Travel Body & Haircare

In my last post, I mentioned the skincare bits I'm taking away on holiday with me (you can read that one here) so today I thought I'd talk hair and body care! Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow if you fancy finding out what I'm taking makeup wise!

I'm not taking too much away with me body care wise as I'm only going for a week, I'm sticking to the basics! The Boots Extracts Mango Body Wash and Body Butter in miniature. I love the scent of these and the body butter is so moisturising and sinks into the skin really quickly. The Caudalie Divine Oil is a multitasking product that I love using but try not to use everyday. I'd go through it so quick if I did! I'm reserving it for slathering on limbs for evenings out, it gives skin a lovely, healthy, glow. I'm also taking The Body Shop Mango Lip Butter, not a body care product I know, but I couldn't resist including it with all the other mango stuff!

I seem to find haircare a bit more difficult to narrow down! I'm taking the Kerastase Chroma Riche Shampoo and Masque and the Lee Stafford Argan Oil Nourishing Miracle Oil which I spoke more about here. It's great for taming frizz and making everything a bit more managable! I'm also taking their Flat Iron Protection Mist, incase I decided to get the straighteners out, Living Proof Frizz Styling Cream to use pre blow-dry and Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Backcomb in a Bottle in case I need some extra volume!

What body and haircare items do you take away on holiday with you?

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Empties #7

Welcome to another Empties post where I talk about all the products I've used up, what I thought of them and whether or not I would repurchase them. 

First up is a trio from Boots Extracts, the Shower Gel, Sugar Scrub and Body Butter which I got together in a set in the Christmas sales. The Shower Gel is nothing fancy really, it does the job, but the Sugar Scrub (full review here) and Body Butter (full review here) are seriously amazing! The scrub really smoothes out the skin and leaves it feeling really silky and the body butter is really rich but sinks into the skin amazingly quickly. 

Repurchase? Shower Gel, Maybe. Sugar Scrub and Body Butter, Definitely!

Next, more body products, it's only when I do these empties posts that I realise how quickly I go through them! The Soap & Glory Smoothie Star is one that I unfortunately didn't like at all and found a bit of a chore to use up. I just didn't like the scent at all. On the other end of the scale was the Righteous Butter, also by Soap & Glory which I absolutely loved (full review here). It smells amazing and the rich formula really nourished my skin. 

Repurchase? Smoothie Star, No. Righteous Butter, Yes 

On to hair products, the Charles Worthington Salon at Home Moisture Seal Mineral Rescue Masque is one I just can't rave enough about. It featured in my recent favourites post and I also did a full review which you can see here. It's basically the best drugstore hair conditioner I've ever tried!

Repurchase? Already have

The Lee Stafford Dehumidifier is a product I've been using for such a long time but I'm starting to wonder if it's just out of habit or maybe not wanting to risk not using it! It's a spray that creates a moisture barrier on your hair to stop it frizzing up in damp or humid weather conditions. I may have to do a half hair test with this one!

Repurchase? Yes

I've been using chemical exfoliators on my face as of late instead of manual grainy scrubs and the results have been great. The La Roche-Posay Effaclar Micro Exfoliant Astringent Lotion (full review here) is one of those products. It has improved my skin texture a great deal. 

Repurchase? Maybe, there are a few others I'd like to try first.

Another product that I've absolutely loved is the Botanics Facial Oil (full review here) it's a great night time facial oil which contains some great ingredients. It's a great budget alternative to higher end versions and I find it's just as good! It's improved my skin texture and helped fade old blemish marks.

Repurchase? Definitely

Lastly, a lip balm from Avon in Orange Kiss, this balm smelt absolutely delicious! Especially to me as I have a bit of a weakness for orange/satsuma/mandarin scented products, but unfortunately that's where it ended. The balm didn't last very long at all on the lips and once it wore off it left them feeling drier than they were to start with. Such a shame!

Repurchase? No

What products have you used up recently?

January Favourites

The miserable weather as of late has meant one thing, more hot baths to soothe dry winter skin and cold toes! Here are some of the products I've been loving this month.

The Boots Extracts range has been a brilliant discovery I've been using the Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub (full review here) and Body Butter (full review here) non stop since I got them, in fact I'm already nearly halfway through both! The Scrub has a really tightly packed consistency that really gives skin a good scrub leaving it feeling super smooth. The body butter somehow manages to be really thick and creamy but still sinks in really quickly leaving skin feeling supple and nourished.

I've been burning my Milk Bath Remedy Candle in Coconut Milk constantly in the evenings, it fills the room with a lovely relaxing scent and it a cozy ambience. Full review here.

Boots Coconut Body Oil has been an absolute life saver this month with my skin being in the condition it's in. My eyelids have been dry and sore and my skin has been feeling super sensitive. I've been using this to remove makeup, as a facial oil, a hair treatment and adding a scoop into the bath! I wrote a post all about different ways to use it here.

I fallen back in love with my favourite lipgloss lately, it's the Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait De Gloss in 56 Imaginaire. It's just the easies colour to wear, I even apply it without a mirror. A flatters all warm toned peachy pink. 

REVIEW: Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Body Butter

A few days ago I was talking about how much I love the Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub, when I bought it in the sales it came in a set along with a Shower Gel and Body Butter. The Body Butter is seriously amazing too! I’ve been completely blown away by this range as it’s seriously good quality for it’s relatively low cost.

Like the scrub, the body butter has a very delicate scent, which to me smells more like vanilla than cocoa butter. It’s pretty subtle which is definitely a plus for me as I always wear perfume and sometimes, fragranced body products can clash with them!

But, the main reason why I love it is it’s texture. It appears to be really thick and rich in the tub and when you scoop some out but the moment you work it into your skin, it completely disappears! It somehow manages to be super rich and nourishing, and be really light and quickly absorbed at the same time. Something I can say I’ve never found to this extent in a body butter before, high end or high street.

I’ve been using this duo along with the shower gel non stop since I got them and my skin feels softer than it has felt in years. I would definitely recommend anything from this range to anyone. I think it would be amazing if they extended the range to include some facial skincare products in the future, if they do, I’ll be first in line to snap them up!

REVIEW: Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub

When it comes to body scrubs, I like to think of myself as quite the connoisseur, I've tried so many in my quest for soft and smooth even toned skin! This one, the Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub (or available here as part of a set with a shower gel and body butter for a fiver!) is one of the cheapest but also one of the best I've tried. I tried their mango version a few years ago and didn't think much of it, this one has a completely different formula and it's great!

As you can see in the image above, it has a really thick, tightly packed consistency which means it actually gets the job done rather than just slopping off and sliding down the drain. It really leaves you feeling like you've been throughly scrubbed! It has nice scent too, very subtle and non offensive and smells to me a lot more like vanilla than cocoa butter.

In terms of efficiency this works just as well as my all time favourite scrub, Soap & Glory Flake Away, but it doesn't quite get to share the top spot, Flake Away wins hands down because of it's amazing scent and quirky retro packaging. 

What is your favourite body scrub?

Boots Sale Haul!

No wallets were harmed during this haul, I got it all on boots points, I love getting a good bargain! So remember a few days ago I mentioned my favourite beauty and fashion sale picks? Well as you can see some of them made it into my basket! 

I went a bit crazy with the Boots Extracts range, but seeing as I'd wanted to try them for a while, they were on half price and I had some points stashed up, I thought, why not? I got the full size Cocoa Butter Collection which contains a full size shower gel, body scrub and body butter for only a fiver. As well as the 4 Pack Body Butter Collection which contains mini versions of their cranberry, coconut, mango and cocoa butter body butters for £4, making them just a pound each. I also got the matching set of 4 mini shower gels in the same scents which seem to have sold out online now but if you're lucky you might be able to snap them up from your local boots. 

Last but by no means least I picked up the Sanctuary Triple Moisture Bliss Set which contains 3 of their best selling body butters in 100ml tubs. I had my eyes on this set last last christmas but it sold out before I could get my hands on it so I'm really glad I managed to get hold of it this year!

I think it's safe to say I now have enough body butter to last a lifetime, or until next years sales at least! What have you been buying in the sales?