Review: Botanicals Award-Winning Natural and Organic Skincare

I sent away for some samples from the Botanicals website and they arrived the other day. I sent away for their "'try me' duo of award winning products" which included a sample of their Rose and Camellia Cleansing Melt and their Mint and Tea Tree Foot Balm. Included in my package (which you had to pay £1.95 p&p) was a free sample of their Rose and Camellia Clay Mask which I thought was nice of them to send. I was a little disappointed in the size of the sample I received, I know they're free but I had payed £1.95 p&p. The samples came in little clear 5g tubs with a sticker on the top with the name on it. There was also a little piece of paper in the bag with them telling you what prizes they had won at The Soil Association Organic Awards 2010. The foot balm won Best Organic Body Care Product and the cleansing melt won Best Organic Facial Skin Care Product. You also get a code for £5 off if you purchase both these products from the website. One of my only complaints about the products was the lack of information on how to use them. It says on the paper that you can look at their website for ingredients and instructions for use. I looked and I couldn't find the instructions of use. Don't know if that's just me being a bit blonde though or if its the fact they're not there but I had a good look and I couldn't see them!

So I started to use the foot balm which contains organic shea butter, cold-pressed organic oils and organic peppermint, spearmint & tea tree. I found that it is quite greasy so it doesn't really sink into your skin, cause of this I decided just to use it at night when I'm going to bed. When I get up the next morning though my feet are so soft and the cracked skin (I know, I'm sorry it's not a pretty image) I had on my heels had really softened and was looking a lot better. I didn't think that the pot wouldn't last me very long but it says that the product is concentrated so you don't need to use that much. And they were right! I've used it every night now for a week and I would say I've still got enough left in it for another couple of nights. Would I buy a full sized tub?? Yes I think I would. It's £12.50 for 50g and I reckon that would last a pretty long time seen as my little 5g tub has lasted over a week so that's pretty good value in my eyes.

I also tried the clay mask. Now this I was convinced I was only going to get one use out of. Again, I was wrong! I only used a tiny little amount which did my whole face cause it doesn't have any water in it so it's very concentrated. It contains french rose clay, organic shea butter and cold pressed organic rose hip and camellia oils and it says it's suitable for normal to dry skin and mature skin which I have to say, I have neither. Thought I would give it a go anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't find any instructions for using the mask so I just applied it all over my face then washed it of after 15 minutes. It left my skin felling really nice and soft. I was a little worried it might make my skin quite oily as I have combination skin but it didn't which I was really pleased with. On the website you can order the clay mask in two different sizes, 30g for £11.50 or 60g for £16.50 and it also come in chamomile and mandarin (suitable for all skin types) I think if I was to buy the clay mask I would get the chamomile and mandarin as the other one isn't really for my skin type.

The cleansing melt is the only one that has instructions on how to use it in the information and it's the only one I've not used yet, typical. I've decided not to use this yet as I want to use up the rest of my current cleaser before I do. If it's as good as the other products though im looking forward to trying it. It's from the Rose and Camellia range as well and like the other products, also very concentrated. It says that there unique plant oil based formulatoin dissolves make up and restores a natural balance to your skin. The only thing im worried about using this products is that it might leave my face a bit greasy. Guess i'll just have to wait and see though.

My Beauty Storage (It's a bit rubbish but it's all I got)

 I've read on loads of other blog about people beauty storage so I thought I would join in and show you mine! Sadly it's not that exciting though. I don't really have anywhere in my room that I can sit down and do my make up properly which is kinda rubbish so I end up doing it on my bed with a silly wee mirror. I have however managed to sort out my make up so it's in some kind of order! I keep it all in the shelves I have in my room and I've recently just re-organised it all!

On the top shelf I've all my hair stuff (hairsprays, gels, straighting stuff etc) in the basket on the right and then in the basket in the left I've got medical stuff (plasters, savlon, stuff like that) and spare make up bags. I've also got an old perfume box with my hairbands in it. On the middle shelf I have my deodorant, body lotion, shower gels and brushes in the basket on the left. In the basket on the right I've got all my fake tanning products. Next to that I've got a few random pieces and at the front I've got my perfume collection.

I LOVE my perfumes! I need to try really hard not to keep buying them.

Just now I have (from left to right) -

 CK Euphoria

Gucci Eau de Parfum II

Body Shop - Neroli Jasmine

Ralph Lauren - Ralph

Flora by Gucci

DKNY - Red Delicious

Britney Spears Fantasy

Paco Rabanne - Ultraviolet

My favourite one are my Gucci ones! I love Flora, my wonderful boyfe got me a bottle when we went on holiday last year then his lovely Daddy got me another bottle for my Christmas!

On to my favourite shelf, The Make Up Shelf!!

Ive got my make up all separated into eyes, lips and face. All my eye make up is in my silver case from the Body Shop

Then I've got my lip stuff in my pink and silver box

Lastly I've got all my face products in my Morgan make up bag

I've also got a bag with all my brushes and tools in it, a mirror, my Lauren Luke book and my 120 eyeshadow palette. I've also got my little monkey box that's got my false eyelashes in it and a brush roll.

So that's my storage people! Not very exciting, I know, but thought I'd show it off.

NOTD - H&M Latte 2 Go

I wasn't too sure about this colour, Latte 2 Go from H&M, when I first put it on but once I went into another room and saw it in natural light I really liked it. I was worried my hands were gonna be too pale for it but I think it looks quite good. It only took 2 coats to achieve this colour and it dried super quick! It was only £2.99 for a 9ml bottle which I think is not too bad. 

NOTD - MUA Shade 5

Im loving this colour just now! It took 3 coats to get a similar colour to the bottle but it went on really well and dried very quickly. Im impressed for a nail varnish that only costs £1, it's lasting really well.

First Ever Make-up

I was reading Makeup Savvy's blog the other night about her first ever make up purchase and it got me thinking, what was mine.............?

I cant remember the first piece of make up that I bought but I can remember the getting a bottle of Tinkerbell peel off glitter nail varnish from Santa one Christmas at a local club. It must be one of my first ever memories cause I think I must only have been about 3 or 4.

I loved this stuff! It was great cause you painted it on and then once it was dry you could just peel it straight off. Maybe this is were I got the habit of picking at my nail polish!

Sadly you cant get it anymore.
What was your first ever piecee of make up???

MUA Range Haul

I've been eagerly waiting on my package from Superdrug with the stuff i ordered from their MUA range. I was very excited about the range coming out which was launched in stores yesterday but had been available online since Tuesday. I decided to order some things online cause I wasn't 100% sure if my local store would carry the range. So it arrived this morning!

From top to bottom, left to right -

Eye Dust in shade 5

Eye Shadow in shade 17 matt

Eye Shadow in shade 19 matt

Blusher in shade 3

Nail Varnish in shade 4

Nail Varnish in shade 5

Nail Varnish in shade 1

Lipstick in shade 4

Mascara in shade 5

Liquid Eyeliner in shade5 (not in the picture but the eyeliner is black)

(You might have noticed that the stuff doesn't have names they have shades)

So far I've used the eye shadows, eye dust, lipstick, eyeliner and mascara. I liked using all the products apart from the mascara. The first thing i noticed about it was that the brush was a lot smaller than my other mascara so I wasn't really sure about it. Then when i went to put the wand back into the tube it was really stiff and i had to push quite hard to get it back in. I also felt that it didn't really give me a lot of coverage on my lashes. I was unsure about using the eyeliner as well cause it's not a brush, its a hard sponge thingy (yup, that's the technical term for it) but once I started using it the end was quite soft and it went on OK.

I love the lipstick though, its a gorgeous pink colour! It goes on really well and has a nice creamy texture.

(It looks more pink than it does in the picture)

I think this is a great range, especially for the price and i will definitely be buying more from it! You cant really go wrong for a pound!

Beauty Bargain

I was at the till in Primark the other day and a little yellow box caught my eye, it had Beauty Babe nail polish written on the front and i was intrigued. I opened it up and there were 4 cute little bottles of nail polish inside. I was supposed to be trying not to spend too much money but it was only £2 so i thought it couldn't really hurt. Could it?

The box has got a magnetic lid so holds shut really well. It got 4 gorgeous pastel colours inside: sorbet - a pale orange, lolita - bubblegum pink, blush - a pinky/lilac and bloom a pale lilac. I don't really know what the point of it is but there's a mirror on the inside of the lid as well.

So I thought i would try each different colour on a different nail. For me to get near the colours in the bottle i needed to apply 4 coat of each colour. Lolita definitely had the best coverage out of the 4 and i wasn't really impressed with bloom cause it look really pale and not much like the colour in the bottle.

What do you think??

Ebay Haul!

So I went a little bit mad on eBay and ordered loads of make up! It's so addictive though, you just keep clicking confirm bid and you forget that all the little 0.99p and 1.50's add up! Luckily i didn't spend too much. I bid on most of it before i went down to my boyfriends for 11 days so it hadn't arrived by the time i left. This meant however, that by the time i got back i had loads of little parcels waiting for me in my room! It was like Christmas!! Cause it had been a wee bit since i ordered them I'd forgotten about some of the stuff I'd ordered so it was great fun opening it all.

So what did I get...........??

4 new Benefit product - BADgal Lash, Ooh La Lift, Cherry Fruit Lip Balm and Posie Tint

2 Collection 2000 Blushers in 2. Petal and 28. Pink Blossom

Collection 2000 Angelic Eye Palette

Rimmel eyeshadow in 211. Moonlight

Image Blusher (no colour but its a nice bright pink)

Maybelline Water Shine Diamonds Liquid in Precious Lilac

Rimmel Cool Shine Lipstick in Splash

Colour Trend Flirty Eyes in Butterfly Frost

Bourjois Eyeliner in Cafe & Creme

Max Factor Lipfinity Colour & Gloss in Glowing Sepia

I'm loving trying them all out and seeing what I like! My favourites so far are my Benefit products, I'm loving them!

Boots Natural Collection

I was in Boots the other day having a wee look about and I noticed that they were doing a special offer, when you spent £5 or over you received a £2 off voucher for Revlon or L'oreal. This was perfect! I'd had my eye on the Revlon Colourstay Foundation but it was £11.99 and my budget didn't quite stretch that far. This would be great though cause it would mean i would get what i wanted and it would be at a bargain price as well! The only problem was i now needed to spend £5, what to spend it on????

Then i noticed the Boots Natural Collection stand! 3 for £5, just what i was looking for! I'd read a review on their foundation and it had said that the range was actually really good so i thought i would give it a go. There's been 3 things I've been wanting recently and they are a tinted moisturiser, a brown mascara and a nude lip gloss/ lipstick, this was the perfect excuse to get them!

I tried all 3 out this morning and i have to say i am pleasantly surprised. The tinted moisturiser goes on really well and doesn't feel too heavy which i really like.There were 3 shades to choose from, i cant remember the other 2 but i chose the fair one and it comes in a 40ml bottle. It blends in really well with my skin and looks really natural.
I also chose the LashDefinition Mascara in brown/black. It comes in an 8ml tube and i think that it separates the lashes quite well. I only applied one coat but it is going to take me a wee bit to get used to this kinda colour of mascara, I'm used to having really black, dark eyelashes and this is definitely not as dark. It seems to be pretty smudge proof as well which is always a good thing!
The lipstick that i got is Sheer Natural Lip Colour in Lotus. It's a really nice peachy/nude colour with really lite golden tones. It goes on really creamy and feels really nice on my lips. The colour lasted really well and it left my lips feeling nice and moisturised.

All in all I'm pretty impressed with theses products. Obviously i am going to keep using them and time will tell if they're as good as they seem to be.