but thankfully it's not bad at all and it doesn't sting or anything like that!

After I massaged it into the skin and washed it off my skin definitely did feel smoother and so much more refreshed and clean, it did look brighter as well, once I'd applied a moisturiser after using this my skin looked so much nicer and healthier than normal. If you have dull and tired skin like me I'd definitely recommend trying this, I feel like it's a nice pick me up for your skin especially on days when it's looking especially dull. I actually love this I can't wait to use it more, especially in Winter! I think for the price and the amount of product you do get it is worth trying, plus if you think this particularly mask won't be suited to your skin you at least have the option of two other masks which might be more suited to you. I really want to try the Quenching Mineral Mask next after liking this one so much, especially as the weather gets colder my skin gets so much drier. Let me know in the comments if you've tried this and what you think!

*PR sample however all opinions are my own