New In: The Body Shop Brazil Nut Range

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend an amazing blogger event held by the lovely people at The Body Shop, celebrating the launch of their upcoming Brazil nut range.

We were really lucky to meet a lovely man called Gaston Vizcarra, who supplies all of the Community Fair Trade Brazil Nut Oil used in more than 100 TBS products. He was honestly such an inspirational person, and I loved hearing about all of the work he does back in Peru and all of his stories from the jungle – seriously!

The greatest thing about Gaston is that he is so passionate about making sure that the people who work for his company are treated fairly and paid an adequate wage. As a consumer and TBS addict it’s nice to know that brands are working ethically and sourcing good quality products.

I absolutely love the range. It smells absolutely gorgeous and is perfect for my dry skin. Here’s a peek of some of the things that’ll be hitting stores on the 23^rd April.

Body Butter: £13 – Creamy and incredibly rich, like all TBS butters. It’s so thick and moisturising, a perfect skin treat for the current cold spell!

Body Scrub: £12.50 – Just the thing for slothing off dead skin, especially before apply fake tan. The scrubby bits are really dense for a nice, intensive scrub!

Body Mist: £7.50 – TBS mists are ideal for topping up your scent during the day. I wasn’t keen on this at first but it’s definitely grown on me. Handbag staple, in fact.

Eau de toilette: £8.50 – Again, I wasn’t sure but it’s definitely grown on me. It’s quite a musky, ‘grown up’ scent but it’s cheap and cheerful, and a perfect day fragrance.

Beautifying oil: £9 – Undoubtedly my favourite item in the whole range. I can’t tell you how amazing it smells. I literally slather myself in this, and since it’s multiuse I pop a bit on my dry ends too!

The Body Shop Brazil Nut range (made with Gaston’s Brazil Nut Oil!) will hit shops on the 23rd April – does anything here take your fancy?

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The Body Shop & LFW: Dans La Vie and Zeynep Tosun

I realise that this post is waaay overdue, but I’ve been really busy with uni – I seriously can’t wait for third year to be over! 

Anyway, the beautiful people at The Body Shop invited me down to a few shows at London Fashion Week and I had an absolute blast. I’d never been to any LFW week shows before so it was a great experience, especially being there as a guest of my favourite shop! 

I got to sit front row at both the Dans La Vie and Zeynep Tosun shows and I also got a chance to go backstage and check out the preparation that went into the show. TBS was a show sponsor so all of the products used on the models were from there. Unfortunately it was really busy back there so I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the products, but it was like a Body Shop warehouse! 

Before the show started we waited around in the media lounge, where The Body Shop had a really cool photobooth and station for you to get your makeup done.

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Review + Swatches: The Body Shop Smoky Eye Palette in Smoky Moonstone

I’ve never really been an eye shadow person. I can appreciate a really good smokey eye, but creating one isn’t exactly my forte. Generally speaking, my eye makeup consists of a kohl liner and mascara. But when my favourite brand brings out a smoky eye palette, there’s no way I won’t want to give it a whirl.

The Body Shop 4-Step Smoky Eye Palette in Smoky Moonstone* is made up of four colours used together to create the perfect smoky eye. The back of the box houses the instructions for where to place each colour on your lid – which is perfect for a noob like me.

The compact is a very study, shiny plastic with a huge mirror inside and two small brushes. The size of the mirror is ideal and allows for precise application, even on the go – not that I’d dare to try it away from home!

The colours are just gorgeous and are fantastic for creating a simple daytime look, or a sultry, dramatic evening look.

They’re quite sparkly colours, but they’re not glittery – if that makes sense?! They manage to sparkle just enough without making you look too made up, or like a disco ball.

Unfortunately they’re not the most pigmented colours – which I don’t mind too much as I’m probably not ready to work with rich colours, however some may feel a little cheated considering its £14 price tag and the cheaper alternatives out there.

The pictures don’t really do this palette justice. The first image shows the colours applied, the second image is the colours blended. The highlight colour is a bit too shimmery for a daytime look on my skin tone, so I didn't use it for these pictures. Please excuse the unkempt brows!

My main issue with the palette is that the shadows aren’t milled fine enough so the fallout can be pretty bad. Also, the darkest colour isn’t dark enough so I had to top it with something else, but this probably wouldn’t be an issue on lighter skin tones.

Since it’s makeup it doesn’t bother me too much, but it the shadows do contain two types of parabens.

At £14 I’ll admit it’s a bit on the pricey side for what you’re getting – compared to a Sleek palette for instance. However, if you manage to catch a good promotion then you could probably get your mitts on it for £7-£10.

The Body Shop 4-Step Smoky Eye Palette can be purchased from The Body Shop, available in two colours, Smoky Moonstone or Smoky Copper, priced at £14. 

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What I Bought: Collective Beauty Haul

I know that a lot of bloggers are on a spending ban right now but most certainly am not, so here’s what I’ve picked up recently.

TOPSHOP

Louise Gray for Topshop Brush Set - £32

I was instantly drawn to these when I hit the makeup section in Topshop. I can’t find the link for them as I think they’ve sold out, but the set contains powder, blush, foundation, eyeliner and eye shadow brushes.

Lips in Rumour Has it - £8

I’ve been wanting to try Topshop lipsticks for a while as everyone raves about them and I’ve finally come across a colour that’s flattering for my skin tone. Rumour Has It is a dusty rose with a velvet finish.

THE BODY SHOP

Foundation Brush - £12

I picked up this foundation brush as I wanted something to apply facemasks with. I have a few TBS brushes already and they’re really good quality.

Lip Care Translucent - £8.50

I’ve been looking at this online for a while now and even though I don’t need to add another balm to my collection I couldn’t help but grab it.

 

Vineyard Peach Body Scrub - £6.50

This smells edible really nice. As I’ve said before I love scrubs and since this was half price in the sale it would have been rude of me not to pick it up!

JOHN LEWIS

bareMinerals Original Foundation - £24

My foundation is getting a bit low so I decided it was time to pick up a replacement. #bbloggerxmas girls will know that this is my Holy Grail foundation – I absolutely love it. The price is pretty average for a premium/high-end brand, and an 8g tub lasts me about a year so it’s really cost effective.

bareMinerals Tinted Mineral Veil - £24

I’ve wanted to try this for absolutely ages, and got the girl at the counter to try some on me and it’s even better than I expected. I think £24 is a little steep since it’s the same price as the foundation, but since I’ll only need a small amount I can see it lasting even longer than a year.

MARKS & SPENCER BEAUTY

Philip Kingsley Body & Shine Trial Pack - £15

Everyone always raves about the elasticizer so I picked up this kit so I could give it a go. I stupidly didn’t read the part that says ‘body & shine’ so this isn’t exactly for my hair type, but I’ll use it all anyway.

Tara Smith Feed The Root Shampoo & Conditioner - £10 each. Shining Moment Glosser - £12

Last month I attended a Tara Smith Blogger Event and was given some samples of her shampoo and conditioner (review to follow!). I’ve fallen in love with the sulphate-free formula and had to get some more. They’re a bit more than I’d usually pay but definitely worth it.

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Multi Usage Dry Oil - £29.50

Multi-use = Lola loves. I swapped with someone for the sample that came in a Glossybox last year and my hair was literally addicted. It smells amazing and applies like a dream.

REN Invisible Pore Detox Mask - £18

It was a big toss up between this and the Glycolatic Radiance Renewal Mask, but I think I prefer this. I’d tried both but I have a few enzyme masks already and this one is perfect for my oily skin.

Pure Instant Radiance Skin Exfoliator - £6

I’ve read some good reviews on the Marks & Spencer beauty range and a girl can never have too many exfoliators, so for just £6 this definitely had to accompany me to the till.

Perlier Honey Silk Effect Body Oil - £17.50

Yes, another body oil. It's a cruel, cruel addiction. It smells and feels amazing!

ESCENTUAL

Avene Cleanance K Cream-Gel - £8.40 (Sale price)

I love the Avene Cleanance range and had to get this during the Escentual sale.

Avene TriAcneal - £18.40 (Sale price)

I’ve got a post coming up about this so I won’t go into too much detail, but this stuff is amazing for spot/acne-prone skin.

L’Occitane Skin Supple Oil - £23.20 (Sale price)

This is one of my most favourite body oils. In fact I kept the empty bottle when I ran out of the last one because I was too upset to chuck it in the bin – sad, but true. You can read my review of it here.

Lanolips

I actually bought this on a FB swapping group. A girl had two, sealed, original tubes and was selling them for less than the price of one tube in Boots so it would have been rude not to buy!

Jemma Kidd Lipstick Duo in Eve - £2.50

I have another one of these and I adore it so picked up another one since it was such a bargain. I accidentally put the wrong colour in my basket but I think this is quite cute anyway.

So that’s how I’ve bankrupted treated myself this month so expect some reviews very soon!

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