Biiiiiig brand review: The Body Shop. Sale, skincare and haircare!

The Body Shop is a pretty iconic high street brand appreciated by people of all ages. Although they’re now owned by L’Oreal (boo!) the products themselves are non-animal tested and the company is hugely focused on sustainable sourcing and they do all kinds of philanthropic projects globally which is always good to know. Their rewards cards scheme is totally worthwhile and has saved me loads of money. Aaaand they currently have a sale! I’m celebrating this by reviewing my Body Shop purchases.

First I’ll start with what has come to be a cult product- Body Butters!

These are hardcore body moisturisers that come in man-size jars. They come in like 500 different flavours and The Body Shop is constantly bringing out new ones so I promise there’ll be a smell you like, even if you don’t like smelly things!

I have the Olive, Passionfruit and Satsuma ones. The Olive is nice because it’s less of an overpowering fruity smell, it just smells really fresh and clean so this is good if you’re less keen on sweet smelly things! The Passion fruit smells heavenly and almost edible, but the smell is pretty strong. Sadly it’s being discontinued 😦 This does mean that you can often find it reduced instore though! The Satsuma one is a less overpowering smell but it’s still fruity and delicious!

These are best for putting on right before bed as they are HEAVY moisturisers so you can let them sink in without having to go about feeling all greasy and sticky.

For a lighter body moisturiser I use the Body Lotions.

They come in a pump bottle and are also lighter on the wallet too! (£8 compared to the Body Butters which retail at £13)

These sink in way better than the Body Butters. The pump packaging is also way more convenient and hygienic than the Body Butters, and they’re available in all the same flavours! I have the Sweet Lemon and the new Vineyard Peach and both smell fab, I would particularly recommend the Peach one.

Other body products that I love are the Banana conditioner and the White Musk deodorant.

Both of these were pretty much chosen for smell only. The conditioner is lightweight so I slap it on after I’ve conditioned once already and then I have delicious banana-flavoured hair. Seriously it smells so good. If you have short hair or oily hair the Banana conditioner will do the job on its own.

The deodorant isn’t the best anti-antiperspirant, but again, it smells really nice so I use it with another deodorant. Is it a bit pointless to get products that don’t work as well just because they smell good? Probably. I will definitely repurchase the conditioner but not the deodorant.

Now, on to SKINCARE.

Here are my two toners: the Tea Tree and the Aloe.

I’ve only used the Tea Tree a couple of times because my skin tends to be dry rather than oily/blemish-prone. When I do have face-freak outs, this has done a pretty nice job of de-oiling and un-spotting. However, I am in two minds about this because it contains a large proportion of alcohol. Surprisingly my skin hasn’t reacted to it, which is good because I’m generally pretty intolerant to irritants. Buuuuut I would definitely advise caution on this one, as alcohol can be very irritating and drying.

The Aloe toner contains much less alcohol. I use this frequently and while it does feel nice and soothing going onto my skin, I don’t feel it’s really making a huge difference. I’m unlikely to repurchase this.

However, I am a huge fan of some of the other Aloe products!

The Mask is definitely one of my Holy Grail products. It’s neither drying nor thickly moisturising, so it’s suitable for all skin types, and it does a magic job of calming and softening tired, reactive skin. When I run out of this (which may be never seeing as it still looks full despite me using it very regularly) I will definitely repurchase. It’s gentle enough to be used everyday and it makes my skin feel incredibly soft and smooth, as well as eliminating surface redness.

The Serum is another almost-daily product. I use it before moisturising or sometimes in the morning just as an extra-care step. It has all the soothing effects but is also surprisingly moisturising for a lightweight product!

I received the Gel in a package deal. It’s very nice and it’s been useful for sunburns or times when my skin has reacted badly to another product. However, you can buy aloe vera gel for much, much cheaper. Boots offers it for here £2.21 per 100ml which makes The Body Shop’s £26.67 per 100ml seem extortionate!

In terms of the Body Shop’s skincare ranges generally, I have found the Aloe range consistently brilliant. It’s also recommended by Paula Begoun, a skincare expert who’s very hard to impress. The Vitamin E range has also been raved about (and my mum has the entire range and swears by it) but sadly it made me break out so I won’t be reviewing any of these products personally!

Finally, I have a few products that are as yet untested:

I will post reviews of these too if they impress me particularly!

Next on my list of things to try are the multi-purpose Beautifying Oils. These come in all the same flavours as the Body Butters.

Brand review: Topshop make up

As I said in my last blog post, I am a big topshop make up fan, I think all the products are good quality, I am glad that the collection is expanding and everything is at a very reasonable price. The packaging is simple yet effective making every product seem unique yet practical.

The topshop glow is a really beautiful product, it gives the perfect glow to the top of the cheeks and on the Cupid’s bow, it looks good in any make up look and is to me a summer staple!

I have two of there eyeshadow’s, this pretty, very 60s blue and silver is a very nice no offensive blue, the eye shadows are buttery, pigmented and blend really nicely into the the eye lids. The eye shadow is in the shade Done and dusted and is £6.00, the other eye shadow, a navy and almost charcoal mixed with silver in the shade backstage whisper

I also like to use this as a liner.

Topshop blushes are well reviewed this blush is Flushed is a pretty cream blush which looks good with any thing and is very easy to apply it is £7.00.

I am a big fan of Topshop lipsticks and as you can see by the state of the packaging, mine are well loved. This is the shade Nevada, the constituency is nice and the staying power is good the only thing is the shade doesn’t always suit my complexion but lightly dabbed on or mixed with a pinker shade it is very wearable.

this is the shade Beguiled it is a beautiful vampy red with a bit of glitter running through, making it look very glamorous, if you are reading this Beth thank you very much!! The lipsticks are £8.00. Over all I really enjoy topshop make up, I may do a part 2 in the future, there products are consistent and very affordable the the packaging makes it feel more expensive! I would strongly recommend all the topshop make up products I own. Thanks for reading 🙂

Topshop festival make up

Posted by Grace
I am a bit of a topshop fan especially the make up (I will do a brand review later in the week). I went into the shop the other day and saw an exciting new summer collection for the festivals. All the eye products are glittery and fun colours and you know how I love my glitter! The lip products are pretty and sheer all of which have been added to my wish list!

images all from the topshop website, look how pretty everything is!!!

Face of the day

Posted by Grace

Wearing: benefit boi-ing concealer
Benefit brow zings
Urban decay naked 3 palette Nooner
Benefit they’re real mascara (on the top lashes)
L’oreal miss manga mascara in turquoise (on the lower lashes)
Estée Lauder lipstick in berry fizz
Look lip slick

Brand review: Benefit cosmetics

Posted by Grace
Benefit was set up in San Francisco in 1976 and since then the business has grown and grown with products that never fail to amaze people and have award winning products in every category, I own quite a few benefit cosmetics and some things which I don’t own currently I have tried and loved (what’s up highlighter and the PoreFessional)

the foundations and concealers are great for this look I mixed a bit of Girl Meets Pearl in with the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation for a more dewy finish and the Erase paste and Boi-ing concealer (they are seriously amazing) Girl Meets Pearl is great for shearing out the foundation and adding a healthy glow with out being too over the top or glittery. The only problem with base products from benefit is there shade range especially with concealers it would be nice to have more choice.

For the eyes I used the smoky eye palette which came with 3 eyeshadow shades an eye brow cream product, an eye liner, eye bright and tweezers it is such a great on the go/ going out palette and the shades also come in handy for other looks. I used the They’re Real Mascara which I love, the formula makes your eye lashes stand out and the product will stay on all day that’s a guarantee! Benefits eye brow products are worth the hype

The eye bright is crucial for mapping out the brows and the powder and cream work well to define yet give a natural effect to the brows.
Another thing from Benefit which are really worth the the hype are there box blushers, I have tries Dandelion and Coralista, both add a healthy and beautiful flush to the cheeks and they are very easy to apply.

The only thing I feel disappointed about with benefit is their lip glosses, I have a sample sized one that I got free in a magazine, it smells nice, has little colour pay off and the price of a full sized one is £14 which is just too pricey when I have found a better gloss for £2.50 from Look beauty

Over all even though I haven’t talked about half of the great products benefit do, if you are wondering about buying something from the brand and are worried about the price, you get what you pay for, the packaging is great and the products are to! Everything smells nice and colour pay off is great I strongly recommend the brand especially for teenagers especially around Christmas time when they have great box deals! Xx

Escentual French Pharmacie skincare PSA and HAUL- reviews to follow

Good news- you can buy French Pharmacie products from the likes of Caudalie, La Roche Posay, Klorane, Avene, Vichy, Nuxe and Bioderma at Escentual for 1/3 off through June! Boots also stock many of these brands, but often Escentual’s prices are cheaper, and with a third off the choice is pretty clear. The skincare and haircare products are well loved and receive high commendations from many beauty bloggers, including the lovely Lisa Eldridge, who discusses them here. And I will never dispute Ms Eldridge.

You can stock up on the following cult products:

Bioderma’s Sensibio micellar water (formerly Crealine). The whole Sensibio range is actually excellent.

Avène’s Eau Thermale. I always keep this in my handbag.

Nuxe’s Reve de Miel lip balm. I haven’t tried this yet, but the basic principle is that it’s a matte lipbalm that moisturizes but won’t affect the finish of your lipstick.

Plus obviously many others.

Here is a quick pic of my haul-

From left to right that’s Bioderma’s Sensibio Micellar Water and Sensibio AR Creme, Avène’s Cold Cream bar, Thermal Water and Milk Cleanser. I will be reviewing these shortly!

On my wish list I also have La Roche Posay’s Effaclar Duo and Anthelios Ultra-Legere Fluide.

What are your French pharmacie favourites? Have you purchased anything from Escentual and loved/hated it? Feel free to comment and submit!

Buy yours here!