Michael Todd Skincare Discovery Set

 So I woke up this morning half drunk, plastered in last nights makeup and the beginning of lots of tiny red alcohol spots that grace my face when I’ve been hitting the bottle. Luckily for me, I won this amazing Michael Todd skincare discovery set for normal and combination skin (my first ever blogger win! From NaturRia whose blog is here.). This set comes with a one step cleanser and toner, a separate toner, a face scrub, a moisturiser and a face mask. My skin seriously needs some TLC after a night out so I decided to give each one a try.

The two in one cleanser and toner is said to clean, tone and remove makeup and impurities using charcoal rather than alcohol. It also contains vitamins, organic teas and essential oils, is certified vegan and is 70% organic. That is a lot of good reasons to try it! It has a pump dispenser so you don’t waste loads, which is good. You just rub it onto wet skin in upwards circular motion and it takes off all the makeup, then you rinse off. It’s a really pretty silver from the charcoal and has a light feel, and it also smells really nice! It worked really well actually, took off all my makeup and made my skin feel really cleansed. I haven’t used a makeup cleanser where you work it in and wash it off before and I’m really annoyed I haven’t now I’ve tried this! Will definitely be using this from now on (apart from when I’m super tired and can’t be bothered).

Next up is the organic lemon AHA and DMAE toner, which is also vegan and is 96% organic woo! This is meant to exfoliate and firm to improve skin tone and texture, and is to be used after cleansing. It has a nice essential oil smell to it: not overwhelmingly lemon-y but nice enough. I think it is a testament to the cleaner and toner that when I use this, no makeup is left on the cotton wool ball. The toner itself is nice and refreshing, but it apparently has ingredients that can increase your sensitivity to the sun, so I’ll only be using it at night and will keep my normal toner for the morning. I could just use suncream but I’m lazy and it takes so long to sink into my face for my skin to be makeup ready. Naughty me.

The charcoal scrub is meant to remove dead skin, impurities and toxins, and is 0% organic! Tut tut face scrub, shame on you (some of the ingredients are organic though). I used it after cleaning and toning and loveddd it. It’s dark grey and has a really thick texture. It isn’t too gritty but it still feels like it’s giving your dead skin a good beating.

After I used the scrub, I put on the pumpkin nutrient rich facial mask, which moisturises and nourishes. It’s a blend of pumpkin and glycolic acid, amongst other things, and warns that it might cause irritation and sensitivity. Scary. However, I actually have no problems with it and left it on well over the recommended 5 – 10 minutes, because I was sitting in front of the heater and just couldn’t move. This looks, smells and feels like pumpkin flavoured baby food. It dries and turns hard but not stiff, so you can carry out a conversation, laugh and eat; all those things you can’t normally during face masks! It says to use sun cream after using this, and to use every 1 – 2 weeks. My skin does feel nice and smooth after. I’m hoping it will help with my acne scarring after a couple of uses.

The last step of my pamper sesh was the moisturiser (81% organic and suitable for all skin types). It has a slight citrussy scent (not surprising as it contains basically every citrus fruit’s essential oil going) and contains DMAE to firm skin and improve wrinkles and hyaluronic acid to attract moisture to the skin. If you are looking for a light moisturiser, do not use this. I actually have found this is too heavy for my skin (I woke up in the morning and my face was still heavily moisturised) so maybe only use if you have really dry skin, or are looking for an intensive moisturiser for thirsty skin days.

Overall, I’m really impressed with this skincare set. I looked in the mirror a couple of hours after doing all the treatments and my skin does look a lot smoother and healthier, plus one of my newer spot about to turn scar which was really dry, tight and flaky is more like skin texture rather than dead cell texture. The cleanser and toner two in one is AMAZING, it really makes your skin feel deep cleansed and fresh. I love that it’s all vegan so there are no animal nasties hidden, and it also contains no parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals or synthetic anything, and all the products are great at what they do. It’s annoying that two of the products need sun cream after, so if you’re planning on using a sunbed or are really sensitive, I’d say to probably steer clear. I’m going to use this all as part of my night time routine, and will do the scrub and mask as often as I’m allowed. I have high hopes that it will help reduce the visibility of my acne scarring, and delay any wrinkles that are thinking of popping out at some point. Plus I got the set free and am just really really grateful so make sure you pop over and see NatuRia’s blog here.

What’s your favourite skin care set?

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