Beauty Changes I've Made in the Last Year

The other day, I realised just how many beauty changes I've made in the last year or so! There are more than what I'm going to mention in this post, but the following are the main ones. I was thinking about writing a post on the changes I've made since blogging, but that post would be ridiculously long! I've probably changed everything about my routine since three and a half years ago.

First of all, I started to use hot cloth cleansers in 2012. I love them. They're so creamy and moisturising, but remove all of your make-up at the same time. The ones above are Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser, Superdrug's Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser, and Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. I've also just used up the No7 one. My favourites would have to be the Superdrug ones. They're nearly as good as the Liz Earle one, but they're so much cheaper.

I also started wearing primer last year. How did I manage without it?! I couldn't not use it now. It allows my make-up to go on smoothly and last all day. The ones I use are Witch's Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer and Nivea's Express Hydration Primer.

I started using body oils in the Summer of 2012. The ones pictured above are Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil and The Body Shop's Coconut Beautifying Oil. I've used a third of The Body Shop's one, which is good going seeing as you only need to little bit at a time. I really want to try the mango scented one next.

I also think I started using wax to fill in my eyebrows last year. Before that, I always used powder. The wax I use, and have repurchased, is the one from the ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Medium.

I then started to use cream blushes. The ones I use the most are the ones pictured above, and they are the NYX Cream Blushes in Natural and Glow. To apply these, I use the ELF Studio Stipple Brush, which I picked up last month.

I also started to buff my nails. I never realised how many ridges I had until I buffed them. I then couldn't get over how smooth they felt! And my nail polish started to apply much better.

The most recent beauty change I've made is wearing nude eyeliner. The one above is Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Nude. It covers the redness I have on my waterline and brightens my eyes beautifully.



They're some of the changes I've made in the last year. Others include smudging out the eyeliner on my lower lash line, exfoliating my face with exfoliating gloves, and waxing my top lip ;)

My Current, Daily Beauty Routine (Evening)

Hello, all! Welcome to the second part of my current, daily beauty routine. You can find my morning routine post here. 

I shower in the evenings because I leave my hair to dry naturally and prefer to have relaxed mornings. I've been washing my hair with TRESemme's Salon Silk Shampoo and Conditioner (Superdrug, £4.99 for a 900ml bottle) for a while now. I usually buy them when they're half price. They're so affordable and last for months! I've also been using Liz Earle's Botanical Shine Shampoo* and Conditioner for Dry and Damaged Hair* (Liz Earle, £8.50 each). The shampoo is SLS free and contains many natural ingredients, so I've been using it every couple of weeks to give my hair a deep cleanse. Every time I've used the conditioner, my hair has gone dry, which is weird considering its claims.

After I've shampooed and conditioned my hair, I've been washing my body with Treacle Moon's One Ginger Morning Shower Gel (Tesco, £2.99). I love it so much! It smells like Starbursts. I then shave, which isn't interesting! and then I've been washing my face with No7's Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser (Boots, £9.95). It removes my make-up well and leaves it fairly soft. Not as soft as Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish though. I've also been trying out Nelsons Pure & Clear Purifying Daily Facial Wash* (Boots, £7.85). It removes my make-up well... that's all I have to say about it, really. It's not an exciting product, but it does the job.

I don't regularly moisturise my body, but I've been making an effort to do so more often. Once out of the shower, I've been using Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturising Body Oil (Boots, £5.10) (Review here) or The Body Shop's Coconut Beautifying Oil (The Body Shop, £9) (Review here) to moisturise. If I don't use those, I'll use Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion (Boots, £3.77) or The Body Shop's Raspberry, Mango and Sweet Lemon Body Butters (The Body Shop, £12.50 each).

Once my body is moisturised, I moisturise my face with The Body Shop's Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream (The Body Shop, £11) (Review here) or Simple's Kind to Skin Sun-Kissed Moisture Cream (Boots, £4.99). The Simple cream gives my skin a light tan, making it look healthy and glowing.

Next up to receive some TLC is my hair. I use Aussie's Miracle Hair Insurance Leave-In Conditioner (Boots, £4.49) and/or TRESemme's Salon Silk Serum (Boots, £4-5) on the ends of my hair. I don't use these every night. I use them once or twice a week.

And that concludes my current, daily beauty routine!

Thank you for reading!

*PR samples

Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil

This is the first body oil I've used. In the past, I thought body oils would leave me oily and do very little moisturising. I didn't know why someone would favour one over a body butter. Everything I thought was incorrect. I am really enjoying using this product and have already bought another body oil! I use this after I've had a shower and I can moisturise my entire body and get dressed within a few minutes. The scent is delicious, like most of Palmer's products. However, this is much more delicate than their other Cocoa Butter Formula products, so if you find them overwhelming, you'll probably prefer this scent. It absorbs into the skin incredibly well - Some of my body butters leave me more oily than this does. Just like the product claims, it leaves my skin silky soft. This feeling lasts all day, as does the scent (The scent is very subtle, remember, so it doesn't overpower my perfume). You receive 250ml of product, and a little goes a long way, so this should last a while.

Like most Palmer's products, you can purchase this from many stores. Superdrug and Boots are selling it for around £5.10, but if you would like to get your hands on this product without leaving your home, Feel Unique is selling it for £5, with free delivery.

If you cannot tell from my review, I would recommend the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil!

Beauty Buys

Hello! Despite having a beauty blog, I rarely buy a lot of beauty products. I only buy necessities, such as concealer and mascara. Recently, however, I have bought more beauty products than usual. As you can see, I have already been using these products (I couldn't wait!) and will have some reviews up shortly. 

So, where shall we start? The three pots with brown lids, on the near left, are Boots Extracts Fairtrade Brazil Nut 50ml pots. I won all three on eBay for £3.84, including P&P. I already own a small pot of the Brazil Nut body butter (as well as a handful of other scents) and love it. It's similar to the Cocoa Butter scent, but a lot better, in my opinion. 

I had a trusty Boots No7 £5 off voucher, so decided to try the No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser. Without the voucher, it is £10, so I only paid £5 for it. You get more product than you do with Liz Earle's variant and it's a lot cheaper. It removes my make-up well and leaves my skin slightly soft, but it doesn't leave it as soft as Liz Earle's. I'm not too bothered though, seeing as it's much more affordable.

Next, I bought the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil. You can buy this from Superdrug, Boots, Feel Unique, Amazon etc for around £5. Before this, I had never used a body oil because I thought it would leave me oily, like the name suggests. Oh, how very wrong I was! It sinks in to the skin incredibly well and leaves me less oily than a body butter or lotion would. It leaves your skin silky soft, just as it claims to. A more in depth review of this will be up shortly.

Did I need any more shower gel? No, I have bottles and bottles of the stuff. But I just had to buy the Nivea Water Lily & Oil and the Sunny Melon & Oil Shower Gels. These were £1.24 each (half price) from Boots. They smell divine!

I bought the Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover from Superdrug a while ago, so cannot remember the price. It's between £1-2 though. This is my favourite nail polish remover. It removes nail polish well, but it's the scent that keeps me repurchasing. It's slightly more subtle and sweet than your average remover, and doesn't make me feel sick.

As I said, I rarely buy beauty products, especially hyped up make-up items, so it was out of character for me to buy the Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Flushed. I bought this from Superdrug for £5.99 (normally £7.99). You get a lot of product - 12.4g! The shade looks vibrant and slightly scary in the pot, but it's very natural looking, once applied to the skin. It feels... satin-y - A lot different to the NYX cream blushes. I suppose this is because it has a cream-powder finish. 

Whilst in Superdrug, I also picked up the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick for £5.99 too (normally £7.99). I love fuss free lip products, so stains are my best friends. A lot of people are describing Lovesick as being a hot pink shade. I think it leans far more purple than that. For that reason, I bought the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart from eBay. I had to buy this shade from America because the UK doesn't have it. It annoys me that the UK always has limited product shades. Anyway, I paid £7, including P&P from America, from this seller. I think that's a pretty good deal! It took just over a week to arrive. Even though Sweetheart is more pink than Lovesick, it still leans cool toned/purple-y. I wish Revlon brought out more shades - A warm pink would be great.

Lastly from Superdrug, I bought Barry M's Pink Silver Glitter Nail Polish for £2.99. I wrote a post about it here. It's a beautiful shade and has changed my mind about glitters.

So, there you go! I hope you enjoyed this post. If you would like me to review any of the products above, just leave me a comment.

New Favourites

I thought I'd start writing 'New Favourites' posts instead of 'Current Favourites' or 'Monthly Favourites' because my favourites stay the same. These products are the products that have entered my 'favourite products' category. If you would like to see my other current favourites or monthly favourites, just read my previous posts :)

Treacle Moon - One Ginger Morning Shower Gel 500ml - £2.99 from Tesco

This smells like lime Starbursts! I love it so much. So much so that it's up there with the Original Source Lime Shower Gel - My all time favourite.

Palmers - Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion 200ml - £3.77 from Boots

I don't regularly moisturise my body, but when I do, I like an intense moisturiser. I normally prefer body butters, but this lotion is thick and moisturises just as well. The scent may be too sweet and heavy for the Summer months, but I still love it.

Exfoliating gloves - Mine were a couple of pounds from Superdrug, but you can get these from any Supermarket.

I've been using these to exfoliate my face a couple times a week and my face has never been so smooth and soft. Then, at night, I use an intense moisturiser or balm. It's doing wonders for my skin.

The Body Shop - Hand Cleanse Gels 60ml - £2.50 each

I've reviewed these here. Beautiful, true to name scents that are not alcoholic. Love them!

Lush - Vanilla Puff Dusting Powder 50g - £4.50

I've reviewed this here. I've mainly been using this as a dry shampoo, and it works brilliantly. The powder is fine, so it doesn't leave you with grey hair, and the scent is of a 'grown up' vanilla.

The Body Shop - Vitamin E Moisture Cream 50ml - £9

Every morning, before I apply my concealer, I use this under my eyes. It's light and sinks in well. I prefer using pots of moisturiser for some reason.

The Body Shop - Vitamin E Intense Moisture Cream 50ml - £11

I've reviewed this here. You know I said I use an intense moisturiser just now? This is the one I've been using. It feels like silk, absorbs well and leaves your skin incredibly soft.

ELF - Small Mineral Booster 5.1g - £5

I've just checked their website and this has increased in price! The small pot used to be £3.50 and the large pot was £5, but now the small pot is £5 and the large pot is £7. This leaves my skin looking matte and feeling soft, but I don't know if I'm going to repurchase it now. I think I'll repurchase it when they have a code floating around.

Figs & Rouge Balms - Pomegranate 17ml and Rambling Rose 8ml - £4.95 and £3.50 from Super Smoocher (Feel Unique and Boots also sell them)

I've reviewed these here. Beautiful packaging, delicious scents and very moisturising. They are also 100% natural and organic.

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know!

Body Butter Collection + Reviews

I prefer body butters to lotions. Although my skin isn't dry, I like to give it as much moisture as possible. I actually only use these in the Summer when my legs are on show; the rest of the year I just smell them!

Left to right: The Body Shop Raspberry, The Body Shop Almond, Boots Extracts Vanilla, Body Treatment Cocoa, Palmers Cocoa Butter, Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter x2, Boots Extracts Mango, Boots Extracts Coconut, Boots Extracts Brazil Nut, Boots Extracts Honey.

All moisturise well, I've never come across a body butter that doesn't.

The Body Shop £12.50 for 200ml: The raspberry one smells absolutely divine! Like jam. I don't like the Almond one, it is nothing compared to the Boots Extracts Almond one that my sister has. I wouldn't pay full price for these because I don't like to spend over £10 on a body butter but when on sale they are a great buy.

Body Treatment Cocoa £1something for 220ml: You can buy this at Wilkinsons and it is very affordable! However, since purchasing my other body butters, I've noticed that this one doesn't smell as nice.

Palmers Cocoa Butter £3.22* for 100g: This smells so good (Like chocolate) and is affordable too. It moisturises well, the only problem being how greasy it is. This is a product to use in the evening when you're not doing anything as it takes a while to absorb into the skin.

Boots Extracts £7.92* for 200ml, £2.55* for 50ml: I absolutely adore this range and will choose them over The Body Shop any day. Not the cheapest but more affordable than The Body Shop. These are also fairtrade.

Favourites:

• The Body Shop Raspberry - Jam, yum yum.
• Boots Extracts Vanilla - Anyone who knows me or reads my blog regularly will know that Vanilla is my favourite scent so this has to be in my favourites!
• Boots Extracts Mango - Smells amazing! and isn't too sweet.
• Boots Extracts Brazil Nut - Oh my. I thought that the Cocoa Butter one would smell sweeter but no, this one definitely smells sweeter! It smells like toffee/fudge/yummy goodness. I think this one may just be in the lead with Vanilla! Now that's a compliment!

x

*Palmers and Boots Extracts prices from Boots.com, correct at time of writing.

Shop!

WHSmith:

2011 Diary £8.49.

I've been looking for a diary for weeks! I'm so fussy. Finally found this one and I love it :)

Boots:

Botanics Golden Glow Body Lotion £2.99 (Free as it was 3 for 2), Botanics Pore Perfecting Toner £2.99, Botanics Pore Perfecting Deep Clean Mousse £3.99, Palmers Cocoa Butter Stick £2.69.

I have quite a lot of skincare products but I thought I'd try the Botanics range out as I've read tons of amazing reviews. The Palmers stick was just something I wanted!

Superdrug:

Nail Varnish Remover £1.99, Accessorize Eyeshadow in Champagne £4, Accessorize Blush in Pretty Pink £5.50, GOSH Effect Powders in Gold Dust and Satin £1 each in sale, Collection 2000 Base Coat £2.49 (Free as it was 3 for 2).

The Accessorize eyeshadow and blush give an amazing glow. The eyeshadow is the perfect highlight.

Wilkinsons:

Cotton Pads 50p each, White shower thingy 84p, Pink shower thingy 45p, Palmers Lip Balm 97p.

The shower thingy's (Bath lilies, body mops or whatever) have 'suckers' on them which come in very handy!

Online I've ordered a Boots Extracts gift set containing 5 yummy 50ml body butters. This was half price, £5.

And from The Body Shop, I've ordered the large strawberry holdall which was £14 down from £35.

I need a coat, cardigans, shoes and camera, but they're for another day!

x

Palmer's Hair Success Gro Treatment

I haven't seen this is UK stores but I know it's available on Amazon and eBay for around £4.

You get 100g of product which is a lot and will last you quite a while.

Palmer's say: "Palmer's Hair Success Gro prevents Dry, Breaking Hair, Allows Hair to Grow Longer

Palmer's Hair Success Gro Treatment with VITAMIN E and PROTEIN coats and protects the hair shaft, prevents breakage and allows hair to grow longer. Conditions and moisturizes dry scalp."

My thoughts: The colour is a light milky orange. The smell is disgusting! Like chemical marzipan.

I first put this all over my hair just like a deep conditioner but after rinsing it out twice, my hair was still greasy. I then realised just to put it over my scalp. This helped a little with the greasiness but my hair still felt heavy and dirty.

The thing is, because this is not used all over your hair, you can not feel a difference in the softness/condition like most conditioners do. So I cannot review the difference with 'Dry, breaking hair'.

Another thing that is hard to review is if the product 'Allows hair to grow longer'. Hair grows without products anyway and if this did make a significant difference, I'm not going to know because I don't measure my hair with a measuring tape.

So overall, I don't know if this product improves the condition of my hair or helps it grow but it does smell horrible and leaves my hair greasy.

I wish I could tell if this improves my hair, but as I can't, I'm not willing to have greasy, chemical marzipan smelling hair.

x

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula

'COCOA BUTTER, enriched with VITAMIN E, in a soothing emollient base. Helps smooth and blend unattractive marks and scars. Tones skin. An excellent all-over-body moisturiser and after tanning butter. Use immediately after following exposure to the sun and wind. Ideal for deep moisturisation, including overnight treatments. Widely recommended for stretch marks during and after pregnancy. Use daily for soft, youthful appearance.'

WOW! So what does this claim?

• Smooths and blends unattractive marks and scars
• Tones skin
• Great after tanning butter
• Good with skin exposed to the sun and wind
• Recommended for during and after pregnancy to prevent stretch marks
• Helps give a youthful appearance

^ All moisturisers do these things; these are the benefits as to why we moisturise aren't they?

Palmer's have just brought these benefits forward to sound better than other moisturisers on the market, and good for them.

The smell

I loveeeee! It has a chocolate vanilla scent so it is very sweet. The scent is strong so some people may not like it.

The formula

It's like a tub of Vaseline - a solid balm. You cannot scoop it out like a normal body butter because of it's solid consistency so I 'moosh' it up before using.

This is VERY greasy, the greasiest product I have used in fact. It takes a while to absorb into the skin so it is best used at night or when you're not planning on going out.

It melts at body temperature so feels warm when applying which is really nice. This would be perfect for a massage! Any takers?

Although it's greasy, it leaves my skin extremely soft afterwards. I used it on my legs for a few days then decided to try it on my feet, hands,elbows and lips - Adventurous, I know ;) Gotta live on the edge! :P Wherever applied was left soft :)

I was a little disappointed when I purchased this product because I was looking for a body butter and this is a greasy balm. But, this smells great and leaves my skin extremely soft so the pros outweigh the cons. Another good point about this product is that it is cheap, costing around £3 so that's 3-1 for the pros.

Would I repurchase? This pot will last me ages! But once finished, probably not. It's a good product but I'm always changing what I use and by the time I've finished this, I will have my eye on something else.

x

Today's purchases

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturising Lip Balm £1.69 and ... butter? £3.19

One lipbalm is part of a friends birthday present. This lipbalm is the first one my sister has completely finished, which is pretty good going seeing as me and my sister never finish lipbalms. I've also had one before and really liked it :)

The body butter is really weird. It's like a tub of Vaseline; solid and greasy.

I put some on my leg (By put I mean slowly melting some product onto my finger because it's too solid to scoop out) and it left my legs soft.. but greasy. After an hour, they're not really greasy, just soft.

I'm not sure what to make of this as essentially it's a large pot of greasy wax (one of the main ingredients)

Actually I'll post the ingredients:

Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Mineral Oil (Paraffinum Liquidum), Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Dimethicone, Fragrance (Parfum), Tocopheryl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Carotene (CI 40800)

So the wax and oil are what make up it's solid greasy formula. I'm going to research the product and see how to use it :)

EDIT: Apparently you just use it as a normal body butter, melting with the body temperature of your fingers. Most reviews also say that it's quite heavy and doesn't absorb into the skin quickly (That's why my legs were greasy for a while) but it leaves your skin extremely smooth. So it's best to use this product at night and when your in the house for a while, giving it time to sink in.

x