Chocolate Treat Week
Chocolate Treat Week: Makeup
8My third Chocolate Treat Week post is all about make up. Believe it or not, I had to search high and low for chocolate scented and coloured make up products, but I found a couple of great ones in the end. I’ve also created a yummy eyeshadow look to share with you, which uses three different shades of chocolate brown. Enjoy!
For Lips… Palmer’s Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Butter
In my high and low search for chocolate lip products I discovered a myriad of chocolate lip balms, but none of them seemed to cut the mustard as a gloss, rather than just a protective balm. In all honesty I was close to giving up, but then I found this… Palmer’s Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Butter.
The Lip Butter has a lovely creamy formula which feels amazing on the lips. You can tell from how it feels that it is intensely enriching, and because it’s a butter and not a gloss it feels smooth and moisturising rather than sticky. It is also light in colour so doesn’t leave a tint on the lips, but as the packaging states it adds a ‘subtle gloss’, which is what makes it makeup in my eyes. The glossy shine it adds lasts for a long time, and can be worn over lipstick as well as directly on the lips.
The minty chocolate scent of the Lip Butter is absolutely divine. The fact that it is dark chocolate means that it isn’t too sickly sweet, and the freshness of the peppermint gives it a sharp edge. The mint also feels wonderful on the lips as it gives the lip butter a pleasant tingle. Though it doesn’t claim to be a plumping product I think it does have a slight, natural-looking plumping effect, but without the pain that some plumping glosses can cause!
Palmer’s Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Butter definitely does what it says on the tin. It ‘softens & soothes lips’ almost instantly and leaves them feeling protected, but it has a big advantage over most lip balms by adding that ‘subtle gloss’. The Lip Butter is available in lots of high street shops (there’s a list here), and usually retails for about £2.75, which is an excellent price considering it is a gloss AND a protective balm in one.
For Eyes… MUA Malt Chocolate Intense Glitter Eyeliner
MUA’s Malt Chocolate Intense Glitter Eyeliner is another quality MUA product. Like all of their glitter liners it costs just £1, which is outstanding value as there’s even a pencil sharpener incorporated into the lid! The eyeliner is very creamy so it applies like a dream to both your waterlines and your upper and lower lash lines without pulling the skin at all. The glitter is very fine too, so it adds a lovely shimmer without causing any irritation or heaviness on the eye.
Malt Chocolate is a pretty, highly pigmented shade with a bronze tinge to it, which gives it that ‘intense colour finish’ – far from the dull, uninspiring look of most brown eyeliners! What I like about this liner is that, once it dries, it doesn’t smudge and it lasts a good long while before it comes off, keeping its bold colour for the duration of wear.
The eyeliner is also impressively versatile. MUA state that it can be worn all over the eyelid, as a lip liner or as an all-over lip colour as well as an eyeliner, and due to its creaminess I think it would make a great lip product as it wouldn’t be drying at all. What a fab thing to throw into your suitcase for a holiday or into your clutch on a night out!
If you’d like to try any of MUA’s Glitter Intense Eyeliners they are available in Superdrug stores or online here.
Create the Look… Triple Chocolate Eyes
The above look was created using three different shades of chocolate coloured eyeshadow. MUA’s Chocolate Box Trio Eyeshadow would be perfect for this, but I actually used their Immaculate Collection Palette. All you need to use to copy this look is a white chocolate shade as a highlighter, a milk chocolate shade as your main colour, and a dark chocolate shade for shadows and creases. The shades I used from the Immaculate Collection were these…
- White Chocolate: Shade 12
- Milk Chocolate: Shade 23
- Dark Chocolate: Shade 21
And here’s how you get the look:
- Prepare your eyelids right up to the brow bone with your preferred eye primer.
- Apply your milk chocolate shade to your eyelid using a flat eyeshadow brush, from corner to corner and up to the crease.
- Using another flat eyeshadow brush sweep your white chocolate shade above the milk chocolate shade, up to the brown bone.
- Using a shading brush, apply the dark chocolate shade along the crease of your eye, thickening the line at the outer corner and taking it down to the corner of your lashes.
- Blend the dark chocolate shade into the edge of the milk chocolate shade with a clean eyeshadow brush.
- Using a fine brush, apply a small amount of the white chocolate shade to the inside corner of your eye and a third of the way under your lower lash line. Fill in the rest of your lower lash line with the dark chocolate shade.
- Brush any loose eyeshadow from your face using a clean brush and finish with a generous coat of your favourite mascara, preferably brown.
The Last Rolo…
The Last Rolo is where I hand over the last few words of each Chocolate Treat Week blog post to another blogger. In the run up to Chocolate Treat Week I asked five of my favourite bloggers a couple of questions about their favourite chocolate treats, and today’s answers come from Claire of Nocturnal Beauty.
Can you recommend any chocolate scented, flavoured or themed beauty/fashion products?
I can definitely recommend the Whipstick lip balm from Lush. It’s my by far my favourite chocolate scented product that I’ve tried. It smells just like chocolate orange, and it isn’t overly sickly or too sweet, it smells absolutely divine. I do catch myself smelling the tin quite a lot! It feels lovely too and leaves a bit of a brown tint to the lips. It’s perfect for anybody who loves chocolate!
What is your favourite chocolate treat to eat, and why?
My favourite chocolate treat to eat is probably chocolate cake. I eat far too much cake and it’s a wonder I have any teeth left. I also make some seriously good chocolate fudge!
Thanks for reading today’s Chocolate Treat Week installment! Please check back tomorrow for a post all about chocolate themed nails, featuring some new nail art!
Naomi x
Chocolate Treat Week: Hair
1Hello everyone! Today’s Chocolate Treat Week post will focus on chocolate coloured and scented hair care products. I have spent a lot of time recently trying to improve the look and feel of my hair, as it tends to switch between being dull and dry or lank and greasy depending on the weather and how often I wash it. In my search for products suited to my hair I happened to discover two fantastic ones which are also chocolatey, and as such are perfect for this post. Allow me to share them with you…
Wash with… Toni & Guy Chocolate Brown Colour Reviver Shampoo
I’ve always been somewhat thrifty when it comes to shampoo, but when I found this Colour Reviver Shampoo by Toni & Guy I decided to invest as it looked and sounded too good not to. This particular Colour Reviver, in ‘Chocolate Brown’, is intended for use on natural or dyed brown hair, and claims to ‘extend the richness and depth of tone’. As a proud brunette, I like to accentuate the colour of my hair as much as possible without the use of hair dye, so I was keen to try it out.
The shampoo itself has a very thick consistency, and is speckled with bronze and golden glittery deposits, which cling to the hair to give it that ‘depth of tone’. Unfortunately, it doesn’t smell like chocolate (it has a fairly standard shampoo scent) but I suppose that makes it suitable for those who dislike strongly scented hair products.
Due to the thickness of the shampoo, it is slightly difficult to work into the hair at first, but with a bit of persistence a nice lather can be built up. The bottle says to rinse the shampoo out thoroughly to avoid staining, and that it can be used for every wash on natural hair and every other wash on dyed hair.
I use Colour Reviver with my usual Avon conditioner, and then blow dry my hair as normal. After using the Colour Reviver, my hair always has a rich, intense colour to it, is fantastically soft and shiny and moves fluidly… Almost like melted chocolate! I couldn’t get a photograph that shows just how nice this shampoo makes my hair look, but you can clearly see how shiny it makes it! It really is quite impressive. The results are hardy too… I washed my hair before going swimming today, and even after getting it wet in the pool it still looked great after it dried.
The only thing I don’t like about this product is the packaging, but that’s personal choice… I’m just not that keen on the flip lid design!
Toni & Guy’s Chocolate Brown Colour Reviver Shampoo retails at £5.80 for a 250ml bottle, but is currently on offer on Amazon for £4.06. It’s hard to find this shampoo in shops these days so the internet is probably your best bet if you want to try it for yourself!
Freshen Up with… Superdrug Chocolate Brownie Dry Shampoo
I usually wash my hair every day, but sometimes I don’t have the time or I just can’t be bothered, and that’s when dry shampoo becomes an essential. In the past I have used Batiste dry shampoo, but to be honest I never really got on with it… It didn’t seem to make much difference to my hair, other than leaving behind a white residue. So, when I picked up some of Superdrug’s Chocolate Brownie Dry Shampoo instead, I was very happy.
Like Toni & Guy’s Chocolate Brown, Superdrug’s Chocolate Brownie is for use on brunette hair as it is lightly coloured, and as such doesn’t make your hair look powdery and white! The spray has a very strong chocolate scent which doesn’t smell at all artificial – it literally smells like warm chocolate brownies in the oven! Delicious.
To use the dry shampoo you just need to spray it onto dry hair from about 30cm away, then gently brush it through, et voila! Freshened hair. A word of warning with this one though… The spray is VERY strong. I have asthma and used this in my bedroom last week with the windows closed and could barely breathe afterwards, so make sure you use it in a well ventilated area!
Superdrug’s Dry Shampoo makes unwashed hair look less greasy and gives it a bit of volume, and the results last a good few hours before you need to tse the spray again. I actually bought this on offer recently at three cans for £2.99, which is an absolute bargain as one 150ml can lasts for ages. If you’re quick, you can take advantage of this offer too as it’s still running, but even at £1.99 full-price it’s amazing value for money. Chocolate Brownie Dry Shampoo can be found in Superdrug stores, or online here.
The Last Rolo…
The Last Rolo is where I hand over the last few words of each Chocolate Treat Week blog post to another blogger. In the run up to Chocolate Treat Week I asked five of my favourite bloggers a couple of questions about their favourite chocolate treats, and today’s answers come from Tianna of Storybook Apothecary.
Can you recommend any chocolate scented, flavoured or themed beauty/fashion products?
Intrinsic Organics has a chocolate mint lip balm that is lovely! I also love using cocoa powder and honey as a face mask to get glowing skin, does that count? Lol. I’ve posted about the lip balm on my blog here.
What is your favourite chocolate treat to eat, and why?
My favorite chocolate is Godiva dark chocolate with raspberry sauce filling. It is sooo good. The rich bitter flavor of the dark chocolate with sweetness of the raspberry is to die for!
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post, and thanks for reading! Do you use any chocolate scented or coloured hair products?
Naomi x
PS. Please don’t forget to check back tomorrow for my next Chocolate Treat Week post, which will focus on makeup!
Chocolate Treat Week: Skin, Bath and Body
24In my first Chocolate Treat Week post I will be sharing with you the very best chocolate scented skin care, bath and body products that I have been using lately. Whenever I have the house to myself of an evening I like nothing better than to run myself a relaxing bath and treat myself with an indulgent beauty regime, and the following four items are the perfect products for a chocolate themed pamper session.
Bathe with… Handmade Soaps Chocolate Bath Treats
I recently discovered a fab little company called Handmade Soaps, who stock and sell a large range of soaps, bath bombs, bath melts and gift sets, all of which are very appealing to the eye as well as the nose. Among their range they have quite a few wonderful chocolate scented bombs, melts and sets. The chocolate products pictured above are (clockwise from the top): Chocoholics Gift Set, Fruity Creamy Bath Bar, Chocolate Bath Meltz, Sink the Pink Bath Bomb, Very Berry Bath Creamer, Love Cloud Bath Creamer and Chocolate Ballotin Gift Set.
I have a lot of bath products from Handmade Soaps so I haven’t tried all of them yet, but my favourite so far has to be the Chocolate Bath Meltz, which costs £2 for one melt. As you can see, it looks absolutely lovely – almost like a fancy chocolate truffle, especially with the cute little chocolate heart sitting on top! The melt combines Cocoa and Arabica Coffee to give it its rich chocolatey aroma and colour, and also contains Lavender and Ylang Ylang essential oils for added relaxation. I used this melt over the weekend and it really is glorious. I popped it into the water just before the bath was full and then got straight in. I recommend doing this as it’s when the melt fizzes that you are met with its beautiful scent. Unlike some bath products that I’ve tried, this one doesn’t fizz too violently so you don’t get bombarded by the bomb whilst you’re trying to relax. In fact, I actually found it quite therapeutic watching it spin in the water! My favourite thing about the Chocolate Bath Meltz is how intensely moisturising it is. I really wasn’t expecting such a dainty melt to have much effect on my skin, but it made my skin feel creamy and smooth even when I was still in the water, which resulted in long-lasting softness – impressive!
Handmade Soaps pride themselves on their customer service so if you decide to order anything from them you won’t be disappointed! They deliver their items quickly and they even have a ‘remarkable wrapping’ policy so everything you receive will be as beautifully wrapped as possible. Everything they sell is already reasonably priced, but Handmade Soaps have been kind enough to give me a special discount code to share with you so that you can get 10% off everything you order! The code is ‘bewitchery10‘ – just enter it at the checkout to get your 10% discount.
Exfoliate with… Betty Buff ‘Scrummy Choco’ Sugar Scrub
As I’ve mentioned in several of my previous posts, Betty Buff‘s Sugar Scrubs are my absolute favourite go-to exfoliators. All of Betty Buff’s scrubs are high-quality and handmade to vintage recipes. They contain no parabens or artificial colours and fragrances either, so are excellent for use on sensitive skin like mine.
As well as containing granulated sugar, Evening Primrose Oil, honey and glycerine, ‘Scrummy Choco‘ is made with 100% cocoa which gives it an incredible scent. As Betty Buff says, it really does smell ‘good enough to eat’ (but please don’t!), almost like a chocolate brownie or uncooked cake mix… It honestly made my mouth water when I first smelt it!
I have been using this for a while now and the effects are very noticeable. The cocoa makes the scrub delicately moisturising, and always leaves my skin feeling silky smooth, and my dry patches caused by the drying summer weather have all vanished! Due to the rich colour of the scrub it also leaves a light brown sheen on the skin, which sounds odd but actually looks great, especially if you already have a tan you want to accentuate.
Betty Buff ‘Scrummy Choco’ Sugar Scrub comes in three different sizes. The size pictured is the 150ml version, which costs £6.50, but there’s also a 250ml tub available for £8.00 and a 100ml sampler for £4.00. A little goes a long way with Betty’s scrubs so each size is fantastic value for money. If you’d like to try it for yourself, which I highly recommend you do, you can purchase it here.
Moisturise with… Vaseline Cocoa Radiant Rich Feeling Lotion
Vaseline’s Cocoa Radiant Rich Feeling Lotion is ideal for those who aren’t too keen on beauty products with a strong chocolatey aroma or appearance. The lotion is pale in colour and delicately scented with cocoa beans so it isn’t overpowering, and it also has a very delicate formula.
Cocoa Radiant is rich like a body butter, but also lovely and light so it doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. It absorbs quickly without being greasy, rather, it leaves behind a soft creaminess which makes skin feel healthy and supple. I like to use this after exfoliating and also after shaving as it is protective so prevents any drying or soreness. What I love most about this lotion is how long the scent lingers… After a day of wear I can always still smell a sweet tinge of cocoa on my skin which is nicely comforting.
Vaseline’s Cocoa Radiant is currently on offer for £2.63 in Superdrug for a 400ml bottle, which is a massive bargain for such a quality product so grab it cheap while you still can!
Cleanse with… Montagne Jeunesse Hot Chocolate Self Heating Face Mask
After a relaxing bath and moisturising session, a face mask is the perfect way to finish an evening of pampering. Now that Autumn is here and the weather is getting colder, it’s time to step away from the cooling masks and use something a bit more seasonal… So, what’s better than a self heating mask? Montagne Jeunesse’s Hot Chocolate Self Heating Face Mask is currently top of my face mask list as everything about it is luscious and screams ‘me time’!
I used this mask last night and couldn’t get enough of it. The formula is fairly thick, basically like melted chocolate, so it is a little bit difficult to apply but it is well worth the effort. As soon as it touches your skin it heats up to a comfortable temperature which feels incredible and helps to soothe tired skin and muscles.
The mask is scented with cocoa and orange – a winning combination in my eyes (and nose). The orange cuts through the sweetness of the chocolate to give a decadent scent which makes for a delicious fifteen minutes of wear, and a good few hours of gorgeous smelling skin.
The mask stays wet and doesn’t dry like a conventional clay mask so it is quite easy to wash off, but its deep colour can make a mess so make sure you use an old towel! Like all of Montagne Jeunesse’s products, their Hot Chocolate mask is vegetarian and natural, and it contains orange oil which is refreshingly moisturising. As such, the mask is extremely nourishing to the point that you don’t need to use any moisturiser after wearing it.
Montagne Jeunesse’s Hot Chocolate Self Heating Mask is available on their website for £1.09 per sachet, but I’ve also seen it in Wilkinson, Asda, Superdrug and Boots. I only used half a sachet for one application so you could get two uses out of it if you’re lucky, which is always a bonus.
The Last Rolo…
The Last Rolo is where I hand over the last few words of each Chocolate Treat Week blog post to another blogger. In the run up to Chocolate Treat Week I asked five of my favourite bloggers a couple of questions about their favourite chocolate treats, and today’s answers come from Donah of Sweetjellybean.
Can you recommend any chocolate scented, flavoured or themed beauty/fashion products?
Although I try to not use any products that are chocolate scented (as I’ve had enough of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter when I was pregnant!), these days, I’ve been indulging myself with Leor’s Chocolate Truffle Body Lotion. Surprisingly, this doesn’t smell as strong as Palmer’s but still has that lovely chocolate aroma that isn’t distracting. so yes, I definitely would recommend this to anyone, who can’t stand Palmers’ but still love to indulge themselves in a chocolate-flavoured product.
What is your favourite chocolate treat to eat, and why?
Toffee Crisp! Can’t get enough of this when I was pregnant (a hush-hush since I was not supposed to eat this, so this is my guilty pleasure haha) But I definitely don’t mind having one bar or two every week.
Thanks for reading my first Chocolate Treat Week post – I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please come back tomorrow to read all about chocolate hair products.
Naomi x
*I was kindly gifted the Handmade Soap Bath products and the Betty Buff ‘Scrummy Choco’ Sugar Scrub by their respective companies for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.*
Introducing Chocolate Treat Week!
6For the past few weeks I have been planning something a little bit different for my blog that I hope you will all enjoy. Starting tomorrow and ending on Friday I will be running a chocolate themed week, called Chocolate Treat Week, and will be sharing my favourite chocolate scented, flavoured, coloured and themed beauty and fashion products. Each post will cover a different area of fashion and beauty, including skin care, bath and body, hair, make up, nails and clothing and accessories. I don’t know about you, but I think chocolate is the best kind of treat, so the aim of my posts will be to show you that there are plenty of ways to carry a love of chocolate through to your beauty regime and relax and pamper yourself with a chocolate treat that isn’t the edible kind.
There seems to be a divide when it comes to chocolate beauty products, so everything I recommend has been thoroughly tried and tested and only the best will be featured! I will talk about a variety of products, some for the hardcore chocoholics among us, and others for those that like to keep it subtle, but I can almost guarantee that there will be something suitable for everyone – even the haters!
I’ll also be including a tutorial or two along the way, and a few chocolatey words from some of my favourite bloggers at the end of each post.
Now that you know what it’s about, I hope you’re all looking forward to Chocolate Treat Week as much as I am!
See you tomorrow,
Naomi x