The Best Of Beauty Challenge: Pamper Products

Its week four of the best of beauty challenge hosted by the lovely All The Buzz. I'm sure by now you know the story with these posts! If not heres week one to tell you all about this great challenge. This week Sam has picked the topic of pamper products and to be honest I couldn't think of something that was really a proper, full on pamper product. So I had to sit in the bath last night and contemplate it all (any excuse for a bath) and decided I'd just write about what I had in there with me! 

Alberto Balsam is a new brand for me and really just the first conditioner I picked out of the drawer. If I ever go for a bath or pamper night I put as much conditioner in my hair as will stay in it and then go about everything else, knowing my hair is thanking me under all that goo. This one is the coconut scent and its just nom.

 Same goes for a face mask. Nothing screams pamper like a face mask to me and this one in particular. Nimue is an amazing brand and I am in love with their rejuvenating face mask. If doesn't hurt my skin, smells alright and leaves my skin feeling really lovely after. Its a proper treat!

Next its onto the skin. I'm a lazy thing and if I can shave my legs without too much effort, I will! This is why I love the Body Shops shea sugar body scrub. It has just enough scrubby bits that really help exfoliate the skin, making it a little sorter and ready to shave when the time comes. That and it smells like something you'd eat, not rub onto your skin. Promise I've not eaten any yet. Can't say the same for some Lush things...

After a nice bath, shave or even if I'm just feeling extra nice to myself I will pull out some moisturizer and go to town. Mostly my elbows and knees get all the attention which is bold of me, but I feel like sand paper - attractive! I like this Boots own brand one at the moment. Its a massive pot for next to nothing. It doesn't have an overpowering smell and skins into my skin quickly. Perfect!

Lastly how could I not include my favourite bubble bar Dorothy, from Lush. It smells like sweet magic, looks cool in bar form and in the water and best of all it makes a tonne of bubbles that leave your skin soft. I want, no, need them all.

Top that off with a nice Yankee candle (addicted to the bloody things!) a book or magazine and my pamper night it complete! As always, if you fancy reading more bloggers picks then you can follow #BOBBlogChallenge on twitter. 

Glossy Box - My Last One

I can't even hide how unimpressed I am with this months Glossy Box. When I first got the box to the front door last year as a present from my boyfriend I was more then delighted. I couldn't believe I was getting something I have watched bloggers and vloggers review forever and lusted over them all. But it seems that Glossy Box has just gone further and further downhill. The general feel on Twitter is the same, Glossy Box has lost well, the gloss? I know, no pun intended though! 

I'm not sure if this is going to be an ongoing thing, but this months box is shiny. I'm sorry but just no. No thank you. Their other matte boxes looked much better and clearly said luxury service, but now this new box just screams cheap and quite frankly, nasty. Back to basics is the theme of this months box and they really got it spot on with basics and the bare minimum in the product department. 

So, this is what I got. Sample size things that would have been cheaper to get in the shop instead of forking out around €16 for next to nothing. 

Yu-Be moisturising skin cream £13.50 for a full size.

 The Vintage Cosmetic Company floral slanted tweezers that are £8.

  Balance Me super toning body wash £10.25 for full size 250ml.

Anatomicals puffy the eye bag slayer wake-up under eye patches £6 for 3 pack.

Montagne Jeunesse passion peel off masque and blemish mud mask £1.09 per mask.

There is nothing in this box that I can't wait to use, I could leave or take it. The tweezers will come in handy if I loose my ones and I will try out the mask but I'm not excited about them like I am for other products. I think you will see now why I'm not impressed at all. I have unsubscribed from Glossy Box and going to take my hard earned few bob else where. 

Glossy Box actually tweeted at me when I took to Twitter to voice my anger at the box and they informed me that nexts months box would focus on make up... I don't know about you ladies and gents, but I'm glad I'm not sticking around to find out if the box delivers a full sized product or dare I hope, even equals to some of the €16 I have paid each month for the service. I am one unhappy girl today, sorry guys for such a grry negative post but I am so so upset and annoyed at this months box of 'samples'.

Glossy Woman Glossy Box November

Yeah, I know its the 11th of December, but I didn't want to do a post without trying out the products first to give you a mini review as I find limited edition box reviews a bit boring on their own.

This one was targeted more towards the slightly older women with day and night creams that 'rewind time', collagan booster and a spray for colour treated hair to name a few. I'm not at the stage yet where I need specialist anti aging creams (thank goodness!) but it never hurts to start when you can see fine lines and some serious worry lines on my forehead deeply etched in, someone pass me the cement mixture!  

To start off when I opened the box I noticed the dark brownie colour that didn't appeal to me at all. Why is it so dark and off putting?? Not cool GlossyBox, try again. Other then that all the potions and lotions were shoved into a corner which makes me point some fingers at the post man! I loved the orange ribbon, that kind of made up for the awful box colour and the bad post man.

So the first thing that caught my eye was the Olehenriksen truth serum collagen booster in a bright orange. Not only does it look orange but it smells of fresh oranges - nom! It is their number one selling product worldwide and having used it I can see why. It has five sources of vitamin C boost collagen, dramatically brighten skin tone, hydrate and help prevent signs of aging. Sounds fancy huh? The consistency of this is quite watery but makes it very easy to apply and their GlossyBox tip is to pat vitamin C products onto the skin, never rub in. Its way harder to do then you'd think! But it feels very luxurious and I will admit since starting to use it I have noticed my skin is brighter which is surprising as I don't normally see a product working so quickly! The full size for a 30ml is a pocket pinching £47.

The next things that caught my eye were the two little black and white bottles of Lulu's Time Bomb Glory Days day cream recaptured youth and Flashback night cream rewind time. The day cream has rich borage oil, glucose and white flower oils that help to improve texture and even skin tone, making it smooth and tight.The night cream has ultra rich moisturisers and anti aging ingredients beneath an invisible rich bran wax barrier. 

Both of these creams smell really lovely and they sink into the skin well, but I have yet to see any amazing results. My skin does well nice after using them but I would be leaning toward the Olehenriksen still. The day cream is £12 and the night cream is £13.50, both 15ml bottles. 

The next product is Redken colour extend in a lovely red eye catching bottle. This one claims to offer 10 benefits to coloured hair in just one spray.It deeply cares for and prolongs the life of coloured hair for vibrant, lustrous and naturally reinforced locks. I have very coloured hair, I'm awful for dying it a billion colours every few months and I am really loving bright blues and pinks too, so I this would be a life saver for me. However this has been the biggest let down of all the products in the box. I have seen no difference in my hair or the colour, oh well! I will keep giving it a go for the next week or so but after that if I still see no improvement, to the bin it goes! This costs a pricey £20.80 for a 170ml bottle.

The last thing is the [Comfort Zone] glorious skin visible lifting tensor mask. A sublime gel mask, it visibly reduces expression lines and leaves even the most dehydrated skin super soft. The first thing I thought when reading that was score! My forehead is about to get an ironing out. But in reality its not as exciting as that. This has to be one of the most unpleasant smelling products I've tried in a long time, just ugh. It sinks in amazingly well though and the smell reduces after a minute or so. I haven't seen any mind blowing results but I do notice that my skin is soft after washing it off. This sleek bottle sets you back £34.75 for a 50ml bottle.

Thats all for now, I am waiting by the door every day bothering the post man for the December GlossyBox like a mad woman! As always, stay fab! x

Things I've Used Up #2

If you've just popped by, hey lovely of you to come take a look at my blog. I did a #1 post last month, over here. I just love reading empties posts, I can't help but be nosy!

So way back at the start of this year I got to know Fragrance Direct quite well and ordered the famous Macadamia Oil shampoo while it was cheap because its not normally something I would ever be able to fork out for. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money, I honestly couldn't see any difference in my hair and the shampoo was difficult to get a good lather in my hair. Ok, its colour safe, sulfate free and paraben free which are all great, but this just isn't for me.

A quick sniff of this empty pot and I'm wishing I still had some left! I did a big review of Soap and Glory's Scrub em and Leave em over here. While on the topic of reviews, I also did a review of Love Lettuce too. I can not wait for my next visit to Lush to repurchase this stuff or maybe pick up a different one and try them all! Amazing on the skin.

When the blogs of the world went a bit crazy for texturising sea salt sprays, I had to see what they were all about and picked up Aussie dual personality aussome texturising and conditioning gel spray. I am a big Aussie fan and found this to be a lovely treat for my hair, giving it a bit of volume and lots of texture to play around with and style my hair. Thumbs up all the way, it even wins on the smell. I'll be picking this up again.

Bit odd but I repurched my Vitamin C tablets. Winters rolling in fast and I am so prone to getting colds! By taking one of these everyday I am helping my body that extra little bit to keep me well. Have you sorted your vitamins? You can get these in Boots, Tesco or even your local garage!

Yet another shampoo, this time its Fruit Essence by Boots. This one is called goodbye dry ends for mid to long hair. I regularly buy these from Boots, they remind me a lot of Herbal Essences as they smell just as nice but for half the price - oh would you look at that poetry! For under €2 you can pick up one of these and they all have matching conditioners too. Bargain!

Lastly my Natural Collection pressed powder in cool. This is a permanent product in my make up bag and I have already repurchased tow more of these. Works well, keeps eveything in place and cheap too. What more could you ask for. Loads of my family and friends love this particular product, its fab!

Have you entered my Halloween giveaway yet?

Love Lettuce LUSH Face Mask

I haven't been feeling 100% calm recently which means my spots flare up quite badly with any stress. It always seems to happen and it can be awful trying to get my skin under control again. So I couldn't think of a better way to give myself a bit of a cheering up then with a trip to my favorite Lush as I had gathered up 5 empty black pots. For those of you who aren't aware, Lush offers any of their fresh face masks when you return 5 empty and clean black pots so they can be melted down and reused again! Recycling  and a free pot of happiness? Well don't mind if I do! If you scroll down to the end of this post you can watch a little video about the recycling of the pots, its full of information!

I'm not going to lie, I sat online for about 40 minutes deciding between all the masks, it was hard let me tell you that. I haven't used one of their fresh masks in a long time, always going for the spot busting Cupcake but longingly looking at the other magic coloured goos on offer. What really lures me in are all the different little silver bowls of colour and wonderful smelling masks scattered around in the ice for you to see.And they put in real roses or pieces of fruit on the side to make it unbelievably eye-catching, bless their little consumer marketing socks! Am I the only one who has a hard time resisting the urge to not poke a finger into the masks and smear it all over my face?

I settled on the Love Lettuce. I love seaweed, it tastes great and works like witch craft on the skin - as does the much loved sea salt. As this was my first time using it I wasn't sure what to expect but it smelt pleasant (we'v all had a mask on your face that smells awful!)  It contains honey and a seaweed gel which give a softening effect with some olive oil to regenerate the skin. Kaolin, lavender and ground almonds are also in there for a gentle exfoliation when it comes time to wash off your mask. Perhaps the one downside is that because all the masks are fresh you have to keep them in your fridge and use them within two weeks of purchase.

Like all masks you spread it all over your face, wait until it drys and then use some warm water to wash it all off. This was a lovely treat for my skin. I can't say there has been a big improvement with reducing my spots from using it, but I can certainly feel my skin a lot softer after washing it off and there is no irritation from using it either which is a big plus in my book considering my skin can be very easily irritated. My skin also looks brighter and more refreshed feeling after using some too. I will be happily using the rest of my my little black pot. Thinking about it I really want to get away from my regular buys at Lush and try lots of their other products, so on my next trip I have a feeling BB Seaweed (seaweed I know!) will be coming home with me!