I recently received a lovely little package from May Beauty containing their Incredible Face Mask.  Having super sensitive and dry skin I was a bit weary to try it but after reading a bit more about it I decided to give it a go.

Included in the package was the Incredible Skin Guide booklet, which is a great and informative little booklet.  It has some information on the causes of blackheads and acne and what results you can expect from the Incredible Face Mask.  It also explains how a change in diet can lead to clearer skin alongside a list of foods that can cause acne and what they can be replaced with to reduce acne.  There are lots of helpful hints and tips in this booklet for people that suffer with acne.  Luckily it's something I've never really suffered from but I'm sure better and clearer skin is something we all strive for so it can be helpful even if acne is not a problem for you.  Then finally at the end of the booklet it has a step by step guide of how to use the mask.

Now onto the mask itself, which promises to rejuvenate skin by removing blackheads, dead skin, oil and particles that clog the pores which can cause acne.  After reading about the mask and seeing that it's main ingredient is deep sea mud I was expecting a thick mud like mask but opened the packet to find a very thick and sticky gel like mask.  I quickly set about to putting the mask all over my face, then using the brush to spread it out evenly being careful to avoid my eyes, eyebrows and lips as suggested in the guide.

As you can see the mask has quite a shiny latex look to it and still looks exactly the same when it has dried.  When I first applied the mask it had quite a cooling effect on my skin, which felt really nice, then as it dried I could feel it tightening on my skin.  It is suggested that you leave the mask on 30-45 minutes to dry and so the first time I used it I left it on for the whole 45 minutes.  Then came the removal.  I am going to be completely honest about this, it was a little eye watering to remove!!  There is no mistaking that pulling this mask off will remove any bit of dead skin or dirt on your face.  It wasn't necessarily painful, the only comparison I can make is when you get an eyebrow wax and you have that moment where you tense slightly and your eyes water slightly... well it's kind of like that.  The only thing I will say is make sure you are careful not to get it on your eyebrows or hair and if you do just wash it off with some warm water.  I have used it several times since that first time and it does become easier to remove and I only left it on for 25-30 minutes, so don't let that put you off as it is worth the results.

Now I don't suffer from acne so I can't say how much of an improvement it makes on that but I do get the odd spots now and then, especially on my chin when I am stressed.  When I first used this mask I had four spots, three on my chin and one on my forehead, and the morning after I had used the Incredible Face Mask they had completely cleared up.  So when it comes to clearing spots I can safely say this mask works and I have been using them once a week for three weeks now and have not had a breakout at all.  Like I said I don't really have spot prone skin but always get the odd few, so to have none is great!  I have also found that my skin is a lot less flaky, especially around my nose area, I've always suffered from dry skin and it still does get dry around my nose and on my forehead but I'm assuming this mask has really helped by removing the dead skin cells as it doesn't get as flaky as it used to.

All in all I am really impressed with this face mask, it's not just your typical face mask that makes your skin feel nice and soft for a few hours, it really has long lasting effects.  If you'd like to give the Incredible Face Mask a try May Beauty are offering my readers 30% off making the test package £13.30 for 5 face masks, the brush and skin guide, all you need to do is click this link.

As you may have gathered from my last few posts the main purpose of my trip to Santorini was to see one of my best friends get married.  I have known Lisa for 16 years now and over the years we have gotten closer and closer, and I couldn't ask for a better or more supportive friend, so I have never been more honoured than when she asked me to be her bridesmaid.  I had to hold back the tears when she asked, I love her to bits and being asked to be a part of her special day meant so much to me.

Now, as you can imagine the first thought to enter our minds was dresses and with little over 4 months until the wedding it didn't leave us much time.  I had every faith that we would find the perfect dresses and we did.  I knew that they wouldn't be your typical shiny satin bridesmaid numbers and that Lisa would want something with a more vintage or boho feel, and lucky for us one of the first dresses we picked turned out to be perfect.

Dress, £95 - Virgos Lounge at Asos

As you can see the dress is absolutely gorgeous, the 20's style art deco beading is just so pretty and everyone kept commenting how beautifully they sparkled in the Greek sunshine.  I think one of the main issues when searching for bridesmaid dresses is finding one that flatters all and we were all going to be comfortable in.  Even though the 3 of us bridesmaids are all different shapes and sizes, me being the shortest of course, they fitted us all perfectly (after mine had been shortened by several inches, even with those giant platforms, haha!).

On the last night of our Santorini trip our holiday was perfectly rounded off with a sunset cruise around the Caldera.  I was a little bit nervous about this trip as I am not a big fan of boats and was slightly worried about getting seasick.  However I pushed through my anxiety, and I am so glad I did as it was a breathtaking experience that I will not forget.

The first hurdle was getting down to the boat.  Santorini's capital city Fira is built up 400 meters high,  so as you can imagine it is quite a way down to the port.  There were two ways to get to the boat: walk or cable cars.  I did not like the look of the cable cars wobbling their way down the cliffside and already had anxiety about the boat, so a few of us decided it didn't look that far and we'd take the steps.

These pictures were taken at the start of our trek down the steps, which we found out when we got to the bottom that there were 600 of!!  They also do donkey rides up and down the steps but after seeing how unruly they were that was not an option.  There was no formation to them and the ones that didn't have any riders on were just running in all directions.  They were crazy!  I think we got about halfway down when my legs started to shake, so there was no more stopping to take in the views we just wanted to get to the bottom and get a bottle of water.  It's safe to say I have never been happier to sit down on a boat in my life, ha ha.  It was also really nice that the groom had organised a private cruise for us so we had the boat to ourselves.

It was absolutely amazing cruising around the smaller volcanic islands and getting so close that you could smell the sulphur.  It's just crazy to think that these islands were created by volcano eruptions, especially when you see the sheer size of them up close.  We also went past a little island where the tour guide told us that there is a little old man who lives alone on the island with his goats and goes fishing in the sea for food, I'm not sure how I'd cope without technology but I love the idea of such a simplistic life on my own little island.

After our little tour around the volcanic islands we headed to the small island of Thirassia where the boat was moored for us to eat.  Now I was clearly too hungry after my long walk down those steps at Fira to take any pictures of the food, but the staff on the boat put on an amazing spread.  There was souvlaki, greek salad, breads, the most amazing potatos I have ever tasted, tzatziki, keftedes, my new favourite tiropitakia (little feta parcels) and much more.  Then for dessert there was the traditional greek baklava and honey cake.  I've always loved greek food but this trip has reignited my love for it and am definitely thinking of trying out a few recipes myself as I am missing it so much.

After we had finished eating we cruised our way to Oia on the north of the island of Santorini to watch the sunset.  This part of the cruise was so relaxing as we could just sit and watch the sun go down as music was softly played around the boat.

(This is Oia as seen from the boat, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and we did manage to find a couple of hours to spend there before we left.  I am thinking of doing another post on here though, if you're not too bored of my Santorini posts yet?)

If you ever find yourself in Santorini I cannot recommend this boat trip enough, and that's coming from someone who hates boats!  The worst part for me was getting the cable car back up to Fira, as I was not walking those steps again but if you don't mind cable cars it'd be a breeze for you.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue, £26

I thought I'd throw a little beauty review post into the mix of my Santorini posts, as I love trying new products and want to start doing more beauty reviews on my blog, and it sort of fits in with my Santorini posts as I bought this purposely to try on holiday.  When it comes to foundation I tend to struggle with my dry and sensitive skin, with most foundations I've tried either completely drying out my skin or causing me to breakout, so for the last year I have been using Seventeen's BB Cream afraid to change to anything that might irritate my skin.  I started to run out of this foundation a couple of weeks before we went to Santorini and after hearing about bareMinerals Complexion Rescue I thought it might be time for a change.  As someone who really suffers from dry skin I'm always on the look out for a hydrating foundation, especially when I'm travelling.  So when I saw that this foundation claimed to increase skin hydration by 215% after just one week, it seemed like a no brainer!

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue is a tinted hydrating gel cream that claims to be the best of a BB, CC and tinted moisturiser all rolled into one.  It's a very soft and thin cream, not completely what I was expecting as I imagined a more gel-ish consistency, but it is a supersoft and lightweight foundation that leaves my skin feeling great.  Due to it's thin consistency a little goes a long way and it can take a little more time to blend into your skin and not sit on top of it like a moisturiser, but I find this with a lot of moisturising foundations.  I normally like to apply my foundation with a brush but I find it best to apply this foundation with my fingertips, as it suggest on the bottle, then once I have blended it as much as I can I just buff it into my skin with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for a more flawless finish.  I also love how this foundation gives me a nice dewy finish and does not in any way feel cake-y.  I would say this foundation gives a light to medium coverage so if you're looking for a full coverage foundation then this is probably not the one for you.  However if you're looking for a nice lightweight foundation that leaves your skin feeling soft and hydrated then I cannot recommend this enough.  I still get a little bit of a dry forehead every now and then but I have definitely seen a huge improvement in the hydration of my skin.  I have been using this nearly everyday for almost 5 weeks now and don't see any signs of it running out any time soon, so I definitely think it is worth the £26 I paid for it.

Have you tried bareMinerals Complexion Rescue?  I would love to hear your thoughts or if you have any other hydrating foundation recommendations?