Christmas with the Body Shop

Hello!

With only a couple of days left until Christmas, I thought I'd create a little gift guide with a range of different products in from The Body Shop, for anyone who needs some last minute ideas - or just wants to treat themselves. I am lucky enough to work with The Body Shop over the Christmas period and all of these products have been tried, tested and LOVED by yours truly. This gift guide will be in price order, low to high for extra convenience, I'm helpful - I know.

Personalised Body Butter

Quite possibly my favourite gift this Christmas?! A body butter with not only my name on, but my favourite animal - a panda! You can grab one of these beauties at the bigger Body Shop stores around the country. Closest to me is the Meadowhall store in Sheffield, and the one in Leeds. The personalisation is free, all you have to do is pick your butter! You can have any name on - of course, and can choose from four animals: panda (my favourite), tiger (also a favourite), flamingo and a Bambi (sadly not the cute Disney animation, but you know what I mean). I chose to have the limited edition Christmas butter in Frosted Berries - a slight twist on last year's popular cranberry scent. This has some other berries mixed in and a light vanilla note. 

The formulation of this body butter is amazing. It's super lightweight, leaves a lovely, subtle smell throughout the day and sinks into the skin nicely without feeling greasy.

The Body Shop don't only have a body butter in this delicious scent though. You can grab a shower gel, bubble bath, scrub and even a candle in this beautiful scent from as little as £5. Such a bargain! 

Grab your Frosted Berries Body Butter here or in-store! Explore the rest of the range here - you will not regret it! 

Speaking of The Body Shop's Christmas range, they also released two other limited edition scents: Vanilla Chai which is super duper sweet - it smells as if you've just done some Christmas baking. 

They also re-vamped last year's apple scent, creating Spiced Apple. Admittedly, this flavour is not my favourite, but it is nicer than last year's. This year they added some spicy notes, making it so much more festive. If you were unsure of last year's apple range, I recommend you go in-store to have a smell of it.

Vitamin E Skincare Collection

Did someone say a suitable skincare gift for anyone? The Body Shop has you covered. 

'A daily hydrating routine infused with moisturing wheatgerm oil and protecting Vitamin E to cleanse, moisturise and protect skin. Our best-selling Moisture Cream is now powered with 100% naturally derived, biofermented,  hyaluronic acid for 48 hour locked in moisture'.

First of all, look at this packaging. It's adorable, I know. 

This is a £20 gift set containing Vitamin E Facial Wash, Hydrating Toner and the ever so popular Moisture Cream, for all Skin Types. These products should be £26 separately.

This is the perfect gift for anyone: people who love their skincare, people who don't have a skincare routine or anyone you are unsure one what to buy - everyone should look after their skin and this kit helps them with a step-by-step layout. Cleanse with the gentle face wash which does not dry the skin out - for me this leaves my skin feeling really smooth and soft. This can be used day and night, as can the toner. The toner is super hydrating, to the point where I feel as though I do not need to moisturise after. I do, but if I somehow forget I know for a fact my skin is not going to feel awful the following morning. This toner also preps the skin for anything you put on it afterwards; the moisturiser. I have used this moisturiser for YEARS and I stand by this. It is a thin, lightweight formula that sinks into the skin in seconds, leaving your skin feeling soft rather than greasy. Nothing compares to this moisturiser.

You can buy other items alongside these in the range as well. For example, you could create your own gift by adding the Vitamin E Night Cream - it does the exact same as the Moisture Cream, hydrating and protecting the skin, but contains more glycerin. Glycerin acts as glue in the cosmetic industry and simply ensures that your cream stays on all night, despite however much wriggling you do in your sleep.

This gift is a must! I bought this to treat myself as I managed to convince myself for years that I needed The Body Shop's Tea Tree range - an amazing range for anyone with oily or blemish-prone skin, but that's not me. My skin is dry and needs more moisture! I've used up the remainder of my Tea Tree products and my skin is feeling so much better. 

This gift is sold out online, but go in-store to see if you can nab yourself this set, or create your own gift.

The Finest Facial Mask Duo 

What can I say? Another skincare favourite. 

Earlier this year The Body Shop released five new face masks, each working some kind of miracle on your skin. All five are of course cruelty free, however these two face masks teamed up as they are both vegan. The perfect gift for a vegan friend of family member! 

   

I'm so glad these two masks are sold together as they are my favourites: The Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask and the British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask.

These cannot be found online, but can be bought separately. Pop into your local store to get yourself the cute box (it looks super cute in the bathroom).

'Inspired by Ayurvedic traditions, our tingling mud mask contains powerful Bamboo Charcoal, active exfoliating Green Tea leaves and potent Tea Tree Oil which combine to purify the skin and give it a new lease of life'. 

You know those gross face masks that cling and sink into your pores and kinda make you feel sick looking at yourself? This is one of those masks and I LOVE it for that reason. I have been using it a couple of times a week since getting this set and have noticed changes in my pores. It's clearly doing something! 

Although this is a charcoal mask, it isn't super drying. After using it my skin doesn't feel horrifically tight and it feels so smooth and clean. If you can see there are teeny tiny little chunks in this mask, and when you take this off these lightly exfoliate the skin. The Green Tea leaves make this mask smell beautiful and fresh. It's a pleasure every time I use this mask.

'Inspired by the European bathing rituals, our refreshing gel mask is infused with real rose petals, moisturising rose essence, toning rosehip oil and soothing aloe vera which combine to leave the skin plumped with moisture and visibly smooth'.

Yes, yes, and yes. If your skin is struggling with the cold then you need this in your life. Unlike the Charcoal Mask, this one does not dry down because of it's gel formula. This mask is super moisturising and leaves skin feeling so smooth and naturally dewy. I also never thought I'd say this - but the smell is gorgeous. I didn't think I liked rose, but I'm officially converted. 

This gift set is £30, or these masks are £15 each.

Spa of the World Blissful Ritual

Want to feel like you're at a spa without the horrific price? I got you.

'We explored the world to discover the most treasured ancient beauty rituals, cherished for their precious effects on skin. Infused with fine, natural ingredients, our refined textures and delicate fragrances will take your body and mind on the ultimate sensory journey. Making you feel so good inside and out'.

The Body Shop designed this range to give your the spa experience at home.

Hello, ugly winter lighting. 

This set includes Hawaiian Kukui Rich Nurturing Body Cream; 'Hawaiian women, exposed to the relentless sun for generations, have held the secret of kukui oil to nurture their skin. Bursting with luscious moisture, kukui oil restores skin's natural suppleness, leaving it nourished and glowing'.

This cream is so nice. It smells so beautiful and natural. It's a slightly thicker formulation but this doesn't stop it from sinking into the skin without feeling oily. This range is luxurious, and the price suggests this. However, these tubs are huge with 350ml of product, and as you can see, mine was literally filled to the brim.

To leave your skin feeling extra soft and luxurious, this set includes the Brazilian Cupuacu Scrub in Oil Nourishing Body Scrub; 'The cupuacu is the Amazonian secret for nourished skin, infused in oil and poured over fine salt crystals, it leaves your body smoothed and replenished with oil'.

What's nice about this scrub is that it's not too drying as it is layered with a lovely, hydrating oil. That way, if you have dry skin, this is not going to worsen it. You can mix this scrub to make the perfect consistency; if you need some extra hydration, use more oil. If you want a harsher scrub, avoid the oil.

The only downside: the lid!! Or the oil?! I can't decide, but this product leaks so easy, leaving an oily residue - you have been warned!

These two products smell amazing and go together so well. A match made in heaven! I probably would not buy this for myself again as it is quite expensive, nonetheless it is a beautiful gift. You can find it here - saving £8 if you were to buy these two items separately. 

Oils of Life Skincare Collection

The most expensive gift in my gift guide, the Oils of Life Skincare Collection. This is a fairly new skincare line The Body Shop have released and it is amazing. If you or if anyone you know has dry skin, they need this in their life.

'Pure extracts of life for your skin: three precious seed oils from around the world infused with highly sensorial textures. This daily life-infusing rituals brings new life to your skin'. 

Everybody at work talks about this so I decided to try the Oils of Life range. What better way than buying a gift set? This set includes the oil and daily moisturiser. Separately, these products should come to a total of £53, however in this gift set you are saving £13. This is much more hydrating than the Vitamin E range as it all oil-based. Perfect for the winter!

This facial oil is highly concentrated. You only need a few drops of this morning and night. Drop the mixture into your fingers, rub into your skin and then onto your face. This sinks in really quickly so you can apply your moisturiser on top.

This oil is made to deeply moisturise and revitalise skin, as well as combating early signs on ageing. I only use this in the morning, however it can be used at night as well. 

The day cream is slightly thicker than the Vitamin E moisture cream but it is very nice, and much more hydrating. It takes a little longer to sink into the skin, however, does not leave you looking or feeling oil. This can be applied alone or after the oil.

This would make an excellent gift for parents or grandparents, or even those you know with very dry skin. 

I hope you enjoyed this gift guide and that it has helped. If you have tried any of these products, what did you think about them?

Merry Christmas!

Heather ☾

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Lip Ammunition: Thoughts

Hello!

Last month, Jeffree Star published a video on his Youtube channel, swatching all of his new Lip Ammunition lipsticks. On September 30th they officially launched and I thought I would share some of my thoughts.

The Lip Ammunition lipsticks retail for $18 - like the Velour Liquid Lipsticks. Lip Ammunition lipsticks contain 0.12 oz of product whereas the liquid lipsticks contain 0.19 oz. Both products are  cruelty free and vegan. All but one of the shades for this launch have a satin finish, with one being a glitter finish. Jeffree claims that this formula only needs one swipe to become fully opaque as they are packed full of pigment. They are also scented to smell like ice cream.

As I was watching Jeffree's video I was a little disappointed with the amount of pink shades he had - I love his brand for his more bold lips so it was gutting not seeing shades like Breakfast At Tiffany's being released as a regular lipstick. Originally I thought all the pinks were too similar, but when I watched it again I could see how unique they were. I like the fact he's bringing some of his Velour Liquid Lipstick shades out in regular lipstick form - it would be nice if he turned some of his Lip Ammunition shades being made into a liquid lipstick too!

The packaging is beautiful and stays true to his Velour Liquid Lipsticks. Pink with gold detailing. I love that the lipstick is literally in a bullet, and how this corresponds to the name - Lip Ammunition. The small details count! They come in boxes just like the liquid lipsticks, with a nice outline of the lip bullet on.

Baby Spice

First I'll talk about the pink shades, so it is easier to see the differences between them all. Six out of ten of shades are pink.

This is Baby Spice. Jeffree describes this as a cool-toned medium pink.

This looks like a pink you could wear on a daily basis. It's a neutral shade that would go with many different looks. With it being a satin finish as well, it will be more comfortable to wear on the daily compared to his liquid lipsticks.

I'm not at all a pink lipstick kind of person, however I can see this looking amazing on a range of different people. It's very wearable.

Beauty Pageant 

This is the only glitter finish in this launch. He did hint that more glitter finishes would be released soon though.

Beauty Pageant is a soft pink glittery shade. It isn't a chunky glitter though, the formula is apparently very smooth! 

It definitely isn't as pigmented as his other Lip Ammunition lipsticks, but this is Jeffree's intention. He said lipsticks like this could be worn alone, or on top of other lipsticks to add some extra sass.

This shade looks incredible under the light as well!

Ex-Supermodel

Ex-Supermodel is a very soft pink - it's quite cool toned. For me this is a very unwearable shade, I definitely couldn't pull it off! It may also not suit some skin tones, but if you wanna prove me wrong then work it girl.

As you can see, compared to Baby Spice this shade is much more blue toned and a lot paler. Close to being that risque-frosty kind of pink.

Ice Cream BLVD

If you thought Ex-Supermodel was frosty, then stay well away from Ice Cream BLVD! It's even more cool toned and pale. Something I couldn't pull off for sure!

I must say, despite how pale Ex-Supermodel and Ice Cream BLVD are, they're super pigmented! That does impress me.

Jeffree's Girl

Out of all the pinks from the Lip Ammunition launch, Jeffree's Girl is a pink that I could brave! I love the name. It's similar to Baby Spice, but a bit louder and warmer.

Starfish

Starfish is a pink toned hot coral shade. For some reason throughout the video this shade didn't look as vibrant - the swatch on his website looks much more impressive.

If Prom Night and 7/14 had a child, I feel like this shade would be it.

Celebrity Skin

Celebrity Skin is of course from the Velour Liquid Lipstick line. I love that he's released this nude shade in a satin finish. On his swatches this lipstick looks like a cool toned brown. If it's the exact same as the liquid lipstick, then really this is much more of a warmer brown than it looks. It's still a lovely colour though.

Unicorn Blood

You couldn't release new lipsticks without a red! Much like Celebrity Skin, Unicorn Blood is one of the most popular colours from the liquid lipstick line. When he swatched this it looked sooo pigmented and creamy - I bet this will be a huge hit!

Grandaddy Purp

Moving onto the shades that are totally up my alley. Grandaddy Purp is a favourite of mine! I feel like this shade is the love child of I'm Royalty and Blue Velvet. The only thing is, I cannot imagine wearing a shade like this in a none-matte formula. I always feel like brighter shades like this should be a liquid lipstick or matte formula, because if it smudges it would look so bad - but that's personal preference!

Jeffree mentioned that with this shade you do have to work with it a little more - it's not a pigmented as the other shades. As you can see on his top lip, you need more than one stroke. This isn't a massive issue though.

 Of course, because of the satin finish, these lipsticks do transfer! 

Popsicle Dream

This shade is Popsicle Dream, a beautiful lilac colour. To me, I don't see much difference between this and Blow Pony. I would say that perhaps this shade is a little lighter and slightly more cool-toned. Again, this colour I think would suit a matte formula more. I like that fact that he is coming out with bold colours in this formula though! 




Those were my thoughts on the Lip Ammunition launch! I personally won't be purchasing any of these at the moment as I really can't get along with a satin finish on lipsticks. I am the type of person that gets it everywhere! However, Jeffree did mention coming out with different finishes - if he develops a matte formula in the Lip Ammunition range, then perhaps I would brave it! These lipsticks do look super creamy and pigmented though, I cannot wait to see what he's developing  for the Lip Ammunition range.

What are your thoughts?


Thanks for reading!

Heather ☾

Kat Von D Beauty: Hit or Miss

Hello!

This week all UK make up lovers are squirming in their seats as Debenhams launch something rather exciting: Kat Von D Beauty! They will be the first high street retailer in the UK to start selling Kat Von D's beauty line. On Tuesday the 13th, UK beauty addicts will FINALLY be able to get hold of Kat's products, without the extortionate shipping. 

I took it upon myself to review the one and only KVD palette I own: her Shade and Light Contour Eye Palette, so you can get a glimpse of whether her products are a hit or miss.

Earlier this year I visited Barcelona and took a trip to Sephora. When I went I had no idea what products I wanted, but could not resist trying some of Kat's products, so I picked up this palette and a liquid lipstick.

This palette cost me $45.90, which with today's exchange rates is £38.89 - similar to the price of an Urban Decay Naked Palette, or Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. 

The palette contains 12 shadows in total: 3 larger pans (0.08oz), and 9 smaller pans (0.04oz). The same amount of shadows you'd find in the Naked Palettes (0.05oz per shadow), whereas the Chocolate Bar Palettes tend to have around 16 shadows in (made up of 0.03oz each).

Kat Von D Beauty is also cruelty free, with most of the products being vegan. She is working on her non-vegan products so that the entire brand will be vegan.


This palette does not come with a brush. It has a pretty decent mirror inside, with a gorgeous frame. It comes in a box with the same design on as the palette - this has the shadow names on. 

Firstly, the packaging is incredible. It's unique and true to Kat. Of course everyone knows that she is an awfully talented artist; she designed the packaging herself, which I find a really lovely personal touch. It also feels pretty sturdy. I've travelled with this palette and had no issues.

Layout

The layout of the palette is also very unique. It's divided into thirds. The top three shades are designed to be base shades. Underneath these base shades are three shadows that correspond to the colour above. You can see the first third is made up of neutral brown shades, the second third is made up of cool tones, and the final third is made up of very warm shadows. I love the combination of colours that Kat chose for this palette. The first shade underneath the base is the contour shade - to contour the eye. Next to that is the define shade - to further define the crease or lash line. The lighter shades in the palette are the highlight shades which can be used in the inner corner or on the brow bone.

As you can see, all the shadows in the palette are matte - but they're not chalky. They are super smooth and easy to blend out. The pigment in this palette is out of this world - a little bit goes a long way. I find that it's great neutral everyday palette. It can be used to create a simple day look, or a deep night time smokey eye. For me this palette is also multi-functional.

By looking at the state of my palette, you can kind of see that there is quite a bit of kick off from this palette, or excess powder. You do have to tap off your brush, which sucks watching all that spare product go to waste. As I just mentioned though - you only need a little bit of product. The mixture of the layout and kick off of this palette can be inconvenient: the white is placed right next to the black and red in this palette, which means that when I use these shades, the kick off can land in the white, so you have to be careful when picking up the product. 

Swatches

This is the first third of the palette. Laetus (base), Samael (contour), Solas (define) and Lucius (highlight).

I love Samael and Solas - these are beautiful shadows! I do find Lucius and Laetus however to be a little bit too similar - Laetus has a hint more yellow in than Lucius.

These are the more cool tones in the palette. Lazarus (base), Saleos (contour), Shax (define) and Liberatus (highlight). 

Lazarus is one of my favourite shades in the palette as I can use this to contour my face as well, so I'm glad it is one of the bigger pans. Shax is one of the most pigmented blacks I have ever seen in a palette. Lucius can sometimes need a little bit of building up, but it is a true white shadow, so this could be due to the nature of white shadows.

This is my favourite part of the palette, the warm tones. Ludwin (base), Succubus (contour), Sytry (define) and Latinus (highlight). 

Every shadow in this third is packed full of pigment. At first I thought Sytry would be too similar to the other browns in the palette, but it is very unique.

Here I created a warm toned look using this palette. I used Laetus all over my lid and under the eye. I then used Ludwin in my crease and on the outer third of my eye, kind of to act like a transition shade so I could use Succubus to deepen the crease. These two shades I mixed for the bottom lash line. To add a little more depth I added Sytry in the outer corner. I then added a smokey wing under my eye using shax, and smudged this out.

Here you can see that I used Lazarus to contour my face.

It gives a very subtle contour. As it's cool toned I think it looks very natural. This could be built up as well to make a very strong contour. This works well on me with my light skin tone, but I don't think it could work for people with a darker skin tone. You could always experiment and mix different shades together though.

I have also used Liberatus to set and brighten my under eye area before. It looked nice, however it's quite hard not to pick up the surrounding shades due to it being in a smaller pan.

Hit or Miss?

I was hesitant purchasing this palette as it is all matte - I love glitter! Actually I've discovered that for a quick everyday look, this palette is ideal because of how simple and matte it is. I'm also a massive fan of warm shadows, so seeing that a third of this palette is completely cool tone worried me. This has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone though, and incorporate some cool toned shadows into my everyday looks.

Overall, this palette is an absolute hit. The shadows are so creamy and pigmented, unlike other matte shadows I've tried. There is a variety of shadows, but not to the point where the palette is over whelming. It would suit a variety of skin tones as well as eye colours, due to the amount of depth in the palette. If Kat's other palettes are this high quality, then I need to try those also.

Comparison

I thought I'd compare Kat Von D's Shade and Light Eye Palette to Make Up Revolution's newest palette: Ultra Eye Contour - Light and Shade. This palette retails for £8.00 and includes a brush. Make Up Revolution are also cruelty free, however I don't think that they are vegan. 

Here you can see the Make Up Revolution Ultra Eye Contour. 

Right off the bat, the name of the palettes are very similar, revolving around eye contouring. 

The layout is identical. The website however does not talk about the pan size. From pictures, they do look slightly smaller. Unlike Kat's palette, this palette is made from plastic - not quite as sturdy as the original Shade and Light Palette.

I decided to compare the swatches of these two palettes. The swatches of the Make Up Revolution palette was taken from their Instagram. The swatches are below. I edited Kat's shade names on top to make for easy comparison.

As you can see, Laetus is slightly lighter in Revolution's palette, and Kat's is more yellow toned. The pigmentation however looks alike.

In the original Shade and Light Palette, Lazarus is much more of a cool toned taupe. Revolution's looks darker and by looking at the swatch, the formula isn't as smooth. This would probably look similar when worn on the eye though.

Revolution's Ludwin is so close to being an exact dupe! Kat's simply looks a hint warmer.

Samael again is very similar. Kat's is just a few shades lighter. This would probably look the same on the eye.

Make Up Revolution's Solas looks quite a bit darker than the original, but with a light hand would look similar on the eye.

Lucius actually looks more pigmented in Revolution's palette. Kat's is more cool toned though.

Saleos is a shade darker in the Revolution palette. Applied with a light hand, it would look the same on the eye.



Shax is definitely not as pigmented in the Revolution palette, to the point where it looks more of a charcoal grey. Kat's is more of a true pitch black. Make Up Revolution's could probably be built up nicely.

Liberatus looks more cream in Revolution's palette when compared to Kat's. It looks like they're equally as pigmented.

Succubus appears to be a decent dupe. Revolution's is just a little darker. It probably wouldn't look any different on the eye.

Sytry is definitely more pigmented in Kat's palette - Revolution's looks a little more patchy. Kat's is also more warm toned.

Finally Latinus: again, these are probably an exact dupe of each other. Even the pigmentation looks the same.


Is Make Up Revolution's palette an exact dupe to the Kat Von D one? It's pretty close.
Quite a few of the shades are a little darker than the original palette, but with a light hand and some blending they would give the same effect on the eye. Some shades may need building up a little more as they can be quite patchy, but this is standard for most shadows. The biggest difference is probably the formulation: Make Up Revolution shadows aren't normally as buttery as Kat's, but for this palette they have changed their formula. Perhaps this does feel similar to Kat Von D's.
It's important to note that I haven't bought this Make Up Revolution palette or even swatched it. I've just compared the two based on someone else's swatches. I would say swatch Revolution's palette in store to see if it's a formula you like.

I would definitely say that if Kat Von D's palette is out of your budget, then you really don't need it. Make Up Revolution have come up with a dupe for what could be £30 less.


Thank you so much for reading. Hopefully you can get hold of some of Kat's products when they are released, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


Heather ☾

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