November’s Beauty Bag

Time again to have a look through my beauty bag and sadly it’s looking a bit sparse this month.  November saw more bath and skincare products so for those of you who are sick of me talking about foundation and mascara you’re in for a change.

I’m going to start with this month’s favourite, Jo Malone’s Vitamin E Body Balm. This was a gift and I have been using it the past few months. I wanted to give it a real go before it made it officially made it to my beauty bag and I’m so glad I waited. Body moisturisers are one thing I should use because my skin can get very dry but I don’t use them often enough. When I remember, I like to use one of my dear old friends, The Body Shop’s Body Butter in either Coconut or Olive but this is seldom. I do use them more in summer but come winter when I probably need it most I just can’t seem to incorporate it into my routine. So when I got Jo Malone’s Body Balm I thought it was going to be just another body moisturiser. Oh how I was wrong! It is a rich cream with a slight scent but nothing too overpowering. I try to use this daily and if I’m honest, I’m rather generous in my application. Despite the rich texture of the balm, it is so light and lovely on the skin. It absorbs nicely and throughout the day I often get a welcomed whiff of the lovely scent. I have been using it for at least 2 months, almost every day and what a difference it has made. My skin is permanently soft and moisturised and I really can’t believe the difference! It must be said, this is rather a pricey item and I wonder if I will buy it for myself when the tub is empty. At this stage, it will be very hard not to.

In complete contrast, this next product cost around €4. Take a look at Barry M’s Genie Lipstick. This purchase was prompted by an item on my wishlist, Lipstick Queen’s Frog Prince Lipstick , something I still haven’t purchased. By no means did I think Barry M’s version was a ‘dupe’, I just thought it would be a bit of fun. I really like the concept, that no two people would have the same shade of pink as the green reacts to the ph levels in your lips turning it a unique shade of pink. Or something along those lines. However with Barry M’s Genie Lipstick, there are more negatives than positives. The product doesn’t go on evenly and I find the colour picks up more on certain parts of my lips than others, leaving it looking blotchy. It goes on easy enough and feels more like a balm than a lipstick but you really need a lip liner to polish off the colour. I find that the colour actually gets pinker as the day goes on and it depends on your personal preference as to whether this is a positive or a negative. By the end of the day I’m ready to take it off as it is just too pink for me, but some may actually like that. I bought this for a bit of fun and it’s exactly that, a bit of fun.

Another product that has taken me by surprise is The Body Shop’s Coconut Bath Shower Gel Cream. I’m in love with anything coconut these days and this shower cream smells heavenly. As far as the texture goes, at first I didn’t like it. It felt to thick and I actually checked the bottle a few times as I thought I had mistaken it for moisturiser! That didn’t last long as I’m on my second bottle. Now I really like the texture and think of it as a moisturiser in the shower (even if that’s not what it is). My skin feels soft and amazing and combined with Jo Malone’s Body Balm, my dry skin is sorted!

Last item this month is one a different version of a product you’ve seen before. My love for the Bourjois Magic Nail Remover continues and I couldn’t wait to try the Hands and feet version. Same concept with an added sponge in the lid to take care of your toes. There is not much to say really other than I love this product!

Until next month.

xo