When bargains are too good to be true: Sea Spa Salt Scrub

I admit that I am totally guilty of this: When browsing sales or bargain sites, I instantly sort my search by "highest discount". There's just something insanely satisfying about getting a huge discount, even if you still end up spending more than you would have on an alternative product. Well, there comes a time when you get your fingers burnt and for me it's this.

Not only was this reduced from £40 to £10 on Fragrance Direct, the description also promised that it would last for a year, as you only ever need a tiny amount of product. I was instantly sold and into my basket it went. Unfortunately, the minute I opened up the tub I knew something was wrong...

As you can see, the pot was completely sealed, but underneath all the oil had separated from the grains. Not really a problem, as I've had particularly oily scrubs do that in the past and you just need to give it a bit of a shake/stir to even things out again. But while I was expecting a sweet fruity scent of Tangerine Melon, I was instead hit by a wave of something smelling distinctly fishy... literally.

After tipping out the foul smelling oil on top, the rest of the product seemed kind of usable, but I may as well have not bothered. At least I can attest, that you really only need a tiny amount of this - the grains are sharp as nails and pretty much instantly irritated my skin (and that's coming from someone who likes their scrubs extremely, err scrubby). It was just completely unusable.

Sea Spa are no longer listed on Fragrance Direct's website and overall I can barely find anything on the brand, so I'm not sure if it even exists anymore. Truth be told, I'm not sure who to blame for this. Is it just a horrendous product or is it actually gone off stock being sold on a bargain cosmetic site? Hard to tell. The only thing I've taken away from this is that when a bargain seems too good to be true, there's probably a very good reason for that.

Review: Grace Cole Pineapple & Passion Fruit Body Butter

Grace Cole is not a brand I'd ever heard of before, but while doing some online shopping for a few showery bath bits, I noticed that a lot of their items were on offer, so decided to give them a go! This body butter sounded too delicious to pass up on - passion fruit is one of my favourite scents and flavours, ever.

What I expected was a tropical olfactory explosion that would mentally transport me onto a holiday on a Caribbean island of some sort, but it turned out to be a little weak in that department. The scent was nice, but really nothing to shout about, as it was very pared back and disappeared soon after application. Great if you don't like obtrusive scents on your skin, but I prefer something a bit more punchy - The Body Shop are still ranked right up there as my favourites when it comes to nice smelling body butters, though my latest Elizabeth Arden one smells pretty amazing, too.

When it comes to texture, however, I absolutely cannot fault this. It's thick and rich, but sinks in nicely without leaving a film on the skin. (That dip on the picture above is from me dropping the lid into the pot by the way.) It's a spot on formula for anyone who like me likes their body butters thick and silky. I just wish the smell had been a touch more holiday feeling inducing!

Review: Soap & Glory Heel Genius

For a long time I used to struggle with using foot creams. I amassed a huge stash of them, but constantly kept forgetting to actually use them. Then I had the genius idea of putting a tube in my bathroom right next to my body lotion and this way I have somehow managed to work my way through my mountain of foot creams and try out this one which I bought more than a year and a half ago. Told you it was bad.

I've seen Heel Genius on many a bloggers' favourites lists and now I can finally understand why it's such a much loved product. The texture is an almost balmy cream which instantly sinks into the skin, so there's none of that dreaded Bambi-on-ice feeling if don't put socks on straight afterwards. The cream feels cooling and refreshing on the feet, which is an absolute godsend if you've spent all day running around like I usually do.

While it's not the most skin softening foot cream I've ever tried, I could definitely tell a difference in how my heels felt after a couple of days of using it. As far as budget foot creams go, this is probably the best one I've tried so far. I feel like its place in the beauty hall of fame is well deserved!

Review: Champneys Spa Indulgence Distant Shores Body Scrub

Champneys is not a brand I have any experience with. Although they are readily available at Boots and come out with loads of great gift sets in the weeks before Christmas, it's just not a brand that I could identify with or that I found interesting in any way. But as soon as I unscrewed the lid of this body scrub and caught a little whiff, there was no way I would leave without it in my basket.

Oh my god. The scent of this is just incredible! You can definitely smell the passionfruit and the citrus in this and while it's fruity and zingy there's no sickliness and none of that toilet cleaner smell you can get from some citrus based scents.

As for the texture, the grains are about salt sized, offering good mechanical exfoliation without irritating the skin. To be fair I do find it to be a little runny, so you've got to work quick to stop the product from just dripping off the skin and I wouldn't mind if it was a little more moisturising either. It performs well, but it's certainly not the best body scrub I've ever used. The scent, however, made it an absolute pleasure to use and turned my morning shower into a true indulgence.

Review: Sienna X Polishing Body Scrub

As someone who is still completely terrified by fake tan (I'd rather embrace my pasty white paleness), Sienna X is not a brand I had anything to do with so far. But from what I've gathered there seems to be one key ingredient in getting fake tan on evenly and that is thoroughly exfoliated skin. So, as a result, a fake tan brand should surely know a thing or two about a good scrub, right?

Something I always look for in a body scrub is fine granules and a dense texture, so that the scrub doesn't just slide straight off your skin and down your drain. Thankfully, this Polishing Body Scrub ticks both of those boxes. It has a texture similar to sand, but suspended in a thick, creamy base. The scent is light and refreshing thanks to the lemongrass and ginger, but once you've washed the scrub off, the scent no longer lingers on the skin.

As it's a scrub aimed at preparing skin for self tan, there is no oily residue, which I know some people hate anyway. I prefer my scrubs to be more on the oily side to leave my skin nicely moisturised, but even if you don't fake tan this is still a good one to use on warm days when you don't want to be covered in anything sticky when you step out of the shower.

Review: Nair Brazilian Spa Clay

Let's talk hair removal, ladies. While it might not be the most glamorous subject, it's still a firm part of most of our beauty routines, so we may as well get it all out in the open!
When it comes to getting rid of pesky body hairs I usually reach straight for the razor. Epilators seem like a bit of a faff and when I tried waxing at home the result was usually sticky and patchy. I had a few run ins with hair removal creams when I was younger, but I found them to be too much of a faff and the smell to be unbearable.

Creams do have the advantage, however, of keeping your legs stubble free for up to a week, while I can only get away with not shaving for two days, maybe three or four at a push. Formulas have changed since I first used a tube of Veet in my parents' bathroom aged 13, so I decided it was time to give them another chance.

What I liked about this Nair cream in particular is that you can leave it to sink in in the shower, so no standing around naked with legs covered in cream for ages! The texture is nice and thick - you can definitely see where they were going with the clay - but it doesn't clog the drain or leave a mess in the shower. The smell is rather inoffensive, as well. Yes, there's a hint of chemistry lab about it, but it's nowhere near as bad as what I remember. The added spatula helps to coat the skin evenly so that you don't miss a spot, though I did find it a bit scratchy when it came to removing the cream at the end.

So far, so good. When it came to results, however, my enthusiasm waned. Even after leaving it on for the maximum time allowed, it still didn't manage to remove all hairs. The result was exceptionally patchy and I can't really figure out why - I'm not even that hairy (sorry for the mental image there). In the end, while it did leave me stubble free for about a week and a half, the uneven result meant that I had to go over some bits with a razor anyway. Effectively, the whole thing felt like a big fat waste of time.
On the upside, it didn't irritate my skin one bit and actually left it feeling rather soft, which is impressive for a hair removal cream. The tube also lasted for about three applications all over - I'm talking ankles to mid-thighs, so it's not the worst value for money. But I think I'll still stick to razors for now - or maybe next time I want smooth legs for more than a few days I'll just get over myself and let a professional wax the whole lot off.

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay retails at £6.99 for 200ml.

Review: Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream

I do love me a nice thick body butter. Even though this is called a "Body Buttercream", it's actually a bit lighter than some of your standard lotions - certainly nowhere near as thick as buttercream frosting!

The thing that drew me towards this product is the amazing, amazing smell. It's fruity, fresh and zingy and makes your skin smell a bit like a mojito. If you're a fan of the Sugar Crush scrub they do, chances are you'll love this.

As for moisturising properties it does the job very well for my dry skin, though it might get a little sticky on those who don't suffer from dry patches.

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream retails at £10.50. If you want to prolong the scent even longer, there's also a matching Body Wash at £6.50 a pop.

Review: Palmer's Cocoa Body Scrub

Even though loads of people love the Palmer's Cocoa body butters it's not a product I ever felt completely convinced by. Oddly enough, even though I love chocolate, I'm also not a huge fan of cocoa smell in beauty products. But this little gem is a happy exception and I've been loving using this up until the very last drop.

To start with, the texture of this body scrub is completely different to any other I've ever used. Imagine a rich, thick butter-like cream, not entirely dissimilar to a balm with various sizes of grains suspended within. I've never had this with any other body scrubs, but this one actually feels moisturising to use. But don't think that the texture somehow detracts from its scrubiness (technical term here).

The grains are perfectly sized to be efficient, but not leave skin red and raw. It also doesn't just slide straight off your skin and down the plug hole like so many other body scrubs, but is sticky enough to give you plenty of time to rub it into the skin properly.

As for the scent it is absolutely divine. It manages to be chocolatey and delicious, but without in any way being sickly sweet. It doesn't last on the skin, but is an absolute pleasure to use. Like I mentioned above I've used up every single drop of this and wouldn't hesitate to repurchase it in a heart beat. I might even go as far as saying that this is possibly the best body scrub I've ever used!

Palmer's Cocoa Body Scrub retails at £4.99 a tub.