Lancôme Hydra Zen Masque Anti Stress Moisturizing Serum-in-Mask | Review with Before & After!

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

It has been three years since I last posted about a skincare product for the face and that is purely down to the fact that I stick to what I know. My skin is very problematic and for that reason I don't like trialling new skincare items. I have highly sensitive skin and understandably I never want to run the risk of a reaction, which unfortunately can be the case a lot of the time when testing out a new product. Recently though despite sticking to my regular trusty skincare routine, my skin has been acting the ham. My acne has made a return, my eczema flares up quite frequently and I'm suffering from very dry flaky skin. All a bit of a nightmare really! So when this Lancôme mask arrived in my post box a couple of months ago I figured sure look, i'll give it a go. Things couldn't really get that much worse could they? 

This product is labelled as a mask but it also doubles as a night cream. I mainly use it as a night cream because I find thats how it works best with my skin. I apply a thin layer at night after I have cleansed my skin and then I follow up with my regular eye cream routine. I find that leaving it on while I sleep really allows the cream to fully nourish and hydrate my skin.

If you would prefer to use this as a face mask you just apply a thicker layer of the product, leave for 5-10 minutes and then wipe away the excess cream with a cloth. The aim of the Hydra Zen Masque is to offer the user immediate and all-night hydration. Lancôme claim that with use:

"Skin feels nourished, softer, supplier. Skin looks healthier, revitalised, more beautiful - like after a good night's sleep."

Consistency wise it's gel like but it isn't extremely thick. It feels very lightweight on the skin and what I like the most is that it doesn't sit on top of the skin. I've been using this cream for a couple of months now and I've barely made a dent in the tub, honestly it looks brand new. You only need the smallest amount of this product to cover your entire face, a little really does go a long way.

Before I started using this product my skin was very dry and irritated, I had some dry flakey patches of skin on my cheeks in particular. To try and combat that I used this product 3-4 times a week for 2 weeks and the results were as follows.

After using this product for a couple of weeks I noticed a massive difference in the appearance of my skin. My dry patches cleared up, my skin looked a lot less red and irritated and overall my skin had a nice glow to it.

I'm so delighted that I tried this product out because I'd be lost without it in my skincare routine now. The Lancôme Hydra Zen Masque is priced at €55 and is available from Debenhams. Honestly, it's worth every cent! If it ever runs out i'll be straight to Debenhams to pick up a pot. If you're interested in trying it out go in and ask for a sample, you won't regret it!

Until next time,

Eimear x 

Lush Haul: Face masks, Shampoo Bars and more!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

I would consider myself quite an organised person with regard to many things in life however, Christmas shopping this year was a disaster.

I left absolutely everything until the last minute. 

Instead of my usual trip to Dublin on Christmas Eve to soak up the festive atmosphere, I was running around like a headless chicken present shopping.

Thankfully I got all my bits and bobs sorted in just a couple of hours. 

Before leaving I took my usual trip into Lush.

To put it lightly, the place was jam packed. Clearly I was not the only one who left the Christmas shopping until the last minute...pheeew!

I've had a few items on my list for a while that I have wanted to try out and now I was finally getting round to it.

 The first thing I needed was a good ol face mask. At the time I had been trying out a new skin care routine and to say the cleanser broke my skin out was an understatement, my skin was fried.

I had no idea what I was looking for with regard to face masks or what would suit my extremely sensitive skin.

 I decided to seek the advice of a member of staff.

The girl that helped me find the perfect face mask her name was Eimear too :)

She was extremely helpful and she actually stayed with me and helped me for the remainder of time that I spent in Lush!

Eimear decided that the Cosmetic Warrior Face Mask would be ideal for my highly sensitive skin. This face mask will suit anyone with sensitive skin who is prone to breakouts. I've used it about 4 or 5 times already and its amazing.

The next product I wanted needed to try out was a bath bomb. 

I have used these in the past and they are divine. The one I used previously had gorgeous pettles in it!

Due to stress I suffer from quite bad eczema so again, I needed a product that would not irritate my skin or a product that wouldn't cause a breakout.

The bath bomb Eimear recommended was the Butterball Bath Bomb.

This bath bomb is filled with chunks of creamy cocoa butter which is ideal for rehydrating dry skin. I've since used this also and it left my skin feeling so silky and soft..review coming soon!

Next I decided my lips were in need of some TLC.

As you can probably guess, yes I suffer from very dry and chapped lips.

Everytime I've been in Lush paying for items at the counter I've been tempted by the lip scrubs and I decided today was the day to get one.

It was a toss up between the mint and bubblegum flavour scrubs but in the end I went for the bubblegum.

I rub the bubblegum lip scrub over my lips and this gently exfoliates them removing any dry skin I may have. Its literally good enough to eat and because its all natural you can lick away the excess, the part I look forward to most!

I use the scrub if I am going to be applying a matte lipstick as dry skin and matte lipstick just don't mix well! This pretty pink pot is a life saver :)

Shampoo bars are something that I am just boggled by so picking up one was an absolute must.

I have been using a Rockaholic Shampoo Bar for a couple of months now and this is due to hearing so much about the Lush Shampoo Bars. 

I was very surprised that the bar actually made my hair silky and shiney so while I was in Lush I thought I'd try out one of their bars.

I have very long hair....bum long so sometimes it can be quite hard to manage.

Because it is so long it is quite flat and knots easily. I also have to unfortunately wash my hair daily as it gets quite oily...pity it cannot be more like my skin ha!

This is why I picked up the shampoo bar Seanik.

Lush describe it to:

'Soften tangled locks and add oceans of shine with this mineral-rich, sea salt volumizing shampoo. Like a trip to a blue lagoon, Seanik is made with the best ingredients from the sea; softening Irish moss seaweed, and Japanese nori seaweed to make your hair soft as silk from root to tips, and sea salt to give body and volume to hair that’s fallen flat.'

and that is good enough for me!

Lastly I just had to pick this up, even for the packaging alone!

Its so cute and an absolute bargain buy at €8.95.

I have yet to open this one (can't bear to rip the packaging)

when I do I'll let you know my thoughts! :)

What are your favourite Lush products?

I'd love to hear so I can pick up some new ones :)

Eimear x