DRUNK ELEPHANT Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter Cleanser

As soon as Drunk Elephant hit the UK I wanted to try absolutely everything, I had read so many reviews and seen so much love for the brand that it was hard not to be swayed by the hype. Founded by Tiffany Masterson who said she wanted a clean from toxins and the 'Suspicious 6' namely essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical screens, fragrance/dyes and SLSs, all ingredients we hear a lot about being bad for you, bad for your skin and so on.  I held off for as long as I possibly could, waiting to find a product that I really felt I wanted to try and I've never hidden my love for balm cleansers, they are something I use every single day without fail, whether I am having a duvet day, going to work or moving around London.  So, when I came across the brand new Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter Cleanser, I bought it.

Said to be a 'must-try' for any Drunk Elephant devotee, the Slaai Makeup-Meltin Butter Cleanser is an oil to milk cleanser and it comes packaged inside the most amazing, brightly coloured box and is accompanying the Cleanser is a Bamboo Booster.  Designed to be used on dry skin, you use the spatula, which sticks to the top of the lid using a magnet, to extract the cleanser from the tub and then massage it, with dry hands and then massage it onto your face in circular motions.  You only need a small amount of this cleanser because it has the most amazing buttery texture that spreads with ease, almost on contact with your skin in fact.  

This Cleanser literally melts away anything in its path including excess oil, dirt, grime, pollution, sunscreen, makeup and even the hard to remove water-resistant formulas are not going to fool this product, they are gone! It even gentle enough Once you feel you have used the cleanser long enough, simply use warm water and a cloth to remove it, water emulsifies the cleanser to a milky formula that leaves the skin feeling beautifully soft, clean and hydrated,

As this Cleanser is free from the 'Suspicious 6' which are mentioned above, I was intrigued to know what actually was included and it used a blend of anti-oxidant rich fruit extracts and oil which are said to help soothe the skin, so you will see the inclusion of blueberry, kiwi and strawberry alongside cranberry seed oil, acai fruit oil and watermelon seed oil which also help moisturise.  Then there is the inclusion of:

• Marula seed oil: a moisturising oil, high in antioxidants and omegas 6 and 9., that preserves and nourishes your skin while restoring its youthful glow.
• Baobab seed oil: super-penetrating oil that intensely softens and helps dissolve makeup with its high fatty acid content and deep moisturising properties.
• Kalahari melon seed oil: lightweight oil that soothes while moisturising and restoring elasticity.
• Mongongo oil: has a fatty acid profile as rich as coconut oil that protects the vital lipids in the skin as it melts dirt and other impurities from the skin. 
• Ximenia oil: rich in vitamin c and is very nourishing and moisturising.

When it comes to a scent, there isn't really anything descriptive to say about it, I had expected something fruity but there isn't anything of that nature, it just has a clean scent to it.

The inclusion of the Bamboo Booster is something I really like the idea of, though other brands have done something similar in the past.  Almost like a seasoning to your cleanser, this booster is designed to slough away the build-up of dead and dry skin cells to leave your complexion, soft, smooth and radiant looking.  

It is a physical exfoliant which you can definitely feel on your skin, so one to use with caution. Made up of ultra-fine bamboo and charcoal spheres, it is something you really only need to use one or twice a week depending on how your skin looks and feels.  To use, thankfully it has been designed to almost mimic that of a salt shaker and one shake is enough, I find, of product needed to complete the task.  I mix the Bamboo Booster into the cleanser on the palm of my hand and then apply it, massaging in circular motions, to my skin, this way I can control how abrasive I want the exfoliant to be.

For this 110g tub as well as the Bamboo Booster it is priced at just £29 (here*), which is an absolute bargain.  I honestly cannot express just how much I love this Cleanser, it is just divine and I intend to purchase a second tub just as soon as this one looks to be running out.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Lotil - The Ultimate Cream for Everyone

Last August, I managed to trip over the tiniest step, land fully on my ankle and not only overstretch a tendon but also tear every ligament too, apparently I was very unlucky because a break would have been easier to fix!  That said, I spent weeks on crutches, the only way I could get too and from work and very few Blog events, as well as having an ankle support bandage to ensure that whilst I moved around, my ankle did not.  Throughout that time, if you follow me on Instagram, I did share some of the horrors of my ankle and lower leg turning all different shades of black, purple, green and the most amazing shade of yellow - something I will spare you from right now.

Fast forward to May and I still have a swollen ankle. If I walk too much it swells up and if I don't rest it, it aches and we go round and round and in circles waiting for it to heal properly.  Wearing an ankle support and bandage constantly means I can only wear trainers because bending my foot to wear any other form of shoe is agony after a few minutes and trainers allow my support bandage to do its job, but this has lead to very very dry skin around the top of my foot, just above and around my ankle.  So having tried a few different creams, I was sent a pot of Lotil Original Cream to try., a cream I had seen on my social media feed but hadn't really tried before.

Tried and tested for over 100 years, Lotil cream is a skincare hero. It can benefit everyone by gently rehydrating dry skin, adding moisture retention and providing the maximum protection against both environmental and climatic conditions.

That is as good enough a description as I needed to give the cream a try. I like that it comes packaged inside a hefty tub, it isn't too OTT with the packaging and what you see if definitely what you get.

The cream is a similar texture to Sudocrem for me, quite thick but that is where the similarities end because with Lotil, you have a cream that is non-greasy, it doesn't feel tacky on the skin when applied and nor do you have to sit and massage it into the skin for what feels like a week to ensure it has all been absorbed.  With Lotil, you only need a small amount because it is very much the case of less is more and what I do like is how my skin feels after using it.

As I said, the skin around my ankle injury was really dry and just felt horrendous to the touch, so I applied a fairly thick layer of cream before bed and let it works its magic. I am now a good few weeks into using it every single day, just around my ankle and the difference is quite something, I am not quite back to how my skin was, slowly but surely there have been improvements and I am less of a snake shedding its skin feeling to having dry skin on one part of my ankle.  Lotil prides itself in being packed full of emollients, which rapidly rehydrate the skin and where needed, softens chapped, dry and cracked skin.

Lotil is perfect for use on hands, elbows, knees, body and face and it is available online and instore from places such as Boots for £6.29.

Have you ever tried Lotil?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Cult Beauty Mini’s

I am a huge fan of mini products and if you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen just how many I have from L’Occitane! For me, they are great for holidays and short breaks and more so, if you have a whole host of products you want to try, then the option for trying a smaller size at a fraction of the cost, especially when you might not like the product after all. In the past, I have been one of those persons who has loved the sound of a product only to purchase it and find that it hasn’t been right for me and I’ve essentially wasted hard earned money.

Cult Beauty in their infinite wisdom have recently launched their Mini product section* on the website and I am in impressed with the number of brands and products there is on offer.

We live in an age where brands are literally inventing, reinventing, sly copying, duping, reformulating and even re-packaging, to that end, I constantly have a huge list of makeup, haircare, skincare and even bath products that I really want to try.

Here is a list of the five mini items I currently have in my Cult Beauty basket:

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask (£19.50 30ml) - Anything K-Beauty related is automatically going to capture my attention and this mask has been on my radar for quite some time now and for me, this is a great way to try it.  Described as being a luxuriously ‘bouncy’, lightweight, gel-like sleeping mask, this mask uses watermelon extract, for its ability to soothe irritated and inflamed skin hydrating hyaluronic acid and exfoliating, pore-refining alpha-hydroxy acids that get to work while you sleep.

Saturday Skin No Bad Days Kit (£31) - Another brand who keeps catching my eye on Instagram is Saturday Skin with their bright pastel pink packaging.  This Kit features four of the brands products which are the Rub-A-Dub Refining Peel Gel (20ml), Daily Dew Hydrating Essence Mist (30ml), Wide Awake Brightening Eye Cream (15ml) and Featherweight Daily Moisturising Cream (30ml) and it is a great way to be introduced.

Therapie Discovery Kit (£44) - I absolutely adore the Himalayan Bath Salts from Therapie, literally the best bath salts I have ever used, so naturally, I want to try everything else to offer.  This Discovery Kit contains Boost Hair & Body Wash (50ml), Equilibrium Bath & Shower Essence (30ml), Himalayan Detox Salts (70g), Cherish Skin Repair Serum (30ml) and Restore Aura Spray (30ml).

Hourglass Caution Extreme Mascara (£12) - Having seen this mascara raved about by some of my favourite bloggers, I want to try it and the travel size is half the price of a full-size version and I am totally lured in.  Described as being a Mascara which gives enviable length, extreme volume and eye-opening definition for your most explosive lash look ever.

The final item currently sitting in my basket is the Natasha Denona Mini Bronze and Glow Compact (£16).  There is no denying that every single product released by Natasha Denona is just stunning, but the prices often make my eyes water, so currently, this Bronzer and Highlighter has my attention because the price point is pretty good and if I don't like it, I haven't wasted a lot of money.

Alongside these products, there are well over 200 other options to choose from including products from NARS, Drunk Elephant, Morphe, Iconic London, Benefit, Too Faced and many more.

Are you a fan of mini products? 

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Pixi by Petra Endless Silky Eye Pen Kit

As well as having some of the most amazing skincare that I have tried, Pixi by Petra also has quite an incredible range of makeup too and on my blog, I have featured Liquid Lipsticks, Lipsticks, Lip Balms, Eyeliners and much more.  

Today is the turn of the Pixi by Petra Endless Silky Eye Pen Kit (£18 here*) a collection of the Pixi award-winning waterproof liners.

I am always the first to admit that eyeliner is not one of the products I find myself using a lot of and equally I don't purchase many either, but if there is one eyeliner that I am going to use, it happens to be the Black Noir Pixi option, which is my go to.

Create a professional eye makeup look with the PIXI Endless Silky Eye Pen Kit. Waterproof, long-wearing and smudge-resistant, each award-winning eyeliner glides on effortlessly in a single sweep to create a smooth, flawless line with ultimate control and intense colour payoff.

The Endless Silky Eye Pen Kit contains four pencils in shades Antique Gold, Matte Sienna, Bronze Beam and Black Noir.

The swatches shown above are unedited and they show from left to right  Antique Gold which is a beautiful yellow toned gold, Matte Sienna which I absolutely love as a colour and it is more of a burnt orange than an orange, the third shade is called Bronze Beam and it is the most stunning bronze shade that works so well with so many different eyeshadow shades and finally we have Black Noir which is one of the most pigmented black eyeliners I have used.

My reluctance to use a lot of eyeliner comes from having the worlds most unsteady hand, it is as though as soon as I have an eyeliner pencil in my hand, I am suddenly sat on a washing machine, but Black Noir is one of the shades I can happily use with no problems. Each shade is smudge-proof so to blend it, you need to do so immediately after applying, pigmented, long-lasting and I have found them to be the best at not drying out and becoming cakey.  They don't drag or pull at the skin and nor do they irritate my eyes.

In total, the Pixi by Petra Silky Eye Pen has a collection of over 26 shades and to buy separately they cost just £12 each and are an absolute bargain.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.