Boudoir Privé - October 2011

I got my Boudoir Privé box a little while ago, I haven't used everything in it but here's what I got and my thoughts...I also have a little ramble for you towards the end!

The contents:

I haven't included prices, I typed them all up but then blogger decided not to save. I'm sorry, I just don't want to redo everything again.

I'm actually really happy with this month's box, I've previously tried a tiny sample of Korres' Guava Body Butter and I thought it was great, the scent wasn't amazing for me, but it wasn't bad. I'm so happy they've included the StudioMakeup Eyeliner Pen, I don't own any felt tip type eyeliners and I've always wanted to try one, this is also full size and in black. The two Cetuem products look interesting but I'm not entirely sure if I want to use them, because I don't want to alter my skin in anyway, only protect it and bring it to its natural state...by that I mean I'd like to lose the tan and the blemishes, then my skin would be as it was originally, but I'm not sure I'd be happy using these without checking up on the ingredients and how they work. Interesting products though. I've heard so much about the Rose & Co Rose Petal Salve, and apparently it's great, I just don't like using my fingers for balms, hence why all my tubes finish a lot quicker...but I may give this a go...I didn't love the perfume because of the strength I think, and just the scent in general, it'll get used up quickly though, I'll just spray it in my room or around the house. The Leonor Greyl hair oil is gorgeous, it smells great, feels great on the hair, not yucky and greasy and actually stayed in my hair after shampoo, I shampooed it twice and then conditioned. I'm not entirely sure if there is a difference but I think there is...obviously there isn't a scientific measure so I can't say, and even if there was I'd pick at it...but brilliant overall, I liked it at least!

Unfortunately I have now unsubscribed from Boudoir Privé, I simply cannot afford to pay for 5 boxes per month and I didn't think that they were offering as much as the other boxes for similar prices, I think this is their first box with larger products... I thought very hard and long about which box I'd like to unsubcribe from and weighing everything up Boudoir Privé seemed the best box for me to drop for the moment. I would like to add that they are a fantastic company from my experience and I've had no issues whatsoever with them, they're very polite, prompt and show that they care about each customer individually. I've just had to drop the box for now at least.

I've also thought about dropping beauty box posts from the blog altogether, I know I've written a lot of these in a short space of time and I feel like the blog is being taken over by them! Please let me know in the comments how you feel about this, and if you disagree with me completely even. I'm looking into which box to drop next, because I can't afford much at the moment, I check out all the things I want in my online window shops and then empty my basket...oh! Please check out my blogsale on the tab above and I'll post your things asap!

Sorry for the long, rambling, self-pitying post! I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! Many thanks for reading :)

August Empties - 2011

This month I have used up the following products, I was aiming for at least 10 empties every month but I guess I'll have to try harder in September! (Please click on names to be taken to the review post on my blog.)

1) No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser (200ml) - The first hot cloth cleanser I've ever used, I really liked this, it cleansed well and removed makeup too, the cloth with it was the only downside I think.

2) No7 Radiance Revealed Exfoliator (75ml) - I've used this exfoliator a lot, I think this was my second tube, it's a lovely creamy exfoliator suitable for more sensitive skin as well.

3) Olavie Chardonnay Wine Therapy Antioxidant Body Butter (30ml) - I received this in my Boudoir Privé box and I loved it, the only downside to this is the price for the full size, otherwise a fantastic, luxurious feeling, thick body butter.

4) Lush It's Raining Men Shower Gel + Shampoo (100g) - I didn't love this shower gel, it says that it's a shampoo too, and it absolutely sucked at lathering as a shampoo for me. As a shower gel it was fine, I used it with a puff and it did the job well enough but again lathering up was an issue and the smell wasn't as addicting as it is in the Honey I Washed The Kids soap.

5) The Body Shop Seaweed Clarifying Night Treatment (30ml) - I really like this, the only issue was that it makes me wake up to an exploded oil rig on my face...however it works very well. After I wash my face in the morning my pores look better and my overall complexion is improved. Works best with the entire Seaweed Range.

6) Simple Sun Sensitive Protecting Lip Balm (5g) - SPF 20 with 3star UVA protection, this lip balm is in a lipstick format and I love this. If I only were permitted to use one lip balm for the rest of my life (from everything I've tried so far...but then again I do have a lip balm addiction...) this would be it. Why? It glides on perfectly, no smudging, yellowing of the product, no seeping or separation of formula like some liquid lip balms, easy to use, one swipe is perfect and with added vitamins and SPF protection.

7) I managed to use up all the samples Amarya Beauty kindly sent and the perfume samples from Beauty Boxes.

Hopefully I will meet my minimum of 10 empties target for September! Thank you for reading :)

Review: Olavie Chardonnay Wine Therapy Antioxidant Body Butter

I received a 30ml sample of this body butter in my Boudoir Privé box for August, and I've now used it up completely! (Meaning it'll be making another appearance in my August Empties this month!) This calls for a review!

The full sized body butter by Olavie retails at £43.55 for 240ml and comes packaged in the standard tub in which most body butters are usually found in. It has a very soft thick luxurious texture and feel to it, and once rubbed in dries quickly too. The 30ml sample lasted me about 5-6 days using it on my legs only and smells gorgeous. I couldn't pinpoint the scent but it is very recognisable and lovely. My legs stayed moisturised and soft for around a whole day each time I used them, I couldn't test it for longer because I had to shower!

I didn't like the sample bottle though because it was very difficult to get the body butter out, I had to tap it several times to get a little bit of the product and when I tried squeezing it this resulted in the complete opposite effect of the butter being taken back into the bottle! I would love to repurchase this when I can afford to spend nearly £50 on a body butter but for the moment I won't be.

Reading up on Olavie and this range I found that the antioxidant effects included in the body butter stem from wine and the Chardonnay grape seed. This is also supposed to aid anti-aging and be considerably more beneficial to your health overall. I didn't find that my skin improved in anyway, it was just very moisturised and looked well taken care of - although I did only have a small sample!

Product: 17/20

Texture/Formula: 9/10

Packaging: 7/10
Application: 9/10
Repurchase: No

Overall: 8.4/10

This new rating system is to provide a quick snapshot of my experiences with the product. The product itself, and the texture and/or formula of the product. Wear is a rating of how long and well the item stays on, packaging and application are also reviewed. The repurchase line is whether I would repurchase the item again or not. Overall shows the average scoring of the product out of 10.

Review - Yummy Strawberries: The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter

This yummy butter has been in my body butter/cream collection since forever. It is truly amazing, on several occasions  I've had people wondering where that gorgeous smell of strawberries is coming from, and it's been me! :)

It costs £12.50 for 200ml at The Body Shop and currently they have an offer of "2 for £15" which means you save £10! If you are a member of their loyalty card club then that's another 10% off which is even better.

The colour of the butter itself is a lovely baby pink and the consistency is quite thick, once on your arm/leg/wherever it melts in smoothly as you rub it in. The smell is yummy - as mentioned before...and you smell like strawberries all day long. Although the concentration levels of the smell do decrease gradually throughout the day...It contains strawberry seed oil, cocoa and shea butter, increasing it's moisturising properties. The Body Shop say that it's for normal skin, but I think it'd be fine for dry skin or any other skin type too!

I'd like to share an experience where I've been the "smell of the ball"! I went out camping with my friends close to the countryside, as you know the hygiene facilities are disgusting and vile, so of course they were avoided at all costs. We were hiking along and someone spotted a much better set of showers and we all had a ball actually cleaning ourselves properly in maybe 2/3days. We then reached back to the campsite and as we were training for an award the examiner decided that we had visited a hotel because he could smell a strong strawberry scent! I then had to explain the reason I smelt the best - the body butter of course, and he was very hesistant to believe my story...although I did eventually get my award! Even though this little anecdote doesn't allow you to fully understand the amazing-ness of this butter, I highly recommend for you to try it out! :)

I don't really know what else to say about this butter, it's just amazing and definitely one of my many favourites. I want to venture out and try different flavours of it but I love this one too much!

Thank you so much for reading this post!