The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Facemask Review

Hi everyone, this has been one of the posts I’ve been meaning to write for so long. It’s super exciting getting back into writing about beauty. I have so many planned posts for the next couple months that I’m excited about writing.

It’s a big shock that I’m writing about stuff from The Body Shop, I know it is a really rare occasion that I end up shopping here. I have had this mask pretty much since it first came out so I’ve been using it a long time so I can give a totally honest review on it’s effects on my skin.

This Matcha Tea mask is described as a pollution clearing mask because of the matcha green tea and dandelion extract which apparently help remove pollutants and impurities. The mask is enriched with matcha green tea from Kakegawa, Japan, as well as  dandelion extract and soothing Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico.

Whenever I open this tub it just smells of pure freshness, kind of grassy which is probably from the dandelion extract but I personally like this smell. It has a thick, easy to apply, creamy consistency with small loofa particles in for exfoliation. These parts don’t feel harsh or sore when exfoliating with the mask on in any way.

 

The main thing I noticed after using this mask was how clean and refreshed my skin felt. ‘Pollution clearing’ is in the name but I was still pleasantly surprised and my skin felt nice for days after as well.

I have combination skin so sometimes (most of the time)  my skin is super oily but in parts my skin is dry on my face and this mask doesn’t irritate it at all. I occasionally suffer from the odd break out and this mask is perfect for putting using as well. I’ve noticed blemishes are really reduced after using this mask.

I live in Glasgow now where there is really high levels of pollution so I really try to use this at least once a fortnight.

I feel like with this mask impurities within the skin aren’t drawn out like the Himalayan Charcoal mask does but this is more of a deep cleaning mask. This is a very nourishing mask designed to leave skin feeling soft, clean and radiant.

This mask can be a bit tingly when you’re applying it or when it is on but that’s just it getting the dirt out. The tingling feeling is quite a cooling sensation rather than an irritation feeling. The mask really sinks into your skin as you use it and it is noticeable when you go to take it off the longer you leave it on. I have a very bad habit of getting lazy with face masks and leave them on far longer than I’m supposed too.

I would recommend this mask to anyone as it is totally worth it. I get that £17 is a lot to splash on a face mask and I wouldn’t spend that kinda money either if I didn’t know it would be good. I’d love to hear if anyone else has tried this mask or any others from The Body Shop!

Hope you enjoyed reading,

Siobhan x

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Lush Wishlist

Hey everyone, this post is basically just turning my obsession with online shopping into something to post about. Not gonna lie, I rarely buy myself Lush products because every year for my birthday and Christmas I get a major overload of products from family and friends.

However, this year I am totally obsessed with Lush and want to buy everything from there. Here is this nice little list of all the things I want to buy.

Ocean Salt Self Preserving Cleanser

This is a salty, citrus vegan cleanser. The sea salt is rich in minerals and salt is great for exfoliating skin. There is silky avocado butter, coconut oil and seaweed which is all supposed to help keep your skin soft too. There is also silken tofu in this cleanser to keep it together which seems like a bit of a random ingredient but also makes me more intrigued to try it.

Brightside Bubble Bar

Bubble bars are becoming one of my favourite Lush products. This bubble bar is scented with Sicilian mandarin, bergamot and tangerine essential oils. This sounds absolutely amazing and your skin would be so soft due to the essential oils in it. Citrus is the most refreshing fragrance too.

Sex Bomb Bath Bomb

Not gonna lie, it’s totally the name that is making me want to try this. This bath bomb is designed for when you’re feeling stressed, anxious or tired (aka all the time when you’re a uni student). There is a fragrant blend of jasmine, ylang ylang and clary sage which is designed to be soothing and relaxing scent.

Rump Bottom Rub

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‘Make your derrière great again’ what a catchphrase. I’m totally intrigued by a moisturiser specifically for your bottom. I’m also like a child and totally drawn in by the bright orange colour of it. There are loads of great reviews for this product and a lot of people use it on places other than their bottom so I guess it is multipurpose.

Birth of Venus Jelly Face Mask 

I’ve never ever tried a face mask from Lush which seems quite shocking for me seeing as how much I love face masks. I love the name of this and it states to use this if you want to feel reborn again. The sea water tones and refreshes skin, lavender oil calms and rose absolute soothes and balances which creates the perfect sounding mask when your skin gets a little bit tired.

These are the items I am currently eyeing up from Lush, I would love to know your thoughts on them if you’ve tried them. Hope you enjoyed reading, what’s on your wishlist?

Siobhan x

November Favourites

Hi everyone, it feels like forever since I have written one of these posts. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I want to get back into the swing of blogging and forcing myself to write these posts is part of that.

I shouldn’t really say “forced” because I do enjoy blogging. I’ve just been forcing myself to prioritise it and make time for it instead of going for a nap or something.

The past few months I would literally sit and write my list of what I was going to include in this post, but I would either forget or not make enough time to take the photos. Anyway, yay for this month.

The Body Shop Hand Sanitiser

This has been one of my favourite new purchases of the past couple months. I have two of these, the strawberry one you see in the above photo and another satsuma scented one. They smell amazing and are a nice small size so you can take them everywhere with you (i do).  I think, I only paid about £2.50 for it, I don’t know if that is expensive or not in hand sanitiser world but I’m obsessed.

Eyelure False Lashes

Since I finally mastered learning to apply false eyelashes I cannot go out without them. I LOVE THEM. Eyelure ones are the best for the price and one set can last multiple times as long as they are looked after properly. As you can see in the photo, there is a nice 3 for 2 sticker on that, I got these in Miss Selfridge and I think they might always have that deal on. It’s 3 sets of lashes for a tenner and that is a bargain I cannot argue with.

The Body Shop Strawberry Body Mist

You can probably see a little strawberry theme on this post, smelling like strawberries is clearly something I’m very into right now. Not gonna lie I didn’t think I would love this product as much as I do, thought I would be like “okay thats fine” but it is so much better than fine. It has such a refreshing and sweet scent that lasts a good few hours after spraying yourself with it.

Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette

I stole this photo from a previous blog post because I’ve already reviewed this palette which you can read here if you’re interested. However, I have a new found love for it as it is the perfect autumnal, warm toned palette. I wear this palette too often for it not to be mentioned in this favourites post.

Lush Snow Fairy Body Conditioner

The Lush Snow Fairy range is iconic because it is amazing. I am a huge fan and some of my favourite Lush products are in this range. The body conditioner smells of candy floss, bon bons and everything sweet and nice. There is a subtle shimmer after you’ve applied this and I love it.

The Good Place

This TV show has become my favourite thing since my flat mate suggested I should watch it. It’s so light and funny, and there is an amazing plot twist at the end of season one which I am not gonna spoil for anyone. Normally I hate comedies, but I love this and also have a new love for Kristen Bell. You can watch this on Netflix and it’s also just been renewed for a third season.

So, this has been all my favourite things from this month. Hope you all enjoyed reading this. What were your favourite things from this month?

Siobhan x

 

Too Faced Cocoa Contour Palette Review

Hey everyone, it feels like forever since I have written a beauty post. To be honest, I haven’t really been buying that much make up lately. This palette is a wee gem that I Finley bought me a few months ago and I have been putting off using it until my old contour palette was almost done. I’ve been using this palette non stop for the past two weeks and I can’t wait to share my opinion with you all.

This palette is super cute. The product comes in a sturdy cardboard box, it’s quite a thick box but it would be ideal for travelling as the product wont get damaged. The palette looks so luxurious with the gold bow and border around it.

I LOVE the fact that this palette comes with a decent sized mirror and a good brush. I hate when brands include brushes in their palettes that are pretty crap, like what is even the point? Also, another pet hate is when palettes come with no mirrors. However, this one has both so rant over.

There are four shades in this palette, two matte contour shades and two highlighting powers – one matte, one shimmery. This palette is actually really, really powdery which is a bit annoying when using it. I’m forever getting bits of the darker contour shades mixed in with the highlighting shades. If you aren’t familiar with other Too Faced products, you may be surprised to hear this palette actually smells like chocolate. It adds such a nice touch to the palette, but not so nice when you’re doing your make up first thing in the morning and start craving chocolate.

Light cocoa – a light, yellowed beige with a satin finish. This is a very subtle highlighting shade. The texture is a little powdery but it is silky smooth to apply.

Medium cocoa – a medium, matte brown contouring shade. This is a very natural looking shade but still a bit on the powdery side.

Dark cocoa – a medium-dark matte brown contour shade with warm undertones and a matte finish. As this is more of a warm toned shade, for pale people like me it needs to be applied very subtly or it looks like a bronzer. This shade would be perfect for people who are a bit more tanned than myself.

Pop of light – a light peachy, highlighter with a gold sparkle. When applied it isn’t as intense or shimmery as it looks in the pan, so for people who like a really subtle highlight, you will enjoy this. However I prefer a much bolder and sparklier highlight so I don’t use this that much.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned in other blog posts but I was always an Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette loyalist until I tried this.

The powders are so silky smooth to apply and blend very evenly and easily into the skin. The brush included in the palette is actually good as well. This palette is easily suitable for many different skin tones. Inside the box it actually comes with a guide on how to contour, telling you where to apply what colour etc if you are new to it which would be very handy.

Overall, I’m totally loving this palette. Being so pale it’s sometimes hard to find the right shade to contour with but I can’t even stress how good a shade medium cocoa is. I’ve used this every single day since I opened it. Also, this product is completely vegan which is a huge positive.

Hope you enjoyed reading this review, I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this in the comments.

Siobhan x

Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette Review

The Zoeva Cocoa Blend eyeshadow palette has been a staple product in my eyeshadow collection for about 18 months now and I still adore it. This palette features 10 warm toned shades ranging from beige to plum to copper. There is 5 matte finishes and 5 shimmer finishes in this palette which makes it create for creating different looks with different finishes. Zoeva is also a cruelty free brand and the shades in this eyeshadow palette are enriched with vitamin E and is 100% free of parabens, mineral oils, perfume and phthalates.

The Cocoa Blend palette is obviously chocolate inspired which makes it all the more alluring for chocolate lovers and make up lovers alike. The packaging of the palette is styled to look like a luxurious chocolate box with the brown and golden themed pattern. On the inside of the palette it reads, “with superb ingredients selected with love for the taste of temptation”. The Zoeva website states the palette is “Inspired by warm truffle colors, delicate nougat shades and shimmery marzipan tones for a seductive glamour makeup look.”

The palette is thin but sturdy and made out of cardboard. It probably isn’t the most durable packaging for an eyeshadow palette, so you would need to be careful if you would be taking it out and about. The palette did come with a protective card cover that slides on and off with the same pattern as the palette itself, however since I have had this product well over a year I got rid of that a long time ago.

Bitter Start – a light beige with warm undertones and a matte finish. Soft and creamy texture, good for a base eyeshadow.

Sweeter End – a soft, shimmering lilac with gold undertones and a metallic finish. This is my favourite shade in the whole palette. The texture is so creamy and so pigmented.

Warm Notes – a rich, bright cranberry red with gold and copper undertones and a metallic finish. Another one of my favourite shades in this palette. The texture is so so creamy and pigmented with amazing colour pay off.

Subtle Blend – a medium dark brown with a golden bronze shimmer and yellow undertones. Intensely pigmented shade with a buttery consistency making it easy to blend out on the lid.

Beans Are White – a blackened brown with a matte finish. This shade is quite chalky with not good colour pay off.

Pure Ganache –  a light-medium, golden copper with orange undertones and a metallic sheen. Great colour pay off with a buttery texture making it easy to apply and blend on the eye lid.

Substitute For Love –  a medium, orange brown with warm undertones and a matte finish. Soft and silky texture, this is one of my most used shades in the palette

Freshly Toasted – a rich, deep, reddish brown with warm orange undertones and a matte finish. This shade was a little bit powdery but still had a soft, silky texture and good colour pay off.

Infusion – a blackened brown with red undertones and a gold satin  finish. A little on the chalky side but still blends well when applied on the lid

Delicate Acidity – a medium mauve with warm undertones and a pearly sheen to it. Good colour pay off.

Overall, the shimmer shades were so much more pigmented than the matte shades. The colour pay off for Warm Notes, Subtle Blend and Pure Ganache are amazing whereas with Bitter Start, Beans Are White and Infusion the formula just isn’t as good. One of my favourite things about this palette, and Zoeva palettes alike are the circle pans for the eyeshadow. It’s great you get a little bit more space to swirl your brush around compared to the thinner and more narrow rectangle shaped pans other brands go for.

This is definitely one of my favourite warm toned palettes as I don’t think any other brand has managed to capture the shades like Zoeva have. Don’t get me wrong, I still have tonnes of warm toned palettes but for shade range, quality and price Zoeva are the winners here. This is my most used palette out of the three Zoeva palettes I own (Rodeo Belle and Blanc Fusion are the other two).

I got this palette for £18 from Beauty Bay and as you can tell from this review I love this palette. I completely recommend this to anyone. The price is one of the main things that attract me to Zoeva eyeshadow palettes as it is more than half the price of the eye shadow palettes from the likes of Urban Decay and Too Faced for a product that is similar in quality.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this review.  Let me know in the comments what you think of this palette or if there are any other products from Zoeva you think I should try.

Siobhan x

My Favourite Cruelty Free Brands

Hi everyone, hope you are all great.

Many people who have been keeping up with this blog will know I recently re-vamped my beauty collection to make it all cruelty free. I have been following a plant based diet for nearly 3 years now and along the way became lazy in checking what brands test on animals and which do not.  There is no excuse for buying products tested on animals when there are so many amazing cruelty free brands. This post isn’t to shame anyone on the brands they use and buy, but to share that there is so many amazing cruelty ree alternatives out there.

1. The Body Shop

This will come to no surprise to anyone who even glances at this blog that I love The Body Shop. Every second post is practically about something from there. This is one of the highest profile cruelty free brands about. The Body Shop have an amazing range of products, many of which are vegan but all of them are vegetarian. The Body Shop has also been sold by L’Oreal to another cruelty free company, so those people who avoided the brand so they weren’t giving money to L’Oreal can now rejoice.

2) Lush

Nobody can argue that the absolutely divine smell that comes from the Lush shop as you walk past doesn’t lure you in. I am particularly a fan of any Lush bath bomb and anything from the Snow Fairy range. Lush products are 100% vegetarian, some of them are vegan too. As well as The Body Shop, Lush also run a campaign towards ending the testing on animals for cosmetics.

3) Faith In Nature

This wasn’t a brand I had heard much about until the first Christmas I was vegan, my mum, gran, dad and stepmum had all bombarded me with presents from there. I am a huge fan of their Hemp shampoo and conditioner, as well as their coconut handcream which I wrote about in my July Favourites post. Faith In Nature’s products range from hair care, shower and bath products, hand wash and soap, skin care, baby care and home care.

4) NYX Cosmetics

NYX is a hugely popular cruelty free beauty brand. Many of their products are vegan but none of them are tested on animals which is a huge boost. This brand is sold in many drugstores around the UK with a very reasonable price tag. NYX also offers vegan false lashes, a couple of synthetic makeup brushes, and a couple vegan-friendly tools.

These are all four of my favourite cruelty free brands. I wanted to include more in this list but I picked the brands I have been using the longest and tried the most products from to give the best feedback.

This post is part of a collab with Courtney from The Curly Anomaly, we both follow a plant based diet and wanted to spread some information. I picked these brands as I think they have the best selection of vegan products as well for those who are interested in cruelty free beauty. If any of you are interested in adopting the vegan diet then Courtney has written a great, informative article here – https://thecurlyanomaly.com/what-i-wish-i-knew-before-adopting-a-plant-based-diet

Hope you all enjoyed this post. If I missed out any great cruelty free brands please let me know in the comments.

Siobhan x

The Body Shop Amazonian Acai Energising Radiance Mask Review

Hi there everyone, hope you are all doing great.

Today’s post is about a product I have raved about in my monthly favourites before. I wanted to try it out for a couple months before I wrote a proper review about it so it would be totally honest. I am super excited to write this post as this mask has become a staple part of my skincare routine.

The facial mask is an exfoliating gel mask designed to revive and revitalise tired and stressed skin. The mask reduces the appearance of fatigue on skin and give a fresher and more wide awake look. The key ingredient in this mask is the super-food acai berry which is rich with anti-oxidants and vitamins which help to boost the immune system. Another key ingredient is Babassu oil which helps to hydrate skin preventing moisture loss as well as soften the skin.

The first thing you will think when you open this is holy shit, this smells AMAZING. I’m not kidding you when I say I’ve never used a nicer smelling face mask. It smells so fresh and juicy which is nice since the mask is made out of acai berries. The mask has a thin, jam like consistency. Since the mask is more like a gel it is so easy to spread along your face without it drying up.

I use this face mask between 1-3 times a week, I constantly feel tired and exhausted so this really helps make my skin look fresh even when I’m not. I leave the mask on for about 15-20 minutes, even though it says to remove after 10 half the time I’m too lazy to get up to take it off again or have forgotten it’s on. It’s a really light and bouncy mask which is good on the skin has it is so hydrating, after using this there is a noticeable glow in my skin the next day. I am obsessed with keeping my skin smooth and hydrated so again another reason this mask is great for me. Acai berries contain vitamin A,C and E making it perfect for boosting and revitalising your skin.

My final thoughts on this are that this mask does everything it claims to do. The anti-oxidant, vitamin enriched acai berry mask turns dull, tired skin into glowing fresh skin. This is the perfect pick me up after a long day at work, or perfect to use before going out as it only needs to be applied for 10 minutes. The amazing smell instantly boosts your mood as well, it is especially good as the scent lingers on the skin after the mask has been removed. I have combination skin a bit on the oily side and this mask doesn’t aggravate my skin at all. Since it is quite a hydrating and moisturising mask as well I was worried it would increase oiliness in my skin but it doesn’t do that at all.

Some people might be put off by the price, £16 for a face mask might seem a bit steep to some people but I promise it is worth it. It comes in a decent sized tub and as I mentioned earlier in this post it spreads across your face so easily so a little goes a long way. In terms of quality as well, I don’t mind paying more money for a good product as long as I like it and will use it and this is something I would repeatedly spend £16 on over and over again. Also, this mask is completely vegan and cruelty free which is amazing knowing no animals were harmed to make this.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and I would love to hear your thoughts about this mask in the comments. This is part of a superfood face mask range in The Body Shop, I love a facemask so if you have any other recommendations for me let me know in the comments.

Siobhan x