Beauty Christmas Gifts

I received some amazing beauty gifts at Christmas.

Hubby gave me Jo Malone goodies - pure luxury in one of my favourite Jo Malone scents.

He also gave me this mini Bodhi set which is also in one of my favourite scents (this came with two sachet samples).

My mum and dad gave me the REN Rose Otto set (looking forward to trying the body oil) and the Clarins set as well as the cute little heart soap.

My friend gave me this lovely Orla Kiely hand wash and lotion set

My sister and family gave me a Sanctuary gift set and The Potager Hand Cream (from a brand I've not heard of before!)

My sister's neighbour (she gets my old magazines) gave me a Arran Aromatics After the Rain hand wash and lotion set.

What Christmas beauty gifts did you get?  Please leave me your links if you have done a similar post as I love seeing these posts.

Samples #5

These are my samples for week 5 and my thoughts are below.  My little sample box is very slowly going down.

Elemis Gentle Rose Exfoliator 3ml sachet - have used this before and love this very gentle rose scented scrub.  It's one I'd purchase again.

Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation in Wheat 1.5ml sachet - loved this, the texture, smell, coverage and feel on my skin.  The colour suited me too.  I'd definitely consider purchasing it.

Sanctuary 30 Day Thermal Transformation - two sachets - Peptide Transformation Serum 1.5ml and Thermal Rose Clay Mask 7ml - put the serum on your face and neck and then massage on the mask - which gives a warming sensation - its fab! I'd definitely think about buying this but at the moment got loads of masks to use up.

TRESemme Split Remedy 3 x 10ml sachets - shampoo, conditioner and leave in treatment - loved the shampoo and conditioner.  Found the treatment a bit heavy for my hair.

Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum 2ml - love Caudalie products.  This was nice to use but as such a small sample hard to see if it had made a difference.

Sk:n Moisturising Cream SPF 30 3ml sachet - loved this.  Definitely want to look more into the sk:n range.

Thalgo Thalgomince Cream 5ml sachet - this came from the recent Latest in Beauty Box.  Seemed nice enough but too small a sachet to really test the product.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair 1.5ml sachet - again small sachet but I've bought this product before and really like it.

Caudalie Vinexpert Eye & Lip Serum 1.5ml - really liked this serum would perhaps purchase.

Here are my samples for week #6:

Murad Intensive Wrinkle Reducer 7ml

REN Active 7 Radiant Eye Gel 5ml

Sebastian Volupt Volume Boosting Shampoo 10ml 

Sebastian Hydre Deep Moisturising Treatment 10ml

Sebastian Potion 9 10ml 

Abahna Body Lotion 3 x 5ml - Mandarin & Sicilian Bergamot, White Grapefruit & May Chang and Lilac Rose & Geranium

Madara Deep Balance Toner 5ml

Avon Anew Clinical Eye Lift Pro

I love....Coconut Face Mask 15ml

Samples #4

Here are my thoughts on this week's samples - 

Sk:n Hand Cream 3ml sachet - This was really gorgeous and I'd consider buying this full size. Made my hands really soft and it was lightly scented.

Sk:in Cleanse 3ml sachet - I chucked this out with my September empties - oops.  Again a lovely product.  Haven't used this brand before.  Definitely one I'm going to look into more.

Dr Brandt Lineless Lines no More sachet .5ml - I didn't really like this, didn't notice it doing much.

Dr Bronner's Citrus Orange Pure Castile soap - liked this but not as much as the peppermint variety.

Ole Henriksen 3 Little Wonders - Truth Serum Collagen Booster, Invigorating Night Gel and Sheer Transformation - I wasn't keen on the scent of these so wouldn't purchase although the actual products seemed nice.

Hyaluronan Hydrating Sheet Mask - love sheet masks, this left my skin super-hydrated.

Rodial Glamtox Active Daily Moisturiser 2ml - really liked this moisturiser would like to try more Rodial products.

Evolve Gentle Cleansing Melt 4ml - another one I chucked out with my September empties - hated the scent of this so wouldn't buy.

A'kin Rose de Mai Anti-Oxidant Day Cream 1.5ml - this smelt gorgeous and melted onto my skin.  Only downside such as small sachet so only got one use.

Fudge OOMF conditioner 7ml - another great performer but I hated the scent of bananas (and another one which went out in the bin with September empties)

Vaseline Intensive Moisture 50ml - a nice budget body lotion.  I'd maybe buy in the future but got loads to use up first.

Here's my samples for week #5:

sk:in Moisturising Cream SPF 30 3ml
Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum 3ml
Thalgo Thalgomince Cream 5ml
Elemis Gentle Rose Exfoliator 3ml
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair 1.5ml
Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation 1.5ml
Sanctuary Spa Peptide Transformation Serum/Thermal Rose Clay Mask
TRESemme Split Remedy Shampoo/Conditioner/Treatment

Mini Boots Haul and Murad Freebie

I popped up to Boots yesterday to pick up some cotton wool pads and came away with this little lot!

Cotton pads - buy one get one half price

Sanctuary 3 for 2 - I use the hand wash a lot so picked up two of these and also Mande Lular Foaming Shower Burst - which is a bit like the Rituals shower foam.

Also needed some hair bands and shaving foam.  Also out was the new beauty magazine and I got a voucher for £5 off No.7 skincare and £3 off No.7 make up - both valid until 7 October.

The Murad freebie advertised in Marie Claire magazine also arrived yesterday - Intensive Wrinkle Reducer - 7ml - I'd sort of given up on receiving it as I applied ages ago. Full size 30ml retails at a whopping £179!

What have you been buying/receiving as freebies recently?

Spending Ban Update - Week 4

Well, I've made it to week 4.  Here's what I bought last week.

Latest in Beauty Little Beauty Box - £1.50, Balance Me Cleanse & Smooth Face Balm 4 x 15ml (I so love this cleanser) plus 4 moisturiser sachets - £6.47 including P&P from ebay, Sanctuary Pore Refining Toner 30ml - £2.25 (I read great things about this toner on a blog), Cosmo magazine £3.50.  Definitely done a bit better this week!  But I now realise I'll never stick to a spending ban.

Elemis Sp@home Tranquil Touch Body Polish

I've been using this Body Exotics Body Polish twice a week for about a month.  It contains rice, cupuacu butter, patchouli, mandarin and ginger essential oils.

Leaves skin soft and smooth and lightly scented.  I tend to use it on dry skin for a "scrubbier" scrub but it works just as well on dampened skin as suggested in the instructions for use.

Retails at £20 for 150ml.  It is an Elle magazine Beauty Awards Winner.


I also love Boots Sanctuary Salt Scrub.

What's your favourite body scrub?

Mini Sanctuary Haul

My sister-in-law gave me a Boots gift card for my birthday.  I needed some hand wash/lotion and as Sanctuary products were on 3 for 2 I got these.  Still got a tenner left on my gift card.

The Body Moisture Spray is my favourite for days I can't be bothered putting on body lotion.  Oops, another body moisture product to add to my huge collection.

What's your favourite Sanctuary product?

Sanctuary Softening Thermal Sugar Polish - Relax

This scrub is available from Boots.  It contains organic sugar and crushed walnuts - an effective scrub having quite gritty pieces rather than being too smooth although it is quite runny. This is in the same scent as Warming Body Oils (which I loved).

I don’t like the scent so much in the scrub but this could be because I am using it in the morning rather than at night - I tend to prefer baths to showers in the evening.  It contains relaxing oils of Vetivert (helps calm the mind), Cedarwood (give clarity) and Labdanum (relaxation).

Wet skin and rub in the polish using circular motions.  The warming sensation  is really nice!

Spa like treatment at a fraction of the cost.  Leaves skin super soft and smooth.  Retails at £8.25.  Also can be purchased in 3 for 2 deals.

Have you tried this scrub? What's your favourite? I'm always on the look out for new body scrubs to try.

Sanctuary Offer at Boots

If you spend £10 on Sanctuary products in Boots you receive a free mini gift worth £10. (not sure how long this offer is on for I picked it up yesterday)

I bought the new Softening Thermal Sugar Polish 200ml (£8.25).  I have heard great things about this product and a review will follow (but it sounds like the perfect warm up on these chilly mornings).

To make it up to the tenner I got Body Moisture Spray 50ml (£2.40).  A product I've used many times before and one which I love.  It's a light oil spray (great for these days when you can't be bothered with body lotion) and it absorbs quickly and is scented with the original Sanctuary scent.

My free Spa Escape set contains:

75ml Luxury Bath Float

50ml Body Scrub

50ml Body Butter

50ml Moisture Rich Foot Butter

I also picked up two mini Organix Nourishing Coconut Shampoo/Conditioner (both 88.7ml).  I love the scent of coconut so had to try these.  Both retail at £1.99 each although Boots are doing a deal at the moment of the full size products at 2 for £8.  A review will follow once I’ve tried them out.  They smell gorgeous!