Friday 28 September 2012

Garnier Intensive 7 Days

I LOVE this idea. A sample pack with 7 days worth of moisturiser and skin readers.

PERFECT sized sachets, just enough for both legs!


Before using the sachet, I rip off the skin reader and it tests how much dry skin I have.

Then for the next 7 days, I use a sachet of lotion every day. When 7 days are up, I use the second skin reader, two hours after I applied the sachet, to see the difference.

 
Skin tester...

Firstly, I'd like to say that this moisturiser is amazing. It has a runny consistency, but my skin absorbed it really quickly! My legs felt so soft and healthy after using it and my legs are always dry and unattractive!

Secondly, the skin reader...clever idea, but we all know that there would be less skin on the reader! We are reading it two hours after applying the moisturiser, our legs are uber soft and it won't have sunk in properly. However it does feel good knowing that my legs passed the test!

Thirdly, I liked it so much that I bought it. Immediately. Now I NEVER do that with products. However, I was in Boots and it was on the list. Had to have it. Even better, I bought a big ol' bottle of it which was on offer. Double win. You can get it here, but I can't find the 400ml online with Cocoa Butter for some reason!

I bought it! Fab product!


So Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days. You win. I've been suckered into your products!



When there's no love in town,
This new century keeps bringing you down
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Sunday 23 September 2012

Freebies of the week! #2

So this weeks freebies were looking pretty dang poor. Until today, I remembered. The voucher code.

Ocado's Facebook page occasionally release voucher codes to get free products. A few weeks ago we received £60 worth of free Dove products! Hence why I keep a look out!

The most recent code was for £16 of free breakfast goods. Today Mister Ocado Man delivered our order with all these free goodies!

Couldn't believe how much there was!

1. Kingsmill 50/50 rolls (these were a substitution for some white rolls)
2. Vogels wholemeal and oat loaf
3. St Pierre Chocolate chiptear and share brioche
4. Waitrose fair-trade bananas
5. Spoiltpig bacon
6. Quaker Oat So Simple variety pack
7. Yeo Valley Organic Top Notch Lemon and Lime Yogurt
8. Tropicana Orange juice with bits - Family size

Bacon rolls and fresh juice for breakfast? Oh okay then! Epic freebie!

There were a few other freebies  again this week. For some reason, Yazzo sent me more bottle coolers! Very odd.



I also won a gorgeous hair slide on the Hair Trade Facebook page! When it arrived I was so excited! I LOVE THIS! Can't wait to wear it!


So overall, the week has been okay for freebies! Woohoo!

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Thursday 20 September 2012

Distraction time! BB? BB.

So time for some distraction whilst I am in limbo.

Today it's all about the BB cream.

Now I have never understood the attraction or the excitement about BB creams. All I hear about them is how amazing they are, which isn't particularly helpful, I have to say.

As Cosmo has informed me that is is basically "a wonder cream." It covers blemishes and redness, evens out complexions, can be used as a primer for makeup, moisturise and brighten! Blimey!

I've even spied a Bobbi Brown BB with SPF 35. Now that is clever. But the price tag is a little bit...ouch?!

It may just be me, but all these promises and adverts were making me doubt these products. A miracle cream; yeah right. Even when I understood what it was, I didn't know how to apply the damn product!

After reading many blogs, I learnt that it could be applied as a tinted moisturiser, or as foundation. So it was rude not to give it a test, as there are many sachets of it in my glorious Storage Glossy Box of Goodies.

So. Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector. Lets be having you.


When I opened the sachet, I thought the product wouldn't have a smell, but I was surprised! A gently flowery smell really helps sell the product in my eyes. After all, I love my foundation, it would need to be an epic product for me to leave my Bobbi Brown.

It was fairly easy to apply the product; I was pleased that it covered a lot of my blemishes, being such a pale shade. I used a brush to apply the product, then put powder and blush on top, ready to go out! I love how fast it is!

This photo does not do the cream justice. It's a really good match.

Before: Dark circles, blemishes, a bit dull

After: Not easy to see but circles are lighter, blemishes covered


When I finished applying the product, I enjoyed how light my face felt and how evenly it covered. My camera is terrible, unfortunately the pictures don't show how good a match the colour of the product was. Three hours later, during a dinner party, I checked my make up to find my skin still visibly brighter and the even coverage remained. The only thing was that I was starting to get a build up of product in the frown line across my forehead and the drag lines from my nose to mouth were starting to appear, but I would expect that because all products do that to me after a while!

Quick make up check! All clear!

However, seeing as it was an informal dinner, I don't think anyone noticed! I was very impressed with this product. I might need more practise at it, but so far so good! If I was to buy it, I reckon it would be perfect for daytime wear, just quick and easy, no worries!

Garnier, you did good. Me likey muchly! Tempted to buy? It is very possible!

This product is also £7.49 in Boots, which I'd say is great value! 




"Beauty's where you find it.
Vogue."
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Sunday 16 September 2012

Freebies of the Week! #1

This could now be a permanent fixture on my blog; Freebies of the week!

This week seems to be food based....


1. At the top...Robinsons Drinks Cooler

Now I am loving this. Robinsons are putting tags on bottles of their drinks about promotional items. Buy the drink, send off the tag, receipt (plus a cheque of £1.90 to cover postage), then you get this awesome drinks cooler. I'm pretty sure they do other merchandise too, it just depends what tag you have.

We got our squash from Costco too so it was only £1.60 for a huge bottle! Technically it's not a freebie, but it's still pretty damn cool.

Awesome cooler; very excited to use this!


(I cannot confirm whether this will always contain squash. This is now my boyfriend's toy. We are students. This may hold beer or cocktails at some point. It will normally hold squash though.)

2. Bottom right...Yorkie

Yorkie's Facebook page have been giving away these Yorkie bars! Woohoo!

Yes I am aware that they are not for girls....

3. Yazoo goodies

Somebody commented on the MagicFreebiesUK Facebook page that Yazoo had a deal where if you emailed them with your details, they would send out these goodies. I think they found it in a Tesco magazine. They sent out a 30p off coupon and two bottle covers for bottles of Yazoo, which are rather funky! These may persuade me to start drinking milkshake more often!

Funky little things huh?!


Very excited about all these goodies! YAY!



"All we have to do now,
Is take these lies and make them true somehow.
All we have to see,
Is that I don't belong to you, and you don't belong to me.
Freedom."
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Tuesday 11 September 2012

Batiste Dry Shampoo

Sorry there was no blog yesterday, I had a very early start as I went to Thorpe Park with the boyfriend, (on a free ticket, obviously!) then watched him play football, basically doing everything possible to avoid going home, as per!

Unfortunately my Sunday was very busy, due to a very sweaty, dirty, stressed horse, (don't ask, my poor girl wasn't at her best!) and chores to do, I had no time to wash my hair. With an early Monday morning start,  my locks were doomed. Third day hair is a stressful situation for me.

Whilst at the mandatory Clacket Lane Services stop, I reached for the mini can of Batiste Dry Shampoo in my bag.
Teeny can! (clearly not at Clackets!)

My Grandma gave the can to me, along with a leaflet about the product. She seemed confused as to how she got it, saying that she was given it! I can only assume she was given it by a friend...it looks potentially like  a BzzAgent campaign?! Now I have never, ever used products like this, just because I know how gruesome my hair gets by day three. However my hair had been coloured last week, which keeps it in better condition for a few weeks after; it tends to be less greasy. Taking this into account, I figured that it would be a good time to test this unbeknown can.

I read the instructions, shake, spray 30cm away, (that confused me, I'm a builder, we work in mm! Had to stop and think! HAHA!) then rub it in. It was only the back of my head and parting that I was actually worried about.

After spraying the product on, I was quite surprised, it felt fresher, cleaner and looked so much better! The white powder confused me; I thought I was doomed to have strange coloured hair all day, but as per the instructions, I rubbed it in and it disappeared! Luckily I was near a sink because my hands did end up having the product on them. If I did buy this product I might check out other smells because the original one which I had didn't really smell of anything but that's no bad thing.

Potentially I would buy this product, as it does seem to give you a few more hours of clean hair, until you really feel the need to wash it. I would use it if I was about to go out and really needed a spruce up, however there really is no better option than to wash your hair!

Talking of which, I'm now on FOURTH day hair, YUK! Thorpe Park water rides can make a woman very unattractive. (Although when I woke up, it wasn't as bad as expected, maybe the Batiste helped the situation!?)


"My mama told me when I was young,
We're all born superstars.
She rolled my hair, put my lipstick on,
In the glass of her boudoir.

There's nothing wrong with loving who you are,
Cause he made you perfect babe..."
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Sunday 9 September 2012

Arbonne FC5

It's feet time! Don't worry everyone, there won't be any pictures of my feet, you put up with pictures of my ugly mug as it is! Haha!

Now when I recieved my Andrex Clean Campaign win earlier this year, I knew I was getting a Glossy Box. I didn't really understand the concept of it until I recieved it and researched it. Basically you pay £10 +P&P for either three, six or 12 months and you receive a box with new products in it; usually five. Usually you recieve a full sized product. My full sized product was Bio-Oil for stretch marks. However I have not had a child, nor have stretch marks, so my friend Ryan took it as he has stretch marks on his arms from all that exercising. *twit twooo!*

Last night I thought I'd try this product. Cooling Foot Creme by Arbonne FC5. The tube says it has "fresh kiwi cell extracts and Moisture Fresh Complex." Sounds swish. My plan was to put this on before bed, doing the old moisturising feet and putting your socks on after trick.

The tube is a nice aqua colour which I likes, however the design seemed quite scientific maybe? I might even say a bit boring...maybe more grown up than I am?! The full sized product has a far nicer tube with a logo and less writing on the front. The creme was definately cooling, it went on very nicely and did feel smooth. The product also went quite far so I was impressed.

The product (15ml)

When the morning came, my feet felt lovely and soft, it worked wonders on my hard heels. No greasiness either!

I'd say that the only thing that let it down was the smell. I am kind of coming round to it. Minty, which is always good, but maybe not minty enough? I want to say it smells like an old lady might enjoy it...probably not for me! The website lists the  ingredients, no mint at all, but lots of other yummy ingredients, which are very good for the skin, including avocado, watercress, St John's Wort and shea butter.

In conclusion, I have mixed feelings about this product. I probably wouldn't buy it for myself, especially for £19 for 118ml, it's a lot of money for a product which I'm unsure of the smell! It would be a nice maybe as a gift for a friend; probably not a twenty-something year old friend though! If it was given to me as a gift I would still use it as it is so moisturising.



"After all that we've been through,
I know we're cool"

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Vaseline Moisturisers

Please excuse the punny title, I couldn't help myself!

Now this was one of my bigger freebies. Vaseline were bringing out a new range of moisturisers and if you were lucky enough, you would receive a full sized bottle for free. I was lucky! I received a bottle of Aloe Fresh Essential Moisture Hydrating Body Gel.

Full sized bottle of the gel (200ml)


When this arrived I was very excited, especially as I had needed some Aloe Vera due to the nice new matching burns on my arms from the uni ovens. BIG mistake. Pure  Aloe Vera is good for that, body gel...not so much. It stings. A lot.

I have enjoyed using this product as it contains Aloe Vera so it really is cooling! Of course it also smells refreshing too. When it sinks in and dries it leaves my legs feeling super soft.

What I don't like about this product is that because it is a gel, I tend to find a shiney film forms where it has been applied. This means when you shower, it almost washes off? Which feels weird!

However I think that could be my fault as I do have very dry legs. *slaps wrist* I have been terrible at moisturising all my life. The bottle does state on the front, "for healthy fresh skin." I did appear to have healthy fresh skin, until I had to shower and re-apply obviously; it was nice to apply after shaving too. This moisturiser has helped ease my eczema which impressed me.

I do like this moisturiser. I would be tempted to try it again when I have better skin, to see if it really would hydrate my skin as much as it says it will.

There are three moisturisers in this range with various extracts; Aloe Vera, Cocoa Butter and Oats. I was also lucky to receive a miniature bottle of the Oat moisturiser. I feel this is more suited to my current skin type, as it is a cream not a gel. It smells faintly flowery which is quite nice for a moisturiser; when they are too strong it's not enjoyable! This moisturiser states that it is a "clean feeling lotion." This I do agree with, my legs feel soft after, without having sticky, slimey legs for ages!

How cute is this teeny bottle?! (50ml)


These products are currently on offer in Boots - save a 1/3 on all Vaseline! I'll be stocking up!


"Your eyes are like a breath of Spring,
your voice is soft like Summer rain.
And I cannot compete with you,
Jolene."
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Mystery revealed! Clearasil Cleanser

so earlier on this year, there was a big hype over a mystery sample product. Samples were sent and asked to be tried out. A countdown clock ticked by the days until the world found out what the "Skincare Revolution" was.

I'm about to spoil it for you.

Clearasil.

Now I was a bit let down I have to admit. I was expecting the new "tiger blood" for skin or something like that. But fair play as a marketing strategy.

Now previous experience with Clearasil hasn't been positive. I didn't have spotty skin until (still do) my late teens. But I was reluctant to have a skincare regime. I was 13. I was focussed on passing maths and not getting hit with a hockey stick in PE. So Mum got me a Clearasil product which was blue, I wiped it over my face, it cleaned it, Bob's your Uncle. However my young skin found it a tad harsh which resulted in it being quite dried out. So when I realised that the mystery product was Clearasil, I wasn't that bothered.

Skip forward to present day, 20 year old me has that dreaded acne. With antibiotics and usual Dermalogica skincare regime struggling,  (Mum is happy now) it was time to bring in the big guns. In small sample format.

When I opened the packet of facewash, I was surprised to see a white-ish blue product, not clear blue like other products in the range. It smells great too, fresh and clean. The product said to use as a normal facewash twice a day or a mask 3 times a week. With my previous experiences and fears of Clearasil, I used it once a day, with my usual Dermalogica toner and moisturiser.
Apologies for dressing gown!


Day one:
Product smells great
Used as a wash
Face feels clean and fresh

Day two:
Product used as a mask
Doesn't feel too heavy
Face feels brighter

Day three:
Product used as a wash
Skin feels softer
Stubborn acne is drying out finally



I was very impressed by the product. It felt great and smelled lovely. The images of the fruit on the packet were nice, it really made the idea of a cool, refreshing facewash. I was impressed how it also managed to dry up my spots, however if that was used once a day and it cleaned up that fast, I can only assume that it is still a bit strong for me to use daily.


(Face is brighter and acne near temples nearly gone)


Regardless, I would still recommend it to friends as it really does work! I may buy it in the future, maybe as a product to use sparingly when my face breaks out. Me likey!


"Because she's....
a mystery..."
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Saturday 8 September 2012

Confession time.

My name is Ashleigh Stevens and I am a freebie finding addict.

I'd say that there is a history of freebie-finding addiction in my family. It may have passed my Mum but it is very clear with my Grandma. Previous to her, all family members were known to happily take extra sugar in cafes and have a stock of sachets in their handbags.

However this is the21st century. Websites such as www.magicfreebiesuk.co.uk were my weakness at university. I just couldn't resist! It resulted in situations at the end of the year like this:


A crappy quality photo I'll admit. But that wasn't even all of it. There was a lot! Enough to fill my toiletries bag with samples, so I'm already packed if I'm going away. No full sizes and decanting for me!

It's competitions as well. I won a Glossy Box in March. It contained a £35 bottle of stretch mark oil (not useful for me, but a friend used it), perfume sample, foot cream, shampoo for irritated scalps and nail sticker things. Unbelievably people pay £10 a month + P&P. The wins were rolling in. Southern Comfort minatures and Christmas tree, showjumping jacket, travel mugs, tshirts and beauty products.


All of these goodies I won from people posting on the MagicFreebiesUK's Facebook page and their daily emails. All the samples are being kept in the Glossy Box. (Reduce. Reuse. Recycle!) 

I would like to say thank you to all the companies that send the products out to the thousands of people who apply for them. I'm also going to get off my lazy bum, use them and review them. I really enjoy using them after all!

I think it's about time to say a MASSIVE thank you to MagicFreebiesUK. They put in a lot of time into the website, Facebook page, competitions, Twitter and emails. There are clearly some avid fans of freebie hunting, (for some, maybe too avid!) and they help everyone get the goodies! By signing up for freebies everyday when I was at uni, I ended up getting out of my flat, going to the post box, getting fresh air and talking to people. Boiling it down, MagicFreebiesUK helped me combat my homesickness. Now I wasn't expecting that when I signed up to their emails! Thank you!



"I'm free to be whatever I, 
whatever I choose and I'll sing the blues if I want."
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