Monday Maintenance

Recently, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the stress of starting my new job and also starting sixth form next week - so much so that I've been a bit poorly the last couple of days, which I'm pretty sure was down to just pure exhaustion! I've been trying to get so many shifts at the pool done and I've been feeling like I haven't really had any me-time - unless you count chucking on a bit of makeup before my shift (I don't!).

I had to do staff training this morning, which is a monthly thing that you do to make sure you're remembering everything you need to, to do with CPR, first aid and water work (and the dreaded timed swims, ergh!), which ran from 10-12, so I've finally had an afternoon to myself. Unfortunately, that was taken up by a heap of paperwork which I had to complete - leaving only the late afternoon/evening as my relaxation time. As I was sitting at my desk, wallowing in all the choice of what I could do to fill my evening all to myself, I remembered a post by Alice at Shiny Pretty Things about her Monday night maintenance - how she used her evening to fully pamper her skin, nails and hair. I only recently painted my nails, and seeing as I have a shift at the pool tomorrow, I'm not too bothered about my hair, but my skin has grown horrific with the stress recently - so why not take a bit of time for skin TLC! 

As my skin maintenance, I wanted to take a bit of time to use my beloved Fab Pore Facial Peel by Soap & Glory - which I realised I haven't ever reviewed for you! So as it's soaking into my pores, making them all lovely and wonderful, I decided to do a bit of typing :)

woooooo enjoying my facial peel in pjs and a hoodie (classy madam)

I bought the Fab Pore Facial Peel to combat the blemish-scars that cover my cheeks from before I started taking prescribed medicine to help with my skin. I was reading around on the internet and this came up as a good option, as it was a 'facial peel' rather than a just a face mask. A facial peel aims to remove the dead layer of skin cells that cover your face, whilst a facial mask helps control excessive oil and tightens pores - so obviously the facial peel is going to be much more help in removing my scars! Though it is described as a peel, it has facial mask qualities as well, as it peels as well as shrinking pores.

The Fab Pore Facial Peel

The peel is very thick, and has small green beads in it - when you apply it to your face, you rub it in until all the beads have disappeared - this makes sure you have massaged the peel deeply into your face, and makes a nice facial. On the tub it says to leave for five minutes for a 'quick refresher', or fifteen minutes for a 'real deep cleaning do it yourself kind of facial' - I personally always try and do fifteen, so that I don't waste the product, and I find that with this amount of time, it really deep cleans your face.

After 15 minutes, you wash the product off with water and/or a washcloth, and it comes off very easily - because a grape sized blob is enough for your entire face, it's easy to put on and easy to wash off! When washed off, my face really does feel clean and fresh - and though I don't notice a sizeable difference in my pores, I think it does make a slight difference.

Close up time!

As for the peel-properties, a lot of bloggers have said that they don't feel it actually peels at all, and that they feel it should be named as a face mask - but I really would disagree, I think people just don't use it often enough for it to take effect. On the pot it suggests using it 2-3 times a week, and when I first bought this product, I made sure I did that, and within a month or so, my scars really had lightened up - or disappeared completely! I finished my first pot and straight away repurchased another - and though I haven't used it as frequently as when I had lots of scars, I still use it every so often because I love the feeling it leaves on my skin.

Swatch (as much as a face mask can be swatched)

All in all, this really made a massive difference to my skin - it took off the dead layer of skin, leaving it feeling smooth, soft and fresh, as well as minimising the oil on my face for a day or two, and also closing pores - for an all round amazing feeling on your face :)
Because it's taken much much more than 15 minutes to type all this out, I really have had a deep facial by now, so it might be time to go and wash it off!

Enjoy,
Liv xo