Butter Up Your Body

Now this is a type of product I've never tried before, probably the closest thing I can compare it to is a moisturising shower cream, the product I'm talking about is the Lush King of Skin Body Butter. The very helpful lady in Lush described the use for this product perfectly, she said it was a moisturising bar that you use in the shower or bath so you can skip the step of moisturising your body after you wash, which I had a dubious raised eyebrow about. I also asked her what it is like for sensitive skin with eczema (which is my body skin type) and she assured me its all natural ingredients which should not irritate my skin, and as the King of Skin Body Butter did not have any harsh grains in it she said that this one would suit my skin.

Now I always moisturise my skin, especially my arms and legs and I usually use some type of liquid paraffin cream or gel that was recommended to me by the dermatologist because my eczema has come back in the last few years. But I always find that it is still has very dry patches towards the end of the day that I occasionally bother to top up with my moisturiser.

But since using this body butter in the shower I find I do still need to use my boring old liquid paraffin moisturiser but towards the end of the day my skin still feels hydrated, instead of skipping a step this product makes my body feel moisturised all day and it doesn't irritate my skin! Which I can see  it potentially being enough for those of you with normal skin to skip the moisturising your body which can be so time consuming!

What I do with it run it under the shower water and rub it gently all over my body, then have a quick rinse off and that's it! It does leave a film on your skin when you get out the shower but after towel drying it isn't that noticeable and it smells great too, a muted fragrance of the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula is as best I can describe it.

This Lush body butter is available on the Lush website or in Lush shops for £5.25 and you get 75g of product. They have a few body butters to choose from but looking in the shop at them they all seems to be very grainy apart from this one, so would also double up as an exfoliator. Have you tried any of the Lush body butters?

Soap & Glory Galore

 

What girl doesn't need all the Soap & Glory she can get and my latest Boots purchases definately satisfies this. With most of the beauty products on 3 for 2 at Boots lately I realised this could be very dangerous on the purse strings, but I managed to show some restraint and came away with only three products and these all happened to be Soap & Glory. I'm not sure what gravitated me to the Soap & Glory section, maybe its their funky retro packaging and amazing smell combinations, but once I was there I quickly found three products that I wanted.

The product that I actually knew I wanted from Soap & Glory was the Sugar Crush Body Scrub, I've heard great things about this scrub and I didn't have a body scrub on the go so I thought I'd give this one a try. The best thing about this product has to be the smell, sweet sugary goodness is how I can best describe it, but next time you're in a Boots just go have a sniff because it just smells so damn good! I have only used this product a few times so I won't comment too much on what I think of it as a scrub, but I will say that it is not a harsh in texture, which is something I need with sensitive skin. When you use it is doesn't feel like it might be ripping away layers of skin and the scrubby chunks in it are surrounded is a creamy gloop making it a pleasure to use, so far so good. 

The next product that caught my eye was the Arch de Triumph double ended brow pencil, before this I didn't own a brow pencil as I just used a brown eye shadow if I ever used anything through my brows which was on a rare occassion, but the double ended functionability of this just appealed to me. The downside is that it only comes in one colour but I have found it blends in with my brow colour which is a light brown but it wouldn't be suitable for someone with dark dark brown brows. The other end is a highlighter for your brow bone and for quick everyday makeup this is just a great little tool.

I had to hunt around a bit for the third product and wasn't quite sure what I wanted and for some unknown reason I went for the face mask, The Fab Pore, after reading the packaging I wasn't sure if this was right for me and I have the Aesop parsley seed mask on my wishlist as a clarifying mask, but I thought as it's essentailly the free item I'd try this one to see how my dry skin deals with it. And so far it's been alright, not the best mask ever and by what it says on the packaging describing it as a 'facial peel' you will be surprised as to what the product is actually like. It is thick, white and creamy with little blue dots that as you massage it onto your face burst, so not a peel at all! But I will report back after using this product for a few months as there isn't any instant effects to talk about and I have only used it twice.

Topshop Blush in Flush

I picked this up a few weeks ago whilst mooching around the shops. After being very impressed by my first purchase of a Topshop blush in Head Over Heels (post here) I thought I'd try Flush out.

They are both very different colours of blushes, as Flush is more of a pink based blush as opposed to the prominet coral tone in Head Over the Heels. When applied this blush gives a lovely rosiey flush to the cheeks (no pun intended!). The colour is stronger than Head Over Heels so you really don't need much of this product to get the desired effect, I would say a small dab of one finger on the apple of each cheek blended out with either a small brush like the Real Techniques contour brush or with your fingers.

For me Head Over Heels has been my go to blush for summer as its apricot coral tone works so well with the summer bronzed look, however summer is not longer with us and the weather has got gradually grimmer and my bronzer has been toned down, this is the blush that I have been reaching for in the last couple of weeks. The pink tone in this blush work well for autumn and as it gives that just been out in the cold glow to your face. It has everything I liked about thr previous Topshop blush I brought, a cream to powder formula which can take a while to get used to applying but now I have got the hang of it  I do love the finish the Topshop blushes leave on the cheeks , and as they are a cream they are long lasting too. I think I will be picking up a few of the other shades in the future as these blushes really are very good for their £6.00 price tag.

   

I have done a few comparison photos of Flush and Head Over Heels next to each other just so you can see how they differ in shade and intensity. Flush is on the left and Head Over Heels is on the right.

Have you tried any of the Topshop blushes? What do you think of them and their formula? 

La Roche-Posay Hydreane Riche

This post is a follow on from my recent post on my Liz Earle skincare (here), which mention the cleanser and toner I use and now I'd thought I'd share with you the moisturiser I having been loving at the moment.

I have very dry skin and a moisturiser is a key part in my skincare routine. I tend to go for the rich and hydrating mosturisers and have been battling for a while to find one that would prevent my skin looking so dry and flaky under my foundation, but I have managed to find one that I like and more importantly that works on keeping my dry skin looking  hydrated all day and it comes from La Roche-Posay. This brand is a french pharmacie brand but you can now get it in the UK quite easily from the likes of Boots and escentual.com, and I have to say I'm very impressed with this being first product I've tried from them!

This moisturiser has sorted out my flaky nightmare I was having with foundation especially on and around my nose. The problem wasn't solved instantly using this but now after using this everyday for a couple of months now and there are not more flakes and my foundation is looking more and more flawless everyday. I have worked out though that in the morning when I use this to moisturise, I cleanse and tone, and then when I'm ready to put my makeup on I moisturise with Hydreane Riche and let it half sink in and when it is still a bit tacky on my face I then apply my foundation quickly, and hey presto (almost) flawless foundation application compared with a couple of months ago! I also like that this product is suitable for sensitive skin as from time-to-time my skin is sensitive especially when trying out new skincare so this has been perfect for my skins dryness but as not agitated it in the slightest!

Whilst on holiday in the south of France I picked up a replacement as my current one is running low, but I went for the Extra Riche version mainly because this came with a free 50ml sample of the La Roche-Porsay Solution Micellaire and the riche one didn't, and I didn't think they would vary that much and in winter my skin turns dryer than it alreay is so I thought I'd give the Extra riche one a try, the only thing is I haven't seen the Extra Riche one availbale in the UK just the Riche one, so I better not like it more than the riche version!

Have you tried any of La Roche-Posay products? What do you think of them?

Manicure Monday: Autumn Colours

 

    

As we have dived head first into autumn and the jackets, coats and scarves are rediscovered from the back of my wardrobe, it is sadly the time to put away  the bright summery nail colours I have been loving for the past few months and time to wear more autumn colours. Here are my three nail colour picks for autumn...

• A brown toned nude, this is a great autumn colour that can work for everyone. If your not looking to make a bold statement with your nails and just something low key but still in-keeping with the autumn weather then a brown toned nude is the perfect option. Here I have gone for Nails Inc Basil Street one of their signature shades and is such a great nude that isn't too sheer but yet is very low key.

• A dark purple, what is autumn without plum purple colours! If you want to wear a dark nail then a dark purple is on trend for autumn and not as harsh as a dark red that is more for the winter months. A dark purple is a great bold choice for autumn and in my choice here I have gone bold and to the dark side! Not as in Star Wars but I have gone on the darker end of the spectrum for a dark purple, and it is Nails Inc Suffork Street which I think was a limited edition in a set that I got but there are plenty of similar dark purples out there!

• A dull red, this sums up autumn for me in a nail polish, not a dark red verging on black and not a full on bright red, but something in the middle, I think a dull red with a hint of coral works best here, but as I don't have one of these in my nail polish collection I have gone for just a dull red without the coral, but either are in my colour picks for autumn. This is the in middle colour of my three picks, not as safe as a nude neutral but not as bold as a dark purple, just for those who feel in-between the two of my other colour picks.

And whilst I was outside taking photos Toby cat decided he was interested and I snapped the last photo whilst he was being mischievous and climbing things!

What are you wearing on your nails this autumn? What do you think of my three autumn colour picks?