A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

If you’re already dreading the office’s annual Secret Santa, something that’s as certain a drudgery as death and taxes, fear no more.  I have a lovely sweet treat that won’t break the bank on the blog today.

I don’t know about you, but for me… bathing takes on an added importance in the winter.  When all is said and done, I’m a morning shower girl but when the temperature plummets, I like nothing more than to end the day by sinking into a hot bath in the name of relaxation.

To aid this little indulgence, Pastisserie de Bain hand-make these beautiful bath tartlettes that fizz with fragrance and release moisturising butters into your bath water.  A blend of cocoa and shea butter swirl together, softening dry skin and leaving your body lightly fragranced with a range of delicious scents.

The packaging is darling, and in spite of my LUSH addiction, I have to admit that if you’re going down the gift-route… these completely trump those little black paper bags in the presentation stakes.  Their award-winning packaging is eyecatching, fun, and frankly… makes the gift look far more expensive than it was.

Patisserie de Bain offer a wide variety of “flavours” – these ones are called “All the Fun of the Fair” and feature scents that include toffee apple and candy floss.  Other scents in the range include: sweet cherry pie, lemon meringue, cloves and cinnamon, rose and violet.

Available online from www.graftonsbeauty.co.uk and in Rose & Co. stockists nationwide, priced at £7.00

* press sample

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When Joe was born, I received a couple of products from Childs Farm – a brand that specialises in toiletries for little ones. I wouldn’t usually blog about children’s products, I mean… I’m not entirely sure how many of you would appreciate a foray into mummy-blogging, I actually started Lipglossiping to get *away* from being a Mummy for five-minutes!  Having said that, and the reason that I’m even talking to you about this range is because, well… I’ve stolen something from the range for myself.

The first thing you’ll notice about Childs Farm products is the delightful packaging, full of playfulness and colour that gives a hint to what awaits you inside.  The labels depict real animals and ponies that actually live on Childs Farm,  the Hampshire home of the brand’s owner, Joanna.

The products have been formulated to be as natural as possible and are free from parabens, SLS, mineral oils, and artificial colours rendering them suitable from newborn-age upwards.  The scents are blended beautifully and elaborate on the brand’s styling with funky fusions: the strawberry mint shampoo is summer in a bottle.  And this is partially why I’ve stolen it for myself.

The other reason is that I’m now 3-months post-partum and that lovely pregnancy mane that took 9 months to thicken is shedding in tear-inducing handfuls.  Everytime I change a nappy, wipe a stinky fist, or unload the washing machine… I’m met with strands of my hair.  They get everywhere!  It’s with this in mind that I’ve been reaching for this gentler shampoo… and also the reason why, when I noticed the brand was currently on offer in Boots, I popped in to restock and grab the detangler spray!

Now, where’s that candy?  I feel like stealing something else from my babies…

Childs Farm products are currently on 3for2 and are available to purchase instore and online at boots.com, priced from £3.99 each.

* press sample

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The only thing that doesn’t completely suck about shaving your legs is taking the opportunity to steal your partner’s/dad’s/brother’s shaving foam out of the bathroom cabinet.  The burst of turbo-charged gel that turns into a rich, creamy lather as you work the product over your skin… like voodoo before your very eyes.  Unfortunately, the novelty of it wears thin pretty quickly, especially when you realise that most men’s shaving products are scented like pine-fresh loo cleaner *quack quack*.

Well, stink no more and dispense of the razors because you can get all the creamy, luxurious lather without any of the fuss AND get a clean body to boot!

Imperial Leather Foamburst is a body wash unlike most.  A canned gel that transforms into a rich lather, developing extra creaminess as you work it over your skin, emulsifying with the water as you go.

Choosing your favourite fragrance is as simple as jumping in the shower.

Depending on whether you like your bathing experience to enliven your senses with a blast of citrus, or relax your emotions with a comforting cocoon of vanilla… you’ll find your perfect match from the total of seven NEW fragrances.  Each of these new fragrances have even been brought to life via the medium of video and seven brilliantly corny Imperial Leather Foamburst Genies!

You can choose between: Spicy Ginger and Orange, Sweet Vanilla and Cherry Blossom, Bracing Bergamot and Sea Minerals, Uplifting Lime and Grapefruit, Rebalancing Green Tea and Jasmine, Bewitching Blackberry and Wild Fig, or Moisturising Honey and Almond Milk.

My personal morning shower preferences always lean toward the citrus, which tempted me in the direction of Spicy Ginger and Orange, promising a great combination of freshness and warmth.

I couldn’t resist but check out the matching genie to my shower pick… what a bonafide mentalist he is!  (INTENSE).

The new Imperial Leather Foamburst Luxurious Body Wash range is priced from £2.99, with each can promising a value-for-money 40 washes.  You can find the new fragrances on shelves at your local supermarket.

* sponsored post

I bet there are generations reading this post right now who grew up without ever using an old-fashioned bar of soap as part of their daily cleansing routine.  I think I just missed the moment that soap became thoroughly unfashionable because throughout my 80s childhood, we never did a monthly shop without picking up a couple of bars.  Wrights for my Mum who adored the smell, Pears for us kids because we all loved the fact that it was see-through (simple things, simple minds…), and Imperial Leather for my Dad, because, after all… he is a man, man!

Soap was kind of a big thing in our household and looking back, I can’t remember when this changed.  But change it did, nowadays… the only time soap gets bought is when I spot something on the shelves at TKMaxx that smells (or looks) so damn good, I just can’t leave it behind.  I never purchase bars of soap as a bathroom necessity, simply because it’s not as convenient as its liquid counterparts.

The decline of mass-market purchasing of soap bars isn’t without its benefits though.  Moving into more of a niche market means that manufacturers have been able to really concentrate on turning the humble soap into an indulgence rather than a necessity and nowhere is this more apparent than with a brand like Crabtree & Evelyn.

Now, the truth is… there’s just not an awful lot I can say about soap.  Even soap that’s as beautiful as this Crabtree & Evelyn Heritage Vetiver & Juniper* one.  It smells amazing, it lathers, and it cleanses.  I don’t use it on my face… my skin would never forgive me, but I do have fun chasing it around the shower.  But most of all, you’d pick this up because of its scent, “Incroyable!” as the French would say.

I don’t mind admitting that I called in a sample of this purely because I adore masculine Vetiver and/or Juniper smells… I wanted that gorgeous clean MAN smell near my nose, and I wasn’t disappointed.  It’s warm and woodsy, outdoorsy and a little bracing… Mr. L has taken to shaving with it, and I’ve taken to sniffing him regularly.  Soap just got interesting again.

The British brand do an entire range of Heritage Soaps including: Avocado & Olive Oil, Black Sea Mud & Seaweed (tempted), Milk & Honey, Crabapple & Mulberry, and Verbena & Lavender, priced from £6.00.  Your nose should check them out as a matter of urgency.

This one, the Crabtree & Evelyn Heritage Vetiver & Juniper Milled Soap is priced at £7.00, and is available instore and online at crabtree-evelyn.co.uk.  It’s also currently online a little cheaper, at escentual.com.

Do you appreciate a good bar of soap?  Do you ever buy it?

* press sample

** I can’t stop singing “soap, perfect soap, is the gift of Christ our Lord” – huge kudos if you remember changing the lyrics during assembly too!

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After approximately 4hrs of sleep last night, I’m not feeling particularly blissful about my bump today.  Chronic heartburn that jumps so high it singes my ears and a hyperactive breech baby, keen to explore its Irish roots with a bit o’ dancing on my cervix ensures that the only bliss I’m likely to find in my expanding bump for now is my new-found ability to rest a cup of tea on it.

Having said that, there’s something to be said for my current condition.  Mostly based around the opportunities to stuff my face with gleeful abandon and use all manner of lotions and potions in the name of baby-bump pampering.

Of course, there are many companies out there only to happy to help us ladies nurture our bumps in the way in which our beauty-loving souls desire.  One of these brands, better-known for their health and spa resorts are Champneys.  Their Blissful Bump* range features a host of preggo-belly indulging goodies that make great gifts for Mum’s to be.

The brand sent me a few bits from the range to have a look at, and I’ve welcomed the bonafide opportunity to tell the rest of my family to bugger off away from my shower treats.  Did I tell you that my 4yr old has genuinely stolen my NEOM tranquility bath foam and even offered up her Matey bubble bath like it’s a legitimate replacement?!  I’ve created a monster.

Anyway, back to the range from Champneys!

My favourite item in the range is the Ginger Inspired Room Spray… which wasn’t the most obvious choice but any kind of obnoxious smells are like Kryptonite to my preggo-nose and I’m ridiculously sensitive to the fact that our car smells a bit like a turnip.  Of course, I’m the only one who can actually detect this aroma (unless my husband is messing with my mind and does actually have a turnip concealed in the glove compartment).

I usually swear by a tin of California Scents Coronado Cherry to make the car smell amaze but my sensitive nose has gone into overdrive and the Champney’s Ginger Inspired Room Spray is the only scent room/car fragrancer that I can handle.  I’m sure Champneys actually intended far more sophisticated uses for their product in the boudoir… but disguising turnips in my Citroen Picasso will have to do for now.

My second-favourite item in the range is the Blissful Bump Shower Cream which delivers a rich, creamy lather and delicious scent.  It’s a skin-softening wonder and leaves me feeling lush and pampered.  At £6.00, it also happens to be the cheapest item in the range.  Who says I’m high-maintenance?

The spa brand also offer a couple of bump-moisturising products in the form of a stretch-mark oil and a body butter.  If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ll know how terrible I am at bothering with body-moisturising but what you might not know about me is that I have a solid belief that nothing will prevent stretch-marks, nothing that can be applied and rubbed in anyway.  In my opinion, you’re either genetically destined to get ’em, or you ain’t.

That’s not to say that moisturising your bump like a loon is a thankless task, but I just don’t believe that it will achieve anything other than soft skin.  So knock yourself out… but don’t bother telling me that religious use of Bio Oil on your bump saved you from a road-map of the Swiss Alps across your belly ‘cos I just won’t believe you!

The entire body range has been formulated to be free from parabens, paraffin oils, and SLES, focusing on the importance of conditioning and soothing the skin.  The scents used are beautiful, the packaging… divine.  The prices are high-street friendly and make the perfect gift for family and friend’s who are expecting.

The Champneys Blissful Bump Range is available to buy instore and online at boots.com, prices start from £6.00

* press sample

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It’s easy to mistakenly believe that the only worthwhile judgements in life are those that are deliberated over with great consideration and care, but I believe there’s something to be said for an impulsive reaction.  Snap judgements and the choices we make from them are a skill that takes us years to hone and develop, we should put a lot more trust and value in those instant decisions because you know what?  Our guts often know what’s right for us before our brains have even had time to digest the information.

Take these new Perfumed Shea Butter Body Cream releases from L’Occitane…

I bet that subconsciously, you’d already know which tin would tempt you into a cheeky sniff before you’ve read the “flavour names” below.

But what I’d love to know is whether your quick-thinking proved to be correct.  For me, I’d instinctively reach into the lush green tin, expecting a scent of freshness and a mouth-watering tang.  Thankfully, I’d be right, the brand have got the styling spot on… it’s a trigger, and it’s just aswell they’re on the ball because psychologically, there’s nothing worse than when an obvious sight trigger lets you down!

The new L’Occitane Perfumed Shea Butter Body Creams launch on the 15th February, priced at £18 each.  Which one will your nose be led to?

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Had I not spent the day trying to find a quiet little hole to climb into, I would have blogged this within seconds of it landing in my inbox this afternoon.

But as things stood, what with Leila trying to cough up her knee-caps all night, I didn’t get much sleep.  Excuse my tardiness, infact I should be in bed now, catching up on my beauty sleep… but I couldn’t bring myself to leave this unblogged any longer… because ladies, Crabtree & Evelyn are presenting us with an offer that will send us scrabbling for an unloved tube or pot of hand-cream!  On your marks, get set…

…GO!

It’s only a mother-funking Hand Cream Amnesty!  Who doesn’t love a beauty amnesty?  Don’t know what one is?  Let me give you a little insight…

Basically, take any old hand cream (not a C&E one, that would be stoopid!) into your nearest Crabtree & Evelyn store before the 12th March and – while stocks last – a kindly sales assistant will swap your surrendered hand cream for a free Crabtree & Evelyn 25g Hand Therapy worth £5.00!  That’s all there is to it but do check out the T&C in the image above just incase.

Do you have any half-empty hand-creams that you’re willing to part with?  I know I do!

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I have a soft spot for limited edition beauty “collections”, especially when they contain premium bodycare products that, to be honest, I’m too tight to spend full RRP prices on.  You see, I don’t mind splashing the cash on my face or my makeup collection but I’m a terrible tightwad when it comes to body products.  I’m just not dedicated enough to spend £££ on body lotions and bath elixirs, I usually only remember that I’ve forgotten to moisturise my legs when I feel my winter-ravaged shins scratching against my tights halfway through the day.

Elemis have released a Limited Edition Top-to-Toe Beauty Skincare Collection which features a full £115.80-worth of products for £55.00, that’s a £60 saving on the retail prices!

There’s also none of your meagre 5ml or 15ml sample-sizes, each product included in the collection – even if “sample” sized – delivers a minimum of 30ml, which is as much as many full-size products on the market, ensuring that you’ll get to give each item a proper trial.

One of my favourite things about this new collection is the simplicity of the items included.  Elemis haven’t included any of their more “niche” products in this, there’s no cellulite-reducing products… no foot creams, no temple balms.  Basically, there’s nothing in it that I wouldn’t use on a regular basis in my normal routine, ensuring that I’d get my money’s worth on every item.

Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, even Birthdays… this is one of those beauty collections that simply won’t disappoint, each and every item an Elemis classic, a hero-product.

The Elemis Top-to-Toe Beauty Skincare Collection is available to buy on counter and online now from timetospa.co.uk and johnlewis.com, priced at £55.00

* press sample

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It’s something that most of us take for granted.  ‘Aving a wash, getting a scrub, jumping in the bath!  Some of us do it every other day, most of us scrub up daily, and the super-fastidious among us do it even more often!  Some forget to scrub behind their ears and others don’t dry between their toes or in their belly-buttons properly!

What you think you don’t know about getting clean can be written on the back of a stamp, right?  Wrong.

Here’s ten things that I bet you didn’t know about bathing, washing, and general cleanliness!

1. Back in 2009 the world’s oldest woman passed away after slipping in her bath.  She was 130 and had just had the new bathroom installed to celebrate her old age!  Where’s Alanis Morisette when you need her?

2. The romans didn’t use soap, instead they rubbed olive oil onto their skin before scraping it off (along with any dirt) using a special scraper.  Sort of like a slave-operated windscreen wiper.

3. Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand is the largest hot spring in the world, covering an area of 38000 square metres with an average depth of 6 metres.  The hottest areas of the lake reach boiling point!

4. Think baths are less water-efficient than showers?  Not nowadays!  An average bath uses 80 litres of water whilst an eight-minute power shower uses around 136 litres.  If you’re really serious about saving water, you could always share!

5. In medieval Europe, the Church thought of bathing as an “excessive” indulgence and believed that such acts led to immorality, disease, and promiscuity!  In fact, so widespread were the fears of bathing contributing to ill-health that the daily bath (or shower) has only become a common occurrence during the past half century.  I’ll bet Sunday mass used to stink!

6. The average temperature of bath water in the UK is between 38c to 40c – that’s just a couple of degrees above the average body temperature.

7. Every citizen of Kentucky, U.S.A is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.  Personally, I think we should introduce this globally.  Especially in London, in the Summer.  All tube stations should install stink-o-sensors as standard.

8. A lady called Charlotte Lee holds the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Rubber Duck collection at 1439 different ducks!

9. The Japanese take the business of cleanliness and bathing very seriously.  They even have an amusement park dedicated to the ritual with over 25 water attractions!  Visitors can choose between bathing in coffee, red wine, green tea, or even Sake!  I wonder what the penalties are for drinking the water?

10. In the UK, it is the law upon entering a bath to immediately submerge your head and enter the land of Mermaidia.  Particularly if you have long hair, in fact… if your hair is short, you should grow it immediately to let this occur.

Ok, I made that last one up… but damn… you used to do this as a kid ALL the time right?

Anyway, in celebration of my ten frankly mind-blowing facts about bathing, I wanted to introduce some of my favourite bathroom companions…

From left to right:

Zirh Warrior Collection (£14.99).  When I discovered these were being discontinued, I snapped up a few bottles to keep me going.  Although aimed at men, I love the concentrated scent and divine lather.  There’s something rather brilliant about having a “collection” of commonly-used toiletries like this and Zirh capitalised on using great ancient leaders to appeal to our sense of smell and personality traits. Obviously, I’m Caesar.  OBVIOUSLY.

You can still buy the Zirh Warrior Collection on amazon.co.uk

Abahna White Grapefruit & May Chang (£17)*.  Abahna are all about the ritual of bathing, about turning an ordinary experience into an extra-ordinary occasion.  They’re definitely heading in the right direction with this beautifully citrusy number that perfectly marries the uplifting aromas of grapefruit with the energising zest of may chang.

Available to buy online from abahna.co.uk

Bodhi Rosemary Chi (£23)*. When your spirits are in need of a little reviving, Bodhi’s synergy of Rosemary, Geranium, Petitgrain and Cedarwood oils is just the ticket.  This bath and shower therapy is generously fragranced ensuring that both your mind and your senses are stimulated by the rich perfume.  For an added boost, combine your bathing ritual with their new Rosemary Chi Himalayan Detox Salt Scrub by using your hot bath waters to dissolve the salt scrub after application.  Genius.

Available to buy online from bodhi.uk.com

Kings & Queens Aztec King Vanilla & Pear (£3.33).  No Tesco shop is complete without adding to my Kings & Queens stockpile, I’m currently due another haul as I’m on my last bottle.  The sister brand of Korres have been inspired by ancient rulers from around the world to create a line of body products that delight both visually and during use.  My personal favourite is a toss-up between Tsar Peter Tobacco and Caspar Myrrh.

Available to buy online from tesco.com

What do you to make your bathing routine that little bit less ordinary?

* press sample

Must-Have Monday.  Not a new feature on the blog, I’m just pretending like it’s always been there ok?  You probably won’t see it again… I’m not that organised.

But you need to know something.  This isn’t like all the other “must-haves” we all read about, the beauty essentials that are completely and utterly essential until the next. best. thing. comes along and takes its place.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you don’t swim the Channel immediately, drag yourself into the first E. Leclerc that you come across and buy this item, you might aswell not bother buying anything else ever again.

Are you hyperventilating yet?  Because you should be.

Le Petit Marseillais Huile Seche Sublimante is a dry body oil that has obviously been sent down from above.  Infact, it’s not just a dry oil… it’s the driest of dry oils.  I just tested that claim to the max by spritzing my arm, rubbing the oil in with my hand and then proceeding to wipe my hand all over my t-zone.  Not a single fuck did I give about wiping my oily hand all over my face, that’s how dry this oil is.

Yet despite this scientific anomaly of how oil is supposed to work, it still leaves the kind of healthy sheen on the skin that suggests you’ve just disembarked the yacht after your Summer tour of the Med.

And don’t even get me started on how it smells.  As I’ve previously hinted… this stuff has clearly been borne from the wings of angels.  Spritz it onto your skin and it smells as if you’ve walked through a tropical rainforest with that classic tiare monoi-esque smell.  Now, don’t get me wrong…. gushing as I am, you should know that this isn’t packed with the most beautiful natural oils on earth.  Here’s the ingredients list…

Isopropyl myristate, sesamum indicum oil, isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl laurate, PEG-40, sorbitanperoleate, argania oil, prunus amygdalus dulcis oil, butyrospermum parkii butter, BHT, propylparaben, parfum, hexyl cinamal, linalool.

Mineral oil, Sesame seed oil, palm oil… only a slight nod toward the argan, shea butter, and sweet almond oil emblazoned as if they were key ingredients on the front.  Basically, the ingredients list reads like a whos-who of “stuff that kills the environment and gives you pore cancer while it’s at it”.

But what can I tell you?  It softens even the most parched areas of my skin with the least amount of fuss and hassle on a cold, Autumnal morning whilst making me want to lick myself all the way to school.  I’ve also started spritzing it on the ends (only the very ends) of my hair post-wash.  I heart it.

Did I also mention that it only costs a fiver?  Oh, I didn’t?  My bad.

Le Petit Marseillais Huile Seche Sublimante is priced at around €6 and is available from most supermarkets… in err, France.  That stretch of water never seemed so wide as it does now.

Radox. What are you playing at?

When I think of you, I think of relaxing in a blue-hued bath of wonder.  Sinking into realms of relaxation that I thought only existed in my pre-child lifetime. You don’t give me spendy guilts when I pop into Boots for a top-up and you don’t make me weep with sorrow when I discover that Mr. L has raided my bathroom cabinet.

So, what’s all this new nonsense about?

Don’t you dare try to revive, energise or uplift me! That’s not what I come to you for.

You might think that you need to compete with all those shower and bath products that set your sensitive bits alight and leave you feeling like you’ve been dragged through a polo mint backwards, but you don’t.

You’re perfect just the way you are.

However, if you do get a moment… how about more bath salts in some new and ever more relaxing scents and shades. Bath salts are set for a BIG come back don’tchano?

Radox. They’ve gone all modern n’ stuff with this new Citrus range.  £2.15 ish a bottle… but if I see you buying one, I’ll disown you.

If you’re in the UK, happy Bank Holiday weekend! It’s like, the last one until Christmas, so make the most of it. I thought it might be rather apt to share a couple of hangover remedies on the blog today. Nope, we’re not talking three rashers of bacon and a fried slice (although, I wouldn’t say no)… I’m talking about being prepared and getting your supplements in order!

Bet you can’t guess which one is the cheapest can you?

Just kidding.

Faust’s Potions (£5.99, cultbeauty.co.uk) promises to deliver a two-step approach to a heavy night out.  Incorporating a blend of vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts to gently stimulate and assist alertness throughout the day (or a restful night’s sleep depending on which potion you take).  Reviews on Cult Beauty are positive and the uber cute vials remind me very much of something straight out of Alice in Wonderland!

Dink (£2.99, dink.co.uk) may lose out in the style awards but it more than makes up for it with its appealable price tag. Combining Phospholipids, Amino Acids, Vitamin C, Vitamin B’s and Dextrose, the capsules (you take all of those pictured) will help supplement the body whenever alcohol is consumed and replenish lost resources that will help aid liver recovery and speed up the breakdown of acetaldehyde, a toxic by-product of alcohol metabolism.

Of course… neither of these remedies should give free license to act like a bellend (YOLO etc.) and drink yourself into a stupor.  But, if you’re the kind of poor soul (obviously did something heinous in a previous life) who does suffer the most ungodly of hangovers, these might just make your return to the land of the living, that little bit more bearable!

What are your favourite cures for the morning after the night before?