Beauty | I Just Can't Help Myself

Vitamin E Body Lotion 250ml £8.00, Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream 50ml - £10.00, Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia & Salt Scrub - £15.00

I am now pretty sure that shopping and beauty products are my biggest weakness, I just can't help myself, especially when it's this time of year and there are so many bargains to be had alongside with Christmas shopping!

My recent purchases from The Body Shop include two 250ml Vitamin E Body Lotions which are brilliant for everyday use. I don't really know why I have two?! I might include one in a giveaway of lots of goodies?!

Next, I brought the Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream. I've been wanting to try the Seaweed range for ages, and I mean ages, I've head so many good things about this range that I just had to own at least one product from it! I've recently been suffering with really oily skin, (which could also be due to my current poor diet!) With mattifying in the name, I'm hoping it will be able to help, even if it just slightly helps, I'll be happy. Nothing seems to be working at the moment. I hate having combination skin!!

Finally, I treated myself and my Mum to the Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia & Salt Scrub. We had this product in the past and loved everything about it, the smell is to die for and the consistency of the scrub is just incredible. This has to be my most favourite Body Scrub of all time!

As you can probably tell, I currently have an addiction to The Body Shop! What's your current Beauty favourites?!

 

 

Showering With Liz Earle

It's no secret that I'm a huge lover of Liz Earle, I think their products are just fantastic. I haven't come across one which I don't think has worked for me or I've agreed with. All products just do wonders for my skin. At Christmas I received a gift set with these three products in which you can each be brought individually and come from the Energising range. I've now popped these into my travel bag as they are the perfect size for taking away with me and pampering myself on my travels.

Energising Body Wash 
The energising body wash is great for those early morning starts as the scent is really refreshing and really wakens you up. I can be easily put off a product if the scent is too over powering, but luckily this isn't. I'm also not much of a lover of the scent Rose, but it isn't the strongest scent in the product. I love how easily the product foams up too, as sometimes I find I need loads of product to get a good lather to be able to wash myself properly. For a 100ml bottle the product is £8.75 but a 200ml bottle can be brought for £12.00

Energising Body Scrub

 To me, Body Scrubs are Body Scrubs but I particularly like this one from Liz Earle. It's quite soft and isn't like sandpaper as sometimes I find some scrubs to be too harsh on my skin and at the end my skin is left red and raw as if it's just had layers taken off it. Fortunately, Liz Earle has got her formula just right and you could even use this each day for that extra softness. With the scrub I could smell more hints of tea-tree than I could with the Body Wash, but it's still just as lovely and refreshing. A 50ml tube which I have retails at £6.00 and a 200ml retails at £14.00. This is a product which I'll definitely be repurchasing in the near future.
Energising Body Lotion
Recently, I've been beginning to moisturise my body daily, or as often as possible. Now lots of people will say 'how on earth do you have time for that?!' and I have to agree that sometimes it can be a bit time consuming, which is why I always hunt for the moisturisers which aren't sticky and don't take a long time to dry. I thought that this moisturiser would be one which I wouldn't use because it would be too rich and would take too long to dry. Well I couldn't have been further wrong. A little really does go a long way with this product, it soaks into the skin quickly and easily, which means you're not there forever trying to rub it in, and finally, it's incredibly quick drying. That's not even the best part, the best part is that along with the easy application it is also incredibly moisturising and luxurious. I find myself reaching for this moisturiser in the evenings too as I love the hint of Lavender in it, I find it incredibly relaxing. This product was such a hit for me that I've already purchased the 150ml tube for £18.00, the 30ml tube can also be brought for £5.25.

I've found these travel sized products a great way for testing and trying out new products to see if you do like the product, they are now stored away in my travel wash bag ready for any adventures I'll be going on. I know that these products are a little pricey, but everyone deserves a bit of luxury every now and then, and they're great for birthdays and Christmas, There just isn't any faulting Liz Earle.

Have you tried Liz Earle? What's your favourite product?

Miss Holly's Giveaway Prizes!

A few weeks ago I entered a giveaway on Instagram which wan run by the lovely Holly from Miss Holly and I have to give her credit for her lovely blog which I have been following ever since I started blogging. I was thrilled when Holly announced that I had won her giveaway as it was the first time I had ever won one!

Amongst all my lovely prizes were three products from Elf, which is a brand that I love, their products are great quality (well all the ones which I've tried) and are great for value. However, I'm not entirely convinced they're better than MUA, but still great! I'm excited to try the Tone Correcting Powder along with the Bronzed Look Beauty Book, because if their shadows are anything like their blushers then they'll be so pigmented. And nail varnish? You can never go wrong with nail varnish for a girl like me!

As well as the Elf products Holly also very generously added four more products, including Champneys body cream and body glow. I love my lotions and potions and these smell great. She also included a Konad double side stamp yet, which I'm not familiar with but can't wait to use. I love nail art but I'm not the greatest at it so hopefully this will get me more creative! Finally, there was a bottle of So...? Kiss Me Perfume which takes me right back to my days of being at school and it's a scent which I've never grown out of and still love. 

I feel so lucky to win such a lot of lovely things, so thank you so much Holly!!

You can also follow Holly on her Instagram @misshollyxo

I hope you all have a great week! If you've tried any of the goodies which I've won then let me know what you thought about them!

January's Glossy Box.

I've recently subscribed to the Glossy Box after cancelling my subscription with She Said Beauty Box, and I am so much more impressed with Glossy Box. This month the theme was Detox from Christmas and New Year, and the products were perfect for it.

The detox theme is perfect for this month. I have Christmas, New Year and my Birthday all within about a week of each event, just one after the other, and it's about now where I just want a good old pamper. To get my routine back and give me some 'me' time, because let's admit, there really is nothing better for girls!

1. Duck Island Body Lotion -  This body lotion has an amazing Orange/Mandarin smell to it. It's really refreshing and would be great for waking you up first thing in the morning. This would also make an excellent body lotion for summer mornings too, as long as it doesn't attract the wasps. I also love that a little goes a long way! Unfortunately when I went on the Duck Island website to check the price I found you can only buy in bulk, and if it's a small order it's incredibly expensive. So unless I can find it cheaper and singularly I won't be repurchasing.

2. Jason Lip Balm - First things first... This lip balm smells of After Eights. I'm not even exaggerating, you ask anyone, even my boyfriend! The lip balm retails at £1.99 which is a reasonable enough price for a lip balm. I've found that with the few times I have used this product my lips have stayed very moisturised, this is probably because it's made using Bee's wax, Aloe Vera and Shea Butter.

3. Paul Mitchell Super Strong Daily Shampoo - I can't wait to use this Shampoo as it's meant to be for daily use and due to a condition I have I need to wash my hair daily and sometimes with medicated Shampoo. I have yet to find a daily shampoo which is really good enough. For now I'm using trusty Herbal Essences but within around 16 hours my hair starts to look and feel greasy. So I can't wait to see how this one goes! 300ml of Shampoo retails at £11.50, which is fairly pricey for Shampoo.

4. Elemis Fresh Skin, Skin Glow Exfoliating Face Wash - I've always heard good things about Elemis so I can't wait to try this product and review it. For 100ml of product it retails at £12.00 which for a product and brand which is supposed to be good, I don't think it's an unreasonable price. This exfoliator also smells great so is intended to be a daily scrub, and with a refreshing smell like this each morning I know it'll perk me up. However, I'm not sure that I will use it daily on my sometimes sensitive skin. So keep your eyes peeled to find out how I get on.

5. MONU Aromatic Mask - I've recently become really into face masks so this is another product which I can't wait to test out and review. For 100ml of product it retails at £24.95 which I think is a bit pricey and I could find something cheaper on my budget. The mask aims to increase vitamin and mineral absorption which is great if it's going to give my skin a glow. It also contains Beeswax and Coconut oil to soften and hydrate the skin. So all in all it sounds very promising!

This is a great detox kit and I can't wait to properly try out some of the products. What did you think of January's Glossybox?