Trimming My Stash - July 2014 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Happy August Everyone x Traditionally the nicest month weather wise in the UK, it's all started with a bit of a damp squib in LouLouLand with torrential rain and thunderstorms all afternoon. Hopefully summer will return soon though, like most people I think I was just starting to get used to the humidity and the heat. The weather played a huge role in the type of beauty products that I managed to finish in July, with shower gels and wipes dominating the list.

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml
Veet Supreme Essence Ready To Use Wax Strips x 10
Veet Supreme Essence Ready To Use Wax Strips x 10
Living Nature Luminous Powder - Light - 14g
Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes - 10 Travel Towlettes
The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Scrub - 200ml
I Love Chocolatey Surprise Bubble Bath And Shower Creme - 100ml
The Body Shop Earth Lovers Lemon And Thyme 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - 250ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Deep Facial Cleansing Wipes For Normal & Combination - 25 Wipes
Soap & Glory I Foam Ultra Creamy Body Wash - 200ml
Total - 10 Items

Yes, I'm a happy bunny, July was my best month in a long while and I managed to finish 10 items. I finished a nice variety of items and another make up item, that seemed to go one for ever x I think I managed to finish so many because I decided to try and use up some of the half finished bottles in my bathroom cupboard. This is one of my worst habits and one I'm sure that a lot of beauty bloggers can identify with. You use something for a while to try it out and review it and then you move on to something new. I'm also big on changing scents and textures of products depending on my mood and the changing seasons, hence the half used shower gels and body lotions. This is something I'm really trying to remedy at the moment so hopefully I'll start to create a bit more space in my cupboards.

So what were the 10 items that I finished...

1.The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml

This is one of my favourite ever festive scents from The Body Shop. A lovely combination of vanilla, cloves and nutmeg. I have a couple more of these to use then I have to hope that it's re promoted again this year. I know it's not Christmas or anywhere near but this scent to me is warm and comforting at anytime of the year and it was a half full bottle x

2 & 3. Veet Supreme Essence Ready To Use Wax Strips x 10 and Veet Supreme Essence Ready To Use Wax Strips x 10

Although I've moved on to using an epilator on my legs for most of the year, call me a glutton for punishment but I love the feeling that a leg wax gives. These two packs were from Poundworld and based on the labelling I think that they were made from the Far East market. They did the job quickly and easily and the same amount of equivalent Veet strips would retail for over £6 compared to my £2 result!

4. Living Nature Luminous Powder - Light - 14g

This was a product that I reviewed for My Pure, you can read my full review here x

5. Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes - 10 Travel Towlettes

Although I got this product in beauty box, I originally reviewed these for My Pure here x They're okay but I did find that they made my skin feel tight and tingly and look a bit red. I actually found this packet a little bit more stingy than the last one so they aren't something that I would repurchase x


6. The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Scrub - 200ml

Although I know have mixed feelings towards The Body Shop Sweet Lemon range, I'm still a fan of this scrub. It was a sugar based scrub, with pieces of real lemon, and a lovely citrus fragrance. It was slightly sticky but I really enjoyed using it and I'm sorry that it was discontinued.

7. I Love Chocolatey Suprise Bubble Bath And Shower Creme - 100ml

Yum, another Christmas product and one that I had to seriously bite my tongue not to eat. Think a Terrys Chocolate Orange and you're about there. This was amazing and something else that I hope I'll be able to get my hands on later in the year.

8. The Body Shop Earth Lovers Lemon And Thyme 100% Biodegradable Shower Gel - 250ml

Another discontinued product from The Body Shop and something that I quite liked. It had a very runny texture but the lemon scent was counteracted with the herb notes of the thyme. Nice and refreshing and ideal for this time of year.

9. Primark PS Love Your Skin Deep Facial Cleansing Wipes For Normal & Combination - 25 Wipes

These are part of the new Primark beauty range. They weren't bad but I've since bought the new, repackaged, tea tree variant which I prefer.

10. Soap & Glory I Foam Ultra Creamy Body Wash - 200ml

This post seems to be mainly about discontinued or disappeared items and this is another one. Way back in the early days Soap&Glory did a wider range of spa products including some mouthwatering blueberry and peach body butters, and this was one of those items. This was a lovely creamy shower gel, that had a few citrus hints, but reminded me more of Clinique's Happy fragrance.

So they were my July empties I'm still honest and I've already got a couple of nearly dones so I'm hoping I'll do just as well in August. I'm hoping for at least one or two make up items and maybe some skincare so fingers crossed. Thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow with another make up review xx

Living Nature Blush - A Review For My Pure

If your a regular reader of my reviews for My Pure, you'll know that over the last few months I've shown the Living Nature make up range a lot of love. I've had good experiences with both the eyeshadow duo and the lipstick from the line so I thought I'd try something else, so I went for a blush.

The Living Nature Blush comes boxed and in the same black card style packaging as the eyeshadows

In the compact you get 4g of product and a little blush brush, the brush isn't bad by normal standards but to be honest I would and have been using a proper blusher brush to apply it.

The blush comes in two colours Cool Winter and Warm Summer, seeing as I still have a bit of tan I went for Warm Summer.

This blush is simply beautiful, a perfect warm nude shade, it's soft and pigmented, and it's such a natural flush to the cheeks, oh and it's free from parabens and lots of other chemicals

I've found this so hard to capture on my face because quite frankly it gives such a natural finish

I always feel a little bit iffy when I am singing the praises of a product I've been sent but as per usual I only telling the truth and I have to say I love this blush so much, the colour just works for me at the moment. Are there any negatives well at £14.99 it's not particularly cheap but in my opinion its well worth it. Living Nature Blush In Warm Summer retails at £14.99 from My Pure x

(The Living Nature Blush In Warm Summer Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)

Living Nature Nourishing Hand Cream - A Review For My Pure

I'm probably the worlds hugest hand cream lover, at least a couple of times a day, I cover my hands in a cool luxurious cream in my never ending quest for super strokeable hands. I wouldn't say I had particularly dry hands but my cuticles are prone to dryness and I occasionally get flaky patches on my fingers. I have a few firm favourite hand creams which I continually repurchase but I am always looking to try out new ones, so for one of this months My Pure products I chose the Living Nature Nourishing Hand Cream.

Packaged in quite a chunky tactile bottle, the product dispenses via a flip cap from the base of the bottle, I have to say I did find it a little stiff at first, and when Mummy Lou tried she couldn't work out how to get the cream out at all lol

As you probably already know if you've read my previous Living Nature reviews ( click here and here if you haven't ;), Living Nature is a New Zealand based brand that prides itself on the purity of their ingredients and this hand cream is no different, it even claims to be 100% natural with the preservatives, fragrance and ingredients all coming from natural and plant sources.

When you look at the ingredients listings this certainly seems to be the case. The key ingredients are active manuka honey, known for its anti-bacterial properties, and larch tree extract to prevent moisture loss. It also contains many other plant based ingredients such as olive, coconut and jojoba oils for moisture.

The cream itself has quite a creamy texture but it spreads out easily and absorbs a lot quicker than what you would expect. The skin is left matte and feeling super smooth, a feeling that actually lasts and doesn't disappear in an hour or so.

I have to say this is one of the nicest hand creams I have ever used I have had no dry patches at all in the month I have been using this. My one issue is the smell, other reviewers have sad the smell is quite mild but sorry I don't think that, it has quite a strong, distinct smell which is quite hard to place Mummy Lou said it reminded her a bit of aniseed and I think she's right there is definitely a hint of aniseed or liquorice in their somewhere, personally the smell is a bit much for me but the hand cream is so good I think I can ignore it :) The Living Nature Nourishing Hand Cream 100ml retails at £12.49 from My Pure.

(The Living Nature Nourishing Hand Cream 100ml Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes )v

Living Nature Lipstick - A Review For My Pure

After my success last month with a Living Nature Eyeshadow Duo, I decided to try another make up product from the line as part of June's My Pure reviews.

The product I decided to try from this popular New Zealand based natural toiletry and cosmetic line, was a lipstick. Seeing as the average woman ingest of 2. kilos of lipstick in her life time, Living Nature wanted to make a lipstick which is as pure and natural as possible. Recently voted as the best lipstick in The Green Parent magazine, Living Nature's lipsticks are free from lead, and contain only natural ingredients including vegetable waxes, vitamin E, and plant based squalene for added moisture - in fact Living Nature even claim that this product is safe to eat such is its purity!!

The lipsticks come boxed, and the bullet has a rubbery finish very like that used by NARS, I have mixed feelings about this packaging if I''m honest it's much easier to hold when your hands are damp but it is very hard to keep clean.

There are 10 shade to choose from and I went for the shade Dusk

I have to say I think the swatch on the website is a little off as it definitely looked lighter on the My Pure site but this is a chance you always take when ordering online - In reality Dusk is a very wearable brown / orange toned nude - here is a little swatch

and a lip shot

Despite not being exactly what I expected I've actually got a lot of wear from, and compliments on this colour - it seems to really work with my skintone. The lipstick itself has a really smooth none gritty texture, and it feels pretty moisturising on the lips, I've certainly notice no bittiness or dryness whilst using it. It also seemed to last pretty well in the warm conditions we've had over the last few weeks. My one minor complaint is the taste, I have to say I'm used to nice vanilla tasting lipsticks, this one on the other hand doesn't taste of much, maybe just a little bit waxy. The taste is something I can live with though for what is essentially a very good natural cosmetics product containing no nasties - it's another winner from Living Nature for me  :) The Living Nature Lipstick 4g is available in 10 colours and retails at £13.49 from My Pure.

(Living Nature Lipstick 4g in Dusk Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)

Living Nature Eye Shadow Duo - A Review For My Pure

My second My Pure review this month is of a make up item. My experience with 'natural' make up brands has been a mixed on some things I've loved, some things just haven't cut the mustard. This time I decided to try a different brand so I chose something by Living Nature. Founded over 20 years ago in her native New Zealand by Suzanne Hall Living Nature rapidly became New Zealand's most popular natural toiletry and cosmetic brand. Highly respected worldwide for their purity Living Nature's products are created by using natural ingredients, they contain no synthetic ingredients and are both animal product free and they aren't tested on animals.

The product I chose was an eyeshadow duo - the compact comes boxed in a grey / black textured box

The compact itself is made of a carboard material and inside it features an inspirational message - mine in this case was "Breathe"

As with most eyeshadow compact you get two little foam applicators, they aren't bad if your in a hurry, but I personally prefer to use a proper brush - there was a choice of 5 duo reflecting all of the most propular colour groups, but the duo I chose was Beaches.

Made using natural minerals from the Earth this is a  proper neutral duo, it contains a light peach / pink based nude, and a slightly darker brown based nude. Both of the shades as you can see are really well pigmented.

They were also super velvety soft and blendable. My one complaint was that because they were so soft you did get a little bit of fallout. Here are a few examples of what the duo looks like on - the first set of pictures show how soft and a barely there these shadows could be

and the second picture shows the dominance of the darker shade - don't worry though this is still a soft wearable duo

I have to say I really liked this duo the colours were soft, pigmented and above all wearable. My only small gripes are with the fallout and maybe over the cardboard packaging which would start to look a bit tired after a while. Never the less if your looking to move into the natural make up sector you could do a lot worse than buy this duo, I now have the Ferns variant in my sights. The Living Nature Eye Shadow Duo in Beaches retails at £14.99 for 3g from My Pure. Any questions please ask x

(The Living Nature Eye Shadow Duo in Beaches Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)