Tag Archives: Body care

The best bath products ever

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I love a good bath. In fact, I need them. I suffer from severe anxiety, which gives me terrible muscle tightness. I find that a warm bath, with candles and some gentle music helps to relax my body and slow my racing mind better than almost anything. Sometimes, especially when I use particularly fragrant bath product, I’ll even sit in the pitch darkness whilst I soak, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it.

Unsurprisingly then, I get through a lot of bath products, and now that the weather is getting colder (and apparently will be getting VERY cold indeed this year) I thought you might like to read about some of my all-time favourite bath products!

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Homemade bath salts – £4.95 approx

The ones in this photo are a mixture of Himalayan pink salt and epsom salts, dried rose petals and lavender essential oil. Bath salts are particularly amazing for sore muscles from sport and exercise. It’s quite inexpensive if you do it yourself by buying your own essential oil and a giant bag of salts like these from Westlab which are the ones I use. However, it can be tricky to get intense or more complex scents by DIY-ing it, so if you want a bath that will be less practical and more sensual, keep reading…

Olverum Bath Oil – £32

This is hands down my favourite bath prodcut on the face of the earth. Nothing compares to this formula, unchanged since the 1930s. It’s all natural combination of pine, lavender, eucalyptus, lemon verbena, which creates the most relaxing, soothing vapours you could possibly imagine. I pour it on my skin when I’m in the bath and then let the water gently wash it around so that I can absolutely maximise my experience of the scent, because the thing about this is, it’s pretty expensive. If I could afford it, I would use this all the time, but for now it’s really just a ‘treat’.

Weleda Bath Soak – £14.95

This is the perfect affordable alternative to Olverum. I absolutely love the Pine scent, which is the one pictured here, but I also ADORE the Lavender, Rosemary and Arnica scents. And the great thing is, they are 100% natural, nourishing and really potently scented so they last for aaaages. I reckon you could mix them up and get a very similar scent to Olverum too – Lavender, Rosemary and Pine are the main ingredients in that too! All in all, these are a fantastic choice for lovely, relaxing baths. Get them here.

KINN Living Bath Oil – £28

This is a delightful, subtly scented bath oil that’s 99.5% organic. The scent is ylang ylang, lavender and tangerine and it’s so delicate and beautiful. The oil base is really nourishing on the skin too. I love this brand, founded by a mother-daughter duo who wanted to create a range of toxin-free home and bodycare products.

Geo Mitchell Relax, Naturally Bath Salts – £14.50

This is another amazing small brand, who have a gorgeous range of products that include natural home fragrances, essential oils and bath salts. These Relax, Naturally bath salts are amazing, combining lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint oils in a dead sea salt and epsom salt base. It’s super relaxing but somehow also invigorating?! You get out of the bath feeling like a new person! I love it. It’s great in the bath but also probably one of the best things I’ve ever used as a soak for tired feet. Geo Mitchell have also very kindly provided me with a discount code for you: enter LYB15 for 15% off your first order!

Caudalie Purifying Mask – £22

This is my all-time favourite mask, but that’s not the only reason I’m including it in this list – the other is that it’s a mask that you can leave on for pretty much as long as you like – it doesn’t dry out, which means you don’t have to get out of the bath when your skin starts feeling tight! This mask reduces inflammation and removes impurities to help fix blemishes and give you a smooth, clear complexion. It smells gorgeous and is super gentle on the skin too. Cannot recommend it highly enough! Get it on Look Fantastic, here.

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The Best Body Oils For Summer

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HELLO! It’s me, with a blog post?! Yes I haven’t been blogging much lately, I have loads in my drafts I’m just focusing on other things at the moment. You know how it is. But I had to share my favourite recommendations for summery body oils because the wonderful weather we’ve been having has totally inspired me.

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For me, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is, I need to moisturise after I wash. I have dry skin on my body, which turns to eczema in winter but in summer I just get a bit of scaliness and roughness (nice). And of course when the inevitable post-burn ‘peeling’ happens, I need to exfoliate and moisturise even more! Hasn’t happened yet, but it’s early days yet, despite it feeling like we’ve already had our yearly allocation of sun about five times over! So anyway, onto my recommendations for body oils. I love body oils, and much prefer them to body creams. One thing to remember if you aren’t an oil convert yet, is that body oils are nearly always far more naturally derived than creams, and when you’re applying a product to such a large surface area, you should really be using something natural. These three are all light enough to be suitable for sticky summer days, but nourishing enough to leave your skin feeling gorgeously soft. Their fragrances are all very different, but each one is perfect for sunny days in its own unique way.

Aesop Geranium Lead Hydrating Body Treatment

This is the freshest smelling and most luxuriously textured of the three oils – the lightly floral fragrance of geranium leaf is combined with mandarin and bergamot for a really uplifting but intoxicating experience. It reminds me of extremely fragrant English country gardens, you know when the sun has been beating down all day and the flowers are just radiating their scents? It’s a wonderful massage oil as well, but I love to use it any time of the day – it absorbs very quickly when you apply a normal amount, but if you want to massage with it, just use more. It absorbs completely either way, you’re never left feeling sticky! I absolutely love the way this oil feels when you apply it – it truly is everything you could want in an oil. The scent lasts for a good while, as you’d expect from a luxury oil. The nourishing base is almond and macadamia oils which are both really rich in vitamin E, an essential antioxidant for preserving youthful skin. Get it from Beauty Expert, here.

Yves Rocher Orange Blossom, Lavender and Pettigrain Botanical Oil

First of all, I’m so sorry to have to direct you to Yves Rocher’s terrible website, but that’s the only way you can get their products in the UK! It’s worth it, I promise. This oil is glorious. It’s thick, but wastes no time absorbing. The scent of this one is primarily orange blossom or fleur d’oranger if you’re fancy, I can’t really get any lavender or pettigrain but that’s fine for me because orange blossom is my favourite fragrance IN THE WORLD. I absolutely cannot get enough of it. Orange blossom makes me feel so happy, it’s one of the most magically uplifting scents in the world. It’s rich and heady, like jasmine, but without being overwhelming, there’s a fresh element to is as well. I’ve had this oil for two summers and it’s still going strong, despite regular use, so it’s also fantastic value for money. The oils in it are very hardy – rapeseed, sunflower, coconut and macadamia, which makes it very effective at softening and nourishing the skin. The smell lasts at least half a day, which is incredible for a body oil if you ask me! Get it from their website here.

Lush Elbow Grease

I feel like I bang on about this oil at least once a week, whether online or in real life, but I just can’t get over how much I love the smell. It’s so tropical without being sweet or sickly, just makes me feel like I’m wandering through a flower garden in Tahiti or somewhere. It reminds me a lot of monoi oil although it doesn’t actually contain any – the scent is neroli, orange blossom, rosewood and ylang ylang. If you want to read more about this glorious slice of cosmetic heaven, you can read my full blog post on it here.

 

 

January Beauty Favourites!

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I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a monthly favourites post before, certainly not for a long time! But I thought it would be nice as I’ve been loving a few specific things this month; a combination of new discoveries and some old favourites.

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Lush Rosy Cheeks – I picked up a pot of one of my most beloved face masks this month and I’ve been loving it just as much as I always do. Rosy Cheeks is made with calamine and rose oil to calm the skin, as well as kaolin clay to draw out impurities. It’s fantastic because it does it all – deep cleanses the pores, calms irritation and nourishes the skin, thanks to the rose oil. My skin has been feeling a little more sensitive than usual this month so using a mask that comforts, calms and cleanses has been great. 

Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask – I got the flu this month, and I had a few irritating stressful things to deal with as well. These things always give me spots, and I decided to use this gorgeous, calming, purifying mask to calm them down. It really worked, as it always does. This mask contains manuka honey which is like a holy grail skincare ingredient – it nourishes, calms, hydrates and is also antimicrobial so it’s perfect for clearing up spots. It feels gorgeous when it goes on, like a soft gel, and it smells divine too. Highly recommend! Read more about this miracle worker here.

Magic Organic Apothecary Green Balm – Ok ok, I picked a couple of spots and they got nasty. I was stressed! I applied my MOA Green Balm before bed to help them heal and prevent infection – and they healed perfectly. What a relief! This stuff is a total multitasker and I LOVE it. You can cleanse with it, use it on eczema, scrapes, all sorts of things. You can even gargle with it! Read more about it’s amazing healing properties here.

Glossier Body Hero Daily Oil Wash – Urghhhhhhhh this STUFF. It’s SO GOOD. It smells like absolute heaven, a light orange blossom scent that’s refreshing but indulgent at the same time, and it leaves the skin velvety soft. No shower gel, body wash or even oil wash has ever made my skin feel so wonderfully soft. It’s the perfect way to make your shower time a little bit special. Get it on Glossier’s website here.

Byredo Inflorescence Eau De Parfum – This is an absolutely beautiful fragrance. It’s extremely unusual but also quite familiar – it really does smell exactly like a garden bursting with fragrant spring flowers. It’s basically the essence of spring and I love wearing it whenever I need a pick me up – I’ve been feeling a bit down with the cold weather and it has lifted my mood every time I wear it. Byredo are a very high quality brand and you’ll find their fragrances wonderfully long lasting and flattering.

Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Toner – When my skin was really bad, I tried just using my trusty Avene Tolerance Extreme Emulsion to moisturise, thinking that keeping it as simple as possible would work. But my skin was very dehydrated from the winter weather and I found that I needed something else. Fresh’s Rose Deep Hydration Toner turned out to be exactly what I needed – it’s rich in hyalurinic acid to hydrate and rose to soothe. I applied it like an essence rather than a toner (pressing it into my skin) and it was perfect. Read more here!

Hope you enjoyed this quick little look at the products I’ve been loving throughout January 🙂

Scrub Love Body Scrubs Review

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Scrub Love exploded onto the market recently and their cute packaging, 100% natural formulas and super interesting range caught my eye immediately. I’ve tried three ‘flavours’ so far, and am absolutely obsessed, so here are my thoughts!

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(Coconut Mango is the brown one on top, Original Coffee is at the bottom right and Avocado and Aloe is bottom left)

Avocado & Aloe Vera with Activated Charcoal Body Scrub – £13.95

This scrub was the first one I tried, and it was unlike anything I’d used before. It’s a completely dry powder, and when you apply it to wet skin, the charcoal powder and aloe vera juice turn into a grey paste while the coconut shell fragments deeply exfoliate the skin. I think this has got to be the most effective scrub I’ve ever used, it leaves my skin absolutely, perfectly soft and when I follow it up with a luxurious body oil…I’ve never felt anything as smooth in my life! You need to use a shower gel to get rid of the charcoal, and it doesn’t smell good in the packet, but I’m not remotely put off by either of those things because it’s SO effective. I have read some reviews of this product where people are absolutely horrified by the fact that it leaves charcoal residue on the skin, but it comes of so easily with shower gel, it’s really not an issue. I would say you don’t need to use it more once every couple of weeks because it works so well, so it’s also amazing value for money!

Original Coffee Body Scrub – £11.95

This one is totally different to the charcoal one, and uses coffee grounds and rock salt to exfoliate the skin. It is much wetter, and contains almond and orange oils to make it much more nourishing than the charcoal one – I would recommend this one for people who’s skin can get a little dry or delicate, anyone under 18 or people with sensitive skin. The smell is so strange – a combination of weak coffee and Terry’s Chocolate Orange, which isn’t unpleasant, but it definitely a bit weird. I really enjoy using this, but I love a deep, deep scrub so if I had to pick I would go for the charcoal one.

Coconut Mango Body Scrub – £12.95

Again, this one is completely different to the others. Formulated for drier skin, it’s super nourishing and rich in coconut and macadamia oils. There’s also mango fruit powder which gives it the most glorious scent EVER, and to exfoliate there’s a bit of coconut shell, coconut flour and coconut sugar. This is a really gentle, gorgeous product and I can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone, but especially to people with dry or sensitive skin types.

I adore all three of these scrubs but for different reasons, and also for different uses; I’ve actually started to use the Charcoal one for my legs, feet and arms, the Coconut Mango for the softer skin of my torso, and the Coffee as an all rounder to travel with. I would recommend them all, and can’t wait to try more from this gorgeous range! You can see the full range on their website, here.

 

Sonic Chic Electric Travel Toothbrush Review

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I’ve been an electric toothbrush user for ever. I’ve had periods of time where I’ve used normal toothbrushes, but nothing has ever made my teeth feel clean like an electric. However, I really struggle to cart my enormous everyday one around when I travel, and it’s SO annoying to find somewhere to put the heads. I always end up putting them in a plastic sandwich bag that is disgusting by the end of my trip (I’m super obsessive about germs so I can’t just put it in my washbag!) – this means that if I’m going somewhere for a long time, I bring a normal toothbrush and HELLO FURRY TEETH. Urgh. So when I had the chance to try an electric TRAVEL toothbrush, I jumped at the chance. Say hello to Sonic Chic!

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Sonic Chic’s Electric Toothbrushes are SO pretty, and I love the gold colour of the Deluxe model. It has everything going for it – USB charging, a hygienic ventilated lid, slim lightweight design and serious cleaning  power with up to 32k strokes per minute.

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I usually use a very heavy duty electric toothbrush which kind of feels like the dirt is being mechanically drilled off my teeth – not the most gentle sensation, so I was surprised by how little this seemed to be vibrating when I first used it. But that’s the beauty of sonic toothbrushes – they leave your teeth perfectly clean without shaking the hell out of your mouth. The Sonic Chic Toothbrush is also much quieter than a normal electric, another thing that makes it perfect for travelling! It has this really cool feature to help you get the most efficient clean as well – the toothbrush automatically turns off after two minutes, but it vibrates at thirty seconds, one minute and one minute thirty to tell you to move onto another quadrant of your mouth, making sure you don’t get distracted and spend five minutes scrubbing your left molars.

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The Sonic Chic Deluxe Travel Toothbrush is small enough to fit into even my most compact wash bag, and everything about it is innovative, well designed and incredibly effective at what it does! I am SO happy to have one, and a few stints in hotel rooms recently, I have found it to be absolutely perfect for the job. Get it from Look Fantastic for £29.99

 

Would I buy this if I hadn’t been gifted it? Oh my god, yes! If I had known toothbrushes like this existed, I would have been first in line to get one, it is amazing. 

Korean Skincare Review: It’s Skin Self Care Foot Peeling

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Recently I indulged my curiosity and paid (literally, haha) a visit to YesStyle.co.uk, a wonderful website where you can buy all kinds of beauty products. They’re mainly Asian ones from Korea and Japan, but I think the focus is just generally brands that are popular in these places, as brands like Clarins and Olay are on there too. Well, whatever their raison d’être, they’re amazing, and you get free shipping to the UK when you spend over £20. I would have been harder pressed to spend under £20!

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Here are my purchases – I cannot wait to tell you about the other two. But first, the Its Skin Foot Peel. This thing. I mean, whatever crazy magic is in that box I don’t know, I really have no idea what it’s made out of that gives it the ability to do what it does. All I can say it that it is INCREDIBLE. Get yourself over to YesStyle.co.uk immediately and buy one. I can barely even think straight I’m so impressed.

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It’s unlike any other product I’ve ever used, because for the first few days (for me it was a week) NOTHING HAPPENS. Your feet look exactly the same. Then, all of a sudden, you’re shedding skin like a snake. I’ve seen photos of some people literally loose the dead skin in one go when using this. For me it flaked off instead, but still its incredible how much softer and smoother my feet are. They’re still flaking, but I couldn’t wait any longer to talk about it! It’s so weird, fun, disgusting and fascinating.

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The first thing you notice is how ludicrously adorable this is. I’m not sure how they got that baby to do that with its feet, but whatever. South Korea really knows what its doing, with its skincare and packaging, I’m telling you. They also really like to have special lightweight travel strollers for their babies, they often customize them themselves with art made at home.

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The only other thing in the box are these booties. I mean, its ridiculous, this whole process was a delight from start to finish. I get to wear BOOTIES for an hour and a half?! It’s Skin, I love you.

So, you put a bootie on…

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They have an absorbent paper lining which helps to hold the liquid onto your feet, and to stop it sloshing out. They also have ties which you do up after pouring the liquid in, so they don’t fall off if you have to walk about.

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I offer no apology for the sorry state of my leg/foot in this photo. Frankly, I’m about to link you to a picture of my peeling sole, so consider this your preparation. Anyway…you pour the liquid in, using one foot shaped sachet for each foot (funnily enough). I didn’t open them very well so the liquid spurted out a bit, but because I wasn’t 100% sure what it was made out of I didn’t want to use my scissors! That was probably silly, as I think its mainly fruit acids…so use scissors if you want.

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So there you are! That’s it for the next hour and a half. I settled in for three quarters of Pacific Rim, some Rosehip Tea and a bit of chocolate. If you’re super organised you could even do a face mask. I was wary of walking around in the booties, but actually if you tread carefully they’re surprisingly resilient – no leaks at all. When the hour and a half is up, you rinse your feet in warm water, pat dry, and leave them alone.

You can expect the peeling to happen anywhere between four days and two weeks, and when it starts just be aware that you either have to have understanding housemates or wear socks ALL the time. It’d be like a gross version of Hansel and Gretal otherwise. One other tip I’ll  give you DO NOT pull at any of your peeling skin. If you see something you think is a half-flake, and pull it, you’ll find that the bit that’s still attached is literally still part of your skin. Ouch.

Want to see my feet two weeks after I used it? HERE YOU GO! That was about halfway through the peeling – they’re very soft now although lots of bits are still coming off and some more bits are just starting as well.

I am besotted with this product, and its only £7 from YesStyle.co.uk! Give it a try, I’d love to know if you enjoy your gross foot peeling as much as I did.