Spray bottles are the goddamn business. Always, always keep them when you finish a product which is #blessed enough to come in one. They are my holy grail of beauty-liquid packaging, and they should be much more prevalent, for a multitude of reasons. Vive la Spray!
The first product which should be sprayed and only sprayed is body oils. Why should I have to bend over and reach places when a spray could do it for me? Dumb. Luckily I have a multitude of old spray bottles because I'm a dirty dirty hoarder, so I decant my body oil of choice (at the moment avocado, because I have it and I want to use it up) and spray in all over my bod. Voila - glowy, moisturised skin without having to do any annoying rubbing.
Obviously, obviously all hair products should come in spray form. Who can be arsed to even attempt to disperse product evenly using hands alone - it's impossible and it makes you feel like a fool for even trying. Also, it's a good litmus test for products: if it's too thick to get through a spray mechanism, it's going to weigh my hair down and I don't want to be involved. Oils, textursing things, leave-in-conditioner and serums alike MUST be MISTed.
I'm out of the toner game, but on the occasion I do a liquid exfoliate with the Bravura London Purifying Calendula Toner. Why oh why doesn't it come in spray form? Spraying toners onto cotton pads puts a little amount across the whole pad surface instead of completely soaking one corner, which is a much more economical way to rub it evenly over your face. And if you're fearless and immune to eye pain, you can spray things directly onto your face, skipping the need for a cotton pad and therefore saving the planet. Good job, you.
Finally, setting sprays, which do, obviously, come in spray form. But if, like me, you're looking for a dewy-finish setting spray, there is no better way to go than rosewater. It gives your face an immediate, verging-on-shiny glow. It's also pretty great for your skin and smells like roses (duh). I buy mine from Amazon and decant into an old sprayer. Its the best, cheapest, best-for-you facial spray I've ever used, and trust me, I've used some overpriced ones.
So, big companies who definitely read my blog: why doesn't everything which can be sprayed come in a spray bottle? Good for being lazy, saving money, saving product, saving the planet and saving your hair from being too flat - I rest my case.
Sometimes I buy things and don't end up liking how they work, sometimes they get usurped by superior prods, sometimes in a pinch I discover multi uses for an old fave, and sometimes I buy something with rebellious intentions in mind. Here are a bunch of things I like to use in ways not intended.
First is the Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in "Reserve your Cabana". This is certainly not the traditional colour of a bronzer, and I originally thought it would make a nice highlight. However, extensive swatching in direct sunlight (being obsessive about makeup is sometimes weirdly stressful) showed that there was no actual shimmery particles in this prod. So I've started using it as a sort of all over setting / glow-boosting hybrid and it's bloody lovely. Probably similar to those Hourglass Ambient Lighting ones, but $5. These types of things are hard to describe, but it gives an almost imperceptible blurring effect, and makes your face look lit from within. It's also SPF 15 which is pretty cool. If you have a highlighter which you're finding too subtle in targeted areas, and you are a fan of a glowing (shiny) complexion, might I suggest dusting it lightly all over.
I have a lot of love for Cymex Lip Protectors, as they are the best functional lipbalm I've tried (in a tube, cheap, works, makes lips look glossy and pink). Whilst on a plane recently (I'm a jetsetter, it's not a big deal) I tried this on my cuticles and it did a great moisturising jobby. I don't think a separate cuticle oil is necessary when you have any old lipbalm, and this one works particularly nicely.
I've recently had a skincare revelation: I don't think my skin particularly likes salicylic acid. It seems to irritate without any noticeable "activity" reducing benefits. I have a whole bunch of salicylic acid prods to get through now, and I've been using this Bravura London Detoxifying Eucalyptus Toner on my arms and feet. The skin there is much hardier to potential iritation, and the effects of this are much much better than with manual exfoliation. It's a cool feeling to not have something go to waste. This one was mid-range, but if you've got some skin texture issues on your bod, salicylic acid is so easy to buy cheaply - any drugstore acne range will have something.
I still have a soft spot for the Lacura Gentle Face Wash Gel. It's from Aldi, which is not exactly a cool place to shop for skincare, but it's cheap (under £2) and as far as my limited knowledge goes, the ingredients are fine. This has been surpassed by the CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, but I've been using the Lacura fellow to clean my makeup brushes and it really does the job. If you think about it (and trust me, I have - so deep) you shouldn't really wash your brushes with things you don't want on your face, because your brushes touch your face a lot. I would buy this again for brush cleaning purposes - and if, like me, you have an embarrassing collection of cleansers and a fussy face, this is a good way to use them up.
Don't play by the rules. Don't follow the instructions. Be your own person, man! And never, ever throw anything away.
