Lush King of Skin Body Butter

Ever since Lush stopped selling The Comforter Shower Gel, I have probably tried every other shower gel there is on offer, but one set of products I hadn't tried until now was the body butters and new to the collection comes Lush King of Skin Body Butter.

Lush King of Skin Body Butter is a solid body butter which comes with no bottle or pot and its job is to leave your skin feeling soft and smooth. 

Ideal for using in the shower, the idea is to massage the crown of the body butter over wet skin and as it comes into contact with the warmness of the water, it creates a lovely almost balm-to-oil like texture which isn't greasy or tacky on the skin, instead it is just incredibly soft and smooth.  

Using hydrating oat milk and nutrient rich bananas which work hand-in-hand with smooth avocado and cocoa and shea butters, you get a really delightful calming and soothing scent which comes from: 

• Tangerine Oil, an uplifting scent which helps to rejuvenate as it is thought to improve the circulation of blood and lymph,
• Lavender Oil, soothing and calming scent which on the skin helps cleanse and soothe as well as balance sebum production
• Sandalwood Oil, a reassuring and grounding scent which is astringent, emollient and soothing to the skin
• Rose Oil, an incredibly fresh rose scent which i designed to be uplifting, on the skin it is used for its soothing, rejuvenating and toning properties.

Add to those the use of Almond Oil and Jojoba Oil which are both soothing and moisturising, but that isn't all.  As you can see from the shape of the body butter, with its crown like design, it also makes for a lovely massage balm as you manoeuvre it around the body, using the middle to apply pressure to those aches and pains.

After showering, you simply rinse off your skin is not only left nourished and deeply moisturised, but the scent of those oils are all too present and make for the most wonderful smell which is present on the skin.

Priced at £9 it is a wonderful treat and a nice break from using traditional shower gels.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Lookfantastic Beauty Box - October

I bought the September Lookfantastic Beauty Box which you can read all about HERE and I was so impressed, I ordered the October one straight away and it has already sold out. The box offers a great selection of handpicked, must have beauty fixes wrapped in a beautifully presented box and delivered straight to your door. The beauty box will always include a minimum of six products and will offer a selection of skin, hair, cosmetic and body products, catering to every kind of beauty lover.

This month’s box is filled with 7 beauty items and inside you will find some well known and high end brands such as L’Oreal Professional, Gatineau, Balance Me, This Works, Korres and KMSCalifornia and all for £15!

The first item in my box is the L’Oreal Professional Serie Expert Pro-Keratin Refill Shampoo and Masque. The Shampoo cleanses and replesnishes damaged hair for smooth, reinforced feel. Enriched with pro-keratin and incell, hair fibre feels strengthened and re-inforced. The Masque intensively replenishes damaged hair for a smooth reinforced feel. The formula creates a defensive shield providing day to day protection from external aggressors.

Secondly is the KMS California Free Shape Quick Blow Dry in a 75ml bottle. I have never tried anything from the KMS California range, so I am quite looking forward to this because if and when I do blow-dry my hair, it can often end up quite frizzy and and a static nightmare. The spray claims to reduce your blow drying time by up to 50%, reduce friction whilst conditioning lightly and provide heat protection, so essentially a three in one product.

Korres Citrus Shower Gel is next. I am a huge fan of Korres products so was really happy to see this as I haven't yet tried it. With claims of being an uplifting, clean and fresh scent with surprising tenacity. It uses wheat proteins and contains vitamin C and E, zinc and anti-oxidant enzymes to enhance the skin’s immune system, this is due to active aloe’s ability to stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis, which helps reduce the visible signs of ageing.

The next product is Balance Me Facial Expression Filler. I am a huge fan of Balance Me products, ive said it numerous times on this blog how much I love the brand, so I was delighted to see a product I hadn't yet tried in my box and it is a full size product which has an RRP £22. Said to be a hi-tech daily ‘natural botox’ fix for an instantly smoother-looking complexion, it is perfect for targeting fine lines on the forehead, above the lip and at the sides of the mouth and eyes.

This Works Sleep Plus Pillow Spray has made an appearance this month, there was a similar product in Septembers box, but this appears to be a newer edition. Said to act faster than the original spray it is a fast acting natural remedy to help restore healthy sleep patterns for restless sleepers and is clinically proven to provide a better night’s sleep. It contains a potent blend of Lavender which naturally encapsulates to gradually release aromatherapeutic benefits as you sleep. This edition has more of a lavender fragrance and does smell a little medicinal.

As I sometimes go through bouts of insomnia, I love to have products like this around so that should I need them, they are there.

The last product in the box is the Gatineau Paris Collagene Expert Ultimate Skin Soothing Cream . I am a big fan of French skincare, I think here in the UK it is very much undervalued. This cream contains high concentrates of collagen and elastin which helps with the appearance of wrinkles and uneven skin texture. Further ingredient’s are Tri-Collegen complex and Hyaluronic Acid for a smooth and plumped complexion. Putting all of those together your skin is said to benefit from an increase in elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles are visibly smoothed and the complexion feels velvety soft, smooth and plump.

 

I think yet again I have an amazing box and I will use every product, some I have heard of and some I haven't.  I love that the products are said to be sample sized but in reality they are much better than that, big enough to allow you a real opportunity to try and test things to see whether or not they work for you.  I have got Novembers box on its way to me because I have been so impressed and all for just £15.

Ruby Red Cosmetics Natural Skincare

Ruby Red is a company I came by after an opportunity arose in an email and I have to say, if you want a product to make you go "Wow" then read on.

The brand Ruby Red is a combination of Mike’s surname (Ruby), the owner and Red for their London roots. Ruby Red as a company believe that healthy, radiant skin needs vital nutrients from the outside as well as the inside. Their Skin and Body care ranges are full of plant nourishment combined with distinctive pampering aromas made from oils without SLS, parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals and dyes as well as never tested on Animals.  

I was sent two products in the form of a Reviving Body Cleanser** and a Renewal Shea Skin Cream** which as you can see below arrived really well packaged and inside two very different containers.  

The Body Cleanser, which was a finalist in the Best Shower Gel category at the 2014 Beauty Shortlist Awards is described as follows:

"Botanical glucosides found in sugar and coconut makes an effective cleansing agent which does not irritate the skin; botanical extract of Aloe Vera soften and soothe the skin. A warm, invigorating, citrus aroma of Lime, Red Mandarin, Coriander and Cedarwood boost circulation while toning and refreshing the skin"

The first thing about this cleanser is the scent, it is absolutely phenomenal, one of those scents you need on a morning when you feel really sluggish, annoyed that you have had to leave your bed and a morning when no amount of caffeine is going to wake up - well this product will! To use you simply apply a generous amount onto your hands or onto a cloth and then massage over your damp skin whilst in the shower, as soon as the clear looking gel leaves the bottle the scent wakes you, but when it hits the steam you become more alert than you probably have done in a long time, after wahsing you simply wash it off, again using a damp cloth and it leaves your skin not only squeaky clean but smelling so good and the scent lasts pretty much all day, even as it fades it is still wonderful. it is also worth noting that this Reviving Body Cleanser can also be used as hand cleanser, something I am yet to try.

The second product is the Renewal Shea Skin Cream which is in this 60ml glass jar and when I first removed the jar, I didnt find what I was expecting. I was expecting to find a runny cream not a solid, so I was very much intrigued to use this. It comes with the following description:

"The healing enzymes in Lemon and Honey work together to improve cell renewal while Vitamins A, E, & F in our pure, hand processed organic Shea butter help to restore the skin’s elasticity lost through dryness or sun-exposure. A small of cream amount will moisturise, softening and smoothing the skin".

Even though this skin cream contains lemon and honey, the scent isn't as strong as the body cleanser, but it is subtle enough for me to absolutely love it. To use you simply warm a really small amount in your hands and on the Ruby Red site they make a point of stating that by small they mean no bigger than a raindrop, the reason being that as soon as it comes into contact with your skin it begins to melt, so it literally absorbs without no amount of effort on your part and as you massage it into the skin, the lemony scent comes to life and reminds me of sherbet lemons, a scent I happen to adore. Once massaged onto the skin, within a matter of minutes there is no trace that anything was actually there, instead you have soft, smooth skin. If like me you spend a lot of your working life, days and sometimes evening dealing with paper, I find it dries my hands out, hence my love of hand cream, well I have been using this for the last 2 months and it is a perfect remedy for my dry hands, not to mention I use it on my shins, elbows and feet as well.

These products I cannot rate highly enough, they have caused no adverse reactions to my skin, they smell more wonderful than I can give them credit for and I absolutely love using them.  You can find more information about Ruby Red on their website which is HERE and their products can be bought online through the Ruby Red shop or from places like Amazon, Fortnum and Mason and soon to launch in Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge.

Primark Body Essentials Argan Scrub

I am a bit of an impulse shopper, a bit of a magpie when I see things that sound good, are a bargain price and make a few promises, I buy them.  Sometimes those products are amazing, sometimes they are disappointing - this product was the latter.

For £2.50 in Primark, I came across Body Essentials Argan range within which was a body scrub with Argan oil and a promise that it would remove dead skin cells leaving skin smoothed and polished. Hmmm £2.50 this could have been the product of all products had if worked, but for me it didn't.

It says "Treat your body with intensely conditioning argan oil. This body scrub removed dead skin cells whilst smoothing the skin leaving it feeling refreshed, polished and smelling delicious".

Well it does smell nice, but not what I would call delicious, when I think of a body scrub that is delicious I am drawn to the Soap and Glory a Breakfast scrub which smells amazing, this scrub smells like a weak coconut smoothie, though it doesn't contain coconut.

Then when it comes to using on your body, it does say that for a deeper exfoliation you can use it in dry skin before showering or when in the shower on damp skin massage it on using circular motions.  The cream is a fairly thick consistency and there are small exfoliating particles in it, but I personally think the cream is too thick for those particles to work as they should, so it doesn't do a very good job at exfoliating, it's main purpose.  When you do manage to get to the exfoliating particles they don't exfoliate that well and you can barely feel them on the skin, even if you apply a lot of pressure.  I found it particularly hard to use and ended up reaching for the Soap and a Glory Breakfast scrub to finish the job I had started.

I have used this quite a few times over the past few months, I say that because I feel it would be unfair to use it once and then state I am not too impressed with it.  I have tried using it before I shower, when I am in the shower and even when I am in the bath and I get the same result, well no result actually.  The only thing it does is make my skin feel really dry after using it, so I am instantly reaching for one of my moisturises as soon as I have patted my skin dry.

For £2.50 I am really saddened this hasn't worked for me because I had high hopes, maybe it works better for other people, but for me it is a product that I wouldn't repurchase and one that is heading for the bin because I won't be finishing the tube.

What I got in the Lush Sale!

Christmas isn't Christmas without a trip to Lush is it? As soon as I am notified Snow Fairy is available I am in the shop as soon as possible to stock up for the following year as I love the product.

This year I got a lovely Lush voucher for Christmas and decided to go and see what was on offer in the sales as I had my eye on one or two bits and this is what I bought with my voucher:

The first thing I picked up was the gift set - Lush Stardust which contains 6 items, all of which I had intended to purchase separately but when reduced from £25 down to £12, I liked the box rather a lot, being pink and glittery, I bought it.

Inside Stardust was a 100g bottle of Snow Fairy, Candy Mountain Bubble Bar, Rock Star Soap, Snow Fairy Sparkle, Star Light Star Bright Bath Melt and Space Girl Bath Ballistic.

Then I bought a few other little bits because they were also on offer with 50% off - Snow Fairy Sparkle which I gave as a present to a friend, Godmother Soap which smells the same as Snow Fairy, Snowman Bath Ballistic, So White Bath Ballistic and finally Wiccy Magic Muscle Massage Bar which wasn't on offer but I am a huge fan of this and the fact it is a massage bar.

To date, this is my one and only sales haul, so I am feeling quite impressed with myself.

Have you had a big post-Christmas sales shop?  

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel

I am a bit of a Lush fanatic and I love the colour pink. How right that person was and I get very excited at Christmas Time when the Lush Limited Edition products come out.

One of my favourite Lush products ever is the Snow Fairy shower gel.

The shower gel inside the bottle is a bright candy pink colour and once you squeeze a little out onto the palm on your hand you can instantly recognise the sweet candy scent which has to be one of the sweetest things you will ever smell but in a nice way, it isn't overpowering like a vanilla scented product is, instead this shower gel is so sweet it reminds me of candy canes which you hang on your Christmas tree, Also within this shower gel are little pieces of glitter which sparkle in the light and is perfect for Christmas. When using this shower gel you will need to squeeze the bottle quite hard at first to produce a small blob like portion on the palm of your hand and the gel is quite thick in texture so you wont need as much as you would normally. 

After my shower my skin was very soft and moisturised and the sweet candy scent was to me really nice and I could still smell it on my skin in the evening, after being at work all day. Also, rather than using it as just a shower gel, I have to admit that I have used it as bubble bath, when I've come home from work and am so tired all I want is a long hot soak and I really cannot be bothered to have a shower, using this shower gel as a bubble bath substitute works really well, lots of bubbles are created and the smell lingers throughout the house much better than when I use it in the shower. 


Snow Fairy retails from Lush in three different sizes and naturally three different prices. The bottle I was given was the 100ml bottle which is the standard size within gift packages such as the one I received and that would retail at almost £3.50. There are much bigger bottles which I would buy usually to last me through the year and they come in a 250ml size which would cost £6.85 and a 500ml bottle which would cost £10.95.

As I have said this is one of my absolute favourite Lush products and if you haven't tried it, then get to Lush quick because it is only ever available at Christmas time.

Save The Blow Dry!

SAVE THE BLOW DRY! is not just an ordinary shower cap, it is the Moisture eliminating QUEEN of shower caps which comes with a 100% guarantee of protecting your blow dry.

Did you know that on average us girls spend over 2 hours a week blow-drying and styling our locks? I am sure there are many of you out there who has lovely styled hair until you step out of the shower and end up with a frizzy mess. Well this shower cap is said to put an end to that with its secret combination of the gorgeous waterproof design which has an internal layer of super-absorbent micro weave towelling, which zaps humidity and condensation to leave your hair dry and bouncy. If that isn't enough, this shower cap has a dual use, if you are using a hair mask and want to add a little something extra, turn it inside out and then put over your head to allow the treatment to work more effectively.




I love the packaging for this product, it is really eye-catching and brightly coloured with everything you need to know right in front of you ready to read. You can also found out how to use it, what it states it will do and as an added extra there are some important tips for best results which include:

• Brush your hair 
• If you have long hair, gently clip up/clasp hair 
• Push any stray strands up into hat and ensure hair line is covered 
• Happily bathe or shower looking super cute 
• Dry your body and face before removing Save the Blow Dry 
• Shake Save The Blow Dry to remove excess water and hang up to dry 

The hat itself is really pretty, it is covered with lots of pretty pink bows and if you turn it inside out you can see and feel how soft the micro weave towel is.

Being a shower cap, the one thing you want and expect is that it is waterproof and this one most definitely is. Since owning it, I have used it both as a shower cap and as a cover when using a hair treatment and both work as fantastic as the other. My hair can be like a sponge when it is wet, its power to absorb water never ceases to amaze me and when I want to blow-dry my hair, so if I am showering without the need to wash my hair, I end up with damp, frizzy looking rats tails which I end up having to blow dry anyway. Using this shower cap saves me hours of stress about my frizzy locks because it keeps my hair super dry and almost perfectly blow-dried and styled, I say almost because I still feel the need to run the GHD's quickly over my hair so it once again resembles a style I am happy with.







I have also used this shower cap whilst sitting in the bath and when using a treatment on my hair and again it works fantastically. With a treatment, it is nice to be able to wonder around the house doing whatever needs to be done knowing that your scalp and hair are getting an extra treat and I have no doubt whatsoever that I am carrying off the super cute look.

All of my hair fits snuggly inside this shower cap too, though I only have shoulder length hair and once it is on my head it is really comfortable to wear.

So no only does this mask stop my hair from looking like a frizzy mess, it also doubles up as a little extra when using a treatment and it saves me hours of time when it comes to styling my hair, seriously what more could I ask for? I cannot rate this shower cap from SAVE THE BLOW DRY! enough it is fantastic. If you are wanting one for youself then all you need to do is go to the online store where you can get your very own for just £14.95.

On a serious note, SAVE THE BLOW DRY! are partnered with the Khandel charity in India and for every Save the Blow Dry sold through the website, directly funds a fortnight's safe drinking water for a family in the desert region of Khandel, making a basic, but vital difference to people living with constant drought, where temperatures soar to 45 degrees. which which then you will be helping to provide clean, safe drinking water for an entire family from Khandel, a desert region where temperature reach a scorching 45 degrees. 

**UPDATE**

You can also now buy this cap in blue, as shown below:

Mint Thé Refreshing Bath & Shower Therapy by Bodhi

A few months ago I was lucky enough to win Sandra from Beauty Balm's Summer Giveaway, see the post here and since that win I think I have completely fallen in love with the Bodhi Product especially the Mint Thé Refreshing Bath & Shower Therapy.

I am new to Bodhi products, I had at the time only read about them across the Bloggersphere and never tried anything from the range, so trying something for the first time is always quite exciting.  Given the following description from Bodhi:

"Rejuvenate the body and mind with our revitalising fusion of Peppermint, Marjoram and Frankincense. This is not for the faint hearted – get your skin and senses ready for an instant burst of life! Skin is highly refreshed and rejuvenated, cleansed but never taut or dry. All skin types, especially dull or oily. Great for after sports"

All I can say to you is that it is simply amazing. If you want something to wake you up in a morning when you have a shower, well it certainly does that with both the Peppermint and Spearmint working together to wake you up and alert your senses, not only that but they also work to boost your circulation and if you have dry skin, they help to nourish. There are a whole host of other essential oils within this product too, such as:

• Frankincense - is a calming ingredient which can help soothe and relieve muscle aches and pains.  It also rejuvenates the skin
• Marjoram helps to relieve stress and like Frankincense helps to calm and soothe as it has good muscle relaxant properties
• Lavender & Rosemary whilst both have antiseptic properties but also have other uses such as -  Lavender tones and revitalises the skin, so if like me you can be prone to oily skin it can be useful.  Rosemary on the skin helps to ease congestion, puffiness and swelling as well as improving your circulation.
• Lactic Acid helps to rejuvenate as well as help with anti-ageing.

Naturally there are many more essential oils such as Eucalyptus, Grapefruit, May Chang, Thyme and finally Clove, all of which you can read by visiting the website.

As well using this in the shower, you can use it in the bath which I have done on quite a few occasions and put simply it is so relaxing I almost fall asleep everytime I use it.  

For more information on this product or anything else in the Bodhi range you can find them HERE and this particulatly product retails at £23 for 250ml and it is worth every single penny!  They also only test their products on humans and not on animals!

Have you tried any products from Bodhi and have a favourite?

Work it baby... Work it...

I really miss my Tangle Teezer, I had for it years, back when they first came out and now I cannot find it and it is driving me insane, I am convinced I left it at a hotel I was staying at a few weeks ago.

Anyway, I haven't got around to ordering another one just yet, it is one of those things which is on my list to do.  However, whilst in Asda, I came across a product by 'Spa Gallery London', not someone I have ever heard of, or used the products of. However, this product is called 'Shower Brush' and it is sold in a really nice ice blue packaging which catches your eyes as it sits on the shelf amongst the other hair brushes.

The Shower Brush claims that it 'works through tangles' which is written in bold lettering which again is eye-catching in black lettering on the side of the packaging.

Similarly to the Tangle Teezer, this brush has flexible pins which glide through the hair without pulling or ripping it out, as you work it through your hair, it detangles as it goes.  The cushion part of this brush is soft and smooth and when it comes into contact with your head it helps the pins glide through your hair.

The pins on this brush are really quite soft.  The very reason I use a product like this is because I like how they help to distribute shampoo, conditioner, hair and scalp treatments evenly throughout your hair and on your scalp.

I always find my hair feels much better when brushed in the shower.  You can of course also use these brushes to distribute oils, gels, wax, conditioning lotions and anything else you might put onto your hair - even dry shampoo, which this particular brush is very good at brushing out.

The design of this brush is something I really like, the short little handle on the back of the brush makes it easy to grasp on to when using, especially with wet hair, as you can see in the photo's shown below, the handle is fairly long and and there is enough room for your index finger to go underneath the handle and then your thumb rests flat on the outside of the handle.

Finally - this shower brush retails for just £3.50 and in my opinion it is as good as the Tangle Teezer and I am glad I decided to impulse purchase it.

Have you got a Tangle Teezer?  What do you think of it? Would you buy this Shower Brush?