Current Skin Care

So my current skin care falls into the cheap drugstore end rather than the high end drugstore of products.  But it's just what's working for me at the moment.  Botanics Skin Calming Day Cream in Ultra Calm is the perfect companion for my difficult skin.  I'm the lovely mix of dry, greasy and prone to breakouts.  This just works well with that mixture.  My skin is left hydrated and lovely and soft.  I love the added marshmallow which I also have in my hand cream (Soap and Glory's Hand Food - best hand cream out there!) It also has SPF 15 in which isn't particularly high but better than nothing.

I like a really basic Toner and have previous used Lush's Breath of Fresh Air, Nivea's Pure and Natural and Botanics Rosewater Toner.  Which all have the same simple more natural formula.  My skin never seems to like anything that's too harsh or scented. The Boots Traditional Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Tonic is perfect for me.  I actually picked this up originally when they were first released in glass bottles, however it seemed to disappear for a bit and then come back in the plastic bottle above.  I find it removes any remaining makeup and leaves by skins feeling fresh.  I also noticed that combined the moisturiser that my skin is left hydrated and clear from blemishes and dry patches. 

Botanics Skin Calming Day Cream in Ultra Calm £6.99 (although I keep picking it up when they have a 1/3 off)

Boots Traditional Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Tonic £2.32

Don't forget to Enter our Nivea Lip Butter Giveaway - ends midnight 6 January 2013

Winter Skin Savers....

With the winter well and truly upon us I thought it would be a good time to share some of my winter skin savers with you! As soon as the weather turns my hands and face get so dry and just don't cope well with the change.  In order to cope I rely on these two little beauties.

The lovely Shea Butter, Macadamia Oil and Marshmallow Hand Food from Soap and Glory is not only hydrating and non-greasy but is seriously the yummiest hand cream I've ever used.  It's not badly priced at £5.00 for 125ml, especially when it's the only thing that seem to deal my the dry skin I get on my hands. I can't leave the house without this in my bag.

My other little gem is Boots Traditional Skin Care - Cold Cream.  For the bargain price of £2.42 for 200ml, this is such an all rounder.  You can use it too take your makeup off, for extra moisture and even as a hand cream. I tend to apply a little to my nose at night (always get dry skin on my nose) and then a little to my hand.  When I'm having a really bad week I apply all over my face or use as a mask.  A little of this goes a very long way and leaves my skin soft and hydrated.

Boots Gift of the Week 2nd December

Hey,

This week’s offer is the FCUK 'The Women has it All' Overnight Bag better than half price at Boots from Friday 2^nd – Thursday 8^th December 2011 at just £22.00 (usual price £45.00).

The set include:

• FCUK Body Wash - 300ml: Your skin is left cleansed and soft with the FCUK Body Wash enriched with moisturising almond oil.


• FCUK Body Polish - 200ml: The FCUK Body Polish will gently buff away dead skin cells using naturally exfoliating particles, from walnut shells and apricot seeds.


• FCUK Body Butter - 200ml: With almond oil and shea butter, the FCUK Body Butter will leave your skin feeling velvety and intensely nourished.


• FCUK Body Spray - 150ml: A seductive must-have finishing touch, scented with the fruity oriental fragrance of FCUK Signature.

Also this weekend is a Mega Weekend for point.

£10 worth of Boots Advantage points for every £50 spent in-store and £10 worth of Boots Advantage points for every £75 spent online at www.boots.com . This offer will run the 2nd to 4th December.

Happy Shopping!

Thanks

Champney's Town & City

A couple of week's back I had the pleasure of attending the new Champney's Day & City Spa in Milton Keynes, the Spa is actually inside Boots in the Centre:mk. As Champney's say,
'Champneys Day Spa in Milton Keynes provides luxury treatment rooms and pampering therapies, as well as those everyday beauty must-haves such as manicures, pedicures and St Tropez tanning treatments. For a little home spa pampering they are also the perfect place to shop - you'll find the Champneys Spa Collection, a range of pampering spa products and gifts.'

I had the opportunity to try out a facial at the new Spa. I knew they had been working on building the Champney Day Spa in Boots but I thought it would be quite small. Well I was pleasantly surprised.

The site has 5 treatments rooms (which are a good size), a brow bar, a St Tropez room as well as pedicure and manicure bays. The room I had my facial in is below.

The facial was lovely and the products used smelt amazing. I was soooo relaxed I could have quite easily nodded off. Here is my skin the morning after the facial, I thought my skin looked great afterwards and I received some comments in work which was nice.

I was also able to take a friend with me as L was unable to attend. My friend Rachel decided to try Reflexology and enjoyed the experience. Rachel had also commented on the size of her room, the spa is like the Tardis.

We were both pleasantly surprised by the size of the Spa and the treatments available. I would certainly look to go back there and Rachel is already looking to book her Mum in. I am tempted to go and try out a pedicure especially with the discount running still this week.

It is great having such a luxurious spa so close to work making it very convenient to just pop along. I have to say the staff were also all so lovely at the spa.

Champney's also run regular events at these sites offering mini workshops, goody bags, discounts and mini treatments. You can keep up with upcoming events here.

The Milton Keynes Day Spa is currently offering 50% off treatments until the 20th November.

Have you been to a Champney's Day & City Spa?

Thanks

Boots Gift of the Week

Hey,

This week's Boots Star gift of the week is the Ted Baker Make it Big Vanity Case.
The Vanity case has been reduced from £40 to £19 so its a massive £21 saving.

The set includes:
Butterfly Wings Body Wash 250ml
Butterfly Wings Body lotion 200ml
Butterfly Wings Body spray 150ml
Butterfly Wing Body Scrub 300ml
Origami Bath Foam 250ml
Origami Body Souffle 300ml
Origami Body Spray 150ml

You can get more information on the set and see a video here.

This set will be at £19 till the Thursday 3rd November.

Thanks

No 7 Voucher...it's back

Hey,

Just a little heads up the No7 Boots vouchers are back, I've already used my first one up! (Excuse the old image I didn't have a voucher to take a picture of).
I have already purchased some more Eye-make remover and would like to get a couple more nail polishes. Below is a round-up of the products we have already reviewed:
* No 7 Cleanse & Care Eye make-up remover.
* No 7 Speed Dry Nail Polish in Violetta, Beanie and Hot Pink
* No 7 Stay Prefect in Betty Blues, Totally Teal and Damson Dreams
* No 7 Intense Volume Mascara in Brown.
* No 7 Sheer Temptation Lipstick in Sparkle
* No 7 Beautifully Balanced Purifying Toner for Oily Combination Skin.
* No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse in Pewter.
* No 7 Shine Free Make-up Base.

I think I will also be taking a look at the new Autumn collection, you can see some of the range here and the new Lash Adapt Mascara.

Will you be using one?

Thanks

Boots Advantage Card Offer

For today only, 21st June, selected Boots stores are offering 750 Advantage card points for every £30 you spend in store. This time its an all day event so you have plenty of time to look around and decide what to get!

You can find out more at Boots, luckily Milton Keynes is taking part do I may pop along for a look. But L would need to pop down to Manchester.

They also have a number of competitions running:

• A makeover prize - includes a pampering day at Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden, a hair styling session at Charles Worthington and all over bronzing treatment with overnight accommodation in London.
• 10 x Nivea hampers worth £100 each
• Exclusive hampers from Elizabeth Arden, Lancome and YSL, worth more than £100 each
• Benefit hamper worth £300
• Kodax Easyshare Touch M577 Digital Camera

Full details can be found in store.

Battle of the Eye make-up Removers

In the search for the perfect eye make-up remover I ended up with lots of different ones on the go at the moment. They are Johnson's, Botanics Soothing Eye Make-up Remover, Botanics Face Nourishing Eye Make-up Remover, L'Oreal Absolute Eye & Lip make-up remover and lastly Bourjois Express Eye Make-up Remover. So I wanted to give you a run down on each one and show you how they removed my Body Shop Mascara, First up is Botanics Face Nourishing Eye Make-up Remover:

This can be picked up from Boots for roughly £3.99 for 75ml, and a little does seem to go a long way. This is quite a unique product, the product is more like a balm that you massage onto your eyes firsts then you wet with warm water and remove with cotton wool. As you can see from the picture above with the cotton wool it actually removes the Mascara quite well and I don't end up with any morning left over eye make-up residue (its a problem I seem to suffer with blonde eye lashes). It is also very gentle on the my eyes and doesn't leave them sore at all. I would buy this one again especially as it is value for money, though it does take longer to use then a regular eye make-up remover.

Second up is another Botanics purchase its there Soothing Eye Make-up Remover, you can buy this from Boots for £3.05 for 150ml.

This is a two part solution that you need to shake before use and apply/use with cotton wool. This is one of the worst of the bunch for me, I have to use two lots of cotton wool on one eye to get all the make-up off (I don't even wear much eye make-up on weekdays). Though it is cheap I wouldn't repurchase as my eye's feel sore the next morning after applying this as I have to rub my eye's with the cotton wool to ensure my eyes are clean. Third up is Bourjois Express eye Make-up Remover, this retails at roughly £4.99 at Boots and can be found withe the Bourjois make-up in store. This is my absolute favourite of the lot and I will be repurchasing (after I use up my stash). It is a two part formula that you shake together again and apply with cotton wool. This only takes one (maybe two) swipes and all my eye make-up is gone and I don't have sore eyes or morning residue. I feel this gives me everything I need from my eye make-up remover as I feel it also moisturiser the eye area. Next up is Johnsons Gentle eye make-up remover, it retails at Boots for £3.05 for 100ml.

Again this is a two part solution that you shake before use and I apply with cotton wool. Now I picked this up as it states 'Gentle', well i have found nothing gentle about it! My eye are sore and sting a little, and as you can see I have persisted in trying this out but it really doesn't seem to work for me. It just doesn't seem to remove my eye make-up and it does make my eye sting.

Last up is L'Oreal Absolute Eye and lip make-up Remover, this retails at Boots £5.40ml.

I actually picked this one up by mistake I was actually looking for the gentle eye make-up remover that L'Oreal do but ended up with this. Though it removes the make-up really well (the second best of the bunch) its not as gentle as I would like on my eyes, they do feel a bit sore after I use it.

Out of the choice I have at the moment the Bourjois and Botanics Nourishing one are the ones I would repurchase and have enjoyed using. I am determined to use up all of these though even if they make my eyes a bit sore. Another one that I have tried but have not mentioned here is Simple Gentle Eye make-up reomver but after a week of use that went in the bin as it really made my eyes sore. I still want to try No7 and I have a clinique sample to try so I will update you on how I get on with these two as well.

Do you have a favourite? Or any others I should try?

Thanks

Boots Offer: 3 for 2 Mix and Match Across 1000s of Makeup Products

Ooooooo goody!! After seeing an advert on the telly this morning to this effect and a post by Jen I decided to check if it was too good to be true. But it appears not.

Boots say :-
Our hugely popular 3 for 2 Mix & Match across our fabulous make-up lines is back! Just buy three selected make-up products and get the cheapest free – and the best thing is you can mix and match from 1000s of products!

Yippie!!! Only yesterday did L say to me that she would be waiting to purchase a few things until 3 for 2 was on them.

For more details of the offer go to boots.com. And get yourself down there ladies!!!!

Giddy Princess xx

......Continuation of Todays Purchases

Hi - this is L

As you know I went for a stroll around the shops at lunch with the Giddy Princess. I didn’t partake in the mini hair straightener’s purchase (although seem as I am seriously addicted to straightening my unruly, frizzy mane - I do think that these will be a future purchase.......ooooo and definitely in ♥pink♥). Instead today I went a little crazy in Boots........


I picked up Boots Original Formula Vanishing Day Cream, Boots eye-cream (along with the trusted beauty obsessed sidekick) at the bargain price of £1.94, Collection 2000 Illuminating under eye concealer, Soap and Glory – The Fab Pore Facial Peel, Barry M nail varnish in 303 Bright Purple, Boots 17 Anti-redness correction stick, Natural Collection eyeshadow in White Opal and some new eye-shadow brushes.

I’m absolutely loving the Boots Original Formula products after a referral from my beauty obsessed pal, Giddy Princess. I’ve already picked up the Cleansing Milk and the Facial Tonic and I adore the vintage packaging which really cries out to me girly side ♥. Once I tried out the moisturiser, I’ll review the 3 products together.

I was also quite excited about purchasing the Soap and Glory – The Fab Pore peel. This may come as a bit of a shock but.............this is actually my first Soap and Glory Purchase. I know I’ve been a bit slow on trying this range, kept meaning to get something and give it a go but was never sure what to get. I’ve eventually decide to try The Fab Pore after reading a couple of good reviews. I’m really excited about trying this with the promise of minimising your pores (which is a serious quest of mine!) – Hopefully I’ll do a review on it in the next couple of days.