Struggling to find a sunscreen that doesn’t make you want to claw your own face off with one of those plastic spaghetti spoons? My three current favourites might give you some inspiration. They’re all virtually undetectable on the skin with pleasant, lightweight formulas and broad spectrum protection.

And I’ll tell you something else about my favourite face SPFs: you can just about get away with skipping moisturiser underneath them. Unless my skin is very dry indeed, I find that a quick pat-in of hydrating serum is all I need before (liberally) applying my sunscreen.

(Actually, the Lumene serum from my April favourites would be gorgeous beneath sunscreen, if you’re all about trying to minimise your layers. I know I am, when the weather starts to turn warm; I can’t abide the feeling of eighteen different products on my skin and prefer to keep things as simple as possible.)

So here they are: my Holy Grail trilogy. It wasn’t difficult to narrow my favourites down to these, because I simply went along my bathroom shelf and swept off the three I’ve used the most. Because surely if I use them the most then there’s a reason for that? Otherwise I’d be an idiot.

Elizabeth Arden Great 8 SPF35

I’ve done a full review on this marvellous facial sunscreen here but as a recap: this is one of the lightest, freshest, coolest SPFs I’ve ever tried. It’s quick to sink in, there’s absolutely no residue whatsoever and it sits brilliantly beneath makeup.

You can find it on Amazon here*, currently £27 instead of £36. Genuine product, as it’s supplied by Amazon beauty, but if you prefer to get it elsewhere then you can find it at FeelUnique here*.

The Body Shop Skin Defence Multi-Protection Lotion SPF50

This is a new one to me and a total gem. Much more hydrating than the Arden, but with that comes an extra bit of heft. It’s not nearly as weightless and fresh, but those with dry or very dry skin will appreciate the relative creaminess. If your skin is very dry you’ll want a standalone moisturiser under all of these favourites, so it’s almost by-the-by.

Multi-Protection Lotion has a silky feel and doesn’t leave anything much in the way of residue, at least not after a few minutes, but you definitely feel the effects of the moisturiser even hours later.

Find it at The Body Shop here* – it’s £18 for 40ml or £22 for 60ml.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Ultra-Light Invisible Fluid

Or “Shaka Fluid” as I seem to be intent on calling it. Maybe because it now has “shaka” emblazoned on the packaging, but I can’t remember whether that’s a new thing or not. Whatever you want to call it, it’s excellent – absolutely light and sheer and without greasiness or chalkiness or any kind of annoying SPF side-effect.

La Roche-Posay are brilliant at formulating for sensitive skin and for spot-prone skin and for skin that is both at the same time – the Anthelios range has something for everyone, pretty much. But this particular version is fragrance free, very water resistant and won’t clog pores. You can’t really go far wrong. Just remember to shake! (Shaka shaka!)

It’s usually £17.50 but is currently £13.50 at LookFantastic here*.

Now, there are two little surprise “extra” sunscreens in this post – perfect for those who have to reapply their sunscreen throughout the day but need to do so over their makeup, without disturbing it.

I’m afraid I’m going to be incredibly irritating and tell you to watch the end of the video I’ve made to find out all about them – there will be a separate post on them quite soon, but I need to go and extract part of Spiderman’s Web Thrower from inside my dog’s mouth before he swallows it. I can’t even imagine what would come out of the other end if he digested that!

For those who absolutely, resolutely refuse to watch moving image, the SPF mists are linked below the video. The rest of you, enjoy the sounds of my springtime garden!

Kate Somerville Uncomplikated SPF50 Mist, £32 but new customers get 15% off and a free gift (see her home page)*: https://bit.ly/3b9x9BR

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Invisible SPF50 Mist – should be £14 but is currently £10.50 here*: https://bit.ly/3caZPfg

The post My Three Favourite Sunscreens appeared first on A Model Recommends.

It’s Best Budget Beauty time again and who better to join me in my bargain-hunting exploits than the self-confessed dupe-obsessive Nadine Baggott? Nadine has decades of experience as a beauty editor and presenter and spends an unholy amount of time chasing down high-performance products that cost a fraction of the luxury versions.

In this little duet of videos (is that even a term?) we unearth our favourite makeup and skincare finds in the under £20 bracket. I think that it could quite easily have been an under £15 challenge, really, as most of the products featured hover around or under that price – a few are currently available for under a fiver.

As with last week’s, I have captioned my video using a real-life transcriber so that the subtitles make sense. On the skincare video you can get this to appear by clicking the CC at the bottom of the video screen. I’ve listed the featured skincare products at the bottom of this page – for the makeup finds, click through to Nadine’s video and all of the listings will be in the description box!

Right, get watching if you want to find out which cult (and notoriously hard to get) skincare brand will soon be in Superdrug or which eyeshadow pencil is as good as the designer ones yet costs less than a fiver…

Here’s the Best Budget Skincare video:

and the Best Budget Makeup video on Nadine’s Youtube channel:

Products Featured in the Skincare video: 

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser*: http://bit.ly/2rjRByY

Curel Makeup Cleansing Gel*: http://tidd.ly/6b72c794

Inkey List Collagen*: https://amzn.to/2SIY2Xr

Hada Labo Hyaluronic with retinol + collagen*: https://amzn.to/2SWx4dP

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Fluid*: http://tidd.ly/f6b3539f

The Body Shop Aloe Day Cream*: http://tidd.ly/53ff3fb0

Simple Calming Moisturiser*: http://tidd.ly/852f4075

Eucerin Vit C*: http://tidd.ly/e9074e01

The post Best Budget Beauty Under £20 – with Nadine Baggott appeared first on A Model Recommends.

I’ve made some quite significant changes to my skincare routine since Christmas and so I thought it might be time for an update. This wasn’t the easiest update video to film, mostly because the issue of the hero product’s price-tag was hanging over me like a spectre the entire time I was talking about it!

But I have had really quite brilliant results from this particular wonder cream and so I managed to get over my fear of being pelted by rotten eggs – or whatever the online equivalent is – over the price. I like my skincare routine updates to be genuine and accurate recordings of the products I’m using and what they seem to be doing to my skin and so it would actually be quite weird for me to not mention a high-performing product just because it’s out of the usual budgetary range…

I’m going to let you watch the video to find out what I’ve been using (strong strong retinol and less of the other types of active ingredient) but before you tune out, thinking, “I don’t want to listen to a video”, hear this: I’ve actually got proper, professional closed captions on this video. I’m trying it out to see whether people find them useful and actually turn them on – Youtube do caption their videos automatically, I think, but the transcriptions can be very hit and miss and are often woefully inaccurate.

So, if you’re in the office/feeding a baby/pretending to be on the toilet and can’t listen aloud, just set the video running with your sound off and click the little CC symbol on the bottom of the screen. That’ll bring up my painstakingly transcribed captions. (Full disclosure: paid someone else to do it, I barely have time to edit the videos let alone caption them. It takes bloody ages.)

Anyway, let me know whether it’s useful – or, should I say, more useful than the standard captioning – if you regularly make use of the subtitle functions. You can find a (spoiler alert) list of the products I’ve been using if you scroll down past the video screen, but please do take a moment to watch, because that’s where the magic happens!

I’ll be back with a full, standalone review of the Medik8 retinol product because the results warrant it and the pricing is sure to be a talking point…

My Current Skincare Routine 

Morning – Cleanse, Hydrating Serum, Moisturiser

Cleanse Products I’m Using:

Skinceuticals Cream Cleanser, £31 here*: http://bit.ly/2H6Vw6L

Bioderma Micellar Water, £19.50 here*: http://tidd.ly/e9f2529

Murad Pre-Biotic Cleanser, £38 here*: http://bit.ly/3bo2hPj

Serums I’m Using: 

Alpha-H Skincare Hyaluronic 8 Serum, £38 here*: http://bit.ly/2vjOJnK

La Roche-Posay Hyalu-B Serum, £38 here*: http://tidd.ly/16cfb4b1

The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid, £5.99 here*: https://amzn.to/3boRJiY

Inkey List Collagen, £8.99 here*: https://amzn.to/3boRHrm

Moisturisers I’m Using:

The Body Shop Carrot Day Cream, £14 here*: http://bit.ly/2Hje7Nb

Dr Sam Bunting Flawless Moisturiser, £25 here: https://drsambunting.com/products/flawless-moisturiser

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Fluid, £16.50 here*: http://tidd.ly/facc95e1

SPF I’m Using: 

Elizabeth Arden Great 8 SPF35, RRP £36 but is currently £24 on Amazon here*: https://amzn.to/3bmfd8z

PM – Cleanse, Hydrating Serum, Moisturise

As above but no SPF and a proper balm cleanser, I’ve been using:

Emma Hardie Moringa Light Gel, £34 here*: http://tidd.ly/99e8c9bc

Pestle and Mortar Renew Gel, £38 here*: http://tidd.ly/1c6393b6

PM Treat

Every three or four nights (I’m working my way up to every other night!) I use the R-Retinoate below. Sometimes I follow with a bit of moisturiser, often I just use it alone! 

Medik8 R-Retinoate Intense, £210 here: https://www.medik8.com/r-retinoate-intense.html

Medik8 also do the Crystal Retinal in different strengths, the 10 is MEGA! I used the 6 without any fallout (as in my face falling off) whatsoever and thought it was brilliant – it’s £59 here: https://www.medik8.com/crystal-retinal.html

For an incredibly strong retinol (1%!) without the humungous pricetag then do look at PaulasChoiceUK here*: http://bit.ly/2ScPYhn It’s £12 for the smallest bottle or £53 for the 30ml size and it’s really bloody potent.

With all of these, please start off slowly and with a moisturiser first if you’re being extra cautious – the moisturiser acts as a sort of buffer. I use the retinol products above straight onto clean skin, but only once every three nights. Once I want to increase the effect I will use every other night but with a hyaluronic acid serum beforehand or even a moisturiser beforehand! 

The post My Current Skincare Routine: Winter 2020 appeared first on A Model Recommends.

Here are my 2019 favourites for skincare and haircare, including the latest shampoo discovery that actually changes the entire feel of my hair and the skincare that’ll make a proper difference to your beauty routine.

I was going to do a bodycare version of this 2019 roundup, as well as a “best books” video, but I’ve left it too late and all of a sudden the whole “best of last year” thing seems very outdated. It’s the video equivalent of being that person who’s still saying Happy New Year! to people they haven’t seen for a while – I mean when do you stop saying it? February? Move on.

I’m listing the products beneath each video pane for ease, but please do give them a click and a watch – the haircare one is particularly brief, which will no doubt make some of you ecstatic with joy.

Elizabeth Arden Great 8 SPF35, is usually £36 but at time of writing it’s £24 on Amazon (legit retailer) here*: https://amzn.to/2NCyNmK find it in most department stores and on FeelUnique here*: http://bit.ly/2NDbMA9

Dr Sam’s Flawless Moisturiser, £25 here: https://drsambunting.com/products/flawless-moisturiser

Kate Somerville Retinol Vita C serum, £85 here*: https://bit.ly/30xCK1q

Murad Retinol range, from £25 for a small serum size, here*: http://bit.ly/2TzC7CI

Arden Retinol capsules, from £42 here*: http://bit.ly/369Esas

Inkey list Collagen, £8.99 here*: https://amzn.to/38b9b8e

Hada Labo Lotion, £16.95 here*: https://amzn.to/2TwiwDs

Beauty Pie Plantastic Cleansing Balm, £11.89 + membership here*: http://bit.ly/3694HxL

My Plantastic review: https://www.amodelrecommends.com/skincare-review-beauty-pies-apricot-cleansing-balm/

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser review: https://www.amodelrecommends.com/skincare-review-the-ordinary-squalane-cleanser/

Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 Mask, £55 here*: http://bit.ly/38kXjAP

Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid, my review: https://www.amodelrecommends.com/the-pmt-skin-saver-and-four-ways-to-use-it/

May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon Balm, £159 here*: https://bit.ly/2sy54E4

Cicaplast Baume B5, £7.50 here*: http://bit.ly/2FZluIS

Olaplex Shampoo, from £13 here*: https://bit.ly/38CdGsM

Olaplex Conditioner, from £13 here*: https://bit.ly/38EW2Vm

Josh Wood Uplifting Shampoo/Conditioner for Blonde Hair, £10 each here*: http://tidd.ly/17c52c40

Virtue Full Shampoo from £14 here*: https://bit.ly/37rauA5

Davines OI Oil, £35 here*: http://bit.ly/30WVS91 (this is the large bottle and it would last for years if you use it as sparingly as I do!) 

Tangle Teezer Brush for fragile hair, £12 here*: https://amzn.to/3aGpPif

Colab Dry Shampoo, £3.50 here*: http://bit.ly/2RpALce

The post Best of 2019: My Skincare and Haircare Favourites appeared first on A Model Recommends.