No7 Skin Care Treats Gift Set

Hi guys, today's post is about a little gift from myself, to myself. I purchased this gift set a couple of weeks ago in the Boots January Sale while it had 50% making it £8.00 instead of £16.00 - love a good little bargain. I thought that now would be a good time to talk about this seeing as though Boots are running a double No7 promotion at the moment with 3 for 2 across everything and money off vouchers too, so this could give you some ideas of what to spend you £5.00 off vouchers on if you're a little bit stuck!

The set contains a total of 7 items: 1x eye make-up remover, 1x hot cloth cleanser, 1x day cream, 1x night cream, 1x muslin cloth, and to top it all off 1x fluffy headband. When bought for £8 this set is such good value for money, making each of the items a little over £1 each and all of the products come in generous sizes too ranging from 25ml - 50ml. I'd never used any of these before, in fact I had never tried anything other than the make-up wipes from No7 as a brand before, so was very keen to give these a try, especially as the hot cloth cleanser receives a lot of praise. I knew that even if I didn't get along with one or two products in the set I definitely had a chance of liking at least one of them, and when you would pay at least £8.00 for a full sized bottle of one of these then it is definitely worth purchasing this set of travel size/mini versions.

This has really opened my eyes to how lovely some of the No7 skin care is and I definitely feel more confident about trying out some more things from their range! Specifically from the Beautiful Skin line I've got my eyes on the cleansing water, purifying mask, radiance exfoliator and the melting gel cleanser!

Onto what is in the 'skin care treats' set..

Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser (50ml) and Muslin Cloth

I had really high hopes for this hot cloth cleanser because a lot of people do love it, and I have never used any kind of 'hot cloth' cleanser before ..and this one did not disappoint! To buy the full sized 200ml bottle of this it will cost you £9.95 (full price) and I am deeply considering making a purchase of this in the coming weeks. The cleanser itself is really rich and creamy and feels really moisturising and soothing on the skin - it is massaged around the face and melts away any make-up or everyday dirt that is on the skin and then muslin cloth is run under a hot tap and used to wipe the product away, exfoliating the skin as it cleans and clears. It leaves the skin looking radiant, and very 'polished' which is where I assume the famous Liz Earle variant gets it's name from.

Beautiful Skin Day Cream (25ml) and Night Cream (25ml)

I do really like both of these creams but I don't expect that either would be a repurchase simply because I already have so many lotions and potions lying around, and these didn't blow me away enough to justify buying full sized pots (both £13.50 each for 50ml) when I own so many already! I'm down to the last dregs in both of these tubes now and have found them both to be lovely to use with the day cream making a lovely lightweight base for make up and the night cream being a thicker and more intense nourishing cream that leaves you waking up with fresh and hydrated skin. I don't have a bad word to say about either of these, they just didn't stand out as anything extraordinary.

Beautiful Skin Eye Make-Up Remover (30ml) 

This costs £8.50 for a 100ml bottle and it won't be one that I'll be dashing off to buy again, even though it is really effective at removing eye make-up and I'm easily pleased by the way that it is separated within the bottle as two separate layers and needs to be shook to be activated, I am just not keen on the way that it is oil based and leaves the skin all around the eye with quite a heavy residue on them - it's an 'okay' product though.

A great idea for somebody who is maybe just getting into skin care, or someone who is new to the No7 brand and wants to try out a couple of new things, or even if you already love these products but want them in a miniature size so they're handy for travel! Unfortunately I cannot find this set anywhere on the Boots site anymore, but keep your eye out for it and if you're interested in skin care then I'd recommend grabbing one!

Monthly Favourites | December

 

Hello lovely ladies.

I always feel like I'm jumping in early when I do 'monthly favourites' but if I don't get it done now then I never will, and I like to highlight which products have stood out to me over the past few weeks and give them the praise that they deserve. This month contains 7 items and there appears to be a bit of a theme of 'mini' products or just generally small things (with the exception of the Clynol conditioning spray). It's a bit of mixed bag this one, varying from lips balms and hair oils, to an advent calendar! Read on to find out what I've been loving and why...

 

 

Ciate Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar

This advent calendar by Ciate was a birthday gift from my mum and has been one of the most exciting gifts I have ever received (it's the little things). This advent calendar has one mini bottle of Ciate nail varnish behind each of its 24 doors and has brightened up each of my mornings ever since the first day of December! If you follow me on Instagram (hannahripley1) you will see that I've posted a daily picture of the nail varnish which is behind each door, and it ranges from bright pinks to muted nudes, to bottles of caviar pearls, all the way to exclusive glitter shades. A nail varnish lovers dream!

 

 

Clynol Moisture Dream Conditioning Spray

Again, a present from my mum (she buys me great things!), but this one was a Christmas present last year and was unfortunately lost and forgotten about amongst the vast collection of hair products that I own and was sadly neglected. I came across this again when I was packing up for uni in September and it has been my go-to product while I'm away there ever since! It does basically what it says on the bottle and infuses a penetrative moisturising and nourishing solution into the hair in a handy 'spray-in' application to bring back a healthy bounce and shine. I apply this to wet hair and leave to dry naturally and I am left with soft, tangle free and frizz free locks.

 

 

L'Occitance Hand Cream

This was a freebie from Marie Claire magazine back in October and although I thought that the scent 'date bouquet' wouldn't be to my preference (it was the last one available), I actually really love it. The product is shea butter based and I already know that I will buy a bigger tube of this soon because it is not just 'one of the best', it is 'the best' hand cream that I have ever used. I can't get enough of it. It normally only needs to be applied once a day because it's just so intense and leaves not even a trace of residue on the skin after application. I know it's pricey, but it's worth every penny and I love it.

 

 

Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Night Cream

A sample sized product that I received in a She Said Beauty Box and has not left my bedside table ever since! I put this on every night before I go to sleep; it absorbs quick and the faint scent of rose is very calming. The cream is quite thick but it is very nourishing and I am starting to notice an overall improvement to the quality of my skin and this will be one of the products to thank for that! When I wake up my skin is a lot fresher, less dull and looks smooth and hydrated so I would highly consider purchasing the full size of this product once my sample has run out.

 

 

Clinique 'All About Eyes' Eye Cream

 I received this small pot of eye cream as part of the Clinique Bonus Time offer back in October, and although it's only a 7ml pot a little goes a long way and this is going to last me forever! It's really thick and nourishing and I apply this both night and day to help reduce puffiness and dark circles and it is one of the best eye creams that I have ever used. It instantly hydrates my under eye area and calms any puffiness of the skin and helps to fade away the purple tinge of the dark circles. It absorbs into the skin pretty quickly which makes it easy to apply concealor to the area soon after.

 

 

Macadamia Natural Healing Oil Treatment 

Being only a tiny 10ml bottle I expected this to disappear pretty quick, but it's still going strong and I'm only about 1/4 of the way through the bottle after 5 weeks of regular use. This is a lovely hair oil to use, it's quite light so I have to use a generous amount of my thick and frizz-prone hair, but it doesn't weigh it down or leave any residue, it just makes it smooth, sleek and shiny. I use it in all sorts of ways; pre-washing as a treatment, when damp and leaving to air dry, before blow drying, and a finishing product to smooth the hair after styling and it always leaves my hair in amazing condition with minimal flyaways and high shine without the grease.

 

 

Blistex Lip Massage Balm

This is something that is totally unique to me and I've never seen anything like it, and to be honest I didn't mean to pick it up, I just wanted the cheapest lip balm that was in Asda and this was only £1.19. I've not had it for long but I really enjoy using it as an alternative to regular lip balm that you just apply onto your lips, this you instead rub over your lips and the ridges on the rubber applicator massage it into your lips for extra absorption instead of it just sitting on the surface of the skin. As with all Blistex products it is really nourishing and moisturising, I just especially like this because it's something a little bit different.

 

 

So, that's what little old me has been loving this December.

 

Busy few days coming up, as is expected with the festive season, and I have a night out with the girls planned for tonight and also for tomorrow night, and then I have an anniversary night away with the boyfriend booked for the night after that, and then before we know what's hit us, it's Christmas Eve!

 

I've got one more post that I'd like to slip in before Christmas but if I end up being too busy to squeeze it in then I'll take this chance to wish you all the happiest of Christmases and hope you all enjoy yourselves and spend time with your loved ones!

 

Merry Christmas!

♥ 



SheSaid Beauty Box | November

When I received the October SheSaid Beauty Box a month ago I stropped, sulked, huffed and puffed about how downright shit it was. I'm not going to link you to the post I wrote on it because it's negative and Mondays are bad enough without you hearing me moan about something in the past. On Thursday last week that big old pink box landed up on my doorstep again and I opened it up completely not knowing what to expect as I purposely hadn't read any reviews already done on this box as I wanted to have my own open minded opinion on the contents.

 

I've been really unhappy with previous boxes and I can't just unsubscribe as I'm tied into a pre-paid 6 month subscription package so if I'm not satisfied all I can really do is have a little moan on Twitter then get on with life and hope for the best in the next month's box. So, with only slightly improved contents from October's box.. here is what was inside the November She Said Beauty Box:

Redken Smooth Lock Shampoo and Conditioner Full size 300ml and 200ml - £11.85 and £13.40

It was probably the Redken product that saved this box and made above average instead of awful. I've tried two Redken products before; one I loved and was really impressed by, the other massively fell short of expectations and I was disappointed, so this was the perfect opportunity to give the brand another chance and let me make my mind up on it because right now I'm on the fence whether or not their products are worth the money.

There's 10ml of product in each sachet and for me personally, that's just a little bit too much for one use and not quite enough for two so I just gave myself a very generous application and used it once. This duo claims to cleanse, refresh and nourish dry and unruly hair, which is pretty much what a lot of hair care sets say they will do. The shampoo didn't really do a lot for me but I was impressed with the conditioner and I'd say it left my hair in an above average state living up to it's promises of leaving my locks manageable, smooth and frizz free. It's definitely a higher price that what I would normally pay for a bottle of conditioner so although I enjoyed using it I will probably stick my high street brands for now!

 

So...? Brit Body Spray Full size 50ml - £1.99

 

I was sceptical at first, feeling cheated by SheSaid including such a cheap brand and cheap product into their box that brought memories flooding back of school days and all of the girls soaking themselves in So..? and Charlie body sprays at lunch times and after Sports class, but despite my hesitations with this body spray I do actually think that the scent is really nice. It is described as 'an edgy scent that has been created for the fashion forward and independent girls in mind' which isn't much of an accurate description in terms of what it actually smells like and of course scents are subject to individual preferences but I think this is alright. It's perfect handbag and travel size, and although being an aerosol can it's not as subtle as a little spritz of perfume of body mist to freshen up during the day it still does the job nicely and I've got nothing against this product.

 

Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Night Cream Full size 30ml - £14.95

 

Sorry but I literally cannot stop moaning in this post so I'll say my first good point now! Last months box contained two sachets of Biao rose night cream and I lapped it up, getting 3 applications from each of the sachets gave me enough of feel of it to decide that I really liked the product, and then this little 5ml tube of another rose night cream came along and again, I've been lapping it up and loving it. This Weleda one is aimed at anti-aging but it also an all round rejuvenating and smoothing night cream. It's right on my bedside table and I've applied it only four nights in a row so far but each morning my skin has been waking up looking better and better so I'm impressed! I'm not sure if it's this brand in particular I love, or just the general idea of rose night creams so I'm intruiged and I'm going to branch out and try a few more different ones to see.

 



 

Yardley Royal English Daisy EDT Full size 50ml and 125ml - £9.99 and £14.95

 

There's been a Yardley perfume sample in a previous box and I just thought it was 'okay' so didn't feel too pleased with seeing another one, but this one is a lot better and I think it's quite nice! I don't ever tend to really use perfume samples that I get though, they all just build up in a little collection and I'm thinking that I might start putting them to use so I'm wearing this one today.

 



 

'SSB Treat': Murrays Manicure Matchbook Nail Files Full size - £1.99

 

It's a little set of mini nail files.. I don't really know what I can say about these and I know I never would have bought them for myself. I might use them, but I probably won't. (Very messiliy painted nails alert in the picture though - haha!)

 

 

Makebelieve enhance Shimmer Lip Gloss Full size 15ml - £10.00

Since opening my box I've since seen other variations of November box and noticed that there was a highlighter available from the brand 'Makebelieve' which I definitely would have preferred, but oh well you can't win them all can you! This is reaaally pretty, I mean really pretty! It's just such a shame that I'm not a lip gloss person at all unfortunately I know that I would never wear this. I've not touched it yet and I intend to sell it because it's a beautiful looking product by a luxurious looking brand (albeit one I have never heard of) and I think that this Shimmer Lip Gloss would be better off with somebody who would use it than just sitting in my drawer untouched until I have a clear out and throw it away! I normally wouldn't bother but it's a full sized product that retails for £10.00 so I think it's worth selling. If anybody is interested in purchasing this from me for around £5 to include postage costs then please just leave me a comment below with a contact e-mail! If no ones interested I'll save it for a blog sale.
'Indulgent moisturising lip gloss for a luscious pout with a hint of shimmer. Apply to the lips for a natural looking enhanced pout or over your preferred lip colour'.


Just to be typical of my current attitude toward SheSaid Beauty I'm sorry to say that I'm going to end this post on a negative note (not sorry really, I'm entitled to an opinion). There's been a pretty weird couple of things appearing in boxes from SheSaid recently, for example, tooth paste, vitamin supplements and bag of crisps(?!) and although this month was all beauty related and all good stuff I do feel that it is getting repetative. I've only been subscribed for a couple of months (5, I think) and in that time I have already been sent a nail file before, so I wasn't interested in that again, I've been sent a Yardley perfume sample before, so again, not interested, I've sampled the brand Redken before, and last month's box include rose scented night cream which was received again this month (Biao last month, Weleda this month). Some of it isn't a big deal because I'm looking forward to giving Redken another shot, I like the Yardley perfume and the rose night cream.. but it's more the principle of it. I'm paying a fair lump of money per month to receive a box full of 'luxury beauty samples' to introduce me to new brands and new products but when I keep getting nail files and the same brands again and again, and similar products repeated then it kinda defeats the purpose. Another point is that a few boxes ago there was a Collection 2000 primer sent out which was also included in a variation of this month's box - thankfully I didn't receive that product in my box which was lucky because I hated it and haven't touched it, but how could any subscriber be interested in receiving the exact same product again?

 

So, c'mon She Said! Impress me again like you used to!

Throw some new brands in there; no more Yardley and Redken!

Throw in something original and a bit different too; no more rose night cream!

..and no vitamins or crisps either!

 

What did you think of November's box?

♥