Xmas 2015 / The Best of the Rest

Wow! I can't believe that another year is gone by and it's Christmas again. 

For me is especially bittersweet: my daughter was born in January and it is scary that this first year went so fast [plus, I'm back to work from maternity leave in January too :( - booooo]

Today in my last Christmas instalment, I'm sharing some gift ideas that are also perfect as a token of appreciation from self-to-self and for stocking up on some essential and talking advantage of great savings too.

First of all, from the website http://abeautifulworld.co.uk that stocks some exclusive international brands, not easily available in the UK otherwise.

Everytime I visit their page, my wishlist gets bigger and bigger - for example, I love their bundles with different brands like the one below; Indie Lee is a fantastic brand and the bath salts from Marble & Milkweed sound A-ok too.

For a quick stocking filler, these bottles from Plant definitely make an original and fun gift.

REN also have fabulous gifts with some great savings! These are perfect to stock up on your favourite products and come with an handy beauty bag too; Stop Being So Sensitive!  contains the Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk which I find great to use in the mornings and I think it would work for any skin type too.

Get Your Glow On! has everything you need for radiant complexion and especially the Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial which is a miracle worker and one of my Holy Grails!

Finally, Arbonne Christmas selection is nearly all sold out actually - well, no wonder with such good deals! I have an in-dept post about this brand, so you can read more here.

The Magical Minis Holiday Stocking is filled to the brim with minis and the perfect way to get an introduction to the brand.

... and the Pineapple Papaya Lip Balm sounds like something I can easily get addicted to!

So that's all for now... I hope you all have a Joyous Christmas and plenty of quality time with your families!

xxx

Introducing / Arbonne

Few weeks ago, I had the chance to try some Arbonne products; a friend of mine is an Arbonne representative and asked for an honest and unbiased opinion about their ranges. 

If you're not too familiar with the brand, Arbonne was born in the USA and they are celebrating 35 years this year.

They were one of the first, back in the eighties, to really look at the science of nature and how to harvest the power of the plants.

The FC5 range is named like that because it encapsulates fresh cells from  5 fruits & vegs: kiwi, strawberry, carrot, mango and pumpkin.

The Arbonne FC5 Moisturizing Night Creme is suitable for every skin type; it has a cooling gel consistency, light on the skin and a fresh scent.

The Arbonne FC5 Exfoliating New Cell Scrub is a creamy face exfoliator that is gentle enough that can be used daily; I was actually amazed how effective it was from the first use: I used it before bed and the morning after my skin was incredibly soft to the touch. It's now become an addiction to use it every evening!

The Arbonne FC5 Ultra-Hydrating Hand Creme is a lovely hand cream with the refreshing signature smell of this line, absorbs quickly and doesn't leave any sticky residue.

Arbonne FC5 Ultra-Hydrating Hand Creme

Arbonne FC5 Exfoliating New Cell Scrub

Arbonne FC5 Moisturising Night Creme

From their make up selection, I tested the Arbonne MakeUp Primer which is a primer (doh) that create a smooth surface to apply your base on. 

It reminds me of the Daniel Sandler Retexturing Face Primer, but with a better INCI; I love these silicony-feeling type of primers - I find they work really well to fill in pores, fine lines and prolong foundation wear.

The Arbonne It's A Long Story Mascara has a plastic, spiky type of wand that is my favourite kind and it's bendy so you can easily grab the small lashes too; it wore well for the whole day, I was just not too keen on the floral scent (but I'm renownedly very sensitive to smells)

Arbonne MakeUp Primer

We also tried their baby products.

First off, the Arbonne Baby Care Hair & Body Wash was my favourite of the lot!

I especially loved it as a shampoo; it rinsed easily and left my baby girl hair super fluffy and soft.

In the bath also, you need the tiniest amount.

Following the routine, the Arbonne Baby Care Body Lotion is light and absorbs quickly - soooooo important with a squirmy baby that doesn't enjoy massages ;)

Then, the Arbonne Baby Care Nappy Cream has a thick consistency to create a protective barrier, but it spread easily and has a lovely 'baby' scent. Definitely a staple of any nursery!

Arbonne Baby Care Nappy Cream

 Arbonne Baby Care Body Lotion

Finally, I couldn't resist to place a cheeky order too.

I got the Arbonne Seasource Detox Spa Renewing Body Gelee - a body cream that contains ocean's natural ingredients and minerals for an extra pampering and beautifying care for the body.

It's super fresh on the skin and ideal after a late night gym session, to hydrate the skin and sooth sore muscles. I find I definitely sleep better too.

I also bought the Arbonne Calm Soothing Eye Gel that comes with a roller ball applicator to help de-puff and it's super quick to apply; as a busy mum, I definitely appreciate that and I like to keep it in the fridge to enhance the cooling effect.

So, have you heard of Arbonne before? Please, feel free to check my friend Gillian Facebook page for more insight and tips about this brand. Happy discovering! :)

GlossyBox - November Edition

ARBONNE FC5 Cooling Foot Creme

I didn't enjoy using this product, purely for the smell.

The cream is, definitely, very fresh and pleasant on the skin at the end of the day or after the gym but the smell really put me off.

It's true it's made with 'fresh kiwi cell' but I don't know how people can say it smells like kiwis. Honestly, I can only think they never ate the fruit before. To me, It had a really strong and pungent chemical scent (which ok, It only goes on my feet - I can live with that, I thought) but it totally totally intoxicated my bathroom every time I used it. I swear, I could still smell it the morning after AND leaving the bathroom window open all night!!!

Personally, I can positively say I'm not going to purchase it for that reason, which could be an important factor for somebody else, but I'm really smell sensitive and the minor 'upset' could trigger an headache for me.

I'd be curious to see if the hand cream also smells the same - anybody tried both??

DEAD SEA SPA MAGIK Dead Sea Bath Salts

I'm a big fan of Dead Sea Spa Magik.

I was using their Algimud Peel-off Body Mask about 3 years ago regularly but unfortunately, my local Debenhams stopped stocking it so I has becoming a bit of a pain to buy it.

I'm glad I'm having the chance to be re-introduced to this brand again and to try other products too - in fact I'm a 'believer' of the dead sea, mud and seaweed benefits.

I'm using these salts to add extra goodness to my bath but apparently, you can also make a concentrate solution for aching hands and feet and re-use it for up to 2 weeks, simply re-heating it.

It's also a generous sample here: I can easily see 4/5 baths coming out of it. 

MONU Skin Perfector

THE HOLY GRAIL!!!

I love love love this cream - I'm so excited even writing about it. I've been using it like a  2-in-1 morning moisturiser/primer, the days I put make up on. I haven't used another primer since I received this one.

I really like everything about it: the smell is a nice soft waking up experience and it feels so light on the skin. I feel it creates a perfect smooth canvas on my face.

I know, a couple of different versions were sent out and I'm desperately trying to get my hands on the Recovery Balm as well - so, pretty please, if you have one that you don't want I'm prepared to give it a good home. :)))

NAIL ROCK Designer Nail Wraps

I'm not excited about these. I haven't even used the toe wraps that I received a couple of boxes ago, yet. I'm curious to try this new trend which is 'nail wrapping' but the pattern, that I received, is really not me - hopefully, I'll manage to swap them for some other one.

SERGE LUTENS L'Eau Serge Lutens & Vitriol d'Oeillet

and finally, the perfume samples, of course!

If I need to pick one, I prefer the white one (L'Eau) but I'm not going to wear neither of them, honestly.

I tried to flog the black to my fiancé - since both fragrances are unisex - but he also didn't like it.

So, there you go - both fragrances failed both sexes!

You heard me complaining about perfume samples before; I, also, find that these wee flacons are not appealing at all - do you remember the Lalique bottle from the beginning? That was a nice object per se (or check the one my sister got in the italian GlossyBox) and I felt an effort was made.

All in all this wasn't a great box but it was good: I discovered Monu - a brand which I never heard about before and that now I want to try every single product!!!
On that principle, I can't complain really because that's what these boxes are all about!

What are your thoughts on these products?