The Body Shop Vitamin C Range

If you know anything about us you'll know we're skincare addicts - we've been huge fans of the Body Shop and love their products as well as everything they stand for.

A few months ago I decided to try a few things from a different range. I've heard lots of things about the Vitamin C range from various friends and bloggers including Caroline Hirons so I obviously picked up a few things on one of their offers!

Naissance 246 Organic Rosehip Oil

Hello!

If you're long term readers you will know how much we love skincare and love supporting local. When we heard about Naissance we had to learn more, and were super lucky to receive some of their organic rosehip oil.

The Body Shop - Seaweed Gel Cream and Clay Mask

You may have seen our recent posts on the skincare ranges from The Body Shop, we've shared from the Drops of Youth range and some of their Camomile cleansers.

Today I wanted to share with you some of the products from the Seaweed range. I've always had an oily t-zone so for me, finding a hydrating moisturiser that doesn't cause my skin to become nice and shiny by 11am is key. I did pick up some of the Tea Tree range to help but it turns out that isn't the most ideal range for me, and what I needed was the Seaweed range.

So when I went to one of their outlet stores recently I decided to try the Oil Control Gel Cream and the Oil Balancing Clay Mask. I've been using them recently and although I would normally spend  a few weeks using them these have been an instant decision.

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Hello everyone!

I have written a few things about some products from Kiehl's recently, I wrote about the original event (click here) and also the Daily Reviving Concentrate (click here)

As well as this I have been using the Midnight Recovery Concentrate which I'm sure you have heard of before, it is pretty famous around the world for its hydrating properties as well as reaching the 'blogger hype' status because everyone loves it. So what did I think??

Kiehls Daily Reviving Concentrate

Good morning all!

A few weeks ago I went to an event for Kiehls in their new store in Cardiff. The post on the event can be found by clicking here, and I've been using everything daily since I purchased it.

My skin has changed a lot over the last few years (thank you ageing!) and with winter in full force now I knew I needed to overhaul my skincare for something more appropriate.

I spoke to Katie in store during the event where she tested my skin and found that it is oily and also dehydrated - this I pretty much knew but it was good to have it confirmed.

I picked up the Daily Reviving Concentrate (DRC from now on) based on her recommendation and have been using it every morning for the last month.

Antipodes Certified Organic Hallelujah Lime and Patchouli Cleanser

Good morning all!

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend, I'm having a relaxing one after a crazy hen weekend and a busy few weeks.
My skin has definitely been feeling the strain and I'm looking forward to my Sunday evening bath, face mask and relax later on.
For every day though I have recently been using the Antipodes Hallelujah Lime and Patchouli cleanser, it's been a lovely treat for my skin.

If you haven't heard of Antipodes before you definitely should have, their range of  products won Best Natural Range in the Natural Health Awards in 2012.

They select bioactive extracts from sustainably cultivated native plants to create their products to scientifically and clinically promote youthful skin. They use natural products to help protect you and the environment.

I've copied the following straight from their website as this says it all:

Antipodes says NO to:

• animal testing
• genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) ingredients
• synthetic fillers or silicon derived ingredients
• artificial colours or artificial fragrances
• sodium lauryl sulphates
• mineral oils
• petrochemicals
• animal ingredients (except honey and beeswax from living bees)
• parabens; ethyl-, methyl-, propyl-, butyl-.

Sounds like a great company to me!

In fact Antipodes aren't a new brand to me, I've previously tried their Juliet Cleanser (link here), Aura Manuka Honey Mask and Reincarnation Exfoliator (link here)  and also their Divine Oil (link here).

I have loved everything I have ever tried from them, but particularly the Divine Oil and I still regularly repurchase it. For £19.99 it's an amazing oil that solves so many skin problems that I can't be without it!

Anyway back to the Hallelujah cleanser...

It contains pure organic avocado oil, macadamia nut and lime - basically this means it smells amazing!

The avocado oil removes impurities and the carrot seed oil promotes skin with good health. The lime and patchouli essential oils cleanse, freshen and uplift as well as helping it to smell super fresh in the mornings.

I use this morning and evening, I'd say it helps to remove the majority of make up but stubborn eye make up may need additional removal. It's creamy cleanser that doesn't foam but seems to melt on your skin, I just use a wash cloth to remove it after I've spread it all over.

This cleanser is suitable for most skin types so I'd recommend it for anyone who'd like to try a cleanser from Antipodes.

I've been using this the last few weeks now and I really like it, it cleanses my skin of oil and grime and I think my skin has got a bit brighter too. It feels great on the skin and I've not had any breakouts since using it which is obviously great!

You can purchase this for £22.99 from Feel Unique, and I'd say it was worth it. It's lasted me a long time as one pump is enough for a cleanse. 

Have you tried the Hallelujah cleanser before? Do you like Antipodes and their product range?

I'm yet to dislike anything so I can't wait to try more in future!

L xxx


*the Hallelujah cleanser was sent to me for review but this has no way influenced my thoughts and opinions on Antipodes or the product itself*

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

Murad Balance and Protect Travel Kit*

Hey All

It's been a while since we've posted on Sunday. It's fair to say life is pretty busy for L and I at the moment. We've got lots of stuff we are both loving and want to share with you.

We went to Glastonbury this year and we both had an amazing time at our first festival. Dancing, drinking and generally having an amazing 5 days! We had heat waves, rain and thunder and lightening but it didn't make any difference what the weather was!

Something we were both concerned about was skincare. We are both careful to properly care for our skin and have full skincare routines in place which just wouldn't have been possible to keep up at Glastonbury where a shower was exchanged for baby wipes in the tent.

When Murad offered us these kits to try we jumped at the chance. Mini's that are perfect to test out and great to take to such events. We were definitely excited to try the clarifying wipes to our faces were getting more of a proper clean.

The kit comes with 5 clarifying wipes, Oil control Mattifier and Skin perfecting Primer for £10.

I'm oily skinned and couldn't wait to try out the mattifier. I decided to skip on foundation. I took it with me but didn't wear it when I was there. I've been embracing foundation free skin spots and all at the moment so a mattifying cream is brilliant. Foundation free skin is good, shiny greaseball skin is not something I like. You apply the mattifier after moisturiser. What I love about this is texture. It's creamy and silky on the skin and mattifies in a natural way. I find some creams like this feel dry on the skin. This leaves my skin still feeling moisturised and has become a part of my everyday routine. The bottle is still going strong too. A little goes a long way! The SPF is always welcome in a cream too!



I did find the wipes have a strong chemical smell to them. I'm not sure if with prolonged use they would dry my skin out. For short term they leave my skin feeling super clean and fresh and helped control breakouts. I think these are perfect for holidays where skin is probably more oily then normal due to extra oil use.

The primer was another product I loved. It is a skin tone product but blends into the skin invisibly. It leaves skin feeling smooth but not silicone coated for make up. My make up applies more smoothly using this and it doesn't block my pores. At Glastonbury I used a combination of all three of these and no foundation. My skin looked clear and healthy.

I'm totally sold on the mattifier and will definitely be repurchasing. I'm pretty tempted by the primer too and for holidays I think the wipes would be a great investment. I think more companies should do the travel sized kits as it's a great way to try out products without having to by full size.

Love M
xxx

Hi all!

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend! This Murad kit was a lovely surprise for us to recieve, we absolutely love Murad products and kits like this allow you to try so many different products for a reduced price so you can tell easily what you really love. There are also 2 other kits available for the £10 price tag; Age Reform Travel Kit and Resurgence Travel Kit. I've found these on the M&S website so you should snap them up asap! 

The three products could not have been more perfectly selected for us. Although were getting older now and god forbid the wrinkles might be coming through already but we do still get an oily t-zone. Combined with Glastonbury and festival life meaning that there wasn't any proper running water meant it was definitely going to turn into an oil slick!

The combination of the Oil Mattifier, Skin Perfecting Primer and the Clarifying Wipes meant that my skin was nowhere near as bad as it should have got!

The wipes did smell strongly of alcohol, I almost felt like I was getting drunk off the smell! But this definitely helped to keep any breakouts at bay by cleansing my skin as thoroughly as possible. Long term use may strip your skin of natural oils but for the 5 day festival or a long weekend you will be perfectly fine.

The oil mattifier was great and as M has mentioned there is still loads left even though I've been using mine most days since the festival too.

The skin perfecting primer was a lovely product that really helped to even out skin tone and sort of blur any imperfections. You can see the colours of the products on my hand in the image above, the white oil mattifier blended out to a clear product on application.

The kit is a perfect opportunity to try out some new products that you are unsure will work for your skin and also perfect to take away with you on holidays and long weekends. I also took mine on a hen weekend to Edinburgh as we only had hand luggage and had to take all products in the clear plastic bags with us!

Using these products I was also confident enough to only wear concealer to cover my under eye bags during the festival which is a pretty big deal for me, I never go without a full on face of foundation! Whilst i do choose a light base currently (UD's Naked Skin) I can't quite go make up free so this was a big plus for me! (the under eye bags courtesy of festival drinking and late nights could not be avoided though!)

Have you tried these fab little kits from Murad? Which one would you try out?

I've never met a product I didn't like from Murad but I'm going to be picking up the other 2 kits to try out things I haven't tried before and keep them for future trips away!

L xxx

Boots Botanics Buffers

Morning everyone!

I'm on a day off today, spending it with my mum for a girly day before she goes in for an operation.
I've been loving the thought of having an even and flawless tan, I mean who doesn't want a bit more of a glow over the summer even if it's not a tan that's ten shades darker than your normal skin tone?

In my quest for this I've recently picked up these two from Boots Botanics range; the Loofah and Bamboo Buffer and the Sisal and Bamboo Buffer.

In store the Loofah buffer felt quite rough and the Sisal buffer less so, so I was interested to see how they fared at buffing my skin to glorious silky smoothness and aiding me in keeping some kind of tan in a flawless stage for as long as possible.

As I said, in store this one felt the softest so I went for this one first. My skin is weird sometimes and although it isn't classed as 'sensitive' I do feel that it can have odd reactions to things so I played it safe.
Little did i know this one would be rougher than the other when water was involved!

By no means is it abrasive on the skin but it certainly does require a large amount of foam to stop it from dragging on the skin but i do feel like I've been buffed to perfection after using this. My skin feels good as new particularly after application of moisturiser afterwards, it seems to sink in so much faster and my skin feels super soft.

The Loofah buffer just seemed to melt when water and shower gel was added to it, it is now no longer flat and hard and has puffed up as you would expect a normal loofah to.

I normally use the Sisal buffer once a week and then in between use the Loofah buffer as its a lot softer on the skin and I suppose in comparison is more of a polish than a scrub. 

These have both definitely helped my skin improve and also have meant that I have been applying a lot more moisturiser as my skin has soaked it up.
Overall these were a bargain purchase and they were on a bogohp offer which was great and as long as you thoroughly rinse them after each use and dry them properly there shouldn't be any reason why they won't last you a while as well.

I do like a loofah and my family have always had one in the bathroom!

Are you a loofah or buffer fan or do you prefer scrub products?
I like the options that they both bring and think a foaming scrub such as Soap and Glory's Pulp Friction would be really good with this....shame I've run out of it!

L xxx

Save, Spend, Splurge: Facial Exfoliators

Morning lovelies!

M has written a fair few 'Save, Spend, Splurge' posts previously and I had these three facial exfoliators that I just had to compare. All are very similar but differ in price....are they worth it?

Soap and Glory's Greatest Scrub of All - £9 125ml

Antipodes Reincarnation - £20.99 75ml

Origins Modern Friction - £33 125ml

S&G's Greatest Scrub of All contains smooth boost spheres that 'pop open' when you press them. These are made from silicon and contain salicylic acid when you pop them so it's like your own DIY microdermabrasion.

It's a white cream with what feels like a powder the consistency of sugar granules in. It feels rough on your hands but not on your skin especially when it was wet, makes it a lot easier to exfoliate your face without anything too harsh.

I quite liked this, especially for the price. It doesn't have an overpowering smell and my skin did feel like it had been scrubbed (in a good way) and felt clean and free of oil, dirt and residues.
The packaging is cute, witty and easy to like, plus its dermo tested and from the UK. There's not a lot to dislike in this product!



Next up is Antipodes Reincarnation Pure Facial Exfoliator.

This packaging is totally different; its a very grown up cream tube made from recycled materials and has a black lid. It's a whole lot more grown up and kinder to the environment.

The scrub itself is cream coloured and contains the tiniest particles I've ever used in a scrub. They're actually jojoba beads and the other main products in this exfoliator are all natural including avocado oil, calendula oil and carrot seed.

Again this is applied to damp skin and my skin feels cleansed and my newer cells shining through after the duller older ones have been removed. You can barely feel the particles sloughing off dead skin which is really good especially for sensitive skin.

Lastly we have Origins' Modern Friction, which is self titled as 'Nature's gentle dermabrasion'.

I have to agree as this is the first product I bought from the three shown in this post. It's again a thick white cream containing Rice Starch to slough away the lifeless skin and Lemon Oil to aid illumination.

This can be used on wet or dry skin; dry skin for a more concentrated scrub and wet skin for those who are more sensitive. The scrub doesn't feel rough on your skin even when used on dry skin and not only does the skin feel smoother it looks visibly more uniform.

It was a hard task to decide which of these i preferred more. When looking at the figures and sizes of the products, the Antipodes Reincarnation exfoliator was actually more expensive as the original price was for a 75ml tube and not the 125ml that the others were. It actually works out at £34 for 125ml so is pretty much the same as Origins.

It's a hard choice but I think that with skincare it always ends up being the most expensive that wins out. I do think skincare is worth splashing out on, and Im yet to find a product from Antipodes or Origins that I haven't liked, hasn't been worth the money, and hasn't lasted considerably longer than other products that are cheaper.

S&G is a great scrub and I will continue to beg my mum for the sets at Christmas.....but I think in this case the Save option has been beaten by the Splurge options.

Do you think skincare is worth spending on? Or are you not bothered and would prefer to save your money for shoes?

Have you tried any of these exfoliators? Which one did you prefer?

L xxx

L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution

Hello chaps!

Pinch punch first of the month and all that! I'm especially perky this morning knowing I am one step closer to my birthday as it's now my birthday month hooray! I have no plans as of yet so not sure why I'm so excited but it does mean the possibility of presents is close and I've been such a good girl this year....haaaaaaaa.


Anyway onto more important matters: panda eyes.

Nobody likes a human with black rings around their entire eyes, they need to stay with the pandas.
I'm a big fan of the No7 Eye make up remover especially when they have the £5 off vouchers and you can pick it up for a STEAL at £3.

But sometimes.........I'm that lazy that shaking up the oil and water solutions is just too much.

This was when I realised that hastily using up all of my mini Bioderma bottles was not quite such a savvy idea and I knew that, not being able to afford Bioderma at the mo, I needed to find a cheaper alternative and fast.

I'd heard multiple things about this L'oreal Micellar Solution and also of a Garnier one but as this was the first one I saw in Boots it was hastily added to my basket.

It's got quite simple packaging and although its simple it is what I prefer. Perfume bottles can be snazzy and displayed on a desk....make up remover is not quite in the same category!

This claims to be a 3 in 1 product whereby it removes make up, tones and soothes skin all in one swipe of product. It contains no alcohol or perfume and is hypo allergneic so props to L'Oreal for getting all of that sorted.

You can use it as a general make up remover or a toner and apply it using cotton wool pads onto the skin and wiping away the excess. I personally like to remove my make up with a face wipe, cleanse my face, and then remove the final traces of eye make up with this product.

I find that's the least harsh way to get all of the mascara and liner away from my sensitive eyes without scrubbing away at them and making it worse, and also it does remove make up from my lashes which seem to hold onto product for DAYS. Not a good look girls!

As I said the snap top is nice and handy, easy to dispense and actually does stop product from flying everywhere when you knock it off your dressing table (as I do most days).

I've been pretty impressed with the product since I bought it and use it most days to remove eye make up. After a night out I've also used it on a heavily stained red lip and it worked pretty well on that too.

I do still like the No7 oil/water eye make up remover but this has also won a place in my cupboards. I've used this to quickly clean eye make up brushes in between applications too which is always handy, especially with eye liners which you shouldn't leave to dry....

This retails at £4.99 from Boots and is currently on their 3 for 2 hair/skin/body/cosmetics etc etc deal which sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me! Get shopping ladies!

L xxx

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream

Hey all

Hope you had a great weekend! My weekend was spent with lots of rugby, drinking, catch ups and gossips and ended with game of thrones marathon! A pretty good one.

Today I wanted to share a product review on a product I've loved for a while and just haven't gotten around to posting. I first tried this BB in a she said beauty box ages ago and loved it straight away. Being someone with oily skin I've not found many high street ones which really agreed with my skin and gave me the coverage I felt comfortable with.

Ginvera originated in Singapore and has spread through Asia as well as Europe and America now. Some of the best BB creams originated in Asia and I couldn't wait to try one of the originals as the one's from the western market hadn't lived up to my expectations. BB creams, beauty balms or blemish balms claim to be light on the skin while given better coverage than tinted moisturiser.

A product that claims to suit all skin tones always concerns me. I'm naturally super pale with freckly skin and find products that claim to be suitable for all skin tones have to much of an orange tone to them. I was really surprised to try this and find it was too dark on my hand but does blend out for a perfect match. I like that it is a squeezy bottle so the right amount can be easily dispensed.

I love that it has a high SPF as lighter foundation is something I want in the summer and the fact this gives the protection to is great. It claims to be non greasy, even skin tone, moisturise and brighten. That's a lot of promise from one product!

Ginvera BB does have a slight grey tone to it. But for me I think this helps it work as a product to suit multiple skin tones as it doesn't have the dreaded orange tint. I did worry it would make my skin look dull.

Natural Skin

Just Ginvera BB Cream

As you can see from the photos it really covers up redness, evens skin tone and has the natural matte finish. It has even done a pretty good job at neutralising some pretty bad spots! It leaves my skin looking healthy and not like a mask. I like that some of my freckles can still be seen.

As someone with oily skin I do use a powder but I always do. With a powder it lasts me all day!

This is my go to foundation now for lazy days as it's easily applied and blends out perfectly with the fingers. It leaves me skin feeling so light! No other BB creams have come near for me.

Have you tried Ginvera or other BB creams?

Love M

xxx

Origins: Perfect World Cleanser

Hello all!

Another skincare review for you today, I've been powering through my latest purchases and this beauty has been used for so long that I've actually almost finished it now, oops!

Origins have many ranges but Perfect World is one of their most popular.
We've previously used their moisturiser which were big fans of, particularly as its a great one for winter with its hydrating properties and also contains SPF 25 which as we all know is vital for anti-aging and skin protection.

Origins say:

This Origins perfect foaming face wash is formulated with nature's antioxidant White Tea. In a pre-emptive sweep, dirt-grabbing minerals combined with the gentle, skin-compatible cleansing action reach deep to help detoxify and free skin of harmful impurities. 

A Perfect World Antioxidant cleanser leaves the skin perfectly clean, smoothed and refreshed. 

Having used it for the past couple of months I can say that this smells beautiful, just like the moisturiser which I really enjoyed using. It is a calming smell and in the morning although I do like citrus and minty smells to wake me up this has been a lovely change.

This doesn't seem to foam quite as much as Checks and Balances, which I cannot help but compare it to as it was the first cleanser I used from Origins and therefore my first love.

This doesn't seem to be a problem however as my face did feel just as cleansed as with the other, but I did find myself using more of it to get the lather that I was used to.

I loved the way my skin didn't have any adverse reactions to this product whatsoever which is probably down the the palm, coconut and oat amino acid as they're 'skin compatible'.

I can't say that this has been anti-aging on me because I'm 25 and am yet to see measurable effects of a cleanser on my skin but I think the whole range combined will definitely help face the world and defy wrinkles for a while longer as it's very hydrating and fights the dreaded free radicals.

Packaging wise the only problem is remember to keep it upright so product will come out!

I've really enjoyed using this cleanser and think in future it would be great for when my skin gets more dehydrated, but currently I need Checks and Balances to combat my temperamental face with its dry and oily patches, which I picked up last week!

Which is your favourite cleanser? Do you have a favourite Origins product?

L xxx