If you've been around these parts before, then you will know that at the start of every season I do a beauty edit, where I show you some of the products I will be digging out of my collection to use for the upcoming months. So today I will be doing a bit of a round up of my essentials for Spring.

SMOOTH SKIN: When Spring rolls around, legs are shaved more, more skin is showing and the sun is out, so smooth skin is a must and here's what I use:
To exfoliate my body, I love the 1. Soap & Glory Flake Away Scrub (travel size shown in photo for £2.50) as this is abrasive enough that it gets the job done, but not too much that it damages my sensitive skin. It's great before self tanning, for removing self tan, or after you've shaved your legs so your skin is nice and smooth. For the face, I love the 2. Sanctuary Radiance Exfoliator (currently on offer for £6.67, normally £10.00) as this is very similar and it is great with a Konjac Sponge for a deeper exfoliation. Talking of self tan, a gradual tan is in my opinion a great way to get the bronze goddess look going and in Spring, you don't really want to go full on ultra dark bronzing mousse. So I go with something like the 3. St Tropez Gradual Face Tanner and either add it to my moisturiser, or apply straight on to the skin to add a bit of colour into your complexion so you look all sun-kissed and ready for the Summer. Don't hate me, but I had to mention it. SPF. It's so important and now that I have seen the error of my ways, I don't leave the house without it. The 4. Soltan Kids SPF 50+ Travel Size is kept in my handbag or in my car and when the weather warms up, it's great to just top up your SPF through the day if needed and you can use this on your body and your face.


HYDRATE & REFRESH: Even in the warmer months, moisturising your skin is so important and I have just the products to keep the skin looking and feeling it's best.
After cleansing, I like to freshen up my skin using a toner or facial spray. The 5. Simple Refreshing Toner (currently on offer for £2.19, normally £3.29) is a tried and true favourite, as it's great for calming and soothing irritated or sensitive skin, and you can put in a spray bottle and use as a facial mist or throughout the day if you feel your makeup looks a bit blah or your skin needs a pick me up. Or you could use something like the 6. Mario Badescu Rose Water & Herb Facial Spray which has some amazing ingredients to really perk up your skin. The scent is very calming too so if you're having a high-level stress day, take a moment to recharge and refresh with a facial spray. Hydrating the eyes is just as important as hydrating your face and your body, and the 7. Sanctuary Spa Wake Up Eye Cream (currently on sale for £9.33, usually £14.00) is what I like to use to de-puff, soothe and hydrate my under eyes, but it's particularly great before applying makeup as it's smoothing and feels silky like a primer. For a face moisturiser I have been trying out the 8. Polaar IceSource Moisturising Gel and I have been really surprised by it. It's great to hydrate thirsty skin, and the cooling effect feels nice on those warmer days and feels nice and refreshing. Plus, it also works great as a makeup base too, and I may try out the Moisturising Cream and the Night Cream too.  

GLOWY SKIN: I love bronze, glowy skin all year round, but it's not just the makeup application that will give you the glow factor you desire. A good mask is a must and I love the 9. Masque Bar Brightening Sheet Mask which is great at hydrating the skin and giving you a healthy and radiant complexion. The 10. Sanctuary 5 Minute Radiance Peel Off Mask is similar but this you apply as a gel and then peel off. Both of these take 5 minutes so there's no excuse to not prepare your skin well, and it's a step I take if I have an occasion where I want my skin looking it's best. But from the makeup side, a good illuminating primer is a great way to start and the 11. Freedom Pro Studio Strobe Cream is a really nice light lotion which gives a glow to your skin that's not too much, but is still visible even with your foundation over the top. A liquid highlighter is also great for this. If you have oily skin, you can easily achieve a glowing complexion without looking like a grease ball. Simply apply a good mattifying primer only where needed, and then apply powder over those areas once you are done with your makeup to keep it in place and shine-free, the 12. Soap & Glory One Heck Of a Blot Primer and the matching Powder  are perfect for this task. If you have more normal to dry skin but still want your makeup to last, try a setting spray - my favourite is the 13. L'Oreal Infalliable Setting Spray as this locks everything in whilst keeping your skin looking like skin just with a boost of radiance.


FRAGRANCE: When it comes to fragrance, a lot of people just think it's a perfumes job to make you smell good, but I like to use my body washes and lotions to give me that extra kick of summery-ness. The 14. Yes To: Coconuts Moisturising Lotion is a light spray moisturiser that sinks in really quickly and smells delish, plus, it layers great with the next products. But if you want to rock a perfume that's perfect for Spring, I would go for something like the 15. Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream or the 16. Eau So Fresh fragrances as they are light and sweet and floral and they just scream spring/summer to me, plus, how beautiful is that packaging. 

TEXTURED BEACHY HAIR: You can't forget about the hair when the seasons change. Winter is very harsh and drying on the hair, it's more brittle and damaged, and often quite frizzy. So here's a few products I love with my shorter hair. I first start when I have washed my hair, I apply about two pumps of the 17. John Freida Frizz Ease Forever Smooth Primer as this has pure coconut oil and glycerides to help fight the frizz from the start and make your hair smoother and frizz-free. Plus it has heat protecting properties and is suitable for colour-treated hair. I think this is a great product and I highly recommend it to anyone suffering from frizzy and unruly hair. To battle the dry and brittle factors in my locks, I like to use an oil or lotion to nourish and protect my hair and the 18. L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinaire Oil-Cream is a lightweight, non-greasy lotion and oil in one, that really does calm down the winter damage.
But to get that texture and the effortless beachy waves kind of look the 19. Batiste Stylist Texture  Me Texturizing Spray or the Oomph My Locks XXL Volume Spray (both currently on 3 for 2 offer in Boots - I would recommend the 20. Shield My Locks Heat & Shine Spray as your free third product) are my personal favourites to amp up the volume and texture and as long as you don't go to cray with them, they don't feel heavy or greasy in your hair.

That's  it for my Spring essentials of 2016. I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know of any posts you want to see, reviews, makeup looks etc. and enjoy your Friday.

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WHAT ARE YOUR SPRING ESSENTIALS?
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Disclaimer: All offer details are as of the 20.03.2016.