Meet My Girl, Pixy

If you come round here often enough, you'll know that I'm a big fan of Lush. But sadly over the past while I have fallen slightly out of love with them. Partly due to their unhelpful staff in recent times and partly due to me finding more and more products that just don't fill my little heart with joy. I have a feeling Lush hasn't gone far, we'll still see each other. But for now fear not, a product junkie like myself is always on the lookout for some new hot lovin' and today its come in the form of a girl. Shes cute, got style, a great personality and goes by the name of Pixy. (Thats right, I'm introducing brands like I'm dating them now. After all, we do spend a lot of time together during the day. In bed. In the shower... It was bound to happen at some point.) This lovely girl is Irish and born in Cork. Who can say no to an Irish babe like her?

We have some history though, I blogged about her lime body scrubs way back. Man those things smell good and work wonders! Below is a little round up of some of the things I've been really loving recently, mixed with a few things that I'm not liking so much. After all, its not a lasting relationship if you only see the good qualities and not the bad too. Pixy and me? Were totally going steady. 

One of my many overused lip balms. This one is in honey and my favourite by far, its just so yummy and smells divine! Its soft and moisturing. Despite it being a small tin, this has lasted me over a year and I'm only half way through it. I use it most nights before bed. There are loads of different flavours and I eh, might just have them all. There €4.99 each.

A new find for me is the *solid foot scrub. I'm not a fan of feet at all so I rarely give mine any love, but this little foot has my mind changed. One side is soft and moisturising while the other is a hard and scrubby bit. (- My descriptions never cease to totally baffle me. 'scrubby bit'.) Its not going to take away dead skin but its a lovely treat and always leaves my feet feeling extra fancy. It has cocoa butter, almond oil, lavender and tea tree oils to help soften, keep fresh and to sooth the foots. This is lasting me such a long time and I'd say if it was used with one of those peg egg yokes it would work even better. This is €8.95 and I'd say I'll be getting this again when its finished. 

I'm a lover of all things face related and my mug was happy to find the almond milk face scrub. It sounded soft and nourishing while being gently exfoliating at the same time. My skin is very sensitive however and can be temperamental with what it likes slathered over it. Unfortunately this stung the hell out of my skin and I had to stop using it. Its been passed along to the mammy and she is more then happy with it. I was upset that this didn't agree with me as it smelt so so lovely! Give me anything with almond in it and I'm a happy girl. This one was €9.95 and has a lot of product so I would say it would last a good few months as face scrubs aren't recommend to be used more then 2 or 3 times a week.

Something that I'm still ifie about after using for nearly two months now is the *cellulite body oil. I think the glass bottle it comes in is so lovely for displaying and really unusual. However the one thing I didn't like about this is that it smells like black liquorice, something that makes me feel really unwell. Once you get over that, its easy to apply and spreads evenly. A little goes a long way and I mainly used it over my thighs. I can honestly say after a full month of using this daily I couldn't see any difference in my skin. On the bright side my skin was super soft, if a little awful smelling. Over the next month I eased off using it as no results and the smell was off putting. I'm surprised this did nothing for me as there are loads of rave reviews of this product out there. This isn't breaking the bank at €9.95 so maybe try it out for yourself and tell me if it works for you!

Lastly the prettiest bottle you ever did see, a mixture of sweet smelling almond oil that is the*sensual bath oil. I wasn't expecting anything much from this as I poured it into the bath for the first time as I'm a bubbles and foam kind of girl. But the almond scent sucked me in and the bath water was lovely and soft on my skin. I was worried when I got out that my skin would feel weighed down with oil as can often happen with these sorts of oily products, but I was wrong. I'm baffled at how this oil doesn't make me feel weighted down, but it doesn't. All I feel is softy soft and find myself approaching people to have a feel of my skin. As one does when their soft. The one downside is that it has tiny glitter in it, and if your like me you wont have noticed until you've fully submerged yourself in the water, got out, got dressed and gone out to something important that is not a glitter occasion. Someone needs to invent emergency showers in prime locations. Like anywhere where I might be for example. Just a thought. This lovely little bottle of softness is €9.95.

Have you tried Pixy before? Whats your favourite product?

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

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!

The Comforter Bubble Bar

I have to start off by saying mmm. That sums up this lovely pink and white Lush 'the comforter' bubble bar completely and theres really no need to go on. But I will anyway for those of you who are yet to be convinced. To start with I'll point out the obvious, its huge like break-into-four-pieces huge. At about €5 its a little pricey like a lot of Lush things are but I think you get a bit of a bargain with this as you can cut up little chunks of this to make it stretch to a few baths rather then just the one. If you do decide to do that, pop the rest of the pieces into a sandwich baggie to make sure it stays fresh and if any little pieces start to crumble, you have a mess free zone! 

The amount of bubbles you get from this guy is amazing, even if you only use a tiny bit. I think by now you will all know that I am a fan of having as many bubbles as humanly possible in the bath, and this really helps achieve the dream! I had to take a billion pictures of just how bubbly it got (its the little things, don't judge) And to top it off the lovely girly pink and white bar has an amazing smell of sweet blackcurrant, thats something you can't help but relax with while having a little dip in the pink bath water. Its also preservative free which means its better for the environment not needing any packaging and to top it off its vegan friendly.  

Definitely something I will be picking up again once I finish my other pieces. Its bigger then a lot of the Lush bath products so this would be a lovely present to pop in a bag of goodies for a birthday or some other present worthy event. I have my eye on another bubble bar 'blue skies and fluffy white clouds' that is just like this one but its blue and has a totally different smell. Go look at it here and 'ohhh' with me.

Review: Dove/Nivea Deodorants

Hello loveies! For me, finding the right deodorant can be a pain and there are loads of questions floating through my mind when looking at the massive selection in the shops. So here are some that I have been using the past few weeks to answer some of those thoughts!

L-R: Dove 'gofresh', Dove 'natural touch',
 Dove 'invisible dry', 

Dove 'gofresh', Nivea 'sensitive & pure'.

I'm a big fan of Dove, as you can see! All these deodorants claim to have 48 hour protection, but I'm not sure if thats the case. Perhaps 6 to 12 hour, depending on what you get up to. They are also all around €4 or €5, depending on where you pick them up. They say on their bottles that they are ''unique with a 1/4 moisturising cream and vitamin E thats proven to improve the look an feel of underarm skin.''

 The 'invisible dry' has to be my favourite purely because it does what it says! When your rushing in the morning, you don't have time to wait for your deodorant to dry and you end up getting white marks all over your clothes. With this that simply doesn't happen. Magic.

Next there is the two 'gofresh' scents in pomegranate & lemon verbena and grapefruit & lemongrass. Both really do have a 'fresh' scent, but I have to say I am not overly excited about them. If you like that burst of freshness that wakes you up then they are for you. However I find that some cleaning products I use in the bathroom kind of smell slightly similar and its off putting. If I was picking one to buy again it would be the sweeter smelling pomegranate & lemon verbena one for sure. 

The last Dove is the biggest let down. Its the new 'natural touch dead sea minerals'. It sounded fancy and something soft and lovely for my underarms but all it does it cause a mess. Dare to spray it for more then 2 seconds and you have lumps of caked deodorant falling off your skin and ruining any clothes you put on. It doesn't work trying less, letting it dry or even holding it further from you. Nope, it just doesn't work for me. Below, you'll see I've sprayed the same amount of all the deodorants on a black top to try and show you what I mean. The photo is being kind to the 'natural touch' Dove here, but you get the idea. Its redeeming features would be how nice it smells and that if you don't mind it falling all over the place and staining your clothes as you go, it does give a nice soft feel to your skin, more then the other Doves I've tried. I doubt I'll ever be purchasing this again though.

On the left Dove 'natural touch dead sea minerals' 

 is the only deodorant to stain my top.

Last but not least is the Nivea 'sensitive & pure'. This says 'new' on the lid, but I think it's been out quite a while. I love this one with its girly sweet scent that seems to last a little longer then any of the Dove range. I'm a regular buyer of Nivea's 'invisible black and white clear', which is similar to Doves 'invisible dry'. I've  just finished Nivea's 'pearl and beauty' too, which smells almost sickeningly sweet, but has a longer lasting smell.

I hope this has helped you all a little. Until next time, stay smelling good!

Friday Favourites #2

Its Friday again and I am glad the week is finally over. It was jam packed with loads of stuff, so now is the time to put the feet up and relax a bit me thinks. This week I've been really enjoying this lovely list of bits;

Site: One Click At A Time
This is a site thats well worth checking out. There are many like it, but I found this one to have a variety of things to choose. You simply go and 'click', thats all. By doing so you are donating to a cause, but you are not paying yourself. Have a look and maybe visit if you are bored.

Food: Muller Rice
Need I say more? I got a pack of 6 on offer in Tesco for €3.00 that has 3 plain and 3 strawberry. I have been munching my way through them all week and can safely say I love opening the fridge to have a root and find something yummy!

Blog: Sprinkle Of Glitter

I love to follow all types of blogs and this one is a must-read for me. Louise is a beauty guru who also is part of the YouTube family. I would go check her out here if you love fashion and beauty. She also blogs and makes videos with her little girl, 'Baby Glitter' - and we all know I'm a sucker for anything cute!

Game: Shark Dash

This game is for iPhones and Android phones. As far as I know its only free for Android users and under a euro otherwise. I was introduced to it the other day by a friend and its just so addictive! The aim of the game is to get the shark to eat ducks by jumping through hoops and up in the air past platforms. Its fun and easy to use - at first! I think it attracts me as well by the animations of how cartoon-like the animals are and how funny they look. 

Thing: The Winter Sales

I bagged myself some great bargins in the sales, both in the shops and online. I had a brilliant time in Boots with my Advantage Card points and a gift voucher, picking up a few bits for myself and some presents for my January birthday people! A little poke around Asos and I came away with a beautiful dress that was better then half price. Once the post man comes I will have a show and tell!

Product: Herbal Essences Seductively Straight Hair Mask

I picked this up a few weeks ago as I was looking for an intensive hair treatment and it was on special offer. This gem has been my go-to hair treat that keeps it soft and shiny. You can read all about it over here.

Thats all from me for now, I hope you all have a fab weekend and go try something new! 

Review: Herbal Essences Seductively Straight Hair Mask

Hello all! Hope you are having a fine and lovely day. I have been using this product for the past few weeks and thought that I would do a little review on it as it has impressed me so much!

This is from the oh-so-divine Herbal Essences range. I have to say I am a big lover of all things Herbal Essences and have been using them for years. The new packaging that they have come out with over the past 2/3 years has been fresh and eye catching. Its very up to date and slightly shiny too, and who doesn't love shiny, humm?

This particular gem is from their Seductively Straight line for dry and damaged hair. They have heaps of different ones to suit all hair types. They come with shampoos, conditions, intensive conditioner, finishing touch cream and many many more. I have long blonde hair and for the most part it is straight, so this was perfect for me. I picked this product up on clearance from my seemingly most favourite place in the world, Tesco. It was under €3 but the normal price I have seen in Boots and Super Drug is about €5/€6. 

And does it work? Well indeed it does. I love my baths so once a week is the perfect time to put some into my hair and then let it do its magic. My hair has been in such good condition recently that I have only used a small amount of the thick, creamy mask on the ends of my hair, while giving the rest a quick condition with whatever happens to be floating around the bathroom. 15 to 20 minutes later, depending on how prune-like I want to look, I wash it out and hop out of the bath to find my hair is noticeably softer, less tangled and more easy to manage. And man does it smell good! This pot has lasted me ages and is well worth looking out for to have a sniff for yourself and see what I'm raving about. Once I finish my pot I will definitely be on the look out for another. 

Have you ever tried any of the Herbal Essences products? 

Review: Veet Hair Removal Cream

I'm sitting here after a rather sore experience. I am not a fan of of shaving my legs as I tend to catch myself with the razor all the time. So when I was in Boots the other day I picked up Veets Hair Removal Cream with aloe vera and vitamin e for sensitive skin for around €6.15. I can have quite sensitive skin so I thought this would be perfect for me, with the added bonus of aloe vera and vitamin e. There are loads of different creams in this range, you can get spray on creams, roll ons, strips and creams in pump form. It boasts to be 'proven to work on very short hair' and 'can take noticeably longer to grow back'.  The product itself is in a 100ml tube that also comes with a specially designed spatula in pink, which I thought was cute. The instructions tell you to apply evenly to your skin with the spatula. You leave it on for 5 minutes and then remove it with the spatula, then rinse the residue away.  

It specifies on their website that is for your legs, which you can see here. However, on the package it says its designed for use on legs, arms, underarms and bikini lines. Whatever about using it on yours legs I would not  recommend using it on more sensitive parts of your body. It has the most awful smell and irritated my skin so much I had to wash it off before the 5 minutes were up. OUCH!! 24 hours earlier I had tested the cream on a small patch of skin as it suggests, just to make sure it didn't react with me. There was no irritation or redness and the area was smooth after. But it seems that applying it all over my legs does not have the desired effect. I was left sore, red and covering myself in germolene. 

I can safely say I will not be repurchasing this product, instead sticking to the odd nick of a razor. Have you ever used any of Veets range before?