Review: Proactiv Solution

Just over a month ago I was in boots with my mum, and she stopped by the skincare section and picked this set up for £39.99 - we both acknowledge that my skin gets pretty bad so figured we'd try out a more expensive skincare product.

Proactiv Solution is a three-step skin treatment which you use twice a day. You start with the Renewing Cleanser, which you use by applying to a dampened face with your hands, and it cleans and exfoliates your skin. The second stage is the Revitalising Toner to sooth and balance the skin, which you saturate a cotton pad with and smooth over your face. Finally, there's the Repairing Treatment cream, designed to prevent breakouts, which you use a small amount of all over the face once the toner has dried.

All of the steps contain salicylic acid which (being a chemistry student who knows too much about these things) is a common skincare ingredient as it helps clear and prevent blemishes.

So, how has Proactiv worked for me? Well... I wish I had better things to say about it, I really do.

At first my skin seemed to get slightly worse, but I figured this was just the product 'purging' my skin - where it basically brings out the impurities from deep in your skin, meaning it has to get worse before it gets better. The spots brought out by this were cleared within another week or so, however after this my skin hasn't seemed to get much better than it originally was, just stopped it from getting worse - which the cheaper cleansers I was using before were doing anyway. So basically - I haven't seen the improvement I would have been hoping for at that price.

I have also found that Proactiv dries my skin out a lot. I was expecting the treatment cream at the end to act as a moisturiser as well but it does the complete opposite! I have to use a moisturiser after I've finished the three-step routine, and even then my skin still feels dry.

Finally, the box this came in advertised it as a 60 day set, and maybe I'm using too much but I've found this to be very optimistic. I've been using it for approximately 5 weeks, so about 35 days, and as you can see from the photo, I definitely don't have 25 days worth of toner left and I think I have even less of the repairing treatment cream.

I'm going to carry on using this until I use it up, but I don't think I'll be repurchasing it any time soon.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for any other skincare products I could use!

Song of the day - Ellie Goulding - I Know You Care

Laura xo

Wishlist #1

1 - Marc Jacobs Mouse Flats - I fell in love with Marc Jacobs' signature mouse shoes the moment I saw them and have been craving a pair ever since! This red perforated pair is the favourite design on them I've seen so far. Unfortunately the price tag for just a simple pair of flat is shocking (though not surprising) so I guess I'll have to carry on admiring these from afar!

2 - Bioderma oil - I'm a little late to the party in wanting this, as everyone seems to have been raving about it! I've been wanting a different sort of cleanser for gently removing my makeup as I hate hate HATE having to use face-wipes all the time, so I'm considering exploring ebay (to which I am a novice!) to find  bottle of this beauty.

3 - Vans - Oh, vans. I'm such a sheep following the crowd, but I've been craving a pair of authentic vans. I think they're just so versatile though and could go with so many things that I own! Not sure what colour I want, however, so not only is this green pair on my wishlist, but also the red and the navy ones,

4 - A Feast for Crows - I've been obsessed with all things A Song of Ice and Fire lately, including the TV show, and I recently finished reading A Storm of Swords (oh, the heartbreak!). I'm dying to reading this, the fourth installment, but I made a promise to myself not to buy any more books until I've read the ones I already own. Guess I have some reading to get on with!

5 - Dot by Marc Jacobs - Another Marc Jacobs product that I immediately fell in love with. I've never liked with any other perfume like I have this one and I've been wanting it since I first saw (or should I say, smelt) it!

6 - Nars 'Iceland' dual eyeshadow - I've never been very experimental with my makeup, just more of a mascara-eyeliner-DONE sort of girl, and this is something I want to change. I think the pale green and purple colours in this palette are gorgeous and simple enough to be the sort of thing I'd like to experiment with,

7 - Bobbi Brown hydrating eye cream - my eyes are horrendous - dark circles and redness not to mention how generally tired they just look all the time. I'm hoping that an eye cream might be my answer and I've heard a lot of good things about this one!

Song of the Day - Kiss it Better - He is We

Oneself

I've been interested in a few things for a while: blogging, writing and a little bit of fashion and beauty. So, having had a blogger account sitting around for god knows how long, and with a little bit of help (thanks Callum for making the header, and for the advice which I of course did not follow), I thought I'd get off my butt and get posting.

And so it's time for the dreadful 'about me' part that everyone hates yet every blog has to have, right? I'm Laura, I'm 17 and I live in the south of England. I have a wonderful boyfriend, Callum, who I'd be lost without. 

Gosh, this feels awkward already. 

I'm at sixth form (studying English Language, Biology and Chemistry - and yes, the science combo does indeed make me want to die sometimes) in my second year, meaning I've been doing all my university applications lately - I'm hoping to study English Langauge and Linguistics. Ah, growing up is scary! I do this thing called drum corps which I'm not going to try and explain so google it, but if you do know what it is I currently march with the Black Knights here in the UK.

So this blog will my a bit of a mix: little snippets of my life, outfits, reviews, that sort of thing. I'm not one for photography with a fancy camera, or going on spiels about things for paragraphs and paragraphs, so this'll be pretty basic - just me and my thoughts and maybe a couple of shitty pictures. Or, at least, that's what I'm saying now - almost undoubtedly this will fall into the graveyard of started and never-kept-up blogs, but we'll see I guess! 

I also have a youtube channel also entitled 'fashionobble' - currently empty of videos, but I've been thinking about maybe getting it going, so I'll let you know how that goes!

EDIT: Lizzie said this blog post lacks in Kanye West. Don't ask. This ones for you, Lizzie. I mean, Kanye.

Song of the day - The Rains of Castamere - Ramin Djawadi