August Empties

I have to admit, I'm not generally one for using things up, it's rare that I find a product that I really love and when I don't I tend to flit between different products.

This month I have actually managed to use up a grand total of... (drum roll please!)... three products! This is actually quite an achievement for me, I was helped by the increasing number of things on my mental wishlist that blogging has introduced me to. Using up one product means it's compulsory to find a replacement right?

Boots Dry Shampoo Paradise Island
I try not to wash my hair more often than once every other day so I regularly use dry shampoo to freshen my hair, I've generally used Batiste in the past but I don't find it to be amazing and it's not particularly cheap. I saw the new Boots dry shampoo that, at £2.29 for 200ml, is slightly cheaper than Batiste, at £2.99, and decided to give it a go.

The Boots Paradise Island Dry Shampoo is a good dupe for the Bastiste range and I actually think it smells a lot better than some of the Batiste dry shampoos. If you love Batiste, I'd definitely recommend giving the Boots version a try. As I was looking for something a bit better than Batiste, that would make my hair look generally fresher and not just less oily, I'm still on my quest to find my perfect dry shampoo.

Would I repurchase? No, I'm sure there are much better products out there and I'm currently enjoying trying out the Lee Stafford Dry Shampoo.

Remove It Benefit Makeup Remover
This was a bit of a spontaneous purchase when I was picking up some bits from a Benefit counter a while ago. For the price I expected something amazing, I'm not sure what but I definitely thought I would use it and have a 'wow' moment. Unfortunately it did its job, removed makeup and waterproof mascara well, but nothing extra.

Would I repurchase? No, for £16.50 for less than 200ml (177.4ml to be exact...) I'm sure there are much better/cheaper products out there.

No7 Stay Perfect Liquid Foundation - Calico
I'm rather in love with my Smashbox foundation but I like to have a cheaper brand to hand for less special occassions (like when I'm working a five hour shift and amazing staying power and a flawless look isn't essential). I actually really like the No7 Stay Perfect, it has a good coverage and lasted well even on my combination skin.

Would I repurchase? Definitely, in fact I already have. It's a great everyday foundation and I think £14 is a really reasonable price.

Have you tried any of these products?

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My Top Lush Products

My mum’s loved Lush for as long as I can remember, her birthdays and Christmases always mean a house filled with the gorgeous smells of lush bath bombs. I used to get so excited when I was allowed to choose a bath bomb for my own bath, there’s just something so relaxing about jumping into a bath full of coloured water with a wonderful scent. I soon began receiving Lush bath bombs and soaps for my own birthday and Christmas presents and would carefully choose some treats for myself using my pocket money.

Lush was the first beauty brand that I got into, as I got older I became more experimental with my choices and began to purchase products other than the famous Lush bath bombs. I have now developed better knowledge of the skincare and beauty world and use a much wider variety of products and brands but there is still something about Lush that keeps me going back.

Here are my top five Lush products that I just keep buying:

Big Shampoo - £11.50

This shampoo is great, it leaves my hair feeling so soft and silky, the main ingredient is sea salt which gives it an unusual texture but it works up an amazing lather on hair and goes a long way. I have frizzy long hair which means it needs quite an intense shampoo and conditioner with all sorts of unnatural ingredients that help to tame and hydrate my locks, but there’s something really refreshing about having a bit of a hair detox and using a completely natural product on it every once in a while. Unfortunately I haven’t found Big’s perfect partner in a Lush conditioner yet!

This isn't the full size bar, I've broken at least two pieces off to use already!

The Comforter - £4.50
In my opinion this is definitely the best smelling bath bomb, well technically it’s a bubble bar which is even better because you can get more than one use from it. The whole idea of the bubble bar is, as the name suggests, to be comforting, I don’t very often have a bath (I shower though, promise!) but when I do I pop a bit of The Comforter in and enjoy relaxing for a bit.

You Snap the Whip - £6.25
Like The Comforter, the amazing smell was the first thing to attract me to this body butter, it has a strong blackcurrant scent. I was surprised that this was classed as a body butter as I tend to use it as an exfoliator but it does have great moisturising ingredients. Using the body butter bar leads to a messy charcoaled shower experience but it’s definitely worth it.

Caca Rouge - £8.25
I’m rather precious about my long hair and the thought of using chemical dyes terrifies me so henna is the perfect product for me to use to give my hair colour a bit of a boost. I use the Caca Rouge as my hair is so dark that the others don’t make much of a difference. Applying the henna is quite a messy and long process that is near impossible to do without help, but I love the slightly red tint it gives my hair. The ingredients added to henna to make Caca Rouge (including cocoa butter) are great for hair and my hair is so soft and shiny once I’ve used the henna.

 

Mint Julips Lip Scrub - £5.50
This scrub is great; it’s actually the only lip scrub that I’ve ever come across. I love using it before applying lipstick, especially in the winter when my lips tend to get a little rough. The best thing about this scrub is that you can lick it off after and it tastes great!
Apologies for the photo from the Lush website, I've managed to misplace my Mint Julips for now, sadsad face!

What are your Lush favourties?

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Giveaway - Smashbox Try It Kit!

On Friday my blog will be one month old so, with it also being Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK, I decided it's a great opportunity for me to host my blog's first ever giveaway.

I'm excited to thank my current readers and get to know some more bloggers and readers. To enter you just need to fill in the Rafflecopter form below, you will receive one entry for following via Bloglovin, one for following via GFC, one for following on twitter, two for tweeting about the giveaway and two for mentioning the giveaway on your blog.

I spent so long deciding what to include in the giveaway (I now have plenty of ideas for future giveaways) but I eventually decided on the Smashbox Try It Kit. I love all the Smashbox products I have tried and the box contains a really good combination of products for you to try out.

The giveaway is open to UK residents only but I hope to host an international giveaway soon.

You can do as many or as few entries as you like (you could just follow on Twitter etc).

Good luck!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway