April Beauty Favourites

For me April was a nail polish month. I fell in love with so many gorgeous polishes. But before we talk about stunning shades lets talk about my new favourite base coat. A good base coat can be a game changer! The Complete Care 7 in 1 Nail Treatment from Sally Hansen is a fabulous base coat. It dries quickly and has been doing wonders for my neglected nails. It dries clear and shiny.

The shade 'Rose Glass' from Sally Hansen's Salon Manicure collection is now one of my all-time favourite polishes and that is saying a lot for somebody who has hundreds of nail polishes. It is a gorgeous warm-toned pale pink that is so very pretty. It isn't nude but is still appropriate for any occasion.

'Show Us Your Tips!' from OPI's new 'New Orleans' collection is like no other polish I own. It is an amazing periwinkle blue-toned mauve (does that make sense) with silver shimmer. The formula is quite thin so you definitely need more than two coats. However I am more than willing to overlook this because once you build this up to be 100% opaque it is 100% stunning. Go google some swatches, it might look meh in the bottle but on the nail it is stunning. Seriously.

Lanolips Intense Hand Balm is a balm that you warm up and then it sinks into your skin. This balm is great if you have very dry hands. I like to spot apply it onto my cuticles and fingers however I wouldn't recommend them applying it all over your hands until the end of the night because you can "feel" it on your hands. Or maybe I just apply way to much?! Either way I know this will be great for the coming winter months.

Prada's 'Candy' Perfume has been my go-to perfume. I have been looking for a perfume that can replace my beloved 'So Hooked on Carmella' from Benefit which is discontinued. This one isn't identical but it is still a gorgeous perfume. I'm rubbish at describing scents so I googled it and apparently it is caramel, sweet, warm spicy, musky and balsamic. I say just go and have a sniff next time you are near the perfume department :)

Not technically a "beauty" favourite but it is beautiful so I'm going to quickly mention the Medium Supernatural Pouch from Mimco, isn't the print divine?!!!!!!!!

At the end of March Priceline had their famous 40% off all make-up and I brought enough foundations to cover the surface of Earth...well maybe not quite but nearly! Anyway there is not a single foundation I want to talk about. Some of them are promising but none of they instantly gained holy grail status. The search for the perfect foundation continues...let me know if you have any recommendations.

Want to check out what I loved in April last year? Here is the link to last years April Favourites: http://theblogforbeautifulliving.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/april-beauty-favourites.html 

Have a wonderful May :)

Products that smell amazing...

Are you a sucker for products that smell amazing? I am!!! Don't get me wrong, quality, packaging and price are all important factors but, in my book, a product gets bonus points for smelling delightful.

I'm going to start with a type of product that you wouldn't expect to smell good...nail polish. Revlon has a range of nail polishes that have different scents. Their 'Parfumerie' collection of nail polishes have three different types of scent: sweets & spices, freshes and fruits & florals. I have four polishes from this collection and all of them are consistently good quality. My favourite is the 'Apricot Nectar' polish that smells unbelievably delicious (plus it lasts for over a day). 'Apricot Nectar' smells quite sweet and fruity. Kind of like peach lollies? To read my full review of 'Apricot Nectar' click here.

The lipsticks from She are some of the best smelling lipsticks out there in my opinion! They have a very rich, luxurious aromatherapy oil scent that is really unique for a lipstick that only costs $14.95! If you want to read more about these lipsticks click here. 

These lip glosses get a lot of rave reviews in the blogosphere but I'm just going to mention them anyway! What am I talking about? The Nyx Butter Glosses of course. These are some of the best lip glosses ever. They smell like cupcakes or cake mixture, are super duper moisturising and give your lips a nice touch of colour. Perfect for the winter time when your lips are dry and chapped but you still want some colour on your lips!

Another lip product that smells amazing and does amazing stuff is the Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid with Lemon Oil. This smells like "real" lemonade, not the cheap stuff, and works fabulously to keep your lips hydrated.

I am a bit of a hand cream fiend but I think I might have found my favourite hand cream ever?! What hand cream am I talking about? The L'Occitane 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream for dry skin. I know most of the products I have talked about smell like food but I promise this one doesn't. Unless you like eating baby powder??? This is a very luxurious hand cream with a subtle scent that is hard to put your finger on but to me it smells like baby powder, but in the best way possible!

I would love to know what your favourite smelling product is...?

Natural Instinct Hand & Nail Cream Review

We are well and truly in the midst of winter at the moment so I have been slathering on the moisturiser, lip balm and hand cream. I was sent the Natural Instinct Hand & Nail Cream* a couple of months ago and since then it has became part of my evening routine. The Natural Hand & Nail Cream* comes in a 125ml squeeze tube with a hinged lid and has an earthy aromatherapy scent, which I find very relaxing in the evening. Like all Natural Instinct products it's a vegan product, not tested on animals, pH balanced, made in Australia and free from 400 potentially nasty chemicals (parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals...etc).

The consistency of the cream is quite thick and absorbs into the skin quickly leaving your hands feeling super soft and smooth. When applied to the super dry, chapped, skin between my fingers and especially around my thumb, it gets rids of the awful sore red skin and injects much needed moisture into the skin. I sometimes find that I am left with a slightly oily residue on my hands after applying this which is why I prefer to use it before going to bed. If you don't put too much on you shouldn't be left with that oily feeling though. I always seem to put way too much hand cream on. Unlike some other hand creams I feel like this one does actually moisturise my hands for a long period of time and has good lasting power. It has also improved the condition of my cuticles and the skin around my nails, something I don't notice with most other hand creams. When I wake up in the morning my hands still feel moisturised but not oily. Nothing beats a lovely luxurious and thick hand cream before going to bed, especially when it smells this good!

*I received this product for review purposes. This review is 100% honest and completely my own opinion.

Haven by Planet Earth Orange Ginger Hand Therapy

The orange ginger hand therapy by Haven by Planet Earth is made from naturally derived ingredients, has a lovely thick formula and smells amazing.

The formula of this hand cream is quite thick and luscious. It sinks in really quickly and leaves your hands feeling soft, silky and hydrated without any yucky residue.

The scent of this hand cream is great, an earthy mixture of ginger with the sweetness of orange. I usually find that hand creams lose their scents really quickly but that doesn't happen with this one, the smell lingers for awhile but only subtly so if you're not keen on scents you shouldn't find it overpowering. 

Finally, the packaging of this hand cream is a clear brown-tinged tube with a flip-up lid. At 60ml it is a great size for the handbag. 

So if you're looking for a moisturising hand cream, that sinks in quickly, smells great and has no artificial colours, no mineral oils, no parabens, PEGS and no SLES I would highly recommend this hand cream.

I can't believe Christmas is only 8 sleeps away!!! It's utterly terrifying to think how quickly this year has gone and how I only a little over a week to enjoy the Christmas season (and lets be honest, eat all the yummy Christmas fruit cake, plum puddings and listen to Michael Buble). I know I have kind of fallen off the blogmas bandwagon lately. With a Christmas party to organise and host, presents to buy, Christmas mail to write and a birthday party to attend last week I ran out of daylight hours to take decent pictures. I'll try and catch up this week, perhaps posting twice a day to meet my quota. Hope you are enjoying the lead up to Christmas :) Cheers

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Review

For as long as I can remember the skin around my nails has been dry, cracked, red and generally yucky! But all that changes when I purchased Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream - I simply adore this cuticle cream......and not just because of the amazing smell!

Packaging 
This cuticle cream comes in a solid metal tin with a good lid that won't fall off but isn't impossible to get off either! The tin holds 17g of product and is identical to the size of Nivea's Lip Butter tins.

The Product 
I'm going to begin with with the scent of this product because I just really LOVE it!!!! It is a scrumptious lemon scent that reminds me of a sweet lemon tart. It's not an overpowering scent though so I don't think it would put you off if you don't like scents.

To be honest I'm not sure if I would call this a "cream" as I think it more leaning more towards a "balm" but anyway......this "cream" isn't super soft but not hard either despite first impressions. You have to dig a little to get it out the first time but after that its smooth sailing. I like the consistency of this product most definitely and don't have any issues with it.

A little goes far with this cream and it also sinks in quickly too. It softens my cuticles and any rough skin or dry skin around my nails and soothes sore bits. As this is the first ever cuticle cream I have used I don't have much to go by but I don't find this particularly greasy or oily which is good because I wasn't sure what to expect! As I said it sinks in quickly and feels very moisturising without leaving behind any greasy or oily residue and to be honest it is pretty much perfect.

Since buying this in January I have used it on-and-off whenever I notice my cuticles are not looking great and I can honestly say this repairs, moisturises and soothes my skin within one or two uses and continual use gives me the best cuticles I've ever had!

Where to Buy 
You can find this at Priceline for $14.99 or anywhere else that stocks Burt's Bees.

Summary

• Amazing Scent 
• Moisturises, soothes, softens
• Sinks in quickly 
• Packaging is brilliant 

Okay so that is pretty much a list of advantages. You might be thinking that there must be at least one disadvantage of this cuticle cream? Well I was very tempted to say it was too expensive but I did some research and found: 

• Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream $14.99 for 17g ($1.13/g)
• Lush's Lemony Flutter $15.50 for 50g ($3.22/g)
• Sally Hansen Cuticle Massage Cream $14.95 for 11.3g ($1.32/g)

Okay so these are just three cuticle creams that are easily accessible here in Australia and as you can see the Burt's Bees cuticle cream is the cheapest. So I guess I can't use "too expensive" as a  disadvantage because it is invalid. I must just be a poor uni student :/ hahaha

Apologies about the mashed up pictures. I swear I took photos of it before I used it BUT they seem to have disappeared! 

Overall Score: 9/10

Thanks for reading,
Cheers :)

Nivea Pure & Natural Hand Cream Review

Today I will be reviewing Nivea's Pure & Natural Hand Cream. I have been using it on-and-off for a couple of weeks now. I keep it next to my computer and often throw it on while working on the computer. It sinks in quickly so you are not out of action for long.

First up, let's consider what the product claims to do (taken from the packaging):

• Intensively protects and nourishes dry hands. 
• Contains Bio Argan Oil. 
• Makes the skin smooth all day. 
• 95% organic. 
• No parabens, colorants, sillicones or mineral oils. 

My impressions: 

The product I have is a 75ml plastic tube with a good flip-top lid. The packaging is pretty basic but I like it. I especially like the flip-top lid as I hate lids that deattach from the product. I can't fault the packaging in any way.

The cost is also something that I really like about this product, retailing for approximately $4.39 but often found on sale and in a number of easily-accessible locations including Priceline, Target and Woolworths. This is a product that is great value.

It is a lightweight hand cream that spreads easily and absorbs into your skin quickly so that you can use you hands practically straight after application. It leaves your hands feeling silky smooth and has a relatively subtle scent. It has a lasting effects on my hands and even after washing my hands I feel that my hands are still moisturised.

To be honest, the only thing I don't love about this product is the scent - whilst being pretty subtle and not smelling of anything in particular, its not a scent I love. But having said that I would still repurchase this product without a doubt.

So now lets quick recap those claims and see if it lives up to them:

• Intensively protects and nourishes dry hands - yes confirmed. 
• Makes the skin smooth all day - It definitely lasts awhile and doesn't wash away. I will say this claim is confirmed however please note I actually haven't applied the handcream in the morning and then in the evening considered if my hands are still smooth. 

Summary 

This is a cheap product that lives up to it's claims and works wonderfully. Sinks in quickly and leaves your hands feeling very smooth without any weird residue and the moisture remains even after washing your hands. A hand cream definitely worth checking out - ideal for keeping on your desk or in your handbag. Would I repurchase this hand cream? Yes I would. Despite not loving the scent it does not contain parabens, colorants, sillicones or mineral oils and that makes up for it in my book! 

Thanks for reading and take care :)

Soap and Glory Hand Food

Today I have a review of "Hand Food" for you! I brought this hand cream because I had read heaps of rave reviews of it......

So first up, packing and first impressions. The packing is pretty funky and very practical with a lid that flips up/down for quick application and the small version of this product (50ml) will easily fit in your handbag or desk drawer. First impressions included that the scent was pretty subtle (even though I swear I read people raving about the scent) but that's fine! It's a pretty subtle scent, quite delicate.....but nice all the same. it feels really nice upon application and sinks in well.

Second order of business is what does Soap and Glory claim this product will do for you?
The packaging, despite being quite boisterous doesn't claim to do everything under the sun and I like that!!! A little bit of honesty never hurt anybody. So the claims are that it will soften, smooth and soothe your hands.  I am happy to report it does all of that - yay! It softens and smooths your hands. It feels quite luxurious and has a lasting effect. It also claims that it's a non-greasy formula. I absolutely loathe greasy hand creams that take forever to sink in, Hand Food, however, gives a reasonable performance. It doesn't sink in 100% super quickly and you have a residue kind-of feeling for a little while however it's not the kind of feeling that prevents you from picking things up and doing stuff. I just lathered way too much Hand Food on two minutes ago and I'm not too worried about my keyboard....I think it might be this residue feeling that makes your hands feeling so soft and smooth.So all in all, pretty good.

Pros

• Funky Packaging
• Practical packaging, great for on-the-run!
• Subtle scent
• Does what it claims 

Cons

• The one big negative for me is the ingredients list. I don't like using products with parabens and etc... and being overwhelmed by the many great reviews out there I didn't look at the ingredients list before purchasing. 
• Price 
• Not a heavy-duty hand cream (but works well everyday)

Conclusion
A pretty decent hand cream that feels luxurious however it isn't free from parabens and is a little pricey. Throw it in your handbag for on-the-run and it will sink in quick enough not to leave you useless.

Would I recommend this product? Yes.
Would I repurchase it? Probably, however I prefer products that are more organic.

Overall score: 7.5/10