A Week Away From Make Up.

Hey guys!

Over the past week I have been quite poorly with a horrible kidney infection, which has meant that I have spent a week at home, in my pyjamas and not going outside the house at all - apart from a trip to the doctors. Thankfully it has gone now and I am much better, so back to reality.

But spending a week at home, has meant that I haven't put a single bit of make up on, so as the title says I have had a week off the make up. It's very rare that I go that long without putting any make up on at all, it's usually just a couple of days if I am spending a weekend at home.

Not using make up for a week definitely has had it's benefits on my skin, amongst doing other things, I have noticed a visible difference in my skin due to the things that I did throughout the week - the fact that my skin is in better condition was all a bit of a happy accident.


I am by no means telling you that this is what you should do, but the things I did worked for my skin so I thought I would share them with you, hopefully they could help you too.

It is recommended that we drink about 2 litres, approximately 3 pints, of water daily. During the time I was at home feeling sorry for myself, I was drinking 2-4 pints of water a day. There are many benefits to water and if I am honest I thought they were all a bit of a myth, but oh boy was I wrong. Drinking plenty of water a day is not only good for your body to maintain the fluid levels in your body and keep you hydrated but it also gives you healthier looking skin. Drinking plenty of water can reduce the appearence of wrinkles and fine lines, not drinking enough water could lead to dry skin and your body will retain the fluid which will make your skin puffy - and nobody wants that!

I mentioned in my November Favourites that I didn't have much of a skin care routine, but I recently bought Neutragena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub and while I was feeling pretty rubbish I thought I would try and revive my skin and get into the routine of using it every morning. I have to say this stuff is a-mazing, it works immediately and I saw results after he first time I used it! It does exactly what it says on the bottle, my skin was visibly clearer after just one use, so after using it daily for a whole week my skin was left feeling softer and looking clearer and smoother. Afterwards, I just moisturised my skin with Soap & Glory Righteous Butter which I have been loving for a few months now.

Throughout the week I took a couple of hot baths, this is unlike me as I am more of a shower person just because it's quick. The baths were primarily to ease the pain of the kidney infection, because the heat gets straight to the pain and instantly relieves it. However, I have my baths so hot that the whole room is full of steam, not only are hot baths brilliant for relaxation but they're also great for your skin. Obviously a hot bath will cause you to sweat which may sound quite yucky but trust me it's good, the heat and steam from the bath will open up yours pores and allow any toxins and bacteria to be removed from the body. Furthermore, if you exfoliate while you're in the bath with a scrub - I use Soap & Glory Scrub of Your Life - or with a loofa, you will remove any dead skin cells resulting in your skin looking more radiant, doing this regularly will put an end to any dry flaky skin.

When I started to feel a bit better, I thought I would treat myself to 10 minutes of a little pamper so I grabbed my Beauty Formula Rejuvenating Glorious Mud Facial Mask which I bought while I was out shopping in the January sales (click here for the Haul), it was the first time I had used it and I must say I very impressed considering it was about £1-£2 from Bodycare. After 10 minutes, I washed it off and instantly I noticed a difference. My skin was left feeling so soft, it looked smoother and I had no redness.

The last thing that I did, which if I am honest wasn't intentional, I had lost my appetite over the week so I wasn't eating any foods that were high in sugars or fats. It is quite well known, foods that contain a lot of sugars for example chocolate, will cause breakouts, dry and dull looking skin.

As a bit of a summary, during my week of not wearing any make up, drinking plenty of water, exfoliating and moisturising my skin, having a couple of hot and steamy baths and not eating any surgary or fatty foods, my skin is left feeling and looking better than it has in absolutely ages! It's so much clearer, I have no spots - at all! I look more awake, it's brighter, smoother, softer and my pores are minimised. All in all I have much healthier skin!

I hope that this helps any of you, let me know if you try any of the products or tips and if you get results   in the comments below. Or you can let me know over on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!

xxx