Crabtree & Evelyn is one of those luxury brands who seems to have a range of  lovely gift sets available each Christmas.  I’ve been trying out a Pomegranate Body Scrub which also contains argan oil and grapeseed. As it’s getting wintery now and I’ve stopped using fake tan I don’t tend to use my body scrubs quite as much however ever now and then it’s nice to properly treat my skin.

The scrub has a creamy texture with very fine granules (about the size of table salt).  It’s a lot more nourishing for my skin than scrubs with a shower gel type base as it gently scrubs away any dead skin without leaving me feeling dry. I think the argan oil properly helps to rehydrate my skin as I know how amazing that stuff is for my hair!

The Pomegranate scrub is vailable from Crabtree & Evelyn for £15 for 175ml and there are also some great ideas for Christmas gifts on the website!

*pr sample – views are my own

I always love the products in The Body Shop and a lot of other ranges seem to model their products on some of the iconic items such the body butters.  As a Christmas present (or birthday or any other time of the year!) I always think The Body Shop performs well as you know straight away the products are good quality.

This year The Body Shop will again be releasing so festive ranges and fragrances which includes Spiced Vanilla, Cranberry Joy and Candid Ginger. I released after I took the picture below that the Spiced Pumpkinrange is actually the autumn range but as I really like it and does have that warming wintry fragrance I thought I would still include it in the post.

So first up is the Spiced Vanilla which is a richer, more wintry version of the original vanilla fragrance. I’m a big fan of the sweet vanilla scent however I think the spiced edge to this product makes it really wearable even for those who don’t tend to like such a sweet fragrance. The body butter itself is the usual rich moisturiser which is easily absorbed. Overall I think this is actually one of my favourite fragrances for the body butter range and I love that with The Body Shop products the fragrance seems to last all day.

Next up is the Cranberry Joy range which has a very fruity fragrance. I’m not keen on products with a citrus edge however as this is cranberry it has a sweeter, berry scent. All the usual products are available in the range which includes a shower gel, body scrub, shimmer lotion and body butter to name a few. 

I’ve included a swatch of the shimmering body lotion as I know most people have probably tried some form of shower gel, body scrub and body butter from The Body Shop however I had never actually tried any of the shimmering body lotion’s before. This lotion has a pearly finish though in the picture I’ve applied it quite heavily to get it to show up. Even when blended it’s still very shimmery so I can see this being saved for Christmas parties and other nights out.

Finally up is the Spiced pumpkin range from the autumn collection though as I mentioned earlier as this has a spicy fragrance I think this would still work as a Christmas present. I’m often a little dubious about spending too much on shower gels but using this one has reminded me why it’s worthwhile. The fragrance isn’t overpowering when you use it but somehow even at the end of the day I can still smell this product on my skin hours after my perfume seems to have disappeared!

For anyone starting to think about Christmas presents I think The Body Shop is well worth a look. The shower gels are both £4, the body scrub is £12.50, the body butters are usually priced at £12.50 and the shimmering body lotion is £8 all avialable from The Body Shop.

*pr sample – views are my own

I love the cocoa butter moisturisers from Palmer’s and quite a few of the other products from their range so when I found out they had launched a new daily facial range I couldn’t wait to give a few of the products ago. As I’ve fallen in love with my facial balm I’ve been trying out a few of the Palmer’s products alongside it, the facial scrub* and night cream*.

The facial scrub contains very finely crushed cocoa beans which very gently scrub away any dry or dull skin. I’ve been using this a couple of times a week just to help brighten up my skin when it starts looking a little. It’s really gentle to use and leaves my skin feeling so soft. I find I need a little extra moisturiser after using it however that probably helps improve my skin as well.

The second item is the night renewal cream which is quite a thick moisturiser but it’s easily absorbed into my skin. This is an anti-aging cream so obviously I can’t comment on those long term claims however it does seem to be doing wonders on some of the dry little patches I get. I find that some thick, night creams can break me out a little as they seem to clog my pores but this cream really suits my skin. The cream doesn;t have the usual cocoa butter scent which is a shame however it does still have a nice fresh fragrance (lily I think from the product info).

The facial scrub is £5.95 and the night renewal cream is only £6.95 which I think is very reasonable. If you love the Palmer’s body care range then I think the facial range is well worth a look.

*pr sample

I discovered a cheap toiletries shop near where I live called Beauty Works which is lot like Saver’s and I couldn’t visit popping in too see if they stocked St Moriz. They did and I’ve picked up the dark version of the fake tan mousse thought I’ve not been brave enough to review it yet as I have a wedding on Saturday and don’t want to look like I’ve been tangoed!

Instead as I picked up quite  a few other bargains I thought I’d start by showing you the face masks I got. I’ve always seen these in Superdrug or Boot’s for about £1 and I remeber trying a few when I was younger but haven’t used them in quite a few years! As the masks were only 57p I couldn’t resist picking up a couple to try.

As my skin is prone to blemishes and seems just about to break out I’ve picked up the Blemish Mud mask which is designed to clear the skin and the White Chocolate deep cleansing mask. First off I thought I used the Blemish Mud mask as mud mask always seem to work wonders for my skin in terms of drawing out any impurities and helping to halter spots in their tracks.

The blemish mud is a proper mud mask, brown in appearance and it dries gradually which makes me feel as though it’s drawing out any nasties. After leaving it on for about 15 minutes it left my skin looking very clear and on my chin where I had a few spots threatening to erupt it seemed to help stop them in their tracks. I have a wedding this weekend so I think I’ll be picking up another one of these to use the night before to leave my skin looking radiant!

I know the sun has not really been shining but as it’s summer I still can’t resist using my fake tan which means a good body scrub is a must to prevent me going all streaky! I’ve been sent a nourishing smoothing body scrub from Darphin to review which I’ve been putting to good use with St Tropez.

The scrub is gel-oil based scrub which contains three grades of natural granules to gentle buff away any dry skin. The granules are silica, cranberry and bamboo extracts which polish and refine the skin. The scrub initially feels like a gel when you apply it too the skin however it then turns into a oily which helps to leave your skin feeling moisturised.

My fake tan recently has gone on so easily without any streaks and I think this body scrub has really been helping. The different size granules really seem to help get rid of my dry patches on my knees and elbows and they also gently buff away any patches of fake tan which have started to fade slightly.

Even though this turns into an oil it doesn’t leave your skin feeling greasy. Its absorbed very quickly which seems to help the fake tan apply more smoothly. The body scrub is available from Darphin for £37.00 which is a little more than I would usually spend on a body scrub but I can’t deny that it does give good results.