Nivea In Shower Body Lotion for Very Dry Skin

I can remember once hearing someone say that it must be really difficult to be an inventor in today's world, because basically all the good stuff has been invented already.  I often think this is true of the cosmetics world as well.  If you think about it, most "new" products are just better versions of something already out there...'better' anti-wrinkle cream, 'more natural' foundation, 'more voluminous mascara'.  So when something genuinely new hits the shelves, it's going to get a little blogger like me just a teeny-tiny bit excited.

So here it is, Nivea's new in-shower body lotion! Oooooo.......

Basically the premise behind this new-kid-on-the-block is that you can moisturise in the shower. Novel, I know (I wasn't lying).  I've personally not seen anything like this before, other than maybe shower oils, but even they don't claim to be able to completely wipe out the need for a bit of post-shower moisturisation. 

Now it is times like this I love being a blogger.  I feel obliged, as a dry skinned young lady, to review this on my blog.  Excuse to purchase?  Yes I think so.

ANYWAY.  I'll admit I was genuinely drawn to this, as I have very dry skin and therefore have to moisturise my entire body after every shower otherwise I shrivel like a prune.  And I'll be honest, moisturising is boring.  At the same time though, I was massively sceptical about this.  Massively.

The product comes in a beefy 400ml squeezy bottle, but I think I'm going to get through this quicker than I think as it gets a bit addictive when you're slapping it on in the shower. The cream itself is a pretty standard body lotion consistency with the generic Nivea scent, and you basically rub it everywhere then rinse it off.  The rinsing intrigued me....I expected this to be more like a leave-in hair conditioner but for your body..but anyway. I rinsed as instructed.

The first thing that struck me is that you still feel clean when you come out of the shower.  My experience of shower oils (other than being one big old slip hazard) is that you come out of the shower feeling like you have a film over your skin.  This definitely doesn't feel like that.  You still feel clean and showered which I think is a really good point about the product.

Despite feeling clean though, my skin still felt soft.  Even half an hour or so after showering, I hadn't pruned up and my skin still felt supple and soft (rather than 2 sizes too small like it normally would if I hadn't moisturised).  Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel as moisturised as I do after using my normal body lotion, but then I use pretty heavy-duty, dry skin lotions and most people hate the feel of those. Either way I can firmly say I was impressed.  The moisturisation seemed to last all day and apart from a cheeky application of moisturiser to my shins, I didn't need to apply body lotion at all during the day.  What a little beauty!

Having said that, the second time I used this, I did feel a bit drier and a bit prune-y.  I'm not sure if it was a bit in my head, as my brain was thinking "woah woah woahhh, you missed the moisturiser!?" But as I have said before, my skin is DRY.  I think if you have normal-dry skin or just normal skin, this could be a blinder of a product for saving time or even for people who normally can't be bothered to moisturise.

This is going to sound a random comment, but other than when I am in a mega rush, I think the other time I'll end up using this product is before I fake tan.  I once read that fake tan goes on less evenly when applied over body lotion (something to do with the lotion sinking into your body at differing rates).  I've always had a problem with this because I have to heavily moisturise as fake tan can also cling to dry patches on your skin, and will come out much darker on drier areas (oh hello catch 22 situation).  I think however, that this product might be my compromise.  It moisturises me enough to stop me drying up, but it doesn't appear to leave a film which might interfere with my fake tan. Wonderful.

Either way, I'd recommend giving this a go as I think it's a neat little time saver and a genuinely innovative new product that's worth a look.  Oh and well done for hanging in there, because this was rather a long post about a body lotion.  Go reward yourself by having a shower.

Signing out...x

Bronzers - Too Faced, Hoola and Sleek Face Contour Kit

I decided recently to do a bit of a bronzer post, as I'm definitely a bronzer girl rather than a blusher girl, but I'm also very fussy with my bronzers.

 

My pet hate is orange bronzers.  Get them in Room 101, I hate them.  I've seen other people suit them, but for me they are the devil of the make-up world.  I think it is partly because I don't have very smooth, even skin, so highlighting all my bumps and dry patches with an interesting shade of satsuma is not ideal.

 

For the same reason I hate sparkle.  Whyyyy do bronzers always have to be sparkly.  No, they don't give me a post-holiday glow, they give me a circa-1990's body glitter look. It is almost like I'm saying "did you not see my spot? Hold on, let me stick some glitter on it so you can see it better" No. Naughty sparkly orange bronzers. 

 

So my bronzer needs to be matte, and it needs to be non-orange.  And this is not an easy ask if you're looking for high street bronzers.  I'll be honest, I've never dabbled in higher end bronzers like Nars or Chanel, because I can't afford them so why even open that box.

 

But on my ultimate quest for the perfect bronzer, I have found 3 little beauties which satisfy the high-maintenance bronzer-diva in me.  They are the Sleek Contour Kit in 'Light', Benefit Hoola and Too Faced Chocolate Soleil. Ta daaaaa....



 

These differ significantly in price.  Sleek is £6.49, Benefit Hoola is £23.50 and Too Faced Chocolate Soleil is £25 (and quite tricky to get hold of in the UK - I found it on ASOS.com)

Up until about 2 weeks ago, this post would have entirely been about Hoola.  I am a self-confessed Hoola addict.  I love it. 

The powder is completely matte (absolutely noo sparkle) and is a really complimentary coffee/chocolate shade.  It almost looks like a creamy coffee or a hot chocolate type colour.  It is very slightly muddy in colour, which may put some people off, but I love it for it. I use it more as a contour than a blusher/bronzer, but this is always where I apply my bronzer. It goes on quite pigmented and you do need to give it a good buff and blend, but stick with it, keep buffing and you'll be left with a really natural glow.  I'd especially recommend the shade if, like me, you prefer yellow-based foundation - it compliments it so much better.  I wear this to death in the summer as I think it genuinely gives me a natural looking tanned face when dusted on my 'sun catching' areas.  It lasts quite a decent amount of time too, but when you get to the stage mine is at in the photo above, it gets difficult to get the product out from the edges of the box. I normally scrape a bit of powder off with a hair grip then dust that on.

But for 100% definite, this is my beloved no.1 bronzer. Anyone who is orange-phobic like me, I'd definitely recommend it. 

Another bronzer I enjoy is the Chocolate Soleil Medium/Dark by Too Faced.

I came across this after a LOT of research online and bought some in House of Fraser.  This has a delicious chocolate scent and a big mirror in the lid.  Again, the colour is (as the name suggests) a very chocolate-y hue.  It is extremely similar to the Hoola bronzer and the only thing that would stop me repurchasing is the price.  I'd say the texture is creamier and smoother than Benefit Hoola, but the pigmentation is just as strong and again I'd recommend much buffing.  Again though, the colour is just so much more reminiscent of a natural tan. Of the three, this is maybe ever so slightly more orange based, but it only means the colour is a bit warmer than the Hoola.  It blends really nicely and is an excellent contour shade.  It is also 100% mattte and lasts well on the skin.  If this were cheaper than Hoola I'd probably buy it more, but there's nothing about it that makes me want to spend the extra £1.50 to get it.

My final bronzer of the pack is a new addition to my collection and is the Sleek Contour Kit.

This first dropped on my radar whilst watching a blog video by Zoella, and the name rang a bell which means it must have twigged my interest before as well.  I am ever on the search for a cheaper version of Hoola for 'everyday' wear, so I decided to buy this at £6.49 from the Sleek website.  First things first, I'm not going to be talking about the highlighter side of this product.  It massively upsets me.  It is SO shiny and pink, and it takes up over a 3rd of the palette and it needs to be gone.  If you wear highlighter, then I think as highlighters go it is pretty okay, but my fear of sparkle prevails.

I bought the kit in the 'Light' shade and was worried it might be too light, but my fears swung the other way when I opened it as the bronzer bit looks DARK.  It also looked quite orange (oh god). But I have genuinely been quite pleasantly surprised by this.  I'll be honest, you can tell from the consistency that it is cheaper than the other two.  It isn't as smooth or creamy and feels a bit drier. But the colour is actually not too orange, and it is completely matte which I love.  I think the cheaper texture means it does take a LOT more blending.  The first time I put it on I was like 'oh god, I look like a child has wiped a chocolatey finger down my face' but keep blending, keep buffing, and the end result is even and a really nice gentle brown. I've been wearing this as my everyday bronzer and will now be keeping Hoola for special occasions.  It 100% isn't as good as Hoola, but as a cheaper but viable alternative, it is a winner.

Here is a little photo of the Sleek bronzer on....

With regard to difference in colour, I swatched the three below and you can see there really isn't much difference in shade.  Hoola is probably the most yellow-based and you can see from the swatches what I mean about the Sleek one being slightly less refined in terms of texture and blending. But bearing in mind the £18 price difference, you can't really argue it.

So, if like me you aren't a fan of a sparkly orange bronzer and want a more natural tan shade, then these are my recommendations.  I've tried many other bronzers - Body Shop, Rimmel, Clinique, L'Oreal - the only one missing from here which is maybe eligible for my club would be the Bourjois chocolate bronzer, but I still found this a tad on the orange side.

With regard to application you can see where I apply it under my cheek bones, and I swear by my Bare Minerals blusher brush which is small enough to get a defined area, but still big enough to buff and blend.  I can't get on with big ol' kabuki brushes as they cover too much of my face.  Generally I'd say bronzer takes practice, but persevere..it really warms your face up and defines/slims it.  And the three bronzers above are much easier to blend colour-wise if you're a novice. Just remember blend, blend, buff, blend, buff......

Sinful Colors - 850 Big Daddy

So, here comes another nail varnish post..yayyy..another excuse to get my wrinkly little hands out there on the internet.

Now, a few months ago I was having an idle little wander in my local Boots and I spied a new nail varnish range, on a stand, over by the food section.  New ranges always excite me.  They offer potential...they could be your new dream nail varnish sitting right there, on a stand, by the food section.

The cosmetics snob in me (I'll be honest) spied the £1.99 price tag though and the somewhat interestingly titled "Sinful Colors" and thought hmm...maybe not for me. I'd never heard of the range and for £1.99 how good could they be. And why were they by the food section?  Were they not goof enough for the cosmetic section? Purchase temptation over.

But the intrigue got the better of me and I decided to Google them.  They are an American company launching over here and the photos on blogs looked quite impressive coverage-wise etc. So when I was back in Boots (this happens a lot) I decided to try a few colours out on my nails.  10 multi coloured nails later and I had 5 pots in my hand, which I was staring at trying to force myself to buy only one.  I swear the people in Boots must think I am so strange, but they make so much money out of me I doubt they question it.

Anyway.  Firstly the colour range is HUGE.  The Sinful Colors stand is like a big rainbow of nail varnishes and a lot of them are in highly wearable colours (aside from a few questionable sparkly yellows in between).

I found about 6-7 really nice, juicy red/coral/pinky shades and really struggled to pick between them.  I settled on 850 Big Daddy, which is an orange-red, as I don't own any orange-reds (that's my justification anyway.)

The first coat went on easily although there is definitely a slight jelly-like consistency to this nail varnish.  I don't know if this is typical of the whole range as not all of the testers I tried seemed jelly-like, so it might differ from colour to colour.  The coverage wasn't amazing on the first coat.  It wasn't the worst I've had but it certainly wasn't the best by a long shot.  It was quite watery and there's no way you could get away with just one coat of this.

First coat

The second coat went on with a much deeper coverage (although I think I applied it slightly thicker too) and the colour really started to 'pop'.  I applied a third coat as the second coat had that really annoying finish that you get with some nailvarnishes, where you can still see the 'white' of your nail through the colour.  I hate this. It might be due to the jelly consistency though, as by nature jelly nailvarnishes are more transparent.

After 3 x coats and no top coat

Having said that though, for £1.99 I'm pretty impressed with this nail varnish.  I think the coverage after the 3rd coat is really good and the colour was really bright and juicy looking.  It dried pretty quickly after 3 coats, and I also didnt need to apply a clear top coat as the finish was surprisingly really glossy.

You get a really decent sized bottle for your money, and the nail varnish really is pretty faultless for such a cheap price.  It beats the Collection 2000 ones I have used before which are £2-3, as the application was much smoother and the colour richer.

I am 100% going to try some more colours, partly to see if the jelly-consistency is typical across the range. If it is, that's a bit of a shame, but still not enough to deter me from buying again.  I think the beauty with this range is you can dabble in colours and experiment with them, as they are so reasonbly priced.  I also whale through certain colours (i.e. coral reds in summer and deep berries in winter) so if a bottle is only costing me £1.99 it isn't quite as painful on the bank balance.  I'm excited to try some of their deeper colours too, and see if they bring out any more dark colours around winter as their range is very cocktail brights at the moment (I'm assuming for a summer launch).

I just hope they don't disappear from my local store, because they didn't exactly look like they'd be flying off the shelves - maybe for the same reason that originally put me off.  But I say give them a go, I think you'll be impressed.