Serenity Dead Sea Bath Salts

I like my showers (invigorating), but I also like my baths (relaxing). The baths are usually conducted with copious amounts of bath bubbles so I can feel like a movie star or, alternatively, with bath salts. 

So when the lovely lady at Serenity Skin sent me these,  I immediately put them to good use.

The Serenity Salts are sourced from Jordan's Dead Sea (you know, that lake that is so super salty, everyone floats in it) and because of the high levels of magnesium in the lake, the salts sourced from it can help in variety of ailments....from acne and arthritis to skin infections and relaxing the tired and stressed muscles. The salts don't have any scent to them, are 100% natural and the amount you use depends on what do you want to use them for. 1 cup in the warm bath should do it for relaxation and 2 cups are recommended for skin conditions. And if you want to float in your bath....well, you'll just have to go visit the actual Dead Sea for that one. ;)

The Bath Salts are available at a very reasonably priced £7 for 1kg at Serenity Skin. If you place order this month, you'll get an additional 20% off. They ship worldwide.

Now if you excuse me, I'm off to lay in my bath. 

Hero Products

This time around my "hero products" all come from the same brand...Dr Organic. You might think this one is a sponsored post, but alas, it isn't. Just really good products I love to use and spend my money on.

The eye serum is my current go to eye cream. It claims to be anti aging and while I don't know if it made my wrinkles better, it certainly didn't make them worse. It also tackles eye puffiness and dark circles and sure enough, I don't appear to have any since using this serum. 

Aloe Vera cream, I use in the morning and during the day; it's super hydrating and soothing and as it is concentrated, a little goes a long way.

The STAR product, however, is a snail gel. Yes, SNAIL gel. Don't worry, the gel is not made from snails, but from ethically collected snail mucus. I've been reading about those creams and gels for some time and after initial squeamishness, I decided to buy one and see what all the fuss is about.  The scent is rather pleasant and citrusy and the texture of the gel mildly sticky, but it does absorb into the skin rather quickly. The gel is supposed to be anti aging and while I don't know if I look any younger after using this, I can certainly see a difference in my skin. 

I haven't been blessed with porcelain skin and the current state of it is as follows: some acne scarring on cheeks, dry patches, HUGE pores and some discoloration/pigmentation. While I won't make claims that any gel or cream will give you the results that you would get with lasers, botox and fillers, this little gel does actually make some difference. Perhaps  not a huge difference, but certainly a visible one and after using the gel for a few weeks, my skin is both smoother and plumper. It certainly gave me more results than I managed to get from any other topical products so far. I use the gel at night before sleep, let it absorb and if I feel like I need more hydration, follow up with my Aloe Vera day cream. The gel retails at Holland & Barrett at £19.99 for 50ml. To be honest, I would love to immerse my whole body into it all day, every day, but I'm afraid my finances just wouldn't stretch to such an extravaganza.

Your turn now, would you use snail cream?

My Trusty Body Butter

Having tried and loved "My Trusty..." products before I was rather excited when  I got sent their newest product to review: a body butter.

Due to my...ahem...age, the skin on my body (especially the legs) can be quite dry and flaky so I almost exclusively use body butters or body oils. Like most people, I tend to use Body Shop butters as they are the ones that introduced me to that particular concept in the first place.

And if you like their butters, you will love "My Trusty Body Butter" even more. It's incredibly rich and hydrating and a bit more dense than the Body Shop butters. It's scented with neroli, bergamot and orange and it smells truly heavenly.

As with all "My Trusty..." products, this one is also made by Salisbury Hospital NHS Trust and all profits go back towards patient care. 

It's also worth saying that the butter is not tested on animals and is paraben, lanolin and colour free.

Downsides? Well, honestly, there aren't any. It is lovely to use and it left my skin very soft and beautifully fragranced. I do hope that they add a few more scent varieties in the future as I can see this being their bestseller.

"My Trusty Body Butter" is available now and it retails at £7.99 (Plus p&p).

 

Latest In Beauty "The Beauty Bible Loves" Box

Out of the huge amount of beauty boxes and sample services I used to subscribe to, the one I consistently stayed loyal to is "Latest In Beauty". Their boxes and samples always offered the best value and quality and when they offered me a chance to review their latest box in collaboration with Beauty Bible, I naturally accepted. 

"The Beauty Bible Loves" box contains a great selection (£70 worth) of make up, haircare and beauty products, some of which are full size and  the box is available for £19.95 (plus p&p).

The product I'm most excited about is Dr Organic Bio-Plasma Mud Mask. I use quite a few Dr Organic products already (Their snail cream is amazing) and am super happy with them. I'm sure this mud mask won't be an exception. The thing that appeals is that the mask is both anti-aging and purifying which must be a bit of rarity when it comes to mud masks. 

Next up is Verbena and Lavender hand cream and I have to be honest and say that I tried many, many hand creams but none came close to good old Neutrogena hand cream. I find it's the only one that makes difference to my hands. However, this cream by Crabtree & Evelyn smells amazing and it's good if you need quickly absorbed hit of hydration for your hands.

Rituals hand scrub looks very interesting. It is something I haven't thought of before, but coming to think about it, it makes sense. You scrub your face, you scrub your body, why not your hands? Now if only it would get rid of the age spots, no one will be a happier bunny in the whole of United Kingdom. :D

Also in the box are John Masters shampoo and detangler. Shampoo smells a bit too "botanical" for my liking, but detangler is lovely. I left it in my hair for an hour and the result was a bouncy, super soft, fragrant barnet.

Merumaya cleansing balm....interesting idea (you clean the skin with the balm and cloth), but the sample is a tiny sachet so not quite enough to give a proper review. 

Coconut cleanser is lovely and creamy and it does a pretty good job of taking the make up and grime away from your skin.

The second most exciting product (after Dr Organic mask) are these deodorant wipes, a new concept for me, but I did like the practicality and ease of use as well as the fact that they are natural (made from mineral salts). They seemed to work just fine during a regular day. You would probably need something stronger for very hot days and days when you're doing sports, though.

Last but not least in the box is a black volumizing mascara from Bellapierre cosmetics.  It's free from parabens and it gives you mega lashes which means the mascara ticks all my boxes.

The box is available to buy now at: Latest In Beauty.

Hero Products

These are my fave products I've been using this month.

First up is a Treacle Moon shower gel. I get their products in my local supermarket, they're cheap, but oh, so good. This particular one smells heavenly, though most of you might find cinnamon scent is more suited to winter than to summer.  Not me; I love cinnamon all year around.

The other two are OPI nail varnishes (can you tell just how much I'm addicted to nail varnish yet?). The shades are "I love applause" (the pinkier one) and "Don't bossa nova me around" (the more lilac one). They are very similar, but perfect to wear in the summer; either alone or layered to form a very light ombre effect.

Which products have you been using lately?

Hero Products

The closer the summer is, the more I feel the urge to cover myself with pastel and vibrant war paint. So, naturally all my latest "go to" products follow that brief.

We have 3 nail varnishes (yes, I am obsessed) and one lipstick.

The varnishes are: OPI "Shorts story" a very pink pink....a bubblegummy delicious super pink which looks gorgeous on nails, Ciate "Pocket Money" a pastel like beige nude looking fab on both pale and tanned skins and, last but not least, my favourite Model's Own "Duck" speckled duck egg like powder blue with little black speckles. Truly like an egg. It might not be to everyone's taste, but I love it. The lipstick is Sleek "Liqueur", a pinky nude that, again, looks amazing on both tanned and pale skin.

If you missed my post about terrible Balkan region floods, please, spare a minute of your time and just go read it and see the ways you can help.  The post is here . If you are in London,  there are also more ways to help. More info on Serbian embassy website here. Thank you so very much.

 

My Trusty Little Sunflower Cream

I met this little tub of wonder first time in June 2013.  when it arrived in one of my subscription beauty boxes. At the time I got to try the original version of the cream and absolutely loved it. Needless to say, I was chuffed when I got sent this lavender scented version too a few weeks ago.

Even though I generally don't like lavender scented beauty products, the scent of this cream is very mild and it doesn't linger so I didn't mind using it. 

I love that it was developed by the NHS (I don't know about you, but I do trust the good old NHS :D ), but even more than that I love that it's a great "no fuss" daily moisturizer. I use it on my face as well as the rougher, drier areas such as knees, elbows and heels. It doesn't irritate my skin and it really is lovely to use. Scent wise I have to say I marginally prefer the unscented version simply as I can then layer body creams and perfumes without scents clashing with that of a cream.

The cream is priced at £6.99 for 100ml and it's available online at My Trusty Little Sunflower Cream as well as some hospitals and GPs. The online shop ships worldwide. :)

Hero Products

This is what's been on my face...and nails...recently:
1) OPI ""Ski Slope Sweetie" nail polish. It's a bit 80s, but hey, I'm not complaining. A sheer and very ,very pearly and shimmery white varnish (I did say it's 80s). It looks a bit more golden on the nails than it does on the bottle. Looks really nice worn over a solid white polish as well as on its own (though you might need 3 coats when using on its own).
2) NARS "Goodbye Emmanuelle" lipstick from Guy Bourdin cinematic collection. It's the only piece I got from the collection, but it's also the only one I really wanted. It's a hot pink and I love a strong lip so this was always going to be a winner for me. It's very creamy and great to wear.
3) Sleek "Vintage Romance" eyeshadow palette. For a person who wears eyeshadow for nights out only, I sure buy a lot of palettes. And this one is not even neutral. I've gone mad! I do love it though and have been using it quite a bit. The shadows last long and have a good colour payoff so it's a thumbs up from me.

Birchbox And Glossybox - November

Oh hai...I haven't done a beauty box post for a while so here it is. In case you missed them. Ahem...

As usual, I got two boxes...Birchbox (which you can see above) and Glossybox (below).
I liked Birchbox that little bit more this month, but both boxes were fine, really.

My Birchbox contained the following:
1) Laura Mercier body butter (25g sample worth £3.8)- this is vanilla scented and gorgeous. Feels really indulgent and I think I will be buying more.
2) Weleda Citrus body wash (20ml sample worth £0.7)- very lemony and very refreshing. One to wake you up and invigorate you in the morning.
3) Spa Find Calmit serum (6ml sample worth £3.5) -haven't come across this brand before and I'm really loyal to my Bioeffect serum, but I'll give this a go. It's non greasy and balancing as well as anti ageing.
4) Chella highlighter pencil (full size worth £15.9)- very nice, fat, big, creamy highlighter. Both for face and the eyes. Blends easily and it's really lovely to use.
5) English Laundry eau de parfum (2ml sample worth £0.6)- Elegant and lovely.
6) Pukka teas (3 sachets worth £0.2)- this might be the cheapest in the box, but I love teas, especially teas by this brand so it was a welcome addition.
7) Birchbox pencil sharpener (full size worth £3)-nice and sturdy.
Good Birchbox this month with the products adding up to £27.7. I particularly enjoyed body cream and the highlighter.

Glossybox was slightly less impressive even though the contents came to £31 (so a bit more than the Birchbox).
I got:
1) Vichy serum (9ml sample worth £8.8)- this is light and not too greasy and promises better skin quality. I doubt that it will wean me off my Bioeffect serum but again, I will give it a go.
2) Emite eyeshadow (full size worth £16.8)- Free of all the nasty stuff and easily blendable. I like the colour I got as it's easy to wear.
3) Yves Rocher hand cream (full size worth £1.9)- not that expensive, but my God, it smells divine. My cream is cocoa and pistachio flavour and I cannot get enough of it. I keep applying it and then smelling my hands like a lunatic. It smells that good.
4) Elegant Touch nail remover pads (full size worth £2)- not something I would buy, but it's handy for travel and on the go.
5) Connock London kukui eau de parfum (1.5ml sample worth £1.1)-Smells simultaneously old fashioned and gorgeous. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it.

Stand out products from this box for me were hand cream and the perfume.

Hero Products

This is what I have been using and abusing last month or so...
The shower gel is limited edition and it smells super melon-y. I don't like to eat melons, but I'll have them in my bath. Or shower. Yes, please. It's a cheap treat and available in most UK supermarket chains.
The candles by Lily Flame were already mentioned on my blog. I loved them so much, I stocked up on more. I especially like the Blue Hyacinth scented one.
Last but not least, we have a solid perfume. Really handy for when you're on the go. I adore both the scent and the practicality of it. My only gripe is that I used it all up really quickly.  You can get them at Cult Beauty. I know I'll be stocking up on more.

Hero Products

I'm not the one to wear a lot of make up on my eyes, but if my nails are not done and I have no lipstick on, I feel somehow...erm...unfinished. Consequently, I hoard both nail varnishes and lipsticks, lipglosses and other lip related products like a squirrel.
My new favourite nail varnish is a metallic green by Nails Inc "Swiss Cottage". The photos don't really do it justice...it's a slightly two tone, very shiny green. A bit like a dung beetle.
The other two favourites are lipsticks by Sleek. They're both very summery colours...coral one is "Papaya Punch" and the pink one is "Baby Doll". The pink shade looks amazing on blondes, but it's nice on brunettes as well especially if you have a hint of tan.
Sleek is fast becoming one of my favourite brands for make-up. The price-quality ratio is amazing and I can just pick it up in my local supermarket. Easy peasy.

Birchbox And Glossybox - May

Beauty box time!
The Birchbox theme for the month of May was "Red Carpet Ready" and it included the following items:
1) OPI mini nail lacquer (3.75ml sample worth £2.8)-the colour is lovely but the sample really is miniature. Probably the smallest polish sample I have ever had :(
2) Murad eye cream (3.5 ml sample worth £13.3)-great brand, but another tiny sample. However, the eye creams tend to go a long way as you only need a little so this one is actually not all that bad.
3) Biorganics hair oil (12ml sample worth £3.1)-Another very small sample (I'm detecting a theme here). This doesn't have any scent...or at least, I couldn't detect any so it doesn't appeal to me all that much as I do like my locks to smell nice, but I guess I will use it.
4) WEI foaming cleanser (10ml sample worth £1.6)- great brand, but a very very small sachet sample. And I hate those.
5) WEI buffing beads (1 sachet sample worth £0.6)-another sachet sample. Hardly enough product to try it out.
6) Kusmi detox tea (20g sample worth £2.2)-a lot of people complained about this one, but I love tea and this particular brand is way good. It was alos the ONLY decent sized sample in the box.

The box contained £23.60 worth of products and I loved all of them. What I didn't like was teeny tiny sizes this month. Sure, the boxes are a sampling service, but the sizes this month really took the proverbial p***. There's small and then there's small. The contents of the box pretty much fitted to a palm of my one hand and there was still room for more.  I expected more from Birchbox.

  Glossybox sampling sizes were much more generous this month. Perhaps because they were celebrating their second birthday (and that was also their theme this month).
I got:
1) Givenchy Dahlia Noir L'Eau (5ml sample worth £3.3)-I love this scent so much and was a fan even before I got it in my Glossybox. Good size sample too.
2) My trusty little sunflower cream moisturiser (full size worth £6.99)-This wonderful cream was developed by doctors in Salisbury District Hospital for the patients recovering from burns and plastic surgery. I really like it and am so glad they put this in the box as otherwise I would never have discovered it.
3) Beautiful Movements primer (2.5g sample worth £2.5)- It's a bit of a wonder product as it can be used alone as a primer and mixed with foundation for the airbrush effect, with blushers for cream blush effect and with shadows for eyeliner.
4) Caudalie oil (full size worth £4.05)-Another multi tasker that can be used for body, face and hair. I love it.
5) Headline Colours nail polish in Firewater (full size worth £9)-I like the colour, but I do think it's more suited for winter so it will probably have to wait before I sport it on my digits.
I also got green and black organic chocolate and emery boards.
Super happy with this month's Glossybox. The box contained £26 worth of products, 3 of them were full size and all of them were good.
Glossybox trumped Birchbox again this month. Both boxes contained good products, but Glossy was more generous with their sizing.


P.S.
Due to a lot of spammers I have disabled commenting to Anon users. I know there were a few of you commenting as Anon that weren't spammers so I can only apologise and hope it doesn't inconvenience you too much. You can still leave comments using Open ID. More info about Open ID here: Open ID

Birchbox And Glossybox - April

Beauty box time!
This is what I got in mine in April.
Glossybox' theme was "Spring Fever" (not that we had any spring in England, mind) and it was a special edition box designed by Pearl Lowe.
I really liked my box and was happy with all the products I got.

1) Sunsense daily face SPF (10g sample worth £2.4)-I haven't heard about this brand before, but sun protection is always good, especially for people like me who are cursed blessed with super pale skin.
2) Nip & Fab body butter in pistachio (50ml sample worth £2.1)-I love, love, love body butters. I usually get Body Shop ones, but occasionally I do get Nip & Fab ones too. They're brilliant and inexpensive and this one in pistachio flavour is divine.
3) Modelco Cheek and lip tint (full size worth £15)-multi purpose product to add a bit of flush to both your cheeks and lips. Lovely wearable colour (not so scary on as it is in the tube...hehe)
4) Yves Rocher So Elixir edp (5 ml sample worth £4.4)-It seems that beauty boxes have woken up to the fact that people like to get a decent sized sample of the perfumes instead of those little vials you can pick up at any cosmetic counter. To be honest, this scent is not my cup of tea, it's very very floral and I rarely like those. I will still use it, however, but maybe just to pop down the shop. Heh!
5) Essie nail polish in Nice Is Nice (full size worth £7.99)-beautiful lilac colour and a good quality polish.

 Next up is Borchbox. Their theme was "In Bloom" and my box contained the following:
1) Gerda Spillmann renaissance age serum (3ml sample worth £6.90)-Now that I'm older, I love using serums, but since trying Bioeffect EGF serum, all other serums seem inferior.
2) La Societe Parisienne De Savons soap (full size worth £8.50)-Aside from a fact that I really would not spend £8.50 for a soap, this is gorgeously packaged and very pretty. Maybe something to buy as a gift to a soap afficionado....erm...if they exist, that is.
3) Mirenesse glossy kiss lip stick (full size worth £17.50)-Very pricey for a lip stick, but a nice colour.
4) Weleda Skin Food (10ml sample worth £1.65)-Moisturiser  which softens dry, hard skin. Very nice to use and it works.
5) Natio foaming cleanser (20 ml sample worth £1.3)- a cleanser. It does its job, I guess.
6) Birchbox cosmetic mirror (worth £7.50)- a very flimsy mirror with an arbitrary price plucked out of thin air by Birchbox people. I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay that price for a plasticky mirror even if it does have a nice design drawn on it. Oh, well.

The contents of a Birchbox box came to £43.30 (even though I'm dubious about the mirror price) and the contents of Glossybox came to £31.80.
Even though it contained less stuff for my buck, I preferred the Glossybox. It had a great mix of good quality products and great brands.

Birchbox And Glossybox- March

Since I'm a bit behind with my beauty box posts, I decided to consolidate both boxes I get into one monthly review post. I also think it'll be easier to compare them if they are in one post if you are thinking about getting a subscription and you don't know which of the boxes to get.
So without further ado, here are my thoughts on both the Birchbox and Glossybox-March edition.
My Birchbox had a theme "Role Models" to tie in with the Mother's Day here in the UK.
It contained the following:
1) Laura Geller waterproof gel liner (2.5 g sample worth £12)-I can't say I'm a dab hand with eyeliners, but this comes with the cute little brush and it's the darkest, blackest black. It's a good sized sample as little goes a long way with liners.
2) Molton Brown Valbonne fragrance (2ml sample worth £2.6)-A unisex fragrance that smells divine.
3) RMK cleansing balm (25g sample worth £7.25)-This smells of roses, looks super greasy in the pot and I really shouldn't love it, but I do. It removes make up beautifully.
4) La Sultane De Saba body lotion (30ml sample worth £5.3)-This lotion is made with argan oil and it smells gorgeous. My only complaint is that I wanted more of it.
5) Yu-Be moisturizer (3g sample worth £0.8)-Smells like primrose and it does what it says on the tin. I didn't find it super special, but apparently it's a big bestseller in Japan.
6) Sanctuary mask (sachet sample worth £6.30)-This is super expensive and I did get it in one of the previous boxes. Alas, whilst it's nice to use, it's very difficult to judge long term benefits as a sachet size sample only allows for one application.
7) Lindt chocolates (full size worth £2.9)- I ate them. That says it all as far as I'm concerned. :D

The same month's Glossybox had a theme of "City Chic" celebrating polished look that city girls have.
It contained:
1) Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream (7ml sample worth £3.5)-This cult cream is a bestseller but I'm afraid it's lost on me. I did buy it previously, but I just wasn't wowed by it I guess. Other people, on the other hand, swear by it. I guess you can't please everyone all the time.
2) Nails Inc nail polish (4ml sample worth £4.4)-I have to say I don't like teeny tiny fiddly brushes on any nail colour samples, but the colour of this polish ticks all the boxes so I'll forgive them the brush. The colour is Bruton St and it's the perfect dusky pink.
3) L'Occitane Immortelle cream (15ml sample worth £12.9)-I love this. Even the sample size feels and looks luxurious. It's an amazing anti ageing cream and it smells gorgeous.
4) Jelly Pong Pong lip blush (full size worth £12)-It's a lip stain and moisturizer in one, the colour is nice, but I just don't like any of the chubby sticks for lips...They're a bit of a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. Give me a lippy or give me a balm. Together...I'm just not so sure.
5) Tresemme hair spray (100ml sample worth £0.9)-It's a hairspray that we can all find in supermarkets. Not a particularly luxe product, but it will do.

I did overall like both of the boxes; they had a good mix of various products and with the exception of lip blush I will use them all even though I like some things more than the others. My Birchbox contained £37 worth of products and my favourites were the body lotion and the perfume sample. Glossybox contained £33.7 worth of product and my favourite was the L'Occitane cream.
Did you try any of these products and what did you think of them?

Hero Products

These are the products I've been using a lot lately and I love.
First up is Ciate nail polish in "Espadrilles". Even though Ciate brand is well known for gimmicky nail finishes (caviar, chalk, foil etc...) they do some lovely more...erm...conservative polishes too. The colours are gorgeous and the brush is nice and wide (just like the OPI brush). My current favourite is a lovely coppery shimmery colour. I imagine it would look even more amazing with a tan, but alas I'm as pasty as a chedar cheese so all I can do is imagine it...

I'm also loving a Nars bronzing powder in Laguna (What? I told you I'm pasty. I definitely need some bronzer or me. Or a ton of blusher. Or both.). I heart it because it makes me look like a sun kissed human rather than a Tangoed Oompa Loompa and that is always a good thing.
Last but not least....MAC  Paint pot in Painterly. I'm aware that the entire world has already discovered these little wonderpots, but I figure better late to the party than never. Painterly is a very neutral colour and it will definitely help your eyeshadow pop and hide any skin discoloration (yay!). I also suffer from very greasy eyelids and this definitely keeps the eye make up stay put that little bit longer.
Do you guys use Paint pots? Which are your favourites?

Hero Products

I haven't done one of these posts for a while so here it is: my favouritest (yes, I'm aware that is not an actual word) beauty products of the moment.
First up: Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay cologne. This originally came out in early autumn and it was love at first erm...sniff. It smells like long early morning autumnal walks in the English countryside. And if you never walked in the English countryside, well, just have a whiff of this. It's fresh and fruity and slightly bitter and I love it.

My second hero are these Real Techniques make up brushes. Pictured above is the eye kit, but I'm loving the brushes so much I'm basically buying into the whole collection. Yes, I'm a megalomaniac and I want them ALL. They're fairly inexpensive and are a good quality synthetic brushes. I get mine from "Look Fantastic" online store.

Latest In Beauty Boxes

I'm a huge fan of beauty boxes because they save me both time and money when looking for newest products and no one does it better than "Latest In Beauty". Their boxers are simple, no frill affairs, you always know exactly what you are getting and they are amazing value for money.
In December they came out with several different boxes as well as the beauty advent calendar and the two boxes I chose were Editor's Faves (pictured above) and Pampering Box (below).
Editor's Faves is priced at £19.95 and it contains £100 worth of products.

My favourite is Steamcream of which I am already a fan. It's  British made steam infused cream in a very generous sized tin. The smell is quite botanical which I don't normally like, but This one is not too overpowering so I don't mind it. The cream is incredibly hydrating without making your skin greasy and it's a great day to day cream. The tin pots are also cute and they always feature a different design so I started collecting them. Yes, I am that sad and have no life... *shrug*

The other box I got was a Pamper box costing £19.99 and containing £120 worth of pampering goodness.

There's a lot of good stuff here...Eve Lom, Nicky Clarke, etc...but I'm really looking forward to trying the Belleza botox effect gel. Yes, dear readers, I want my face to be permanently frozen and as smooth as the baby's bottom. I'm terrible.
There's also a mini nail varnish in metallic rich red by Mavala. And how cute is the angel packaging? I almost don't want to unpack it. Almost.
Now, if this lot doesn't beautify me, nothing will. 

10 Beauty Items I Would Repurchase

Now I don't normally like to do tagged posts, but this one seemed like an interesting one and it's in keeping with my blog content so I thought why not. The person who tagged me was lovely Purity of Pure Enlightened Beauty blog.
I'm a bit of a product fiend and love to try out new creams, make up, lotions, potions, snake oils...khm, but there are some things that are a staple on my bathroom shelves and I repurchase them over and over again.

1) Stila natural eyes eye shadow pallette: This pallette is gorgeous, it has 10 eyeshadows from the pale creams to the darkest black in both matte and shimmering finish. I don't wear eyeshadow all that much, but when I do it's these ones I turn to. They're nicely pigmented and just glide on.
2) Diptyque candles: Yes, I know this is not a beauty product, but these candles keep me calm. Plus, they just smell so gorgeous. They're pricey but so worth it. My favourite scent is Cypress
3) MAC lipglass clear gloss: This instantly turns any lipstick into mirror shiny loveliness. I've been using it for years and no other lipglosses come even close.
4) NARS lipstick in Schiap: I love my lipsticks very pink and very creamy. This one fits the bill.

5) Body Shop body butter: Any "flavour" will do. They're gorgeous and turn dry skin into silky smoothness. I tried a lot of creams and butters for my body, but Body Shop ones are still the best.
6) Steam Cream: A no fuss moisturizing cream infused by steam. No rocket science or miracle ingredients here, just simple, plain, old fashioned goodness. Super hydrating without being greasy and the creams come in the bestest (yes, I am aware that's not a word) array of cute tin designs.

7) Neutrogena hand cream: I tried many creams. Nothing beats Neutrogena. It's mega hydrating, lasts for ages as it's concentrated so you only need a tiniest drop of cream, it's cheap and widely available in supermarkets and chemists.
8) Batiste dry shampoo in XXL volume: I don't use this so much in between the washes to keep my hair clean(ish) as I use it as a volume booster. I hate flat hair on me and this lifts my roots somehow and gives a bit of bounce. Cheap as chips and available in supermarkets.
9) Hei Poa oil: Monoi oil from Tahiti. There's a whole range of products with variety of added scents and I pretty much love them all. It's the first oil I ever bough, I use it both on skin and hair and it smell amazing. No, really, go smell it somewhere, the smell alone will make you buy this.
10) Bio oil: It helps with stretch marks, scars and all sorts of other skin sins. I use this on my face (together with other 923674637 products) and it's one product that my husband consistently stea...khm..borrows from my bathroom cabinet (that means it's good).

I'm interested to know what are your repeat beauty buys? Please share.

Hero Products

This is a little selection of beauty products that I love at the moment. Some of them are new, some not so much, but for one reason or the other, they all work for me and I heart them.

First up "Models Own" lipsticks. Now, I love make up but I don't always wear a ton. My eyes are kinda hooded and weird, I rub them a lot and I never know how to apply shadows properly so I usually stay away from eye make up (though it might be a high time to invest in a good make up class to finally learn the secrets of the trade), but I do love me a good lip. A BRIGHT lip. And this is where these beauties come in. On the left is "Hot Pink" shade and on the right "Annalise's Pink". They look very very similar in the tube, but Hot Pink is that little bit more vibrant and rich and has more of a blueish undertone. Both lipsticks are highly pigmented and last for ages. They're not as creamy as some of the more high end brands lipsticks out there and can be a touch drying on the lips, but for £6 they're a great value and come in amazing colours.

Next up is "Dahlia Noir" EDP, it's a new scent by Givenchy and I have to admit it was a name that drew me to it initially. Full of mystery and promise. LOL The scent is very powdery, musky and just plain sexy. It's not for the faint hearted as it's rather strong, but if you love strong scents, you'll be in heaven with this. The longevity is rather good too.

I initially Got Vichy Dermablend foundation stick in one of my beauty boxes (Glossybox) and, sincerely, I've been looking for something like this my whole life. If you're anything like me and have things on your face you'd rather hide (I have it all...wrinkles, redness, huge pores, some acne scarring...you name it, I have it...it's not a pretty sight), this is godsend. This little stick covers a multitude of sins and it lasts long too. Obviously, this is a very heavy coverage foundation but it feels surprisingly non cakey and breathable. I apply it over the moisturiser and a primer or a BB cream, straight from the tube and just on the areas that need it and then blend out with my fingers and I'm ready to face the day ahead. :) It retails at £19 and it's worth every penny.

Last but not least...Benefit's Sun Beam... It's a new  highlighting product, very similar to their "High Beam" but more golden and bronze and better for it, if I may say so. It looks very dark in the pot, but it goes on beautifully on even the pale skin and it gives it a lovely, natural sun kissed look. I apply it on my cheekbones for a bit of shiny dewiness every day. This retails at £18.50

And there you have it, my hero products for this month. Keep in mind that I'm fickle and I can swap my hero products for others at any given time. :D
Did you try any of these? What did you think?