Friday, 19 April 2013

Balmy about Moa...


Have you ever come across a product that you have loved as soon as you have set eyes on it?  It isn’t something that happens very often to me but just recently it has and today I am going to share with you my love for one product.

Arriving in a cardboard tube, which is stunning to look at and something that immediately grabs your attention, I introduce you to Móa The Green Balm 50ml and Luxurious Bamboo Face Cloth.  I simply adore this packaging, not only does it tell you everything you need to know about what is inside, it is just so different to everything else on my shelf and is so unique I cant help but smile when I see it.



Moa is described like this, “It might not have been made by witches or wizards, but hidden inside each tube of Móa’s new ‘Daily Cleansing Ritual’ is a balm that magically helps to remove even the most stubborn of makeup, clears up acne, nourishes dry skin and removes impurities to leave the skin balanced and glowing…”.  Perfect right?  Well I thought so and as soon as you open the tube, inside you are greeted with the softest cloth I have ever come across, I simply wanted to curl up and just stroke it, it is that soft.  Made of Bamboo Fibre, this cloth is naturally anti-bacterial and is one of the planets more eco materials and because it is so soft, on your face it feel like heaven.

The balm itself which is inside a plastic tub, is slightly green in colour, is 100% natural and is a cleansing facial balm which is jam packed full of ingredients such as:



  • Yarrow to target black heads, tone and prevent wrinkles.  This ingredient is also anti-ageing and has astringent properties
  • Tea Tree Oil which hosts anti-bacterial properties to help fight skin blemishes,
  • Coconut and Almond oils which both work to soothe and nourish,
  • Soy bean oil which is an anti-oxidant that helps to restore and balance, Beeswax which helps to protect the skin without clogging pores.


Naturally there are many more ingredients that you might want to look at and you can find them all listed HERE on the Móa website.

As I have said in previous reviews, I have combination skin which leads more to the oily side and I was a little unsure about using a balm as a cleanser because I didn’t want to clog my pores or dry my skin out.  Boy was I surprised!  This balm simply glides onto your skin, grabs everything that needs to be removed and walks right off with it leaving your face not only feeling clean, but feeling clean.  On the side of the beautiful tube there are some directions on how to use this balm and I followed them:

The step by step cleansing ritual:

  • Take some green balm and melt it between your fingertips to create an oil.
  • your face Smear the oil over your eye makeup, smudging it away from the eyes.
  • Massage your face with a little more balm to encourage better lymph circulation and tone the facial muscles.
  • Dip cloth in hot water (not too hot), wring it out, and press it to your face; steaming away the oil and impurities, whilst sealing in the essential oil goodness.
  • Finish by dipping your cloth in cold water, and press the super-soft side to your face; to tone and close the pores…magic!

As you can see from the photos, the balm inside the tub is fairly solid, as soon as your fingers touch it, it begins to melt and it has a Vaseline type feel to it as it does begin to melt.  This helps to make it much easier to apply to your face.  As you apply to you face you can really smell the tea tree oil and as it absorbs itself into your skin, I was surprised to find my skin didn’t look oily at all, left behind was everything on my face make-up wise that had been lifted up from my skin and smudged across my face (not attractive) and impressively my mascara ‘They’re Real’ was also removed and for those who wear it, you will appreciate how tough it can be to do that!  Infact it removes all traces of make-up and also manages to find some dirt and grime to remove from your face too, giving your skin a very good cleansing treatment.



As I applied this to my face, in my bathroom sink, I had already run the hot tap to ensure there was hot water ready for the cloth to be dipped in.  I shoved the whole cloth into the water and then wrung it out so it wasn’t dripping wet, and then held it to my face so the steam could work with the balm to draw out the all the impurities from my skin.  Then, as you more the cloth from your face, you need to this time wring the cloth out again and repeat the actions above, but this time using cold water.  I used really cold water and then using the softest side of the cloth, pressed it to my face which is absolute heaven, I would pay someone to do this too me it is so relaxing and the reason you do this is because it helps to tone and then close the pores on your face, locking in all the goodness of the oil.

After using this balm, my face was so soft to the touch it was wonderful and if you are a fan of products which are hot cloth cleansers like me, then I have no doubt that you will not only like this product, you will, like me, love it.   Having used it for the last weeks in a row continuously, I have noticed that my oily t-zone is hardly noticeable, not something I have been able to say for quite a while now and I love the feeling of not having to constantly worry my face might look a bit greasy, especially now we have a change in temperature, something which always affects my skin.

I wouldn’t hesitate to keep on purchasing this product it is so lovely and the cloth, which I also adore is really easy to wash, just bung it in your washing machine and then let it dry naturally and it is as good as new, hopefully one day we will be able to purchase extra cloths which I feel is needed for something you use on a daily basis.  You can purchase this product for £14.99 and again you can find more information about it HERE.  


Thursday, 18 April 2013

April Glossybox - Spring Fever

So I have just taken delivery of the much anticipated April Glossybox, which we all know has been designed by Pearl Lowe and her love of all things floral.  Before getting to the contents of my box, I have to say that I really do love the design on the box, it is so pretty and this is one box that I am definitely going to be using for other things:

April Glossybox - Spring Fever

So here you have the very pretty box, one of the prettiest ones I have seen from Glossy box.  Now for the content:

April Glossybox - Spring Fever

Opening the box, I kind of hoped that the ribbon would have matched the peach colour of the outer box, but never mind, it is still nicely wrapped and once inside, my Postie has clearly been bouncing the box around because the contents were all over the place.  However, once I sorted them out, this is what I found:

April Glossybox - Spring Fever


Nip+Fab dry skin fix body butter in mango

I've have never used any product from Nip+Fab so I am chuffed that I have one in my Glossy Box to try.  It is described as being an indulgent, whipped body butter to repair dry and dehydrated skin with aquaxyl – a 24 hour moisture boosting ingredient.

A full sized sample of this product is £9.95 for 200ml so this size is worth around £2.50

Essie Nail Polish in Canyon Coral

I have fallen a little bit in love with Essie Nail Polishes at the minute and from previous posts you might have seen my haul HERE and HERE.

This polish is a full sized sample retailing at £7.99 and it is a really lovely bright almost reddish colour, so cannot wait to try that.

Sleek Blusher – Suede

This is another full sized product retailing at £4.49 and I got Suede for my shade, I have seen other boxes with Flushed and Pixie Pink and in mine is this lovely natural looking colour.  I am yet to catch onto the Sleek loving, so maybe this will hook me in.

As an added bonus to Glossybox subscribers there is a 20% off offer on purchases – expires on 13th May

Yves Rocher So Elixir Purple

Again, perfumes have been on my radar quite a bit recently as you can see HERE and HERE. I am a huge fan of perfumes and I quite like getting decent sized samples.  This one is a 5ml sample which I guess is worth around £5 and It is described as being an ‘intoxicating and magnetic fragrance’.

I havent been able to resist smelling it and I really quite like it, quite fruity though when you first put it onto your skin it is a really strong scent and it takes a while to settle.

A full size bottle of 50ml will cost you  £44 and once again this product comes with an offering of £5 any order over £35 plus free postage, on any product from Yves Rocher.

Sunsense Daily Face SPF

This cream, which is described as being a light, soft cream tinted with a sheer matte finish and has an SPF of 50 which is quite impressive and it is an oil-free formula making it ideal for most skin types, even my own combination/oily. 

This is a full sized sample and is worth £18.50 for the 75ml and also has an offer of 25% off your next purchase, ending 31st June (I am sure they mean 30th June however).

I must also remember that included as normal is the Glossy Magazine:

April Glossybox - Spring Fever

And inside the magazine is an intrview with Pearl Lowe herself by Kate Cornell and an introductory message from Pearl herself on the love of all things vintage and floral.  Inside the magazine is more information on each of the products included within the box, which opens up to be almost A3 in size.

So there you have it, my Glossybox, one that I am really chuffed with this month.  What are your thoughts?

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

If you love fragrance, then you'll love our Discovery Club

A few weeks ago a received an email inviting me to join The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club, have you heard of it?  If not, this is the description:

"If you love fragrance, then you'll love our Discovery Club.
Our exciting new club allows you to explore the very latest fragrance launches from the comfort of your own home. For just £5 per quarter, each edition comes with fragrance samples for you to try, details on each of the fragrances included, as well as discount vouchers so you can make some big savings on all the scents featured."

Then in a bit more detail you are told:

  • Exciting fragrance samples delivered straight to your home
  • £25 of exclusive member discount vouchers inside
  • A selection of the top fragrance brands
  • Only £5 per quarter
  • No commitment - cancel at any time!

So for £5 per quarter, which is not a lot of money, especially when my first box was free, it was too tempting not to take part, so I duly signed up.  Today my box arrived, which is really quick and I was quite surprised at how lovely the box was and how well made it is, all too often people are complaining that their beauty boxes are all flimsy and break... this one is very well made as you can see below.



Then once you have opened the outer packaging and have found the box inside, it is loving wrapped with this dark blue tissue paper with a silver seal featuring the initials DC on it, clearly standing for 'Discovery Club'.  Then once inside the paper, this is what you find:


Inside the box there two booklets.  The first one features details and information on all of the samples you will find in your box and those details include what sized bottles, how much they cost and a short paragraph on each.  The second booklet is your voucher booklet and in this you have 5 x £5 off vouchers for each of the five fragrance samples you have in the box.

As this is my first box, I was quite excited to find out which fragrances I would find in my box.  I love perfume and I love testing perfume, so for me this is really a great idea to have signed up too and to be honest inexpensive.  My fragrances this quarter are:

  • Vera Wang Lovestruck Floral Rush - It is a prequel to the Loverstruck Story
  • Roberto Carvalli - Just Carvalli - Described as sexy and provocative
  • Juicy Couture - La La - Described as being funky, punk and a rock fragrance with heaps of spirit
  • Lacoste - eau de Lacoste Pour Femme - Described as being modern, iconic and breathtakingly simple
  • Nina Ricci - Nina L'Eau - Described as being a fresh new offering for Spring
So this is what is in my box and should you wish to read more about them, you can do so by clicking HERE

As these fragrances are just samples you get a smallish bottle containing around 4fl oz which you can see more clearly here:


I am really pleased with this box and I love the fact I have new samples to test and try out without having to go into a shop and cover myself in perfumes to see if they smell okay on my skin.

If you think this is something you would like to sign up to, you can find the link HERE along with further information.

So what do you think to my box? Are you a subscriber? 
Will you subscribe?

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Nail Varnish Haul...

I randomly found myself in Superdrug, as you do, looking for a pale pink nail varnish, the one I had was quite old and crusty and in need of replacing.  Anyway, as soon as I walked into Superdrug my eyes lit up:

Essie Shelves in Superdrug

A brand new Essie section that hadnt been there a week before!  So naturally I had to look and before I realised I had been stood there for a whole hour trying the different pinks out to decide which ones I liked best.

Then I moved along to the Rimmel section and NYC and put a few more varnishes into my basket and 7 varnishes later....

this is my Nail Varnish Haul...

My Nail Varnish Haul


So quite a few different types of varnishes in my collection now and the only one I have worn is Essie Delicacy which you can see below:

Essie Delicacy


Excuse the state of my nails... but hopefully you can see that it isn't too pink and instead adds a pearl-esque colour to my nails, which I really quite like.  I wasn't too sure to start with, but it has grown on me over the last few days and it hasnt chipped either which I am really impressed with.

What do you think to my haul?
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