Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect eye makeup remover for a very long time. I love Lancôme Bi facile but it’s just too pricey for me to justify buying it over and over. Lots of my lovely readers suggested that I try this out and I’d seen enough favourable reviews of it to pick up a bottle. The bottle looks fairly small at 150ml however it has lasted me around 4 weeks with no signs of running out any time soon. Oh and it costs £2.99. BARGAIN! Excuse the photo nicked from Boots. My laptop appears to have nicked the photo I took of the bottle and it’s all grubby and half used up now. 

It doesn’t matter how cheap it is if it doesn’t work though so what is it like? It’s a bi phase remover so you have to shake it to get then two liquid levels to mix. It doesn’t have a strong scent which is a good thing in my book. My eyes themselves are not sensitive however the skin under them is. I recently had huge problems after using an Estee Lauder remover that ended up with the skin so dry that it was peeling. You can imagine how sexy my concealer looked over flaky skin! I’ve since been using this in conjunction with the Botanics eye cream and my skin has healed beautifully. 

This removes any eye makeup with ease. For waterproof mascara I just hold the cotton wool to my eye for 5-10 seconds before wiping away. It doesn’t sting or burn my eyes or my delicate skin. There is a slight oily residue left behind but this disappears with a splash of water. 

So is this a holy grail makeup remover? It may well be. I’m not going to lie, I’m always going to try others because that’s just what I’m like. I’m a product cheat. Always looking for the next best thing. But I do know I’ll always have a bottle of this in stock in case my latest trial product goes all Estee Lauder on me x

*I bought this myself*

FinallyYouShallBeMINE

AHHH YAY YAY YAY!!!!

FINALLY WON my perfect pair of Docs on EBAY!

(thanks to a secret Birdy bidder who helped me out while I was at work! You know who you are..LEGEND)

I am so excited...and wait for it...$57.00 - what a joke. Amazing.

I love the little tiny heel these lovely 8-Ups have. Perfection.

Well I am one happy girl.

It's 3am..I didn't get home from work til 12am so I am going to sleep NOW.

Happy Friday!!

And a big THANK YOU to all who were so lovely commenting on my AA feature.

Much love to you all.

XXXXXXXXXX

No7 Vouchers and Ltd Edition Autumn Collection

The Boots vouchers of temptation have returned and along with them a brand spanking new collection to spend them on. The ltd edition Autumn collection is really rather gorgeous. I love the faux snakeskin packaging and the rich jewel tones are perfect for the season. I talked myself out of the eyeshadows (they are gorgeous but I have enough brights. If I need anything it’s neutrals) and I didn’t need the matte top coat as I already have Essie Matte About You. What I did pick up was the smoky liner and soft matte lipstick in nude Rebel.

The liner is interesting. It’s packaged like a traditional liquid liner but instead you get a long, thin sponge applying a soft powder liner. It’s a soft, smoky effect which can be smudged out quite easily. It’s a bit different to all of the eyeliners that I own and that’s saying something. The wear is pretty good though I have noticed a touch of fading.



The lipstick is for me the best bit. Ooh look at the packaging!


The colour is a gorgeous nude too. Pale gals need to be careful with nudes for fear of looking corpselike. This has enough colour to avoid that. It’s a perfect everyday work shade. You do need to make sure that your lips are in tip top shape though as the matter formula can cling to dry bits. I benefit from wearing a touch of lip balm under it. It does last quite well on me.


The liner is £9.50 and the lippie is £9.75. Of course it makes more sense if you use your £5 off vouchers! Spend over £22 and you get a free gift containing the usual skin care, a travel eye makeup remover (that’s coming on holiday with me), a lipstick and a mini cream shadow. I strongly suggest checking this collection out x

*I bought these myself with the aid of my vouchers of temptation. My reviews are always my honest opinion. The disclosure policy is in the menu on the left for more info*

17 Dolly Mixture Eyeshadow Trio

I recently reviewed a couple of other 17 eyeshadow trios and mentioned that I’d been eyeing up Dolly Mixture. The lovely people at 17 then kindly sent me one! Happy days :-) Dolly Mix is a new trio that came out for the summer and boy are they summer colours. That shadows are bright and matte and for your pennies (£4.99) you get a candy pink, baby blue and pastel yellow. They really do look like ...erm... Dolly Mixture!


The shadows themselves are highly pigmented and super soft. So soft in fact that you run the risk of them becoming powdery so it is essential to tap any excess off your brush in order to avoid fall out. A good sticky base is useful too, I like NYX jumbo pencil in Milk as a base to really make the colours pop. The swatches below (with and without flash) are done without a base, you can see these aren’t for the faint of heart!


I love this little trio. My favourite way to wear it is with the yellow over the lid, pink blended in the crease and the blue on my lower lash line. I’ve worn it the past three weekends actually. Love it! Xxx

*The above product was sent to me by PR. My reviews are, as always, open and honest and sending me a product does not guarantee a good review. For more info check out the disclosure in the menu on the left*

Finished!

I like the last post I did on items that I’ve finished recently. I think it’s useful to look back at a product, even if it’s already been reviewed by me, and ask myself whether I miss it enough to repurchase now that it’s gone. I may love or hate a product after the first few uses but by the end of a bottle/packet/pan you have a much better sense of it. Here are our goodbyes this month: (ones with a * have been reviewed here fully)

Simple Eye Makeup Remover * :
No no no no. I will not be repurchasing. I love many Simple products. This is not one of them. It stung the skin underneath my eyes and did not do a good job of removing waterproof mascara.

Lancôme Bi Facil Eye Makeup Remover * :
Love it! I will repurchase one day but not today. At just under £20 a bottle it’s just too pricey for me. This little sample lasted me a good long while though.

The Body Shop Mango Body Butter:
Mmmm this smelt so good. It was a rich, moisturising treat post bath. The cream is insanely thick and I found it to be very moisturising. I have another body butter on the go right now!

Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 * :
I really liked this. It was a good, fairly light daytime moisturiser. The SPF could do with being a bit higher but at least it has some in it. It’s super cheap too. I’d be quite happy to repurchase this in future.

Garnier Makeup Remover Wipes * :
I hated these. They did a pretty shoddy job of removing my makeup and pulled at my skin whilst doing it. I won’t be repurchasing.

MAC Brush Cleanser:
The remnants of this are in a spray bottle but I need to pick up another ASAP (and will be back to MAC-ing the bottle once I have 5 more empties!). I love this stuff, I just wish they’d put a damn spray on it.

Boot Vitamin E Night Cream * :
I really liked this too actually and for less than a fiver I’ll be picking some more up in future. I’m currently trying a couple of other things though and when I was last in Boots they were sold out! Evidently I’m not the only one who likes this beauty bargain!

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub * :
No I didn’t use this up. It exploded in my travel makeup bag whilst on a business trip. It took me 20 minutes to clean sugar out of my eyelash curlers... This was always the problem with this product though. It does a fantastic job for a reasonable price but it’s as messy as a toddler with a paint can. For this reason I won’t be repurchasing which means I’m on the hunt for a new lip scrub. Any suggestions?

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder:
Ah my dear, we knew it had to end one day. This thing is so old it’s in the old packaging and all the type has faded off. Look!

I really liked this stuff. I go through a lot of powder in an effort to keep my nose none shiny and this has been an invaluable companion in that quest. The Sam to my Frodo if you will (Ok who let the geek out?) Ahem anyway it’s a fab drugstore pressed powder that I will happily repurchase in all its shexy new green packaging. I need to use up a couple of other powders first but when I have I’ll probably buy it and give it the full review it deserves.

So it’s been a mixed bag. Some hits, some misses, some unnecessary Lord of the Rings similes. I always get such a sense of satisfaction when I finish a product. I prance about waving the empty container in my husband’s face in a triumphant demonstration of “see! I really do use all this stuff!” Do you get the same sense of satisfaction? Xxx

*I bought the above products with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

Summer Series: Boots Vitamin E Gentle Eye Cream SPF15

Mmm crows feet. Shexy no? No. Coleen Rooney you may be infinitely richer and prettier than I am however you are almost the same age as me and your penchant for sunbathing has left you with crows feet that someone our age should not have (I say this based solely on pictures in magazines that may or may not have been photo shopped. Whatever, she’s still prettier than me).

It is so important to wear sunscreen and yet it can be quite difficult to find moisturisers that are safe for the eye area that contain SPF. SPF15 may not be a huge amount but it is a start. Once again this Boots own brand offering is rather cheap at £2.49 and the back of the packaging claims to “help reduce appearance of fine lines, puffiness & dark circles within 4 weeks”. I don’t really have fine lines (other than when I’m squinting which is quite often actually) and though I am plagued with dark circles puffiness has never been an issue for me so I can’t comment on these issues. As for reducing dark circles I’ve been sleeping much better recently so it’s probably the sleep rather than the cream that’s caused the improvement.

As a moisturiser isn’t kind of meh. It’s a very thick beige cream and it takes a good couple of minutes to absorb into my skin. I don’t find it to be hugely moisturising but then again I don’t need too much moisture round my eyes. What I love about it is that I have never ever experienced any sensitivity using this around my eye area, no silly little bumps under the skin and no matter how cack handed I am pre coffee no stinging if I miss and get it in my eye. Don’t laugh, it’s happened.

All in all I like it. It’s cheap eye safe sunscreen and it does the job well. If you need hefty moisturisation you may need something more potent. I however will be repurchasing in the near future xx

17 Eyeshadow Trios: Pretty in Pink and Forest

Whilst stocking up on hay fever meds in Boots (roll on Autumn...) I decided to cheer myself up with a cheap and cheerful makeup purchase. It didn’t stop me sneezing but it did make me feel a little less sorry for myself. Here we have two eye shadows trios from Boots brand 17. The pink is, shockingly, called Pretty in Pink and the green is Forest.

Pretty in Pink is the more pigmented of the two. In fact it is insanely pigmented and very creamy to apply. There is a bright fuchsia, baby pink and a lavender/ lilac that goes on much lighter than it appears in the pan. All three are very shimmery, almost to the point of being frosty. The formula exceeded my expectations, it is smooth and vibrant and blends easily. I have never experienced any fading with it.


Forest is pretty but slightly less impressive. There is a deep forest green, paler mint green and warm yellowed beige. These are slightly less shimmery than the shades in Pretty in Pink and possibly as a result are less pigmented and a little less smooth. They aren’t chalky as such, they just don’t quite measure up to Pretty in Pink.


For £4.99 you get a fairly substantial amount of shadow (I’m not sure of the exact amount). I will probably be checking out a couple of other colours. The Dolly Mixture trio is calling my name.... xx

Boots Vitamin E Night Cream

I have often complained about my combination oily skin. You’d expect that with it being summer it would resemble a chip pan at the moment but no, my batty body has surprised me again. I don’t know if it’s hormones or the increase in time spent in air conditioned offices but I have dry scaly patches popping up all over the place. Of course my nose is still like an oil slick. Super.

In addition to sunscreen containing moisturisers in the morning I have added a night cream to my routine (avoiding my nose) in order to combat the dryness. So far I haven’t morphed into a reptile from V (I’m a geek and proud) so it does seem to be working! For £2.99 Boots own brand offering was a cheaper alternative to the Body Shop Vitamin E cream that I loved so much. You get 50ml of product which claims to provide “rich and nourishing daily moisturisation with anti oxidant protection”.

It’s a thick white cream with a distinct clean smell. It smells a bit like sunscreen actually (though it has no SPF what with it being a night cream). I slather it on generously and then feel like a greasy sticky mess of the next minute or so. It really is quite rich, at first I worried it was too much for my skin, but after around a minute *slurp*. It disappears into my skin leaving it softer, less scaly and non greasy.

This product does provide instant moisture but it doesn’t last throughout the whole next day. If I don’t moisturise in the morning by the following evening all it’s hard work has been undone and I’m back to looking reptilian. For super dry skin I would recommend buying something a bit heavier and more long lasting. However for normal/ combination skin I think this is definitely a bargain beauty. I like it and if they hadn’t been out of it when I was shopping last week I would have bought it again xxx

Boots Original Formula Haul

Whilst in Boots last week (as I usually am!) I noticed that the Original Formula range which I’ve been dying to try was half price! So I loaded up my basket. As you can see Taz greatly approved!

Since her op she’s been feeling much better. She used to be fairly disinterested in her surroundings, now everything and everyone needs to be investigated thoroughly. Anyhoo back to the haul.




How lovely is the packaging! Here we have the bath oil (£3.89 reduced from £7.79), hand cream (£1.94 reduced from £3.89), bath foam (£3.14 reduced from £6.29) and body wash (£1.94 reduced from £3.89). The bath foam and oils both come in beautiful glass bottles. When they are done I will definitely be using them to put other bubble baths in!


So far all I’ve tried is the hand cream. The packaging looks like a metal tube but it’s actually plastic and squeezy. The cream is fairly thick and a little goes a long way and it does a nice job of moisturising my hands without leaving a greasy residue. The most noticeable feature is its scent. It states lavender on the packaging but whilst there certainly is a noticeable lavender tone it isn’t overpowering. It smells, well, it smells like a National Trust house. And I mean this as a good thing (being a proud member of the National Trust! For non UK people they are an organisation that look after old stately homes, gardens, castles and the like). It smells of beautiful well manicured gardens and pot pourri. It’s a pleasant floral scent but it is quite strong so is strong scents aren’t your thing it won’t be for you. I’m very tempted to pop back and buy the whole shelf full whilst it’s on special offer!

Overall so far I’m impressed and I do hope that the low prices aren’t indicative that they are giving up on the line. If anyone has any suggestions for other things from the range I should be trying then please do let me know!

Thwarting the awful NYX pigment packaging with a helping hand from Boots

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you might recall my post on the NYX pigments. The gist of it was basically fab products, fab price, awful packaging that you couldn’t fit a brush into. As a result even though I like the shadows I never used them. I received a lot of comments confirming that I wasn’t alone in this so I thought some people might find this useful. Behold our pigment saviour!

5 jars that all screw together creating a handy and easy to use pigment stack. And it cost me a grand total of £2. Fab! I bought this one from Boots but I have seen these kinds of things in all sorts of drugstores and supermarkets in the travel cosmetics sections. This one can be found here

Now the plastic does feel slightly brittle so it might not survive a bashing in a suitcase but for sitting safe and sound in my dressing table it does the job very nicely. The jars are the perfect size for an entire NYX pigment container and the wide openings mean you can actually get a brush in there and use it. All I need now are a couple more shades to pop in the two empty jars! X

*I bought this myself*

More empties?

I’m having to do another empties post earlier than scheduled as the little box I keep them in was full! It’s amazing how quickly things get used up when you stop faffing about with new goodies and actually crack on with the half empty bottles in your bath room. This month’s no buy went disastrously wrong so I’m starting afresh. 

Botanics Daily Hand Therapy SPF 10 – I like this hand cream and have several tubes of it. It sinks in quickly, doesn’t have an overpowering scent and the SPF is an added bonus. The only down side is my hands start to feel dry again quite quickly so I have to reapply often. £4.07 but often on offer in Boots. 

ELF Shine Eraser Blot Sheets – These are an absolute staple in my hand bag and now I’ve run out I’m panicking. My local Boots doesn’t have any brand of blot sheets in and I don’t want to put an ELF order in just now because I know I’ll go nuts. These do the job very nicely for only £1.50! 

Boots Vitamin E Moisture Lotion SPF15 – This 100ml tube lasted me forever! And at £2.85 it’s fantastic value for money. It didn’t irritate my skin and was certainly moisturising enough on my dry bits although it was a tad greasy and took a while o sink in properly. For that reason I won’t repurchase as I just don’t have time to hang around in the morning waiting for my moisturiser to sink in. 

Superdrug own brand eyelash curler – Meh it was ok. Cheap (less than a fiver I think) and didn’t pinch but not so amazing I’d go out of my way to repurchase it again. 

Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara – I really did like this and if it weren’t for the fact that I have about 10 unopened mascaras sitting around I would repurchase. It’s not often I properly empty a tube of mascara before the formula goes off but there is nothing left in this one! Current Boots price (on offer) £6.19.

Bare Minerals original foundation sample – it’s not for me. 

Blistex Intensive Moisturiser Lip Cream – I’ve gone through a thousand of these and I’ll buy a thousand more. Smells, tastes and feels disgusting but works like magic. £2.54

Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Moisturiser – didn’t like the smell or the texture. It was so thick it was difficult to spread on the skin and just seemed to sit on top of it rather than sinking in. Would not repurchase. £3.56

Umberto Giannini Dry Shampoo – The bottle was faulty which has put me off buying another one. £5.61

Spa Lavender and Peppermint SOS Foot Treatment Scrub – Bought from Aldi of all places for a couple of quid (I forget exactly how much). This is very thick, very abrasive and smells gorgeous. Just the thing for perking up iffy feet in between attacks with the ped egg. 

Radox Shower Smoothies Shower gel – LOVE THESE. They smell divine and don’t dry my skin out. Only down side is the bottles don’t last very long. £2.54

MAC Brush Cleanser – Already had a back up. Love this for spot cleaning my brushes (I use baby shampoo to deep clean them). Make sure you put it in a spray bottle. It’s easier to use that way and lasts longer! £8.50

L’Oréal Perfect Clean Gentle Foaming Exfoliating Scrub – I really just buy these face washes for the little scrublets that come with them. This one was fine in the summer but over the winter it became too drying for me. I’m currently using the pink (gentle) one but it’s still a tad drying. £5.10 

TREsemme Colour Protecting Shampoo – Nothing special really but you get a huge bottle for £3.26 which makes it good value. Doesn’t strip the dye out of hair. I’m trying to move to SLS free products though so I probably won’t repurchase. 

Batiste Original Dry Shampoo – I prefer the smell and the colour of the brunette version so I won’t buy this one again. £2.35

Pantene Colour Care Conditioner – Didn’t really do much for my hair at all. Will not repurchase £4.07.

Sadly not much in the way of makeup in this round. Hopefully that will have changed next month! On the plus side this means I’ve used up roughly £58 worth of products so at least I know that money wasn’t wasted! X

*All of the above products were purchased by yours truly apart from the Bare Minerals sample which was free with a mag... which I also bought myself*

Battle of the dry shampoos (a comparison)

Dry shampoo is my new bestie. I’ve been road testing a selection over the last few weeks and want to share my thoughts. The contenders are; Boots Expert Dry Shampoo, Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo ( Brunette), Batiste original, TRESemmé Instant Refresh dry shampoo and Umberto Giannini Morning After dry shampoo.

Here are a few basics:

Brand	Cost	Amount	Scary white roots?	Scent?
TRESemmé	£4.38	200ml	Yes but they brush out easily	Quite fresh, like the shampoo hairdressers always use. Not too overpowering.
Umberto Giannini	£5.61	200ml	Not unless you spray too much	Quite faint and fades quickly.
Batiste Original	£2.35	150ml	Worst white roots of the bunch.	Really quite strong. DO NOT LIKE (personal opinion)
Batiste Brunette	£3.05	150ml	Not unless you spray a lot and brushes out easily.	Much less strong than the original.
Boots own brand	£2.03	200ml	Not really.	Quite faint and fades relatively quickly.

Umberto Giannini – Where to begin? This was the biggest let down of the bunch, not least because it is the most expensive! It did a fab job of dealing with greasy roots. The smell didn’t bother me and I wasn’t left looking like I needed any greys covering. Unfortunately I got to use this 3 times before it died. Now I don’t use a lot per use, I think the can leaked (in fact I’m sure it did because it was all sticky... ew). The others have lasted me many more uses and show no signs of running out yet. What a waste! 

TRESemmé – Even though I don’t think this keeps the grease at bay for as long as the Batiste does I still prefer it due to the subtler scent. This gives me less build up of product in my hair too. The key with this really is to spray it in (shaking between sprays) and leave it for a few minutes. It really does need time to dry as it goes on quite wet. Then massage it in and brush out. 

Batiste original – If I’m honest I think this does to the best job at removing grease however the big old white patches (the toughest to brush out of the lot) and the overpowering scent mean I probably won’t repurchase this. 

Batiste Brunette – All of the effectiveness of the original but none of the drawbacks. I like to alternate between this and the TRESemmé as this does leave more of a build up. 

Boots own brand – Somewhat similar in consistency to the TRESemmé but less effective. For slightly greasey hair it’s fine but if your hair is starting to get quite bad this doesn’t cut it. To be honest none of these are exactly breaking the bank so I don’t think it’s worth saving a few pennies on this for a product that doesn’t cut it when the going gets tough. 

Now of course people may not agree with me as every ones hair is different (just like skin care works well for some people and not for others). These are just my opinions on how the products worked on my hair. Have you tried any of these? Which do you prefer? Or do you have another brand that you swear by? Enquiring minds want to know! 

*I bought all of these myself... judge me at will*