Time for another little top three! After a few heavy make-up days this month, at RuPaul's Drag Race: Werq the World Tour and my school prom, I started thinking about what my favourite cleansers are for removing make-up. Obviously, wipes will not feature anywhere in this post because they are the devil in disguise.

Cleansing is the most important part of your morning and evening skincare routine. If you don't properly remove everything that's on your face (make-up, sunscreen, dirt, grime, sweat, oil...) you are preventing every other skincare product from doing its job. If you use a wipe, you are just swirling all of the things listed in the brackets above around your face a bit and then leaving them there. Boke. If you are wearing any make-up or sunscreen, you should be double cleansing every night. With that in mind, the products I've discussed below are the first cleansers I use every night, with the sole purpose of removing everything that's currently on my skin.

I always apply cleanser to dry skin and remove with a hot face cloth. When I say hot, I don't mean scalding - you should be able to rinse your face cloth under the running tap without scalding your fingers. I then cleanse again - more on products for that in a later post.

Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm
This is perhaps my favourite balm cleanser in terms of efficiency and it is brilliant for anyone who has broken out/had a reaction to a balm cleanser in the past. As per the standard for Clinique, this doesn't contain any essential oils or perfume, so it's ideal for even the most sensitive skin. It removes waterproof make-up, doesn't leave any residue behind and you only need a small amount to leave your skin clean and fresh. It starts off fairly solid but melts down into a lovely, silky oil that doesn't dry out your skin in the slightest. It's decent value for money as well - £24 for 125ml.

Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm
This is the most luscious balm of the lot. I defy anyone to not fall in love instantly with that SMELL. Omg heaven. This product is "must have" in the beauty world and, I promise you, it will not disappoint. I always have this in stock and frequently rejuvenate my supply when M&S have 20% off beauty. It's quite a bit more expensive than TTDO above, at £47 for 100ml. I remember when it was £34 for 100ml! Bit of a shame really, as it's a BRILLIANT cleanser but it's getting to a point where it's priced outside of most budgets. Even I won't buy it now unless I can get a discount code. If you want to give it a try, you can find a travel-sized pot here for the bargain price of £5!

The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter
Something you quickly learn to ignore when using balm cleansers is that the texture of most of them resembles lard. That aside, this is a particularly good offering from the Body Shop. It's suitable for so many people - if you've got sensitive skin, sensitive eyes (like me), oily or dry skin, this is definitely worth a try. It's only a tenner! What could go wrong. It does feel a bit greasy at first, but you need a bit of grease to massage in and really get rid of all the grime/make-up/whatever. The key thing is, it washes off like a dream.

What are your favourite cleansing balms? There's bound to be some I haven't tried and I'd love to hear about your top picks!

♡

Nothing beats waking up in paradise and for just over a week at the beginning of April, I did just that. My own personal Garden of Eden - the beautiful Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

We haven't really been on a "sunny" holiday in two years. Last time we were in Tenerife, Ali had a three day job interview the day we got back, so he didn't exactly have the most relaxing time ever - he spent a lot of time revising and prepping! I spent a lot of time floating on a rubber ring in the pool; I spent a lot of this holiday doing much of the same. Except this time it was a flamingo and I'm not sorry.

We stayed in a resort called Parque Santiago; there's about 53 different ones across Tenerife (slight exaggeration - I think there might be about 6) but we were in number 4, right at the ocean. There's a fab wee rum bar right on the beach called Chirinquito Las Salinas that sells the tastiest mojitos I've ever tasted. Because we had arrived in the last week in March, before most schools had started their Easter holidays, it was blissfully quiet. When we visited the beach along the road on a few scorching afternoons, we practically had the place to ourselves.

It was the most relaxing heaven. Nothing but tequila sunrise cocktails by the pool, eating more Lays than one gal should, floating about in a giant flamingo and romantic dinners every night. Such a stark contrast to everyday life, when I'm constantly fretting about having so much to do and not enough time to do it. When I'm on holiday, I feel like I've got all the time in the world. We were away for 9 days and I read 10 books. I spent quality time with Ali. I ate what I liked and didn't feel the slightest bit guilty.  

If you're after a sunshine holiday with a nice night life and peace, perfect peace by the pool during the day, hit up Tenerife out of season. The weather is almost always good and the choices of activities, restaurants and hotels are almost endless. 

Where are your favourite destinations for relaxing in the sun? We'd love to try somewhere different next time, so please let me know!

♡

At the beginning of this year, I set myself three easy goals to try and help me get the most out of the year to come. Just over four months in, I thought I'd write a quick post at how I'm getting on with them!

1. Make time for me.
I think I've done ok with this so far - most weeks I am managing to find a bit of time to do something I enjoy. Blogging has mostly been amazing. I've really enjoyed learning a bit about coding and writing about the things I love in life. I've also read so many books! Most of them when I was on holiday but I'm slowly getting back into the habit of going to bed a bit earlier and reading a few chapters. One thing I really am going to have to work a bit harder at is getting myself outside and looking after my health. I have been walking a bit more but not nearly as often as I like. Hopefully by the time I check back in, this will have improved!

2. Take more photos.
Unsurprisingly, this is still a work in progress. I definitely have taken more photos, I've even managed to enlist a (slightly begrudging) photographer and forced him to take loads of "plandid" holiday snaps! However, going through and sorting them all is a whole other matter. Editing GoPro footage has become the bane of my life. But I will persevere and see if I can upload something soon! Does anyone have any suggestions of the best video editing programmes to use with a GoPro? I hate iMovie and I'm struggling to gel with the GoPro software as well, making a tedious task all the more tedious.

3. Adopt some Marie Kondo into my life.
So the spare room has been gutted about three times but the junk just keeps on accumulating. As soon as I've cleared it out, it all just starts appearing again! I think in my mind it has become "the dumping ground" so I'll have to work to change that and start treating it like a proper bedroom, not a giant cupboard. I have got rid of a hell of a lot of stuff but there's still more to go. I was ruthless with old paperwork, anything that could be given to the charity shop, but I find it hard to just bin things and fill up a landfill.

Anyway, that's a quick update on how things are going! I'm actually pretty impressed with myself that I've not only addressed all three goals but have made a tiny bit progress with them. If anyone has any advice for me on how to do a better job of achieving them, please let me know below!

♡

Summer is a comin' (please let that be the truth - it's almost May and it's still feeling like winter) and that makes me want to update my make up bag. A few days off my work ill with a virus gave me all the time in the world to check out the new releases for summer and I am thrilled that Summer '18 is all about that beachy vibe. These babies are definitely cool for the summer...

For eyeshadows that last longer than your summer fling, Urban Decay has offered up the dreamy Beached Palette. Part of a limited edition collection that also includes gorgeous matte bronzers, metallic liners and luscious lipsticks, this palette is giving me so much life. Look at those blues! Look at that shimmery bronze! This palette absolutely nails the beach look - natural, sun-kissed but still a little pop of colour. Initially only available at Ulta, UD have confirmed on Instagram that it WILL be coming to the UK in June, so keep an eye out!

I think the Ouai's Wave Spray must be one of the most talked about launches in years. Described as a "weightless texture mist for effortless chic, undone hair", it contains rice protein to help keep the shape of your wave and promises volume and a healthy shine in addition to perfect beachy waves. As someone with hair that air dries in frizzy waves, I'll be trying this to see if it can give my natural hair some definition.

Is it even summer if you haven't got a tan? If you read my last blog post, you'll know I'm pretty serious about sun safety, so I always fake it. This tanning water makes big promises about changing the way you think about fake tan. It's vegan, cruelty free and organic. It doesn't smell like a biscuit. You don't need to wash it off. Next time I'm in Boots, I think I'll be picking up the tanning water in the peach and the green, just to get me started!

Finally, get that summer glow with Hourglass' new Vanish Highlighting Sticks. Champagne Gold (far left) is taking my fancy but all the colours are gorgeous. Their Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick is a huge success because it's so densely pigmented and these look to be just as fabulous. Slick on for a high shimmer reward that perfectly compliments your sun-kissed skin.

What summer launches are you most looking forward to? Are you feeling this beachy vibe?

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When I was younger (we're talking mid-to-late teens), having a tan was the be-all and end-all. When there was even a hint of sunshine in Scotland, some of my friends would cover themselves in Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil 4 (factor 4! Why bother...) and lie out in the garden to bake. This, quite frankly, HORRIFIES me now.

Safe to say, both myself and many of my friends are now much more vigilant about sun protection. Years of research has cemented the dangers of the sun firmly into my psyche and I'm rarely without a bottle of SPF as the sun returns. During early spring/late autumn and days that are mostly spent indoors, I tend to rely on the SPF coverage found in my make-up, primer and some of my daily moisturisers. All through the summer and on spring/autumn days when I know I'll be outdoors more, I use a dedicated facial sunscreen at the end of my skincare routine. SPF is the last product you should apply to your skin when doing your morning routine (unless you live in Iceland, you're probably not going to be needing sunscreen at night).

What even is SPF?

The numbers you see on the bottle are linked to the Sun Protection Factor the product gives you against UVB light. When I first became interested in skincare and started researching sunscreen brands and products more thoroughly, I was surprised to learn that it's UVB light, not UVA light, that causes your skin to burn. UVA light makes your skin age faster and causes skin issues like pigmentation and age spots. It is essential that you try to use sunscreen products that offer good protection against all UV light because they both damage your DNA and increase the risk of the dreaded skin cancer. Check the ingredients list for UVA-blockers, such as zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and avobenzone, ecamsule and oxybenzone. You would think from the disparity in the numbers that there is a huge jump between SPF 15, 30 and 50 but it's actually very, very small:

SPF 15 blocks approximately 93% of UVB light.

SPF 30 blocks nearly 97% of UVB light.

SPF 50 blocks 98% of UVB light.

NO sunscreen is capable of blocking 100% of UV light.

So, as you can see, the difference in protection is minimal. You can't combine SPF either; putting SPF 50 on after applying SPF 30 will not give you "SPF 80". You will still only have SPF 50 protection. The biggest problem with higher factor sunscreen is you start to think you are "safe" - you stop seeking out the shade when the sun is at its peak, you don't wear a hat or sunglasses and you don't reapply every 2 hours. And suddenly, you're a lobster. Please, leave the lobster-ing to the actual lobsters.

My Top SPF Products

My favourite facial suncreen at the moment and the one I used on my most recent holiday is La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Ultra Light Fluid SPF 50+. It's a bestseller in Europe and it's easy to see why. The texture is lovely and light which makes it quick and easy for your skin to adsorb. This also makes it perfect for wearing under make-up. Unlike the facial sunscreen I used on my last holiday, this stayed put after a swim in the pool and zooming down multiple waterslides.

From the same range, I also like La Roche-Posay Anthelios Invisible Anti-Shine Mist SPF 50+. This was great for topping up our protection when we were out and about - for example, when you have already applied your proper facial sunscreen but feel you need a bit more protection because the sun is particularly strong or you've perspired a bit.

My most used body sunscreen were the Lancaster Sun Beauty Velvet Milk Sublime Tan for Body SPF 30. I picked this up in TK Maxx just before we went and I was initially a bit worried about how long it might have been sitting on the shelf. Thankfully it was well within the best before date and it's also one of Carolord Hirons favourites. This product has a really nice texture and I liked that it dried rather than sitting sticky on your skin. It offers high protection from UV light but also claims to protect you from infrared light, believed to be responsible for the loss of skin firmness and elasticity.

My second choice is Marks & Spencer Sun Smart Sensitive Moisture Protect Sun Lotion SPF 30. This is a really nourishing sunscreen with sunflower oil, aloe vera and vitamin E to help keep your skin looking fab whilst offering great protection. This product was great for hot days that we were in and out the pool as it's really thick and water resistant. That being said, if you were hoping to wear any expensive swimwear or a cute little white sundress, this might not be the one for you. It does have a tendency to leave unsightly yellow marks on clothing - thankfully my mum was able to rescue my new swimsuits, but a few of Ali's t-shirts weren't so lucky. Despite that, we keep on buying it because it's so good.

There's such a huge range of sunscreen available now that effective protection is easy peasy. What are your favourite sunscreens? And where are you planning on using them next?

♡

There isn't really a good time to post this sort of thing. My holiday hiatus has been a bit longer than I had originally planned. A few days after we got back from Tenerife, my Grandpa passed away. I don't really have any words - grief is a funny old thing. One minute I'm fine, the next I'm crying over sweet peas/Abernethy biscuits/a greyhound I've seen in the park.

I'll have some new posts soon. Please bear with me.