The Body Shop Body Butter Duo

This is a bit of a late review, as I've actually had this body butter since Christmas - but I re-discovered it the other day and couldn't help a post! The Body Shop Body Butter Duo (£13.00) is a half and half product - with one half for dry skin and one half for normal skin. I love this concept, as I suffer with dry areas around my knees and elbows, but like to have a normal product for my legs.

I have to say, I absolutely love the dry-skin side, which has a much more moisturizer look to it than the usual body butters - the texture is a lot more creamy and easier to spread. As usual with the Body Shop body butters they soak in easily and are very moisturising. The scent is described as Acai Floral - Acai being a type of palm-like plant grown in hot countries, with sweet smelling berries. The scent is amazing - floral without being overpowering, and is a gorgeous girly fragrance. I also have a thing for the packaging, and love the divider down the middle..

In short, I love this stuff! (hence why half of it has been used before I even got to take a photo..)

A Little Dutch Adventure

This week, I've been lucky enough to be treated to a few days in Amsterdam with my parents: shopping, sights and lots of yummy food! I've only ever been to Holland a few times when I was younger, so it was lovely to sample everything it had to offer. We saw some beautiful sights and I rather fell in love with all the narrow gabled houses and winding canals - as well as the gorgeous dutch and indonesian food! I picked a few of my favourite photos to show you a little sample of what I've been up to.

Hope everyone's been enjoying their half term!

OVERHYPED: Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub

It feels like everybody and their mother-in-law has been posting about this recently (I hope that's the phrase, I'm not great at remembering so bear with), and even though I've probably read enough to burst, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and review it anyway. The Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub has received ridiculous amounts of attention from all over the blogosphere which in my opinion is mainly due to its mentions in Zoella's videos and blog - which I know a lot of bloggers, including myself, drool over with jealousy.

However, I don't know if it's just the rainy cold weather making me a total grumps, or this just hasn't lived up to the expectations! I'm a total sucker for believing products can be miracle workers and cure every problem I have ever encountered in my beauty regime, so maybe I need to bring my beauty brain back down to Earth - either that or every one else is using a different product!

Don't get me wrong, this product does what it says on the tin (or tub, whatever) - it works well as a body scrub exfoliator, but I just don't understand the hype.

For starters, I think the actual product is not very enticing by it's appearance - sure, the outside packaging is totally gorgeous and beautiful, as with every Soap&Glory product, but the actual scrub has a horrible gloopy consistancy that you have to scoop out - I end up feeling more like I'm rubbing cat sick into my legs than anything else (sorry for the mental image there guys). Secondly, the major hype selling point for this stuff is its scent, supposedly brown sugar and lime. I have to say.. I hate it! I don't know if it's too sweet for me, but I usually love sweet smelling stuff, but this just smelt weird to me..

So to sum all that ranting up, basically as a product, yes this works well to exfoliate skin. However once you get past that to the smell and appearance, I really don't like it - and I'm disappointed in Soap&Glory, this is the first time they have failed me!

I'm not saying don't buy this by any accounts - because the millions of reviews out there raving about this shows that the smell is to lots of peoples tastes! But my advice would definitely be to go into a Boots or wherever, have a cheeky open of the container and give it a good smell before you decide you like it - because £8.00 is a lot of money to waste on an exfoliator you'll have to apply with a noseplug on!

Body Shop - 'so people still shop there?!'

Some of you may have noticed by now that I may have a little (okay, quite large) thing for the Body Shop. I'm not sure what it is that draws me in every time I pass - the crisp, bright shop windows, the simple yet pretty packaging, the fact that you somehow feel you're contributing to world happiness every time you spend money there, but over the last year or so I've managed to develop quite a collection of all their products. A friend of mine saw me using one of their brushes last week, and exclaimed 'wait, so people actually still shop there?!'.. either I'm very out of fashion and it's now a shop for old ladies, or people just don't know how amazing all their products are (I'm hoping for the second one..)

Either way, I wanted to put together a little post on all my favourite products just to show people how good everything they do is!

Camomile Waterproof Eye Make-up Remover
Ok so I've started big - (you know what they say, go hard or go home) with one of my favourite ever products. I've used this eye makeup remover for about 6 months now and I can honestly say that will never change- I love this stuff! I have it in two varieties, a cleansing lotion and a water based liquid, and swap between these depending on my mood and how overboard I've gone with eye makeup that day! They are both used by applying to a cotton pad and wiping over both eyes - and one cotton pad soaked will easily do both eyes (without eyeshadow), which is fab and means they last ages! If it's an eye shadow day, I'll use one pad for each eye, but it still comes off a treat and my morning panda eyes are no more. These are also really gentle on eyes and won't sting or irritate.

Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel
How could I do a post without mentioning the infamous Body Shop shower gels?! If you've never heard about these, then my god - get off this laptop/mobile/ ipad (for the fancy people) and go buy some! In my house my mum will buy different scents of this and circulate them round in the bathroom, but this Pink Grapefruit is definitely the best. They smell absolutely amazing, and last on your skin - I quite often get compliments on my body spray, and have to reply 'oh no, that's just because I showered this morning'! They also come in massive pump bottles, which makes them better value for money, and I find it means I use a lot less, so they last longer.

Foundation and Blush Brushes
Something that a lot of people don't know about with Body Shop is that they also have a large range of makeup and makeup brushes/sponges. Though I haven't got round to picking up any makeup, I own two of their brushes and love them! I have the foundation brush (top) and the blusher brush (bottom). I don't use the foundation brush much, as I've since been converted to my real techniques stippling brush, but it's good for carefully placing highlighter on my cheekbones! I use the blusher brush every single day - for blush, bronzer and sometimes even powder. What I love about these brushes is that they are just ridiculously soft - it's heaven touching the end of these and everyone I've shown has said the same!

Facial Buffer
This was one of the gorgeous Body Shop surprises I got in my stocking this year, and is just heavenly - I use it when I'm exfoliating my face as a facial buffer, and it's lovely to give a really intense exfoliation - as well as meaning you don't get that itchy scratchy tingly feeling on your fingers from rubbing in the exfoliation beads!

White Musk Libertine Solid Perfume
Another stocking filler, this solid perfume is great for popping in your handbag or makeup bag for a quick top up. It smells gorgeous - even rivaling the smell of some of the Lush ones! Although the container can be tricky to get the product out of, the smell is so worth it!


So that's a round up of my favourites - check out my Body Shop Gift Set Review post and my Body Shop Lipbalm Review for more Body Shop goodies - I'm also planning a review for my new face mask I have from there, which should be going up shortly!

Body Shop Goodies

Today's post is basically a massive thank you to Andeep over at Fashion Kryptonite, as I was one of five lucky winners of her giveaway! I recieved this gorgeous Body Shop set, which is amazing - I enter so many giveaways and tend to forget about them in the resigned fate of never winning - so when this email popped up in my inbox I was amazed!

I am an absolute cult follower of the Body Shop and all of their products, so this was a gorgeous surprise. The set contains one of their signature body butters, a shower gel, a body scrub and one of those fuzzy showery bathy type things that never actually seem to get named..
All products were strawberry scented, and they just smell divine. One thing I love about Body Shop products is that their smells are so concentrated and fresh smelling - and long lasting! (Okay, that's three things, forgive me..)

I'm already a massive fan of the Body Shop shower gels, having a large pink grapefruit one dominating the shower scene at my house, and I'm a constant re-purchaser of their body butters, but one thing I've never tried are their body scrubs.. to be honest I never really noticed they sold them! I'll definitely be trying this one out as soon as possible - seeing as I keep opening them all just to get another whiff of the strawberry sweetness, I doubt it will be long!

Again, a massive thank you to Andeep - you've made my day!

January Haul

This is a little haul to tide over those Monday blues - a combination of things from Christmas and since. It's been so long since I've had a proper shopping trip so the trip I took to Cambridge to visit my sister at university was well needed - and well deserved in my opinion!

Beauty

1 - Topshop Lipstick in Nevada
Ever since my friend pointed this colour out to me I've had it in the back of my mind every time I've visited a Topshop - it's a gorgeous matte nude shade - sort of a 'your lips but better' shade, which is something I've wanted for a while. As with other Topshop lipsticks, it goes on gorgeously but you do need moisturised lips as this will stick to the dry parts otherwise.

2 - Essie Nail Polish in Sole Mate
This is a lovely dark red colour, perfect for winter! I love the finish of Essie nail varnishes - they take two coats but are quick drying and last a good few days.

3 - Soap & Glory Perfume
I've already done a review on this which you can see here, but if you don't fancy the full review - this is basically amazing!

4 - Tweezers
My parents (ahem, I mean Santa) got me these in my stocking this Christmas and I just adore them! I'm not sure where they got them from, but they are adorable and make doing my eyebrows a dream!

5 - MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light Plus
This should be simple: I adore this powder. Yes, it is just powder, and before about a year ago I would have shunned this.. "£21.00 for just a simple powder?! Are people completely bonkers?!" but THIS IS AMAZING. It provides a gorgeous flawless finish for my makeup, reduces shine and makes my makeup last all day easily, without any budging. It also is great if I need a quick topup throughout the day. One thing I have been wondering if anyone else owns this - does anyone have any recommendations for a good brush to use with this? I'm not sure what I should be using!

Clothing

Anke Blouse from Monki in Huntsman Green
This blouse is quickly becoming a staple in my wardrobe - so much so that I've already ordered another in the same style but in Cult Wine colour - more of an oxblood/burgundy. It's slightly sheer but nothing that a vest top can't hide, and has a lovely oversized fit, with sleeves that are slightly baggy but come back to a tighter cuff.

Primark Super Cosy Tights
Oh yes, the cult tights.. I finally went there! I haven't tried these yet but for anyone that hasn't heard of them - they are basically tights with a fleece inside - crucial for this snowy weather! I'm going to be wearing these under my suit to sixth form instead of leggings under tights, which I've been doing so far.

New Look slipper shoes
My mum got these for me in the sales a couple of weeks ago - gorgeous slipper shoes in an oxblood colour that were down to I think about £8-£9, which is amazing!

Primark jumper, £8
I bought this in Cambridge the other day and I adore it - it was £8 from Primark and I think it was part of their new Spring range. It's a waffle knit jumper with different shades of grey in it - with a slightly longer back than front. I just think it's gorgeous! It's surprisingly warm too, and for £8 where's the harm!


I hope you enjoyed the post, it's nice to have something new to post about! Ooh, and my new MUA palette has just arrived through the door with the post, so I may have to get started on some swatches and reviews of that!

Soap and Glory Original Pink - Spring Fragrance

My plan for today was to create a nice spring-like post, which went into my new spring perfume and marveled at how lovely spring was coming along. There was only one problem with this delightful plan: the bucket-loads of snow which happened to fall last night, before I had a chance to take some photos.. however the show must go on! So today, my 'Spring Fragrance' has a slightly more wintery theme to it - and I thought I'd make use of the gorgeous snow backdrop to take some photos anyway, however unconnected the two may be.

Firstly, I thought I'd just show you what my backdrop was when taking the photos - the snow looks absolutely stunning! Donning my snowboots and big dufflecoat just to venture onto the balcony was so worth it for this..

Now onto the real stuff, my actual review:

I picked up this little baby on a whim in Boots the other day - I've heard brief mentions about it on some other blogs but nothing too much, but seeing as I adore everything Soap and Glory, I figured how bad could it be?! The answer is, of course, not bad at all!

Firstly, I loved the packaging - the classic pink of Soap & Glory with the little raised sections, and the silver logo in the middle. The bottle is a cute little round one, with ribbon and baby pink writing - though the mirrored silver bottle gets smudged and fingerprint-ey far too easily.

It's scent is fresh and light, and described as fresh citrus top notes of orange leaf, lemon, peach and sweet strawberries, with a sparkling heart of mandarin. Basically, it's a gorgeous mix of fruity fragrances which mainly focus around citrus. If you're not into overly sweet smells then this may not be for you - but for a girl like me who loves the classic Soap and Glory sweet girly scents then this is gorgeous! As I said earlier, I was planning to say that this was the perfect scent to take you into Spring, but I guess we might be waiting a bit longer than expected for that..

It only retails for £16.50, which personally I find very unoffensive for a fragrance, and I would probably be prepared to pay up to about £20 for this.

The only negative point I would have about this is that it doesn't have the staying power of some of the higher end perfumes, but it's still great as a quick freshen up or top-up throughout the day.