Products I've Used Up #6

 

My empty products drawer was starting to get rather full again, so it's time to show you all the things I've used up! I finally got round to buying the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush body scrub after all the hype, and was not disappointed. The smell was amazing and although the scrub was a little sticky, it did scrub well and left my skin really soft. I would definitely buy this again and am debating buying the matching shower gel. Next is one of my regular products - The Body Shop All in One Face Base. I love this powder - its technically a powder foundation, but I wear it over my liquid foundation for amazing coverage. It lasts a lot longer on my combination skin too, so I have to powder less through the day. I buy this all the time, I will have to devote a post to it soon! I've also used up the Nip + Fab Gylcolic Fix Exfoliating Facial Pads mini pot I had - and already bought the full size product. You can find the review on that HERE.  I've starting going through the mascaras in my drawer and used up the Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express mascara. I'm really on the fence with this mascara - the wand was super bendy so I found I kept poking myself in the eye with it. It the mascara was a lot better when it dried out a bit, however. I think I'm still on the quest for the perfect mascara. 

I've started leaving a hand cream on my office desk so I remember to use it more - and I've used up my mini Crabtree and Evelyn La Source hand cream. I loved the smell of this and it sank into my hands really well and left them super soft. I have a few more hand creams to get through but would probably consider buying this again. Another regular - Batiste dry shampoo.  This scent is the Oriental, which I really liked as it reminded me of Japanese cherry blossom and gave a  nice scent on days I forgot to wear a fragrance. I'm currently using the Cherry scented dry shampoo but I tend to bounce between that and this one. I've gotten through two shower gels - the Imperial Leather Foamburst in Blackberry and Wild fig. I loved the smell of this but it did leave my skin quite dry and I didn't really like the foam as much as I thought I would. I also didn't like how after pressing the button, a little bit of foam would always come out after you've used it and get on your other products. I also got through the Dove Go Fresh body wash in Plum and Sakura blossom - which again had a great smell, but I really didn't find this too moisturising either. I found I had to use quite a lot of this in my hard water area - not great. I've got plenty of other shower gels to plough through so I probably won't be buying these any time soon.

Have you tried any of these products?

Nip + Fab Gylcolic Fix Exfoliating Facial Pads

Oh, there's so much I could say about these little beauties, but I'll try and keep it short and sweet. Months ago in a Christmas present, I received a sample size of these pads and fell in love with them instantly. I don't have, spotty skin, just slightly uneven and around my hairline it my skin feels a little bit bumpy. These pads do absolute wonders for resurfacing my skin - they contain a mix of Glycolic acid, Hyaluronic acid, and blue daisy. With all the acids I did expect them to sting - but they feel so gentle on my skin and it's definitely looking better for it. I use just one at night, (my skin is a bit temperamental so I don't use in the morning) after cleansing but before moisturising - and they make my skin feel so fresh the next day, and slowly but surely, my skin is feeling smoother, and all those horrible little bumpy bits that aren't really spots but never seem to go away - are actually going away. I feel its very rare for me to find a product that actually works but I'm going to say it - HOLY GRAIL PRODUCT. These cost £12.99 for 60 pads so if like me, you only use once a day; that's £6 a month, which I feel is well worth it. Boots and various other places sell these, but so do the supermarkets, who tend to have them on offer so its worth looking out for them.

A Collective Boots, Accessorize and Superdrug Haul

Ohhh I went shopping. I told myself I wouldn't but I did it anyway! I popped into town to buy a kimono and came back with these. I really should learn to focus on what I go into town for...

So I finally bought Indeed Hydraluron's Moisture Booster. Now this is an absolute bargain alert at the moment! Boots have this at a third off, and the kind lady behind the counter informed me there was also a £5 off voucher in the Boots magazine, and she proceeded to cut it out for me at the counter. This retails normally at £25, so to get it for around £13.. dreamy. I HAD to buy. Had to. I'm going to test it for a month and review it after that (even though it has been reviewed to death, I'm going to add one more to the collection.) If you are thinking of trying this, now is definitely the time to, I don't think it will ever be any cheaper!

I also popped into Accessorize and bought some earrings. I have a habit of losing earrings so for me, the cheaper the better. I'm really into my semi-precious gems at the moment and I think these worked out at £2 each after discount. I also picked up the bracelet as I quite like that matte gold style jewellery, and I don't have any chunky bracelets. This was £4 after discount.

In Superdrug, I bought my usual pair of eyelashes as Ardell are by far the best brand I have come across so far. I also picked up these two MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers in Halycon (left) and Tranquillity. I previously bought a red version of this and loved it, and these two didn't have testers out so I just bought both, obviously. They are only £3 each so I've justified it in my head as a bargain. Would you like some swatches of these? Let me know!

I also picked up the new Tresemme Renewal hair and scalp tonic. I've thought it might be nice to try a bit of scalp TLC, and this is a leave in product. This normally retails at £5.49, but was on offer for just £2.73. Would any of you like a review of this product? 

Two days later and I'm still feeling rather pleased with myself for these purchases. Money well spent! 

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think of them?

Along Came Betty Pure Pores Detox Mask

I'm a bit of a sucker for this brand, the girly packaging and fun names really draw me in, not to mention the super budget price. Along Came Betty, a Tesco exclusive brand, have an impressive range of body and skincare products that are inspired by 1950's movie stars which is definitely reflected in the kitsch names and packaging. I picked this up on a special offer for about £3.50, otherwise full price it is a bargainous £5.50. It promises to target 'greasy, spot prone areas and purify the t-zone' for the ultimate deep cleanse. I really like this product, for its simplicity, it promises just to give your face a good old-fashioned clean and help those with oilier skin types. I have a bit more of a combination skin and I find this doesn't dry me out in the slightest, and just makes my face feel so smooth and clean after using. You can leave this on for five minutes for a quickie, or for 15 for a pamper. Its not going to shrink your pores, but then it doesn't promise to, but it does promise to give a deep cleanse, and that's exactly what it does. I love the fact it comes in a pot too, its so easy to use, and it smells fantastic. If you are on a bit of a budget and want something to spoil yourself with, this is definitely it, I've had better results with this than some masks that are twice the price. This one's a keeper!

My Current Skincare Routine

Theses posts are quite popular at the moment, and I do find them quite interesting myself. I'm going to talk through my current skincare routine, with products I'm using at the moment (maybe not all at once though!). So lets get straight into it with my eye make-up remover; The Body Shop's Waterproof Camomile Eye Make-up Remover. I really hate getting water in my eyes so I tend to like to remove my eye makeup before cleansing or washing - and this does a great job. I put a blob on two cotton pads, hold them over my eyes and the make-up simply melts away. Wonderful. In the way of cleansing, I've recently discovered Foaming Lovely and Porefectly clean by Along Came Betty. I interchange these depending on how my skin is feeling, but Foaming lovely leaves me feeling squeaky clean whilst Porefectly Clean leaves my skin feeling so soft and really helps to prevent any dry patches. You can a review on the Foaming Lovely face wash HERE. After cleansing I move onto toning and I use the The Body Shop Nutriganics Toner, which makes me skin feel so firm and also removes any make-up or cleanser that I missed.

In the way of face masks, I use an array and tend not to stick to the same one. I really like the Montagne Juenesse sachets, but for days when my skin needs a little bit more I use Laidbare For Richer For Porer, which sorts out my large pores and oily skin. Its also a little bit of a scrub so helps to remove any dead skin off my face. I'm planning to write a full review on this product soon.

Eye Candy Strip Lashes in 009 & GIVEAWAY!

ohBeauty recently contacted me and asked if they could send me some eyelashes to review. I said yes please, and they sent me two packs of the Eye Candy Strip Lashes in the style 009 - one pack for myself, and one to give away to you guys! 

I am a huge fan of the false eyelashes and if you read my blog a lot you'll know that I adore Ardell - they are pretty much my one and only brand I will use, so when I received a set from this brand I was a little wary but excited to try them!

The packaging has a vintage feel to it and I do quite like the candy stripes. The set is a lovely style - full, but still quite natural, and they come in their own little carry/storage case, plus glue.

What can I say, I'm quite impressed. The strip is very thin and light, so it sticks to the lash line very well. The glue it comes with is the average glue I would say - nothing spectacular but it does the job. The lashes also fitted my eyes perfectly so I didn't have to waste time cutting them down to the right size - bonus!

Whilst on, they feel very light and natural. I can't stand eyelashes that you can 'feel' - I find them too irritating throughout the day. The pictures of the lashes are a bit shoddy and I apologise for that - the lighting in my house isn't too great at the moment..

I'm pretty happy with these and I do love the effect they give. I'd like to thank ohBeauty for sending these - I think I may grab another pair!

ohBeauty have sent me a pair to give away to a lovely follower - please use the rafflecopter form below. This is for the UK only I'm afraid (I'm too poor currently to afford international postage)

In the meantime if you are finding that you can't wait, you can use the discount code GET10 to get an extra 10% off at the checkout. Find their website at  OhBeauty.co.uk

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Along Came Betty Foaming Lovely Face Wash

Let me set the scene for you. I'm in tesco's, with the aim of doing a spot of healthy food shopping. You know the likes, quinoa and lettuce and all the things that taste like I'd rather not be eating them. So I got a little distracted and popped into the beauty section, and came across the brand Along Came Betty. I'm pretty sure I've had some bath salts from them before, but that's a little off topic. Everything from the brand was marked with a lovely half price sticker - so I had a little nose and walked away with two products. One of them just so happened to be this Foaming Face Wash. I did pick up the quinoa, but I didn't pick up the lettuce, and the other half of my shopping list. Ooops.

The Along Came Betty range is a skincare/bodycare range inspired by the Hollywood Sirens of past times, and the vintage packaging reflects this.

So the words that really hooked me onto this - brighter radiant skin. Who doesn't want that? I also got drawn in by the fruit I've never heard of either - the Kakadu Plum. Fancy! Soo I paid the lovely half price ticket of £1.74 (full price of £3.49).

Well let me firs of all, tell you how lovely the Kakadu Plum smells - if its anything like this then its bloody lovely. I've never smelt a Kakadu Plum but it smells like, generic fruity, very tropical.

Lips of The Day #6: Mac Lipstick in Ravishing

I am very excited to announce the arrival of my first Mac Lipstick! Up until now I was a mac lipstick virgin, and with my lip collection, this surprised me too!

One of the main reasons I have never bought a mac lipstick is the shop near me is horrible. Its a a department store and the staff are fine and lovely, but its always so busy and I like to take my time when makeup shopping, swatching anything and everything on my hand. For this reason I tend to steer clear of mac shops and much prefer online - but with lipsticks you can't tell! I took my mum shopping for her birthday recently and I saw this colour and snapped it up. In the store I really adored it, and then I got it home and I'm not really sure. It's a cremesheen formula and I really prefer matte lipsticks, or a satin. Nothing too high shine... but this one, I'm really torn. Say hello to Ravishing.

The colour is just lovely, and the lipstick actually smells and tastes really nice too. I know because its cremesheen it won't last as a well as a matte lipstick and this definitely comes off and needs a re-application after lunch. I do love the colour though - a wonderful mixture of peachy pink and it does have a little bit of a gold tinge in the shine I think.

The Budget Series: Montagne Jeunesse Iced Crystal Exfoliating Face Masque

I feel like it has been ages since I've written a budget post. Montagne Jeunesse still hold a great place in my heart as my favourite face masks, and I picked this one up completely on a whim. Turns out to be one of my better whims, so I'm introducing to you - the Montagne Jeunesse Iced Crystal Exfoliating Face Masque!

I do have a great fondness for these sachet face masks and you can read my previous reviews HERE and HERE. I really didn't know what to expect from this one as it is the first scrub mask I've used. The sachets as usual are super helpful and tell you exactly how to use with the our simple steps - splash, massage, relax and rinse. Easy!

So this mask contains spearmint and menthol and dead sea salt to give a combination of cooling, exfoliating and cleansing, sounds pretty good to me.

Model's Own Scented Nail Polish in Blueberry Muffin

Hello! I seem to be writing a lot of nail related posts recently, but I've gotten really back into wearing nail varnish. So I know a lot of people have been raving about the new Model's Own scented nail polishes, and in boots they were buy one get one half price - so I bought two. So this is one of them - The Blueberry Muffin!

You'll have to excuse the state of the application, I really don't know what's wrong with me but I always struggle to apply Model's Own colours - for me the brushes seem to hold too much varnish, and they take ages and ages to dry...but the colour is gorgeous and I love it.

Katy Perry Colour Pop Lashes in Ka-Pow!

I know  these have been about for quite a while now, and I've had these sitting in my drawers for a long time too. I was sent these aaages ago as a PR sample and I've not gotten round to reviewing them and trying them on. Well, today is the day!

Generally I tend to avoid any eyelash brands apart from Ardell. Ardell are my favourites and they suit my eye shape the best. However these did intrigue me, as they have flashes of colour throughout them which highlights the colour of your eyes. Sounds great to me!

I was sent Ka-Pow! which has purple running through it, and are actually made for brown eyes. I have green, and I thought 'green and purple?' Could work!

Lush Avobath Bath Bomb

Hello! I'm very nearly at the end of my super huge Lush haul that I had at the start of the year with a lovely gift card from my brother. I bought a ton of bath bombs and a few other items with it - one I had to throw away because I'm pretty sure when it turned up it had gone off because it had a very strange smell to it...This is my second to last bomb, the Avobath bomb. I've not used this one before but I was really drawn in by the lemongrass and the olive oil in it.

'Use this when your skin is thirsty and your mind is blocked. If you haven’t got a friend to tell you to pull your socks up and get back up and out there, then this ballistic will do the job for you!'

 Well, I knew there would be a time where I would need something to make me feel normal again and clear my head, and this did the job pretty nicely!

The initial picture doesn't really show the colour of it - its a wonderful lime green and it has the most amazing citrus smell, which to me isn't that lemony - I almost got grapefruit notes from it. I loved it anyway, as these scents are right up my street. The nature of these smells means that they aren't intended to make you feel all sleepy and relaxed - they make you relaxed in a very uplifted way.

I should point out - this bath bomb does not create bubbles - I added those because a bath doesn't feel like bath if it's without bubbles...

The Budget Series: Montagne Jeunnesse Green Tea Peel Off Masque

I'm still on my search for the perfect face mask. I saw this in the shops, and thought I would try it. I really like peel off masks because there is such little mess with them.

I'm not sure how I feel about sachet masks - I always find there is just a little too much in there for me, and then I don't know how to store it, so just waste it by throwing. At £1 a sachet it isn't such a crime, but I wish I could get more use out of the leftovers!

So this one contains Green tea, ginger and lemon, to refresh, cleanse and give a radiant complexion. I really liked this one, it certainly did refresh my skin - I felt so clean afterwards! It didn't leave my skin feeling tight either, which was great, and there was no tingling on the skin which sometimes makes me feel as if I'm going to react to it. I found it took the full 20 minutes to properly set, but after that it peeled off lovely.

The Budget Series: Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Masque Face Mask

I've not had much like with face masks recently, after buying plenty of Lush ones over the past few months and really wanting them to work, I've given up. I found this baby sitting at the back of my skincare stash, and I used to love the brand as a teenager, so maybe it will work for me now?

These masks are super cheap and most places sell them. I've found the best range is actually in Wilkinson, where they all retail for £1. Montagne have a website too that you can order from if you are stocking up.

So this is the chocolate face mask, and it claims to deeply draw out all the impurities and give your skin that lovely soft feeling. Its a mud style mask, that dries and washes off. It is suitable for all skin types, according to Jeunesse.

The Budget Series: Collection Pressed Powder

Its not often that I write a review where I didn't like the product, because I generally don't think it is a good idea to have lots of bad reviews especially from brands that I usually love. I suddenly found myself without any pressed powder and on a super whim grabbed this one, which you can find in my superdrug haul post. It is super cheap at only £1.99 and comes in a range of shades, this being 18 Ivory. I do quite like a lot of Collection (or collection 2002) products as many bloggers do (concealer anyone?) so I had total faith in this product.

Unfortunately I'm a little disappointed.

The Budget Series: Adee Phelan Opulent Dry Shampoo

This is a product I picked up on a bit of a whim, in the 99p shop. I've never heard of Adee Phelan but I thought the product name sounded rather grand, and as I'm running out of dry shampoo I thought I would grab one and try it.

Turns out Adee Phelan is a hairdresser famous for David Beckhams Mohawk, and this actually retails at betewen £6-7. After some googling it turns out that Phelan has focused on hair dye removal products rather than general haircare which is why this discontinued product probably ended up in a 99p store.

Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Hand Cream

I work in an outlet, and we recently had a Crabtree & Evelyn open up. I haven't really had much of a chance to look in there, so whilst I accompanied my mum shopping we had a good nose around. She bought herself a hand cream kit and picked this up for me as well. The information about the product instore wasn't very helpful, so I chose it on a bit of a whim - how it smelt and how it made my hands feel.

This is the 25g version, and is on special offer at the moment for just £2..

Nip + Fab Shine Fix Mattifying Gel

I've had this for a little while now and bought it as an early christmas present for myself for the bargain price of £3 at TK Maxx. It retails at about a tenner so I thought I would give it a go for such a cheap deal. I wanted to try it before writing a full review on it, and I can safely say I'm hugely impressed with this product.

The Shine Fix Mattifying gel claims to prevent shine and reduce the size of visible pores by controlling and absorbing excess oil.

Pout Perfect Kisses Lip Kit

One of my favourite make-up brands has always been Pout. They had everything; good makeup, good prices, pretty packaging and a following of celebrities raving about the products. Unfortunately the brand was discontinued a lifetime ago but you can still find bits of it floating about on the internet, particularly ebay.

I was lucky to get some of it for christmas, in particular this beautiful Perfect Kisses lip kit. The lip kit contains a lip scrub, a lip balm, a lip plumping gloss and a lip liner, all in a minature kit with stunning packaging and a silky tie up bow.

The Body Shop Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream

"Absinthe, the drink that makes you want to kill yourself.."

Absinthe hand cream is a new hand cream from The Body Shop, along with a hand gel and a hand wash. I've got my mitts on the purifying hand cream and I'm quite taken with this product. Is it because it contains such a potent alcohol? Probably. Lets get it straight though, absinthe comes from Wormwood and this contains that has a major ingredient. Not the alcohol that we've all watched in Moulin Rouge and Black Books. Either way, its a definite talking point when someone asks if you have any hand cream..