Quick review – Chocomania Body Scrub & Born Lippy Toffee Lip Balm from The Body Shop

by Annabella on April 16, 2012 · 7 comments | in Lip balms,Scrubs

I think I’ve said enough times on here that I don’t often go to TBS as I can never find anything exciting these days. For the last two years I’ve had a Love Your Body card and only used it a few times. I happened upon TBS a few weeks ago as I was looking for a gift for my lovely friend Cherry who started a new job recently.

Chocomania Body Scrub – Who can resist a chocolate body scrub right? Well not me, and what I really like about this exfoliation delight is that is smells like cocoa as opposed to a sugary sweet smell. This contains Fair Trade cocoa butter, organic cane sugar, soya oil, and brazil nut oil and is a lovely squidgy scrub that is actually more gentle that it looks. You can get good friction on dry skin but if you want a smoother paste then apply to wet skin. This won’t take ten layers of skin off, but it will give you a good seeing to and leave your skin with a nice sheen.

Get Lippy Toffee Lip Balm Stick – I need another lip balm like a hole in the head but this is different because it has colour albeit subtle for peeps like me who hate lipstick! Yes, yes I just said I hate lipstick. Anyway this contains Fair Trade marula oil and beeswax which helps keep the moisture in and also gives your lips a nice sheen.

So what goodies have you been hauling from TBS lately? Anything else I should know about?

I don’t get it – Kleenex Facial Cloths

by Annabella on April 15, 2012 · 15 comments | in Skincare

I bought these not because I needed them but because they were there – there on the shelf at Boots staring at me. I had seen on other beauty blogs this new range of Kleenex products and thought I’d give the facial cloths a whirl. I normally use plain cotton wool pads from Boots/Superdrug and they work just fine.

Maybe I’m being dumb but I’ve found these hard to use. The box says you use these for: cleansing, toning, removing eye makeup, and removing nail polish. I didn’t have a problem using them to remove nail polish but trying to cleanse, tone, and take my makeup off was another story. I may be wrong but there seems to a coating on the cotton (to make it soft I presume) and this prevents it from absorbing moisture. I really struggled to pour toner onto the cloth without it just pouring back off. When I used them to remove my makeup I had to use twice as much cleanser and I’d rather use a face/wash cloth to clean my face.

So these won’t be finding their way into my shopping basket again – anyone else use these or other products from this range?

9 unnecessary skincare products according to Total Beauty

by Annabella on April 13, 2012 · 18 comments | in Minimalist living,Skincare

In the interest of my new beauty blogger pledge about not hoarding, I’m researching where I can cut back. I thought I’d tackle a list that Total Beauty came up with of 9 skincare products that we apparently don’t need….

TB says:  We don’t need separate face creams for face, neck, and chest

Skin Scrubs says: I agree, the stuff I put on my face goes on my neck and chest as well.

TB says: We don’t need super expensive skincare products

Skin Scrubs says: The most expensive skincare product I own at the moment is a face scrub from Fresh and while it’s good I don’t think its worth the $55 I paid for it!

TB says: We don’t need toner

Skin Scrubs says: Depending on what skincare brand you use, will you get told it’s unnecessary and others will tell you that you can’t live without it – I’m looking at you Clinique! I like using toner, maybe not all the time but I find it useful for removing face mask residue and freshening up my face.

TB says: We don’t need hydrating serum

Skin Scrubs says: I totally agree, I hate serums and they make my skin feel horrid and slimy.

TB says: We don’t need creams designed for specific body parts

Skin Scrubs says:  I agree somewhat, general body lotion is fine but I think heavier creams for hands and feet are necessary, they get more exposure and work harder. And for the very same reason I wouldn’t use heavier creams on other parts of my body as they aren’t needed.

TB says: We don’t need age-reversing products

Skin Scrubs says: They say prevention is better than a cure so I kind of agree with this one. But I also think there is nothing wrong with products that can make your skin look better as long as you don’t have un-realistic expectations. Cough Cough ahem Nanoblur!

TB says: We don’t need body firming products

Skin Scrubs says: I’ve never used body firming products, I like to think all my scrubbing away will keep my skin taught and smooth.

TB says: We don’t need sunscreen over an SPF 30

Skin Scrubs says: Most of my moisturisers have always had some kind of SPF in them. I’ve seen ones with very high SPF’s like 75/80 but as I don’t holiday on the Sun I’ve never needed them.

TB says: We don’t need face masks

Skin Scrubs says: Whatever! I love face masks and they always make my skin look better with regular use. If you’ve got oily skin you know using a clay-based mask a few times a week can work wonders.

Well there you have it, and notice that scrubs are not on the list which means that we should Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate!

So what you ladies & gents think – do you agree with the list? Is there anything you could ditch from your routine?