Haul: What I had for Christmas...

Hey everyone,

Well, it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to point out that this is a waaayyyy overdue blog post. Nevertheless, the recent snowy weather has made me feel a little festive, and as I had some really lovely gifts for Christmas I thought that I would share them with you...

This is obviously the You beauty advent calendar in collaboration with She Said Beauty, and I am quite aware that it is a strange item to receive as a gift for Christmas in view of that fact that it is supposed to be opened in the run up to the big day. However, the full price of this product was around £60 which (even though it is said to contain over £200 worth of products) I felt was a little pricey for an advent calendar. Mid-way through December I received an email notifying me that this had now been reduced to half the price, and the addict in me snapped it up (on behalf of my mother, who then wrapped it up to be opened on Christmas Day). Anyhow, now that you know the story behind it, I will just say that I am really pleased to have got my sticky mitts on this item, and am even more pleased that I got it for half the price as there are a few items that don't really tickle my pickle - like the fousty AS London candle! I would definately suggest holding out next year (if you can) and buy this product at half the price. Having said that, I am gutted that I missed out on the Ciate advent calendar, and would pre-order one now for this coming Christmas if I could!

One item that has been on my wish list for the longest time is the Ginger Burst Body Wash from Origins. I am in love with the Origins brand, and am yet to find an Origins product that I dislike. This little set is another gift from my lovely mother, and is the 'Ginger to go & stay' set, which includes a full and travel size product of the Incredible Spreadable Ginger Body Scrub,Ginger Burst Savoury Body Wash and the Ginger Souffle Whipped Body Cream. The clear toiletry bag was also include in the set, and as with all online Origins purchases, I received a bag of generously sized samples. All products in the gift set smell divine, and I cant wait to give them a whirl!

Another brand that has never yet let me down is Laura Mercier, and this gift set containing four mini hand creams is another gift from my mother. I have said a million times that, as part of my job, hand washing is essential. As a result, a good hand cream is also essential and these little beauties are the ideal size to keep in my pocket whilst I am busy at work. They all smell amazing, and I am sure that they will live up to my expectations.

Back in November, I went on an overnight trip to London with my family. I visited Liberty for the first time and my mother (again) bought me one of the much-raved-about Diptique candles. It was a tough choice, but I opted for the Patchouli scent, which smells quite musky with floral undertones. The Diptique products are a little on the pricey side, which is why I purchased one of the 'minis' - these still cost £20 for a 70g candle. My theory behind this is that I could see if they really are as amazing as everyone says without wanting to kick myself for spending an extortionate amount on a candle if they're not. I haven't tried it out yet though!

This lovely Burt's Bees gift set is from my sister. Hand creams/treatments, lip products and foot creams are always welcomed by me, so this was a lovely set to receive. I have only tried two Burt's bees products before, and was really impressed. I will definately keep you posted on my thoughts of these little beauties.

More hand cream! It appears that my family know how much I love the stuff!! I love any product that is Almond fragranced, and every item in this set floats my boat. I haven't tried any of these particular Body Shop products before though, so I am excited to try them out :-)

My auntie bought me this Small Wonders Soap & Glory gift set. All products are smaller versions of their full size, and would come in handy for travelling. I am really looking forward to trying out the body scrub and body butter, as I have heard great things about them.

And finally.... No Christmas would be complete for me if I didn't receive a large bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel from Lush. It is by far my most favourite of all the Lush shower products (I would go so far as to say my most favourite ever shower product), and lasts me ages. I also received the Christmas party gift set which contains a 100g Northern Lights Soap and a Party Popper Bath Ballistic. Both of these products aren't ones that I would have chosen myself, but that's not to say that I don't like them. Sometimes it is good to receive items like this, as you are introduced to new products that can rapidly become a favourite. They both smell amazing, and I will definately be putting them to use!

So that's it for my Christmas Beauty Gift haul - I hope that you like everything and wont hold it against me too much that most of these sets probably wont be available to purchase again for another 10 months :-(

Claire

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Empties Sept/Oct 2012

Timotei Pure Shampoo & Conditioner (Normal/Greasy Hair)

The Timotei Pure range are new(ish) hair care products that are free from parabens, colourants and silicone's. This particular shampoo & conditioner is infused with green tea, and has a light, fresh scent that really stays after the hair is dried. The shampoo lathers well, and the conditioner is lightweight but rinses well and leaves the hair feeling de-tangled, glossy and in great condition. I also found that I didn't really need to use a dry shampoo the day after washing my hair as it wasn't as 'greasy' as it normally can be. So, a big thumbs up for this combo!!

Original Source Cranberry Daily Scrub

For use simply as an everyday scrub, I wouldn't say that this is the best product on the market as the grains are few and far between, so I popped a little on a shower pouff and used as a simple shower wash instead. Not exactly how it is advertised for use, but it worked well all the same and I didn't feel like I had wasted my money. On a positive note, it smells deliciously sweet, lathers well, and left my skin feeling soft. It was a great bargain for a pound.

Aussie Take The Heat Leave in Spray

I have used this product after every hair wash over that past six months or so. It combs through the hair well, and it has moderately helped to protect my hair. It smells good too. Would I purchase this product again? Hmm... its good but it is not the greatest heat protectant spray available, so more than likely I wouldn't.

Boots Extracts Almond Body Scrub

I loved the smell of this product, and it left my skin feeling great. Although it does say it is a gentle exfoliating scrub, it just didn't have enough 'scrub' to it for me, and for a cost of £7.95 for 400ml I think there are better products out there.

Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Butter

I am a big fan of any of the Body Shop Body Butters, and this particular one is no exception. Made with Community Trade cocoa butter, it did a great job of moisturising my dry skin. All of the Body Butters are a bit on the pricey side, but they always smell great, apply easily, and dry quickly. This little 50ml size is also ideal for travel, as the larger size butters are quite bulky. 

Origins A Perfect World Moisturiser

This little tube was good for a weeks worth of testing, and I have to say that I was really impressed with it. Aside from the smell, which I wasn't overly keen on, my skin felt really soft and moisturised after using this product. It provided a great base for my foundation, allowing it to blend easily. A full size 50ml jar is £33.00, and I think it is a product worth splashing out on.

Flora by Gucci

I love almost all of the Gucci fragrances, and this one is by far one of my favourite scents of all time. As the name suggests, this perfume has a light, floral scent, but without being too sickly-sweet. I would repurchase it again and again, and am really unhappy that this bottle is empty :-(

L'Occitane Precious Night Cream

Oh, how I am falling in love with the L'Occitane range. This particular product claims to reinforce regeneration of the skin, visibly correct deep wrinkles and improve skin firmness. It works overnight, and is just such an amazing product. The smell is a bit iffy, but it is such a rich, indulgent moisturiser that I wouldn't hesitate to spend £49 on a 50ml jar. I don't know how well it would work on deep wrinkles, but my skin absolutely loved it.

L'Occitane Rose 4 Reines Body Milk

As body moisturisers go, a body milk is not something I would have ever considered purchasing. This was before trying out this generous sample. It is enriched with grape seed, and I applied it to my legs, tummy and arms after having a bath. My skin not only smelled amazing, but was left feeling super soft and more than adequately moisturised. I have to say that I was quite shocked after using this product, as I didn't expect any body milk to be this good - they always just seemed too watery in consistency to do any worthwhile moisturising. It has super fast absorption, and the scent is one of a beautiful vintage rose product that your gran would be proud of. A full 250ml bottle retails at £18.50.

L'Occitane Repairing Shampoo & Conditioner

These are products formulated with a natural origin vegetable complex of 5 essential oils. The shampoo aids repair of dry, damaged, colour-treated or chemically-treated hair. The conditioner strengthens, regenerates, nourishes and helps to restore capillary fibres. It also claims to detangle, soften and add lustre to hair. I loved both of these products. After use, my hair felt thicker, glossier and healthier, and in much better condition that it had done for a long time. The shampoo is £14 for 300mls, and the conditioner is £14 for 250mls - not exactly a bargain, but I guess sometimes you get what you pay for. And I would definitely purchase these at full price.

 

I hope you like my empties - what products have you used up lately?

 

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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