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

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.

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)