Dove Intensive Repair Leave-In Conditioning & Care Spray...

Hello again Beautifuls!

 



I'm back again with a quickie review for you of a recent discovery that I've just fallen in love with.  If you've been a follower of my blog for a while you'll probably notice that a haircare review is a little out of the norm for me.  But with the change of weather it's not just my skin that's suffering.  I've been browsing the aisle's for intensive treatments and masks but always turned away with nothing knowing that my hatred for thick gloopy hair masks teamed with my very fine easily weighed down hair couldn't really be catered for...That is until now...

 

Enter the Dove Hair Therapy Leave-in Conditioning and Care spray.  It's weightless and helps to prevent breakage and split ends which I'll admit I was in desperate need for.  The spray comes as a dual formula with a milky layer and a more transluscent layer which you shake to combine and then mist onto either towel dried, damp hair or dry hair.  I love the spray dispenser for this bottle as it gives a really even fine mist, you don't need much.  I have mid-back length hair and I feel 3-4 sprays is more than enough for my whole head.  I've been using this before blow drying as a bit of a heat protectant and on next day hair for shine and conditioning.  I haven't been using this long enough to know if it's actually doing anything amazing for my hair but since I've bought this my hair has looked a million times healthier and just generally in better condition. 

 

It's definitely is weightless but I do find that if you have really fine hair like mine you probably will have to wash your hair a day sooner than you normally would.  To be honest I really don't mind this.  I also think this Dove conditioner is great for coloured hair although they do have another version specifically for coloured hair as I recently went redhead and everytime I spray this in my hair it does genuinely make y colour look fresher, more vibrant and richer.  And just to top of the rave...It smells GORGEOUS! It's a scent that is defintely present when it's sprayed but not overpowering but lingers on the hair and I have been told it's quite an 'attractive hair smell' whatever that means! It's a little bit floral with fruity cocktail hints and would be great as a holiday essential I think. 

 

I picked this up in Boots for half the RRP at around £1.48 if I remember correctly which is an absolute steal! Go and get it! you won't be disappointed. I'm so tempted to pick up a few more while it's on offer just to stock up.

 

Apologies for not having proper pics guys, the weather has just been so pants and grey and what with it now getting dark at 5pm by the time I'm ready to sit down and blog my pictures all come out pants! :(

 

leave me your lovely comments and don't forget to subscribe and also let me know what you're using on your hair to save it from this horrible cold weather!

Until next time

Ciao for now World

xoxox

Nivea Lip Butters...

 

Hey there Beautiful people.  I know I've been absent for a while and I'd like to have a viable reason to give other than 'life got in the way' but it did.  Many a time I sat down to blog but felt it was forced and where's the fun in that?!  I'm back today with a quick review of something which instantly caught my eye in Superdrug the other day and had me thinking...'I'll have to blog about those later..'

 

It's the new Nivea Lip Butters.  They come in three different 'flavours' with 'Original' being the one I figured I could pass on but the two I have I'm in love with.  Caramel Cream smells like sugary vanilla cupcakes but not in a sickly sweet artificial way, whereas raspberry rose smells a bit zingyer, like raspberry sweets.  Both are solid in texture but melt to the touch and apply like a thick feeling butter on the lips.  They don't feel sticky or gloopy and I have a feeling these are going to be travelling everywhere with me as the weather turns much colder.  Now for £1.49 each they're not exactly going to work miracles but it does provide adequate moisture for a fair few hours and they smell and taste so yummy that I don't mind the re-application process one bit!

 

I feel like I should be doing a lot of talking and updating but there's not really much to say...I'm still waiting to start work which is annoying as I'm eager to get my hands dirty.  CRB check pending I should be on my way back to nursing the sick very soon, fingers crossed.  I'm also on the hunt for new skincare as usual.  I can't seem to get it set so I'm drinking gallons of water in the hopes that it'll clear itself up.  Any recommendations from you lovely lot would be much appreciated :D

 

Until Next Time

 

Ciao For Now World

 

xoxox

July/August Faves...

 

Hey there again Beautifuls! Yes this post is late but I'm getting this up today so help me God!!

 

I didn't get to do a July faves post so I'm combining my July and August faves and cheating a little bit...

Firstly I've been loving my Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner Water.  This smells like all lush products typically do and contains lots of lovely essential oils such as Rose Absolute, Patchouli Oil and Rosemary Oil which gives the skin a nice little perk up and leaves the skin feeling refreshed and hydrated.  It comes in a spritz bottle and the instructions claim you can spray this directly on to the skin however I feel it doesn't dispense in an even mist and you just end up looking overly sweaty that way so I spray onto a cotton pad and swipe over after cleansing.

Then I use my trusty Neals Yard Vitamin E and Avocado Night Cream.  This is great even for morning use as a little goes a very long way and it sinks in very quickly leaving the skin feeling comfortable.  This also contains lots of lovely essential oils such as Jojoba Seed oil, Geranium Flower oil and Lemon Peel oil which gives it a nice herbal sort of scent but also makes you feel it's immensely good for the skin.

As an SPF base for the skin and also a great moisturiser I've also been loving my Origins Vitazing moisturiser.  This has tiny beads of pigment which work to even the skintone and give a slight hint of colour, not much though.  I love using this before foundation as I tend to use it solely for it's moisturising and sun protective properties and not for its coverage.  I can however (on a good skin day) wear this alone and still feel I'm not totally in my own skin

On the eyes I've really been enjoying using my Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr Cream eyeshadow in the shade On and On Bronze.  This has been great as a base for shadow and I've pretty much been using this everyday with a shimmery champagne colour in the inner corner as a highlight and a deeper chocolatey shade to darken the crease and outer corner.  It really does give the shadow something to cling to and helps it last all day without creasing.

Recently I've dug out my Dior Skin Forever extreme wear flawless makeup foundation and decided to show it some love.  Initially I purchased this for special occasion use only but now that I've got my beady eyes on the new YSL Touche Eclat foundation I'm using this up in order to justify the splurge!  This really does live up to it's name...It leaves you with a flawless finish and amazing looking skin.  I would say this is a medium with slightly more coverage and feels like silk on the skin.  It has an SPF 25 so does give a little bit of flashback but I'm not usually bothered by that...I'm hardly going to be papped everywhere I go am I?!

To set the foundation I usually just use my Revlon Photoready powder.  This also gies coverage as well as setting so works great over a lighter foundation for that added bit of coverage and doesn't make me look overly done or too cakey which is pretty good for my dry skin. Thumbs up Revlon!

and finally on the cheeks I've been sporting a peachy shade with a glowy highlighter on top for that summery bronzed look.  Enter Fashionista's London blush with 17 Instant Glow Gold Bronze shimmer brick over the top.  Both products are highly pigmented, a little goes a long way especially with such a shimmery highlight but buffed and blended in properly and this looks great!

 

And there you have it folks, my faves for the past couple of months!  Hope you enjoyed that and hopefully the next one wont be too late. 

Until Next time Beauts

 

Ciao for now

xoxox

 



Empty products #1

My little box of empties...

Facial Skincare bits...

Hair Related bits and bobs...

General Creepy baby faced products...



Hello Beautifuls

Apologies if this post seems a bit rushed but I am well aware of my lack of blogging recently and my absolute backlog of things I need to blog about but I shall try my best I promise...

 

I've been collecting this little stash of empty bottles, jars and packets for quite some time now and thought...'it's about time you wrote that empties post and said adios to the unecessary clutter my friend'

 

So to give you a quick overview of the products and my thoughts on them I'll start with the face related products. 

* Neutrogena visibly clear pink grapefruit daily scrub - I liked this scrub, I found it gentle enough for my dry sensitive skin and the exfoliant (a very fine sugary consistency) was gentle enough for everyday use.  It didn't dry out the skin and didn't leave that tight after-feel that some cleansers can do.  It is scented with a light refreshing grapefruity citrus scent but it's not at all overpowering and I found it to actually be quite uplifting in the morning.

 

*Clinique liquid facial soap extra-mild - This is the one for very dry to dry skin which should cater for me perfectly but somehow it just doesnt.  I find it's too gentle if that's even possible of a cleanser but what I mean is it just doesnt cleanse. I do however LOVE the gel version of the liquid facial soap, I would even go as far as to say it's probably the best gel cleanser I've ever used to date... Big statement! This cream version though..no no no!

 

* Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser - do I really need to bang on about this any more..? I love it, It's brilliant, I'll always have a bottle of this in my bathroom cabinet and if that's not enough for you.. HERE's the link to my full review

 

* The Body Shop Aloe Gentle exfoliator for sensitive skin - I hated this! I'm sorry body shop but this product really didn't react well with my skin, it broke me out something horrible and left my skin red raw despite being marketed for sentive skin and when I returned it to the store to ask for a refund or atleast an exchange incase the product was faulty...the sales assistant refused to help and said I should just continue using it until it 'got better'.  Erm anybody else out there think I'm crazy in thinking this stuff isn't going anywhere near my face again...?! So yes technically this isn't an empty product but I'm quite happy to put it in the bin and never look back!

 

* St Ives Apricot scrub - This particular bottle is so old it's in the old packaging before it was reformulated.  Have to say I much prefer the new packaging and new formulations as they now have a sensitive version but I like using this once or twice a week for a bit more of an 'intense' exfoliation.  It doesn't break me out, always leaves my skin feeling clean and fresh and is one of those products I know I can always rely on to do the job!

 

* The body shop Nutriganics foaming facial wash - This is designed to help combat the first signs of aging.  I'm not sure if I actually saw any anti-aging effects whilst using this however it is only and little 50ml bottle so who knows if it may have done with long term use.  To be honest I only got this because The Body Shop had a 3 for 2 offer on all their smaller products and this was my impulse free product...it cleansed fairly well, the foam was gentle and left my skin comfortable.  It has a bit of a natural light organic scent which was quite pleasant to use actually...

 

Hair related products...

* Rituals Sumo Force strengthening shampoo with Bamboo and Ginseng - I remember buying this a long time ago in the hopes that the strengthening vitamin and mineral formula would magically transform my thin fine hair into wonderfully voluminous thick locks but obviously that's not what they meant... What this shampoo claims to do is provide your hair with a little added boost of nourishment to help strengthen the roots and give your hair the leg up it needs.  Does it do that? I didn't think so until this bottle finished and now I'm missing it quite a bit and so is my hair, I just hope they havent discontinued this or I will be sad :(

 

* Alpecin double effect Shampoo for hair loss - To go hand in hand with my Rituals Sumo force I've also been using this caffeine based shampoo to help stimulate the growth of hair at the roots.  Yes I really want those long luscious locks and to be honest this shampoo works wonders.  I'd recommend this to anybody who is suffering with hair loss at the moment as you will notice a difference in the amount of hair you lose and the general strength of your hair.  I wouldn't say I lose more hair than the average person but because I have very fine thin hair I'd like to keep as much of it as possible for as long as possible and this is doing a brilliant job of helping me on my quest :D A word of warning though, it has a very strong scent which in the beginning gave me headaches like no other but the results were worth it and no I don't even notice the horrendous smell :D

 

* Batiste Tropical dry shampoo - This is the mini purse size can.  It smells to me a bit coconutty with a hint of pineapple..? anyody else agree? This does an average job of refreshing the hair and gives you another day without washing but then leaves you with greasy gritty hair the next day which needs to be washed asap!

 

And finally the misc odd bits...

 

* Johnson's baby Skincare Wipes - I generally keep a pack of baby wipes hanging around (I always feel baby wipes are somehow gentler because they're targeted towards baby's sensitive skin..?) just to freshen up the hands and face or for makeup cleanups and mishaps while applying and tend to go through them quite a bit.  There's not really much I can say about these except, they were fine, they have that 'baby product' smell, they did the job and the baby on the front of the pack is really creepy!

 

* Dermatological E45 Cream - I always have a tub or tube of this lying around and I think I always will, It's great for any dry patches on the hands, face or body and is specially formulated for dry skin conditions such as eczema and dermatitis.  It workes wonders on my dry sensitive skin and with winter fast approaching again..I'm keeping well stocked up on my E45 friend :D

 

Wow that was a long post, and now folks I'm off to do some serious recycling! Joy!

 

Until Next Time

Ciao For Now World

xoxox

 

Neal's Yard Remedies Skincare...

Hey there Beautifuls,

I apologise for the slight absence from the blogging world but yet again life has just gotten in the way a bit...you know how it is...work, sleep, more work, It's been tough (poor me!)

I recently instagram'ed ( esjaym for those that would like to add me, I am however a private user so I will have to approve) a pic of some skincare I was contemplating on a shopping trip and this is what I ended up picking up on my travels...

I've been using the Vitamin E and Avocado Night Cream every night for about a week now which isn't really long enough to give an in depth and full on review but so far...I'm loving it.  It glides on the skin and feels really rich and silky but sinks into the skin really quickly and doesn't leave the skin feeling greasy or oily.  It's really soothing for dry sensitive skin but claims to be aimed at all skin types.  This jar contains 50g and I got this on sale for £10 however RRP is £24 I think so a bit of a bargain there.

The Power Berry Facial mask was a bit of a spur of the moment thing but again, from the few times I've used it I'm impressed.  Again it's very soothing on the skin but has a sticky, tacky texture which is quite weird when slathering on the face.  It has tiny berry seeds which act as a very gentle exfoliator which my sensitive skin enjoys thoroughly.  When applying it should be on a dry face which feels really sticky and gooey and frankly a bit weird but that's ok, we all like a bit of weird if it's good for our skin right? However when washing off the water turns the product milky and really silky feeling on the skin and washes off like a dream leaving radiant, clean, fresh skin which doesn't feel at all tight.  This little jar is priced at £10 normally but again I picked this up in the sale for half price.  I've used this 3 times so far and have used about a third of the jar so I'd estimate a good 9-10 uses of this as you only need a thin layer.

I hope these little reviews were helpful for you.  I'm very fond of Neal's Yard skincare, they smell gorgeous and luxurious and feel really beneficial for the skin.  Has anyone tried anything from Neal's Yard? Any recommendations?

Until Next Time

Ciao for now
xoxox

Review...Boots No7 Essential Moisture Day Fluid...

Hey there Beautifuls

Another post for you and yes it is skincare related...

I'm a little bit skincare obsessed at the moment but have I found my 'can't live without holy grail absolute must skincare routine' yet...?

Sadly not

But here's another product I've enjoyed trying on my travels...

It's the Boots No7 Essential Moisture Day Fluid for Normal/Dry Skin

'Conditions and cares for radiant skin every day'

Blurb on the back:
'Nourish your skin every day with this gently caring, fragrance-free moisture lotion.  Light and easily absorbed, it glides on leaving skin soft, supple and smooth.  With soothing elderflower and caring vitamins E and F.'
'A little facial everyday...After cleansing and toning, massage over your face and neck.'

Well, that's not a facial I would pay for... But I have to say, the product is everything it says on the blurb.  Lightweight and easily absorbed yet still provides enough moisture even for my dry skin.  You get 100ml of product which is rather generous and is RRP'd at £10.00 which is do-able I guess but obviously I picked this up last month when those little £5 voucher gems were flying about.  So with £5 off it makes this product then totally worth the money and 100ml will last you a fair while.  I've been using this everyday for about a month now and have barely used 1/6 of the product yet.  It comes with a pump dispenser which is handy, hygienic, and one pump does my whole face. :D

I hope this review was useful for you and I thought I'd get it up seeing as I've been a bit naughty and bought some new skincare bits today...My reasoning behind it...? I needed cheering up and so did my skin! :D  Obviously pictures and reviews will be up once I've tried and tested but it is a brand I know and love and I'm pretty sure I'll love them.  It also helps that the lovely sales assistant was so helpful and threw in a few samples!

In other news...I have a twitter account...The link and feed is at the top of this page so please feel free to follow along and tweet me...I love getting messages from you gorgeous girlies!
Also I have Instagram...Now...I've had instagram since I've had my Iphone which is nearly two years now...I had it when nobody else did! haha but now everybody has it and loves it, I suppose I can tell you about mine...My account is set to private, because I want it that way and I will approve beauty blogger followers that want to follow I've just never really been public with my photos and it's taken a lot of courage for me to finally say...sod the world and their opinions, if you don't like me or think I'm ugly well...click unfollow and don't look at me! haha anyway my Instagram username is: esjaym for those that have Instagram and would like to follow...

And that's all for now folks...

Ciao for now World

xoxox

Review...Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains

Hey There Beautifuls,

Left: 001 Honey Right: 005 Crush

I'm Going to jump on the Kissable balm stain bandwagon and I come bearing crappy Iphone pics n all! Yay! :D

I was browsing through superdrug oblivious to the release of these and spotted them...I have to say I stood a little dumbfounded for a minute and I was good and walked away (only to rush back the next day and buy the above shades...)

Yes I have no restraint or self control...

I have to say I'm really impressed with these, they have a minty smell which I like, and obviously the packaging is comparable to that of the infamous Clinique Chubby sticks.  They're currently on offer in both Boots and Superdrug for £5.99 which is an introductory offer (RRP will be £7.99)

The consistency is quite balmy to begin with but then turns a little bit waxy but the colour pay off is pretty good and wear-time is approx 4-6 hours before you need to reapply with eating and drinking which I can live with and I haven't experienced that 'drying-settle-in-the-lines' feeling which gives them a big thumbs up for me! :D

I initially wanted to pick up the Orange shade but I thought I'd step out of my comfort zone a little bit with these and I've not regretted it yet.

Have any of you tried the Kissable Balm Stains and if so what are your thoughts?

Until Next Time

Ciao For Now Beautifuls!

xoxox