Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 24

Day 24 - Liz Earle Superskin Moisturiser

... and finally a rich moisturizer for very dry or mature skin.

It's not really targeted for me but this is a really generous sample and the pot is so cute.

I will try it out as a night cream and see if I can make it work for me, anyway.

So, that's the end of the calendar - booo - but on the bright side tomorrow is  Christmas - Yay :)

In general, I'd give this calendar a 8.5/10 - a great range of products but I'd have liked to see some make up items too.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

xxx

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 23

Day 23 - Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask

Fantastic - This is one of my all time favourite masks. I really recommend you try it too... if you want to know more: full review here.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 22

Day 22 - Liz Earle Daily Eye Repair

Yay - Happy to find this eye cream. I've been wanting to try it for ages.

 I read great things and I'm very pleased it also contains spf10.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 21

Day 21 - Liz Earle Smoothing Line Serum

Another very nice offering - I'm hoping they kept the best for last! ;)

I love serums and looking forward to see if this makes a difference to the appearance of my skin.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 20

Day 20 - Liz Earle EyeBright Soothing Eye Lotion

Another best seller and favourite of mine; it just came at the right time as I have finished my full size bottle, recently!

This lotion has been a total savior for my itchy hayfeverish eyes, past Spring. Highly recommended!

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 19

Day 19 - Liz Earle Foot Repair Moisturiser

I'm very pleased to see this product in today's window - I will enjoy using it with the foot scrub.

Perfect for an evening pampering session! :)

Haul / House of Fraser

'Evening Ladies!

Just a quick heads up: if you're on O2 and download their priority moments app, there's a promo code to use in House of Fraser. You need to spend £40 and you'll get a voucher worth £15 (to be spent in January 2013)... not bad at all. 

Anyway, I was in town on Saturday and went to pick up a couple of things that I've been wanting to try for a bit - It was also 10% off beauty department... double whammy!! ;)

Laura Mercier Radiance Foundation Primer

I swatched this in SpaceNK few months ago, just out of boredom, and I was hooked.

It made my skin looks so healthy and radiant (dah!) and it went straight on my wishlist.

I have also seen it in many youtube videos and it does make the skin look beautiful.

It's a rosy/champagne shade and it's supposed to shine through your foundation and - as you can see in the picture below - it makes a huge different to my hand. I can't wait to try it out!!!

Nars Blush in Sin

I've been pondering to buy this one for a while; I tend to prefer warmer toned blushers so I pretty much checked it out every time I'm at a Nars counter but I was never convinced enough to buy it. 

Until the lovely saleslady tried it on me - It was instant love! I couldn't believe how this cool shade suited my skin in such a discrete way.

Sin is a deep plum, berry shade with just a tiny bit of gold sheen - Perfect for winter!

I can see myself pile it on my cheeks until march - definitely a new staple in my collection.

About the voucher: last year, I treated myself to a Bobbi Brown lippie - I'm thinking of getting another lipstick... Tom Ford anyone??! :D

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 18

Day 18 - Liz Earle Foot Scrub

Fab! Probably my favourite product from the calendar, so far. 

Absolutely a luxury item, containing pumice and avocado oil. It'll be refreshing - thanks to the peppermint - and smelling lovely, too.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 17

Day 17 - Liz Earle Energising Body Wash

loving all the essential oils and ingredients in this product... looking forward to try it out in the shower soon.

I adore the scrub from this line so I will use them together to get the most out of them.

FlavrBox / November Edition

ooohhhh, It's always exciting to receive a box full of yummy goodies... and this is the BEST box so far, in my opinion! Here I give you november's FlavrBox:

Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company - Cheddar Cheese Straws

I had to open these within 3 minutes of getting the box *greedy*

They taste even better than I expected - they are like puff pastry sticks, full of cheeseness flavours (of course, you must love cheese and I personally would marry cheese, if I could!). NEEDTOFINDMOREOFTHESE!!!

Rossini's Rub - Panch Phoron

I must say I'm not a big fan of marinades because I don't like meat and don't cook it from scratch very often; also, I prefer my vegetables 'au naturel'. This tin is a pretty generous size and could last for years, I reckon. They suggest to mix the seeds with some oil to create a paste - great tip and will give it a go with some fish.

Jing Tea - Ali Shan Tea

This is a seriously weak tasting tea (or maybe I can't bloody brew it properly).

Anyway, it is very very light in taste which is not such a bad thing because I can avoid to put any sweetener in it. It's described as hearty and refreshing and yes, that is just spot on - I couldn't find better words to describe it myself.

These are actually tea pearls, which I had never tried before, and  can be re-used three/four times, apparently.

Sundowner - Parmesan, Olive & Rosemary Biscotti

I can't deny these biscotti (more like crackers?!) taste very familiar - parmesan & olives are part of the typical italian diet and some of my favourite things... so I could only end up loving them!

Apart from the burst of authentic flavour, I was pleasantly surprised to find them quite moist and not dry, thanks to the olives.

I also received the nut mix from Sundowner, last month, but I haven't had the chance to try them yet.

The Pelagonia Range - Aivar

Another utterly delicous product! If you can only try 1 product from this box, I have to recommend this one.

It takes so authentic and fresh and with high quality ingredients.

Apparently, this brand works in partnership with over 650 families from the Pelagonia valley, in the south-west of Macedonia. They source and create these delicious, authentic recipes from the region and they taste sooo natural that you would think they had just been made in front of your eyes and not our of a jar.

Aivar, in particular, is a blend of roasted peppers and aubergine that can be cooked with chicken, as pasta sauce or simply as a spread. I rocked it with the cheese straws and the Sundowner biscotti!

Chocca Mocca - Real Raspberries Dipped in Fine Dark Chocolate

...and finally dessert!

Delicious raspberry coated in dark chocolate - I love dark chocolate!

Great way to satisfy your sweet tooth and cutting few calories in the process.

I got to say that these boxes never, never fails to please... unfortunately, this is gonna be my last box for a while... back on diet after Christmas. :(

Check out the previous boxes here and here.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 16

Day 16: Liz Earle Energising Body Lotion

umm, another body lotion - not too thrilled (see day 5). This will also go to a better home.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 15

December, the 15th - Liz Earle Energising Body Scrub

I love this stuff and I have already gone through two tubes.

I will save this sample for when I'm travelling - perfect!

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 14

December, the 14th - Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner

Yes, as expected from yesterday's post, here is the conditioner too. Very pleased to have the combo and give both a proper try. They smell lovely!

FOTD - Roller Derby

... went to the roller derby... was pretty cool! :)

Face: Benefit PoreFessional, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 52 Vanilla, Giorgio Armani Master Corrector in pink, Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer in 07 warm light, Neal's Yard Remedies Mineral Blusher in 54 peony, Bobbi Brown Brightening Finishing Powder in Brightening Nudes, Mac Mineralize SkinFinish in Soft & Gentle;

Eyes: Mac Paint Pot in Painterly, Urban Decay eyeshadows in Roach & Breathless, Benefit Eye Bright, Kiko Building Base mascara, Ellis Faas mascara;

Lips: Ted Baker lip pen.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 13

December, the 13th - Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo

This is truly great! I've been meaning to change to greener shampoos and conditioners - 50ml is a very decent size, both for trying out the product or for travelling. Hoping to find the conditioner tomorrow, hehe ;)

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 12

December, 12th - Liz Earle Superbalm

ohhhh half way there already :(

Another promising item! This is an emergency multi-use balm for soothing and rescuing dry skin. Perfect for cuticles, lips, elbows, hands... it comes in a purse-friendly little jar - cute! 

Review / Essensity Volumising Pudding by Schwarzkopf

I first saw the Essensity line by Schwarzkopf whilst browsing on Hairtrade.com

Hairtrade.com is one of Uk's leading online retailers of hair extensions, hair care and beauty products.

The packaging - straight away - looks sleek and clean and reading through, I found out the line revolves around raw ingredients like freshly  freeze-dried  organic essence of red vine bud, tapioca roots and organic ash tree bark and hops.

The whole line has a special natural formula - free from artificial fragrances, silicones, paraffin, mineral oils and parabens and it's mostly biodegradable; the packaging is also 100% recyclable.

So, I was very excited by these promises and surprised that I had never heard of this range before.

I was pleased to received Essensity Volumising Pudding* to try out.

As mentioned before, the main ingredient is red vine buds which are rich in nutritive substances like amino acids, enzymes, oligo-elements and sugars.

I've been applying this product on wet hair, when using my hairdryer to add some extra volume to my roots.

I must admit, I'm not the most skilled with hairdos and I don't spend much time styling my hair (and you can tell), so I wanted a product easy to use but that would add a little extra dimension to my plain, old blow-dry.

This product is fantastic - It adds that extra wa-wa-woom effortlessly and I can't stop swooshing my hair around and playing with them because they feel so soft.

The formulation is really nice too: it's not sticky and a little goes a long away. 

It provides a strong hold so it comes in handy when using tools like curling tongs, as well.

Definitely well impressed with this line and highly recommend it, if you want to try a more natural approach to haircare. Essensity includes shampoos and conditioners for different type of hair, hydrating paste, styling juice and I want to try more myself!

Have you used this product before?

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 11

December, 11th - Liz Earle Hand Repair

I'm looking forward to see how it works together with yesterday's hand wash.

Hand Repair: I'm hoping this is an high duty cream because my hands are in desperate need of extra attention. :(

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 10

December, the 10th - Liz Earle Orange Flower Hand Wash

Lovely - I recently discovered this fragrance in Day 4... very nice to have the hand wash, too. The formula is great to nourish dry hands like mine,thanks to the pro-vitamin B5 and essential oils.

Empties / November

Face Products:

Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser - I received this in a beauty box a loooong time ago! Not the best cleanser I have ever used but not even the worst. The consistency is perfect for the Clarisonic (weirdly enough, right?!) but it doesn't leave the squeaky clean feeling, maybe too gentle for me?

Repurchase: probably not.

Elemis Absolute Eye Serum - another one bites the dust. This is a staple in my beauty regime and I can't live without this eye serum. Full review here.

Repurchase: Hell yeah! I already have a back up. ;)

Lanolips 101 Ointment - one of the best lip balm, I have ever tried. Definitely in my Top3. The consistency can be quite hard to squeeze out but then it melts on the lips and apparently, it's better than the petroleum in the Vaseline.

It also doesn't irritate my lips, which is a huge bonus... I often get rashes from lipsticks :(

Repurchase: Yep, I already have the lemonaid version in my stash!

Body Products:
Ahava Mineral Body Lotion in Water - another offering from the beauty boxes. I don't usually do 'plain' body lotions but I love the smell of this one. I've been using it for special occasions, before a night out because it makes your skin smell amazing and leaves it super soft.
Repurchase: Maybe, as a treat.
The Body Shop Body Scrub in Pink Grapefruit - these are my new favourite body scrubs. Love the consistency, very effective, and this scent in particular makes me verrrry happy. I adore pink grapefruit!
The only thing that I'm not crazy about is the tub: not the most convenient to use in the shower.
Repurchase: Absolutely yes!
Collistar Intensive Anticellulite Serum - Collistar is an italian brand, available in Sephora in Italy so I guess in other Sephoras in Europe, too... I have never seen it in Uk, tho.
It's a great brand that I highly recommend to try out. Their body line is one of the most effective against cellulite, especially the Talasso scrub (put that on your wishlist, ladies!). This body serum also has a very light and easily absorbed consistency so it's perfect for morning applications; I go back to this product over and over again. They also do make up and skincare... an exciting brand all round!
Repurchase: Yes.

Liz Earle Advent Calendar / 9

9th December - Liz Earle Botanical Essence Eay de Parfume No1

Oh man, just a quick spritz of it and I'm already in love.

I really like the new fragrance but I like this one even more - already residing in my purse! :)