YouBeauty advent calendar 2013

Some times chocolate just isn't enough to count down Christmas with so I got the YouBeauty advent calendar again. I got mine in November but it's still available with £10 off - here. On the website they also have a virtual calendar which has competitions and discount codes for each brand in the calendar.

Onto the contents -

Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask - £83.50 here
A mask to smooth, plump and brighten the skin. Instead of a wash off one this says to leave for 15 minutes and then wipe away the excess. I could imagine the skin will be thoroughly moisturised using this. Quite small so probably only good for a few uses.
Trilogy Rosapene Night Cream - £28.50 here
I have tried the rosehip oil I think it is from Trilogy so I will be interested to see if this goes hand and hand with it. This is a recovery cream which helps with skin regeneration meaning a better complexion come morning. Not a bad sized sample either.
Bioeffect EGF Serum - £125.00 here
This is my 3rd sample of this and 2nd from this advent calendar. Yet to use any of them so I couldn't say if it is worth the insane price. This super serum, according to the little booklet that came with the calendar is supposed to 'improve complexion, reduce wrinkles, pores and pigmentation by stimulating and accelerating natural skin renewal.' I think I will trial this for a while as I'll be interested to see if this sorts out my pores.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - £4.50 (30ml) here
Vitamin E and hydrating olive oil, one of those ingredients makes me dubious about putting this cleanser on my oily T-zone.....we shall see. I'd say this is a reasonable sample size, good for travel.
Dr.Organic Dead Sea Mineral Eye Rescue Rollerball - £8.99 (15ml) here
This is supposed to help with puffy eyes and dark circles, they're the 2 main things I'm hoping to get from this product. The rollerball will at least feel soothing first thing in the morning if nothing else. Apart from sleep is there actually anything else that gets rid of dark circles? This is a full size product.
ESPA Optimal Skin Proserum (£48.00) & Refining Skin Polish (13.99) here
There was another ESPA set in last years calendar that smelt awful, herbal I think it was. Fingers crossed these do not smell the same. The serum helps brighten and even skin tone while the skin polish is an exfoliator to help remove dead cells and brighten skin (I'm yet to use a product and notice my skin is brighter....) Also in the little box was a £15 gift card which was very generous of them.

Steamcream Moisturiser - £12.95 here
Full size which is good but this was in last years calendar, the exact same tin so bit of a let down there. This cream can be used anywhere on the body and is lightweight due to the steam used to fuse all ingredients together.
Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oil - £39.00 here
Another item we got last year but this one is the inner strength oil with notes of frankincense, cardamom and clary sage. This is a very strong smell and not one I would pick but I will try it and it's supposed to help with calm thoughts so anything to help relax!
Balance Me super Toning Body Wash - £9.00 (100ml) here
Another good sized product. Due to some of the ingredients in this it helps encourage good circulation as well as improving skin tone. Balance Me always has a herbally smell so I'm not sure I will like this but it will get used.

Therapie Roques Oneil Himalayan Detox Salts - £10.00 (100g) here
I've never used bath salts before so I'm very interested in these as they claim to help with insomnia which recently I've been struggling with. Once bathed it says 'to wrap in a towel and rest for 30 minutes where you might feel a skin tingle with the release of heat'. I'm intrigued.
Q Awe The Fine Fragrance Body Spray - £2.99 here
A blend of jasmine and rose this will either be fresh or floral. Not something I'd wear but will probably make a nice room or sheet spray.

Dermalogica UltraCalming Set - £ various here
Received Dermalogica products last year and really liked the rice exfoliator. This year all the products are aimed at sensitive skin. There's a eye serum, relief masque, cleanser, serum concentrate and a mist. I don't have sensitive skin but still think these will be quite nice to try out.

Caudalie Hand Cream  - £4.80 here
I received the blackcurrant leaf flavour which smells lovely. You can never have enough hand creams especially at this time of year.
Dr Lipp Balm - £11.50 here
I already have one of these but think it's always good to have things like this. A balm that's multipurpose to heal dry skin, burns, cuts and quite a few more uses. I thought this was a sample but nope, apparently this is a full size.
Neom Hand Cream - £20.00 here
I received one of these in the BBB box and love it. It smells nice, Moroccan Blush Rose, sinks in quickly and most importantly it moisturises my hands. Happy to have this as my tube is pretty much empty.

Alterna Bamboo Dry Oil Mist - £20.50 here 
I believe this oil can be used as a heat protectant or as a treatment. I will most likely be using this on the ends of my hair to help with split ends.
Weleda Skin Food - £4.95 here
I already have a sample of this but as I don't suffer from dry skin I've yet to find reason to try it out. Always handy to keep though as with the winters getting colder it may come in very useful.

Stila Lip Glaze - £15.00 here
This is in the shade kaleidoscope, a pretty pink shimmer. I've not used anything from Stila before so I'm hoping this is not one of those super sticky glosses. From swatches I think this will be a good party colour with all the glitter. I like the twist up brush glosses.
INIKA Mineral Eye Shadow - £14.50 here
This is in gun metal, a pretty silver. I don't think I own a silver eye shadow so will be trying this to see if it suits me. I don't mind mineral powders as I used to use the Barry M pigments a lot. This could be nice used wet as an eye liner if all over shadow doesn't look good. This is a full size product.

Green People Anti - Age Eyeliner - £10.95 here
This is a grey shade and is very soft so it should glide on smoothly. The anti-ageing bit is because it contains vitamins C & E but still not sure how an eyeliner can fight wrinkles...
The Vintage Cosmetic Company Tweezers - £8.00 here
Last year we got eye lash curlers which I'm still using so was happy to see another useful tool from them. I like that the tweezers are slanted as I find these better than the pointed type. Also a pretty colour, these are limited edition for Christmas.

Model Co Mascara - £10.00 here
This mascara should give length and thickness, it is a water proof formula so possibly a pain to get off! I'll give this a try as it does sound good.
Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation - £47.00 here
Second sample of this from the calendar. Yet to use my first one but in theory this is supposed to provide translucent coverage while still making the skin look flawless. My skins playing up the moment so I may use this to see if it works.
Leighton Denny Nail Varnish - £11.00 here
This is in the shade vamp, a nice deep fall colour. I much prefer colours like this instead of the typical 'Christmas' reds. As I'm pretty lazy when it comes to painting my nails little sample bottles suit me perfectly as I will never finished a normal size.


Apart from a couple of duplicate products I think this years calendar beats last years. One because there was no disgusting smelling candle and 2 it has more products I can see myself using. I think this is a really good idea if you want to try out different products. Next year I will wait until the price has gone down instead of being so eager!

Now onto finding somewhere to put all of these bits!

Happy New Year in advance!

Blogmas day 21 - Soap & Glory The daily soothe bath float review

I love Soap & Glory products, I own quite a few (that's a lie, it's a lot) and when I saw this hmmm back in November I got it as it's something I'd not seen before. Basically it's a bubble bath but one you scoop out rather than pour.

This is scented wit the classic Mist You Madly so smells very nice.

I don't have the biggest hands so I do sometimes add 2 scoops as I like my baths super bubbly. Hold under running water while it turns into bubbles, I did find it took a little while to get it all off my hand as it left a little film.

This is a nice bubble bath, it's relaxing and something different to the usual ones. I really like this although as I use a lot and have a bath most days I don't think I can really justify paying £8 for this.

Available here - £8.00 Soap & Glory is usually on 3 for 2

Blogmas day 20 - Hot Topic Haul #2

I shall carry on with Blogmas and pretend like I have been good and actually done more than 3 posts for it...

Anywho, I have another Hot Topic haul because I am still addicted to the website. This is a couple of orders worth with a few items missing as they were gifts which were quickly wrapped and put under the tree.

Adventure time pillow case - $10.88 (£6.65)
I got 2 of these as they came as singles which I thought was weird but there we go. Shame they didn't do a whole bedding set as I would love a full Adventure time bed ha I also ordered The Nightmare before Christmas pillow cases but they sold out, sad times.

Alice In Wonderland Cheshire Cat Dress - $25.88 (£15.81)
Another pretty dress this time with the Cheshire cat on it, I can't wait to wear this. It's the same style as my other one so I'm going to assume this will fit the same.

The Nightmare before Christmas hill jumper - no longer available
Quite a thin jumper, more of just a top but it fits lovely. Also a very pretty scene to match my skirt.

The Nightmare before Christmas Jack jumper - no longer available
Another jumper/top and one I would even class as a twist on the classic Christmas jumper. I love the picture on this one.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Micro Raschel Throw  - $18.38 (£11.23)
This is so soft! and massive at 50"x60" this covers pretty much the whole of my bed! I have a thing for blankets so this will be joining the 5 or so I already have piled on my bed. Cosy!

BMO blanket - no longer available
I believe this is roughly the same size as it also covers my whole bed. Both of these blankets I've had to put into the wash as not only did I hear the static crackling but got a couple of little shocks as well. Ouch!

Alice in Wonderland jumper - no longer available
This is a little thicker than the other 2 in this haul but again just a perfect design for me. Also nice to have something on the back as well.

The Nightmare before Christmas true love top - no longer available
This has very large gaps at the side, it would be perfect for summer (can anyone remember that season?!) as it's nice and breezy. I've worn this with a bandeau underneath and it's good to go.

Adventure time reversible jumper - no longer available
This is so cute, BMO on one side and Finn & Jake on the other. This is probably the thickest out of all the jumpers I've got from Hot Topic. The colour also goes nicely with my pink hair, always a bonus ha

Well I believe that is it for now, I already have my eye on a couple of other items but need a few more to make it worth the shipping cost. Damn you clothing I love from another country!

Blogmas day 19 - fail!

Ah well, as always I start with good intentions and that's about as far as it gets. Blogmas consisted of 2 days, very poor. I can't even say I have been super busy as that's not the case, apart from sorting out Christmas gifts and stuff it's been the usual. I say the usual but recently I've been unbelievably tired, struggling to wake up for work in the morning and then having pretty much no energy for the rest of the day. I'm not sure why I'm tired all the time but I'm hoping the break over Christmas will give me a rest enough to feel a bit better.

(Source)

That is one lucky cat!

Does anyone else suffer from being tired all the time for no apparent reason? As much as I love to sleep and laze about I would also like to have a little bit of energy!

Moaning over, I am very excited about Christmas :D

Blogmas day 2 - VitaBella anti ageing face mask review

This is the first sheet mask I have ever tried so wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it or not. Having seen others use them it always puts me in mind of Michael Myers so not sure if this is a bonus or not.

 



The little white button is the mask that once is covered in the liquid soaks it up and is ready to be put on. The liquid is made up of natural aloe vera gel, argan oil, hyaluronic acid, hibiscus seed proteins and wheat germ oil. As this is an anti ageing mask the benefits are rehydrating skin and reducing the signs of ageing. 

So into a little pot I put the mask and then poured the liquid over it and all over the counter as apparently this is a difficult task. In less than a minute the mask had soaked up all of the liquid and was good to go. I put it on for 5 or 10 minutes (I can't remember), removed and rubbed in the residue that was left on my face. I had really soft skin after and I would say it gave a nice dose of moisture.

 

And there we have the mask, very creepy.

 

 

This is very expensive at £59 for 4 bottles - here 

 

On a side note, when I put this on it was so uncomfortable I really didn't understand how people could use it....I then took it off to realise I had put my nose through an eye and my mouth through the nose bit. I understood then, people are smart and I am a tit.    

 

 

 

 

 



Blogmas day 1 - it's on!

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December 1st and the countdown begins! I am so excited this year for Christmas, the food, the time off work, the presents and just the general cosy feeling that comes with Christmas time. I already have the majority of my presents ready to wrap, this is unheard of as I'm usually still buying the week before so I'm pretty proud of myself this year.

I'm counting down the days with the You Beauty advent calendar as I really enjoyed last years and I'll be also getting a Cadbury one as.....well, it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't. I thought this year I would join in with blogmas so hopefully this is something I can stick with!

My family is of the 12 day before and after decoration tradition so as soon as the 12th is upon on us I will be covering everything in tinsel and I mean everything so watch out kitties!

I'm sure it's not just me who is overly excited this year so let the Christmas cheer explode yay!