December Empties

Happy 2012 everyone!  I can't believe it's the new year already, how time flies!  Anyway, I've again saved all my empties up for the past month.  I've managed to get through quite a few things this month.

Hair:

L'Oreal Elvive Nutri-Gloss Shine Shampoo - this lasted me for ages.  It's clearly stuffed full of all chemicals, but my hair really liked it - one of the few shampoos I've used that doesn't tangle my long, thick hair.
Aussie Miracle Moist Conditioner - I do like Aussie products, and I like this conditioner.

Body:

3 body lotions I've reviewed here.
The Sanctuary Body Wash - I've used this before and I like the smell, although it could do with being a bit more foamy.
Spa Invigorating Body Scrub - not so much a scrub, more a body wash with the occasional pathetic granual thrown in for good measure.  I got this in a gift set and although it smells really nice, its got the scrubbing ability of a piece of silk.
The Body Shop Hemp Foot Protector - another thing I've used before.  I'm not a big fan of this, as I don't find it to make a dent on my poor tootsies.
2 deodorents - I'm not sure why I've included these!  One has been empty for ages, so this was an opportunity to chuck it!

Skincare:

Clinique Moisture Surge - a staple of my winter skincare regime.  I've opened a new one already.
Avon Solutions Ageless Results AM and PM Cream - I tried these as Sample Sundays earlier in the month.
Chantecaille Jasmin and Lily Healing Masque Sample - this was really nice - I'll do this as a Sample Sunday shortly.

Thanks for reading! xx

The Body Shop Brushes - My Top Sale Bargain

Earlier in December, I did a Christmas gift guide which included a brush set from The Body Shop which I said I'd love to receive.  Well, no one took the hint, so I when I spotted it in the sale for £15 (down from £25 full price) I decided it was a must have.  The set contains an eye shadow brush, a face and body brush, a lipstick and concealer brush and a brow and lash comb as well as a brush roll to store them in.

I have to say that these are by far the best quality brushes that I own - how I had not discovered these before? 

The eyeshadow brush, in particular, is amazing.  It is soft enough to be kind on your eyelids, but is also stiff enough to give a fantastic application. Since I got this two days ago, I've found applying my eyeshadow a complete breeze.  No longer are the colours muddied and my application sloppy - this brush makes eyeshadow precise and defined.  Seriously, my eyeshadow has never looked better.  I'm seriously considering buying another set of these, particularly if they are reduced further.

In terms of value for money, this brush set is fantastic value.  The individual eyeshadow brush costs £9, the face and body brush is £16, the lipstick and concealer brush is £9 and the brow and lash comb is £8. So, if you were to buy these individually, they would cost £42 (without the brush roll they come with).  For £15 for the lot, you can't go wrong! Also, there was a huge stack of these in the store and they are still available online, so you haven't missed out on these.

I'm so glad I bought these - I'd heard good things about the Body Shop brushes before, but I hadn't realised quite how good they were.  I'm now converted!

Have you tried these?  What's your best sale bargain this year?

Thanks for reading! xx

Controversial Post Alert... I Just Don't 'Get' Lush

I think I may be the one dissenting voice in blogger-land, but try as hard as I like, I just don't 'get' Lush...  I'm always popping in there to see if there are any bits and pieces that tempt me, but I usually leave empty handed.  I'm never sure what to buy or how to shop there.  I have tried, including recommendations from other bloggers, but I just don't 'get' this brand.

In the past decade or so, my Lush purchases and gifts I have received have been the following:

1 bath bomb that got damp before I could use it (but smelled lovely)
1 bath bomb that covered my bath in glitter and left what looked like a dead butterfly floating in my tub (it was a fabric one, but I did get a shock)
1 massage bar (I do quite like this one)
1 packet of Rockstar soap (that I'm using to fragrance my lingerie drawer - I'm not overly keen on the smell)
1 very large bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel - I asked for this for Christmas after reading all the great reviews from other bloggers and thought this would be a good intro into Lush - to me, it smells absolutely disgusting - like medicine!

Maybe it's because I'm not into really sweet smelling beauty products, maybe it's because taking a bath is a very rare occurrance for me (I do shower, don't worry), maybe it's because so many of their products are messy and cluttery or maybe it's because when I was a teenager Lush didn't exist - it was the Body Shop all the way for inexpensive beauty products in my formative years.  I'm not sure why, but nothing from Lush is really rocking my world.  My job involves me visiting town centres all over the south of England and whenever I spot a Lush, I do pop in to see if there's anything to tempt me - there rarely is.

So ladies, what am I missing out on?  Please help me - am I ever going to find anything in Lush that I actually like?!  Given I don't take baths and I get through about 2 bars of soap a year (and have about 20 in my beauty storage), please let me know what you think I should take a look at.  I could really do with some suggestions, as I'm determined to finally 'get' what all the hype is about!

Thanks in advance for your help! xx

No Spend - the Final Update

I set myself a little challenge back at the beginning of November... the challenge was to not spend any money on beauty, cosmetics, skincare etc or any clothing and accessories until 25th December. 

I've updated a couple of times on this, and by and large, I completed the challenge successfully.  I find it easy not to spend money on clothes and accessories - although I love new clothes, I hate shopping for them, so this part of the challenge wasn't hard for me. 

It was slightly harder to avoid beauty and skincare products.  I blogged earlier this week that I had forgotten about two Glossy Boxes which I was billed for.  Fortunately, due to the way I pay for my Glossy Boxes, they come out of a different budget to my normal beauty spends...so I could pretend they didn't really count.  Maybe I should.  I also bought a £5 nail polish, which was bought to ensure I spent enough on Boots points night to get an additional £12 worth of points - worth it I think.  What I didn't buy was any extraneous or impulse makeup or beauty.  I didn't chuck anything into my trolly at the supermarket and I didn't just pop into Boots - this was helped by the fact my office has moved and I no longer have a Boots just next to my office... Last week, I did end up buying some footcare products, but these are more medical than beauty so they don't count either.

So I've been pretty successful with this challenge, and I'm pleased with how it's gone.  However, I have spent an obscene amount of money (for me) in the sales over the last couple of days.  There are lots of bargain gift sets coming my way and some more I picked up in the sales today.  I love gift sets! But I'm sure I'll have to do another no spend for most of next year to make up for it!

Thanks for reading! xx

Houston We Have A Problem Body Moisturiser Challenge - Update #4

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and got loads of great presents!  You may remember I had set myself a challenge to reduce my body moisturiser stash to 16 moisturiser (I started with 26 and this increased to 27 during the challenge).  In my last post on this challenge, I had already got down to 15 moisturisers .  So I set myself a further challenge - to get down to 12 moisturisers remaining by Christmas.  The good news is, I did it!

 

The first I used was The Sanctuary Body Lotion which is a classic favourite of mine.  I can't get enough of The Sanctuary's signature smell and this is a moisturising lotion which is thick enough to use in winter as well as summer.  I managed to use up the whole bottle in about 2 weeks!

I got Clarins Eau Dynamisant Moisturizing Body Lotion in a bargain gift set I picked up in the sales last Christmas, but hadn't got round to using it until now.  I have to say, I really loved it - I usually hate body lotions sold in fragrance gift sets, as I find they're often an afterthought and terrible quality.  However, this was a complete exception.  It was wonderfully softening and it absorbed really easily into my skin.  I think this would be even better as a summery moisturiser, as it was quite light.  However, I'd look into getting this again.  Also, a little went a long way with this one and it took a while to use it up.

Finally I had a little, unidentified pot in my stash with barely anything in it.  I think my Mum gave this to me ages ago, and I'd used some of it before - there was hardly anything in the pot.  On reading the label, it appeared that this was a glycerine filled hand cream rather than a body cream.  Nevermind, I'd counted it in my original post, so I used it on my elbows and knees and it was used up in a single application - now why didn't I do that (literally) years ago?!

Most of these are now used up!

I'm going to ignore the fact that in December 3 more moisturisers found their way into my stash (and this was pre-Christmas - there's far more now).  I didn't buy them, so they can be counted when I tally up my Christmas and sales beauty stash.  I'm going to restart this challenge in the new year with the aim to totally clear my stash!

Thanks for reading! xx

Pre-Christmas Waffle

Merry Christmas everyone!

Apologies for my lack of posting over the past couple of weeks - you know how it is with work and Christmas etc.  My blog's had to take a bit of a back seat for a while.  I did have lots of pre-Christmas posts planned, however, you'll have to make do with me rambling on!

So, I'm almost all ready for Christmas - just one more present to get today, because annoyingly, a little outfit I'd bought for my friend's little girl ages ago still has the security tag on it.  I've thrown away the receipt and I don't fancy going into town today, so I'll have to get something else for her.  Other than that, I'm all set!

I was running the Christmas Bloggers Weight Loss Challenge, although I noticed a lot of peoples enthusiasm dwindle after a couple of weeks, including my own.  I completely forgot to post about it last week, and this week I've put on a pound.  Sorry to those of you taking part - let's all start again in the New Year, when I know I'm always keen to detox.  Well done to those of you who have lost more than 1lb!

I've been running a couple of other challenges.  The first was my total no-spend on beauty and cosmetics challenge which ends on Christmas day.  I think I've done very well on this one.  OK, I forgot about my Glossy Boxes, and two of them came my way, and I also bought a nail polish costing £5.  I can totally justify the nail polish though, as it was when I was buying presents at a Boots points event.  Without the polish, my total came to £96.  However, for every £50 I spent, I'd get £12 worth of points.  So, by spending an extra £5, I got £12 of points - definitely worth it and justifiable I think.  Other than that, not a penny has been spent - I'm very proud of that!

My Houston We Have a Problem body moisturiser challenge has also been going well.  I've just about used up the last 3 body moisturisers I needed to before Christmas, and a couple of them were full sized ones as well!  However, before I get too smug, Mr TBBB did bring me back some more little hotel-swiped bottles from his travels and he also got me an early Christmas present of duty-free Prada Candy... complete with body lotion!  So, I've accumulated more moisturiser without even thinking about it!  Once I've assessed the anticipated Christmas stash, I'm going to keep this challenge going.

I've really enjoyed challenging myself to use stuff up.  There's definitley some space in my beauty storage and although I know it will rapidly fill up, I am considering doing some more challenges next year to really trim down my stash.  Plus, we're full steam ahead in saving at the moment to buy a new house, so anything I can do to avoid spending loads of money is a bonus.  Look out for some more challenge related posts coming soon.

Anyway, sorry for my waffling and lack of recent posts.  I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas, having a great time with your family and friends.  I'm off out to see some of my friends soon before heading off to see my family, so see you all after Christmas!

Happy Christmas! xx

Festive Christmas Nails and Swatches - Part 3

This is my third post in my Festive and Christmas Nails series.  I'm trying to find out which is the most festive nail polish in my collection and I'll wear it on Christmas day.  My previous posts are here and here.

I've gone for some classic reds and greens in my previous posts, but today I'm going for something a bit different, looking at glittery polishes and colours that remind me of ice, snow and wintery nights.

From left to right, they are My Private Jet by OPI, Deborah Lippmann's Across The Universe, Gosh Rainbow, Orly Shine and OPI Extravagance.

Thumb: Extravagance OPI; Fingers L-R: Orly Shine, Gosh Rainbow, Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, OPI My Private Jet

OPI My Private Jet is my favourite OPI polish - it reminds me of a night sky, fully of sparky that is very multi-dimensional.  Similarly, Across The Universe is also like a night sky, but more full on and inky.  Rainbow looks awful applied like I have, without a dark base, but if you click my link to it over a darker colour, you will see what a beautiful, sparkly polish it is.  Shine is a sparkly silver colour - very Christmassy and wintery.  Finally, Extravagance was in a Glossy Box and I hadn't tried it until this swatch - I thought it would be a glitter-tastic plummy purple polish.  However, it was a smooth application, very similar to My Private Jet, looking like a purple tinged galaxy on my fingers - I love it.

OPI My Private Jet

L-R: Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe, Gosh Rainbow, Orly Shine

OPI Extravagance

I can't decide which of these is the most festive.  I'm tempted to plump for Orly Shine, but I'm not sure.  Which do you think is most suitable for Christmas?

Thanks for reading! xx