Collective Beauty Haul

The Body Shop
Strawberry Body Butter | £13.00

Mango Body Butter | £13.00

Vitamin E Sink In Moisture Mask | £12.00

All-in-One BB Cream | £12.00

During a big sale at The Body Shop with some crazy deals I ended up getting myself 3 of these products (not the BB Cream) for only £15 instead of £38 - What a saving! I love The Body Shop for their deals and I try to avoid buying anything until they have one of their amazing offers on so that I can stock up on things from my wishlist and take advantage of the savings like I have done here. 

Speaking of sales.. this little bundle right here I bought just yesterday while there was a flash 40% off the whole store! The offer is still on now (online too) so go take advantage! The mango scent is my absolute favourite and I just couldn't resist getting this shower gel and body scrub to wash myself in all of it's zesty fruity-ness. I also plan to do a full post on this whole range sometime soon.

Mango Body Scrub | £7.50
Mango Shower Gel | £4.00
Vitamin E Toner | £8.00

Boots

Lee Stafford Argan Oil Conditioner | £10.99

ArGh. £11 on a drugstore conditioner? Yikes! Someone was feeling flush. Yes it's pricey, but yes it was worth it. This conditioner was part of my 'Happy Healthy Hair' post and I pair it with the Hair Growth shampoo (also from Lee Stafford) - They're the perfect pair for stimulating growth and nourishing dry ends.

Superdrug

MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette | £4.00

MUA Power Pouts Lipstick - 'Runway' and 'Broken Hearted' | £3.00 each

VO5 Plump It Up Dry Backcomb Spray | £2.44

A little Superdrug spree while cosmetics are '3 for 2' led me to the MUA stands to pick up some of their relatively recent releases. I adore their 'Undressed' palette and use it almost daily so I thought I'd add some variety to my eye life and get the 'Undress Me Too' - it's a bargain for only £4 too! These 'Power Pouts' are from the same concept as Clinique Chubby Sticks and Revlon Balm Stains, but on a budget. I've not actually tried them out at all yet but I'll review them in full if they're worth it!

Next

Summer Heat EDT 30ml | £6.00

Summer Dreams EDT 10ml | £3.50

These perfumes were my 'treat to myself' after I'd finished my first exam because I'd been revising my little bum off and deserved something to make me smile! Plus, it was a hot sunny day and I was craving a summer fragrance! I'm no professional in scent descriptions but.. 'Summer Heat' is a warm scent as it's citrus based with a strong hint of cinnamon, and 'Summer Dreams' is a lot more fresh and light. What I love about Summer Dreams is that it's a small 10ml bottle but still with a spritzer spray, rather than a rollerball (it's the simple things).

Other: Feel Unique, Look Fantastic and Tesco

The Original Tangle Teezer | £10.20 (10% off - £9.18)

REN ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser | £16.20

Garnier Summerbody Gradual Tan | £5.00 (half price - £2.50)

I was sucked into the Tangle Teezer hype and LOVE it; the best hair brush I've ever used for taming my mop of thick hair, especially when it's wet - and just look at the colours of it! The REN Clarifying Clay Cleanser is also a firm favourite and an absolute love that I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about from me in the future, and I've already raved indepth about this Garnier tan (it was in my April Favourites and you can read my review on it here).

So, that's what I've been splashing my cash on recently in the beauty world. I think I'm going to chill out a little bit now on the shopping front until it comes to holiday preparation purchases - less than 5 weeks to go until I'm on that beach!

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Monthly Favourites | April

So.. It's the 4th May? (May the Fourth be with you ..haha) But seriously, how the hell did that happen? It felt like literally a week ago I was writing up my March favourites and this month flew around so fast I barely even had time to catch my breath! It's a bit of a mixed bag for this month's favourites, but I hope you all enjoy it and read on to see what I'd been loving in April...

Barry M 'Gelly Hi Shine' Nail Paint - Lychee

Barry M's newly reformulated nail paints to give a 'gel nail' finish are well worth the hype that they're receiving. Having just released a new line of colours for the summer I'm eager to stock up on some more shades! Lychee made the cut as this month's favourite as it's the perfect classic nude shade that you can't go wrong with and I've been wearing it a lot recently. It gives a polished manicured look with a thick, high shine finish and lasts for close to a week without chipping - All for £3.99 too!

Redken Color Extend 'Radiant-10' Treatment Spray

I wrote a full post all about this product, and it was also part of my 'Happy, Healthy Hair' post too because it's been a little bit of a lifesaver (/hairsaver) recently. It comes at quite a high price, but it's well worth it and I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a good quality lightweight detangling spray and leave in conditioner that comes with a whole multitude of additional benefits such as adding shine and prolonging the vibrancy of hair colour.

 

Origins 'Modern Friction' Exfoliator

My first Origins purchase, and I wasn't disappointed! A persuasive saleswoman talked me into buying this one as she said that good exfoliation is one of the key stages in skincare to reducing blemishes (I don't really want to talk about excess dead skin cells clogging pores and causing a build up.. but yeah..) and after she demonstrated this product on me during a 'mini facial' I knew that it was love! I'm going to do a full review on this in the coming weeks, but basically it's a very fine and gentle exfoliator that is a real indulgent treat to use. It contains 'rice starch cushioned in cream' which makes it feel a little bit like you're rubbing rice pudding or porridge on your face, but it gives such a thorough polish to the surface of the skin and makes everything look that little bit more refined and fresh.

 

Clinique 'Even Better' Foundation

I have a full post written up on this amazing foundation, that I dubbed as my 'holy grail' base for my make up. Having problematic skin leaves me with wanting no less than a full coverage and long lasting foundation that will stand the test of oil-prone skin. 'Even Better' ticks all of those boxes! One of the highest coverages I've ever used, smooths over enlarged pores, covers blemishes, flawless application and lasts all day. It's my favourite foundation to date and if what I've listed above is something you're looking for then this is one to try!

The Body Shop Vitamin E 'Sink In Moisture Mask'

The Body Shop and their crazy bargains in the sales left me paying no more than £5.00 for this tub, when it's full retail price is £13.00 - I love bargains like that! A naughty product (suspicions lying with Effaclair Duo) left me with skin that was dry, flakey and very unsightly. Dry skin is not the norm for me and I needed something to sort it out pronto! I looked to the Origins 'Drink Up' Mask, but couldn't justify the price tag at the time, however worth it it might have been.. and I found this potential dupe in The Body Shop. It's a fast working 10 minute 'Moisture Mask' that you apply in a thick layer all over and it seems like a normal moisturiser, but after the time is up it has only partially sunk in and there's a residue left on the surface of the skin that can be gently removed with a cotton pad. It leaves the skin looking instantly plumper, like it's had a good 'drink', hydrated and reduces flakey patches. A few uses of this and my dry skin had returned to normal - this saved the day!

Garnier Summer Body Moisturising Lotion

When I wrote a full post about this gradual tanning lotion it received lots of comments from other people saying that they were huge fans of this tan too! I'd recommend clicking here to read my full review on it as I gush in depth about my love for it. Literally the most perfect gradual tanner I've ever used; there's no tell-tale tan smell, it smells fresh and fruity, it actually comes up gradually and is easy to build upon day by day so that there's no waking up and being overly fake and orange if that's not what you're looking for, and the colour is a nice touch of brown, lovely and natural like you've spent a day sitting out in the sun.

 

Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color - Theodora

Being a lucky little lady, I managed to win one of The Sunday Girl's giveaways and landed myself with one of Urban Decay's limited edition palettes for the release of the film The Great and Powerful Oz. Out of the two versions of the palette (Glinda and Theodora), I won the Theodora palette, represented in the film by the ever so gorgeous Mila Kunis - deserved winner of FHM's Sexiest Women in the World! Enough about my girl crush.. The Theodora Palette came with one of UD's 'Super Saturated' lip colours and the shade is just named 'Theodora' but it's a beautifully bright and glossy red shade that is so simple to apply with the creamy formula and the crayon applicator. I've not been one for red lips much in the past but this one just seems to work for me and the high gloss lasts for hours and hours too. I might have to look into more of these lip pens from Urban Decay because they're such amazing quality! My eye is on 'Love Child' and you can see it here.

So, that's my April favourites! I hope you enjoyed!

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Body Shop Vitamin E | Stash

Helloo.

I have another day off work again today (4 days in a row - lucky me!), so thought I'd take the opportunity to add some more posts to my blog. Today's topic is my little collection of products from The Body Shop's Vitamin E range.

I am a big fan of The Body Shop, one of my favourite places to go for a little pick me up treat, and I even felt the need to get myself a 'Love Your Body' loyalty card the other week as these give you 10% on any purchase.

The product that started off my little stash was the Vitamin E Eye Cream (pictured below) which claims to: 'help reduce appearance of fine lines, puffiness and dark circles'. It's hard for me to comment on any reduction in 'lines' as I didn't actually have any to start with, but this is definitely a product that I love to use every morning to freshen up my under eye and I am convinced it works wonders on reducing puffiness and circles! This really is a lovely lovely product which I plan on repurchasing. I bought this just after Christmas in The Body Shop's 50% sale meaning it was reduced from £9.50 to just £4.75! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for this offer to be on again so I can stock up.

The second product to join the gang came all the way from duty free at Malaga Airport. In May, my boyfriend and I went on holiday to Marbella and on the way back we were mooching around duty free and he could obviously see the hearts in my eyes as I dragged him around all of the make-up stands, and being the lovely boy that he is he told me that I could choose any one item and he would buy it for me. Aww what a sweetie! But I don't think he understood the difficulty and pressure of having to choose to just one item from the massive selection, and I obviously didn't want to take the piss by picking anything ridiculously expensive either. So, I headed to the pretty small Body Shop stand and ended up holding the Vitamin E Moisture Serum in one hand and the Vitamin C Skin Reviver in my other. I held them out to him to make the decision for me and he picked the moisture serum (a completely random decision on his part).

It didn't work out much cheaper buying it in duty free abroad than if I had bought it instore in the UK, as we worked out it converted to about £9 and it is £10 in store and online in the UK.

I was intrigued by this product as it is infact a pre-moisturiser and used alone it has little benefit to skin, but when used before a moisturiser it helps the product to sink into the skin much better, and personally I love it. It has quite a runny texture and just one pump is enough to cover the whole face.

This made me decide that potentially the best products to go hand in hand with this pre-moisturiser would be ones from the same range. So I had a little nosy on The Body Shop website just last week and there was a 'buy one get one free' offer on some of the products - including the Vitamin E Moisture Cream and the Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream. These are now in the 50% off sale for £4.50 and £5, but when I purchased them it was buy one get one free, so I paid £10 for the night cream, and the £9 day cream was free.

I haven't used these products too much because the first time that I did I ended up waking up with multiple white heads around my chin area :( I have quite oily skin normally and I think these would be more suited to somebody with dry or normal skin. 

Last but not least, when I picked up these two moisturisers I also spotted a Vitamin E Face Mist for £7 and added it to my basket because I thought it would be great for freshening up in the morning and during those hot, sweaty summer days. This product is such a little treat, I really love it - it's fantastic for spraying over make up and also a nice little refresher on a bare face too. 

I recommend you check out The Body Shop's Vitamin E range as they have lots of other products in it that I'm itching to try, including cleansers, toners, face oils, hand creams etc and I know I'd love to extend my collection some more. 

xx.