Lacura Charcoal Clearing Mud Mask

Morning all!

Recently I shared my thoughts on the Lacura Charcoal Mud to Foam Cleanser so today's post is about the face mask in the same range, the Charcoal Clearing Mud Mask.

Lacura Exfoliating Mud Mask

What are your thoughts on dupes??

If you're anything like us you will love a bargain, but often the dupe isn't the same as the original product so I suppose it's each to their own with buying products that are copies of another.

The Glam Glow masks have been around for a few years now and have a huge following, I've only tried a sachet from them a while back and I did like it but can't really comment on regular usage. I'd love to try it, but at £42 for 50g of the Youthmud clearing treatment I just cannot justify it - being single and buying your own home is not good to your bank account!

However, the fabulous brand that is Lacura from Aldi UK has an Exfoliating Mud Mask that is very similar indeed.

Miss Patisserie's Dotty Box

Happy Sunday evening!

What a beautiful weekend it has been, I'm sporting some pink shoulders and sore muscles after finally getting around to sorting out some of my garden - 9 bags later and it's still not finished, eek!

Anyway, back to business....we went to Miss Patisserie for a blogger event (you can read the post here)

One of the items I picked up was the Dotty Box, a gift box with four items in all of which looked and smelled so good I couldn't resist it.

In total it contains the Mineral Mud Face Mask, Coral Bay Dry Body Oil, Coco Body Butter and the Coral Bay Bath Ball.
All of these smell so amazing, I couldn't wait to try them.

They come in the same boxes as when you can select four bath balls of your own choice, and the boxes are gorgeous. I'm planning on decorating my bathroom with the same colour as the blue on the box, so it will conveniently match...right?

The boxes are so well thought out and I love the note on the inside of it too. I wish I'd known about Miss Patisserie sooner, especially as it's been around since 2009!

Here are the products:

How cute are they?!
The smell when you open the box is amazing, even with the contents out the box it still smells awesome and I have sniffed it a few times just to remind myself of the scent! It makes me feel so relaxed and content, I need to bottle it up and carry it around with me.

First up? The Coral Bay Bath Ball. Look at the pretty colours!

This was my first bath ball and I was really impressed. The pastel colours were so pretty, and the bath ball fizzed for so long I actually ended up breaking it up with my hands, I am very impatient! I'd like a perfume in this scent, it's just makes me so happy!

Next is the Mineral Mud mask.

I've already written a post about this separately, you can find it by clicking here.
Short review: I love it and fully recommend it!

The next product I tried was the Coral Bay Dry Body Oil. This is a game changer for me, I knew I loved the smell but a dry oil isn't something I had tried before and I really loved it!

I use this all the time now, straight out of the shower and it sinks in pretty fast. I love moisturisers and body butters but sometimes they take too long and I can't be bothered to wait for them to dry. This is the perfect alternative and I'm really impressed with it.

I'd definitely recommend it, just let me stock up on it first so I never run out!

Last but not least is the Coco Body butter, and it is certainly another favourite.

The smell of this is also out of this world and is such a summery scent, it's a lovely thick moisturiser and takes a little while to rub in but it doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy at all.

Overall I am more than impressed with the collection and generally with everything I have bought from Miss Patisserie. This was the perfect box to try a range of products and I'd 100% recommend it for anyone who would like to try a few and can't choose.

The box costs £25 and is worth around £32 in product so it is worth buying if you want them all anyway. Individually they are priced at:

Mineral Mud Face Mask - £7.70
Coral Bay Dry Body oil - £14
Coral Bay Bath ball - £3.49
Coco Body Butter- £6

Have you tried any sets from Miss Patisserie? Do you love the Coral Bay scent?

L xxx

Miss Patisserie Mineral Mud Mask

Hello there!

Hooray it is almost the weekend! I will be away from this evening on a hen weekend and I'm rather excited. I will hopefully get some time to do some sightseeing whilst at the city as I've never been there before - all will be revealed in another post I'm sure!

In the meantime today's post is about another mask from Miss Patisserie, this is the Mineral Mud Mask.

The Mineral Mud mask is for drawing out impurities from skin and dealing with excessive oil, so is perfect for those of us with that oily T-zone.

Key ingredients include dead sea clay, kaolin clay and red clay, all of which are well known for helping with oily skin. It also contain Spearmint oil and Mandarin orange oil so you just know it smells good!

All you need to do is use around half to a full tablespoon of the product and mix it with water to create the mask. I've seen lots of ideas of mixing them with other things such as lemon juice or milk depending on your skin type which is a good idea, but not one that I have yet tried so can't comment on it. Lemon juice is supposed to be amazing for brightening though so that would be a great addition to this mask for a double whammy!

You simply make the paste and leave it on for 20 minutes, easy peasy!

So what does it look like on, and how does it feel?

You can see the image below for how it looks, it does dry on your skin so it can feel your skin tighten with it on so that's one thing to note if you're not a fan of that.

I don't mind it as long as I don't use them all the time, and just find that I need a really thick moisturiser or oil to rehydrate my skin afterwards.

It washes off really easily and my skin is definitely less oily afterwards. I don't suffer with spots like I used to, probably due to a more extensive skincare routine and also I'm getting old!
My skin needs hydration a hell of a lot more than before but still gets oily, using this once or twice a week has helped a lot and in between I pile on the serums, oils and moisturiser to solve all my skin issues.

I've previously written about the Walnut Stone Face Mask (link here) which you can read if you like, and I wrote that it was difficult to use the powder to form the paste with my hands. I also purchased the bamboo spoon this time and can say it is definitely worth the £1.75 it costs for a perfect 0.5 tablespoon measure without making a mess! I'd recommend getting this too.

The Mineral Mud Mask costs £7.70, and the Bamboo Spoon £1.75. Have you tried any of Miss Patisserie's masks before? Do you have any other favourite products from her?

I'm a huge fan, slowly but surely buying my way around the store! I'd love the try the Facial Oils next, I've heard great things!


L xxx

Lush Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

Hey all!

I've been super crazy busy recently so my posts have been non existent - thanks to M for filling in for me! This is exactly why we blog together - not only would we blog similar posts anyway but we can help each other out when the other doesn't have the time.
My parents are both due into hospital again and I've been to Paris for work so things have been a little all over the place but with an upcoming week off I will be catching up on everything!

A few weeks ago we both went to Lush for their latest event (you can see our post here) and I stocked up my product collection with a few new additions.

I picked up the Yoga Bomb bath bomb, Ultrabland facial cleanser, Needles and Pine shower jelly and Cupcake Fresh Face mask as well as the infamous Porridge soap.

I've been using them all ever since and have honestly been loving them all!

This review however is dedicated to the Cupcake Fresh Face mask. This costs £6.50 for the 75g, and the reviews show 4* out of 5.

It contains only 13 ingredients including rhassoul mud, fairtrade organic cocoa butter, fresh mint and spearmint and peppermint oils.

The most important ingredient is rhassoul mud which works with the cocoa powder to draw all of the impurities from your skin and deeply cleanse it to remove all of the dirt.

Fresh mint can be used to stimulate and tone the skin and the linseed infusion and cocoa butter moisturise and hydrate the skin. I don't know about you but this sounds good enough to eat right??!

I was won over as soon as I saw it in store and wanted to to just dive right into a huge vat of it!



Unfortunately it doesn't come in a pot that big so i picked up the standard size and brought it home to try. As you can see I looked a little ridiculous with it all over my face!

I left this on my face for 10/15 minutes as recommended and my skin has been helped so much. The amount of oil has been reduced and so has the redness, breakouts have also pretty much disappeared which is amazing news.

I would really recommend this to anyone who suffers with break outs and redness, and needs that extra bit of oil mopping up.
Plus who doesn't love a face mask that looks like liquid chocolate?!

What masks are your favourite from Lush? 

L xxx

Lush Mask of Magnaminty

Hey lovelies!

Our joint review today is for a well loved product from Lush, the Mask of Magnaminty.

We both recently picked up the self preserving version of the mask which means it will last a lot longer. It can be used on face and body and is a miracle worker on hormonal breakouts as well as longer term skin problems such as acne. It contains only 13 ingredients and the website pretty much says all that you need to know:

Easily smoothed over the skin anywhere you like, this mask is made with peppermint oil to stimulate, marigold oil and chlorophyllin to treat the skin; evening primrose seeds and aduki beans to gently exfoliate as you remove it. There’s also mineral rich kaolin to nourish, antibacterial honey, and peppermint oil to stimulate the blood cells just under the surface of your skin to leave it looking bright and refreshed.

The average review on the website is an impressive 4.7 stars which should tell you everything you need to know but i am absolutely in love with it. It costs £9.75 for the large tub and £5.50 for the smaller one shown above. I would fully recommend it to anyone struggling with hormonal breakouts especially the self preserving version as it would last much longer.

For anyone struggling with acne this would be a natural way to help prevent more spots from forming and help to reduce the size of the current ones. I occasionally get spots on my chest which aren't by any means bad at all but it has definitely helped to get rid of them faster.

I tend to leave this on whilst in the shower and then massage the scrubby bits into my skin (which aren't abrasive in any way) and then rinse it off. My skin feels deeply cleansed and over the past few weeks usage has definitely helped the condition of my skin. Also the smell (peppermint) is one of my favourites and I really enjoy using it. It's so refreshing and awakening.

If you have any issues with your skin I would 100% recommend it especially as its all natural. I'm definitely coming around to using Lush products a lot more. This is my favourite closely followed by Ocean Salt scrub.

Have you tried Mask of Magnaminty? What's your favourite Lush product?


L xxx

Hey All

Hope you've had a great weekend! I've had a chilled but busy one with the other half! As L said we've both picked this up recently! I love Lush masks and have tried most of them now but the short date is annoying, they do last a little past it. I tend to operate by if it smells and looks the same I use it.

One that lasts longer is always preferred though. I love that Mask of Magnaminty is also recommended for body breakouts. As gross as it is my back has been having the occasional break out too lately! Lush I know but I'm pretty sure it's from exercising!

I love the slight cooling effect this has on my skin. I find minty things just make my skin feel extra clean! I do find a more clay like mask can leave my skin feeling dry but this just leaves it looking soft and slightly more glowy!

As L mentioned it has a mild exfoliant in it which is great for sports to get rid of the annoying dry skin on and after spot! Overall I'm loving this! The blueberry cosmetic warrior used to be a favourite but mask of magnaminty has definitely knocked it off the top spot!

Lush have a whole range of new self preserving products out to help make them even more natural. They've used products like honey which is a natural antibacterial. For things like the ever popular dream cream they have the new self preserving version and the original.

Have you tried any of the new range?

Love M

xxx

Neal's Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm

Good morning!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend, we had a wedding yesterday so we're recovering from lots of themed cocktails and copious wine!

Today's review is of the Neal's Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm. Not only is this a fabulous product in itself, but it's celebrating its 10th Anniversary and so has limited edition print courtesy of British artist Alice Shields, how gorgeous is it??

Having never used this before I was intrigued as a beauty balm that has been around for 10 years is sure to have a  huge list of uses and therefore a big following.
The key ingredients are:

Rosehip Seed oil: Antioxidant and vitamin rich oil that helps to improve skin elasticity
Borage (starflower): Anti-inflammatory properties and helps to restore the moisture barrier
Patchouli: Stimulates and strengthens skin to help with dry and damaged skin
Geranium: Balances, strengthens and smoothes making it perfect for any skin type.

The design from Alice Shields incorporates all of these key ingredients into the packaging which is a really nice touch and the colours go so well together.



The balms ability to smooth skin and restore its natural radiance is well loved by NYR's customers and the multiple uses they have found for it. These include:

1) Cleanser
2) Moisturiser
3) Mask
4) Lip balm
5) Make up primer/highlighter
6) Cuticle oil
7) Foot cream
8) Flight Repair
9) Eyebrow tamer
10) Sunburn relief

There are many more uses that I'm sure other people will know about, I wonder if it is any good to use on hair? I haven't got that far in my usage of it yet but it would be interesting to know.

This product has won so many awards and it's not surprising, after using it for a few short weeks I am blown away by how moisturising it is. I've been using it mostly as a moisturiser, mask and lip balm but have used it to help with pesky bits of dry skin on my elbows and for my cuticles too.

It really is a wonder product! My skin has felt so much more hydrated and smooth after using it and as my skin has been so dry recently its great to have finally found something that has helped to combat it. I've also not broken out at all which was something I was worried about with my temperamental oily t-zone and penchant for getting spots on my chin. 

The balm comes with its own muslin cloth which is a nice touch and helps you to use it in its many ways. I haven't yet used it as a cleanser as I've been trying to use up other cleansing products but i have no doubt that it will be hydrating and exfoliating,  

I love that they detail all of the ingredients found in the balm and it has been certified as 99% organic by the Soil Association. I don't think you can go wrong with buying a product from a company that boasts countless awards for its products and numerous 'eco-principles'.

Just a few are listed below:

UK's first certified organic health and beauty company

World's First health and beauty company to achieve 100% for ethics in an independent audit

World's first company to produce Soil Association certified cosmetics

World's First Carbon Neutral high street retailer

I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed using this product, its perfect for downsizing as you won't need multiple products if you have one with multiple uses. The results from using the balm are brilliant and my skin has thanked me for it, the packaging is also gorgeous and would look great in any bathroom or vanity unit. This is my first NYR product and I'm really impressed with it, there's so much I'd love to try from their range and the Frankincense products were amazing when we tried them at the event.

The beauty balm comes in at £37 for 50g which sounds a lot but just imagine how much use you will get out of it, and how ethical it is. Almost worth buying for the good world brownie points right??

I'm certainly a fan and will be researching into some more NYR products to try in the near future!

Have you tried the Wild Rose Beauty Balm? Do you like multiple use products? What's your favourite NYR product?

L xxx

Hey All

As L said yesterday we were at a wedding so so far today has been spent in bed or on the sofa. I absolutely exhausted today!

When the balm was rose scented I was concered I wouldn't like it as heavy floral scents aren't something I go especially rose as it always makes me think it's quite an old fashioned scent. This is quite refreshing though and not overly floral or powerful.

So far I've loved it. I've been mainly using it as a overnight mask. My skin just soaks it up. I wake up with the softest skin and it doesn't feel greasy. Even though I have oily skin it has been loving using this balm.

Like L I've also been using it for dry skin on my elbows and it's really helped so far.

This is my first NYR product but my wishlist is massive already. I can't wait to try more. They have some amazing scents I especially can't wait to try the frankinscense range more.

I'm off to smother my face in the balm as I slept in make up last night and my skin now needs a pick me up!

Love M xxx

What I Couldn't Live Without

Hey!

I was thinking the other day about my rather large stash and how well I'm going through it. I've been doing good but could do better. Then it got me thinking about which products I really couldn't live without now that I've found them and as I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a list lover. So basically, without any more babble, here's my list of the products I couldn't live without at the moment!

1) Coconut Oil

I love cooking with coconut oil but it is fast becoming a staple in my beauty regime too. Not only is it a great moisturiser for your skin, but its also useful as a cuticle oil, hair mask, for hands and feet and as a lip balm. I tend to smother it all over before bed as a treat but this can take some time to get the oil to warm up. Still worth it tho!

Una Brennan's Super Facialist Range

Happy Saturday lovelies!

Hopefully the weather is shaping up to belong to this time of year and everyone is out and about. i do love the first pub garden visit of the year! If not....at least it's EASTER BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND! Hurrah! Chocolate galore!

You've probably heard of Una Brennan's Super Facialist Range by now. I picked these up quite a while ago during a 3 for 2 deal as I'd heard such rave reviews about the range and for some reason they've just sat in my drawers.
I've decided to be good and rotate my products a lot more to get the best use out of everything so I've recently rediscovered them and here they are!

Her ranges are designed to give you the opportunity to give yourself an at home facial without expensive products and so you can get salon skin without the price tag.
It's quite a big claim and I do wonder if anyone at all can succeed in this!

First up, the Rose Hydrate Intense Moisture Mask. This has been created so that it is even suitable for sensitive skin and is a thick white cream that you apply to dry skin for 5 minutes before removing it.

This allegedly boosts skin moisture levels and radiance by utilising white willow extract, vitamin U and urea with marshmallow to hydrate and replenish skin.
Applying this once or twice a week this should save my skin from the dehydration issues its been having lately.

As my skin has been that temperamental I was initially worried it would irritate my skin or make it extremely oily. I'm glad to say that this didn't happen at all and my skin more nourished after use. I've even applied it as a moisturiser at night and left it on until the morning which was great too, no irritation and baby smooth skin!

Definitely a thumbs up from me!


Next up is the Miracle Makeover Facial Oil from the same Rose Hydrate range.



This pre cleanse treatment oil contains many natural oils including raspberry, carrot and avocado to eliminate impurities from the skin and encourage cell regeneration. It also contains brown algae and Calendula oil to soothe even the most sensitive skins leaving it feeling supple.
Sounds quite a lot from a little oil used before cleansing doesn't it??

It's directions state you apply a generous amount to your hands to warm it up before applying to your facial skin and massage it in circular movements to dissolve impurities and open pores before cleansing as you normally would.

I've used this a number of times and you need a few pumps (3/4) for a normal face of make up but if you've got heavy eye make up on you'll probably require an extra 1 or 2 as it can be a bit stubborn when the oil is absorbing into your skin. Having said that I really like it and it does a great job of dissolving make up and has become a fixed part of my skin routine. I sometimes use a face wipe to remove the make up from my face before cleansing to dissolve some of the crap but this is definitely a less harsh alternative and works well without irritating my skin or coating it with oil. I just wash my face with my cleanser of choice as normal and I'm good to go.

The Mask retails at £8.99 but is currently on offer with £3 off, and the Miracle Oil retails for £14.99 but is currently £9.99 both from Boots.

Will you be trying either of these products out? What products have you tried from Una Brennan before?

I've heard so much about the Vitamin C brightening products I'm going to have to give them a go!

L xxx

Antipodes Spree....Round 2

Morning chums!

I wrote about my Antipodes spree a few weeks ago in this post. I'm completely hooked and won't bang on about them as a brand too much but basically they're blooming good!

My second order from them involved another 2 raved about products and another freebie which I sent to the lovely Sasha from Ramblings from a Beauty Bird as she missed the deal.

I ordered the much raved about Aura Manuka Honey Mask and I'm a huge fan of Facial Exfoliators so snapped up Reincarnation too.

Reincarnation Pure Facial Exfoliator is an EXTREMELY gentle face scrub, the particles are so tiny that really its like rubbing a cleanser with the tinest amount of powder in. It's probably the most non-abrasive exfoliator I've ever used.

It contains avocado oil and jojoba oil to remove lifeless skin, Calendula oil to repair and carrot seed the revitalise the skins surface. Not only that but it also contains a range of essential oils to soothe the skin's surface, what a combo!

I've used this a few times over the last few weeks and can honestly say it is one of my favourites. I am a firm fan of Origin's Modern Friction and whilst the effects from both are the same, the Reincarnation exfoliator is definitely less abrasive so it all depends on what you yourself are looking for in what is essentially a facial scrub.
This retails at £20.99 and whilst this may be expensive for some the ingredients are of top quality and a little goes a very long way.

Not to mention that i love the packaging of these products, the tubes make it easy to dispense as little or as much as you want and ensures there is nothing left at the end as you can squeeze every little drop out of it!

The Aura Manuka Honey Mask has been raved about all over the bloggersphere and I knew I had to pick it up months ago but unfortunately buying a car had delayed my ability to purchase anything!

Now i know why it was raved about and how much i will always need to repurchase this!

Applied to clean and dry skin the mask not only utilises Manuka Honey (an ingredient from NZ that is famed around the world and which we always keep in our kitchen cupboards) to increase moisture it also has fragrances of vanilla pod and mandarin to balance your 'Aura'.

After my first use I was hooked. I was astonished how a hydrating mask could not only alleviate my dehydrated and drab looking skin but also reduce the size if not completely eliminate some pesky spots i had and reduce the redness. Unbelievable!

This mask retails at £21.99 and comes in the very same tubes, easy to squeeze out every last drop and I can assure I will be there squeezing until my next one arrives. I cannot ever be without it and I apologise to humanity for not buying it sooner, maybe you wouldn't have to put up with my 'pizza face' for so long eh?

Have you tried Antipodes before? Which product is your favourite? Are you a manuka honey fan?

My wishlist for Antipodes is growing at an alarming rate, but I'd love to get my hands on the Joyous Night Replenish Serum, the Kiwi Seed Eye Cream and their Immortal Moisturiser.

No doubt when I'm closer to being debt free I'll be snapping up everything I can get my mitts on!

L xxx