Friday 8 March 2013

Product Reviews - the hits & misses of my recent splurge

I am still working on my Wedding Cake blog, I know I said that last time but it's true. It is giving me a headache trying to get it perfect for you all. So to keep myself Blogging I decided to do something different, a product review.

This weekend, having recently been paid and running out of a few essentials I decided to purchase a few items for myself, a huge purchase from ELF and a few other pieces from the interwebs. My ELF order is due any day and I will do a little review for all you bloggers who like your beauty/make-up products but thought I would share my thoughts on the other products I have purchased or acquired. By acquired I mean for given for Christmas or given because someone thought I'd like it more than them. No companies have given me these items. They were either purchased with my money, or the money of friends or family who gave them to me. These opinions are all my own. So, lets crack on!



Fudge Torture Tonic  - Recently my hair has gone really dry, limp, damaged & frizzy. After trying other products to no avail I hit the interweb looking for a product to give my hair some life, and on my travels heard some people raving about the "Fudge" range and decided to give this a go. It is quite expensive at about £7 for 300ml. But I purchased the shampoo & conditioner 500ml each for £15 on amazon, so shop around. I know on www.fragrancedirect.co.uk you can purchase 1000ml for about £12.
 I love this product!  It smells incredibly sweet which I know not everyone will like, but once your hair is dry that sweetness depletes and you are just left with a pleasant but not overpowering scent. Its a mix between a fudge and a cream sort of smell. You don't need a lot of product to do the job. After one use my hair is noticeably more hydrated and nourished. It's completely de-tangled (being frizzy before my hair was getting tangled easily) and smells delish! Not the cheapest on the market but certainly does what it says on the tin! HIT


Jelly Belly Candle in Toasted Marshmallow - I purchased this for £4 & I have to say it was a huge disappointment. This picture makes it look a lot bigger than it is. But it's quite small. You are paying for the Jelly Belly name not the quality of the product. When you open the tin you are hit by a strong sweet scent that smells exactly the same as the jelly beans but once lit the scent was pretty non existent. I'm not a big candle person but as I purchased this for the scent, it really disappointed me that I could only smell that when the candle wasn't lit. It's too expensive for just a candle that any only tea light could function as and I definitely wouldn't repurchase this item. MISS


Eden Apricot Scrub (For face & Body) - Purchased for £3.99 (£1.99 plus £2 shipping) on Amazon this was a steal! It smells of Apricot as it says on the tub and also has a slight nutty scent to it. It doesn't look like much when it arrives but I seriously adore this product! It's not too sweet or overpowering, but it's enough to leave you walking around your family offering up your arms to be felt & smelt. A small amount of product will do your entire body. The tub weighs 227g and I would say this will last you a good 10 applications if not more. I have avoided body exfoliants for some time as I find they can dry out your skin, but this product has left my skin feeling so soft, not at all dry and even my sensitive skin on my face has enjoyed the benefits of this scrub. I highly recommend you try this, definitely going on my repurchase list! HIT



Avon Clearskin Blemish Clearing Concealer - £1.49. I feel like for £1.49 I shouldn't complain but I do not like hate this product. As soon as a took the cap of this I was hit by the most revolting smell ever. It was like a mix of herbs, really old gone off herbs... in your make-up. I applied the concealer to my skin and it was dry at first but seemed to go quite creamy once blended in. However it also seemed to suck the moisture from my skin giving me dry patchy skin. This didn't improve my skin, it gave me blemishes. I love most Avon products but this was a big no no for me. BAD AVON! MISS



Batiste Original Dry Shampoo - You can purchase this in most shops, Superdrug, Tesco, Sainsburys etc. I purchased this in Savers and I think it was £1.40 ish? I am not a huge fan of any other dry shampoo. I find the products leave my hair feeling heavy, limp & leaves a powdery residue. But the Batiste range, especially the original doesn't do this. It is light, has a very light citrus smell, it gives my limp hair a bit of volume & it has become a staple part of my beauty kit. My hair now rather damaged needs a rest from being washed every day and so I use this every other day to give it the break it needs. A must have item! HIT



FCUK Whipped Bodycream - I wanted to love this product so badly but it just didn't happen. I had it as part of a gift set. A small 75ml & a larger 300ml tub. I have no idea how much this costs. It says it has "extracts of orange blossom, pomegranate, shea butter and almond oil". All I can smell is the orange blossom & vanilla. It has a very heavy perfume like smell and feels very plastic/rubber like to the touch. When eventually dried your skin does feel moisturised but I've purchased cheap £1 moisturisers that work as well as this if not better. It takes for ever to dry and even when dry my skin felt tacky and almost greasy for an hour or so after. I will use this entire product up as I don't hate it, but I certainly wouldn't go and purchase this myself. DON'T HATE IT DON'T LOVE IT


Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula - Firming Butter- £4.85 in Boots. I adore this product! First of all it smells good enough to eat, it's heavenly. It feels so creamy and once applied it dries quickly and leaves your skin so incredibly soft. I purchased this when I started my diet about 2 years ago, having now lost 5 stone and having very little excess skin I swear by this product. My stretch marks are less visible and the loose skin is nothing compared to what it would have been if I hadn't used this product. I have repurchased this several times because I love it that much! HIT



Avon Arabian Glow Bronzing Pearls (22g) - Back to Avon products and at £4.99 this product is middle of the range priced. I love this product for a few reasons. This stuff lasts FOREVER. Ok so false advertising there, but it lasts for a very long time. Not too dark but gives a good healthy glow and is easily built for something a bit darker. People have told me that if you crush them they create a better build of colour, but I haven't personally tried this ... let me know if you have & what you thought. HIT


Avon True Colour Duo - Deep Forest - £6. Can't see this particular colour combo in the AVON catalogue any more  but they do have other colours of this same range, and the other colours were on offer in the last catalogue for £4 instead of £6. I have mixed feelings about this. AVON eye-shadows are very good quality with a good colour pay off. Heres the swatch I took for you:
 The darker green has an amazing colour pay-off  it's a gorgeous olive green with a gold shimmer to it. Paired with another green or a brown it would make a gorgeous crease or outer corner colour for a smoky eye. The lighter colour looks like a paler olive colour in the pan, but once you apply it to your skin it becomes chalky and it is lost against the depth of the darker green. £6 for one good (but small) eye-shadow and one not so good eye-shadow isn't worth it in my opinion. It may just be this colour but I haven't tried the other duo's so I'm not sure. HIT & MISS



MUA (Make-Up Academy) Eyeshadow - I had this as a stocking filler not this Christmas but the Christmas before so I'm not sure if you can even still get this particular quad. But MUA eye-shadows are still available and price wise are very reasonable. Their singles are £1, trios are about £3 and their 12 colour palettes are £4. This particular palette is made up of a white/highlighter, a deep royal blue, a shimmery gun metal with a blue tint and a pale baby blue. The swatch of these four:
The pale blue is chalky and requires a lot of application to get the colour from it. The other three colours are amazing! The white provides a good highlight colour, or apply to the inner corner to brighten up the eye. The Royal blue and metallic blue are stunning. Not really every day colours but I was impressed with the quality of such a cheap brand & will be purchasing some more colours/products in the future. Definitely worth a whirl. HIT


Sure - fragrance collection - I think this was £2 in ASDA. Usually a roll on girl as I find spray deodorants too dry for my skin & they leave white marks on my clothes. However after a roll on got a bit sticky I was put off and I decided to try out a spray for a change. I had the Flowers & Apricots scent. It is a very floral smell but I didn't pick up the apricot scent at all. Pleasant though. It wasn't at all dry or powdery and left no marks or residues on my clothes. Does what it says on the tin. I was  impressed and will definitely repurchase this product. Says it provides 48hr protection, which I wasn't prepared to test to be honest, but it definitely provided all day protection, which is all I expect! HIT


Dove Go Fresh - Pomegranate & Lemon - I had this for Christmas in a dove gift sent with bath oils & moisturisers (which I haven't yet tried). I looked up the price of the deodorant for you though and apparently it is £2.89. The smell on this is the most amazing thing ever, and if they turn it in to a perfume I will be purchasing that for sure. Its sweet, but not too sweet. The lemon provides a much needed freshness to it. However it is so dry. As I sprayed this on my underarms a white dust covered my arm & my bedroom carpet! It left my skin feeling very dried out. It says on the tin it provides 48hr protection, but within 3hrs I felt like I needed to reapply some form of deodorant  I work in an office... sitting down... I don't do hard labour so I never feel like I need to "freshen up"but this product just doesn't work for me. I love the Dove smells on all of their products, but unfortunately their products suck the moisture out of my skin. It's disappointing, but I will be sticking with my sure deodorant which doesn't smell half as nice but works 10 times better. Sorry Dove! MISS

Well I hope you enjoyed my little product review. I am still working on the wedding cake blog so that should be up in the next few days and once I receive my ELF products I will do a few reviews on those for you.

Thanks for reading guys! xxx

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