April Empties

Here are my April Empties -

Murad Body Firming Cream 100ml - this came in February's Beautylishious Box.  Lovely to use with an orange scent.  Didn't really notice any firming action though.  Probably won't buy as it is an expensive product to buy full size.

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil 30ml - simply adore this bath oil.  Sure to pick it up again...soon.

The London Oil Company Morning Glory Body Oil 100ml - a really beautiful body oil.  I liked using it in the morning to wake my skin up.  See my review here. I've just ordered another bottle.

Origins Plantscription Anti-Ageing Eye Treatment 5ml - quite enjoyed using this but didn't really notice any difference around the eye area.  Wouldn't buy.

Mama Mio Clean Slate Aloe Rich Foaming Cleanser 30ml - this was really lovely to use and scented with lavender.  Would perhaps purchase when I've used up cleansers I've got in my stash.

Pure Thoughts Tangerine & Jojoba Whipped Shea Butter 45g - absolutely love this scented butter.  Think this is my second or third pot.  Have re-purchased.

Korres Fig Little Shower Gel 50ml - love the Mango & Guava shower gels.  Didn't like this one quite so much so probably wouldn't buy again (having just read the back of the bottles these shower gels contain SLS which is a surprise for a "natural" brand).

Sisleya Global Anti-Age Cream 5ml - my final one from my stash.  Adore this cream but would never buy it full size as its so expensive.  Gorgeous though.

L'Occitane A L'Eau Florale D'Immortelle Essential Water 200ml - a really nice toner would perhaps buy again but like my cleansers got a few to use up.

Botanicals Indulgence Body Oil* - this is gorgeous and I'll definitely purchase it at some point.  See my review here.

Murad Rejuvenating Lift for Neck 3.7ml tube - this seemed quite nice unsure if I'd buy.

Natural Wisdom Rose & Pomegranate Antioxidant Hydrating Toner 50ml - a gorgeous toner.  See my review here. I'll definitely buy this again when I use up products from my stash.

Oh! Organics Rose Toner 50ml* - this was a lovely toner.  See my review here.

Myroo Starflower & Orange Blossom Cleanser 26g - gorgeous! See my review here.  This was a fab cleansing oil and I'd re-purchase when I've used up some of the others in my stash.

Korres Little Shower Gel - Basil Lemon 50ml - This was fresh and zesty and nice to use in my morning shower.  I've got another one to use.

Lola's Apothecary Rose & Geranium Bath Oil mini bottle - this little tester came in the recent Beautylishious bag.  A lovely bath oil - I'll maybe pick up full size at some point.

Gielly Green Repair Mask 50ml - a huge fan of Gielly Green products.  Love this hair mask and will purchase again at some point.

Bloom Remedies Nourishing Body Oil 50ml - loved this! My dry winter skin just loved it.  Will definitely buy again.  See my review here.

Tara Smith Feed the Root Shampoo 50ml - picked this up recently in my M&S haul.  Loved its minty scent and the fact that its free from.  Will pick up full size at some point.

Tara Smith Feed the Rood Conditioner 50ml - as above, great product will buy full size at some point.

Taaj Ayurveda Creme Mains Delhicates Hand Cream 30ml - was quite a nice hand cream but I don't think I'd buy as there are others I prefer.

Essential Care Gentle Herb Conditioner 30ml - this is the first Essential Care product I didn't like! Eeek!  There is no lather so I ended up using more to compensate.  I didn't even finish the tube as I just didn't get on with it.

Botanicals Deep Peace Body Oil* - this was gorgeous and I'll definitely pick up full size at some point.  With lavender, rose geranium, orange and sandalwood.

Anita Grant Organic Vanilla Cocoa Body Butter 15g - simply love this delicious scented butter which melts into the skin.  See my review here.

Niki's Organic Lavender & Chamomile Balm 10ml - a simply gorgeous and relaxing balm.  See my review here.

Saaf Completion Boosting Serum/Saaf Ultimate Moisture Face Serum* - these were really nice to use and a review is to follow.

Tammy Fender Bulgarian Lavender Body Oil 5ml - this came in the Cult Beauty freebie.  Seemed a nice oil but I didn't like the lavender scent. 

Korres Guava Little Shower Gel 50ml - my favourite Korres shower gel. Love it's sweet and fruity scent.

Neom Real Luxury Bath & Shower Oil 5ml - love bath oils and this was lovely to use.

Mossgrove Pure Deodorant 70ml - this contains little or no parabens and petrochemicals.  Scented with Jasmine - one of my favourite deodorants.

Redken Shine Flash 02 Glistening Mist 150ml - picked this up a while back at the hairdresser. Really great for adding shine and taming frizzy bits.  Will maybe buy again.

Beauté Chinoise Yin No.1 Facial Oil sample - this was lovely.  I received it as a free sample.  See my post here.

Have you used any of these products?  What have you been using up this month?


*sent for review

Shopping My Stash #11

As you'll know I've finished my spending ban but I have really enjoyed Shopping my Stash so I'm going to continue to do this weekly.

Here what I've been using this week -

Diptyque Eau Rose Roll On 20ml - a beautiful rose scent.  See my review here.

Tara Smith Feed the Root Shampoo 50ml & Conditioner 50ml - these products smell of mint chocolates.  I picked them up in my recent M&S haul. I've been using them the last few days and enjoying them.  Review to follow.

Korres Watermelon Body Scrub 150ml - smells just like watermelon with a nice gritty-ness.  I first saw a review of this on Cosmetic Cravings.  Gorgeous! A review will follow.

Oh! Organics Rose Toner 50ml* - this is a lovely toner scented with rose.  A full review to follow.

Saaf Pure Face Cleanser Sample* - I was sent this and a couple of other samples to review.  A really lovely cleansing balm scented with lavender, geranium and grapefruit peel oil.  A review to follow.

RODIN Olio Lusso Lip Balm 5g - this was an impulse buy, a gorgeous lip balm.  Read my review here.

H20+ Deep Sleep Recovery Cream 5ml - received this sample free recently from M&S.  Seems a really nice cream with a gel like texture.

Have you used any of these products?

*complimentary sent for review

Spending Ban - Update 11

Uh-oh my spending ban went completely off the rails in week 11 and I think it's now time to end it.  Ahhh...  I lasted 70 odd days with a few splurges - a lot less than I'd normally be treating myself to though.

I've been enjoying shopping my stash every week - so I'm going to keep doing this.  Here is what I bought during the spending ban period -

In Style Magazine for the beauty supplement in Week 3.

Sweet Cecily's Rose Body Butter and Mojito Lip Balm.  See my review here.  I bought these in Week 4.

In Week 6 I bought the Caudalie Set from Latest in Beauty and two Remedy..for organic body butter bars and an April Beautylishious bag (which I've still to receive).

See my review of the Remedy...for Organic Body Butters here.

In Week 7 I bought Good Housekeeping magazine which were giving away a free Balance Me Hand Cream and Marie Claire magazine which were giving away a Neal's Yard Bee Lovely Hand Cream.  These are both worth £10.

In Week 8 I bought a copy of Psychologies magazine.

Week 9 saw me really caving when I bought Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm and the LIB Organic & Natural Box.  You can see my reviews here and here.

In Week 10 I bought Botanicals Anti-Age Hand & Nail Serum and two try-me size pots of cleanser and foot balm (you can get the try me sizes for free just paying p&p).  Reviews to follow.  I also bought a April SoukSouk little green beauty box.

Finally Week 11, I bought Beaute Chinoise Beauty Tea - a Oolong infused with organic rose.  It sounds simply delicious.  Still to receive this.  I'll be doing a mini review on it and of course my M&S and Boots haul.  

I'm quite relieved to have ended my Spending Ban.  It was an interesting experiment and I know I buy too many beauty products.  I'll do a post later this week listing my "Wants" from the 11 weeks - and letting you know which ones I'm going to buy at some point. 

How is your Spending Ban coming along?

M&S Beauty Hall (and a haul)

I met my friend Julie on Friday for a meet up and a look at the shops. Imagine my absolute excitement and delight when I found out that at the shopping centre where we were meeting there was an M&S Beauty Hall.

There were lots of offers of gift with purchase and there was also a special of 20% off (28 March - 2 April). We also got some samples.

2 x Formula Skin Care Treatment Oil, 8ml H20 Deep Sleep Recovery Cream, 4ml sachet NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil, 10ml sachet Apivita Propoline Women's Tonic Shampoo, 1ml sachet Apivita Natural Serum, 1.5ml vial Les Senteurs Gourmandes Musc Blanc EDP and 2ml vial Chantal Thomas EDP.

I did buy a few things too (oops Spending Ban fail again - more about that tomorrow!)

Tara Smith Feed the Root Trial size kit - containing - 50ml Shampoo, 50ml Conditioner and 20ml base coat serum.  I've been wanting to try this vegan range for a while.  The set cost £12.50.

Cowley Manor Awaken Soap 200g - a luxury soap scented with lemon myrtle, bergamot, willow and rosemary.  I just love bar soaps so looking forward to using it.

Apivita Pink Clay Mask 2 x 8ml sachets - love face masks and was keen to try another variety from Apivita.

I could quite easily have gone mad - the selection was fantastic and the range of free gifts with purchase very good.  With 20% off my purchases totalled £15.20.

In Boots I got colour matched for the YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation.  I was matched to shade B40.  I also got two sachets of Forever Youth Liberator Serum.  I simply love the foundation.

The sales assistant touched up my make up and used Rouge Volupte Shine in shade 9 (Nude in Private).  I just loved the texture and glossy shine as well as the luxe packaging. She chose well - I just had to have it!

My final purchase (before we headed off for lunch & wine) was Sk:n Hand Cream 50ml - which was £5.33 with a third off.  I'd used a sachet of this before and had simply loved it.

Have you used any of these products?  What do you think of the M&S Beauty Hall?

Spending Ban - Update 3

Things are going quite well surprisingly although I did buy InStyle magazine for the free beauty supplement.  It gives me hours of enjoyable reading and deciding what products I want to try.  I also picked up my free L'Occitane Hand Cream for L'Occitane reaching 75k fans on Facebook.  I picked Shea Butter (30ml) worth £8.  I also got a nice surprise parcel from Grace at All that Slap Blog - thanks so much Grace!  There is a little surprise in the post to you.

I'm still enjoying using my paperblanks* journal for recording my spending/wants.  I think after the ban finishes I'll use it for blog post ideas and keep recording wants.

Here are the things I've been wanting this week:

RMS BeautyLip2Cheek in Smile - £28 - a tinted mineral stain which can be used on lips and cheeks.  Such a pretty shade.

source

The Organic Pharmacy Rose Balm (£25 for 10ml) - A new product from The Organic Pharmacy - a multi-purpose balm suitable for lips, nails, hair, and dry skin on the face and body.  Contains Rose, Marigold, Argan Oil, Vitamin E, Rosehip and Shea Butter.  I love a multi-purpose product and I bet this one smells divine!

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Mitchell & Peach Kentish Cobnut Scrub (£36 for 260g) - I read about this in the beauty pages of Psychologies magazine last week.  Sounds like just my kind of scrub - I like a gritty one and this contains ground shell from cobnuts, sugar, coconut, sweet almond and palmarosa, honey and lavender essential oil.

source

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler - £20 - have read so many great reviews about these especially Mez's at All Made Up.

source

Badger Yoga & Meditation Balm (£6.09 - 28g) - this sounds ideal for de-stressing and calm.

source

Tara Smith Shampoo & Conditioner - I'm unable to download a photo but you can pick this vegan and natural hair care range at M&S.

How is your spending ban going?  Have you been tempted to buy anything?

*complimentary sample