Giveaway winner announcement!

So today is the big announcement of my giveaway! The lucky winner of the Elemis Radiant Moment set is (drum roll, drum roll, drum roll, drum roll) Emily Dickson! I will make sure to contact you so I can send out your prize!   Thanks so much to everyone for entering. I'll definitely hold giveaways again in the future so make sure to keep a look out for those.

100th post giveaway!!! (Closed)

So this is the 100th post on my little blog and to celebrate I thought I would do my first ever giveaway! I've been exited about this for ages so I'm really happy to be able to tell you all about it.   Regular readers of The Robyn Christina will know I love a bit of Elemis. They have just launched their Christmas gift sets for 2015, perhaps a tad premature but exciting all the same! I thought this would be the perfect prize for my giveaway so I had a little browse through all the lovely sets and decided upon the Radiant moment set for normal/combination skin. I felt that this would be suitable for most people and I absolutely love the products inside the set.  

Products

-White brightening even tone cleanser: This cleanser is new to Elemis. It's a very light, foamy texture that really helps to brighten the skin and is also great for any pigmentation problems.

-Herbal lavander repair mask: This mask is great for deep cleansing the skin as well as healing and soothing breakouts. It's great for a once a week pamper sesh.

-Hydra balance day cream: This is a nourishing and soothing, light weight day cream. Again, it's new to Elemis but already a firm favourite.

-Hydra nourish night cream: This is another new release and is brilliant for hydrating the skin over night. It works all through the night so you wake up with beautifully fresh skin.

   

How to enter

-You must be a follower. If your not sure how to do this it's very easy. All you need is a google account which is totally free. Click on the 'Join this site' button and then follow the steps.

-Leave a comment on this post saying anything at all....ideally something nice.

-You must be a UK resident. (Sorry, I'll do international giveaways soon)

-If you are under 18 please get permission off your parents so they don't think I'm a weirdo for sending you a parcel if you win.

-Just one entry per person.

The competition will run from today until the 12th October. I will chose the winner at random and announce who wins on 16th October. Get entering everyone, I'm very excited!!

Summer favourites

 

 

Sadly I think that we may be getting near the end of summer so I thought it was time to round up a few products that I've been really enjoying using throughout the (sort of) warmer months. PS. the fact that the products are all bright and colourful makes me happy!

 

The weather tends to go a bit crazy in the summer months and that causes my skin to do the same so I've been using a few things to add a healthy summer glow. The Elemis pro-radiance illuminating flash balm is just a wonder product and I've been using it every day since I got it. It gives the nicest sheen to my skin and I feel like it evens out my complexion too. It makes a brilliant primer for under my make up but also looks nice just on it's own for more relaxed days.

I purchased the Body shop vitamin E over night serum in oil (why do products have such long names) after getting my mum one for her birthday and deciding I needed one for myself too. I know not everyone liked the feel of oil on there skin but I don't mind especially as it's an over night product. I find my skin often gets dehydrated and with that comes dehydration lines (eeek) I find that if I'm strict about using this every night they go away.

 

 

The Body Shop virgin mojito body splash, believe it or not, smells just like a virgin mojito and that, my friends, is a very good thing! It is delicious! In fact the whole range is! I used the shower gel up very quickly. Only risk is people thinking you've been on the cocktails first thing on a morning.

The Tropic instant glow tan is a relatively new discovery. I used to be a big fan of the Rimmel instant tan but haven't used it for a while. One of my friends works with Tropic and when she mentioned this new product I was really keen to give it a go. For a bit of extra glow when you haven't got a lot of spare time it's brilliant. There's absolutely no nasty fake tan, it actually smells really nice and isn't at all stickly or gloopy. A little goes a really long way, I can't imagine getting to the end of this bottle.

 

The Maybelline colour tattoo in on and on bronze has been raved about time and time again by just about every beauty blogger. I know I have definitely mentioned it on here on more than one occasion. It's brilliant for summer because it won't sweat off on the (rare) warmer days and gives a really pretty sheen to the eyes. I've been wearing this most days recently. The Bourjois healthy mix gel foundation has recently come back in to my life and I remembered how much I used to love it. I have this in dark beige which is way too dark for my natural skin tone but I've had a couple of spray tans recently and had to reach for a darker foundation from my collection and this was the perfect match. I love how easy it glides on to the skin and looks really fresh and dewy while still covering everything I want it to. It smells very fruity too which I know not everyone would like but I don't find it irritates my skin at all.   I hope you enjoyed today's post. Remember to keep checking back for more and follow me on facebook and instagram for more updates!

My attempt at strobing

        So lately I've been hearing a lot of people talking about strobing, it makes me think of some kind of rave but basically it's a form of highlighting. I am more than interested in anything that can make my sad cheek bones stand out a bit and I do love glowy skin so I thought I'd give it a go.   I started with the Elemis pro-radiance illuminating flash balm. This is the limited edition version, they donate some of the proceeds to breast cancer which is amazing, plus the packaging is just gorgeous. This is both a moisturiser and primer but gives the most gorgeous, dewy sheen to the skin that I thought would be perfect for today's look.  

I then used Benefit's high beam on all the high points of my face, I actually used quite a lot of this as I wanted it to really show through my foundation. I applied my Rimmel match perfection foundation over the top of this. I applied this very lightly using a stippling brush being very careful not to rub the highlighter off.  

   

After I applied my foundation I went over the top of the highlighted areas with the Loreal lumi magique pen. I then carried on with my normal makeup. I don't think it's showing up amazingly in the pictures but it real life it's a look I quite like. I would definitely reccomend the Elemis flash balm as an illuminating primer too, my makeup seemed to go on really well after using it.   I hope you enjoyed today's post, keep checking back for more. I have to say I apoligise for having simply terrible hair in these pictures, let's all pretend it's much better....thanks!

Winter Favourites

Hello!!   It's time for the seasonal round up of all my favourite things again. I'm hoping that Winter is just about over now and we can all start looking forward to Spring and Summer. I'm definitely ready for a bit of warmth!  

  I've found a few hair care gems over the past few months that have led to a lot of hair related compliments, even after a day or two too long without washing. The first is the Tangle Teezer. These have been around for ages but this is my first one and I honestly don't know how I've managed so long without one. I have quite thick hair that often got quite knotty after washing it. The tangle teezer stops all of this and manages gently glide through the hair without damaging it.   The v05 miracle illuminator heat defence is brilliant. Lilly Pebbles had mentioned this a few times and when my old heat protector ran out I decided to give this a go. I thought it might leave my hair feeling greasy but it doesn't at all and just makes my hair feel really soft and smooth. I always think it's hard to tell if heat protectors are really doing any good but I love the way it makes my hair feel so I'm more than happy.   The Charles Worthington texturising spray has been raved about quite a bit in the blogger world and celebrated as a much more affordable version or the Oribe dry texturising spray. I couldn't bring myself to pay for that one so I've no idea how they compare but I absolutely love the texture this gives to my hair.  

It's no secret that I love the Real Techniques make up brushes, I rave about them all the time. Over Christmas time I treat myself to the Nic's pics set. The Duo-fibre face brush has fast become a favourite of mine. It's perfect for blush as it blends beautifully and picks up just enough colour to give a lovely wash of colour.   I mentioned the Maybelline colour drama in the colour light it up in my last post. I absolutely love everything about this. I even love that it smells like a real crayon. As we start to move into Spring I might not wear this quite as often but will definitely be trying out some of the other shades.   The Maybelline brow satin in the colour dark blond is what I've been using on my brows recently. I was using the Soap and Glory Archery but prefer the colour of this one. It has a pencil on one end and powder on the other. I haven't used the powder too much but love the pencil side.  

The Elemis skin nourishing range is one of my favourite smells ever. I've tried the milk bath before and loved it but I have showers more than baths so the shower cream is perfect for me. You can smell it on your all day and it leaves the skin feeling really nice and soft.   The lovely Tanya Burr brought her book 'Love Tanya' out recently and I couldn't wait to pick it up and have a look. I think she's absolutely gorgeous and new from the sneak peaks she's put on instagram that the pictures were going to be stunning. It hasn't disappointed. I think this is a brilliant coffee table book as you can just pick pages at random and have a little read rather that going from start to finish. Well done Tanya!   I hope you enjoyed today's post. I enjoy putting these ones together. Keep checking back for more.

What's in my travel wash bag

Hello!!

I mentioned in my last post that it's my birthday soon and I am lucky enough to be going away to Paris for a few days. I'm ridiculously excited and have a few Paris related posts planned for when I'm back. Today I thought I'd share with you what skin and hair care beauties I've trusted enough to come along with me.

Hair:
-Herbal essences hello hydration shampoo.
-Aussie 3 minute miracle deep conditioner
-Colab dry shampoo in London (very excited to try this, I've heard amazing things)


Body:
-Decleor aroma cleanse toning shower gel
-Superdrug orange and satsuma shower gel
-Nivea pearl and beautu anti-persperant
-Carex complete strawberry laces hand gel (eeerm, best scent ever!)
-Nivea irresistible smooth body lotion

Face:
(I've decanted my cleansers and moisturiser stackable pots to save space, I got the pots from Superdrug)

-Elemis balancing lime blossom cleanser
-Elemis tri-enzyme facial wash
-Simple kind to eyes eye balm
-Olay complete care cream
-Decleor hydra floral masque

Hope you enjoyed today's post. I always enjoy being a little bit nosey and seeing what other people are carrying with them. I'll be back with what's in my travel make up bag soon!!

Robyn xx

Evening skin care routine:Autumn/winter edit.

Hello!!

Today's post is my evening skin care routine for the cooler months. Hopefully you caught my morning skin care routine but if not you can click here. Hopefully some of you will find this one helpful.

 

-First thing I use is the Body Shop waterproof eye make-up remover. I use a tiny amount of  this with damp cotton pads and it gets all my eye make-up off with just one go. It's incredibly gentle on the eyes and doesn't leave any oiliness like a lot of eye make-up removers do.

-Next thing I use is the Elemis balancing lime-blossom cleanser. I've mentioned this in a blog post before which you can read here. My bottles looking a little bit sad now and I will definitely be getting another bottle soon because I think it's brilliant.

-I then follow this up with the Elemis balancing lavender toner. The Elemis toners all come in spray bottles which feels really refreshing on the skin. I just spritz a couple of pumps and it feels really cooling and soothing on my skin. The lavender scent is lovely and relaxing before bed too.

-Next I use the Simple soothing eye balm which I mentioned in my morning skin care routine, I find this works just as well in the evening and helps to sooth my tired eyes before bed.

-I then use a night cream. I'm currently using the Olay double action sensitive night cream. I always like to smother my face in night cream before bed so I've worked my way through this pretty quickly but really like the texture of this one and find it very hydrating. I've only recently re-discovered Olay but have been enjoying there products a lot recently.

-About once a week I like to use a mask over night to really lock the moister into my skin. I've currently been using the Decelor hydra floral masque and absolutely love it. (Being the idiot that I am have taken a picture of the wrong product but to my defence the bottles look very similar!) This mask goes on as a really smooth cream and then completely sinks into the skin and disappears. I leave it on over night and rinse off whats left in the morning. It makes your skin feel amazing and I always feel like my skins glowing after I've used it.

Hope you enjoyed today's post. Keep checking back for new updates as I've started to upload a bit more regularly.

Robyn xx

Morning skin care routine:Autumn/Winter edit.

 

 

Hello!!

 

Today I'm going to run you through my current morning skin care routine. I'm really happy with my skin at the moment and although I've definitely cleaned up my eating habits recently I would mostly put it down to the products I'm using. I would say my skin is combination to oily but is definitely starting to feel a bit dehydrated recently due to the cooler weather so I've started to use a few things to lock in a bit of moisture. Hopefully some of you find this helpful!

 

-I always start with the Elemis tri-enzyme resurfacing facial wash. This really helps to smooth my skin and leaves it feeling squeaky clean and incredibly soft. I used to suffer with broken capillaries and redness in my cheeks and the resurfacing technology in this seems to have really helped to reduce the appearance of these.

 

-Next I use the Elemis gentle rose exfoliator. I don't use this every single day although it's designed to be gentle enough to do so if you feel you need to. I only use it about twice a week and feel that this is enough for me. I love the rose scent of this and the texture is so silky and gentle. As well as buffing off any old skin it also helps to hydrate the new skin underneath and my skin always feels better for using it.

 

-Next I use the Decleor aromessence neroli. Decleor have a range of these for every skin type and the neroli is designed to hydrate the skin. You need the smallest amount of this so you hardly feel like there's anything there but I can definitely feel that it's working. (PS, excuse my obvious blue tacking in the picture, dammit!)

 

-I then like to follow with an eye cream. At the moment I'm using the Simple soothing eye balm. My eyes are one area that I noticed being particularly dry and I will hold my hands up and admit that I had been slacking with eye creams. I'm sure this one isn't doing anything overly amazing for lines and wrinkles but it definitely helps to sooth and hydrate the eye area which I'm happy with for now.

 

-Finally I moisturise. I'm currently using the Olay essentials complete care for oily/combination skin. At first, I wasn't sure what I thought of this product but after using it for a while I find it really helps to soften and brighten my skin and think this will become a regular purchase for me.

 

Hope you all enjoyed today's post and hopefully some of you found it helpful if you have similar skin to me. Keep posted for my night time skin routine coming soon!!

 

Robyn xx

Summer favourites

Hello!!

Today I'm going to be talking you through a few things that I've been enjoying using through the summer months. Hope you all enjoy!

First up is the Dove essential nourishing lotion. I have the one for dry skin which isn't something I really suffer with but I always find they're a little bit more nourishing which I enjoy any way. This has the loveliest scent which really lingers. It's especially nice before bed as I find it really comforting and you wake up in the morning with silky soft skin.

 Next is a strange one but something my feet are really grateful for in the summer is the micro-pedi. This is basically an electric foot buffer. It's a little bit disgusting I know but using this a couple of times a week in the summer months gets rid of any nasty, hard skin on my feet and leaves them smooth and sandal ready.

Next is the benefit They're real push up liner. I've mentioned this before in a blog post which you can read here. This is the only eye liner that I've managed to do something that resembles a winged effect. Between the gel formula and the shape of the nib it really does most of the work for you. It doesn't budge all day either so you don't have to worry about re-applying throughout the day.

Next is the Elemis balancing lime blossom cleanser. I have oily to combination skin and absolutely love this for clearing up any un-wanted oiliness on my skin. I can't explain how nice it smells. I use this before bed to take my make up off and can smell it for ages after, it's amazing. I can see a difference in my skin already since I've started using this and would definitely recommend it for any one with a similar skin type to me.

Next is my first ever Essie purchase and I love it. The colour is Naughty Nauticle and I think it's so gorgeous. It's a really bright turquoise colour that I've worn all the way through summer. It's bright without being too in your face and I think it's a little bit different from the usual summer brights. I find it lasts on the nails really well too, I'll definitely be trying more Essie polishes in the future.

Next is the mac lipstick in creme cup. I'd eyed this up on every mac visit and finally got it a few months ago. I've worn it nearly every day since I got it and think it looks nice with a smokey eye or just on it's own for every day. I was worried that it would wash me out a bit as it's on the paler side but it doesn't at all.

That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed this little round up and it's given you some ideas on new things to try.

Robyn xx

Wish list

Hello!!

Some months the money just doesn't seem to last as well as others, and typically those months I want to buy every single thing I see. #firstworldproblems I thought I would put together a little list of a few things that I'm really pining for in the hopes that I'll get it out of my system and won't bankrupt myself as soon as I'm payed.

 

Aaah Pro-collagen marine cream, it's truly the stuff of skin care legend and all I can think about is how beautiful this would look on my bathroom shelf. I've mentioned this beauty before but they currently have a 100ml version out for breast cancer which is double the size of the usual one. At £99 a pot this is by no means cheap but it is for a good cause so we'll see how spendy I'm feeling come pay day.

 

These cute, little shorts are from Zara and are a total bargain at £12.99. I haven't got any holidays planned for this year yet but the weather in England is currently really good so I would still get the wear out of them. I love the whole outfit in this picture to be honest and wouldn't mind having the legs to match, a girl can dream.

 

 

 I've always loved a good kimono. I think they make any look fancier and it's always my go to look if I'm rushing out and don't know what to put on. Now long ones are all the rage I need one in my life and this one from Topshop looks right up my street. It has a beautiful pattern but I think the colours are subtle enough that it could still be worn with most things. I think I need this in my life.

 

 

This is another that may seem a little extravagant and to be honest it is but I've been thinking about getting canon for a while spotted the canon EOS 1100D digital SLR while on amazon the other day and they have a really good offer on at the moment. It would definitely still be a splurge but I have some amazon vouchers saved up and I keep telling myself it would be an investment! I still want to do a little but more research about this one to see if it's right for me but keep an eye out for beautiful pictures coming from this direction in the very near future.

Well that's everything. We'll see what happens on pay day but I'm sure once it actually comes around I'll have changed my mind about most things. Hope you all enjoyed today's post. I have a few ideas at the ready so keep an eye out on here in the near future and I'll be back soon.

Robyn xx

Elemis I love you

 

 

 

Hello!!

 

After recently doing a little bit of work with Elemis I can safely say that I am in love with the brand and thought I would share with you why that is! All Elemis products come with a promise of no animal testing, animal derived ingredients and no nasties aka parabins, artificial colours and artificial foaming agents. What more could you want than that! They also never advertise and choose to put their money into finding really great, natural ingredients and clinically trialling  them to make sure the products are as effective as possible. This can bump up the price a bit but I am much happier knowing that I'm paying for active ingredients rather than an advertising campaign and nasty chemicals. As you can see from the pictures I've got a good little stash of products now and have definitely seen a massive improvement in my skin since using them and will definitely be keeping a few in my routine from now on.

 

My top picks:

 

-Balancing lime blossom cleanser
-Pro-collagen marine cream
-Exotic cream moisturising mask
-Papaya enzyme peel
-Gentle rose exfoilator
-Skin nourishing milk bath
-Aching muscle super soak
-Frangipani monoi body oil
-Instant refreshing gel

Hope you enjoyed today's little post. I can't recommend Elemis products enough so hope some of you will give them a try.

Robyn xx

Shower essentials

Hello!!

Today I thought I would run through a few produts that I like to use in the shower. If I have the time I'm all about long showers. I like to have a good old pamper and sing at least 5 different songs while I'm in there. Here's a list of the things I use on my body while I'm in there.

 

The first thing I do when I'm in the shower is wash my hair using the Body shop ginger anti-dandruff shampoo. Now this sounds really unnatractive but this has saved my scalp over the last year. I used to suffer from a really painfull and irritated scalp and this shampoo fixed it after just one use and I've never looked back. The ginger scent is a bit different from other shampoos but I really enjoy it.

 

The next thing I use is the Rainforest shine conditioner from the Body shop. I use this on the ends of my hair and try and leave it in for as long as possible as I find this helps to really de-tangle my hair. This one contains no parabens, colorants or silicones so I know it's not going to dammage my hair in any way. Again the scent is lovely, it's very fruity but light and seems to last in my hair for a long time.

 

While I've got my conditioner on I washmy face first with my Arbonne calm gentle daily cleanser. I just use a couple of pumps and wash it all overmy face. On a couple of days of the week I follow this up with my Elemis gentle rose exfoliator which I absolutely love. The scent is amazing, it smells just like turkish delight (yum!) The beads in it are really small so I don't feel like it's too harsh for my skin but it still does a really nice job of getting rid of any dead skin that might be sitting on my face.

 

 I then use my Soap and Glory Clean on me shower gel. This has the typical, gorgeous Soap and Glory scent which I absolutely adore. It's really creamy and hydrating on my skin too and lathers up really well so you don't need to use too much product. A couple of times a week I like to follow this up with a body scrub. I'm not very loyal to these but I'm currently using the Boots cocoa butter sugar scrub. It smells nice and seems to do the job but I can't say I'm massively in love with it at the moment but it could still win me over.

 

After I've rinsed my conditioner out I hop out the shower. At this time of the year I'm normally too coldto hang about too long and spend a long time moisterising. This is when Giriligo spray on body moisterizing mist by Soap and Glory comes in. I find it works best when the skins still damp as it helps to trap in the mositure better. Again it smells amazing and sinks right into the skin so I don't have to hang around in the cold for too long.

 





 That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post and I shall be back with another one soon.

Robyn xx

Wish List

Hello!!

I've hit that point in the month where there's just a little bit too long until pay day and things are getting a bit tight. Don't get me wrong I'm still comfortable but I'm trying to be a little bit more careful with money and  save more when I can. This, sadly, doesn't leave much room for treating yourself but a girl can dream. I thought I'd share with you a few things that I've had my eye on lately so that you can maybe enjoy them even if I can't!

 
The first item on my list is the elemis pro-collagen cleansing balm. Cleansing balms seem to be the big thing in skin care at the moment and I can definitely see why. I use Elemis products at work so I have managed to have a little play around with this one and I can safely say it is one of the most luxurious products I have found. The smell is divine and the consistency is so silky smooth its ridiculous. I'm still sneakily hoping that I can snatch this product up soon!

 

 

 

 



The next item I've been lusting after is the Naked flush palette by Urban Decay. I've only just purchased the very first naked palette (I know I'm a bit late) and I absolutely love it. The naked flush seems to cover all bases with a gorgeous bronzer, blush and highlighter and I would very much like it to come and keep my naked palette company.

 

This little beauty of a playsuit is from Topshop. I really love the gathering in the centre and navy blue is fast becoming one of my favourite colours. This one however will have to stay on the Topshop shelves. I would probably only wear this one on a night out and due to my work schedule they are becoming very rare and when I do go out boogying I like to keep warm and cover my legs (I sound like a pensioner ha!)

 

 

 

 

This last one might seem a little bit random but I've recently been on a Game of Thrones binge and watched the first two seasons in about 3 days! I didn't think it was going to be something I'd enjoy. There's a LOT of killing and people are really horrible to each other which can be quite uncomfortable at times but the story is really good and has completely sucked me in. My boyfriend's a big fan of the show too so I think we might have to make a cheeky purchase before the fourth season starts.

 

So that's my little list of lovely things that I'd like to buy. Maybe you can get some of them on my behalf and enjoy them.

 

Robyn xx