DAY #2 - BODY SHOP CHRISTMAS

As sad as it sounds, the times when the Body Shop and Costa Christmas ranges are released is something I look forward to every year form about October onwards. Every year I do a post talking through the Body Shop's new Christmas products, and this year is no exception.

Every year the Body Shop release three Christmas scents- there's always one related to vanilla and one related to cranberry, and the third one changes each year. This year's scents are winners. There's vanilla chai, frosted berries and spiced apple. Unsurprisingly, spiced apple is my favourite.

Unlike the apple scent of two Christmas's ago, which was an incredibly juicy, sweet and mouth-watering scent, spiced apple has a much more dark and stereotypically festive smell- you can definitely smell the cinnamon and I love it. All three scents this year have a much darker scent compared to the usual fresh and bright scents the Body Shop release- they've not shied away from the spices this year and I can't say that I'm complaining. There's not all that much I can say about vanilla chai, it's a lovely, wintry, spicy vanilla, and you all know what vanilla chai smells like. This year, the Body Shop have taken a different turn on their usual cranberry (or occasionally frosted cranberry) scent. As the name frosted berries suggests, the regular old cranberry has turned into a berry medley and, though you can still smell a hint of cranberry, it is very much a festive mix of winter berries. As loyal as I am to the traditional cranberry scent each year, I'm really liking the change and, so far, all the Body Shop presents I've bought this year have been from the frosted berries range.

Wish List: (The products available this Christmas that I love the most)
-Shower gel
-Foaming bath
-Lip balm
-Scented candle
-'Rosie Monkey' bath sponge (I wonder if you can guess why...)
-Individual bath fizzers (especially eyeing up 'candied plum')

Rosie

The Body Shop fanatic

THREE MINI BODY SHOP REVIEWS

It's been a long time since we had one of these. If you're new to the party, I have a slightly unhealthy addiction to the Body Shop, and every so often we revisit the classic Body Shop reviews. When I say mini, I mean seriously mini. So mini that we're going to do the first one right here, right now. It's more of a shoutout than a review, but I needed to mention the new Pinita Colada range. I have literally never smelt anything more incredible in my life. I want to live in a bubble of it so that I can smell it forever. Smelling like pineapple and coconut, it's the most delicious, tropical, summery scent that will have you watering at the mouth and crying over how good it smells. Even if you don't buy it, you need to make a trip to your local Body Shop, just so you can smell it.

The BB cream is pictured here in the old packaging, the new packing is the same as the pore minimiser

So onto the two main products up for mini review, both are from the Body Shop tea tree range, which is my absolutely favourite for skin care. Tea tree is really great for clearing up spotty and blemish-ridden skin, and I would highly, highly recommend anything from that range (especially the face mask). Another thing I wanted to add up here as it applies to both of them, is that they have quite a strong tea tree scent, but that fades really quickly so you don't spend the entire day walking around smelling like tea tree.

Tea Tree Pore Minimiser 
I always use the two products being reviewed here together; I never put on the BB cream without the pore minimiser underneath, as it protects my pores from getting clogged up by the makeup. Honestly, I can't tell you if it works to actually minimise my pores, I haven't studied them closely enough to see if they're looking smaller, but it definitely reduces how clogged they get. I use a small amount of this on the areas where I have noticeably (to me, anyway) larger pores and it works as a really good, slightly matte base for my makeup. Overall, I really like this product and, though I don't know if it's making my pores smaller, I definitely think it's reducing the number of black heads I get.

Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream
I'm not the biggest fan of foundation (I don't actually own one), I don't like the feeling of having something too heavy on my face and running the risk of making my bad skin worse. The tea tree BB cream is great as it's like a light foundation and kind-of spot treatment combined. I wasn't sure at first that it had the best coverage, until I took it off later that evening and I could see a noticeable difference in how my skin looked when I wasn't wearing it (if you know what I mean, I didn't explain that very well, basically it has better coverage than I thought). I really like this product, it gives me enough coverage on days when I don't feel happy with my skin, without feeling too heavy or being too bad for my skin. I love these two products as a pair and I'd highly recommend both of them.

Rosie

Back with the Body Shop love

BELOVED BODY SHOP CHRISTMAS

The Body Shop Christmas range is one of my favourite things about winter, I feel like I'm allowed to start being festive the minute the Christmas Body Shop products hit the shelves. Every Christmas my mother and I fixate on one particular new Body Shop range, and everyone we know gets given products from that range for Christmas.

Every year the Body Shop release three new Christmas ranges with a variety of bath, shower and body products. Some favourites of mine this year are the candles, bath fizzers, shimmer lotions and bath jellies, alongside the typical shower gels, body butters and lip balms.

So normally, in their Christmas collection, Body Shop have a vanilla range, a cranberry range and another range. In 2013, there was an amazing gingerbread range and in 2014 there was the absolutely incredible glazed apple range, that literally has you drooling when you smelt it. Obviously, I love the vanilla scent, but I've never been all that bothered about it, and my mum and I always always obsess over the 3rd range that changes every year. However, I was very surprised this year to find that Body Shop had decided not to release a vanilla range, and had instead gone for the usual cranberry, brought back the glazed apple and introduced a new scent, frosted plum.

I thought that this year, instead of talking about an actual product, I'd talk about the scents. As I said before, the glazed apple range has me drooling just thinking about it, let alone smelling it. It manages to smell both sweet and sour at the same time, and it has got to be one of my all-time favourite Body Shop scents ever. I can never get bored of this scent and it doesn't disappoint. I think this is one that everyone will like.

Now the frosted cranberry range is more of a personal-preference scent, it's definitely not one for everyone, I've always liked it but my mum is not really a fan. It has a very fresh, berry-like scent, but there is a more sour-berry tang to it that not everyone will get on board with. The frosted cranberry is a much more sophisticated scent that the fun and sweetness of the glazed apple.

And finally, the newest range, frosted plum. I was so excited when I found out that the Body Shop were releasing a plum range. I had a plum lip balm a couple of years ago (pictured above, i don't have anything from the frosted plum range to show you) that I absolutely loved; it smelt beyond incredible and it became one of my favourite Body Shop scents, I was obsessed. However, I was really disappointed with the frosted plum range. I smelt the body butter, as that's normally the best thing to smell for the scent, but it just literally didn't smell of anything to me. I also smelt the shower gel, which smells a lot stronger, but to me I just wasn't wowed by it. It smelt okay but it definitely didn't smell like plum like the other range did. It had a kind of weird under-lying smell that I couldn't place but I just wasn't a fan, and that disappointed me as I was fully prepared to love it.

I will always love the Body Shop Christmas range, I especially have my eye on the bath fizzers this year, and I am very, very happy that they've brought back the glazed apple scent this Christmas.

Rosie

FUJI GREEN TEA (DO NOT DRINK)

It's been far too long since I shopped in The Body Shop, it's a well-known fact that it is one of my all-time favourite brands, but it's been a while since I heard the calling to browse their lip balm selection (I would recommend Body Shop lip balms over nearly all others). Today, however, we can all rejoice over the return of the first Body Shop post since December.

The Body Shop appear to have a Japanese theme going on at the moment, including a new, limited edition range of products (that are still available, I have checked), in the new 'Fuji Green Tea' scent. (My friend got me this box set of a few for my birthday, and can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the box itself is, I'm excited to use the products purely to use the box for things). This set contains a full-sized shower gel, full-sized body butter, and mini body scrub, other (super cool) products in the range include bath tea (and a bath tea diffuser), soap, Eau de Cologne and a couple of other body products.

I am so awful at describing smells, and this particular one is so difficult to place. Right now I'm sitting here with the mini body scrub, and I can't get over how good it smells. The only way I could describe this is that it smells like summer in a tub. The website describes it pretty accurately, it has the most clean and refreshing scent ever, it's one of those scents where you feel so good after using it, just because of how good it smells. As many of you know, I'm not a fan of overly strong and powerful scents, and I'm big on my cleaner, lighter and more fresh scents (see my candles blog post for more!), and this range ticks all the boxes for me. There's no accurate way for me to describe this scent, it's unlike anything I've smelled before, while at the same time smelling really familiar and comforting, and I'd recommend going down to the Body Shop purely to check it out.

One of the things I secretly love most about this range, is the absolutely beautiful mint green packaging, which I can't deny looks great in my bathroom. As with all Body Shop products, the products themselves are amazing, and I can never fault the high quality the Body Shop delivers.

Rosie

BATH JELLY

As a quick note, unfortunately I don't think this product is available from the Body Shop anymore as it was part of their Christmas range, which is only available for a limited time. To my knowledge, there are other products like this available from other brands, just not this specific one.

Every Christmas the Body Shop release three limited edition scents and a range of products in said scents, and every Christmas my mother and I go mad for a particular one. Last year it was the gingerbread, and this year was apple.

This Christmas, I was given a Body Shop limited edition 'Bath Jelly' in the scent Glazed Apple.

Starting with the scent, I mentioned countless times in Blogmas how good this smells. It's simultanelously fresh and fruity and sour and tangy. It's impossible to place exactly, but it's one of those scents that has you watering at the mouth as soon as you smell it. I literally can't get enough.

Onto the product itself, bath jelly is a weird, weird thing. I spent a fair amount of time debating how best to actually get it out of the tub and into my bath. I wondered about pouring, scooping with my hands, or even using a spoon; I went for the hands.
My main problem with how to get it in the bath stems from the fact that is seems quite runny and liquid-like when in the tub. This is not the case in reality. It was a confusing moment, sticking my hand in the tub expecting liquid, and instead finding a more solid, wobbly and distictly jelly-like product. It's difficult to describe, but what I'm trying to say is that it is literally a jelly, and not at all a lquid.

Anyway. The purpose of bath jelly is to create bubbles; you scoop it out of the tub and swirl it around your bath under running water. And it does work, bubbles are created, not as many as with a bubble bar, but there are a good number of incredible-smelling bubbles.
Saying that, and this may be due to not using enough product, I did find that the bubbles disappeared quite quickly. And, whilst there were a good number of bubbles, they were more of a thin layer than a big mound, as you would get with a bubble bar.

The consistency of the jelly means that it appears to be one of those miracle products, where you scoop out a massive bit and the rest of the product fills in the gap, making it look like you haven't touched it at all.

Overall I do like this product a lot. It smells incredible, you get a lot of product for your money and it lasts ages, and it does what it says on the tin. Though I haven't tried any others, as a general rule I would recommend bath jellies. They're a fun and unusual addition to your bath, and I think they would also make really great gifts.

BLOGMAS DAY 18- THE PERFECT SUBSTITUTE

Thursday 18th December2014

7 sleeps till Christmas

How is it a week till Christmas?

Much to my great disappointment (I believe) you can no longer buy the Estee Lauder eyeshadow duo in 'Raisins'. 'Raisins' was such a lovely duo with the perfect pink and purple colours that would look lovely on anybody. So I made my own version of sorts.

My substitute for 'Raisins' came in the form of the Body Shop eyeshadows, at £7 each these are not the cheapest of products, but they have such a great staying power and wide range of colours. For my version of the duo, I chose the colours 'Pink Crush' and 'Mon Cherry', which also look amazing on their own.

Looking at pictures of the duo, however, I think the colour 'Great Expectations' is more similar to the purple in 'Raisins', but being fair I prefer the lighter shade of 'Mon Cherry' on myself. Plus, as 'Pink Crush' is not the most noticeable colour on your lids, the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Pink Gold' could also be used if you want a more obvious look.

Left: 'Pink Crush' Right: 'Mon Cherry'

I was super proud of myself when I came up with this idea, only to find out that the Body Shop website already has this makeup tutorial, but which actually turned out to be very useful.

To wear these shadows by covering my whole lid with 'Pink Crush' using the brush on the left (see the picture of brushes below). I then put 'Mon Cherry' on the crease and a bit above using the brush on the right (see below).

I love this look for both a night day and an everyday look as the colours are light and subtle, but also have a slight shimmer to them.

BLOGMAS DAY 11- THE BODY SHOP CHRISTMAS

Thursday 11th December 2014

14 sleeps till Christmas

It's no secret that I am a massive Body Shop fan, and it's also no secret that the return of the Body Shop and Costa Christmas products are one of the highlights of my year (I lead a small, sad life). And so I return today with one of my fortes: Body Shop, Christmas, and lip balm. 

I will openly say that the Body Shop are one of my favourite places for lip balm, they smell and taste amazing and they work like a dream. I do own one of each type of lip balm that the Body Shop has on offer, but every year I jump at the chance to buy one from their Christmas range (especially since last year's just looked so damn cool). 

This is last year's cranberry lip balm, I have the gingerbread version of this

From what I have gathered, Body Shop bring back variations of their Christmas vanilla and cranberry products every year. I always love the cranberry one, and this year is no exception, however I am not such a fan of this year's take on the vanilla, 'Vanilla Brulee'. Last year's vanilla was a top-notch simple one, but it's just not doing anything for me thing time round. 

Last year's vanilla

There is great disappointment in my household that the Body Shop didn't bring back their gingerbread range (we literally bought it for everyone last year), but this year's new one is definitely an all-time favourite. 

This year Body Shop have brought out a 'Glazed Apple' range and I cannot even begin to describe how good it smells. It has the world's freshest, sugary-sour scent that I am finding super difficult to describe, but it is literally making my mouth water just smelling it. 

The lip balm itself is quite solid, so it takes a while to pick up a lot on your finger, but it's super moisturising and doesn't leave you with that weird white film around your mouth. What I really love about this is that it isn't sticky or greasy on your finger, which I really hate in other lip balms that come in a tin. 

There are three new Christmas lip balms, two non-tinted ones (the Glazed Apple and Vanilla Brulee ones), and one with a beautiful deep-red tint (the cranberry one). I would totally recommend, especially just going into a Body Shop store and smelling the Glazed Apple range.

THE ALTERNATIVE FAVOURITES

I have decided this month to pile together my recent random favourites as I thought it'd be a nice change from the normal beauty-and-added-extras favourites, and there's not enough new products that I've been loving at the moment to make a whole post on it. (Everything is kind of jumbled but I've tried to put similar things together).

-The Return of the Costa Christmas Menu 
Obviously the most important first. The Costa Christmas menu is basically the highlight of my year, I love all the festive themed drinks and cakes and super cool cups, last year I'd tried every Christmas drink on the menu by January. There's also the couple of Christmas Starbucks drinks, though Costa just have an overall wider selection; I am super upset that Costa didn't bring back their honeycomb hot chocolate because it was the best ever.

Excuse my horrible thumb.

-Planner
I think I mentioned my planner in another post recently (can't remeber which) but basically I'm obsessed with it. Sadly, one of my favourite things in life is to organise myself and the planner just excites me so much. I basically love my planner like a child.

-Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
There's more book things coming up this month but I had to mention here that I'm really enjoying 'Wuthering Heights', it's a fsntastic, weird book and everyone needs to read it. It's set on the West Yorkshire moors (where the Brontes lived) and it's fast becoming one of my all-time favourites.

-Goodreads 
I like books and I like to be organised and I like making lists. Goodreads is my new favourite thing and everyone needs to be on it. (I'd say you could follow me, but I only signed up the other day and I'm not actually sure what my username is). Does anyone else regret not documenting every book they've ever read ever?

-New Look
I haven't seriously shopped in New Look in about four years, but they are on point at the moment. Their winter (I'm talking about tartan) range is incredible and I haven't been so impressed by New Look in a long time.

-Cropped Jumpers
All of my jeans are high-waisted so I've really been loving cropped jumpers recently (no pictures as they will all be appearing in upcoming big posts). I find cropped jumpers to be really flattering and they can be dressed up or down with jeans, nice trousers or skirts.

-John Lewis Christmas Advert
This basicially signals the official start of Christmas and we are allowed to get excited. It also makes me cry like a baby, I don't like to think about last year's one.

-X Factor
I don't think I've been this into X Factor since 2010 (I was obsessed that year) but I've suddenly got really into it and there's people I actually like and quite a few really talented people and no one else is watching it this year I'm so alone in the love.

-Elissa Franceschi- Neon Lights
Elissa is an amazing singer and the sweetest person, plus her brother sings in You Me At Six, though that should play no factor as she is incredible in her own right. Her 2013 EP, 'Devoid of Rue' is amazing and I absolutely love every song on it. 'Neon Lights' comes from her latest album that came aout recently (called 'Chemicals') and I love love love it. As cheesy as it sounds, this song made me smile in a way that no other song has recently and I need someone to love Elissa as much as I do as someone will come and see her live with me.

-Body Shop Shea Lip Butter 
This has been and will be featured more in upcoming blog things (ooh exciting) but I had to mention it here. It's basically a miracle lip product, I use it every single night and I wake up with super smooth lips, I feel that my lips are now slightly dependent on it as they're super dry if I forget it for even one night.

SUPER SKIN

In honour of our Baby Lips throwback to September 2013 at the end of September 2014, I thought we'd do another throwback to October 2013- the aforementioned 'Skin Month'. So as a celebration of a month dedicated to talking about skin products this time last year, I am doing my current skin care routine.
I don't know if this is because of simply getting older, but my skin has got a million times better in the past six months, and it's only fair that I share my skin secrets (the main one being that I secretly really enoy washing my face).

Morning:
I wash my face twice a day (as everyone should) using the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel foaming face wash, and the cleansing and toning lotion of the same range. I occasionally use the Body Shop Tea Tree facial toner, but personally I prefer Boots' one. It should be noted here that Boots normally have a three-for-two offer on their Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range. Next I moisturise my face using my trusty Neutrogena moisturiser; the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range and the Neutrogena moistuiser are the only products that I have been constantly repurchasing for about the last 6 years.

Evening:
In the evening I wash my face again, though this time I don't moisturise. Before I wash my face, I take off my eyeliner and concealer (just general everyday makeup) using the Body Shop Vitamin E gentle facial cleansing wipes; though these wipes are quite expensive, I am actually allergic to Simple wipes so I have to use them. Personally though, I think that they work better than Simple wipes, and the packet actually lasts a very long time. In the evening I also use the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel spot wand, which, despite having a 'Day' and a 'Night' side at either end (something which I personally love), I am bad and sometimes don't bother with it in the mornings. As it is part of my nighttime routine, I thought I'd add that I use the Body Shop Lip Butter in Shea every night before I go to bed and it is probably one of my most favourite lip products ever, it keeps my lips super soft and smooth and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Extras:
These are things which I am trying to make part of my weekly routine, but I am bad and neglect them, and most of the time I also forget to use them. It is recommened that you use a face mask and exfoliate your face at least once a week (I never do them on the same day), and I am trying really hard to make this happen. I have never been all that keen on exfoliating scrubs as I never used to like the gritty, sandy feel of them, but I do quite like the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel exfoliating face scrub. You can read my post from 'Skin Month' last October to see how I got on with a Body Shop exfoliating face mask but I warn you, it is not good at all. However, the Body Shop face mask that I have always loved and can always see myself loving is their Tea Tree face mask, which I would highly recommend. I would also suggest getting some of the sample packet version of this mask as it comes in little sachets for £1 each and you can get at least three face masks out of each one, depending on the size of your head.

GETTING SKINNY WITH IT

I've had one of those 'ohmygod it's nearly summer I need to look nice all over' moments, and I am starting with my skin; I'm also branching out more into the world of makeup and experimenting more.

Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Gel:
It is a known fact that my mother and I are *slighty* obsessed with the Body Shop and their tea tree collection is no exception. Tea tree is very, very good for teenage or combination (oily and dry) skin and it is a range I have been sticking to successfully for many, many years. I was more than slightly horrified at the price and size of this product, it costs £6 and is absolutely tiny but I have heard so many good things about this that I paid the ridiculous price regardless (if you can't tell I am not a fan of forking over massive amounts of money for any products in general); I have heard that this product not only gets rid of spots but also gets rid of the blemishes or scars from previous spots and I am willing to try anything that claims that.

This might just have been my skin at that moment in time, but when I first tried this product I felt that it almost made the under-skin-lurking-spots seem more prominent and actually made them come up on the surface. And, to be honest with you, I'm pretty sure that it does make the tiny unnoticeable blemishes seem like more prominent spots (no one else notices it on my skin, though, it's just me).

While this is a good product, it is more or less the same as Boot's Tea Tree Blemish Stick and I would recommend getting the Boots one as it is larger, cheaper and you get more for your money.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer:
I have been using a Body Shop concealer in stick form for years and years and, while it does it's job, it's not brilliant and you can still see where the spots are. My best friend gave me the most amazing set of Cath Kidston makeup brushes for my birthday (confessional time: I have no idea what most of the brushes are meant for) and that has motivated me to experiment more with makeup. My first step has been buying a liquid concealer and using a brush to blend it in (another confessional time: sometimes I still just rub it in with my hands); the concealer I chose is the Collection Lasting Perfection as I am unoriginal and jumping on the bandwagon/ I have heard a lot of good things about this. I was surprised at how cheap this was- £4.19 is a price I like.

I bought this concealer in Shade 2 Cool Medium as in Superdrug it looked the right shade and Shade 1 looked too light; however, a couple of days later I was happily blending it in with my brush when I looked in the mirror and realised I was orange. But not just orange, orange and splotchy as I hadn't covered my whole face and only a few areas, attractive that. I did go back and buy the concealer in Shade 1 Fair as in the UK you can't return makeup, I am not broken hearted about this as the product was quite cheap, but damn you super bright Superdrug lights. Since having written that last bit, it has been very sunny and I'm actually quite tanned on my face now; in hindsight it is actually a good thing that I have both Shades 1 and 2 in my collection as Shade 1 is the right shade of me in the winter/spring/colder months, but in the summer I am more suited to Shade 2. Happy is me

If you browse the Cath Kidston website and find their 'Button Rose Makeup Brush Set', I use the third largest brush to blend my concealer, and then the Body Shop 'Face and Body Brush' to just make sure it's all blended in properly and spread (is that the right word) it around my face so everything is even. Occasionally (a lot) I have been known the use my fingers to rub it in thought I don't think it does such a good job as brushes. (I also use the Body Shop 'Face and Body Brush' for powder).

This concealer had been raved about by everyone and their mum so I had high expectations for it, I am not disappointed, I would highly recommend this product.

SHE, SHE-A, OR SHAY?

(Apparently it is pronounced 'shay').

For ages and ages and ages now I've wanted to try the Body Shop lip butters and it has taken me this long to finally decide I would spend the £4 and buy one. I decided to get the Shea one as Shea is very good for your lips and it was my favourite scent out of them all. (One of my main gripes about this product is that it only comes in a very few flavours: Shea, chocolate, coconut, grapefruit, mango, lemon and honey, and I wish it came in more). To me, Shea is quite a comforting and nutty scent which I think smells perfect for all the seasons.

I don't know if this was because it was brand new, but the first time I found it quite hard to pick up a decent amount of the product on my finger and putting it on made my lips look quite dry and horrible. However after about a week it was lovely and soft and easy. The one thing I must say is how beautiful and creamy/ buttery it felt on my finger (it smells a little bit buttery as well but that might just be me/ the scent of the Shea).

I use this religiously every single night (and sometimes during the day when I'm at home) as it does leave a white residue type thing around your lips that makes it look like you've got rabies, but when I wake up my lips are unbelievably soft and smooth and amazing looking and they're already ready to put on another lip product over the top without any prep beforehand. This lip butter is amazing and 1000% worth the hype.

My lips currently look absolutely amazing which I believe is mostly due to using this every night, I absolutely love it.

Just to add: I am loving the new(ish- it's been out quite a while) Body Shop packaging, the design is simplistic and beautiful and the whole look of a single image plus the matte tubs is just so much nicer than their old tubs which had more of a cluster-like image and didn't look as good (I make no sense, please look below for a comparison of the old body butter tubs and the new ones, and also the old and new Born Lippy pot designs).

DUSTING OFF YOUR SAVIOUR

I have an open love-hate relationship with the Body Shop Born Lippy pots as they are my favourite lip balms and they smell amazing but I find them very drying to the lips and too sticky on your fingers, the pigment is also not that great. I'd known for a while that Body Shop did a stick version of the Born Lippys but I had always ignored them as I assumed the flavours would be the same and there would be no point in my having a look. Oh how wrong I was.

When on Christmas day I opened a stick version of Born Lippy in purple my initial thought was 'oh look passionberry, yes, okay, I like this one' but it was actually a plum flavour that I can only describe as smelling like heaven (I cannot stress how amazing this smells I want to eat it or be it or smother it all over my body in a fit of madness). In reality the Born Lippy sticks are actually all completely different flavours to the pots (with the exception of strawberry which has got to be the Born Lippy's finest flavour- except maybe guava, I'm going off on  tangent here).

The formula for the sticks is much creamier and more of a balm than the pots, there is also much more of a pigment (I have only tried out the plum flavour which is purple in the tube but comes out as more of a sheer purple-pink), however I am assuming that the others will also be quite pigmented. The lip balm feels amazing on your lips, it makes them so smooth and lovely and it doesn't leave a weird white rabies-thing around your lips like a lot of other balms (and the Born Lippy tubs) do.

This lip balm is my saviour- it moisturises my lips to smooth perfection while adding the perfect daily purple tint (and we all know how much I love my purple lips more than anything) and in a super short time it has become one of my most favourite lip products in the world ever.

Wow indeedy; pretty accurate representation of the colour though comes out more sheer- you can slightly see the darker colour of the tube here.

I am absolutely so much in love with the Born Lippy sticks and will 1001% be buying more I cannot recommend them enough.
(My friend actually bought one on my recommendation when we were in Body Shop the other day, going mad and spending fortunes, she got the pomegranate one which is bright red in the tube and comes out a red-orange colour on the lips).

Born Lippy Pot Flavours:
Raspberry
Satsuma Shimmer (has a shimmer if the name was not clear)
Strawberry
Watermelon
Passionberry
Guava (unknown if this is still available- I believe not)

Born Lippy Stick Flavours:
Lychee (has a slight glittery shimmer to it)
Plum
Pomegranate
Strawberry
Toffee
Pink Berry

Everything is so much less stressful now that I don't have to blog every day anymore, it's quite nice.

SKIN MONTH | THE WIPE COMPARISON

I reviewed the Body Shop Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes earlier this month and I completely fell in love with them, HOWEVER, I am nearly running out and Body Shop is rather expensive so I thought I'd try another (and slightly cheaper) brand of wipes and see the comparison...
(Read my Body Shop wipes review here)

Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes (£2.99):
These come to half the price of the Body Shop wipes (they cost £6) so for starters I am pleased. Simple claims to remove waterproof mascara but, as I don't wear much mascara and when I do it's non-waterproof, unfortunately I cannot review that for you (I am very tempted to get my best friend to try one out for me but that might be a bit weird). These wipes also claim to be good for sensitive skin which is great for me, but, when I was testing out super dark foundation on my brothers hand as a joke- poor boy, he scrubbed a bit too hard to get it off and his hand came out a bit splotchy for a while, however I did not find this to be the case on my hand when removing lipstick samples so I suppose it is different for different people (?).
Once I actually tried these on my face I completely fell in love with them, I believe that they even work a little bit better than the Body Shop ones which is fab. The Simple wipes are also so much more gentle on my skin (which is what it says on the packet), I find that under my eyes gets quite sore if I rub too hard with the Body Shop ones but that doesn't happen with Simple. After removing my eyeliner with the Simple wipes there was actually nothing left and it had even removed two day old makeup which was brilliant.
I feel very unfaithful to my Body Shop wipes that I have loved so much but I do think that I will be repurchasing the Simple ones over them as I think they work a little bit better and the Simple ones are half the price of the Body Shop ones (see above for prices).

SKIN MONTH | YES ANOTHER BODY SHOP REVIEW

*Just to start I would like to say that I am sorry I have not posted for a while but I went on a camping competition with my Explorer Scouts (which I won) last weekend (really not good for your skin that) so obviously I cannot post from a tent.*

In my last Body Shop review I was not feeling the Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask vibe and, if it's possible, my view on it has actually decreased the more I've used it. I have only used this product twice but I don't think I'll be using it again in a hurry unless I run out of other face packs. Really soon after I put the mask on my face started to feel like it was burning, which is not ideal. I decided to stick the mask out until it dried because it does dry really quickly, but when I took it off it start to burn again and the exfoliating particles do not appear to wash off with the rest of the mask and I found myself having to stand there scrubbing it, my face also started to burn again when I used my normal tea tree soap afterwards. I am really disappointed as this is the first ever Body Shop product that I really have not liked, despite how smooth my skin feels afterwards. I have found, though, that the mask is doing nothing for my skin and my face really smells like seaweed afterwards which I do not want. I am going to try another Body Shop face pack because they have always been very good before, but I think I should just stick to my normal tea tree...

Tea Tree Face Mask:
Despite my initial disappointment with my other Body Shop face mask, I didn't want to give up on all hope of Body Shop skin products as I have been highly praising of them in the past. For this reason I decided to go back to an old favourite which I knew (and hoped) wouldn't fail me- the tea tree face mask. I have written before how good tea tree is for your skin (I actually took an online test on the Body Shop website link here which I really recommend doing and it actually said I should be using tea tree for my personal skin- so there you go!). There's something very refreshing about tea tree and your skin feels very soft, fresh and light after use. This is quite an old tub and I believe the packaging has changed slightly since I bought mine but the product itself is still the same. I love this face mask, it does exactly what I want it to (clears spots) and I will be buying it again.

Another product that I recommend is the aime Spring Clean Cooling Clay Mask which I won't review as it is basically the same as the tea tree one above, but it is a very good product and this one tube has lasted me literally years; I would be inclined to say that aime is one of the best.

SKIN MONTH | EVERYDAY ROUTINE

So this post isn't going to be very interesting but as it's Skin Month I thought it was only right that I addressed by daily skin routine...

(Apologises for the half-used products) 

1. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash- tea tree is super good for your skin, I use this twice daily and then wash it off using Boots cotton wool pads.
2. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Cleansing and Toning Lotion- it is always good to use toner on your skin, I use this once every morning and dab a couple of drops of it onto a cotton wool pad.
3. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Exfoliating Face Scrub- (yes there is a trend going on) as I wrote here, I am not a great fan off exfoliating products for your face so I only use this about once a month but exfoliation is good and you should not run away from it just because it feels weird.
4. (A new one) Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes- I use these in the evening to take off my eye makeup and then give my face a quick wipe before I wash it properly, I love these wipes so much.
5. Neutrogena moisturiser- favourite moisturiser, not much else to say about that really.
6. Burt's Bees lip balm- I just have the normal, original, no extra stuff, whatever you want to call it one and I lovelovelovelove it sososososo much, I use it every night before I go to bed so I have super smoothy lips when I wake up. I also use it as a base if I'm going to be wearing lip gloss because I find that some lip glosses dry your lips out a bit and this just prevents it.

 The Boots tea tree and witch hazel range

Personal favourites

Available at Boots or Waitrose- I love these

 

 

Now moving onto make up, I don't wear all that much to school because I have no time if I actually want to sleep in the morning.

The bare minimum

1. Body Shop concealer- I have spoken about this before but it's really good and does not cause excess breakouts like some concealers do.
2. Body Shop black eyeliner pencil- Just on the lower lash line and water line, I have super sensitive eyes and this is a good quality eyeliner without being overpriced like many other sensitive eyes products (COUGH No7 COUGH).
3. Mascara- I don't often wear mascara but when I do I wear No7 sensitive eyes in black, the one thing I hate about mascara is you can never seen when you're nearly running out.
4. Maybelline Baby Lip in Peach Kiss- perfect everyday lip balm, tastes good and has a teeny tiny shimmer to it in certain lights.
5. Body Shop Born Lippy in Guava- I absolutely love these but I have so many and never manage to finish them (my friend gets through a whole pot in about three months which is quite impressive considering how much is in there and how little you need at a time). Guava has got to be by far the nicest Born Lippy (I have about three pots of the strawberry one, however- yummy) but I find that they dry my lips out so I just whack on a layer of Burt's Bees and it works like a dream team.

Looks amazing and smells amazing I absolutely love this product (guava flavoured)

SKIN MONTH | BODY SHOP REVIEW

So here is the first of my Love Your Skin Month product reviews, and we're starting with the Body Shop...

Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask:
Normally I get the Tea Tree Face Mask as tea tree is soso good for your skin, but this time I decided to mix it up a bit and go for something (hopefully) a bit stronger. Due to the 'clay mask' bit of the name, I was expecting a very hard product, but when I opened the tub the product was surprisingly soft and smooth and went on really nicely with a great coverage. It also smelt really good, like a subtle salty water scent, but the longer I kept it on my face the stronger the scent got until it was a rather unpleasant fishy-seaweed scent. You have to leave the product on your face until it has dried (the colour changes from dark grey to light grey so you know it's dry) but by the end the product had almost started to burn and I was itching to take it off. When I did take it off I remembered that there were small, gritty, exfoliating particles in it (which is great, I'm all for removing dead skin) but felt like rubbing sand on your face and actually hurt when taking it off. To take the product off I used the Body Shop Muslin Cloth and I was actually so surprised at how easy the face pack came off! Which most face packs it takes a lot of scrubbing to remove it once it has dried, but this one came off really quickly and easily (I only use a thin layer because the product is very thick and I want it to actually work and not just sit there). I'm not sure how I feel about this product, but my skin does feel very smooth afterwards and it dries super quickly so you don't have to keep it on for very long which is great. I am going to keep on using this product despite the negatives as it feels quite good for my skin, I will update if my opinion changes in the next few weeks but now we will just have to wait and see...

 

 

 

Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes:

These have got to be the best makeup wipes I have ever used. They remove makeup I didn't even know I still had on without hurting your eyes. They can make under your eyes feel a bit sore if you rub it for too long and too hard but that doesn't last long. There's not much I can say about this product apart from the fact that I absolutely love it and it's not scented which is great if you're using it on your eyes like I do. The Body Shop Vitamin E range is one of the best and is good for your skin and so far I cannot fault this product in any way- I am a very happy bunny.