Current Superdrug Skincare Favourites

There is a brand new Superdrug in Glasgow and of course the minute it opened I had to get along and take a good snoop about. handily placed in the West End retail park on the Crow Road this little beauty has parking right outside- pretty nifty for your last minute needs. 

Housing what you have come to expect in a good Superdrug branch, there is a brow bar and really well stocked perfume counter as well as an AMAZING wall of make up brands, it is a proper one stop shop. I am always so excited to see properly stocked shelves of all my favourite brands, and I am of course obsessed by collecting my points on purchases too. 

While there I picked up a refill of a few of my most used products right now and thought it was an ideal time to share. The First one is the  Simply Pure Hydrating serum that my best pal Mairead first passed on to me to try and I absolutely love it. Since then I have seen it raved about in so many places ( including a big fan in Sali Hughes), and  is often compared to really high end products which is amazing considering it costs the princely sum of  £2.69 and often on offer. This might look pretty inconspicuous but it is a lovely light formula that properly hydrates my skin and leaves it soft and nourished looking. I use it every morning underneath the moisturiser and I can really tell when I haven't used it. Being from the Simply Pure range it is fragrance free and totally suitable for all skin types as it is incredibly gentle. I actually laughed checking out the reviews for this on the Superdrug page while linking to it- so many simply beg PLEASE PLEASE NEVER DISCONTINUE. Now if that doesn't tell you how much people love it, I don't know what will! For less than a price of a sandwich, this is completely worth anyone trying.

Next up is the newest to my routine as I needed a new moisturiser with a light SPF for the end of winter. I had found success in other of the optimum range including the product below so it felt a natural place to look for something different. I settled on the Birch Water Day Cream with SPF 15 and for the time of year i needed it, it has performed just fab. The optimum range has loads of products with some excellent ingredients and usually has strong offers on ( currently £8.99 for this one) I have found it pairs wonderfully with the serum as it is similarly lightweight and hydrating and it sinks in super fast which means make up application is a breeze. I was delighted it was non greasy and without being rich it was still a good amount of hydration for my still winter burned skin.

The first Optimum range product I had ever tried was the Optimum Grape Overnight peel, that I had again picked up after hearing loads about it in beauty forums. This wee beauty has a gel texture that is very light and not super sticky to apply and is a glycolic product which is my ingredient of choice for my skin type. Stacked also with Anti oxidants it is no wonder it was a winner at the Anti Ageing beauty awards, you leave this on overnight and it gently exfoliates and leaves my skin feeling and looking really fresh in the AM. I use it 2 or 3 times a week and can always see the difference on those mornings, it just makes me look much brighter as my skin leaves very dull looking!Again I usually purchase when on offer which makes it really reasonable in comparison to a lot of my glycolic products.

I hadn't even realised how many of these products had actually settled into my routine in the last few months, I am totally keen on trying a few more too- I love affordable skincare options!! I have a wee bundle of other Superdrug highlights sitting ready to pamper with in the next few weeks, so I will update on how they go.

If you are in Glasgow I would totally make use of the new store, and check out a few of the above and see what you think.

Clearing up my skin with SK:N

Apologies for the break, a really busy few weeks combined with my skin turning into a raging spotty mess left me feeling not into blogging. It is amazing just how much your skin knocks your confidence and mood and this recent occurrence really left me feeling flat. I had very little skin problems in my teens which I feel super fortunate about, when I hit my 20's however it decided it was time to make up for it and a few changes in the pill and hormones had it in a right mess. It has never helped that I am a classic picker, oh yes- the skins worse nightmare. Pre-blogging and BCH ( before Caroline Hirons- obvs) I did the textbook approach of using the strongest, most foaming, and most irritating amount of products I could get my hands on to try and clear it up which I know now just has the opposite effect and gets the skin panic producing more oil! My skin eventually settled back down and aside from my pigmentation I didn't suffer too badly aside from the odd hormonal pimple, that is until now! I developed a nasty staph infection on my face which was the start of my recent woes, and deeply unattractive to look at ( crusting anyone?!) and it seems to have left in its wake a bout of possible acne. Now it could just be my skin going back through that 7-8 year cycle and changing, my hormones are possibly all over the shop or it could be from something my face isn't liking but it has been causing me all sorts of problems. From deep cystic lumps to sudden pustules out of nowhere and a heck of a lot of scarring being left over ( once a picker always a picker) I have been at my wits end trying to apply all the skin care knowledge I have to try and turn the situation around with out creating long term damage.

A while back I had been sent a range of the SK:N products to give a whirl but at the time the infection was just appearing on my face and they had to go right on the back burner while I calmed the initial situation down. I have since then being using a few of their products to try and both help the spots and also hydrate and moisturise the face and found they have been a big help so I had to share. I know about SK:N from their clinics and the great range of treatments they offer, but I had no idea they have their own line of products on offer too. With 5 ranges available covering corrective, repair and protect, anti-ageing and anti-blemish, they have definitely got your needs covered. I like the slick, clinical looking packaging, I love that the site lists all ingredients along with product information ( including instructions) and I like the actual product packaging as well- clean, functional and decent sizes. 

For the spot tackling side I have been incorporating the products containing ingredients like salycilic, glycolic and malic acid to help dissolve the oil and debris that was clogging my pores. The Glycolic Cleanser is a joy to use and the combination of active ingredients has been amazing on gently exfoliating the dead skin cells that have been causing me  problems and leaving my skin feeling really clean without over stripping it. It has a clip top lid, comes in a 200ml bottle and I find applying the thin liquid to the face and letting it do its work for a few minutes before gently removing works best and I have been loving using this as a post gym cleanser in the AM to keep my skin free of sweat and build up.

I have tried a combination of these Anti- Blemish products over the last couple of months and been similarly impressed. A couple of times a week I have incorporated the magic ingredients of Glycolic and Vitamin A in the Pore Refining Lotion which have again been helping to remove the dead skin cells that were causing my troubles and help slow down the over production of more. I have been using this in the PM after a balm cleanser and being sure to only use a really small amount. It is important not to overdo it when using ingredients like these as you can easily aggravate the skin even more making the spots worse but with gentle use of this I was definitely noticing less spots occurring. In the AM I have been moving between the Blemish Control Lotion and the Maintenance Serum depending on how inflamed my spots were and they have been fab at keeping my oily skin at bay and work really well under my make up.

To make sure my skin was staying hydrated at the same time as these stronger products I was using a couple of the anti-ageing range too which  has been really lovely to use. With the other products having exfoliating properties it was important to make sure my SPF game was strong so I picked up the Moisturising Cream with SPF 30 to make sure I was protected. This bad boy is oil free which is music to my skin clogging ears and rich in antioxidants which should be working away to keep wrinkles at bay as well as helping my skin say soft and clear. If I was being nit picky I would love this in a tube form as jars always get my hygiene shackles up  but it has performed really well and not clogged my skin like other SPFs often do.  For my hols in August I am definitely going to look into their SPF 50 product which is only £19 and is also tinted so could be perfect for my next SPF adventure!

With ageing being on my radar generally I was excited to try out the Age Delaying cream for Younger Skin which I love! Stacked with the important anti-oxidant vitamins C and E alongside some vitamin A for cell turnover and shea butter hydrating the skin, this leaves my skin feeling amazingly plump after applying it at night time.

Over all I am super impressed by the ranges and the quality mix of ingredients they have put together. for the prices. I like their no nonsense approach to just tackling various skin problems head on and they have certainly been a huge help in getting my skin back on track and back to being much clearer and even again. I am hoping to get into the Glasgow SK:N clinic soon so will report back if their treatments live up to the results from the products.

Have a fab weekend everyone!