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Posts tagged Body Butter
Christmas Swap Box with +10 Kapow
1
2 years
by Naomi in Swaps
I absolutely love putting together gift boxes for people, and of course I love surprises myself, so a little while ago I suggested to Chrissie of +10 Kapow that we do a Christmas Swap, and luckily she was up for the idea! We decided on a budget of £20, and agreed to fill a shoebox with little gifts that we thought the other would like. I had a lot of fun searching for items to give to Chrissie, and after a few weeks of browsing, buying and wrapping, the box was ready to send. Our deadline for posting was 5th December, and last week we each received our box of goodies!
As both of us are impatient we decided to open and blog about our gifts before Christmas, so without further ado, here’s what I received!
As you can see, my swap from Chrissie came beautifully packaged. The box itself is stunning, and puts the cardboard one I sent her to shame! I’ll definitely be using it to store things in, probably rings or nail varnishes.
There were eight wrapped gifts in the box, including a jewellery box which I was really excited about. I hurriedly unwrapped everything, and was delighted with all that Chrissie sent. I must say she chose well! Here’s what I got…
The first gift is this Baked Merged Trio Eyeshadow from MUA, in shade ‘Emotions’. All three shades have a slight shimmer to them, and are impressively pigmented. The neutral tones are perfect for a daytime look, and I can see myself using these shades a lot for a work make up look, although with some dramatic eyeliner they could easily be dressed up.
My lips get very dry at this time of year, so finding this Nivea Lip Butter in the box was much appreciated! The lip butter feels lovely and nourishing, and smells amazing too, like vanilla and macadamia. This has now become a winter essential for me and comes everywhere with me.
I spotted this Body Shop Glazed Apple Body Butter when browsing The Body Shop website a few weeks, and was really intrigued by it, so as you can imagine I was pleased to find this in the box too! I use body butters on a daily basis and have done for years, so this was very well chosen, and is incredibly moisturising. The Glazed Apple scent is lovely too – fruity, but also sweet and creamy.
Yet another product that I’ve been wanting to try – MUA Luxe Velvet Lips! This shade is called ‘Serene’, and is a dark peach shade with a pink undertone. It’s very highly pigmented, has a creamy texture so applies beautifully, and is long-lasting. I like it, and aesthetically, I also like the frosted tube.
This awesome keyring is triple awesome – it’s Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which I’ve loved since I was a kid, he’s a rat, and it’s lego! I’m going to hang this from my bag because I’m cool like that. Isn’t he fab?!
Chrissie made this galaxy necklace herself, and it’s my favourite item that she sent me. It’s really well made, and purple, pink and turquoise happen to be my favourite colours. I’ve been wearing it a lot since I got it, sometimes alone, but also layered with a couple of my other favourite necklaces, which I think looks great on a plain top.
Batman! A Batman ring! I’m sure it’s clear by now that I’m a big Batman fan, and this ring is absolutely fab. I really like how subtle it is, whilst also being super cool.
This pretty galaxy scarf has the same colour palette as the necklace Chrissie made, and is so soft and snuggly and warm. I’ve been wearing this lately to add a splash of colour to some of my darker winter outfits, and it seems to attract compliments!
Purple shades and holo effects are two of my favourite things to decorate my nails with, so this nail polish from Freckles Polish is perfect for me. The shade is called ‘I’ll Need Wine’, and is a rich purple colour, a bit like red wine, with a beautiful holo shimmer. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of me wearing it, but it applies nicely and is stunning on – fabulous for the festive season. Chrissie recently sent me some stamping plates too, so I plan on creating some looks soon using them and this polish, which I’ll be posting about soon.
I’m really happy with everything Chrissie sent me (thanks Chrissie!), and I hope we can do another swap one day! To see what I sent Chrissie in return, you can check out her post here.
Have you taken part in any Christmas swaps this year? If so, what did you send/receive? I’d love to see your posts about it!
Naomi x
Bubbles & Butters Bath and Body Range
8Bubbles & Butters are a new and exciting bath and body company whose fun, vibrant image matches their lively range of products and scents. The company currently have three main ice cream-inspired scents in their range – Feeling Hot Hot Hot Mango, Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry and Crazy For Chocolate, but they will soon be introducing a Nice Ice Baby Vanilla scent. The Bubbles & Butters collection of products features four body must-haves – bath bubbles, shower bubbles, body butter and lip balm.
I was recently very kindly sent a box full of Bubbles & Butters products to review, and after a couple of weeks of bubbly, buttery pampering, I am ready to share my thoughts on the range!
The products I received were…
Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Bath Bubbles
Crazy For Chocolate Shower Bubbles
Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Lip Butter
Crazy For Chocolate Body Butter
I really love Bubbles & Butters bright and quirky packaging – it’s modern and eye-catching, and would definitely stand out on any shelf! The shower bubbles come in a classic, large squeezy tube, the bath bubbles and body butter both come in chunky screw top tubs, and the lip balm has a clickable lid and looks like a miniature version of the bath bubbles. The bright colours and scent names are just so fun as well, and bring to mind spontaneous, carefree summer days – just what we all need reminding of during the cold winter months!
Here’s what I think of each product…
Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Bath Bubbles
Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Bath Bubbles is a gorgeous bright red and has a very strong strawberry scent. In fact, it smells just like a strawberry ice lolly, and looks a bit like a melted one too! At first I didn’t think the packaging was practical for a bubble bath, but it’s actually quite easy to control how much bubble bath you pour, and it doesn’t make a mess of the tub. I find it is best to add a fairly generous glug of the bath bubbles to the bath water a few minutes before turning the tap off, as the bubbles foam up really well, extremely quickly. The bubbles give the water a delicate pink tinge, and the strawberry scent lingers in the air too, which is lovely. The bath bubbles have a wonderful moisturising effect on the skin, which softens without leaving a horrible soapy layer behind like some bubble baths do. Overall, Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Bath Bubbles is a great example of a quality bubble bath, and at £6.00 for 450ml it’s a nice little treat for you and your skin.
Crazy For Chocolate Shower Bubbles
The Crazy For Chocolate Shower Bubbles is my favourite Bubbles & Butters product out of the ones I have tried, and I have used it almost every day since I received it. It isn’t brown like you’d expect, but a clean-looking white shade, and has a rich, sweet scent of cocoa. The gel is very creamy and lathers into masses of moisturising bubbles quicker than any other shower gel I have ever used! Because of its impressive lathering abilities, a little goes a long way with these bubbles, so a £2 coin size is enough for your whole body. After using Crazy For Chocolate Shower Bubbles, I always find that I can smell the chocolate scent on my skin for a long time, and if I use it in the bath with the Strawberry Bath Bubbles the scent layers to form chocolatey, strawberry goodness! The Shower Bubbles cost £4.00 for 250ml – I feel are purchase coming on!
Scream If You Wanna Go Strawberry Lip Butter
This lovely little lip butter is the perfect size for your pocket, make up bag or handbag. It is a delicate pink colour and smells just like McDonald’s strawberry milkshake – yum! I’m a sucker for lip balms and this is a great one. It doesn’t leave any colour on the lips, but it does make them shine and, most importantly, it smooths and softens your lips whilst also protecting them from the elements. Luckily, it isn’t waxy or greasy, so it doesn’t make your lips feel horrible. Bubbles & Butters Lip Butters cost £2.00 for 4 grams.
Crazy For Chocolate Body Butter
Last but not least, Crazy For Chocolate Body Butter. As I’ve mentioned before, I am quite the hoarder of body butters so I know what makes a good one, and this most definitely is. It is whipped to creamy perfection and smells richly of chocolate, just like the Shower Bubbles, so they compliment each other really well. The butter massages in evenly and quickly, leaving no greasy residue behind, whilst locking in oodles of moisture which lasts all day through. In sum – I love it! All of the Body Butters in the range sell for a fantastic £6.00 for 275ml.
Every skin treat in the Bubbles & Butters range is top-notch – they look great, smell good enough to eat (I don’t advise you do, though) and, most importantly, they do their job and they do it well! I love how affordable each product is, and they really are brilliant value for money. Overall, Bubbles & Butters are a breath of fresh air in a sometimes rather dull area of beauty, and I can’t wait to try their new vanilla scent when it is launched! If you’d like to know more about Bubbles & Butters, you can visit their website here. Their products are currently not available from the website, but they are opening an online shop very soon, so keep an eye out! However, you can find Bubbles & Butters in some large Tesco stores, or online at The Bath and Body Shop.
Which Bubbles & Butters product would you most like to try?
Naomi x
Dirty Works Supreme Cream Body Butter
4Earlier this month I sent off for this sample tube of Dirty Works Supreme Cream Body Butter, via the Dirty Works Facebook page. I have some Dirty Works body wash which is lovely and, as I’ve said before, I adore body butters, so I was really looking forward to trying this out. The sample tube contains a generous 20ml of product, but in Sainsbury’s stores it is sold in a huge 300ml tub, and usually retails for £4.99.
Unlike some dense body butters, this one by Dirty Works has a delicately light consistency, which is very much like a moisturiser, but it still leaves that silky sheen on the skin that you would expect from a body butter. The tube says to ‘massage cream onto damp skin until absorbed’ after showering or bathing, and it really does make damp skin feel beautifully soft, but I’ve discovered that it also makes an amazing hand cream! I’ve been carrying the tube in my work bag all week and using it on my hands a few times a day, and it is really helping with the dryness I’ve been experiencing lately caused by the cold weather – definitely a sign of a good quality lotion that does its job! I put that down to the moisturising properties of the shea butter and almond oil that it contains.
The body butter isn’t too strongly scented, but it has a pleasantly sweet scent to it which isn’t overwhelming, but leaves your skin smelling fresh and clean. It goes quite a long way too. A large pea-sized amount is plenty enough for the backs of both hands, and though I’ve been using this little tube all week (and sharing it with my sister too) it still feels almost full.
I am suitably impressed with Dirty Works’ Supreme Clean Body Butter and I will definitely be buying a full-sized tub. In fact, and this is a heads up so take note, Sainsbury’s are currently selling all Dirty Works products at half price so a 300ml tub is only £2.49 at the minute! I really, really hope I manage to get to a Sainsbury’s within the next few days before the offer ends. I may pick up some other products to try too!
Have you tried any Dirty Works products before?
Naomi x
Hawaiian Tropic After Sun Body Butter
6I will confess, I am somewhat of a body butter hoarder. You name it, I’ve probably tried it, and having tried so many I am pretty sure I know by now what makes a good body butter. So, believe me when I say that Hawaiian Tropic’s After Sun Body Butter is one of the best that I have ever tried.
The body butter comes in an attractive pale green pot, decorated with yellow and red flowers. When I first received this, I was instantly struck by how different this looks to the typical flat, round body butter pots that you usually see. Though we’re always told not to judge a book by its cover I think product image is important, and this one really stands out. It’s not just all beauty and no brains though… The quality definitely doesn’t suffer.
The body butter itself is fantastically light and creamy and feels so luxurious on the skin. It is absorbed very quickly too, leaving no messy residue. The product contains coconut oil, shea butter and avocado oil to aid with moisturisation, but despite the oil content it isn’t at all greasy. The oils make the butter ‘Intensively hydrating’, and combine to give ’12 hour moisturisation’, and believe me, the softness really does last that long. I’ve been using this every day for a good while now after my morning showers, and the effects last all day. I’ve found that it leaves my skin feeling almost silky, which after shaving your legs is one of the best feelings in the world! A real confidence booster.
The body butter is sold as an After Sun lotion, but can be used at any time. This really does make an excellent after sun product as it is very delicate, so doesn’t make sun-exposed skin sore. Rather, the natural oils hydrate the skin and stop it from peeling or going dry, which is just what you need when your skin’s feeling tender after a long day in the hot sun.
It isn’t just the formula that’s great though – the body butter smells absolutely beautiful too. The ‘Exotic Coconut’ scent is fresh and sweet, but not too overpowering. It even smells a little bit like bananas to me. Some coconut scented products that I’ve used in the past have smelt a bit too artificial and chemically, but this smells deliciously natural.
Hawaiian Tropic’s After Sun Body Butter retails for around £5 for a 200ml pot. That’s a lot of product for such a tiny price tag… I couldn’t actually believe my eyes when I saw how cheap it was! I will definitely be buying some more once this pot runs out as the quality is amazing. My skin feels great after using it, which in turn makes me feel great – what more can you ask for? I’ve seen it on sale in ASDA and Boots and I’m pretty sure it’s available in most places which stock such things.
Quite suitably, Hawaiian Tropic are currently part of a Facebook campaign with Wilkinson Sword called ‘Be Spontaneous‘, which celebrates that looking after your skin can make you ‘look and feel great [and] gives us an inner confidence to be spontaneous’. The Facebook page can be found here, and regularly features beauty and skincare tips and exciting competitions… It’s well worth a ‘like’!
Does good skin make you feel more confident too?
Naomi x
*I was gifted this Hawaiian Tropic After Sun Body Butter by Wilkinson Sword for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.*
