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!

A few bits from Direct Cosmetics

Occasionally I hear about websites that offer beauty bargains and to be honest I'm always rather weary about them. When something seems to good to be true, well, it usually is. Snapping up a great bargain only to open the container and find that it's separated and developed a distinctive fishy smell? Yeah, been there, done that. Then there's always the fear of ending up with a fake product containing potentially harmful ingredients (I'm looking at you, ebay!).

So when Direct Cosmetics contacted me about reviewing a few bits and bobs from their site I was a tad hesitant. But, as it turned out, all items were genuine, original products - all safely packaged and nothing was past its expiry date, hooray! I've since found myself browsing the site looking for some bargains to be had. There's nothing more satisfying than opening a big box of beauty goodies that have cost you a fraction of their sales price. (Apart from dipping into a brand new jar of Nutella. Nothing beats that.)  Here's a little run down with first impressions of the items I got.

Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Honey Drops Body Cream

This is one of the best sellers and honestly, I'm not even surprised - it's absolutely amazing. The texture is absolutely perfect: thick, creamy, hydrating but not sticky at all. The little beads take some getting used to at first, but they seem to pop on the skin as soon as you start rubbing the cream into the skin and then disappear entirely. I think my favourite bit, however, is the scent. The green tea scent is refreshing and relaxing at the same time and lingers on the skin for hours.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

I can never be too long with this stuff. It's well and truly earned its place in the beauty hall of fame for sorting out pretty much any bad skin issue. Dry, cracked skin? Check. Chapped lips? Check. Light burns, scrapes, nothing is too much for this stuff. Even my boyfriend agrees that it's magical and regularly steals it from my bedside table. I had a little sore patch of skin on my nose where my glasses were rubbing and within a few applications it had healed entirely. I used to really dislike the scent but I've gotten accustomed to it and these days I quite like it.

L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagene Mascara

This mascara is surprisingly wet for a waterproof formula, but once it's set on the lashes it lasts through the day. It applies a bit clumpy at first, but brushes out eventually. I'm not a huge fan of the massive brush, as it's way too bulky to get into the inner corners and bottom lashes, so I have to use a different mascara for those (I'm using Maybelline Great Lash). It's better suited to those looking for a lot of volume rather than length and definition.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in "Lovesick" (left) and "Cherish" (right)

I'm a big fan of lip crayons and these are creamy and pigmented. The best thing about these, however, is their longevity. These stay put for hours, last through drinking without a scratch and will even survive small meals. I can't say I'm a fan of the scent, though. Apparently it's meant to be minty, but it kind of reminds me of horseradish - not something I'd want to put on my lips. Funky smell aside, I'm really happy with both of these colours. They add just the right amount of colour to pop but not wash me out entirely.

Review: V05 Beyond Blonde Shampoo

This isn't something I thought I'd ever think, never mind write or say out loud, but I feel like I owe this shampoo an apology. I have been dragging out this review for absolute ages, scrolling past the images and thinking, "What the hell are you going to say? It's just shampoo....". But then I started thinking about it. And thought about it some more. And the more I thought, the more I realised, that this is one of the best drugstore shampoos I have used in a long time. So, here we go, V05: I'm sorry for not appreciating you enough.

See, this is a shampoo that works quietly. On the outside it seems just like any cheap and cheerful shampoo: it's got that typical fruity drugstore scent (nothing wrong with that, but it's not exactly luxurious), extremely girly packaging and a very serious lather that means business (but also tons of SLS, so not one if you're avoiding that ingredient!). I wouldn't say it does any of that brightening or colour correcting stuff specifically for blonde hair, so again, if that's something you're after, you need to look elsewhere.

I use this every other wash and usually apply something like a hair mask or deep conditioner afterwards and while I've had various results with the latter, it's the shampoo that's always been consistent. It gets my hair really, really clean, so that it can perfectly absorb whatever's coming afterwards, but even if I just pop on any regular old conditioner, my hair is left feeling soft and smooth and in no way dry or frizzy.

I think haircare is probably the one area where investing in luxury products will get you luxury results (in my experience, at least), but if you don't have upwards of £50 to spend on shampoo and conditioner every month, you still don't have to let your hair suffer. For the price, this works an absolute treat and I couldn't ask for anything else. I bought this huge 500ml bottle about six months ago and I'm only just beginning to scrape the bottom, so it lasts for ages as well! (Though bear in mind that I've only been using it every other wash, as mentioned above)

Review: Garnier Clean & Fresh Eye Make-up Remover

When it comes to make-up remover, I like to keep things cheap and cheerful. I get through so much of that stuff it would soon become a very expensive habit and I've found that most drugstore removers work just as well as their high end counterparts, as long as you know where to look.

While my eyes aren't super sensitive, they do get dry from wearing contact lenses a lot of the time, so the main thing for me is that I don't want my beauty products to further aggravate them and cause any stinging. I'm also not a fan of oil based removers that leave a greasy film on my lids and a weird coating on my eyeballs.... urgh, no thanks. Thankfully, this little number from Garnier fits the bill perfectly.

It really does feel light and refreshing on the skin and there is no stinging or burning in my eyes whatsoever. When it comes to removing make-up it performs well as long as you're not wearing copious amounts of eye make-up. After a night out for example I would have to go through several cotton pads to fully get rid of my panda eyes.

I guess when it comes to efficiency, these types of make-up remover are never going to be as good as micellars (and if you're in the market for one, Garnier actually do a cracking one that is pretty much an exact dupe for Bioderma!), but if for any reason you're not a fan of a micellar water and don't wear huge amounts of eye make-up, then this is a pretty good option that certainly won't break the bank.

Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Whatever did I do before the days of quick dry top coat? Oh yeah, I basically never painted my nails. That's what I did. This is the second part of my adventure in quick-dry-land, with the first part being a bottle of the OPI Rapidry (review here). I know, I know, I still somehow haven't purchased a bottle of the legendary Seche Vite, but when I opened my Rapidry one day to find that it had turned into a hard, sticky lump, this was the only thing I could get my hands on in my local Boots.

And it certainly wasn't too shabby a purchase! As far as being quick drying goes, this top coat definitely does the job. Give it ten minutes tops and my nail polish has gone rock solid, so I no longer have to sit on the sofa in T-Rex pose. Unlike my previous purchase, it also doesn't drag the polish underneath - as long as the surface is kinda dry, you're good to go. After all, having to wait for your nail polish to completely dry before applying a quick dry top coat kinda defeats the purpose.

As for the top coat preventing chips I do admit that I've seen some improvements compared to not wearing any top coat at all, though they're not overly breathtaking. All it takes is still one slightly longer shower and my polish will have dents and flakes coming off. Thankfully, however, (unlike the OPI polish), it doesn't do that horrible thing where a top coat clings to your nail polish and everything comes off in just one huge, massive flake.

As far as the brush goes, I wouldn't mind it being a little shorter and wider for easier application, but that's just me being fussy over a minor detail.

I think as far as adventures in quick dry land go, this is definitely an improvement and has led to a lot more nail polish application than previously. I'd be happy to recommend this to anyone who likes to paint their nails and doesn't enjoy faffing about while it's drying (so, erm, everyone who likes to paint their nails then). Perhaps one day I will get my hands on some Seche Vite and then I'll be able to tell you how these two stack up against each other, but until then I'm happy with my bottle of Insta-Dri!