Beauty. Fashion. Lifestyle.
Posts tagged Shower Gel
‘Spend or Save’ Fashion and Beauty Christmas Gift Guide
2Whether you’re on a tight budget, or you’re able to flash the cash this Christmas, today’s festive post features a selection of ‘Spend or Save’ fashion and beauty gift ideas for women. The ‘Spend’ section includes a variety of luxury options for those who want to spend that little bit more on a loved one, and the ‘Save’ section includes some great alternatives that are just as good, but don’t cost the Earth.
Spend:
Alexander Wang Kirsten Bag $295 from ialexanderwang.com / Jurlique Rose Shower Gel (300ml) £14.40 from LookFantastic / Urban Decay Naked2 Palette £33.30 (was £37.00) from Debenhams / Ciaté Tree Trinkets £21.00 (was £30.00) for 6 from Ciate / No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum (30ml) £23.95 from Boots / Dr Martens Cherry Red 1460 Boots £100 from Dr Martens
Save:
Multi Belt Two Way Bag £38 from Rings & Tings / Bayliss & Harding Wild Rose and Raspberry Leaf Shower Creme £1.99 from Superdrug / MUA Undress Me Too Palette £4 from MUA / Lacura Multi Intensive Serum Aqua £3.49 from Aldi / Limited Collection Mini Nail Polish & Lip Gloss Bauble £5.00 each from M&S / Burgundy Boots £24.99 from H&M
I’ve been lusting after Alexander Wang’s Kirsten Bag for ages, but it’s really quite expensive and difficult to track down, so when I spotted the copy on Rings & Tings I just had to share it with you all! I don’t yet have either bag myself, but from photographs the copy looks pretty impressive.
I currently have both the Jurlique and the Bayliss & Harding rose shower gels in my bathroom, and they are equally lovely. The Jurlique one foams better, but each has a distinct sweet rose scent and luxurious packaging, making them both gift-worthy.
The Urban Decay Naked2 palette is perhaps one of the most highly sought after beauty products in the blogosphere, so would make an excellent gift for any beauty blogger. If it’s a bit out of your budget though, MUA’s Undress Me Too palette is the perfect dupe. I have it myself and the eyeshadows are all excellent quality, and at £4.00 you really can’t complain!
I’m new to serums, but have recently started to use the Lacura Multi Intensive Serum from Aldi. It’s aimed at women aged 25-35, so I’m almost in that age bracket, and it makes your skin feel so soft and plump. It’s lovely, and an absolute steal, but if you want to gift a more classic brand then No.7 is the way to go.
When I first put this guide together, Ciaté’s Tree Trinkets were £30 for the set, but they have now been reduced to £21 which is actually a pretty good deal, especially if you want to split the set up as smaller gifts. If you want more for your money however, M&S’s beauty bauble contains a nail polish and two miniature lip glosses for £5. I also spotted a Primark equivalent earlier this week, costing £2 for a bauble containing 3 little lip glosses, which is even better value for money!
I absolutely adore Dr Martens and am building up quite a collection. They last forever and, once they’ve been broken in, are incredibly comfortable. But if you’re looking for a cheaper version for your fashion-loving friend this Christmas, H&M’s burgundy boots look fab.
Check back soon for another ‘Spend or Save’ gift guide!
Naomi x
Beauty Stocking Fillers for £5 and Under
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7 years
This year seems to have gone incredibly fast, and Christmas is almost upon us. I’m sure by now we are all well into our Christmas shopping (I’ve been extremely organised this year and only have a couple of bits left to get!), but I thought I’d put together a few festive themed posts over the next week or two to help with that last-minute rush. I have spent a while lately trawling the shops and internet for stocking filler ideas, so today’s post features my pick of the best beauty stocking fillers for £5 and under.
Clockwise from Top Left:
Orly Nail Polish £3.99 from Fragrance Direct / Lacura Aqua Moisture Cream £1.99 from ALDI / SuperDrama Mascara £5.00 (was £10.00) from Avon / Halo Futuristic Nail Glitter £4.50 from ASOS / Denman Small Styling Brush £4.99 from Fragrance Direct / Ginger Sparkle Hand Cream £4.00 from The Body Shop / Momiji Mini Gift Set £5.00 from M&S / 3 in 1 Nail Art Pearl Gem Pen £4.50 from Claire’s / MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer £3.00 from MUA / MUA Luxe Glitter Palette £4.00 from MUA / Montagne Jeunesse Strawberry Souffle Face Mask £0.99 from New Look / Snow Fairy Shower Gel £3.50 for 100g from LUSH / Metal Eyelash Curler £3.25 from John Lewis
I hope you all find this edit helpful! If you have any £5 or under stocking filler ideas to add, please comment below as I’d love to see what you’ve come across.
Check back soon for my next Christmas post, featuring Spend and Save Christmas Gift ideas.
Happy Shopping!
Naomi x
Imperial Leather Foamburst Luxurious Body Wash
1I’ve been seeing a lot of adverts lately for Imperial Leather’s Foamburst Luxurious Body Washes, and have been quite curious about them, so when Imperial Leather asked me to review a couple of Foamburst products for them I happily accepted! The range features seven fragrances, and each one has its own eye-catching Genie to represent it…
See what I mean? The two scents I received are Uplifting Lime & Grapefruit, and (one that really suits my blog) Bewitching Blackberry & Wild Fig.
As far as appearance goes, these body washes definitely look the part. I love the contrast of the bright colours on black, and the curved cans emphasise the luxury element. They look fab lined up on my bathroom shelf, and the cans are practical too as the press down top is easy to use and prevents too much gel coming out, which is essential with these!
When I first saw that I’d been sent Uplifting Lime & Grapefruit, I was slightly dubious as I’m not usually a fan of citrus bath and shower products – they remind me too much of washing up liquid! This one is actually quite nice though, as the zestiness of the lime is cut through with an earthy undertone of grapefruit, which makes for a refreshing morning shower. I think my fiancé would like this one as the scent is quite masculine.
Bewitching Blackberry & Wild Fig is easily my favourite as it smells rich and beautiful. I’m a sucker for sweet scents, and the Autumnal fruity fragrance of blackberry and fig has a hint of vanilla running through it that adds a touch of decadence. This one’s perfect for a pampering evening bath, which is just what you need during these cold months.
The scent of both Foambursts also lingers on the skin for a long time after use, which is what I look for in a good body wash, so these definitely pass the test.
Foamburst is a very apt name, too. The body wash leaves the can as a pretty coloured gel (green and purple to match the cans), but when rubbed turns into a gorgeously silky soft white foam, which feels lovely and luxurious on the skin. You only need a small amount of gel (about the size of a £2 coin) to produce enough foam to cover most or your body, which is really impressive! You can get 40 washes out of one can as well, which is absolutely worth the money.
The can also states that the foam is great for shaving, and though I haven’t tried it yet, I’m definitely going to be using it when I next shave my legs. I currently use a gel to foam shaving foam which doesn’t smell that nice, so it’ll be nice to use something a bit nicer! It’d be good for men to shave with too, I imagine.
Imperial Leather’s Foamburst Luxurious Body Washes usually retail for around £3.50, which is well worth it if you want a luxury shower product that goes a long way, but they’re currently on offer in Boots for £2.00, and on Ocado for £1.99, which is even better!
Naomi x
*These Imperial Leather Luxurious Body Washes were sent to me for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.*
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
Alison Claire Remarkable Shower Gel and Body Lotion
5I recently received not one but two generously sized samples from Alison Claire‘s Remarkable range of bio-natural beauty products. Alison Claire’s company was created in order to combat the use of artificial chemicals in beauty products which can damage and irritate the skin. As such, all of Alison Claire’s products are free of all four ‘big nasties’ – sulphates, parabens, phenoxyethanol and PEGs. Instead, everything contains only raw, naturally sourced ingredients, meaning they are suitable for sensitive skin, and are prepared and blended by hand to ensure that all of their products meet their high standards.
The two samples I will be reviewing are Alison Claire’s Lemongrass Shower Gel and Rose Geranium Body Lotion. On first glance the packaging may look basic, but the brand’s clean and simple image really reflects the products inside. I mean, what matters more? Frills and bows or, as Alison Claire boasts, ‘pure unadulterated quality’?
Lemongrass Shower Gel
When I first opened the bottle of shower gel I was immediately met with the delicate aroma of refreshing lemon, from the lemongrass and lemon balm that the product contains. The shower gel doesn’t lather up as much as I’m used to, but it still massages in well so it is worth the sacrifice if it means using less synthetic ingredients. This is perfect for use in the morning to wake you up as it has witch hazel and white willow bark in it, which makes it nicely invigorating. I mostly use shower creams through choice as I find gels can be quite drying, but because this is all natural it doesn’t dry your skin out at all. Rather, it leaves your skin feeling wonderfully clean and refreshed, but also conditioned and soft.
Rose Geranium Body Lotion
Alison Claire describes the Rose Geranium scent of this body lotion as ‘charmingly fragrant’, and it is exactly that. It smells earthy, but also subtly sweet and floral and is beautifully relaxing. The scent lingers on your skin for a good few hours too, and it’s always pleasant when you catch a whiff of it. I find that it takes a while for the lotion to be completely worked into your skin, but once it’s absorbed it feels intensely moisturising, but not at all greasy. At first, again because of the white willow, the lotion feels cooling and invigorating, but it soon calms to give long-lasting softness. It is also enriched with vitamins such as vitamin E and B12, which help to repair damaged or irritated skin. I have always loved natural moisturisers and this one really is gorgeous!
The two products I received cost £12 each for 200ml full-sized bottles. This may seem pricey, but if you want high-quality products which are made with care and are gentle on the skin then it is well worth it. Alison Claire’s range of bio-natural products is quite extensive, too. As well as shower gels and body lotions you can also buy all-natural hand washes, hand creams, lip balms, shampoos, conditioners, body butters, foot creams and even anti-aging face creams! There are many different scents available, from vanilla and coconut to apricot or lime, and many more. If you want to see the range for yourself then visit the Alison Claire website. I really want to try the Orange and Patchouli Hand Cream – patchouli is one of my favourite scents but it’s so hard to find.
Naomi x
Montagne Jeunesse Travel Pamper Pack
2It may be dull and rainy outside but, believe it or not, it’s July, and for a lot of people July means a holiday in the sun! It’s always nice to pamper yourself whilst on holiday, but there’s not always room in your suitcase for all of your lotions and potions. That’s where Montagne Jeunesse come in with their new beauty travel product – the Travel Pamper Pack!
Montagne Jeunesse are one of my favourite skincare companies as their products are all vegetarian friendly, mostly made from natural ingredients and smell absolutely divine, so when I was asked to review the Travel Pamper Pack on my blog I jumped at the chance as I’d been eyeing it up on their website for ages!
The pack contains six lovely treats for your hair, face, feet and body, which come in a handy little folder which is the perfect size to tuck into your suitcase. The six items that you get are these…
Though I haven’t been on holiday to use this in a ‘travel’ situation, I had a serious two day pamper session last week and got through most of the pack! So, since I’ve tried almost all of the products, I will now tell you about them 
Body Wash
As you can see, you get two sachets of the same orange body wash in the travel pack. When I first opened the sachet I found the smell to be quite overpowering, but it soon calmed down and lingered on my skin for a long time. Quite pleasantly, the orange scent smells like real oranges, and not artificial at all. There is plenty of gel in each sachet to cover your whole body, and it lathers up nicely and feels creamy and soft on the skin.
Foot Cooler
This was my favourite product in the whole pack. The foot cooler is a lovely shade of blue and quite runny. The sachet contains enough cream for both feet… When you rub it in, it turns into a silky powder which instantly cools your skin and makes your feet feel soft and tingly. The cooling sensation lasts for a long time as well, even after washing! The cooler smells amazing… It’s a mix of blueberry and mint and is so refreshing. My only complaint is that I was left with a white residue on my hands and feet after using this which didn’t wash off easily.
Passion Peel Off Masque
The Passion Peel Off Masque smells quite strongly of pomegranate and consists of a clear, pale pink gel. The gel smooths onto your face easily, but it’s a bit messy – it kept sinking between my fingers and getting everywhere! The sachet says that the mask takes 10-15 minutes to dry but it actually took a bit longer on me. After 20 minutes I started to peel it off but some of it was still wet so I had to do it in stages. The mask didn’t irritate my skin at all though and it didn’t dry my face out like a lot of masks do – it felt like a nice little treat of an evening!
Skin Smoother
I used this last night when I had a bath. It smells lovely, like apricot and mango, and it looks a little bit like apricot yoghurt, but it is full of micro beads which exfoliate the skin. As the sachet suggests, I rubbed this into my feet, elbows and knees and then washed it off. It definitely made a difference to my skin, leaving it feeling smooth, but I wouldn’t say it was much different to any other exfoliating product that I’ve used. It reminded me of St Ives Apricot Scrub.
Intensive Spa Hair Masque
I haven’t got round to using this yet, but if the rest of the pack is anything to go by then it won’t disappoint! I’ll update this post once I’ve tried it.
I think the Travel Pamper Pack is a great little product. I’d definitely invest in one if I was going on holiday, or even if I just wanted another pamper weekend! If you want your own Travel Pamper Pack, they are just £5.00 each on Montagne Jeunesse’s website.
Naomi x
My Avon Spring Raffle
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I am currently running a Spring Raffle for my lovely Avon customers and thought that I would show you all the prize! The basket contains a selection of light, sweet and sparkly products so that the winner can shine all Spring through, and is worth over £30 in total (at full brochure price).
The prize includes:
- Purisma Pearlesque Gift Set (contains a silver plated necklace and earrings with faux pearl and diamante detail).
- Ultra Colour Rich 24K Gold Lipstick in ‘Ruby in Gold’.
- ANEW Genics Treatment Concentrate (trial size).
- Naturals Cherry Blossom Daily Refreshing Shampoo.
- Skin So Soft Mineral Gems Diamond Blush Hand Cream.
- Pur Blanca Body Spray.
- Naturals Lemon Blossom & Basil Shower Gel.
- Nail Buffer Keyring.
I’ll be finishing the basket off with a BIG bow on the front for that extra special touch, and will also be throwing in a selection of fragrance and skincare samples for good measure.
Naomi x
PS. If any of you want to enter, tickets cost £1 each and must be purchased by the 29th of March. Winner will be chosen at random on the 1st of April. If you win, I will pay for your prize to be shipped to you Email or comment here if you’re interested (you don’t have to be a customer to buy tickets).
