In the past I've never really had a problem with my skin, people have always complimented me on how smooth and healthy it looks and feels. However, this year it's been a little bit more frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I have bad skin and I'm not complaining at all as I know it could be a hell of a lot worse and I have always been thankful for my healthy skin. This year though I've found my skin on my face has been a bit more prone to breakout's and I have been getting the occasional bouts of dry skin- especially my hands, my hands this year have been so dry that at one point they were actually cracking and bleeding!? How disgusting is that.

My room is full of different creams and lotions for my body, but none were particularly 'bag friendly'. I wanted something small that I could carry around easily and just use whenever, so when in superdrug the other week with a friend of mine we stood in the same spot for probably about 30 minutes (we're very indecisive people) trying to choose and hand cream and in the end we both decided to go for this little gem!

In terms of skincare, Vaseline are one brand although is very well known I probably wouldn't really go running for in the shops. I think after using this product though, that will absolutely change as its such a good little product! My hands have completely healed and now feel super smooth and all lovely again, so I'm so happy with how this product turned out.
When I bought this in superdrug, I got the 75ml tube and I can't remember exactly but I know that it was under £1 which is amazing?! I'd say I've had it now for about 3 weeks and so far I've still got quite a lot left, I think it will last me up until early January so that's about a month which is bad going for such a little tube.

Another great thing about this product is that its extremely moisturizing, without being oily/greasy. As most of you have probably figured by now, I HATE oily things on my skin and it really frustrates me to the point that I just have to keep rubbing my hands on my clothes until it stops which kind of defeats the point. Vaseline though have not made this an issue, its an extremely creamy and thick texture which I like and I just rub it into my hands like normal and within seconds they just feel very soft and nice. It's great to have something so fast acting as I often forget to use it, so I'm just use it as and when I feel my hands need a bit of TLC!

Overall, I actually really like this product as it's extremely useful and sensitive skin friendly so I'll be buying some more when I run out I think!

After finishing my GCSE'S back in 2011, I was certain I wanted to do a-levels but didn't know where to go. I was terrified of going out of my comfort zone and doing something completely alone, I ended up deciding to go to a sixth form that took 3 buses there and 3 buses back each day. I was absolutely shattered but I can honestly say that I wouldn't change it for the world, the friends that I made in the space of those two years are some of the most wonderful and extraordinary people I have ever met and I also learnt much more about myself. Although I didn't get the results I had hoped for in the end, I don't regret a second of it.

me with some of my bestest boys ever

I've personally never been a big fan of birthdays, if it's someone else's I love to spoil them but in regards to myself I'm more a no fuss type of girl. This was probably my best birthday though, my parents we're absolutely amazing and arranged a party at my house for me, I had a few friends and some family come and I was drunk by about 4 o'clock and I just enjoyed myself so much. Having some of my closest friends around me and having my parents put so much time and effort into something for me was definitely the best present ever.

Good old Spain!

Spending a week in Spain was one of the most surreal times this year, it was like being in a dream. After a few crap months, spending a week in such a beautiful place was amazing as I'm a huge fan of the sun and heat so spending the days relaxing and topping up my tan was fabulous and then drinking the night away was just hilarious. This was right after my eighteenth so for me it was just one big party, I ended up making friends with some awesome people whilst over there as well, it also taught me about myself and to try not to care what people think of you, even if it hurts. So it's not a holiday I'll forget anytime soon.

my eyes have never made me happier in a photo

For the first half of the year, I didn't really do a lot of parties or anything for various reasons. So when it came to finishing my a-levels I really wanted to start going to a few more, the best ones to memory are my friend Charlie's eighteenth, my eighteenth, going to Norwich for a hen night, going to Essex to see Sean, the leaving party for everyone going to uni and going out with everyone when they got back from uni! They were all awesome and have so many memories within each party or meet-up.

Before everyone went off to uni!

Love my pals

After finishing my a-levels, I didn't really have any direction and I ended up very secluded and in a small box by myself and extremely unhappy. Then this job just popped up and I'm so thankful for having the chance to challenge myself; the people are amazing and make the job even better than it already it. It's somewhere I would quite happily stay for a very long time and I hope I get the chance to!
Starting this little gem is definitely up there as one great thing about this year, I've wanted to start blogging and vlogging for years now. Although I've not started a you-tube or vlogging, having this blog has actually made me seriously happy and in the new year I hope to meet and talk to a lot more of you lovely bloggers!
So those are some of my top memories from this year, there has been ups and downs but that was expected. I hope 2014 is going to be my year! What have been some of your best points for 2013?

I always thought I was really good because after wearing a full face of make up, I never sleep with it on. I always make sure to take it off and for this I was always quite proud of myself, until I realised using wet wipes and make-up remover wipes was not actually that much of a good thing. I've been trying harder recently to have more of a skincare routine and actually make more of an effort with my skin; which means ditching the wet wipes.

I thought this was a good opportunity for a few blog posts, one on a few make up removers I've tried and which one is better and also maybe a post on my actual skincare routine? Exciting times I know. ANYWAY, this post is on two different products I bought last week that are supposed to do that same thing more or less.

This product although I hate to say it, I really really didn't like. I had serious high hopes for it when I first got it and after using it I was just more like, "oh" it just didn't really make me think anything really. I found that personally it made my skin feel a bit oily and I HATE oily skin, it makes me feel really gross as I suffer with an oily T-zone so the fact that my skin felt greasy all over was something I really wasn't impressed with. I also have super sensitive eyes and I found after about 30-45 minutes of using it my eyes started to sting and itch which resulted in me furiously rubbing them, that was not fun at all.

Price wise it's pretty affordable so that's a plus, and I managed to get it on offer so I can't complain too much (although when I got home I found the lid was broken when I opened it and my hands got covered in oily mess- boo ASDA not impressed with you). In terms of packaging, I actually really liked it at first. Then I got the second make up remover and I preferred the packaging of that a lot more! One thing I did really like about the product is the smell, I don't know how to explain it exactly as I'm not the best with descriptive words. It was slightly floral I guess... I don't know, but either way it smelt really nice and subtle!

In terms of actually removing my make up, it was okay. There isn't actually much more I can say other than that, it was absolutely amazing but it wasn't terrible. It took it off eventually, but took some time to actually get it all off and even then there were still a few little bits left behind on my eyes. I think with this in mind I'd probably prefer to use wet wipes because its less fuss that this product was. It could just be my skin type that didn't like it, but personally I don't think I'll bother buying it again once I've used up this bottle.

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Micellar Cleansing Water-
What they say: "L'Oréal Paris Skin Perfection Purifying Micellar Water, high performance cleansing for sensitive skin. Used by make-up artists, the 'micellar' solution swiftly removes all traces of make-up and acts like a purifying magnet on skin's surface to capture and draw out excess oil and impurities. So gentle, skin feels soothed and toned."

This product is something I have a serious love for, everything about it I just really really like! First off the packaging of this product is great, its very simple but the silver and pale pink is just very pretty and nice and who doesn't love pretty packaging!? I'm a sucker for good packaging.
In most shops it retails for around about 3-4 pounds, which in all honesty isn't really that bad if it's going to benefit your skin so once again I can't really have a moan about the price as it's not 50 pounds so its really affordable if you think about some skincare ranges.

In terms of scent, I didn't really think there was any scent there. If there is it must be extremely subtle, so much so that I can't smell anything. Either way it'd be nice if there was maybe a little bit of scent there, but its not overly important as the product itself is so good!
When actually removing make up, I found it was a lot less harsh on my skin and my eyes especially which is always great because I get very stressed when my eye's get infected. The consistency of the product genuinely is just like water, its light and not greasy at all and doesn't dry out your skin either.

At the same time its not so light that it's not good at removing make-up, it still takes a while but because of how clean my skin feels at the end I really don't mind that it takes a couple of minutes to remove anyway as I do wear quite a lot of eye make up so it's understandable it takes a little while to actually get it all off.

Overall I prefer the L'Oreal cleansing water just because itself as a product is much better for my skin and more what I was looking for when replacing my wet wipes and I think I will be more likely to repurchase it over the garnier product.

Have you used either products, and did you prefer one?

After my last post I thought I'd do three posts on Christmas gift ideas: male, female and kids. One point I do want to make is that just because my posts are gender specific doesn't mean that EVERYONE will like what is on them, if you know your dad is a big lover of candles and aromatherapy then you can get some awesome sets and if your sister loves gadgets and tinkering with things, then why not look at getting her a tool kit that you know she'd love? I think that you should like what you like and not what people think is 'acceptable' for you to like, anyway I shall stop rambling!

In my last post I did a few little idea's on gifts that the females in your lives might like, and now its on to the men in your life! Now personally, I struggle a lot with buying for men. I just find that they aren't really that fussed and for that reason you’d think it would make them easy to buy for, right? WRONG SO VERY WRONG. If you're like me I really enjoy getting people what they want and if they just go "I don't know really" it is probably one of the least helpful things to say in the universe, so I thought a post like this might give you a few silly ideas of what you could go for!

I had some slippers on my last Christmas post so they were definitely needed in this one, and as soon as I spotted these I knew they would be perfect! Number 4 is for me the weirdest one, mainly because I don't actually eat eggs a lot as they gross me out a bit (I think its the smell more than anything). However, I thought this was just a cute silly little present that could add to the pile! So if you know someone who likes eggs then this is probably the idea present.
Next I saw this book and I was a little confused by it at first as I hadn't actually read what it was, but then when I realised  I thought it was such an awesome idea! The drawings inside are amazing and although it might be a bit of a childish idea 'colouring' I like the adult spin to it with pictures being tattoos and who knows you could end up with a tattoo you'd really like!

Lastly I just wanted another quirky little present and then when I saw this I thought it was a great idea! I'm personally not a big lover of sauces, but I think I'll have to start using them just so that I can have this gun. I think it would be a really fun present, although it would probably get EXTREMELY messy it would be fun for hours (or at least I think so!)

What do you think of any of these presents? Would you consider buying them for yourself or others?

LISTEN UP BLOGGER COMMUNITY!
Whether anyone will actually read this or pay attention to it, I really don't know but I know how lovely and genuine a lot of you can be on here and so I really hope that you will prove me right!
Last month as all of you should know the Philippines were hit with an absolutely horrendous typhoon and it has seriously affected everyone who lives there in someway or another and has even affected people all over the world, when a serious disaster happens the world usually pull together and try to help in the best way they can.

So you're probably wondering why I'm actually writing about this; my two friends Chloe and Tom have recently gotten engaged (WOOO CONGRATS TO THEM BOTH) and instead of thinking about themselves and the rest of their lives together, they are instead thinking about all the people suffering in the Philippines and for this reason they have actually decided to go out there for 3 whole months and dedicate their time and efforts in helping to make people out there feel happy and safe again. This is the most beautiful and selfless thing anybody could ever do and I'm so proud of them, they big factor is that they need to raise money for these travels and this is where I'm hoping some of you lovely bloggers can help out!

Whether you donate 50p or £50 pound, you are still helping towards an EXTREMELY wonderful cause. If you are unable to spare any amount of money, then please please PLEASE pass this on to your friends and family and anyone you know would love to help as it really will make all of the difference!

THIS will link you through to their official facebook page
and THIS is where you can donate money and read more about their fabulous plan! I really hope that some of you will help xoxoxox

Now that it's coming up for Christmas, I really need to start considering presents for people. This year I'm actually hoping it shouldn't be too bad for a few reasons; I'm single so no man to buy for, I'm pretty slim on the friends front and the friends I do have we don't usually buy for each other and so that just leaves family! Most of my family actually live pretty far away and this means I usually just buy for close family and this year that would be my mum, dad's and sister which makes things a lot easier!

As I've been an absolutely SHOCKING beauty blogger recently, I thought I'd do another quick post just on some of my favourite songs in general and at the moment! I'm a real lover of music, I love it all and just think its amazing and can make you feel so many emotions!

I once again apologise for being such a bad blogger! I'm going to get my butt into gear and try my hardest not to leave it until Sunday to do a post, anyway whilst on my train the other day I was having a quick flick through the IKEA websites and other housing parts of particular websites and I thought 'why not make a post on home-ware pieces that I really love?'. If I had a larger room or could afford it, there are so many things that I'd love for my room or when I move out what I would have in my own house, so I thought I'd share a few of the key pieces I'm lusting after at the moment!

I find that as soon as I've applied this to under my eyes, they instantly feel a lot less irritated and cooler which is such a relief on my face. It actually contains cucumber extracts and a range of multi-vitamins, which explains why it's so soothing on the skin. I apply it in the morning and I instantly feel so much more awake, and considering I get up at half 5 during the week it is definitely a life-saver! I suffer quite badly with dark circles under my eyes and I feel this has slightly helped with that? I think I'm probably just going a bit crazy but I just find that the skin under my eyes looks far less loose and tired, I actually look a lot healthier!

If you're like me and suffer with irritable eyes, this is product you really need to try! Just last night my eyes were red raw and streaming something fierce, so I just popped this on underneath my eyes and they felt far less painful which was amazing for me as sometimes I can really suffer. In most shops it's sold for about £4.99 and on amazon its £3. I think for the size of the roll-on I'd be slightly put off, but because I've seen a genuine difference in my eyes and it actually helps me with pain I get on my eyes, I will absolutely repurchase this without a second thought!

What are your thoughts on simple products? Have you ever used their revitalising roll-on?

If any of you do read my blog properly and for those of you that follow me, I am so sorry that I haven't posted recently! I've been concentrating on work a lot, and this weekend when I planned on posting I instead ended up visiting one of my closest friends at his university (I had a blast!). So I plan on posting as soon as physically possible, so please don't unfollow me! Mwah xoxox

If you're interested in following me other places and seeing what I'm up to then you can:

• Follow me on instagram. If the link doesn't work for you, then my username on IG is ashleigh_rhiane
• I also have a twitter which I post on quite a lot! (username- AshleighRhiane)
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