September Favourites - Hair, Skin & Nails

I stopped doing monthly favourites posts because I always found it difficult to pick out the products I really loved but this month it was so easy. I posted yesterday about my favourite make up items from this month but today I wanted to talk about other beauty products I've been enjoying too.

Aussie Luscious Long Leave In Conditioner

Before I started trying hair oils this product was a staple of mine and I've gone through several bottles of it in the past. When I last got my hair cut my hairdresser used a leave in conditioner spray and it reminded me about this one which had been languishing unloved in a drawer for almost a year. My hair can look really limp and flat if I use a traditional conditioner so I prefer to use something like this or a hair oil on the ends of my hair after washing it. Aussie Luscious Long leaves my hair feeling incredibly soft, much more so than any hair oils I've tried. Because it's such a fine mist it doesn't weigh my hair down or cause it to become greasy either. If you hair hair like mine, I'd definitely recommend trying this.

LUSH BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask

This mask from LUSH doesn't look particularly nice (think huge chunks of black seaweed...) but it makes my skin feel so refreshed and lovely that I can't not mention it in this post. I got about five uses out of this pot so used it around once a week. LUSH recommend this mask for every skin type; apparently men really like it. There's nothing too irritating in there or it's not too drying/too moisturising. I've tried several of these masks from LUSH and this one is by far my favourite. 

L'Occitane Shea Butter Foot Cream

I'm sure you can see that this product has been well loved because it's almost empty! I really don't like feet but I like them even less if they're not well looked after. I usually prefer to use a thick foot cream overnight and this product doesn't work too well in that context. However, I've been using this all month after my morning shower and because it sinks into the skin so quickly it's much more convenient. When I first tried this foot cream I was seriously underwhelmed but I've recently grown to love it. You do have to be willing to use it daily or at least every two days, though.

Weleda Almond Soothing Facial Lotion

I picked this up from FeelUnique a couple of months ago and it's since been my go-to night time moisturiser. I'm not completely taken with the almond scent but it's not too overpowering and I can live with it because the lotion does an excellent job of hydrating my skin. I'm planning to review this properly soon so watch this space!

L'Oreal Color Riche Polish in Beige Countess

It wouldn't be a favourites post without a L'Oreal Color Riche polish, would it? You all know I love these polishes but this shade is the one I've used the most; as you can probably see. It's just a typical medium nude shade that goes with pretty much everything. It's not my favourite polish in the world but I have been wearing it an awful lot this month. I used to think it was very similar to Essie's Lady Like but it's a lot more beige and therefore more flattering on me. The formula is easy to work with and I love the wide brushes on these polishes.

Let me know if you like favourites posts; I might try to do them more regularly from now on.

Stace xx

July Empties

If you've read any of my previous empties posts you'll think this one pales in comparison; it definitely wasn't my month for using up lots of products! 

The Body Shop Brazil Nut Body Butter

I love this body butter, the scent might not be for everyone as it is a bit sickly but I like it. I tend to use this particular body butter more on drier areas such as my elbows and knees.

The Body Shop Africa Spa Hand & Foot Butter

I've already repurchased this; it's an excellent foot cream. I can't imagine using it as a hand cream, though.

The Body Shop Dewberry Shower Gel

Can you tell that I'm a fan of products from The Body Shop? This isn't my favourite scent but it's nice. Raspberry Ripple is my favourite scent from this range.

Vaseline Cocoa Butter Vitalising Gel Body Oil

This isn't technically an empty but I just can't bring myself to use it any more. It's horrendously greasy and takes forever and a day to sink into my skin no matter how little I use so it has to go!

Dr Bronner's Lavender Hand Sanitizing Spray

I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't love the scent of this but it was quite handy to use. I kept it by my bed in the hope that the lavender scent would help me get to sleep more easily.

Cuticura Citrus Hand Hygiene Gel

This is a bit big for my handbag so I kept it by my make up/skincare to use if I needed to. It's a good budget product to have around.

Bath & Body Works Fresh Picked Pairs Pocket Bacs

This smells absolutely delicious; I'm sad that I've used it all up. If I ever make it to the States, I'm going to buy hundreds of these Pocket Bacs because they're great for my handbag.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturising Hand Treatment

This is another product that I've not technically used up. It's very moisturising and sinks in quickly, which is great but it absolutely stinks!

L'Occitaine Shea Butter Hand Cream

I bought the smaller sized tube of this to pop in my bag and I've been impressed by it. It's definitely up there with my other favourite hand creams.

Head & Shoulders Citrus Fresh Shampoo

I always go back to this product when my scalp is playing up. It works well on my grease-prone hair and isn't irritating at all.

Clarins Water Purify One Step Cleanser

This is a decent cleansing water but I do think there are other similar products that are cheaper. 

Lierac Energizing Soothing Cream Sample

This has been my most used moisturiser recently and I've really enjoyed using it. 

Thierry Mugler Angel EDT Sample

I love the scent of this perfume, it reminds me of my granny because that's why she wears. 

BeneFit PoreFessional Primer Sample

I got this free with a magazine and it lasted me a good month or so. PoreFessional is one of my favourite primers.

Comfort Zone Renight Recover Cream Sample

It feels like forever since I finished up this sample. It's very thick so I can't see myself wanting to purchase the full size. 

Burberry Body EDP Sample

I've had so many samples of this perfume, it's ridiculous! It's just okay to be honest.

That's it! Let me know if you used up many products this month in the comments.

Stace xx

L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

I picked up this travel sized tube of L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream a while back for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to see how it compared to my favourite Clarins Hand & Nail Treatment cream and secondly, because it's a handy size for handbags.

I've used about half of the tube now so I felt it's about time I reviewed it! Compared with my favourite from Clarins, it doesn't smell as nice and it does take a little longer to absorb into the skin.

However, all is not lost! This hand cream provides a nice amount of hydration to the skin on my hands and whilst it does take a little longer to sink in, it doesn't take more than a minute or so. I took this on holiday with me and ended up using it as a foot cream which worked pretty well. It was also the only moisturising product I had in my bag on the flight home so I used it on some patches of dry skin on my arms so it's a great multi-purpose product, in my opinion.

All in all, it's a nice product. It's not my favourite hand cream but if you tried the Clarins one and didn't like the scent, you might prefer the less powerful scent of this. 

Available online here and anywhere L'Occitane is sold. It's £8.00 for a 30ml travel size and £18.50 for the 150ml full sized tube. 

Have you tried this hand cream? If you have any other hand cream recommendations, leave them in the comments because I love trying them!

Stace xx

Wednesday Wishlist: Body Care

It's been a hectic few days for me; we've been seeing family and I was waiting on my degree results to come out. I'm spending the next few days cleaning our flat and getting rid of everything we don't need. I have a box full of make up to put in a blog sale so watch out for that over the next couple of days if you're interested. There's quite a bit of nail polish!

Anyway, I love doing Wednesday Wishlists because I'm not supposed to be spending a lot of money right now due to not having any! This week I've been eyeing up some (probably over-priced) snazzy body care products.

L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil 

£16.50 for 250ml

I've heard a lot of good things about this product but I've held off buying it because where we live right now the shower is over the bath which makes using an oily body product in the shower a bit tricky. We're moving to a place with a separate shower in July though!

Kiehls Creme de Corps

£27.00 for 250ml

Okay, so I'll probably never buy this since I think the price is ridiculous but that doesn't stop me from wanting to try it.

Nip+Fab Pistachio Sundae Dry Skin Fix Body Butter

£9.95 for 200ml

Now this is a product I plan to purchase sometime soon. I sniffed it in Boots a few weeks ago and it smells gorgeous.

This Works Daily Boost Body Scrub 

£18.00 for 200ml

This sounds great, I love shower products which help me feel a bit more awake and I'm always up for trying a body scrub. £18 seems a little expensive but compared to the prices of other This Works products, it's pretty cheap!

Dr Bronner Organic Rose Castile Liquid Soap

£5.50 for 236ml

I've been curious about trying this product since it was in a Glossybox a while back (I received a hand sanitizer spray instead). I think I'd go for either this scent or the Almond one. 

What's on your wishlist this week?

Stace xx

Haul: NARS, Chanel, Illamasqua, Revlon, Nails Inc, Milani & Maybelline

I went a bit mad buying make up recently so I thought I'd share what I got. It'll be the last haul for a while; partly because I just booked a holiday and partly because there's not really anything I want right this second. 

I popped into Boots today and picked up a couple of Revlon polishes as they were in a two for £8 offer. I got Impulsive (the purple) and Dreamer (the light blue). They both have a creme finish, which I love! I also bought Nails Inc Baker Street from ASOS and it arrived today. I've been looking for the perfect true blue for a while so I hope it applies nicely!

I had some Debenhams Beauty Club card points so I decided to treat myself to a Rouge Coco Shine from Chanel. I wanted one of the more vibrant shades but my local counter didn't have the one I was looking for so I got Evasion which is a lovely neutral peachy pink shade. I can see myself getting lots of wear out of this one.

A few weeks ago I bought Illamasqua Skin Base foundation and Rude cream blush. Both of these products have been on my wish list for quite a while so I'm pleased to finally have them in my collection. I got the Skin Base in shade 11; it's a little bit too dark right now but I tan very easily when the sun comes out so it'll be a nice summer colour for me. 

I stopped by L'Occitane on a whim. I've never tried any of their products but I recently heard some good things about foot cream so I picked that up. I couldn't resist the mini hand cream because whilst I love my Clarins hand cream, the tube is too big to keep in my bag.

My Too Faced Shadow Insurance finally ran out so I've replaced it with the NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base. I'm excited to try this out.

Finally, I picked up a few bits from a US blog sale. I got a couple of Milani HD Advanced Lip Colours in Candy Apple and Classy Nude, a Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss and the controversial Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Coffee Cake.

So, that's all for now! 

Have you bought anything nice recently? I'm off to paint my nails with Baker Street!

Stace xx