Wednesday 30 October 2013

Ambre botanicals Costa Del Azahar soap

My shower times are very special to me. It is a time when my body gets to relax and I get to reflect on the events of the day (or plan out the day ahead). Everything has to be in balance for the most enjoyable experience: temperature, water pressure and the products I use.

I have an array of products on rotation, and I don't always know what I will be using until I am actually in the shower, completely depends on my mood. Lately  I have been reaching more and more for the Ambre botanicals Costa del Azahar warming and moisturizing soap, and it is no mystery why.



I am not really a cold weather person, I do love the change of seasons but I always miss summer terribly. And this soap is like a little slice of summer.

First of all, it has very cheerful orangey colour  and you can see flower petals going through the soap. It comes beautifully presented in black cardboard, in keeping with the handcrafted aspect of the soap. The inspiration behind it are the orange plantations in the Spanish Costa del Azahar. I have to say when I first used this soap (before reading the description) all I could think of were spiced oranges.



The fragrance of the soap is very subtle, yet distinctively warm. I actually like the fact the scent isn't very strong, it is just there at the back of my mind rather then assaulting my senses in my time of contemplation. I get a hint of something citrusy and a hint of spice.

When you pick up the bar it feels very creamy, it doesn't melt in your hands but you can instantly tell that it is full of skin loving oils and butters. It leaves my skin super soft that I don't feel horrified if I skip body moisturising products (which happens fairly often) due to lack of time or forgetfulness.



Now this soap has ginger essential oil for its warming properties on the skin. I can't really tell if I notice the effects because I do have rather hot showers (according to my husband, I look like a lobster when showering). But I cannot dispute that whenever I use it, this soap does give me the same feeling as a nice cup of tea on a cold day, it leaves me relaxed and content.

Tuesday 29 October 2013

A beautiful box a/w 2013

I have this weakness for surprises, so when I see an offer for a box full of unknown beauty treats chosen by one of my favourites (A beautiful world), it is pretty darn hard to resist. So I didn't even try, there was no hesitation, I saw it, I got on the waiting list and purchased one as soon as it was available.



My only regret is that I should have gotten two, as it would have made a wonderful gift for someone... but there is no way that I am parting with mine.

The products in the a beautiful box are a selection of mini, sample and full sizes of some of the wonderful goodies sold on the A beautiful world website. Contents do vary from box to box, so here is what was in mine:



Naisture Collagen Mask Pack. Unfortunately I can not use this one because of some ingredient sensitivities, but I have given some of these to my sister in-law and I know she likes them very much.

The konjac sponge (the French pink clay). I really like these sponges, I have mentioned them before and I am going to do a post on them very soon.

S.W. Basics cream. I have reviewed this product and it is an absolute staple in my beauty cabinet. I would not be without this little beauty.

S.W. Basics cocoa lip balm. I love this brand and I have tried pretty much everything from them, but not the lip balms. Cocoa happens to be the flavor that I would have gone for if I chose myself, so I am very pleased.

001 Gla & Anti-oxidant balancing Cream. This brand is completely new to me and I really like the description of this cream. Really looking forward to trying it.

Know-it-oil. This is a 100% organic virgin coconut oil. One of my favourite multi-tasking oils, even though I have not tried this particular brand before.

Butter London nail polish in Crumpet. This is a beige/nude colour. I have to confess that even though I have been intrigued by the trend for nude nail varnishes I have never actually used one. I feel an evening of experimentation coming on.

Marble and Milkweed nourishing body oil. I am rather fond of this brand, all the products I have tried so far have been excellent, I wonder if this will be just as good?

Modern Chai no.2. I do love my tea, and sweet cup of chai is a great pick me up in the cold weather.

Indie Lee squalane facial oil. I actually have purchased this as soon as it launched on the website and have been testing it for almost a month. Very, very close to sharing my thoughts about it.

Yarok feed your ends leave-in conditioner. Now this little beauty contains jojoba so I haven't decided whether to risk or gift it. Decisions, decisions.

And the final item is a tilly bag, always useful for travel. I know that this was random luck, but it feels like it was almost personally chosen for me. I couldn't be more pleased with this box.

Now if you have missed out don't be sad, sign up for the spring/summer box alert. Also there some rather good gift selections that will be available soon on their site. The ones that caught my eye are : S.W. Basics Christmas collection (£38.00 for full sizes of toner, cleanser and cream); Best of abeautifulworl Christmas box ( £55.00 for a selection of full size product worth way more than that); Luxe sparkle kit (£29.00 for Opal shimmering oil and Butter London sparkling gold nail varnish, you effectively get the nail varnish for free). All of these are limited stock naturally so get yourself on the waiting list if you want them!

Monday 28 October 2013

Fall make-up

I have been a little preoccupied lately so apologies for the lack of posts. I thought I would kick things off with my take on autumn makeup trends.


The trend for statement lips that was big in the summer continues in the fall, just swap your pinks and corals for dark berry  and burgundy colours.

Now I am not one to take fashionable colours at face value, so here is my choice of lip products for this season.

                        From left to right: Ilia Funnel of Love, OG dark pink, Ilia Lust for life, Osmia lip luster

Ilia Beauty Lust for life. Now this is the most on trend colour that I bothered to get. Don't get me wrong I love burgundy and dark wine lips as much as the next girl, just on someone else not on me.
This colour has the advantage of being in the right shade yet not as dark or in your face as what you have been seeing in magazines. Perfect for people like myself who just want to dip their toes into this latest craze and not jump head first.

The organic pharmacy dark pink. If you do not care for the latest fashions but just happen to want to change your lippy with the new season ( after all without the summer light certain colours look and feel out of place), this is the one for you. The colour is pretty much exactly that, dark pink. If you want to tie it in into the berry family I would say it is a raspberry colour. So not a trendsetting shade but rather a flattering change of season classic.

Osmia lip luster. Now judging by the colour in the tube it is exactly what you are expected to have on your lips this fall. However yet again I cheat! The lovely lustre leaves just a hint of colour. I would really mainly call it a slightly tinted lip treatment. The reason why I decided to include it here because lips need protection with cold weather and this is definitely on of the best salves out there at the moment.

Ilia Beauty Funnel of Love. Every now and then it is fun to break the trend. This is the lipstick for those occasions. It is a peachy nude that is perfect for days when you are tired of all the bold statement colours and maybe want to play up your eyes and not the lips.

Moving on to the eyes, windows of the sole. You could leave them bare and let your lipstick do all the work, you can go for a smokey eye or you can have fun with a slightly different approach.

                                From Left to Right: Terre d'Oc 401, Nvey eco 167, OG smokey palette

Organic Glam smokey eye shadow palette. If you want to be very specific the fashion is for more of a chocolate brown smokey eye, but I have always preferred greys so I decided to go for this palette. It has all the colours you need for a bold or an understated eye look, which makes it very versatile for day or night.

Nvye eco eye shadow 167 Bronzed Marigold.  Now this is where the fun starts. I adore this colour, it just reminds me of autumn leaves. Even though there has been an overwhelming presence of berry and dark browns, russet colours are also making an appearance in some autumn collection and this is a wonderful colour to go for.

Terre D'Oc eye shadow 401. This is a fairly dark blue with a hint of shimmer. I got this colour to pair up with the Nvye eco eye shadow for definition close to the lash line (I just fancied something a bit different from the usual dark brown). I really like how the two colours work together. Keep in mind that it that on the Love lula sight this shadow appears to be a really bright blue, it really isn't it is a more of a darkish grey blue.

My nail colour choices were based on what would go with the make-up looks that I wanted.

                      From left to right: Butter London Minger, Kure Bazaar September, Butter London La Moss       


For the dark pink or understated lip I chose Kure Bazaar in September. Such an amazingly vibrant colour that always perks me up.

For the darker berry lip, Butter London in La Moss. Very dark black cherry, pretty much what this season is all about.

Butter London in Minger, for the foliage inspired, russet eyes and nude lips. This is a sort off muted orange colour that reminds me of pumpkins. This particular colour has been discontinued but Kure Bazaar makes one that is exactly like it called Hippie Chic.

During the next two weeks I will do posts for each category with all the swatches and feedback on the products. So watch this space!

Just as a side note Being content is having a sale on Kure Bazaar varnishes, so if you are looking to try this brand you can save yourself some money. And Naturisimo is having a 10% off with a code spooky until the end of Halloween.