January Favourites

That’s it, we are a whole month and a bit into 2017 already, and if I’m being completely honest, I’m not feeling it so far.  It’s been a pretty crappy start to the year, but here are my January favourites that have seen me through the month!

Tea Pigs Spiced Winter Red Tea

This has been my all time favourite brew this chilly January, it’s basically a cinnamon tea – but it’s mixed with loads of Christmassy spices that creates a delicious blend for a tasty brew.  It’s been my go to tea on a few evenings now, ever since I got one of these in my Pick ‘n’ Mix box at Christmas time.  So far, it’s been the only one that I’ve felt the need to go out and repurchase since then, so I think that is saying a lot!

The Body Shop Lip Balm

Another item that I received at Christmas was the Body Shop Christmas scented lip balms, in both Vanilla Chai and Frosted Berries.  Now had I been in store myself and seen these, I know I wouldn’t have picked it up as I prefer a lip balm stick opposed to the ones where you need to use your fingers to apply.  That being said, I’m so pleased that I was gifted these because they’ve honestly been amazing for my lips, I really love them!  They last for hours on end, they keep my lips hydrated and pretty without being sticky, and best of all, they taste pretty good too!

Superdrug Vitamin E Range

I’ve been super impressed with the quality of the Superdrug Vitamin E range this last month, although I have been a fan of their products ever since I went cruelty free in the summer, and I’ve loved their day and night cream for years now.   These creams work really well at giving my thirsty skin a little extra moisture both morning and night, and they never feel sticky or heavy on applications either.  This last month and a bit I’ve really fallen for their body butter, it’s super gentle on my sensitive skin and just works wonders at tackling the dry patches when my eczema breaks out.  It’s a super quality body butter, and I’m talking The Body Shop quality, at just £2.99 a tub!  Another products from the range that I’m really liking is the micellar water which I’ve been using both day and night to remove any leftover make up from my face and to just give my skin a little bit of an extra cleanse before applying my moisturisers.   What I’ve been loving the most about this is that surprisingly it’s actually feels really hydrating on my face, it doesn’t leave my skin feeling dry or tight after I’ve used it – which is a problem I tend to have with a lot of micellar waters that I’ve used in the past.  All in all, I’m so impressed with the whole range and would absolutely recommend that you give it a try yourself!

So although pretty late compared to everyone else’s January Favourites, these are the goodies that have seen me through the month and have gave me a little bit of joy too!

Have you tried out any of the above?

Until the next one,

Sky's Body Shop at Home Facial Care

Alongside the body care products that Sky dropped off for me last week, she left a variety of different facial care products for me to try out on my sensitive skin.  The majority of the products she left came from the Vitamin E range, which is specially tailored to suit all skin types, including sensitive skin.

Vitamin E Facial Exfoliating Scrub

This facial wash was very gentle, and it felt really nice as you applied it to the skin.  The scrub was cream based, and so although it felt really moisturising and soft, you could really feel that you were getting a good scrub.  I really loved that it was cream based and not a gel like formula – it was so moisturising and so because of that, I didn’t have that crazy mad dash to get the moisturiser on my face the second after I got out the shower.

Vitamin E Ice Cube

This little product felt really refreshing applying it around the eyes, and I loved that it wasn’t greasy and so I was able to apply my make up straight after each use!  I didn’t use this product often enough to notice any dramatic changes, however I have only seen good reviews about it.  The cooling sensation that it gave when I applied it around my eyes was enough to make me consider buying it in the future.

Vitamin E Day and Night Creams

Both these products felt really nice on my face, they gave a calm and also a slight cooling sensation effect to the skin – which I found after applying straight from the shower really nice.  What I really liked about the day cream was that it made the perfect base for my BB cream in the morning.  I only had to leave it to sit for a minute or so before applying the BB cream, and even after an 8 hour shift at work my skin still looked great!  I also loved that both the creams were so light to wear, which was perfect on my no make-up days because it didn’t feel greasy at all.  I like to make sure that my skin is well treated at all times, and so these creams were the perfect combination for my skin type.

Vitamin E Serum & Aloe Restoring Mask

Now I only used these two products once throughout the week that I had them, and so I don’t feel as though I can give a detailed report on how well they worked or not.  I was excited to try out the oil because this was something that I’ve been keen to try for a while.  I used a couple of drops to cover the whole of my face, and in the morning my face felt really soft and even moisturised.  I would be interested to see if using this product over a period of time would make noticeable changes to my skin or not.  The aloe face mask was quite a thick clear mixture, however you only need to apply a thin layer across the face which was good because I was worried that it would get hot and sticky overnight.  In the morning I did notice that my skin was really smooth and soft, however I do think this would be a product that you had to use over a period of time to see any noticeable differences.

Eye Mask

This was something that I really enjoyed using at night or first thing in the morning because it was so refreshing and cooling.  I didn’t even put it in the fridge like Sky had suggested, yet after each use my eyes felt more awake.  My skin looked plumped and revitalised and overall I just felt as though I had been well and truly pampered.  This is something that I would apply to any patch of irritated skin for instant relief.

Vitamin E Toner & Cleanser

I absolutely loved both of these products, they were perfect for removing the very last of my make up at night as well as giving my skin that extra little bit of hydration first thing in the morning before applying my make up.  Like most of the Vitamin E products that I tried, they felt extremely light on the face and always left my skin feeling as though it had just been given the best clean ever.  These two will be products that I hope to pick up in the near future.

The favourites

I’m really grateful that Sky gave me the opportunity to use these products on a trial basis, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve found a few products that I will most definitely be using again, and look forward to trying out some of the other products suitable for dry and sensitive skin in the future.

Until the next one,

Lauren x

Sky's Body Shop at Home

So last week, an old friend of mine got in touch with me after having come across my blog on Instagram.  Sky is a Body Shop Consultant, and has been representing the brand for a little under a year now.  She asked me a few questions about my skin type, and wanted to know if I had ever tried any of the Body Shop products for sensitive and dry skin.  I had never been aware that the Body Shop catered for my skin type. I’ve always been a fan of their body butters, however over the years as my skin has gotten worse, I’ve chosen to stay away from them – simply to avoid any unnecessary irritation... even though they all smell good enough to eat!  She asked if I would be interested in trying out some of the products on a trial basis, and to give feedback on the products designed to look after dry and irritated skin like mine – and so of course I said yes!  She dropped off a large selection of products for me to try out: face, body and even foot products – and then left me to try them all out!  This week, I’ve been making my way through the bundle and I am glad to report only good things from the selection she left me…

Just a select few of the items Sky dropped off last week

Vitamin E Body Butter

As I said before, the Body Shop body butters have always been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember, and so I was super excited to see that there was a body butter for dry skin which states it would moisturise without irritating.  To look at, the butter was a beautiful pink colour, which I’m not going to lie kind of worried me a little as I’ve found coloured products to be really irritating in the past!  However I chose to ignore this thought as Sky had provided me with a little notebook with some information about each product she had dropped off.  I loved how thick the mixture is, yet how light it felt on my skin.  I don’t feel caked in moisturiser when I wear this, unlike some of the other moisturisers I’ve used in the past.  Because my skin is so dry, I do find myself applying more of this throughout the day – however it is not a lot that I need to use to top up and I don’t imagine that this would be necessary for normal skin types.  The butter has worked wonders on my elbows over the last week, which is amazing because I have yet to come across a product that actually works on this part of my skin.  Overall, I would totally recommend this product to everyone and anyone despite their skin type.  This is a product that I will be treating myself to in the future – the only thing stopping me from doing it now is my funds!

 

The difference in my skin (right to left) using the body butter from last Friday - Wednesday!

Peppermint Cooling Foot Cream

To start with, I love the smell!  It’s not overly minty – but it does give a nice and refreshing scent as you apply it.  The smell does tend to linger throughout the day too, which is fab because when I’m on my feet all day doing a nine hour shift – my feet don’t smell fresh like roses by the end of the day!  This is not a product that I’ve used every day since it was dropped off, however I have actually noticed that my feet feel softer to touch around my heel which was an unexpected bonus.  Overall, my feet just generally don’t look quite so gross to look at, which was nice to see after just a few uses.  I’m not normally one to fuss about buying products for my feet, however after seeing how easy it was to use this product and see results – it is something that I would consider purchasing.

Rose Body Wash

I’m not crazy about the smell of flowers ever really, and if I’m being perfectly honest – rose scented anything is something that I would normally go out of my way to try and avoid.  However, with that being said, I didn’t actually hate the scent of this new body wash range.  It lathered up amazingly, which I was very surprised by as I used very little of it.   This is not something that I would rush out to purchase for myself I don’t think – however for a rose scented shower gel, it did smell pretty good and very fresh!

Moringa Body Scrub

I love Love LOVE this product!  I’m totally amazed by just how gentle it is yet how effective.  I was feeling brave and so I applied this directly onto my irritated skin (normally I would avoid these areas until they were a little less red and sore).  You can feel that the seeds have scrubbed away at the dead skin, and yet the cream has coated the area to give it moisture and TLC.  I’m also amazed at how well treated my skin feels after each use, there is no irritation, just smooth and great feeling skin.  This is another product that I will be buying as soon as my funds permit! (Damn student life!)

Aloe Body Butter

Much in the same as the Vitamin E Body Butter, this product was great for use straight out of the shower.  I only needed a small amount each use to give my skin a good moisturise, and it didn’t take long for it to soak in at all.  I really liked that this one gave a cooling effect when it was rubbed in, I don’t know if this is simply because my skin tends to be super-hot after I shower or what, but this made my skin feel super nice and cold which I adored!  Although I’m not crazy about the scent, I would probably pick this product up if I was browsing or there was a special offer on! 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of all of the body care products, and that’s not to mention the face care ones Sky left for me to try also!  I’ll fill you in on those ones later…

If you feel like treating yourself to a couple of the products mentioned above, or anything for that matter, you can order directly from Sky here: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1402703613387143/?fref=ts

Until the next one,

Lauren x