Boots Botanics Purifying Face Scrub Review

A few months back the Boots Botanics range had a major design overhaul from frumpy pharmaceutical looking packaging to new clean and more colourful packaging. I was on the hunt for a new facial scrub shortly after the revamp and while before I barely glanced at the range, it caught my eye straight away this time. Looks like the redesign was a bit of a success!

Pretty packaging aside, this one really caught my eye mainly due to the thick grains it contains. I like to use face scrubs while I'm in the shower, so if they're very gentle and mild they'd just get washed away without being able to do anything to the skin.

On that front, the Purifying Face Scrub certainly doesn't disappoint. It's chunky, rough and grainy, just how I like it. Sensitive skins might find it a little too harsh, but if you apply it on wet skin like I do, it gives a very pleasant deep clean.

It smells of pretty much nothing, so is kind on sensitive noses. Its aim is to brighten and smooth and though I didn't see any dramatic changes in skin tone, it did a very good job of making my skin clean and fresh. The scrubbing motions also made for a lovely, rosy glow, which made this a great pleasure to use.

I haven't even told you the best bit yet. The 75ml tube which you can see in the pictures lasted me about three and a half months with two weekly applications... and cost £2.49! You'd be very hard pressed to find a scrub this good at this price. If you're into rough, grainy exfoliators like I am and you're watching your wallet, then this couldn't be better for you.

Lush Melting Snowman Review

What better time to crack out this little bath melt than now that the country is covered in a white blanket of snow? I feel very old saying this, but few things are better in life than coming in from a walk / run / roll around in the snow and relaxing in a hot bath with a cup of tea and a good read.

The Melting Snowman is one Christmas Lush item I've been eyeing up last year but didn't manage to get my hands on. Diving into a bath of melting marzipan goodness just sounded too divine to pass up on for another year!
When I got this out while running my bath water I did panic a little bit. What do you mean, "Massage Bar"?? (Followed by the boyf's, "What do you mean I have to massage you!? The football's on!") Turns out it was just a printing error and this is a Bath Melt after all. Panic over.

Isn't he just an adorable little guy? He doesn't smell nearly as strong as most other Lush products, so he won't make your entire cupboard smell like bubble bath if you want to store him for a little bit. His nose is an actual piece of root ginger. The little buttons are made out of cocoa butter and smell and melt just like chocolate. (Yes, it was very tempting to pop one in my mouth to try it, but I resisted)

Little mister snowman won't cause an instant explosion of fizz like say a bath ballistic, but instead it will very slowly melt away in the water. If you're impatient like me it helps to crumble him into bits and pieces to speed up the process.

I had two major expectations from this bath goodie and unfortunately it didn't live up to either of them.

1) Loads of people raved about the Melting Snowman's delicious marzipan scent, but I couldn't make that out at all. According to Lush, he contains some orange essential oil and I did get a slight whiff of that - a bit like jaffa cake, but very faint and nothing like what I expected.

2) One of the differences between bath melts and bath ballistics is that the former are supposed to be more nourishing and moisturising for the skin. Again, I didn't really get any of that at all. While it was nice to soak in it, it did absolutely nothing for my skin. The good thing about that is that it didn't leave a nasty residue on the sides of the bath. The last thing I want to do after relaxing in a hot bubble bath is scrub the tub!

I did enjoy my snowman and he really made me wish it was Christmas again, but next time these pop up again I think I'll give them a miss. It seems he doesn't quite live up to the hype.

Naked 24 Hour Coco de Mer Body Butter

Today I'm sharing a product that was bought out of sheer desperation. Body lotion or body butter is one of those beauty products I cannot imagine living without. Something just doesn't feel right if my skin is not covered in nice smelling deliciousness after a shower.
This Naked 24 Hour Body Butter was bought during a mad dash to Boots when I realised that I hadn't enough of my old one left to last me another application.

I can't say I've ever heard of this brand before and their product range on the shelves wasn't overwhelmingly big either, but something about it just appealed to me, so I thought I'd give it a go. It contains 97% natural ingredients, which is a bonus and is vegetarian- but not vegan-friendly.

This picture freaks me out a little

As it was a product bought out of desperation I even forgot to take photographs before using, so sorry about the mucky insides of the tin. The picture above actually really, really grosses me out, but it shows just how thick this body butter is - quite literally like butter. You've really got to give it some elbow grease to scoop out a bit and then to rub it in.

Due to the thick texture it does take a little longer to sink into the skin than some other butters I've tried, but is still faster than a lot of horrible runny lotions. It keeps skin very soft and moisturised and would be particularly great during these cold winter months. That 24 hour promise on the tub is probably fairly accurate for a change.

The only issue I had with this was the scent. I would describe it as a very heavy, floral infused shea butter smell and for me it was just way too overpowering. A bit like walking into a scented candle shop or one of those "alternative" stores, where the air is so thick with incense you can't see past the tip of your nose.
If you're interested in giving this a go, I definitely recommend giving it a quick sniff first. I've read plenty of reviews online from people who adore the scent, so maybe it's just me. For moisturising properties, however, this body butter gets a big fat thumbs up.

At £5.45 for a 300ml tub it is also very reasonably priced.

Sunday Catch Up

Fancy coffee beans to try in my new coffee machine // New diary, yay! // Pizza for breakfast, great start to eating more healthily this year // This ready meal made me angry // Managed to make a roast chicken, woohoo // Feeling crafty

Short one this week, as it hasn't been overly exciting. I got a new job, mind, but had to stay in most days, including New Year's Eve (boo!). Let's hope this next week is a little bit more interesting.

Lush Father Christmas Bath Ballistic Review

I never used to be a massive fan of Lush cosmetics, but the last year I've grown more and more fond of their products, particularly their bath goodies. Yes, they're a tad on the expensive side, but they smell amazing and are nice for a one off treat from time to time.

With all the seasonal ranges in particular I feel like I need to get in before they're gone or else I'm missing out. There were a few items I was eyeing up in the festive season last time around, but before I managed to get my bottom into gear they were already gone and I was gutted!

I wasn't going to get a Father Christmas, but he looked so happy in the shop he somehow magically made it into my basket anyway!

With bath ballistics I tend to just plonk the whole thing into my tub, but if you don't mind getting your hands a little messy you could easily get about two or three baths out of him.

Once in the water, he instantly starts fizzing away and dissolving, leaving behind a foamy pink trail.

Then he starts to reveal his green interior - and yes, those are big bits of red glitter you see in there.

Getting greener.

And this is the end result: Bright green bath water with white foam and lots and lots of red glitter on top.

And oh my, is it glittery. There was glitter all over my body, glitter all over the bath tub, glitter in unspeakable places! As I treated myself to this bath on Christmas Eve Eve I didn't mind being a bit of a disco ball over the holidays, but I'm not sure I'd want to turn up to work like this. The glitter stayed on for days, despite several showers!

As for the scent, I'd describe it as "eating sherbet in the forest". Very sweet and candy like, but with a little bit of woodiness to it, sort of pine tree like. The Lush website only mentions that this contains mandarin oil, so I guess that's where I'm getting the sherbet notes from.

I did enjoy my nice relaxing bath very much and emerged smelling lovely. I think due to the overload of glitter I'll give this one a miss next year, though!

Did you get yourself any seasonal Lush goodies?