L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Liquid Care – Review

I don’t feel like I’ve written a review for aggggges, which of course sucks! Probably due to lip issues again as my lips appear to not be 100% healed, sadly. BUT I recently bought a product that NEEDS to be reviewed as soon as possible. 😛

I couldn’t remember when this came out in the UK but it feels like AGGGGGGGES ago! From what I could find on their Instagram page it said March 5th 2017 that it was first being spoken about… But I’m unsure if this applies to America, or Europe… I know it’s been  out at least a month because my friend Claire has been using it that long, PLUS I’m sure I eyed it up that long ago in Boots!

ANYWAY I finally decided to pick it up on a trip to Boots and I’ve used it for about a week now and I can safely say I love it and it needed to be reviewed.

First of all I’ll talk about the product itself.

Hydra genius is a liquid care moisturiser which you use on a daily basis in the morning and/or evening. I picked up the normal to combination skin as I have the latter, an oily t-zone and dry cheeks and chin.

I’ll type up what it says on the packaging as it’ll explain the product itself  better than I will. 😛

The Liquid Care; Fresh as water hydrating as a cream. Locks in Moisture for 72hrs. Enriched with Aloe Water & Hyaluronic Acid. Instantly Refreshes. For Normal to Combination Skin. Inspired by Asian skincare, L’Oréal Paris Laboratories introduces THE LIQUID CARE. It delivers pure moisture that penetrates quickly, deeply and continuously – without overloading the skin.

INSTANTLY REFRESHES. Immediately absorbed, the water-like texture rehydrates and reinvigorates the skin.

INSTANTLY LOCKS IN MOISTURE. The forumla penetrates deelpy for a healthy-looking glow.

72HR RECHARGE It releases continuous hydration and drenches the skin with moisture for up to 72 hours.

How to use: Every morning and evening, alone or after your serum, apply one pump to the face and neck. Massage in circular motions for better absorption. Use instead of your daily moisturiser.

You get 70ml of product in the tube and I’ve found a little bit goes a long way! I’ve seen people on Instagram using three pumps but I’ve found one to two is enough for me! Three is a bit overkill I find.

I’ve been applying this when the weather has been really warm in the mornings before work and in the evenings after using a face mask, both sheet and clay. I’ve found it’s given my skin a real treat more so in the evenings as part of my pampering routine, which feels lovely!

This doesn’t have a heavy scent to it which is great but it smells so refreshing and that alone I am in love with! It smells of aloe vera of course due to the aloe water ingredient. I can’t stop smelling the back of my hand after taking the pictures for this post. 😛 It reminds me of holidays in Fuerteventura.

As we all know in the UK it’s been REALLY HOT this past fortnight so our skin has been in need for cooling down, especially the face for myself. Alongside the hydra genius I’ve been using my twin-ball facial massager from The Body Shop loads lately and it works so damn good with hydra genius! The metal balls feel cooling on the skin and that mixed with the cooling sensation this moisturiser leaves too it just feels amazing. I highly recommend that facial massager, I’ll leave a link to it here.

I did notice a change in my skin after a week though to be honest. Not in the sense of moisturisation but in the sense of how it has helped with my oily t-zone. I’ve found that it doesn’t look as shiny and like I’ve dipped that entire section near a fat fryer. To be honest my t-zone isn’t bad, I mean it could be worse but when it’s warm it’s just not as good as it could be. You know? xD

I know it sounds really daft but even the packaging itself pleases me and reminds me of a Korean beauty product, which is what inspired L’Oreal to create this in the first place. I just love how to it a gorgeous and summery turquoise colour and it kind of reflects the ingredient aloe vera really. Well I think so anyway. 😛

Hydra genius does remind me of something from years before that I used to use, but to honest I prefer the hydra genius, which I’ll explain. The product I’m talking about is another product by The Body Shop, it’s the Vitamin E Aqua Boots Sorbet. It costs £14.00 for a 100ml jar and a little bit of it goes a long way. It’s definitely like a sorbet but is of a gel and lightweight consistency. This being said it’s thicker than hydra genius and does feel like you need to put a little bit more work in to make it sink into the skin. I wouldn’t fault it though, it’s a great product to use if you need to feel cooled down. I reviewed it when it first came out back in 2014, which you can read here.

This is the perfect product to use during the summer when the weather is hot and also an awesome product to take away to hot climates for holidays. I know I’ll be picking one up for when I go to Fuerteventura, but this being said they probably already have it for sale over there.

So what are my overall thoughts about this product? It’s pretty damn amazing to be perfectly honest with you! I didn’t actually think it would be as great as it is, but it’s wonderful. It might be a light weight moisturiser but it really does do what it states it will, all whilst being cooling and comfortable on the skin.

Although I would use this in the colder months, it’s been invented for summer really and it will definitely work best when there’s a heatwave.

Although I picked this up in normal to combination skin, you can also get it in normal to dry skin and sensitive skin. I was stuck for choice on which one to pick up, but I’m glad I went for the one I did now as it really has helped my combination skin!

Although this is usually £9.99, Boots have an offer on where you can pick it up for £6.66. I had a look to check the prices in Superdrug but it doesn’t look as if they stock it, which is a surprise!

I would say if you like the look of it, pick it up ASAP as I’m sure that discounted offer won’t last forever, sadly. I’m going to pick up a couple more bottles when I get paid next. I hope the offer is still on then.

Will you be picking up hydra genius? If so which version will you get? Do you already own it? If so what do you think? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

2014’s Top 10 Favourites

Image taken from weheartit.com

This is a post that is long overdue, and I’m finally getting the time to write it! As regular readers will know I’ve been away on holiday the past two weeks so any posts I usually have up on my blog at the start of each month, haven’t really been there this month. Great start to the year eh?

But better late than never eh?

I’m going to show my top ten favourites from the year and there might be a few from 2013, but I don’t care. If it’s a good product, I’m mentioning it!

• Garnier Pure Active Wasabi Fresh Face Scrub.

I’ve mentioned this on my favourites in the past and it has definitely been a great scrub to add to my bathroom in 2014! It’s actually for men, but this works perfectly on my female, sensitive skin so I’m not complaining. My boyfriend uses this too and I noticed a dramatic change in his skin, so it isn’t just me who noticed how good it is. This isn’t the cheapest scrub but I’ve owned this for months now, I use it twice a week and it’s still lasting me ages. There is also a face wash to go with the scrub but I won’t be trying it, maybe my boyfriend will in the future. Since using this scrub I’ve noticed any dry patches on my face have vanished and any signs of blackheads have dramatically evaporated. I highly recommend this scrub, even if you have sensitive skin like I do.

• Lush Comforter Bubble Bar.

I love Lush, regular readers will know this. I bought this bubble bar for the first time months ago when I went to Bristol for mine and my boyfriends first anniversary and it’s safe to say I have fallen in love with it. I’d always smelt it in the shop and loved it’s replica smell of Ribena but as soon as I eyed the price I left it. I regret never buying it until 2014 as this bubble bar lasts ages! The scent is so strong that you only need a little chunk and it’ll go a long way. I’ve found myself getting a good six baths out of one bar, some may prefer to use the whole bar in one bath or two halves to make two baths but I’m quite stingy with my Lush products and I like to make them last. This is really good for the skin and not only does it leave me feeling nice and soft, but it leaves me smelling gorgeous too! I love using this on days where I’m having a lazy day in the house and want a pick me up. It’s also nice to use before you go to sleep as when you get under the covers you can smell it for ages. This is definitely going to be a bath staple for me now.

• Easy Nails Fast & Fruity Nail Polish Remover.

This is by far one of the best nail polish remover pots I have ever used and that includes Bourjois too. Bourjois nail polish remover pot was the first one I tried and for how much it cost, I was incredibly disappointed. I’ve recently got it back out of my nail polish drawer to try and use up as I’m sick of the sight of it now. For less than a £1 you can pick up the Easy Nails pot and it does a hell of a lot more than the Bourjois one has ever done. I pop my finger in, twist it back and forth ten times and I’ll pull it out as clean as the nail was before I applied the polish on the nail. I stock up on these as soon as my current one feels dry. With glitter nail polish I don’t find it works as well as the aluminum foil technique does (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google it. But I will write about this technique very soon) but I don’t want it to get rid of glitter polish. It’s just so great to use and quick too. I wish I had taken one on holiday with me as it would have come in handy when I painted my nails there.

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet.

I’ve written a review for this before and whilst I’ve now replaced this with Clinique, I still loved it in 2014 and would be lying if I said otherwise. This was perfect during the summer and my prayers were answered when it came out as it was boiling outside and this really did cool me down. As well as that it left my skin feeling super moisturised and feeling soft. This was rumoured to have some sort of matte texture to it, but I didn’t really notice that myself. I took this on holiday with me and it really did keep my skin feeling cool, soft as well as feeling good in the evenings. This is great to use both in summer and winter but I do find the benefits of the cooling sensation work a hell of a lot better when the weather is warmer. If you want to read more about this, definitely check out the review for it!

• Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm.

Another product I’ve reviewed  and used time and time again. I’m currently using it as it’s my go to lip balm whilst I’m in the house. I first tried this after attending VintSetFest and this was in my goodie bag. I’d heard nothing but good things about Carmex but never really thought to use them before but now I love them! I even bought the strawberry flavour not long after getting the original one, which I haven’t loved as much but it’s still good and what I used whilst I was on holiday. I probably won’t buy another one of these for a while just because I want to use my current lip balms up, but I think the next one I will try out will either be cherry or mint.

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector.

I’ve mentioned this hand cream many times and a year later I’m still using the same tube! This tube really is huge and a little bit of this hand cream does go a long way. As this one is for dry to very dry skin it’s perfect for when my hands begin to show signs of eczema and so far my hands haven’t had any issues… Well apart from when I landed in the UK from my holiday, my one knuckle split. Hello cold weather, much? I use this before I head out and whilst I’m out and about, as I often use other hand creams in the house. I definitely recommend this hand cream to anyone who suffers with eczema like myself.

• MAC Lipstick in Goddess of the Sea.

This is the last MAC lipstick I bought and it’s definitely one of my favourites. It’s a gorgeous purple shade and is cremesheen so it not only lasts ages but looks slightly glossy too. I can’t wait to try this underneath my new Estee Lauder lip liner as I’m sure it’ll look beautiful. I have used it with a dark purple lip liner and it looks really dark and gothic, which I rather like. I especially love the packaging for this due to the water effect, something I am a huge nerd of (I love water!) so this appealed a lot when I went to buy it. I don’t wear this shade as much as I do with some of my MAC lipsticks because it’s limited edition. I think if I find it somewhere cheap I’ll definitely buy myself a back up.

• Viktor & Rolf BonBon EDP.

Since the start of 2014 when bloggers started to announce the release of these and tell us all the notes and how yummy it smelt I was excited. So when it finally came out in the UK and on the shelves to test out and buy, I gave it a sniff as soon as I could. I fell in love with it, but however I didn’t fall in love with the price and for ages I put off buying it. However before I went to uni I decided it was time to use the points I earn at work to use to buy this, so this cost me NOTHING, not a single penny! I took this on holiday with me and was lovely to wear on days when I wanted something light, but powerful enough to last all evening. If you haven’t smelt this yet, please make sure to as it’s not like anything that is out there at the moment, plus the bottle is adorable.

• Macadamia No Tangle Brush.

I’ve owned this brush over a year now and it’s by far the best brush I have ever owned. I got it for £10 at VintSetFest and since then I’ve not replaced it, although I do need to buy another one asap as this one is getting a little battered now. It’s a no tangle brush, as the title states so it helps me to brush my long hair without ripping, causing damage, or causing any pain to myself. It also feels really nice to use due to the soft bristles. I especially like that this has a handle as it’s easier to hold and means I can have control whilst brushing my hair, unlike brushes like Tangle Teezer’s. I definitely recommend this brush over the Tangle Teezer.

• OPI Nail Lacquer in How Is Your Dane?

This is by far my favourite nail polish by OPI that I own and there’s a couple of reasons why. First of all the name, which is shared by my boyfriend, who is called Dane. I of course love the shade too, which is a beautiful chocolate-brown shade with a gel like finish. I was going to wear this on holiday but decided against it incase it got ruined due to the heat, or any other reasons. This is definitely the perfect polish to wear throughout autumn and winter, but will be nice to wear throughout all of the year. I like to wear it with glitter nail polish, as well as with a matte top coat to give it a different finish.

So those are my top ten favourite products from 2014! There are already so many more things I’ve found for my top ten for 2015 already.

What were your favourites from 2014? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all.

November Empties

This is the final empties post I’ll be doing, sad times! I just don’t have it in my heart to do these posts anymore and if anything they feel like a chore to do at the best of times. If I really want to rave about a product then I’ll review it, or even have it mentioned on my favourites post. Also if I’ve used a product I really didn’t like I’ll probably do a “Monthly Dislikes” post, but we shall see!

For now let me tell you about my empties from last month, there are quite a few.

• Gillette Satin Care Shave Gel.

I’ve mentioned this before, if you would like to read more about it look here.

• Palmolive Lavender & Chamomile Caring & Aromatic Hand Wash.

I somewhat enjoyed this hand wash but not enough that I would buy it again. It smelt really nice and due to the ingredients had a lovely relaxing scent to it afterwards. This left my hands feeling soft and clean but not as soft as other hand washes have in the past, which was a little disappointing. I wouldn’t buy this again however as whilst the scent was nice, it was also a little on the overpowering side. If you love lavender and camomile then you’ll love this!

• Dolly’s Mixtures Shower Gel in Pina Colada.

I really enjoyed using this shower gel and for a £1 I’m pretty chuffed that I picked it up! These are from ASDA and come in variety of scents. They’re a strong scent and foam up beautifully when applied to a sponge. When I used this my skin felt lovely and soft, and smelt amazing! I love pina colada’s so anything that smells of it just makes me happy, as sad as that sounds. It just reminds me of summer evenings, last Christmas with my family, and how holidays should smell of. I will definitely pick up this scent again, but I would like to try one of the other scents first.

• T-Zone Clear Pore Anti-Bacterial Cleanser.

This is a great and basic cleanser which only costs a couple of quid, if that! I’ve already spoken about this in the past so I’m going to leave that link here.

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet.

I LOVE this moisturiser and I already have another pot of it which I’ve started to use! I’ve written a full review about this when I first bought it, which you can check out here. I’m really pleased that this lasted me three months, although I won’t lie, it has felt like a lot longer!

• Wilko Fruits Bath Pearls.

These bath pearls really did remind me of my childhood. My Mom used to take me to The Body Shop once a month and treat me to a couple of shower gels and some bath pearls. I loved using them in the bath and how they would explode inside. I never saw them for years until now and what a let down these are! I only used a couple, the rest of the packet were used by my boyfriend, who loved them! But he’d never experience bath pearls as a kid, so the child in him loved these I reckon. These were good, don’t get me wrong. They release different scented oils which leave the skin feeling a little greasy and moisturised, but I just didn’t like them. The nostalgia just wasn’t there 100% and I was pretty gutted because of it. BUT for a £1, I can’t complain.

• Wilko Fruits Bath Bomb in Blueberry & Grape and Lemon & Black Pepper.

I didn’t use these bath bombs, my boyfriend did but I just wanted to talk about these. I reviewed the Strawberry & Pomegranate bath bomb and it wasn’t the most positive of reviews. After using the bath bomb I was rather poorly and left with a urine infection and thrush. I do have sensitive skin, but I didn’t think that these would make me THAT ill! As my Mom bought me three of these bath bombs for £3 I had two left over to use up. My boyfriends been staying at mine the last couple of weeks in November and as he wanted a bath or two, I decided he might like to use these. He did! He doesn’t have sensitive skin like I do and therefore didn’t come across any issues. He said his skin felt soft and he did smell really nice after use. These two bath bombs smell amazing, much better than the Strawberry & Pomegranate one! I guess I just wish I could have used these myself, but alas I’m not risking getting ill again. It isn’t worth it. If you don’t suffer from sensitive skin, or want to get your boyfriend something nice for Christmas, definitely invest in these as they’re great for men and come in a variety of scents.

So that was my last empties post… Are you going to miss this series? If I get enough people saying they will, I may keep on doing it. I’m going to see how I feel.

What did you use up during November? Let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope December is going well for everyone so far.