Caudalie Winter Rescue Duo Review

Recently I purchased the Caudalie Winter Rescue Duo in preparation for the harsh winter weather. As soon as the crisp, cold mornings set in I suffer uber chapped lips. My skin also takes a battering, especially my hands which,  after being washed a zillion times a day in work, can be chapped and dry to the point of soreness some days. Frown.

 

This little Duo contains a full size Lip Conditioner and a 30ml Hand and Nail cream.

The Lip Conditioner has a subtle vanilla flavour, and is the most amazing product for dry/chapped lips that I have ever used. I applied it before bed and in the morning my lips were miraculously repaired. This effect lasted all day without the need for re-applying anymore product whatsoever. A definite winner!

The Hand and Nail Cream has a very subtle white grape and Shea butter scent. It applies easily, absorbs quickly and leaves hands feeling nicely moisturised. I wouldn't say it is as groundbreaking as the Lip conditioner, but it is a lovely little product that I would most probably purchase again.

The Duo retails at £7.20 (inclusive of postage) at feelunique, which I think is an absolute steal. I think that it would be ideal as a secret Santa gift or make for a great little stocking filler!!

Are you thinking of giving these products a try?

Claire

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Saturday Afternoon Post :-)

Don't you just love it when a courier knocks the door with a parcel of goodies on a Saturday Afternoon? I LOVE feelunique.com

Goldwell DualSenses Rich Repair 60 Sec Treatment 200ml - I ha vent had my hair cut in a salon for just over a year. As awful as this sounds, I have now finally got the length of hair that it had taken me about 10 years to try and grow. despite this neglect, I wouldn't say my hair is in really bad condition, but it does need a treatment every now and again as the ends are quite dry. I had recently heard a review of this product on Youtube by Ruth of A Model Recommends, and for £8.45 I thought I would give it a go. It has that intense, salon-product scent to it, and promises a visibly enhanced healthy shine and smooth, silky hair in 60 seconds. Sounds great! I cant wait to try this out!

Caudalie Winter Rescue Duo - Admittedly, this was an impulse buy. As I have said before, I am always wanting to try out new hand creams, as my hands become dry and sore through washing them a zillion times a day in work, and the winter weather only adds to this. With ingredients like avocado, Shea butter & grape-seed oil, I have high hopes for this product. I am also suffering the worst dry lips ever at the moments, and am hoping that the vanilla lip conditioner is going to work some magic on them. This set cost £7.20, which was a bargain I thought :-)

Caudalie Peach Shower Gel - This was another impulse buy, especially as I didn't realise that Caudalie produce bath & shower products. I thought it was only facial skincare! This shower gel smells exactly how you would expect, is soap-free and claims to be non-irritating. I have sooo many shower gels, but I don't mind adding this one to my vast collection as I seem to be getting through them all quite quickly. At £8.10 for 200mls, it is quite reasonably priced.

Have you ordered anything from feelunique lately?

Claire

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April Glossybox is here!!!

Well, my April Glossybox arrived about an hour ago, and at first I was confused as to whether it was a Glossybox at all because it arrived in a plain outer brown cardboard box rather than the normal Glossybox print packaging. On opening the outer box, all sort of became revealed I suppose as the inner box as such is made of a very natural feeling neutral coloured cardboard, suggesting that there were organic products inside. Am I the only one disappointed with this? I just feel that after sooooo many different boxes, the novelty has well and truly worn off for me. Bring back the pink I say!!

Anyway, once past this little issue, I was pleased as punch with the products inside!!

First up, Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum. I had already purchased the Caudalie spray on a recent trip to Paris and know just how high end this brand is. All Caudalie products are paraben free, and contain only preservatives used by organic brands in their products. The Vinosource Serum should be applied morning and evening to face and neck before moisturising as normal to ensure that skin never lacks moisture. I tested a small amount on the back of my hand, and it has a light scent to it, rubs in easily, and a little goes a long way. As I am always on the lookout for any skincare products to keep my skin looking healthy and on the younger side of thirty, this is a product that I am really excited about!

I also had a full size Inika certified organic eyeliner, which retails at £11.75. I have never come across this brand before, but Inika is a luxury natural cosmetics brand. I am always up for trying new products, and I especially like that I have received shade 10 Green Lagoon, as normally I tend to stick to smoky greys/browns. It is a very subtle metallic green colour, and as I have dark auburn hair and hazel eyes, this colour will be great for me.

The Monuspa professional skincare enriched body cream is described as a rich, indulgent cream to comfort and nourish the skin. Monu is another organic brand, and none of their products contain damaging chemicals, artificial perfumes or synthetic colours. They are also against animal testing - BIG thumbs up! This is a 30ml sample, and full size 200ml retails at £23.00. Consistency wise, I would describe it as being on the thicker side of a lotion more than a cream, but it has a really lovely, relaxing scent and I will definately be using this product.

The Figs & Rouge peppermint & tea tree lip balm is another organic product in this months box. It is full size, and retails at £3.29 for 8ml. It comes in the cutest little tin, and smells really good. The only downside is that it doesnt taste too great.

And the last product I received was a 15ml trial size of the Philip B drop dead straightening balm. It is heat activated, and wont work unless hair is dried with a hairdryer. This doesnt have the greatest of scents, but it is a botanical product containing matricara & althaea extracts that promise tangle-free hair with a sleek finish. Lets hope it does what it says on the tin (tube even!)

So thats it for my April Glossybox guys, what products did you get?

Claire

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Parisian purchases... Ooh La La ;-)

I have recently returned from a trip to Paris with my sister and my beautiful baby girl. Aside from all of the obvious sightseeing, and enough museum trips to make my old art teachers proud, we were on the hunt for some beauty products.

My sister and I are regular watchers of beauty videos on Youtube and, because of all the hype around it, the one store that we were desperate to head to was Sephora, which is a haven for make-up addicts. Normally, shopping abroad implies bargains galore as prices in Britain can be very expensive when compared to those in the USA for example. However, with the exchange rate of the pound to the euro not being so great at the moment, the prices of most make-up and beauty products weren't great value for money at all. If anything, most items worked out around five pounds more expensive per product!! So, I decided to purchase items that I aren't available within the UK - and this left only one brand really, and that is Sephora's own.

We visited two separate Sephora stores, with the biggest being on the Champs Elysees. I purchased a variety of products, most of which I will be doing individual reviews on once I have had a chance to use them. I bought two body washes, one Toffee scented, and the other Lemon scented, and also some of their fizzing bath cubes. I was very impressed with the scents in the shop, so hopefully they will live up to my expectations. I also purchased some of their triple action cleansing water to remove make-up because I had been able to test this in the shop and was really pleased with the result.

Sephora Nail Polish - Midnight Crawl shade 69

I bought their highlighting compact powder in Rose Pink, two eye shadows in no.14 Marie and no.13 Peach Beige as they complimented each other well and swatched nicely too. I got a lip colour in S15 Fun Coral, as coral seems to be popular at the moment, and it is known for suiting most skin tones. I purchased two nail polishes; Moody Blue shade 67 which is a blue shimmer, and Midnight Crawl shade 69 - this is a great duplicate of the Chanel Peridot polish.

I also purchased two of their make-up brushes: No. 22 All over shadow, and No. 13 Rounded Crease. They are really soft, and seem to be of good quality - they have had no hair loss so far anyway!! My sister bought one of their large blusher brushes, and she is really happy with it too.

Sephora are renowned for giving away great freebies with purchases, and I was lucky enough to get a mini Chanel inimitable mascara and also a mini of Dolce & Gabanna's 'the one' eau de parfum, which are both really lovely little extras :-D

Also on the Champs Elysees was a store called Yves Rocher. I had never heard of this brand before, but a quick visit to their website since has taught me that they are firm believers in botanical beauty. I purchased a variety of products, including Micellar Cleansing Water, Shower Gel, Body Scrub, Body Balm, Lip Balm and Fizzy bath cubes. All of the items that I purchased were travel/mini sizes, which is always great when you are trying new products. They smell so great, and I cant wait to road test them!! The downside is, if I do end up really loving them, they are not freely available to buy in the UK. They are available for internet order though, and the reviews that I have read about their products so far indicate that they are all purchases well made.

I also bought two MAC goodies at the Galleries Lafayette - their Fix + finishing spray for make-up and also one of their Tendertones in Hush Hush, which is a really lovely sheer gold lip balm with a pretty gold shimmer. I did pay a little over the odds for the Tendertone at 15 euros, but I realise how lucky I am to get my hands on them at all, as they are completely sold out online.

Even though I know that they are widely available in the UK, I made a few purchases in the Body Shop. I fell in love with the gorgeous scents of their Choccomania Lip Butter and the Satsuma Shimmer Born Lippy Lip Balm. I don't normally associate the Body Shop with cosmetics as much as bath and shower products, but I perused their make-up collection and ended up purchasing one of their new Colourglide Shine Lip Colours in 02 Shell Pink. Apparently, so the sales assistant informed me, this new range of lippies contain marula oil, making them much more moisturising that their other lip products. This is a winner for me, as I suffer with really dry lips - lets just hope it keeps its promise! At the moment, their range is limited as they only have six shades available. I also bought some satsuma hand cleanse gel. Although this is not the most exciting product, I loved that it makes your hands smell strongly of satsuma rather than the non-descript smell of plain alcohol gel - definately a winner in my books!!

Oh, and just to let you know, the Body Shop have a massive 50% off all of their body butters at the moment - so head on over to their website and take a peek!!

A few weeks back, I read an article in one of my mother's magazines (I think it may have been Bella?!) stating that Victoria Beckham is a massive fan of Caudalie Beauty Elixir, and uses it on top of he make up to ensure a glowing complexion. Since then, I have seen this product being talked about everywhere, and it has also featured in Bazaar Beauty's Hot 100 for 2012

Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml & Free Novexpert expert Anti-Aging Eye Contour sample

This product has also been favoured by Queen Isabelle of Hungary, describing it as 'the elixir of youth'. It is said to improve skin by smoothing, tightening pores and providing a burst of radiance, but all this comes for a pretty penny. A 30ml bottle set me back around 11 euros ( but is available at feelunique.com for £9.35 delivered). Will it work? We shall see!

I also made two high-end product purchases at the Airport Duty Free. I have never tried any Shiseido products before, but their 3 step skincare set caught my eye. It is specifically for skin that requires moisturising, and contains Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam, Hydro-Nourishing Softener Lotion, and Day Moisture Protection. It set me back around 40 euros, so hopefully it will prove as money well spent, especially considering 95% of people have said to have seen significant improvement to their skins smoothness when using all three products for 1 month.

And last but by no means least, Dior Extase Mascara. This is a total splurge for me, and a complete gamble as I hadn't read any reviews about this product before purchasing it. My mascara of choice has always been Clinique's High Impact Mascara, and it is one that I have always reverted back to. But maybe Dior will give it a run for its money?!

So that's it... Hopefully this little lot will keep me going for a while!!

Have you tried any of the products listed here? What were your experiences?

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