Monday, 11 March 2013

Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Scrub

The Hubby and I have an allotment, something I might do a future post on, if anyone is interested, but we do have one.  The lack of garden really drove both of us insane because we like to grow things.  I love those little grow kits that I can put all over my house to grow fruit and vegetables and naturally my allotment is full of fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and flowers.
My Allotment - Shed, Pumpklin, Potatoes and Beetroot

I am sure you can imagine that being on the  allotment, digging, weeding, digging some more, pulling up the weeds, and sowing seeds involves using all differing kinds of tools and accessories and they all take their toll on your hands as well as leaving you with aching muscles you didn't know you had. Whilst wearing gloves my hands do get a bit sweaty so more often than not I remove them and this leads to my hands become dry, chapped and sometimes end up becoming all blistered around the pressure pads on the palms of my hands making them look horrid and feeling sore to the touch. 
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Every so often I need a decent hand scrub and it is something I have found really hard to do.  I need something that I could get my hands on pretty quick and something that would act as an exfoliant but also a moisturiser. In the past I have used many products which fit this category and typically they had all run out, so faced with a dilemma I asked a friend of mine what she would use and bless her she sent me a tube of Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Scrub with Pumice and it comes in a 195g Tube. 


What they say


After a long day shuffling soil, treat your hands to our popular Gardeners Hand Scrub, formulated with soothing comfrey herbs. Two sizes of ultra-fine pumice work together to gently lift soil from hands and nails. Fragranced with fresh green clover, lavender, sage rosemary and thyme, our Gardeners Hand Scrub with Pumice is the perfect end to a day in the garden.
  • Gentle on skin
  • Ultra-fine pumice
  • Cleans hands and nails
The tube is quite picturesque in that it is a clear plastic tube with a flip top lid which is nicely rounded to allow it to stand upright on a flat surface. Through the tube itself you can see a slightly murky green coloured liquid which clearly has bits in it because you can see them quite clearly; these bits of course are the pumice which I have already mentioned too, with the name of the product. Finally the label on the front of the tube features the brand and name of the product and then for a picture there is a rather gangly looking gardener tending to his (it looks like a him) plants. 

To use the instructions are quite clear, once you have washed your hands and removed as much dirt, mud and anything else you might have on your hands and then patted them dry, remember if you have been gardening and your hands are sore, you don't want to be vigorously rubbing them dry, it will hurt! So once your hands are dry you might well notice that you haven't been able to remove every last bit of mud and dirt, which I find really annoying and you might well notice you have a callous or two on the palm of your hand where you have been weeding and digging, all you need to do is ensure your sink or bowl has some warm (not hot) water ready and then once your hands are wet apply a blob of this scrub to the palm of one hand and then gently massage it into your hands as much as you can. As you massage it into your hands you should be able to feel some slight rubbing from the pumice stone as it removed dead skin and ingrained soil from your hands. 

The smell of this scrub is much nicer than I expected it to be. I have a thing about green products in that I always expect them to smell really horrible and vile but I was pleasantly surprised with this scrub because it has three main scents which are all mixed together and they are Fresh green clover, lavender, sage rosemary and thyme which combined results in quite a strong smell of lavender for me which I am quite a fan of and you can ever so slightly pick up on the sage. This product also contains Pumice which a lot of people use as a pumice stone to exfoliate dead skin from their feet, in this case the stone itself is broken up into tiny pieces and when blended with a cream it does the exact same job. Next comes Rosemary leaf which is a deodoriser for the skin but it also acts as an anti-oxidant and. Finally there is Aloe Vera Juice which has many benefits to the skin but in this case it is used mainly to heal, reduces redness and itching and it also forms a protective barrier around achy and sore joints and muscles. But most importantly soothe and nourish the skin because it contains both Vitamin E and C. 

So adding all of those ingredients together you got a product which works to remove ingrained dirt from your skin, remove dead skin and act as an antiseptic to fight infections from any open wounds you may have and then it soothes, nourishes and softens the skins and attempts to leave your hands in as good a condition after all your hard work as they were before you started. So how does it fare? I have to say that I am really impressed with the product; I like the smell of it, the feel and texture of it and the fact that it isn't too harsh on my skin. Whenever I have been down my allotment I do tend to have sore points on the palms of my hands below my fingers and the thought of putting pressure on them did fill me with dread, but this scrub is really kind to the skin and it definitely does soothe. There is an entire range devoted to Gardeners which all looks really lovely, though I haven't tried it.


Would I buy it? I am not too sure, it wouldn't be something I would rush out to buy, but I do like it. When it comes to the price a tube containing 195g will cost you £13 from the Crabtree & Evelyn shop and it does have a long shelf life as long as you keep it out the sunlight and somewhere cool to ensure all of the ingredients stay fresh and when you do use it, again it will last depending on how often you use it like all products within this area, if you use it daily it wont last as long as it would if you used it weekly but as there is no guidance as to how often you should and shouldn't use it you can simply use your own judgment. 

I simply like the fact it relates to gardeners, it is designed to treat areas of the body which gardening affects the most and it smells nice and is kind to the skin.

Saturday, 9 March 2013

Primark Haul!!

I won't lie - I love Primark and can happily spend hours wandering around looking at everything and indeed I do tend to buy a fair bit from there.

My latest purchases come from the 'Home' section, usually I tend to stick to clothes, but my local Primark expanded and the Home section grew a little bit bigger and now it stocks towels, bedding, cushions and other items you might want or need.

I am obsessed with candles, I have them in every room of the house and my recent purchases are these:


These candles cost a mere £2 each and they come in a variety of scents.  I chose Coconut and mango because when I opened the lid on one to smell it, I loved it straight away.  As you can see, the candle, which is white in colour, is encased in a lovely tin which is almost a lilac colour under the light.

The best thing about them, other than the scent which is simply divine, is the fact that they burn for 25 hours, the same as a small Yankee Candle Jar.  An absolute bargain!  I keep both of my candles in the bathroom, these are the second ones I have bought and even if you don't use them, they still omit the lovely scent.

Naturally, that isn't all I bought! Let me introduce you to a further product from this range:


You'll have to excuse the poor photographs, but this is a Reed Diffuser in exactly the same scent as the candles shown above and again it is totally divine.  It costs £3 and is packaged inside a cardboard box with the reeds themselves wrapped up to protect them.  Once the box is opened and you have followed all of the instructions, really easily, you simply place it somewhere within your home and the first thing you will notice after an hour or two is that the scent has come alive. 

I am really surprised at how long lasting they are too, past experiences with products like these is not a good one, infact I have been quite disappointed in every Reed Diffuser I have tried and that being the case, I haven't tempted fate by trying a Yankee Candle version!  I bought this Reed diffuser in the last week of January and here it sits on my shelf today with this much left:

So as you can see there is just over half the bottle left after 5 and a half weeks and this diffuser is constantly in use, it never moves off the shelf and the scent is just as strong now as it was when I first bought it.  Naturally to keep the scent strong, you should regularly flip the Reeds, which I do on a weekly basis.

Have you ever tried these products from Primark?  Do you have a favourite scent?  Would you even purchase them?

Friday, 8 March 2013

So Simple, So Smooth, So Fab!


I have always had a fairly good skincare regime; it was on some advice of my Grandma when I was quite young who said I should always take care of my skin.  For years I stuck to using Johnson’s Baby Lotion, a smell I adore and a product that isn't overly expensive.  I have always cleansed and exfoliated but never quite found the best Toner and the former two never quite the product that I could swear I would always use and never buy anything else, I have over the years chopped and changed.

When I was asked if I would like to try something from the Simple Skincare range I jumped at the chance.  I had never used anything from this brand before but had heard a few friends mention how good it was and such great value.  A week or so later a package duly arrived and inside I was greeted with three products:
  • Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes
  • Simple Kind to Skin revitalizing eye roll-on
  • Simply Kind to Skin Replenishing 12 hour moisture Cream

I am going to start with the Cleansing Facial Wipes and review the other two separately.
Over the years I have had a love hate relationship with facial wipes, they have either left my skin feeling too dry or they haven’t removed all the make-up they have claimed they will but as a product they could be so convenient and less time-consuming than the task needed to be.  So for the last few years I haven’t bothered using them, instead I have used other products in their place and been satisfied.  Simple say “Our Cleansing Facial Wipes refresh and nourish your skin plus remove waterproof mascara. Our wipes contain a perfect blend of our purest possible skin loving ingredients with an added vitamin” and then it is good to note that these wipes is that they claim to have:
  • 1 ADDED VITAMIN  - PRO-VITAMIN B5 known to help restore, soften and smooth 
  • NO ALCOHOL, NO OIL 
  • NON DRYING and NO GREASY residue 
  • NO DYES
  • NO ARTIFICIAL PERFUMES
  • NO HARSH IRRITANTS to upset skin 


Excellent news and as you remove them from the packet really easily, is how soft the wipe actually is, it isn't wringing wet through either which I have found with similar products and this I liked from the start.  There is no chemical aroma smell which again gets the thumbs up from me and as you use them on your face, they are so soft you could almost be using a piece of Muslin cloth to clean your face.  The first time I used these wipes, I have to admit I was a little bit shocked.  Its like the first time you get a Dyson Hoover and clean your carpet only to suddenly feel like a total tramp because of all the dirt and dust it picks up, despite the fact you hoover three times a day.  Imagine what came off my face onto this wipe the first time I used one, it was seriously gross and I almost considered not using the wipes again incase it was some kind of trick, but my skin felt so soft and smooth after using them and my face felt clean.  These wipes are designed to gently cleanse your face and I was impressed to find that they are really effective at removing all traces of make-up and even my mascara which is BeneFit ‘They’re Real’ which can be a nightmare to remove, was gone.  Add to that how soothing they are to your skin when applied, delightful.


These wipes also no not irritate my eyes  or make them itchy, they don’t cause any reactions with my skin and as I sometimes wear contact lenses, I was impressed to find that these wipes are suitable for those of us who wear them.  So these wipes are kind enough to be used on sensitive skin because they are hypoallergenic and powerful enough to remove my BeneFit mascara,  what more could you want?  Well, these wipes do completely remove dirt, make-up, and oils which for me is quite important as I can, during a certain time of the month, suffer with a shiny face and I always look for products which can control it, no need to anymore, these wipes are brilliant at removing excess oil from my skin without stripping it of moisture.



These wipes come with 25 wipes within the packet and cost £3 in my local Tesco from where I have bought another packet because I am so impressed with them.  I love these wipes because they leave my skin feeling smooth and hyrdated rather than dry and irritated and the best feeling of all is having fresh, clean skin.

** Further information **
These wipes are:
  •  Dermatologist tested 
  • Ophthalmologist tested 
  • Safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers 
  • Hypoallergenic 
  • Non-comedogenic

And further information on the range can be found here: http://www.simpleskincare.com/our-products/wipes/cleansing-facial-wipes
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