The Winter Skincare Edit

As a dry skinned gal, Winter is certainly no friend to my skin. Getting my skin in to cooperate is hard enough as it is during the warmer months without having to amplify everything by 10 when the temperatures drop.

But switching up our routines for Winter is essential, no matter your skin type. Whether it be simply switching from powder to cream make-up where possible or from light-weight skincare formulas to rich, creamy ones, or changing up your whole routine entirely, the toll that Winter takes on our skin can definitely be managed with the right know-how.

Cream Cleanser

I use a gentle cream cleanser all year 'round because that's just what works for me, but I always recommend switching from a foaming to a creamier cleanser come the Winter months as cream cleansers tend to strip far less of your face's natural oils which is a great way to tackle Winter dryness and irritation. The cleanser I use every single day is QV's Gentle Cleanser. It's milky and wonderfully gentle but still manages to break through makeup and grit, leaving my skin feeling fresh, soft and moisturized.

Heavy Duty Moisturizing

My skin is incredibly difficult so I have to use a variety of moisturizers, varying depending on whether it is morning or night, Summer or Winter. In the morning, I start off with a layer of The Ordinary's Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5* and smooth Clinique's Moisture Surge* over that once fully absorbed. It works to repair the skin's moisture barrier over time, which ensures that my skin stays hydrated, even when out in the weather. I've been using ESPA's 24 Hour Replenishing Moisturiser** as an extra step on top of that (when I say that my skin is dry, I mean it). It's thick but layers wonderfully in which it doesn't leave my skin looking or feeling greasy, and is so very hydrating.

Winter nights call for heavy duty moisture, especially if you don't have a humidifier. I start off light with a few drops of Trilogy's Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+* and leave it to soak in for a few minutes. I then smother either FRESH's Rose Deep Hydration Face Cream, which has time-release technology - perfect for replenishing lost moisture, or ESPA's 24 Hour Replenishing Moisturiser** (yet again) all over my face. Right before bed (typically a few hours after my shower and moisturiser routine), I apply The Body's Shop's Sleeping Cream*. It's basically a face mask that sinks in enough to not stick to your bedsheets and gives me THE softest, plumpest skin come the morning.

Use a Facial Oil

Facial oils are worth the hype I promise you! Even if you have oily skin, I highly recommend a facial oil (rosehip is my favourite). It's not as scary as you think trust me. As I've already mentioned, I use Trilogy's Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+* every night and it make such a difference to the overall condition of my skin. On super dry mornings, or days when I know I'm going to out in the cold a lot, I'll even mix a few drops in to my moisturiser for an extra boost.

Hydrating Face Masks

Your skin will be so much happier if you make time for a weekly hydrating face mask (Sunday is my go-to pamper day). I like to use The Body Shop's Ethiopian Honey Deep Nourishing Mask* when I'm looking for a plump, smooth and glowing finish. It's sticky and has the consistency of honey but gives me a nice amount of much needed nourishment. I also use LUSH's Oatifix on days that my skin feels a little irritated. It is soothing, calming and great for sensitive skin (although a little messy). I reach for LUSH's Cup O' Coffee when I'm after some brightening. It does contain Kaolin clay, but surprisingly, it works for me and smells amazing, too.

Lip Care

I don't know about you, but my lips get super dry and flaky throughout Winter. I carry a balm (look for balms that contain seed and plant butters and oils) around with me everywhere I go. My favourite lip "treatment" is the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask, hands down. It's thick and incredibly hydrating. I pop some on every night before bed for soft, nourished lips come morning. In addition to constantly being smothered in some lip balm or other, I also love to use a lip scrub to slough away any flakes, smooth any rough patches, and just generally maintain the look and feel of my lips. LUSH's lip scrubs are my all-time favourite (always bubblegum)! They taste amazing and contain moisturising oils to really condition the lips.

Body Care

It's not just your face that needs extra nourishment during the colder months - your body does too. I love to use Palmer's Cocoa Butter Body Lotion** on my legs and arms after a shower - it's so hydrating and leaves my skin feeling smooth and moisturised without feeling greasy. I love to use their Cocoa Butter Concentrated Cream** on the driest parts of my body, too. Palmers products are amazing on sensitive skin (opt for fragrance free) and if you happen to suffer from eczema like I do, their products are absolute lifesavers! I've also been using ESPA's Smooth and Firm Body Butter** lately, mostly on my thighs and hips. It's such a thick, hydrating formula than sinks in quickly and leaves my skin feeling soft supple - heavenly.

Haircare

I like to class haircare as a branch of the skincare category too because I guess that we can technically call this step scalp care, right? Sure. Let's go with sure. I like to treat myself to a deep conditioning treatment once a week, typically on Sundays. I reach for Essano's Argan Oil Recovery Hair Mask to replenish any moisture lost due to the dry heat of the office heating system and give my hair a healthy, smooth shine. I also get quite bad static through my hair in the Winter - Redken's Frizz Dismiss Fly Away Fix Finishing Sheets* are amazing at combating static! They're basically dryer sheets.. but for your hair. Genius!

What are your most trusted Winter skincare switch ups? I'm always looking for new hydrating products to try!

Is there anything listed here that you'd like to try?

Some products mentioned in this post have been gifted to me, free of charge. This does not in any way affect my opinion. I will always give my true and honest thoughts and would never recommend anything to my readers that I do not 100% believe in, paid for or not. Integrity is something that I value tremendously. Said items have been marked **

This post also contains affiliate links. I will always disclose such information with an asterisk (*) for full disclosure to my readers. Feel free to find and purchase these products elsewhere if you don't get down like that. :)

P.R. Mail First Impressions - Testing New Skincare, Haircare and Bodycare Products

Over the past few weeks, I have very kindly been sent a handful products to try. Beyond the fact that I am forever grateful that P.R. companies and brands are interested in hearing what I have to say about their products, I am also so very excited to have the opportunity to trial some new products over the course of the Winter months.

I like to give new products a good month or so of testing before I publish my thoughts, especially when it comes to skincare, but I've been using these products for a few weeks now, so I thought that I'd share my first impressions with you all today. I'll be letting you all know how I get on with the products after continued use. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for full, in-depth reviews in a couple of weeks time - they're on their way.

For the sake of full disclosure, all products mentioned in this post have (obviously) been gifted to me, free of charge. This does not in any way affect my opinion. I will always give my true and honest thoughts and would never recommend anything to my readers that I do not 100% believe in, paid for or not. Integrity is something that I value tremendously.



The brand reps for Palmer's kindly sent a tube of Concentrated Cream and a bottle of Body Lotion for me to try. As a dry skinned gal, this package was much appreciated, let me tell you. I've been using both of these for a few weeks now (I very briefly touched on the concentrated cream in my "How I Relax After a Long Day" post) and I'm absolutely loving them both so far! Winter wreaks absolute havoc on my skin, so I've been using the concentrated cream on the driest parts of my body; I especially love applying it to my feet, popping on some socks and waking up to beautifully soft skin come morning time. It works wonders on places like elbows and knees, too. I've been using the body lotion on my arms and legs at night and it's been an absolute delight on my sensitive skin.



My package from RY.com.au contained three absolutely gorgeous products. RY has a special place in my heart - my very first ever Beauty Blender came from RY online back when I first started to get serious about make-up so I was thrilled to receive something from them.

I think that my favourite product of the bunch so far has been the ESPA 24 Hour Replenishing Moisturiser. Even if we ignore the fact that the packaging of this stuff is so luxe (LOOK AT IT!), I've really been enjoying this moisturiser! The texture is beautifully thick and rich and it has done absolute wonders to my dehydrated skin. I've had the flu for almost two weeks now, so my nose and mouth area were quite dry, sore and red. THIS DANG MOISTURISER has been the only thing that has given me a good amount of relief. No irritation, just soft, plump skin. I've been using it daily and will continue to do so - I'm loving it so far.

I've also been using ESPA's Smooth and Firm Body Butter. I've always been cautious of "firming" products because I think that you have to go in with the right mindset. Many people get stuck in the "this magical cream will remove all of my wrinkles, cellulite and stretch marks" ideal and end up disappointed. This cream claims to smooth and increase elasticity of the skin with regular use and although I do not expect this (or any) product to zap away all of my undesirable areas, I am excited to see if it helps to reduce the appearance of the couple of stretch marks that I have. Of course, I have not been using it long enough to see any crazy differences (I should do a before and after!) but I'm very curious to see how it goes! At the very least, this body butter is incredibly hydrating, sinks in quickly and leaves my skin feeling supple. Like the facial moisturiser, it has a thick, rich texture and is not all all waxy or greasy like many body butters tend to be (I'm looking at you, The Body Shop). Lovely to use regardless.

I think that the most intriguing product of the lot is the Grow Gorgeous Hair Density Serum. I know that a lot of you would be curious to see if this serum truly works (I'll definitely be doing a results post for you) because the struggles of thin hair are so real. My hair is quite thin and I'm constantly straightening it, so it's definitely on the damaged side of the scale. This claims to stimulate growth and improve hair density and volume, leaving your hair looking thicker and fuller. It has quite the impressive ingredient list, is paraben and sulphate free (tick!) and from what I've tried so far, it's a treat to use. I've been using it for a couple of nights now, on wet hair. I was a little nervous that it would leave my scalp looking oily, but that has not been the case when applying it to wet hair at all! I'll definitely be giving it a whirl on dry hair for comparison too. It's so very lightweight and my hair does feel a whole lot softer after application. I love the scent, too! To me, it smells like sexy men's cologne and I'm obsessed. To say that I'm excited to see how this performs long-term would be a gross understatement.

Have you tried any of these products? What are your thoughts? I'd love to know!

Would you like to try anything I've mentioned here?

As previously mentioned, I was sent these products in exchange for reviews. All comments and opinions expressed are 100% my own. I would never promote anything to my readers that I do not 100% believe in.

Getting a U.S. haul to Australia with myMallBox - A review and a discount for you!

As an Australian beauty blogger who's favourite brands all happen to be American, I am no stranger to the perils of the international online shopping. There honestly is nothing worse than adding a bunch of lusted after products to your cart, only to checkout to discover that the company doesn't ship internationally, or just not to Australia. Rude. Or how about those companies that do ship internationally, but charge a ridiculous price (often more than doubling the value of your purchase) to send your goodies to you. Story of my life.

 So when I was contacted* by myMailBox, a mail forwarding company that allows you to buy online from American stores and get your goods shipped to just about anywhere in the world, and given an account credit to try out their services, I simultaneously died and jumped at the chance to add some long lusted after items to my collection. If you're at all interested in signing up with myMallBox after reading this post, definitely do so via my referral link which will give you a $5 credit to go towards your first order's shipping cost!

Now, I pride myself on being someone who thoroughly researches just about everything before I jump in, so I spent a good couple of hours researching various mail forwarding companies before even agreeing to try myMallBox, and I actually found them to be the cheapest forwarding company that I came across. Not only are they located in Delaware, a sales tax free state, but creating an account is also free of charge. In fact, aside from the shipping costs (obviously) and the Buy For Me feature that I will discuss in a moment, the whole process does not cost you a dime. There are literally zero hidden, activation, monthly, membership, holding (before 90 days), repacking, you name it fees. KA-CHING!

Once you register, you are assigned your very own U.S. postal address, a suite number in their warehouse, then you get to shopping. Once you're ready to check out, just enter your myMallBox postal address and when your products arrive, you will be emailed to let you know. From this point, you can choose to either ship the products to yourself immediately, or if you've ordered from multiple sites, wait for everything to arrive and consolidate everything in to one package to save on postage.

The Buy For Me feature that I mentioned above is a service in which the myMallBox team will (you guessed it) place an order for you. This is particularly handy when it comes to sites that do not accept international payment. myMallBox will order your items for you and hold it at your suite address until you arrange for it to be shipped on to you. This does incur a service fee of 3% of the total value of your order + $4.50, which again, was the cheapest fee I had come across.

A note that I would like to make about Buy For Me, and this is by no means the end of the world, is that if you are using the buy for me service, you will miss out on any points redeemed as the orders aren’t on your own account. I suppose it's quite a redundant statement to make, because if you can't place an order due to the store not accepting international payments, you can't accumulate points anyways, but it's worth a mention (sort of). As for the free samples that we all love to receive, the myMailBox team will also include these in your order, as well as use any discount codes that you may have, but you must specify when completing the Buy For Me comments section.

You are also given multiple shipping options (DPS, ULP, USPS, tracked, untracked, express, etc.) and costs are based on the size and weight of your package/s (check out their shipping calculator). Just be mindful of tax, duty and customs charges when you shop online from overseas. I'm lucky enough to live in a state where I have never had to pay customs charges, but this differs from country to country so be sure you're prepared, just in case.

myMallBox will store your package/s at your suite for free up to 90 days, after which your account will begin accruing a $1 per day, per package fee. After 120 days they will liquidate the contents.

My experience and what I got:

Setting it all up was a simple process and my experience with myMallBox as a whole was a positive one. Aside from a few companies cancelling my order due to their own policies (read below), the whole process was as smooth as can be. The most enjoyable aspect for me, was the free consolidation service. I touched on it briefly above, but basically, to save a ton on shipping, you can opt to have everything consolidated, or re-packed in to one, cost effective package. By disregarding the often full-of-air-and-packing-peanuts box your order arrives to their warehouse in, unpacking your items and re-wrapping them safely in bubble wrap, you save sosososo much in shipping fees by reducing the size and weight of your order.

If I have one tip to share in regards to using a mail forwarding service, it would be to purchase enough products to qualify for free American shipping to avoid paying postage twice. It's common sense, really.

I placed orders at Too Faced, Sephora, Benefit, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Tarte and Ulta. This is where I encountered a problem or two. You see, upon checking out at both Ulta and Too Faced, I discovered that they do not accept international credit cards or PayPal accounts. This is of course, no fault of myMallBox, but it was disappointing nonetheless. MyMallBox does have a solution to this problem in the form of the 'Buy For Me' option that I mentioned earlier. I could have gotten them to do that for me if I really wanted them to, but I ultimately decided against it in this particular instance. Tarte and Sephora also cancelled my orders as they do not deliver goods to mail forwarding companies.

Lesson learnt: check the seller's terms and conditions before placing an order.

After all of that, I ended up with my Benefit and Anastasia Beverly Hills orders coming through. I waited for them both to be delivered to my suite and consolidated it all in to one small package which happened in under two days. I was not notified that my consolidation was complete, however. I'm unsure whether this was just a slip-through-the cracks type instance, but I was pleasantly surprised to log in and discover that my goodies we're ready for me to ship. My consolidated package was roughly 600 grams, and I (stingy life) opted for the cheapest tracked option. There was a cheaper untracked USPS airmail option which would have cost me $6.58 buuuut I decided against a non-tracking service for peace of mind. My parcel ended up costing $12.73 to ship via a tracked USPS ePacket service from America to Australia, which was much cheaper than I expected. For reference, Anastasia Beverly Hills wanted to charge me $17.95 to ship two products to me, whereas with myMallBox, I got a whole four items (and two samples) sent to me for a few bucks less.

It took about three and a half weeks for my consolidated package to arrive from my myMallBox suite (keep in mind that I did not opt for express delivery) and everything arrived accounted for and in perfect condition:

Benefit Dream Screen
I mentioned this is a beauty favourites post (read for my full review) at the start of the year. I've been using this amazingly mattifying (read: non-oily!!!) sunscreen for a while now, but it's unavailable in Australia so I'd been paying a lot to get this daily use bottle to me. I'm so glad I found a cheaper way to get it to my door.

Benefit Ka-BROW
After being so impressed by the Benefit brow products I got in my recent Adore Beauty haul, I decided to pick up Ka-BROW too. This is available in Australia, but it's much cheaper in the States. I also wanted to qualify for free American shipping by adding it in with my Dream Screen order. I absolutely cannot wait to give this a try!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade
A cult classic that I've been dying to try! I have far too many brow products these days, but after years of lusting over this pomade, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipstick 'Alison'
I've heard a lot about Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks, so I couldn't resist giving this a try. The pinky-plum brown colour looks a little different on me than I imagined, but the formula is amazing! So long lasting and non-drying. More to come for sure!

Benefit Dew The Hoola Bronzer sample
I've heard so many different opinions about the Dew the Hoola liquid bronzer. I'm a huge fan of the original Hoola bronzer so I can't wait to try this for myself.

Benefit Dandelion Dew sample
A pretty pink cream blush that would be perfect for a barely-there Spring look.

Despite my haul being less than half the size that it was originally supposed to be, I'm more than happy with what I got and I will definitely continue to use myMallBox for all of my U.S. shopping needs - a Nordstrom haul, perhaps? Again, if you are an international shopper yourself, and are thinking of ordering from the Unites States, please feel free to sign up to myMallBox via my referral link which will give you a $5 credit to go towards your first order's shipping cost. For full disclosure, I also receive a $5 credit for every person who signs up using the above link. 

Will you be giving myMallBox a try?

*I was asked to publish an honest review of my experience on behalf of myMallBox in exchange for a small fee and a shipping credit on my account, however, all comments and opinions expressed are completely my own. I would never promote anything to my readers that I do not 100% believe in.