Balmi Metallic Lip Balms

I absolutely love Balmi lipbalms and am lucky to have quite a few in my collection, which I have mentioned here.

Getting ready for the festive season, Balmi have launched three new lip balms to add to their collection but with an added bit of pizzazz, they have gone metallic with the design and they do look pretty good!  Within the collection there is a brand new scent Roseberry which you will find inside this Metallic Copper cube and it smells absolutely delightful.  The two other scents are Cherry which is metallic red and Blackcurrant which is Metallic Purple.

The lip balm maintains its conical shape and is really easy to apply.  Not only are they all SPF15, which gets a huge thumbs up from me, they also contain antioxidant-rich Vitamin E, soothing Shea Butter and Jojoba Oil to help leave your lips moisturised, soft and super smooth.

To purchase they are priced at £4.99 each and can be found in Boots, Urban Outfitters and Superdrug.

Do you own a Balmi?

Birchbox x Skinny Dip

This month Birchbox have teamed up with Skinny Dip to create two fantastically designed limited edition boxes which are pastel coloured, shell printed, foil boxes that are just brilliant. If you are a Birchbox subscribers then you can add the Birchbox x Skinny Dip phone case to your box for an additional £4 (rrp £12) and I just love it, slightly see-through, it protects all of the main compenents of your phone, it includes a screen protector and features the shell print to mirror that of the Birchboxes - fab!

Inside the boxes you will find five amazing products and one beauty treat and they are:

Living Proof Restore Instant Repair Cream - This is a brand I have never come across but I like the sound of this product. If you haven't been to the hairdressers in ages (looks sheepish) and your hair is in need of some TLC this lightweight formula smooths and coats the hair shaft, sealing frayed ends while helping prevent new ones. It is also said to make hair up to 15 times stronger, without leaving it greasy or weighed-down. The result? Soft, shiny hair that looks freshly cut - even if your last trim was months ago. You can find it here.

Cowshed Cow Pat Hand Cream - If ever there is a brand to make me snort with laughter it is Cowshed with their product names and who wouldn't want to use a hand cream called cow pat?  Described as being a rich and luxurious, non-greasy yet deeply hydrating hand cream that is packed with nourishing Shea and Cocoa butters with a sprinkling of lavender, grapefruit, and cinnamon, the rich formula quickly absorbs into the skin for never-greasy hydration. This is a full sized 50ml tube and can be found here.

Lord and Berry Silhouette Neutral Lip Liner - If like me you are one of those people who doesn't tend to bother with a lipliner then this might be for you. It is a waxy and completely transparent lip liner and you simply line the lips as you would with any lip liner to prevent your lipstick from smudging, feathering or bleeding and best of all it is totally invisible so you don't have to worry about it matching or being a close match to your favourite lipstick. You can find it here.

REN Wake Wonderful Night-Time Facial - I am a huge fan of REN skincare products and so is my skin, so having this product in the box excites me because I have been wanting to try it for ages.  Described as being a complex of glycolic and lactic acids help to refine and brighten skin tone by triggering cell renewal while omega 3 and sodium lactate, it will repair, soothe and moisturise your skin whilst you sleep and right now, overnight masks are one of my favourite products to use, especially with this horrid weather, so I am looking forward to giving this a go. You can find it here if you want to know more.

Trilogy Make Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm - This is a product I have also been wanting to try for months and I have to admit, I have already used this one and it is as good as I had hoped it would me.  The balm is formulated with a rich blend of pure plant oils and it melts on contact with warm skin and is capable of removing and dissolving every last scrap of make-up to leave your complexion perfectly cleansed, soft, and silky-smooth.

The final item in the box is a perfume sample by English Laundry and it is the Notting Hill Femme Eau de Parfum. I am probably one of the very few that loves a perfume sample in a box, I subscribe to one because I think it is brilliant. The scent of this I absolutely love and it is my favourite scent from English Laundry to date, iand is described as "This fresh, classic scent opens with notes of bergamot, mandarin, and cassis. The heart of the fragrance is pure walk-in-the-garden bliss, blending jasmine, rose, and cyclamen with herbal and green notes. Warm wood, vanilla, and amber round out the scent". It is definitely citrusy from the first spritz but once it settles on the skin, it dies down slightly, the floral notes comes through and it is just divine and has a great longevity about it, pretty much lasting all day long. It costs just £60 for an you can find it here.

One the back of the enclosed booklet you will also find a A £10 giftvoucher to spend at Skinny Dip which is a nice little extra, especially when ive had eye on three different phone cases for months.

I think this is an absolutely brilliant box and one of the best from Birchbox that I have been lucy enough to receive. You can purchase your own here via Birchbox for £10 (+£2.95 p&p).

The Libbie Box - November Edition

The Libbie Club Box for November has landed on my lap and once again there is an amazing array of products which should suit everyone. The Libbie Club – part of Latest in Beauty (LIB) is described as being a community of influential beauty fans who are rewarded for reviewing, sharing and referring beauty products.
In this months box there is again three products - La Montana Candle, A Crabtree and Evelyn Christmas Cracke and Evelyn and Hairy Jayne Floral Hair Perfume.

La Montaña candles have featured on Beautyqueenuk before (here) and I was really impressed by the quality of the scents. The candles are inspired by Cass and Jonathan Hall’s new life in a mountain village in Valencia. Each fragrance evokes a real experience, and is recreated using only the finest perfume oils. This scent is Winter Oranges which is described as being a warm, spicy blend of Valencia orange, cinnamon, red apple, and clove. This is a scent you can smell long before you open any outer packaging and it smells exactly as it is described and is just lovely and very Christmassy.

As always with the Libbie Club there is an offer for you my reader. If you like the sound of these La Montana Candles, then you can treat yourself with £10 off right here.

Crabtree and Evelyn hand cream is presented in a beautiful Christmas cracker shaper box. The scent is Apple Snow which is just stunning, the fragrance of the hand cream encompasses that Christmas fruit smell with frosted lemon, bergamot and orange sprinkles over fluffy blossoms and dewy apple leaves. It is also ultra-hydrating with extracts of shea butter goodness and will leave hands moisturised and noticeably smoother.

The offer I have for you on this cracker is not just one, but three for £10 which is an absolute bargain and some nice little stocking fillers and you have to be quick to get them here.

The final item in the box is the Hairy Jayne Floral Hair perfume and it is the only product within the box that I have never come across and it is one which I was really looking forward to trying. Hair Perfume with Heat Protection is said to freshen up your hair up between shampoos as well as adding shine, calming frizz and fly-aways as well as protecting your hair from damaging heated styling – all in one spritz.  The bright floral fragrance is made from essential oils (aroma compounds extracted directly from plants) of Geranium, Bergamot and Vanilla, a scent which is said to evoke a nostalgic feeling of sitting in a sunny English garden.

The offer for readers on Hairy Jane is huge this month and you can get this for yourself with 45% off right here.

If you still need a Stocking Filler Present then this one is also amazing and it will save you £5 - Three Latest In Beauty Crackers for just £12.95 right here making them perfect for your friends, Teens, sisters and more.

So there you have this months November Libbie Club box and I love the different range in products this month, not all beauty but all very useful and all currently being used.  What do you think?

My Biologique Recherche Facial

Hidden away in the midst of a busy street in Kensington was my destination for a Biologique Recherche facial, something I was really looking forward too and something I was in desperate need of. There is something deeply relaxing about a facial that allows you to wander off into the depths of your own mind whilst someone does all the hard work for you. The treatment was to last two hours and thankfully the treatment bed was exceptionally comfortable otherwise I would have been as stiff as anything afterwards.

I didn't have much knowledge of Biologique Recherche before my arrival at the spa but thankfully Amy was on hand to explain more about it and it was decided that I was to have the Treatment, Soin Lissant with Re-modelling face. Biologique Recherche is a luxury, unique brand using innovative techniques alongside their products to lift, tone, re-sculpt and balance the skins epidermis. This treatment was simply incredible, much more so than I could ever put in to words, but here is how it works.

I was told that it is important to understand that the skin is always changing and the correct products used at home and both in the treatment room must accommodate these changes, changes that can be the result of both internal and external factors. Correct use of products will result in a more healthier balanced skin which in turn will assist in regeneration without the need for a direct focus on ‘anti-aging’ skincare.

The protocols of your professional treatment will always start with a thorough diagnosis of the skin through analysing to ensure we are treating your specific ‘skin instant’. The treatment begins with Initialisation which involves cleansing, balancing and gently exfoliating the epidermis. Biologique Recherche products contain active ingredients that will prepare the skin to receive highly concentrated, active formulas within our final treatment stage to moisturise, stimulate , revitalise, balance and protect. There is no fruity or floral scent that you might usually associate with having a facial, these products are incredibly soothing and gentle on the skin.

The key products which were used during my facial was Lotion P50W which is a gentle continuous exfoliation containing hydroxy acids to exfoliate, hydrate and balance as well as Arnica to sooth a sensitive skin. Masque Biosensible is a highly complex masque working to detox, moisturise and protect. packed full of anti-oxidants as well as soothing milk proteins. Your ultimate masque to balance a skin that is feeling a little sensitised or sensitive. Serum Amniotique E soothes an irritated skin whilst intensely hydrating the layers of the epidermis to repair, regenerate and protect.

The specific professional treatment is designed especially for a more sensitive, stressed skin that is need of strengthening and repairing. Packed full of omega 3 and 6 as well as hydrating hyaluronic acid and natural amino acids to hydrate, renew and protect. Along with this reconditioning booster treatment the use of a re-modelling face machine which combines the power and synergies of electrical and high frequency current to improve the quality of the epidermis, promote product penetration of Biologique Recherche products as well as having an immediate and lasting lifting effect. The electrical charge part of the facial wasn't in anyway uncomfortable, I was warned that I might have a metallic taste in my mouth for a few minutes, which I did, but this soon went and as the charge is being used, the sensation, though quite an odd feeling, I find to be a nice sensation and not at all painful.

The facial ends with a specifically tailored cocktail of serums followed by a cream and finishing serum to end this bespoke treatment treating your individual ‘Skin Instant’.

I could have quite happily laid there all day and let Amy work her magic, my skin was really dry and in need of hydration in places before the treatment started and afterwards my skin was just glowing and felt incredible. A facial of this nature doesn't come cheap and as it was very much tailored for my needs at the time, there is no price that I can give for it, but you can find out more about each facial here along with details of your nearest spa for treatments.