Cold Weather Beauty Essentials

If you live in Malta or a country with an extremely humid climate, you would know we cold weather is a killer here - for me at least. We don't get snow or sub-zero temperatures mind you, but when it's cold it can wreak havoc on my skin, making it dry and lack-lustre all over.

In this post, I will be sharing my absolute must-haves to beat the effects of cold weather as voted by you on my Instastories ;)

I will start with the one product that I don't leave the house without - hand cream. My favourites are from L'Occitaine and The Body Shop not only because they smell nice and do an excellent job at keeping chilblains at bay, but they come in the perfect size to put in handbags, which is why I make sure to stock up on them as I literally keep one in every bag. My personal favourites are Argan Oil, Almond Milk & Honey and Coconut from The Body Shop (I currently have the Christmas trio which is shown here), while from L'Occitaine, my favourites are the three shown in the picture with the Radiant Balm being my absolute favourite - it leaves a subtle shimmer on your hands + smells amazeballs!

Hydration is key all year round but I do tend to switch formulas according to season. For my face, I am currently loving Lierac Hydragenist Moisturising Gel Cream and Moisturising Serum. They both have light textures that are easily absorbed and don't cause my skin to turn oily while doing a great job at hydrating my skin. To prevent my lips from getting chapped, Eau Thermale Avene lipbalm is my best friend. It doesn't leave a white residue on my lips and keeps them moisturised for a long time.

For the rest of my body? Human+Kind Family Remedy Cream does the job. It is suitable for a ton of skin conditions, is all natural and is great for use by children and adults alike! Lastly, to beat cold weather's number 1 ailment - colds, I have resorted to ImmunAction and PropoliEVSP by Erba Vita. You can read my full review about both products here but they have really helped me in beating colds this year.

What are your trusted ways of beating the cold?

July Collective Haul

July has been a good month - I enjoyed my summer cruise holiday, tanned a little bit more than I'm used to and MAC has finally opened in Malta! Here is what I purchased throughout this month, starting with online orders from KIKO and Makeup Revolution.

KIKO had an up to 50% sale on most products and since I had wanted to get some things from them, I though this was the best time to do so. I purchased the XL pochette which is excellent for travelling as I can keep all makeup and toiletries in one place. I also bought the small nail travel case which comes in handy when I need to take just a few essentials to do my nails on the go. Needless to say, I bought a backup of the Brush Cleanser and I also wanted to try some new products, namely the Summer Wipes which are supposed to dissolve salt from the skin after a dip in the sea, the CC Cream Cushion System (I got the shades 30 Warm Rose and 30 Warm Beige) as well as a glass nail file.

Next up is my first ever Makeup Revolution order which consisted of the newly launched Ultra Base Corrector palette and the Ultra Contour Palette. They were even so nice to include a full sized tester of the I Heart Obsession Palette - Paris. I have very high expectations of this brand after hearing a lot of good things about their products and I am really looking forward to try the palettes out.

More beauty purchases, this time from my cruise holiday. I didn't have much time to shop around for clothes but I did splurge a little on makeup and beauty products. First up, this Roses et Reines hand cream from L'Occitane which I had been dying to try out!

Next, I had the opportunity to visit a The Body Shop outlet in Corfu, Greece which was on sale and I bought the Smoky Poppy Body Massage Oil and the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil. The lady was also nice enough to include some moisturiser samples. In the same street, there was a Hondos Centre which was having 23% off MAC and of course, I couldn't pass it up...I bought Dame Powder Blush, Hot Gossip Cremesheen Lipstick and a Dazzleshadow in the shade Can't Stop Don't Stop from the Le Disko Collection. I also bought another glass nail file on visiting Dubrovnik in Croatia.

By now, everyone knows that MAC has also opened in Malta and I got the following items, of which you can check out more pictures here. I got Prep+Prime Fix+, Fluidline in Dipdown, Matte Lipstick in Velvet Teddy and Frost Lipstick in Ramblin' Rose.

Lastly, my boyfriend treated me to this very comfortable pair of Tommy Hilfiger flip-flops and mum had ordered this cute pair of sandals off the internet in a wrong size which luckily fits me :)