Earlier this summer I was running low on face wash. I wanted to try something new and change it up for fall and winter. I had been hearing so many people rave about cleansing balms and was curious to give them a try. I started doing some research on which cleansing balm to try out. It seems as though they are more common in England than in the U.S. I don't know if I have a case of the grass being greener on the other side, but it seems like the U.K. has so many amazing skincare products! After reading several other bloggers recommend the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel, including Caroline Hirons, Amelia Liana, and Vivianna I investigated how to get it stateside. I found it on Beauty Bay on sale for $40 (originally $48) and with free shipping to the U.S. I took these things as a sign and promptly ordered it. The free international shipping said it would take 7-10 after it shipped, which I thought to be reasonable. Sadly it took 3 weeks to arrive, and the last of my former cleanser was long gone before then. There I was refusing to but another cleanser because I had just purchased a fairly expensive one and it was on its way, I was forced to turn to using my boyfriend's face wash. The breakout that followed was not pretty and I was quite anxious for this face wash to come so I could get my skin back on track. I am happy to report it was all worth the wait!
I was nominated by the amazing Carol from Intrice Blog, thank you so much!
Her blog covers beauty and skincare. She takes a great analytical approach to the products she reviews, going over all the pros and cons and concludes with if she overall recommends the product. My favorite posts she has recently put up were on Benefits Posie Balm and Push up Liner! You should all really go check out her blog and you can also follow her on twitter @intriceblog!
A while back I received a little sample bag when I made a purchase at Sephora. One of the samples inside was L'Occitane's Almond Shower Oil. I had never tried a shower oil in place of a normal shower gel or cream, so I gave it a whirl. It was so amazing, and I savored my little sample of golden oil for as long as humanly possible. I really like nutty scents for fall and winter, so with the arrival of autumn I picked up the full size of the Almond Shower Oil which retails at $25.00 for 8.4 oz.
Butter London is a British nail polish brand that makes beautiful unique nail polish colors all without formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP. Additionally to not having those nasty chemicals in the formula the polishes are a nice consistency, not to thick or thin, and they have good staying power on the nails. I absolutely love the packaging it comes in. They come in a rectangle glass bottle with a heavy bottom, and a glossy black top that pops off to reveal a more ergonomic brush handle that is topped with an image of a crown wearing raven. The brush is on the thinner side which is really the only thing I don't like about these polishes. I find that with the first coat I apply the brush doesn't spread out nicely on the nail and it tends to apply a bit streaky, however the brush does spread out more when applying the second coat and evens things out. As with a lot of nail polish companies they come up with delightful names for their colors and Butter London has a wide range of shades and finishes. Each polish is $15.00 and my fall picks from their line are Yummy Mummy, Lady Muck, British Racing Green, Big Smoke, and Branwen's Feather.
Maybelline recently released a line of their color tattoo cream eyeshadows in a new leather finish. I have two of the original color tattoo eyeshadows in Bad to the Bronze, and inked in pink. I like both of them and I found the idea of a less shimmery cream shadow to be quite appealing. I picked up the two brown shades, Creamy Beige and Chocolate Suede from CVS for $6.99 each. The formula is described as being a cream gel, but I don't really find anything gel-like about it, it is a pretty standard cream shadow formula. I do find the leather formula to be creamier and smoother than the original color tattoo shadows which I found to be a bit dry. Compared to Mac Paint Pots the leather formula is still a bit drier.
