Herbalife Herbal Aloe Hand & Body Wash - Review

Aloe Aloe!

This review is of a lovely product i received in my goody bag at the Birmingham beauty blogger meet up. This hand & body wash by Herbalife is part of their Refresh and Revive personal care range and it has literally been my little life saver over the winter period, christ on a bike i was like a snake shedding it's skin as i've got such dry skin it's horrific! If i don't keep up with exfoliation and moisturising i can get really dry and cracked skin which blummin well hurts, i always crack my lips too and they get so sore.

Wonder product meet the readers and vice versa:

At first when i got this out of my goody bag i kind of overlooked it and dismissed it pretty quickly, i'm glad i didn't follow through with this as when i gave it it's due it really turned out to be invaluable! This hand and body wash is sulfate and paraben free (yay) and contains gentle plant derived cleansers which help relieve dryness and moisturise the skin. I use this product pretty much every time i wash my hands, i do a lot of washing up (oh the joys) and using this helps keen my skin soft and supple. I also use it after the bathroom and also any other time i generally wash my hands. I have also put some of this in the bath and it has really helped me all over to keep moisturised, if i had a shower i would use it as a proper body wash as it would be fab!

This is going to sound like a selfish criticism, but the size of it can be a bit annoying as obviously if you want to take it out with you it's a large tube at 250ml, but obviously this means there is more for me to use so that's a conundrum :D i can't really complain! There are multi-pack versions available of 50ml sizes which is good to know. If you have dry skin i really recommend you try this, especially if you suffer with dry skin on the hands it is such a lovely product.

Hail the power of Aloe, i've got two aloe plants thanks to my boyfriend for when i ever burn my hands or something, the natural healing powers are amazing, i don't know much about Aloe in general so i won't insult those of you out there who do, but if anyone does have any more info on Aloe i would love to hear it!

This product and many others which are definitely worth investigating can be found on the herbalife website.

Lots of Love, 

Sanctuary Spa Illuminating Moisture Lotion - Review

Illuminate me baby

Hi everyone, i hope you all had a lovely weekend! Mine was over before i knew it, i dressed up as a nun for a friend's birthday which took up the Saturday and then Sunday was spent losing the will to live in hangover hell! 
Anyways, onto other things, this review is of the Illuminating Moisture Lotion by Sanctuary Spa. I picked this product up from Boots about 3 weeks ago when i heard that if you spent £10 on Sanctuary products you got a free candle, as a candle lover this was going to be done obvs. This is the illuminating moisture lotion as it came so you can see what it looks like as a point of reference incase you are wanting to buy:

Overall, i am not very impressed with this product and the best bit about this purchase was the actual candle. However, i don't feel too robbed as it's not like i've come out with stuff i won't use. I've been using the illuminating lotion for 3 weeks now and i just don't think it lives up to it's claims, at best it is a very short-lived moisturiser. I don't think it provides 24 hour hydrating protection and it definitely doesn't illuminate, well not for me anyway. 

The only thing illuminating for me was the price, £13.50! I won't be getting this again. Shame really, i always wanted people to find me illuminating. On the other hand, the candle is truly fabulous! Great floral scent and the candle is in a lovely glass jar which i shall be re-using afterwards as another brush holder.

What do you think of this product?

Estee Lauder Pure Color Vivid Shine Lipstick Review - Hot Coralline

hot to trot

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. This review is of a pure color lipstick by Estee Lauder in shade 'Hot Coralline' and is a little beauty i picked up from Debenhams in Birmingham for £19.50 a couple of days ago. I have never bought a lipstick from Estee Lauder before but their service was faultless and the current range was superb!

As you can see this is a gorgeous pinky/pearly shade with a coral tone which i think is absolutely B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. I love the gold packaging of this product i think it is really luxe and glamorous, i also like that you can see the shade without having to open it as the lower half of the lipstick is clear casing with the lipstick colour showing through. According to Estee Lauder, the pure color vivid shine lipsticks contain clusters of up to 8 different shaped pearls which cast diamond-like reflections. OO-EE doesn't that sound fabulous?

Here are some swatch and application pictures:

If i am completely honest, this lipstick does appear to swatch differently as compared to when it is applied, as i found that upon application it has a very sheer, natural looking finish that is less colour rich as compared to the swatch. However, i still love it as i love natural tones in my lipsticks, this is also very moisturising and is not drying at all. 

As for pure colour... hmmm, what do you think?

Lots of Love, 

Book Club: Book of the Month #1

The guernsey literary and potato peel society

Hi everyone, this post is less beauty themed and is perhaps more of a lifestyle related post. I moved to a new area in November last year and i quickly found a favourite cafe of mine called The Bird's Nest which is in the centre of town inside the market hall in Shrewsbury. I recently heard that they have a book club which meets the first Tuesday of every month and as i am new to the area i decided to take part.

I've always been a book lover, ever since i was really young i would immerse myself in anything i could get my hands on and as a result i got a pretty vivid imagination. I once read a book by Nostradamus cover to cover and became convinced at ten years old that the world was going to end. I think i worried my parents enough to restrict me to children's books from then on!

Anyway, the book i am reading this month took my surprise as at first i was like uhhh.. i don't think this is my cup of tea, but when i got into it i was so pleasantly surprised. I'm only a couple of chapters in but i'm already laughing my head off at some bits and i am looking forward to reading the rest.

                  Source: Goodreads.com

The book is called The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Society and is written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I got an iPad Mini for christmas so i picked this up using my kindle app for £4.20 off Amazon, which is really good value however my guilt about neglecting the high street bothers me. I thought it would be interesting to share the book of the month with you to see if anyone has any thoughts on the book *no spoilers please* and also incase anyone else shares an interest in reading. I'll do an update after i have finished reading it, i haven't got long until i meet the group for the first time so i'd better get cracking!

Lots of Love,

L'oreal Confettis Top Coat Nail Polish

speckled easter nails

Hi everyone, i've recovered (just about) from a horrible 24 hour bug, yesterday i could not get out of bed for love nor money, it was abs horrific! However, i'm BACK and feeling better than yesterday, yay. This post is a review of the new L'oreal top coat confettis nail polish which are taking over the beauty realm like wildfire and unless you've been under a rock or in bed like me i'm sure you have seen this before. I thought i would do mine in an Easter style and i don't mean to jump the gun but sunshine might be on its way so i fancied a sunny yellow shade! A girl can dream ;)

What do you think of my sunny nails? I love this l'oreal confetti polish, it's a kind of version of the speckled Illamasqua polishes (which do look lovely) and this way you can tailor your nails by using whichever shade you like as a base polish! So purdy! This polish was £4.99 for 5ml from Boots. Bargain!

What do you think of my speckled nails, have you got any colour recs?

Lots of Love,

Figs & Rouge Lip, Face and Body Balm

100% Pure and Natural

Hi lovely readers, i hope you're having a great weekend! I definitely had a good Saturday, i went into town with the boy to get some bits and we stopped off at our local market hall and had a lovely lunch! Then i went to collect some chocolates i won off Twitter which were absolutely DIVINE! I got a couple of bits from New Look too which i will show you guys soon, i hope they fit though as it was so busy i couldn't be bothered to try on :/

This post is based on a lovely product i received in my Valentines Glossybox this month which i showed you previously here. Figs and Rouge is a 100% Organic Balm which is suitable for the lips face and body. I got 'Rambling Rose' flavour but depending on which Glossybox you received you could have had Peppermint and Teatree or Cherry Vanilla, yum! Figs and Rouge balm is made in the UK, is petroleum free and is not tested on animals. Figs and Rouge normally retails at £4.99 and is available from Boots, Feel Unique, Urban Outfitters, Naturismo and other stockists.

I love the packaging of this balm but more than anything i love the balm itself. It soothes and moisturises my lips and it seems the texture is quite granular but i really like it as it does feel so lovely to apply. I'm not sure how this would fare as a body balm as the tin itself is small. I do find i need regular top ups to keep my lips moisturised, but i do suffer particularly badly with dry lips.

As i said all the ingredients are natural: Ricinus communis oil, hydrogenated castor oil, copernicia cerifera wax, pelargonium graveolens oil, citronellol, geraniol, linalool, citral and limonene. I will definitely be rebuying this when i run out and i am also going to explore their other products further, as the website seems to offer a lot of choice and also interesting flavours too!

I love this balm and i highly recommend it. 

What do you think of the Figs and Rouge Balm?

Lots of Love,

The Life Post

Life Update #1

Hi everyone, i hope you are all having a lovely weekend! This post is just a little post obviously about me and how things are at the moment. I've been feeling a bit down lately as i'm watching everyone around me move further on in terms of work and career and it can be a bit disheartening when you're a student. 

I don't know if you know but i'm currently studying for my masters in Forensic Psychology which i decided to do after i graduated last summer. My initial degree was a long and difficult road in itself and it truly was a three year slog. Sometimes i think to myself "What was it all for?" as Psychology isn't as short and sweet as right yup now you're a psychologist, it doesn't work like that unfortunately. 

Now i'm a graduate in further study and i have found recently that saying this in interviews can actually count against you and i've found myself being discounted for jobs as soon as i mention that i'm a student. This is a bit disheartening, especially when you've invested so much as study isn't cheap, all in the hope of getting a job. Now i have decided not to say i am a student when applying, my lectures finish in March anyway and then it's just my dissertation due in September, so i am ready and willing and almost desperate to get a job now.

Fingers crossed and i hope i get a job soon, i'm getting involved in voluntary work so that's a good thing. But just incase anyone else feels like they're in the same boat, my advice is keep going and in the words of Ben Howard; Keep your head up, keep your heart strong!

After all, it's more important to be happy than to worry yourself silly, i believe in fate and i know that when something is meant to be, it will be. I just hope it's soon!

Lots of Love,