Pixi Glow Tonic

This is my first full review on my new blog! I sat here for a week or so, deliberating what my first product review would be and since my skin is my main concern, I thought I'd start with a facial skin product.

For those of you who are interested in knowing more about my skin type click here. In short though, I have combination skin, but still suffer from acne and slight scarring. I'm quite set in my routine, but as a part of starting my blogging journey I'm keen to try out new products. Currently my toner of choice is the Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions Clarifying Lotion.

I recently ordered the Glamour Summer Edition Beauty Box from Latest in Beauty (which is fab and available here). One of the selling points of this box was the Pixi Glow Tonic. Upon arrival I couldn't wait to try it out, having heard such great things about it. It's only a small bottle, but I think you could get a weeks use out of it so it should give you a great idea of how your skin gets on with it. The Pixi Glow Tonic is COMPLETELY different to the Clinique Clarifying lotion, but I feel I need to provide a comparison of the two products, here's why:

Clinique Clarifying Lotion:

• Feels like a deep clean - Great at the end of the day
• Slightly drying effect on skin - Which helps to clear up my spots 
• Leaves skin feeling tingly and tightened 
• It has quite a strong odour 

Pixi Glow Tonic: 

• Leaves skin feeling hydrated and plumped up 
• Really does provide a GLOW 
• Feels slightly oily, but leaves skin looking dewy 
• Smells divine! 

I've found that I don't like oily feeling products on my skin at night time, I wake up with a shiny face and sweat in my eyes (it stings)! For that reason, the Clinique Clarifying Lotion is still my night time choice, it genuinely makes me feel fully clean at the end of a long day! That said, I've noticed that I LOVE using the Pixi Glow Tonic in the morning. As mentioned above, it does everything I want a toner to do during my morning routine; liven up my skin - giving it a glow, hydrating and plumping as well as smelling really fresh. It's perfect for Summer!

I have only been using the Glow Tonic for just under a week though, so I can't comment on the long term effect on my blemishes or overall skin condition. However, I'm have half a bottle left and conveniently I'm up in London next weekend so intend to pop into their shop to pick up a full sized bottle. It'd be fab if they offer any samples of other products or the ability to have a good play in store as I'm really intrigued to see what their other products look and feel like, especially their primer and eye-shadows! Keeping my fingers crossed I get time for a good browse! The Glamour Box also gives us a £5 off code to use in store or online, so I suppose it'd be rude not to!

You can purchase the Pixi Glow Tonic by visiting their website here.

Hi, I'm new here...

Hi, my name is Vicki and this is my first ever post for my new blog! Thanks for taking the time to visit and get to know me, I'm new to this blogging malarkey so please bear with me! My blog is currently a work in progress, I hope to make it pretty soon, but thought in the meantime I may as well introduce myself and why I'm here :-)

What's my blog about?

Technically lifestyle, but predominantly beauty and fitness.

Why have I decided to create a blog?

It may sound dramatic but I turn 30 this year, and thought there's no better time than now to start taking more care of my beauty regime, growing old gracefully and all that. I've decided to join the blogging community to learn about life, products, techniques etc, anything that'll help to keep me feeling young (sounding very OTT now), but also to share my experiences with anyone who finds it useful.

I'm a personal trainer and group fitness instructor from Bournemouth, UK, teaching a variety of classes from Insanity to Zumba so fitness is a massive passion for me. I've always been active, a bit of a tom boy as a child, climbing trees and riding my mountain bike out to the middle of nowhere and that sense of adventure has stayed with me throughout adult life. Now my physical hobbies include climbing, snowboarding as well as running all of my classes. For this reason, I intend to have fitness as a key part of my blog, sharing with you my experiences of products I've tried from gadgets to sports bras through to the different activities I try out.

So, that explains the fitness side of my blog, and the part I actually know something about! The reason why I want to also focus on beauty is because I feel it works hand in hand with fitness to keep your confidence levels high, and I think that becomes even more important as you get older. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel old, nor do I think 30 is ancient! I'm not dreading it nearly as much as I thought I would, however I am well aware that the make up and beauty regime that used to work for me might not be carried off so well now (thinking back to a 12 year old decision of bright blue eye-shadow and gold liquid eye-liner springs to mind). I'm just here to learn, and to be honest there's not a great deal I know about the industry at the moment so I'm aiming to try as many products as possible, along with joining other beauty bloggers on their quests.

What else will I write about?

My other hobbies include travelling. I love going on holiday, but just don't get to go too often. As one of my hobbies is snowboarding, a favourite destination is Whistler in Canada. I also love visiting different cities. I enjoy reading, although again don't get much time to read as much as I used to. My favourite genres are usually any fiction based in a foreign country, nothing too fluffy - Two of my all time favourites are Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I try to read anything though, not a massive fan of crime, as it always  seems to be the husband or step-dad... I watch a lot of quiz shows and try to go pub quizzing whenever I can, and also enjoy TV box sets like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Tyrant, Breaking Bad and my guilty pleasure from a few years back was Ugly Betty!

I've recently decided to cut out meat from my diet, following a pescetarian diet. Mainly because my poor stomach couldn't digest the meat, but also because it did gross me out a bit. I'm expecting this to be a challenge as I'd say another hobby of mine is eating! I love eating out but also can't eat spicy food, so I'm hoping my limited diet will allow me to start being a bit more adventurous!

My Favourite Brands

My top 3 Fitness Brands are:

Puma
Nike
Mizuno

My top 3 Beauty Brands are:

Clinique - Love about 9/10 of the products I've tried so far
Lush
Moroccanoil - Recently discovered following a hair disaster in local salon

My Main Beauty Concerns

Acne - Still!!!
Keeping beautiful nails (love Vinylux but find my nails don't)
Flyaway hair

Starting my Blog

I've set up this blog although it'll be a work in progress for a while, I'll be more active on Twitter for the time being, sharing competitions, tips and any special offers I can find. One thing I thought I'd get done at the start of my blogging career was to sort out my existing hoard of "essentials". I appear to have collected an awful lot of duplicates (mainly hair products), Clinique goods, and free samples, as well as stock piling a ridiculous amount of out of date make up. I've used this photo as my cover photo until I can make something better, but thought it apt to start my journey, safe to say A LOT of it went in the bin to create space for my new goodies...

I don't want to bore you all any further, but I'd love it if you could visit again and connect with me on Twitter @Fashionfituk and also BlogLovin (still working that out) FashionablyfitUK

Vicki