"March Comes In Like A Lion, And Goes Out Like A Lamb"
Well the last 7 days officially prove at least to me, that those old sayings like this are utter tosh. The month ended pretty much as it started with yet more snow, but in my case in particular it didn't got out like a lamb, more like a whirling dervish!
If you follow me on any of my other social media channels you'll know that March ended, and April started in the worst possible way, with an emergency ambulance, an A&E trip, and a short hospital stay for Mummy Lou. Certainly not the Easter that I had planned but thankfully she's home and whilst she has a few more hurdles to overcome she's feeling much better and I'm gradually coming down from a stressed and anxiety ridden high.
March sucked big style for a number of reasons, and to be honest April hasn't started off much better but as I keep saying, and I have to keep believing things can only get better, and they will get better! You have to keep believing - positivity, positivity, rah, rah, rah!
So over the last few weeks I've been sleeping, I've been eating lots of chocolate, indulging in lots of self care, and general life sorting, and even though I've been a little bit quiet online I've still been doing lots of blog and You Tube prep so as long as the creeks don't rise I should be a little bit more productive online in the weeks and months to come.
The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml
Beautifully Scrumptious Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Tea Tree And Peppermint - 1 x Pair Socks
Baija Paris Gommage Festin Royal Body Scrub - Caramelised Honey - 50g
Soap & Glory Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream - 125ml
AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo -250ml
Scrub Love Hydrating Coconut Oil Body Scrub - Coconut Mango - 50g
Total - 6 Items
So starting in a productive and positive vein I thought I get my first post up of the month and share with you my March beauty empties. Considering it was such a topsy turvy month I think I did pretty well to finish another 6 items. I'm there or thereabouts on a few make up items, but I didn't manage to push any over the line in March. Alas no skincare either but lots of body and hair care and I managed to finish a couple of interesting items so I'm still pretty pleased with March's total.
1. The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Shower Gel - 250ml
Now normally by the time it hits February or March I relegate my festive toiletries to the back of the cupboard and keep them safe until the festive season comes around again. this year though I've decided to do things a little bit differently. One of my worst beauty failings is filling up the cupboards, drawers and shelves with half finished bottles and jars, so instead of switching my beauty products up to suit the change of seasons, this year I'm planning on using up everything that's currently in my shower, including a ton of festive scented products before I move on to something new.
This lovely shower gel is one of The Body Shop's festive limited editions from quite a few years ago now. Although it was marketed as a festive fragrance I think this warming and comforting scent is definitely something that you could use all year round especially if sweet scents are your thing. It has a sweet but not overtly sickly, vanilla based scent intermingled with various warming spices including cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. It's not too strong and it's not too sickly it's just comforting, it you liked the smell of Starbucks Vanilla Spice / Winter White Hot Chocolate for a year or so ago then you'll like this. Alas like so many of my favourite festive scents from The Body Shop this one hasn't been seen for some time but fingers crossed they bring something similar back soon, in the meantime, I still have a few of their Vanilla Brulee products left in my stash, which is different but just as yummy x
2. Beautifully Scrumptious Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Tea Tree And Peppermint - 1 x Pair Socks
There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to feet, you either think that they are the greatest thing on this planet, or they gross you out. I definitely fall into the latter category I can deal with my own but touching other peoples quite frankly makes me feel a little unwell - in fact touching other peoples skin generally makes me feel a little queasy but hey hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.
Feet are not the most pleasant of things but we really do need to take care of them - they work incredibly hard and lets be honest we don't always treat them that well. So if you have feet do yourself, and the world a favour and take care of them! Keep them clean, keep them fresh and keep them moisturised. Thanks to medication and a thyroid condition my feet get very dry and as a result I'm always looking for ways to keep the dry skin at bay, and to keep them soft and hydrated.
I have a bit of a thing about foot creams and pedicure products, and over the last few years I've developed a major love in with pedi peel type socks, you know the ones, pop them on and wait for your feet to shed like a snake. As gross and as fascinating as they are in equal measure they are amazing for getting rid of that dry skin with very little effort. Whilst these socks look similar though they actually have a completely different function
Unlike those plastic and infused paper type socks that make your feet peel, these ones from the fabulously named Beautifully Scrumptious are all about the moisture. These disposable socks are infused with a fresh smelling moisture cream containing tea tree, lavender, and peppermint. Pop them onto clean, dry feet and relax for around 15 minutes, slip them off, rub the excess lotion into your feet, and you're left with feet that feel cool, refreshed and silky soft. I was really surprised at just how much better my feet both looked and felt after just 15 minutes, my feet felt a lot smoother, and the increase in hydration was really evident in the appearance of my feel and in particular in my horrible, dry and cracked heels.
These socks are designed for just a single use but after one 15 minute treatment they still felt pretty wet, so I actually managed to get another treatment out of them the next day. I'm so, so impressed with the effectiveness of these socks especially since they were only £1 in Poundland. So if you want both better looking, and feeling feet in a matter of minutes then these socks are definitely worth picking up, and I'll definitely be adding a couple of more pairs to my basket next time I'm in store.
3. Baija Paris Gommage Festin Royal Body Scrub - Caramelised Honey - 50g
Although one of my things are pedicure type products one of my real obsessions is body scrub, something so simple, yet so often brands get it so wrong. Well not in this case, so stand up Baija Paris, and accept the praise that is heading your way.
This was a product that I received in my December Birchbox (watch my unboxing video here) and believe me it was a winner. Packaged in a gorgeous but slightly dangerous when you've get wet hands, glass jar, this was a lovely, very gritty and grainy sugar based body scrub. It had a good oil content so as well as being very exfoliating it was also very moisturising. I'm not a fan of honey scents so I was a bit sceptical about this one at first but it actually had an incredible, if slightly sickly sweet toffee, fudge inspired scent.
This brand isn't that widely available in the UK unfortunately but I really enjoyed using this scrub on all levels and if I could get my hands on it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again
4. Soap & Glory Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream - 125ml
Ah more feet and as were hopefully heading towards better weather and sandal season, it's more important than ever to get those feet in tip top condition. This is without a doubt one of my favourite ever foot creams! Containing fruit acids, to tackle that dead skin, and lots of moisturising ingredients, the texture is just right, it isn't too thick and it's nice and easy to rub in. I'm also a huge fan of the scent: whilst minty, tea tree and lavender scents definitely have their place (especially if your feet or a bit whiffy!) I love the fresh, fruity, floral, okay the impossible to describe scent of this one. I usually slather it all over my feel after a shower, pop on a pair of socks and let it do it's thing. My feet are pretty dry and whilst this Soap & Glory cream isn't a miracle cure, like most foot creams it definitely makes a difference when you use it consistently.
5. AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo -250ml
If you follow me on Instagram then you'll already have heard me raving about this shampoo and the matching conditioner. First up it's super affordable, the RRP for this particular shampoo in the 250ml size is £3, but as you know AVON have regular offers on all of their products so shop carefully and you could probably pick up both a shampoo and conditioner for less than a fiver (my last bottle was only £1.50!). Secondly and perhaps more importantly this is a decent shampoo! It contains ingredients that you would expect in higher end shampoos including wheat proteins, keratin, aginine, amino acids, and bamboo extracts. Designed to help strengthen the hair from root to tip, it has a lovely fresh, floral scent, it foams nicely (it does contain SLS though) and it feels nice on the hair, and leaves it feeling really clean and conditioned. Although it's marketed as an anti-hair fall shampoo, you have to be realistic about your expectations and yes I probably am still losing more hairs than the average person but thanks to the combination of this shampoo and the corresponding conditioner (and a few other products from other brands), my hair is in pretty good condition at the moment, so for the price I'm stick with it. I've already repurchased both the shampoo and conditioner and I can see myself buying it again and again.
6. Scrub Love Hydrating Coconut Oil Body Scrub - Coconut Mango - 50g
Now this is the second product that I've tried from Scrub Love and I have to say I liked this one way more than I liked the last one (read my thoughts
here). Although that one also contained coconut it also contained coffee which really added to the mess and my somewhat negative review.
This Coconut Mango scrub which came in the June 2017 Birchbox (see my unboxing
here), contained lots and lots of coconut from the shell, to the oil, and the milk, and it also contained a load of moisturising and good for you ingredients including kaolin, sugar, glycerine, grapeseed oil, and mango seed butter, and whilst it was still a tad bitty and messy thanks to all of the oils and butters it was much easier to clump together and massage into the skin.
It had a nice and scrubby texture, and the scent was amazing, subtle coconut and lots of fruity, and juicy mango - a lovely scent that transported you to the tropics even in snowy Co Durham. It was nice and scrubby and I loved the scent but I still prefer out and out sugar or salt scrubs so I probably wouldn't repurchase this one but I would happily use it up if I acquired another one in the future.
So they were my March beauty empties x As per usual I'll be trying to do better this month, and I'm really going to try and finish at least one make up item if I can x If you have any questions on any of the products that I've mentioned then please leave me a comment and let me know x
