Taking off my big girl pants: Cervical screening

I haven't posted for a long time.  I've been busy with work and uni and general life stuff, but I think this is something worth posting about.

I had my first cervical screening today.

I'm going to tell you some general information about cervical screenings and then I'll talk about my experience.  If you're female and you think this is a bit too TMI, I would really advise that you read it anyway.  It's a part of life, and avoiding the topic will only build it up into a massive thing that you want to avoid.  Avoiding it is not in your best interests, so it's better to learn about it so that you can be prepared when you get your letter.

What is a cervical screening?
Previously known as a smear test, a cervical screening is a 'method of detecting abnormal cells on the cervix'.  Cervical screenings are not cancer tests.  It is to test the health of the cells around the cervix.  Yes, abnormalities could indicate different types of cancer, but that is just one thing they could pick up.  
The cervix is the lower part of the uterus.  It's about 2-3cm long in non-pregnant women, and bridges the gap between the womb and the vagina.

What's a cervix?

What is the test though?
The test itself is done by a nurse.  They have you lay on a bed with your feet facing each other and knees dropped to the side, then they insert a plastic speculum into your vagina.  Once that is in place, they use a plastic brush to collect cells from your cervix.

Who gets it done?

The test is offered to women just before their 25th birthday, and then is repeated every 3 years until age 50 when it is repeated every 5 years.

Why is it important?

Scientists and experts estimate that cervical screening saves around 5,000 lives each year in the UK.

Around 1 in 20 women (5%) have an abnormal result after a cervical screening test. It means that there are some changes to the cells on the cervix. These changes are not cancer. The cells often go back to normal by themselves. But in some women, if not treated, these changes could develop into cancer in the future. 

It is very rare for an abnormal result to show that a cancer has already developed, especially if you have been having regular screening. But this is possible.

Cervical screening can prevent at least:

45% of cervical cancers in women in their 30s
60% of cervical cancers in women in their 40s
75% of cervical cancers in women in their 50s and 60s

Since cervical screening started in the 1980s, rates of cervical cancer have almost halved.

More information on cervical screenings can be found at NHS.uk

My experience...

I got the letter a couple of months ago, informing me that I needed to schedule an appointment with a nurse.  I booked it for a few days later, and just as the appointment rolled around I promptly got my period and had to cancel.  Before then I wasn't too nervous, I just wanted to get it over with, but when I went to re-book the appointment I was told there was a 6 week wait.  

That 6 week wait gave me time to think about it, and build it up into this massive, scary ordeal.

Someone was going to be down there, with this huge speculum and a plastic brush and they were going to do things with both.  Dislike.

I spoke to a few people about their experiences, and they all said the same thing: They'd built it up and put it off and eventually they went and had it done and it was fine.  Even after hearing people tell me it was going to be fine, I still couldn't shake the anxiety as my appointment date approached.

So today rolled around, I woke up early, realised what day it was and quickly went back to sleep to avoid the next 3 hours of anxious waiting before my appointment time.

I got up, showered, shaved my legs, put on my big girl pants (and y'know, clothes) and then headed off to the doctors.  When I got there, the staff were all coming off their dinner break and having a chat behind the reception desk.  My brain automatically twisted everything they said into being about this cervical screening.  Rational.

The first thing I heard was "it's the girth that's the problem".  Instant association with the speculum! One of the nurses was telling the others about how she was building a she-shed.  I couldn't help but hear the word vagina every time she said anything about it.  My mind was melting.

My nurse called me into her room and told me I didn't need to look so terrified - obviously it was showing all over my face.  She talked me through what she was going to do and why she was doing it.  She was going to have me lay on the bed and then she would insert a plastic speculum into my vagina, which she showed me (the speculum not the vagina), then put a plastic brush type contraption up to my cervix, spin it around a bit to collect some cells and then put the cells into a little pot.

The pot will be sent to Oldham and it will be spun around so that the cells come to the top.  The cells will be put onto a slide and someone will look at the slide under a microscope to check the nuclei for any changes.

She also mentioned that, as my age group are the first to have had the HPV vaccine, they will be looking to see if that has had any effect on the number of people with abnormal cells.  It should be about 6 years until they know if the vaccine is working or not, which I found pretty interesting.

My results will be posted to me, and should anything come back abnormal, I will be asked to go to the hospital for a different type of check.

She stood up and started pulling a curtain around the bed, asked me to take my clothes off my bottom half and lay on the bed.  She had a strip of the blue paper roll for me to cover myself with and asked me to let her know when I was comfortable.

I wasn't ever going to be comfortable in that situation so I just did what she said and let her know when that was done.

She asked me to bend my knees up and drop my legs to the side.  Then she inserted the speculum, took her sample and said it was done.  It took about 5-10 seconds.

Why did I get myself into such a state over 5-10 seconds?
It didn't hurt, it was very slightly uncomfortable but not very, and she made the whole thing much less awkward than I thought it was going to be.

I got myself dressed, thanked her and left.

That was it.  Easy.  It's now 2 hours later and I have some mild twinges every now and then, but nothing requiring painkillers.  She said I may experience some spotting but I've had nothing so far.  It's all good.

If you're coming up to your 25th birthday, you've had your letter and you're building this up to be a massive thing, all I can say is relax.  The nurses do so many of these, it's nothing new to them, and if you tell them that it's your first one, they'll talk you through it and make you feel comfortable.

Don't worry.  It's fine, it's nothing.  At the very worst it's slightly embarrassing and maybe a tiny bit uncomfortable for a few seconds.  It isn't a big deal :)

Rach xo

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Suggested Post: Mooncup: This will change your life
Previous Post: November 2014 Favourites

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November 2014 Favourites

I'm back!

It's been a while since I last posted, but I have a good excuse (I think so, anyway) - I started University!  I'm studying Journalism & English and I've been busy learning and filling my head with all sorts of knowledge etc.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been spending my student loan on new products to try...

I thought I'd try something new, and attempt a 'favourites' blog.  Some of the things I mention may get their own, more in-depth blog posts, but this is what's happening right now, and I'm ok with that!

There were a WHOLE heap of things I was loving in November, and it definitely helped that it was my birthday on the 1st, and my lovely and amazing fiance took me into Boots and told me, basically, to choose my weapon.

I chose the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay.

I haven't tried a Naked palette before, shocking I know.  But I was just ready.  I was ready to try out these shadows that everyone just KEPT banging on about on YouTube and blogs and in my actual IRL life.

I'm now one of those people.  It's Christmas soon and the other two palettes are on my list for Santa (aka Chris).

The shadows are super pigmented, last all day with a primer, and most of the day without.  The colours in Naked 3 are beautiful pink and brown tones, and it's perfect for creating a more natural smokey eye look.

The brush that comes with it is okay, but I prefer using my Real Techniques brushes to apply and blend.

My typical everyday eye look is Limit in the crease, Nooner on the outer corner, Strange and Dust as an inner corner highlight and Trick on the lid.  I might add in some Darkside or Blackheart on the upper lash line if I want a more defined/dramatic look.  

I love it, I'm not sure how I lived without it, and I recommend that everyone read the rest of this post and then go out and buy it.

The Naked 3 Palette retails at £37, and despite searching far and wide, I haven't managed to find it any cheaper.

Next up on my Oh-My-God-How-Did-I-Live-Without-This list is the 1995 lipstick by Jaclyn Hill for Gerard Cosmetics.

Holy crap, did I even have a mouth before I bought this lipstick?  If yes, why wasn't I wearing this lipstick sooner?

I'm not even slightly exaggerating when I say that this is the best lipstick in the world and you need to own it.

Again, I'd seen it reviewed over and over on YouTube and figured it was just being hyped up because they were sponsored posts etc.  It wasn't until my friend Jess reviewed it that I even considered getting it.

I ordered it through the Gerard Cosmetics website, and it arrived from the US within about 10 days, which is pretty good going, I think.  Most things I order from the UK take about that long to get to me.

I tried it on and fell in love.  It's a matte shade, but it's creamy and moisturising and doesn't make my mouth feel all weird and gross like some others have in the past.  It's the most beautiful shade, and whilst I admit I expected it to be lighter, I really love that it's a few shades darker than my natural lip colour.

It has pretty good staying power if I wear it alone, but it's better if I line my lips with the Topshop lip liner in the shade Ceramic.  If I want really long wear from it, I'll put a bit of LipCote on top.

I've ordered two more of the exact same shade, to make sure I don't run out, and I'm 99% sure that it won't be my last order.

It retails at around £12 + P&P, but if you want to get free international delivery and 20% off to make it £9 total (who wouldn't?) just use the code FREEDELI at the checkout :)

Those are the two things I've loved the most for the past month, but there are a few other things that have definitely been up there on my list of things that made my life even better than it was. (They aren't beauty related, but they are great).

Prison Break.

I've been re-watching Prison Break with Chris, and I know I said I want the other two Naked Palettes for Christmas, but Santa, if you're reading this, I would gladly accept either Wentworth Miller or Dominic Purcell as an alternative.  Both if you think I've been really good this year.

The show is fantastic, it has a great concept, excellent actors and just... I mean, Prison Break!

10/10, all the awards, do watch.

Emma by Jane Austen

I've always thought about reading those Classic novels everyone always mentions, and never had the will-power to do it.  

Then, when Emma was on my assigned reading list for uni, I didn't have a choice not to read it (well, I did, but I would fail my course).  

Emma is perfect.  The story, not the character. 

Emma herself is full of imperfections and has an ego the size of the moon, and once I got past the 18th century language, I really enjoyed the book.  It was well written (obviously), interesting and funny.  I never expected it to be funny, I'm not sure why.

If you're ever thinking of reading this, don't put it off, you can pick it up for literally about 10p on amazon or eBay.

I may have saved the best 'till last here.  

Myself and Chris would like to announce that we have added two new members to our family...

Introducing Lumos and Knox, our incredibly adorable chinese dwarf hamsters, whom I love more than life itself, even when they pee on me.

They are tiny and cute and I just want to spend all my day watching them stuffing food into their faces and running through tubes and on wheels and up and down ladders.  They are perfect and I love them :)

Feel free to share your favourite things from the past month in the comments below, let me know the things you love, and tell me new things to try out.

Thanks for being patient with me whilst I've been MIA, and I'll try and keep up with the posts from now on :)

Rach xo

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Previous Post: Mooncup: This will change your life

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Mooncup: This will change your life

I guess I should say that if you're a boy, you shouldn't be reading this.  But I'm not going to - if you're a boy and you're reading this, share it with your female friends, your mum, your sisters, cousins, whatever.  Every girl should know about this, so keep on reading, and then click the little share button at the bottom :)

If you're a girl, and you're thinking this is gross, or something along those lines, I beg you to keep reading.  This product changed the way I see that time of the month and, without sounding too cheesy, it liberated me from having to worry about when it might happen, where I might be, whether I was prepared etc.  It's well worth reading about and if the physical, emotional or environmental benefits don't sway you, the monetary benefits might... you will save SO MUCH money.

So what's a Mooncup?  

The Mooncup is a type of menstrual cup, an alternative to disposable products like sanitary pads and tampons.  There are a few different brands, but I found Mooncup to have the most information online, and the easiest to find in shops.  The information in this post can, of course, be extrapolated to other brands of menstrual cup - Diva, Luna, etc.

The Mooncup is a reusable menstrual cup made from medical grade silicone, and collects blood rather than absorbing it as a pad or tampon would.  Then you take it out, rinse it and pop it back in and carry on with your life.

To put it simply, it sits 'up there' and catches menstrual blood.  It's reusable and has a ton of benefits.

Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930's, but were made from latex at the time.  Extensive research was carried out, a hypo-allergenic alternative was found, and the Mooncup was launched in 2002

The Benefits!

I'm going to split this up into a couple of sections, because the list is way too long just to write out and expect anyone to be able to make sense of it.  So first up...

Convenience:

The Mooncup holds THREE TIMES AS MUCH as a tampon or pad.  Three times!

It can be worn for up to 12 HOURS at a time, and just needs to be rinsed out and reinserted.

It can be worn overnight, whilst swimming, travelling, exercising or while you're sitting around on tumblr and watching YouTube videos.  Trust me on that last one, I definitely know.

It's discreet - It has no string - you can wear a bikini in confidence! And it comes in a little bag to keep it in for the rest of the month.

Health Benefits:

It's made from medical grade silicone, which is latex-free, hypo-allergenic and contains no dyes, BPA, phthalates, plastic, bleaches or toxins. 

It's non-absorbant, so it won't cause dryness and doesn't mess up your natural pH levels (35% of the fluid absorbed by tampons is your body's natural moisture)

It has measurement markings, so you can tell your doctor how much blood you're losing, especially helpful in PCOS, Menorrhagia, Endometriosis etc.

The risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is greatly reduced.

Environmental Benefits:

The mooncup completely reduces the amount of waste you produce.   On average, one woman uses 22 tampons or pads during each period. That's over 11000 disposable sanitary products in a lifetime!
In the UK, 4.3 BILLION disposable sanitary products are disposed of every single year.

The waste from this is enormous - not just the products themselves, but the packaging, the applicators, backing strips, and the boxes they come in - they all end up either in landfills or in the sea.  Do you reeeeeally want your used sanitary products being chucked into the sea?  Didn't think so.

With the mooncup, you buy one, and it lasts upto 10 years.  That's around 2650 sanitary products that you've not used and thrown away. 

Money!

The other benefit of one Mooncup lasting 10 years, is that you'll only repurchase it on average about 3-5 times. (unless someone flushes yours down the toilet, which happened to me.)

The Mooncup costs £20, so that's a total of between £60-£100 for your lifetime.

Tampons cost about £1.50 for 20 - given that the average woman uses approx 22 per month, and accounting for buying multiple boxes of different absorbencies that's about £3 per month.

That's £36 a year. £360 in 10 years. The average age of starting is 11 and the average age of menopause is 51. That's 40 years, or £1440.  Pads are generally more expensive, also.

Sizing

The mooncup is available in two sizes - A and B.  The sizes are based on pelvic floor tone, and not menstrual flow.  This varies based on age and whether you have had children, and the easiest way to see which size you are is by looking at the table below:

By looking at the table I can see that, because I am under 30 and have had no children, I am a size B.

But how do I use it??

Each Mooncup comes with an instruction guide, with diagrams showing how to use the cup.  The Mooncup website also has a comprehensive Advice Centre and FAQ section, for any questions on usage. 

Basically, you open up the bag and recoil in horror at the thought of this thing getting anywhere near 'up there'.  Then you open up the instructions and see that it's meant to be folded.  You start breathing again, and practice the different folds.

There are two main folding techniques which I will insert below (no pun intended).  I, personally, prefer the second one as it is more comfortable to me, but everyone's preference will vary and you need to try both to see which works best for you.

The mooncup is designed to be worn much lower than a tampon, but again this will vary from person to person.

But how will I get it out??

The Mooncup has a stem at the base, it looks scarily uncomfortable at first, but fear not! It can be trimmed to the size that best fits your body.  Personally, I close to get rid of the entire stem as I found it a bit irritating.

If you choose to keep the stem, all you do to remove the cup is give it a gentle pull to break the seal that formed when you inserted it, and then gently pull it out.

If, like me, you removed the whole stem, you just reach the base of the cup, pinch the sides to break the seal, and gently pull it out.

It can take a while to get the angles right, but if you practice beforehand, you'll get used to it pretty quickly.

Once you've removed it, just give it a rinse under a tap, or with some bottled water, or wipe it with some tissue.  Then pop it back in and go about your life!

But won't I feel it??

Because the Mooncup is made from a soft silicone material, you can't feel it once it's inserted (unless the stem is too long).  It's flexible and changes shape with your body.

Ok, I get it, but is there an instructional video??

Yes!! And it has subtitles in case you want your privacy!!

I would do a Pros and Cons for this, but there are honestly no Cons that I can think of.

I've been using mine for about 3 years now, and it has given me a freedom that I love.

Instead of constantly worrying about leaking, or being near a toilet to change whatever I was using before, I can now go out on heavy days and not worry about what I'm wearing and how far I am from a toilet.

I have gone from changing every 30 mins-1 hour to every 4-6 hours on my heavier days.  I can now go to work on those days, and not have to leave every half an hour to check or change.  It's incredible!

The Mooncup is available worldwide from the Mooncup website, or if you're in the UK, you can also pick it up from Boots.

If you've tried the Mooncup and want to share your opinion, please comment below!
Likewise, if you have any questions, or I've missed anything, comment below and I'll answer your questions.

Rach xo

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Previous Post: Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation Review

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Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation Review

For the past year, I've been using one foundation every single day, and can't believe I haven't written about it even once! (I had a draft post saved, and never actually wrote it). I've repurchased it 4 times now, and will continue to do so, because I can't see myself finding a better foundation than this any time soon.

I initially picked it up because it looked like it might be light enough for me, I hadn't seen a foundation available in such pale shades other than from places like Illamasqua and MAC, and I can't justify spending that amount of money on a foundation, when I'm on a pretty tight budget.  So I went for shade 010 Light Porcelain, and decided to give it a try.  At least with a drugstore foundation, if it wasn't the right colour it wouldn't be such a massive waste of money.

As it turned out, Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation stayed true to it's name - it is INCREDIBLE.  It's the perfect shade for my skin, and as it has a very slight pink undertone, it doesn't wash me out.  It makes my skin glow - not in a sweaty, gross looking way, but that dewy, healthy look everyone's always after.

Match Perfection is available in an impressive 11 shades, from Light Porcelain through to 402 Bronze (which is a medium, yellow toned shade), but there aren't any shades for dark skin, which is disappointing.  Everyone should be given the chance to try this!

Wearing Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation

I was a bit worried about the coverage when I tried it, as it's quite a watery consistency, and feels really light on the skin - but again, I was pleasantly surprised when it gave excellent coverage.  The Rimmel website boasts that it has 'Traceless coverage for perfectly flawless skin under any light', and I'd have to agree.  It's build-able so you can go from using a teeny tiny bit and completely sheering it out (perfect for you lucky people with freckles), to using a few thin layers and concentrating on problem areas to get full coverage.

 The staying power is pretty damn impressive, too.  I don't find myself having to touch up my face during the day, (but I generally do add a touch more if I've been out all day and I'm going out in the evening, just to make sure...) and the oilier areas of my face - nose, chin - stay covered and any redness is concealed all day.

 The formula is free from parabens, and has SPF 18, higher than most drugstore foundations, which usually have around SPF 15.  It comes in a glass bottle, which is nice as opposed to the cheap plastic ones you usually get, and has a pump top.

All this for £6.99 (or less depending on where you go - £4.98 in Tesco!) - you can probably see why I keep buying it!  

It's available from most supermarkets with Rimmel displays (the cheapest place I've found it is Tesco), Superdrug, Boots, FeelUnique and Amazon.

As always, thanks for reading and if you've tried the products, or found my review helpful, leave a comment below!

Rach xo

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Previous Post: Sleek iDivine Au Naturel Palette

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Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette

Okay, I know, I haven't blogged in like... 3, almost 4 months.  My laptop broke and I am incapable of getting anything done when I need to, so it took me a while to send it for repair.  By a while I mean 3, almost 4 months.  Whoops!

But on a positive note, i bought a ton of makeup in that time and have lots of posts coming up! Hooray for laziness and an addiction to beauty products - right? so let's crack on.

The Sleek i-Divine range is a series of super-pigmented mineral eye shadow palettes with a variety of matte, pearl and glitter shades.  My favourite one I have is Au Naturel, and it's been part of my daily makeup routine for... oh almost a year now (again, lazy blogger!). 

It has 12 neutral shades which would complement any eye colour.  They are surprisingly pigmented for 'drugstore' eyeshadows, and work well both as a wash of colour or for more defined/statement eye looks.

My personal favourites are Nubuck - the matte light grey, for a wash of colour over the lid, Cappuccino - the matte light brown, for a light contour through the crease, Bark - the matte dark brown for a deep contour on the outer edge or if I fancy looking like Lana del Rey for a day (who wouldn't?!) and Noir, the blackest black of all the black eyeshadows I've owned ever in the history of all time - perfect for lining the lashes or creating an intense smokey eye. 

I use these with the Real Techniques eye brushes - Base Shadow brush for applying the colour to the lid and crease, the Deluxe Crease brush for blending and the Angled Brow brush for liner (it gives a cleaner line than the smaller, fluffier brushes).

The shadows work well alone and tend to last a good 8 hours on me without a primer, but my eyelids don't tend to get super oily or anything.  With a primer I get a couple of extra hours wear and less smudging under the eye.

They are excellent shadows, especially for the price - £7.99! You can't go wrong with these. 

They're available from Sleek.com, and there are 17 palettes to choose from if this one doesn't feel like 'the one'. (also available from Superdrug and Boots)

As always, thanks for reading and if you've tried the products, or found my review helpful, leave a comment below! You can also like my Facebook page to be updated with new posts, or follow my blog on BlogLovin' 

Rach xo

Sleek Face Form - Contour, Highlight and Blush

'With multi-tasking elements such as contour powder, highlighter and/or blusher or bronzer, Face Form is the ultimate face definition kit in one neat compact designed to suit all skin tones.Please note: Face Form in Fair and Light come with contour powder, highlighter and blush. Face Form in Medium and Dark come available with contour powder, highlighter and a bronzer.'

It's no secret, I love contouring more than any other part of my makeup routine.  It's mainly because I have a massive moon face once I put on foundation, and nobody wants a moon face.  Anyone with skin like my own will know how daunting it is to contour your face - you constantly buy bronzer after bronzer and usually end up looking like you have some sort of skin condition - It's either orange, patchy or dirty looking.    Then there's the shimmer - even the matte bronzers I've used just love to put that little bit of shimmer in there.  The light hits it and bam, moon face again. 

Until I got this bad boy.  The Sleek Face Form - I am in love. 

The Sleek Face Form kit is a palette with a bronzer, highlight and blush, and comes in four different shades to suit your skin tone (Fair, Light, Medium, Dark).  I, of course, have the Fair one - being that I am 99% sure I'm in some way related to Caspar the friendly ghost.

I apply the contour powder first (you can see where I apply it in my How to Contour and Highlight blog - here), then highlight, and then blush.  I always do the highlighter before blush so that it doesn't give a solid stripe, because the blush blends over it a bit and softens it for a more natural look.

The bronzer in this kit is perfect for pale skin - it isn't orange toned, blends really well and gives a shadow effect to the face rather than an orange stripe.  I apply mine using an ecotools tapered blush brush, or a real techniques contour brush - depending on how strong I want my contouring.

The highlight has a slight pinky tone and gives a nice sheen to the top of the cheekbones, tip of the nose and cupids bow, without making you look like you just high-5'd a disco ball with your face.

The blush is a lovely pink with gold tones, it's really subtle and gives a nice healthy glow, and can be built up to give more of a dramatic look.  Again, I apply this with my ecotools tapered blush brush (because it is THE softest brush in all the land). 

I've had this kit for almost 6 months, used it every single day and have only just hit pan on the bronzer - the highlight and blush are still going strong!  It hasn't broken me out at all, and stays on all day.

I will definitely be repurchasing this when I run out - at £9.99 for 20g of high quality product, it's a bargain.  And the packaging is extremely convenient when you're getting ready in a rush.

The Sleek Face Form kit is available to purchase from Sleek, Boots and Superdrug.

As always, thanks for reading and if you've tried this product, or found my review helpful, leave a comment below! You can also like my Facebook page to be updated with new posts, or follow my blog on BlogLovin' 

Rach xo

My NSpa Daily Skincare Routine

NSpa is a brand of skincare, bodycare and haircare created by the experts at the UK's Number 1 Day Spa - Nirvana spa.  The products are all dermatologically approved and paraben free, and none of the products or raw ingredients are tested on animals.  

After trying out the NSpa Beauty Rituals Beauty Box, I picked up a few more of their products and have fallen into a skincare routine that works perfectly for me, and my skin has never looked or felt better.  I've even switched to a light/sheer coverage foundation. I never thought that would happen! 

The Beauty Rituals Skincare range is a 4-Step system with multiple options for each step, which allows you to create a skincare routine completely tailored to your own personal needs and preferences. The first step is Cleanse, second is Exfoliate, followed by Treat and then you finish up with Moisturise.

For my cleanser, I use either the Melting Cleansing Gel, which you can read my review of here, or the Ultimate Cleansing Tonic, which I tend to use the most.  It's a one-step cleanser which is half water based and half oil/silicone based. You shake it up, squirt it onto a cotton wool pad and well, wipe your face until your makeup's all gone.  It has Witch hazel for toning and Ginseng for moisturising, so my skin is left soft and healthy rather than tight and dry.

Step 2 is exfoliate, and the product I use most is the Skin Renewal Gel.  It has no exfoliating beads, but uses natural fruit extracts to exfoliate instead.  Orange, lemon and bilberry extracts break down dead skin cells and leave my skin smooth and fresh.  And it's gentle enough that it does the job without irritating my sensitive skin!

The third step is Treat - my favourite step and probably my favourite NSpa product!  I use the Deep Hydrating Facial Oil.  It comes in a 50ml bottle with a dropper, and you use about 3 drops for your entire face and neck.  Again, it uses natural oils to give your skin a well deserved treat - Baobab oil, rich in vitamins A, D, E and F helps improve skin elasticity, Rosehip oil helps restore and strengthen, whilst Avocado and Jojoba oils rehydrate and condition the skin.  It's not too greasy, you only need a tiny bit as it goes a very long way, and it keeps my skin soft all day.  I honestly think that this product has something to do with my acne scars having lightened over the past month or so.  I love it.

Finally, I moisturise.  I use two products for this step - the first is the Youthful Eye Cream, an intensive moisturiser for the delicate eye area, that still feels super light and absorbs really well.  It's a tiny pot and it lasts a really long time because you need so little.  I can feel a difference as soon as I put it on, and it really helps to refresh my eyes after a long day at work looking at a computer screen.

The second moisturiser I use is the Night Repair Cream - a silicone based, very rich moisturiser with ceramides, ginseng, Vitamin E and sweet almond oil to make your skin feel super super soft and hydrated.  It's a light pink, very thick cream, and a little goes a really, really long way.
The great thing about this product (apart from that it works really well, obviously) is that it has a dual purpose that NSpa could really make a lot of money from if they decided to - being silicone based, it makes an AMAZING primer.  My makeup glides on over it and stays in place all day.  And I don't get annoying dry patches, because my skin's so moisturised.  Double winner.

All of these products are available at ASDA stores, or on the ASDA website, and are currently on offer for an amazing 2 for £8.  I cannot recommend these products enough!

As always, thanks for reading and if you've tried the products, or found my review helpful, leave a comment below! You can also like my Facebook page to be updated with new posts, or follow my blog on BlogLovin' 

Rach xo