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Review: Vaseline Cocoa Butter Vitalising Gel Body Oil

This product is one of my absolute favourites. I honestly don’t know what I’d without this beauty. I’m a big lover of body oils, and this gets a gold medal every time.

I’ve got really dry skin and it’s so difficult to find a product that moisturises properly, and lasts all day. When I was younger my mum used to say that I had rhino skin, because I’d turn a horrible shade of grey if we hadn’t used enough cream.

An oil/gel hybrid, Vaseline Cocoa Butter Vitalising Gel Body Oil – what a mouthful, eh? – Leaves my skin moisturised, silky smooth, and extremely shiny from the time I leave the house until I’m getting ready for bed at night. Even after those horrible 14hr shifts!

The smell is lovely, however I would prefer it if it was a little stronger as I find it’s a little too ‘delicate’. It reminds me of being on holiday though, so that’s not a bad thing!

For me it’s a summer time essential – bare those legs without shame! – and even during the winter months where skin can become particularly dry, this product is always in use. I love it so much I keep it next to my bed.

It’s great for locking in moisture and making your skin glow, so definitely ideal for locking in your tan whether it’s natural or from a bottle ;)

A 200ml bottle lasts me about 3-4weeks, which I think it quite good considering I apply it very liberally over my skin everyday.

If you’re not a big fan of oils then mix it with your favourite lotion, or apply it sparingly.

This product retails at about £5 in most places, but I often check for it when I’m doing a food shop and pick up a couple when it’s on offer for £3. Bargain.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Have you tried this before? What are your thoughts?

Labels: body oil, moisturiser, vaseline

DIY Mineral Nail Varnish: BM Beauty in 'Her Majesty'

Picture heavy post!

Last month LuxBox released their first beauty box – blogged here – and whilst I was pleasantly surprised there was item that had popped up in a previous GlossyBox that I really didn’t like.

In theory the BM Eyeshadows are right up my street; they’re mineral based and I love mineral makeup. However, it wasn’t the product itself I had the issue with. The issue was with the colours.

‘Wolf Howl’ and ‘Her Majesty’ respectively, are very glorified names for a garish purple and a very bright pink. I honestly take my virtual hat off to anyone who can pull these colours off, but as a girl who shies away from shadows anyway, these weren’t for me.

Beauty Box Swappers was flooded with these up for swaps, with not many takers so I knew swapping wasn’t an option.

Source

Que brainwave.

I’d heard of some people grinding up their broken shadows and blushes and using them as pigments for nail varnishes, so my loose, garish purple and bright pink were perfect.

Here’s how I did it:

I used an MUA clear nail varnish; at just £1 it’s a complete steal for stuff like this.

SO.

I laid down some paper over the dining table, loose powders can be very messy and I didn’t fancy a new pink table!

I made a little funnel out of a small piece of paper and some sellotape, stuck it in the top of the varnish and tapped the shadow in.

I added about a quarter of the pot, removed the funnel and put the brush back in. Looks like a mini nuclear disaster. (Yes, I’m a geek)

I shook it for about 30 seconds, let it rest for 10 seconds and then shook it again just to make sure that all of the lumps were gone.

This is the swatch after it was mixed in, but I wanted it slightly more pigmented so I repeated the steps again.

Darker swatch.

My new ‘Her Majesty’ nail varnish :) and a whole heap of mess.

Really pleased with how it turned out, the pictures don’t show it well but it’s a very shimmery, golden pink.

I did this with ‘Wolf Howl’ too, but found that the shadow settles quite quickly. If you’ve got some small ball bearings around the house then they’d be perfect to drop in to help you revive the polish when you shake it back together.

Don't limit yourself to loose powders, you can crush pressed powders to use in DIY nail varnishes.

Have you got any powders you’ll be trying this with? Links if you do please :)

Labels: diy, lux box, mineral, mua, nail varnish, nails

Review: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - Or Cleanse and Rash?

I’ve been putting this review off for a long time, (a) because I wanted the size effects of this product to completely disappear first, and (b), I’m about to give a ‘cult classic’ a negative review.

Not so long ago Red Magazine was offering a wonderful freebie, which I’m sure boosted their sales no end. It was a 30ml tube of Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish with a muslin cloth, worth a sweet £5.90.

I’ll spare you the running commentary on what it does and ‘what they say' because you’ve probably heard it all before.

Anyway.

I bought the magazine and honestly completely forgot about it so it was a while before I used it. This was complete fete as I was attending a wedding a little while after I got it, and if I’d been using the C&P I would have been completely mortified.

As much as I complain about my skin, the occasional whitehead/s, and not to mention the blemishes, I know that I’m really lucky. My skin is so resilient, and while certain products do break me out I can get away with quite a lot. At least I could until the dreaded Cleanse & Polish came along …

The first day I used the cleanser I immediately fell in love. I was worried that I’d have the same issues that I had with the Decleor Aroma Cleansing Mousse – blogged here – but it was honestly much better. All of my makeup was removed and my face felt really soft and smooth afterwards.

A few days later, and thankfully after the family wedding, I noticed some bumps above my top lip. I didn’t think anything of it as I thought it might have been heat rash – not that it had even been hot... That evening I did one of my trusted Sudocrem Face Masks, but when I woke up in the morning nothing had changed. As the days went by I started using less products on my face, as I was unsure what was causing the rash – however, C&P stayed firmly in my repertoire! If only I knew …

As more time passed the rash got worse and worse, makeup wasn’t hiding it and people had begun to notice that I looked like I was just hitting puberty! Since I’d switched back to old products and cut out anything I thought was even slightly irritating, something clicked that the Liz Earle could be responsible. I googled it and after an absolute age of searching through blog & website reviews of women gushing over it, I came across this post.

Source

Sounds about right!

I’ll give Cleanse & Polish – and its fans – its due; it is an amazing cleanser. It’s everything I look for in a makeup remover and does everything it says on the tin. But I’ll pass on the spots. Ta.

This is me a few days before the rash really took over – it got much worse unfortunately, and took about 10 days or so to clear up. Makeup didn’t cover it very well at all :(

Meet my hamster cheeks :)

Thankfully it was pretty much gone by the time my birthday shindig rolled around just under two weeks later, and what was left was easily covered with makeup.

I’m back to normal now with no lasting marks, however my face is a lot more sensitive than it used to be. I’m even worried to use my home microdermabrasion system just in case it’s too abrasive for my skin.

Anyone else on the ‘I Hate Cleanse & Polish’ bandwagon? Or are you a beloved fangirl? :)

Labels: cleanser, liz earle, rash, sudocrem

Voucher: Body Shop Coupon Code

Just thought I’d give you a heads up about an amazing deal over on The Body Shop website.

I love a good voucher code – free delivery, X% off, and perhaps even a freebie – so when I stumbled upon this one I was in voucher code heaven.

Body Shop are offering 30% off online purchases PLUS a free 200ml Satsuma Body Butter worth £12.50 on all orders over £5.

The £2.99 delivery still sucks, but it’s completely worth it considering how amazing the deal is! You’ll also get a bit extra back if you go through TopCashBack as well.

Win win!

To get this amazing deal just use promo code ‘NATION’ when you checkout. Be quick though, offer ends 31^st July 2012!

Let me know if you’re ordering anything, would love to see what you get! :)

Labels: body shop, voucher code

Natural Radiance Giveaway Winners

Just a quick post to announce the winners of my Natural Radiance sponsored giveaway(*).

It’s been way too long since I posted, but I’ve got some time off of work now so I’ll be posting as regularly as I can (read: I’ll be posting so much that you’ll get sick of me).

Anyway, the winners were chosen through Random.org and will all receive a Cucumber Collagen Sheet Mask.

Congratulations to:

Alex, of I’m a Weapon of Massive Consumption

Emma, of Beauty by Emma, &

Emily, of Describing Beauty

I’ve sent you all an email so get back to me as soon as you can! :)

Lola ..x

Labels: face mask, giveaway, natural radiance

Natural Radiance Giveaway Reminder! .. - CLOSED

Hey guys,

Just a quick reminder that my Natural Radiance giveaway closes tomorrow at midnight!

To be in with a chance of winning one of three Korean sheet masks, head over to my original post and enter [link]!

Lola ..x

Labels: face mask, giveaway, natural radiance

Natural Radiance: Cucumber Collagen Mask Review & Giveaway - CLOSED

The lovely people at Natural Radiance kindly sent me some facemasks to try out last week. I was particularly excited because they specialise in Korean sheet masks and I’d never tried any before.

I received a Purederm cucumber collagen mask(*) with vitamin E, which “visibly moisturises the skin and restores skin tone after UV exposure”. Unfortunately I haven’t been in the sun, but working long days at a festival last week has taken its toll on my skin.

First impressions:

The packet says the liquid saturating the mask is 100% pulp. I was worried when I opened the mask as it seemed to be too liquid-y but it’s very thick and didn’t drip. I was hoping it would smell really fresh like cucumbers but there didn’t seem to be much scent to it at all.

The actual mask felt like baby wipe kind of material and was surprisingly thicker than I’d expected. It looked huge when I took it out of the packaging but I guess my face is bigger than I realised, as it seemed to fit with just a bit of overlap on the hairline.

I left it on for about 10 minutes more than the suggested 15minutes, until the edges started to dry. When I peeled it off my face felt a little sticky, but this disappeared within a few minutes once the residue was dry.

Probably the most unflattering mask I've ever tried! haha

Results:

Whilst I didn’t notice any visible difference in my skin, it feels a lot smoother and rehydrated. The boy even commented on how soft my face was. It was lovely and cooling, so definitely perfect for a quick fix once it gets a bit warmer, or generally if you’ve got dull, dry skin.

The only downside is that they make you look like a bit of a numpty. Excuse my miserable face in the pictures, it was a little awkward to smile!

Would I purchase?

Definitely. At just $0.88 each these are a complete steal! Unfortunately Natural Radiance doesn’t ship outside the UK just yet, but when they do I’ll definitely be buying!

Definitely check out the website, it’s sheet mask heaven!

I was also sent extra masks for a little giveaway so to be in with a chance of winning one of these lovely masks then to enter you must:

Image via WeHeartIt

♥ Be following my blog via GFC

♥ ‘Like’ the Natural Radiance Facebook page

♥ Leave a blog post comment with your GFC name & your favourite type of face mask.

Giveaway closes on Monday 21^stMay.

There will be three winners, announced shortly after the giveaway closes.

Good luck! :)

*Product sent for review

Labels: collagen, face mask, giveaway, natural radiance, review

Awful Blogger ..

I’m so sorry, I’ve been an awful blogger and haven’t had time to post anything recently.

It was my birthday, and then the boy’s birthday and then my last couple of assignments for uni were due (finally submitted now so I’m free for summer, yay!) plus I’ve been working at a festival for the last few days so I’ve had no time at all.

I promise that things will be back to normal from next week, I’ve made a huge lists of posts that I’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks so expect to see a lot more of me! Plus I’ve got two giveaways coming up too, that I just can’t wait to share with you lovely ladies.

Just so this post isn’t so text heavy, here’s a NOTD picture.

Excuse the dry skin - acetone! :(

I’ve had to bid goodbye to shellac for a little while - £20 every two weeks was beginning to strain my budget. However, I’ve just bought my own kit so I can do it myself. The varnish is just an interim substitute until next week when I’ll have time to sit down and use it!

Colours used:

- -- H&M Glitter Crackle – two coats (Review to come soon!)

- -- NYX 24k Glitter

- -- Barry M Topcoat & Nail Hardener

The picture doesn’t do it justice, it’s really, really, bright especially when it catches the light and has lasted really well.

Anyway, I’ll be back on form next week! Goodbye until then my lovelies!

Labels: barry m, glitter, nail varnish, notd, nyx