Shopping Haul!

Not the biggest haul in the world, but I went to Boots, Lush and The Body Shop today and I thought I'd show you what I bought!

Lets start with The Body Shop. Starting from left to right I got:

• Almond Hand and Nail Cream (£10.00)
• Banana Conditioner (£4.50)
• Hand Sanitiser Gel - Coconut scented (£2.50)
• Baked Eye Shadow - Mon Cherry (£7.00)
• Leona Lewis Bronzer Palette (£16.00)
• Cactus Wash Mitt (£6.00)
• Eye Liner Pencil - Taupe (£8.00) 

 This was actually my second purchase of the Almond Hand and Nail Cream. It's not common for me to repurchase things because I love trying new things, but this hand cream is the best thing ever. It's so moisturising and not at all greasy, which is one of the things I hate about a lot of hand creams. I believe that £10.00 for 100ml of product that lasts a long time is quite reasonable, although it comes in a smaller 30ml size for £5.00. I actually got introduced to this because it was my free gift with my body shop beauty card. When doing this I tried out all three of the ones they offer; wild rose, absinthe and this almond one (they actually do a hemp hand protector cream, but I didn't get offered this). I really didn't like the smell of the absinthe one, this may not be a problem for some people but I'm fussy with smells. Also, the person telling me about these hand creams described the wild rose one for 'elderly people with brown blotches on their hands because it has SPF in it to help protect them!' and although I don't think it is actually JUST for elderly people and I hate being stereotypical as such, but this really put me off getting it. Overall I am so happy with this hand cream and I doubt I'll try something new for a long time.

It was also my second purchase for the banana conditioner. The only reason I didn't get the banana shampoo was because they were sold out of it, which I was so upset about. I've been using this shampoo and conditioner set for about a month now and I've never known my hair to grow so long so quickly whilst also staying beautiful and healthy looking. I have also been using argon oil in my hair so that might have helped too, but I definitely love this shampoo and conditioner. I wasn't sure I'd like the smell of this when using it in the shower but it's actually quite a refreshing smell, not at all an overpowering smell of bananas at all. It leaves my hair feeling silky and shiny and even when it's wet I can tell it feels healthier, I would definitely recommend these products and will be rebuying the shampoo when I next visit the body shop.

The rest of the products are relatively new to me. The hand sanitiser gel I actually love already. You can't really go wrong with hand sanitiser, but when it smells as good as this it is such a bonus! They also do this in the scents: mango, pink grapefruit, satsuma, strawberry and sweet lemon as well as the one I have - coconut. There wasn't much thought between the scent I got, it was just the first I picked up! At £2.50 this is a great thing to just keep in your bag, car or in your make up bag for just before you do your make up. They don't feel sticky as some can so and they smell so good. As soon as I run out of this I'll be trying another scent!

The bon cherry eye shadow is a beautiful colour in the palette (if that's what you'd call it?) I even swatched it on the back of my hand as I usually would, however this colour I think makes my eyes look a bit sore looking. I'm not sure if it'll look better with some thick liquid eye liner on, but so far I'm not impressed. 

The Leona Lewis Bronzer Palette I had previously been attacked with (not literal) last time I went into The Body Shop, however at £16.00 I wasn't too sure to get it, so I put it back. However I have recently used up my usual no. 17 bronzer and needed a new one as all I had left were bronzing beads and I don't particularly like them so I decided to buy this. For pale skin like mine I would advise putting it on after foundation but before your pressed/loose powder as it can be quite orangey and very dark. On more honey toned skins this would be beautiful for contouring and I wish that I had darker skin to do that with. 

I haven't tried either the cactus wash mitt or eye liner pencil yet, although I'm excited to!

From Lush (left to right) I have:

• Mr Bumble - Honey Bee Bath Bomb & Honey I Washed the Kids Soap (£7.95)
• Rehab Shampoo (£5.10)
• Yuzu and Cocoa Bubble Bar (£2.95)
• Rose Jam Bubble Bar (£3.50)

 The Mr Bumble was actually for my dad, because I'm the best daughter in the world - and Mr Bumble looked so cute! My dad had never used a lush bath bomb before! So I recommended that he at least halved it so he could enjoy it for longer. The honey bee bath bomb is one of my favourite bath bombs, the ingredients make your skin feel so soft because they gently exfoliate your skin, it also smells fabulous! I haven't tried Honey I washed the kids soap before, but it seems really creamy and moisturising and smells lovely too.

I bought the rehab shampoo as an alternative to the banana shampoo that Body Shop had sold out of. I originally went in to get Blousey as that's made from bananas too, although the shop assistant decided to help me. I wanted more body and healthier feeling hair as the sudden heat wave had taken my hair by surprise, as seeing as though I'm going to be buying a new banana shampoo from The Body Shop as soon as I can I decided to try something new in a small bottle for a change! The shop assistant suggested either Cynthia Sylvia Stout or Rehab. As I've previously mentioned I really am particular about smells, so I smelled them both and I hated Cynthia Sylvia Stout. A lot of reviews on the website say they love the smell and that it works wonders for their hair, but I did not like it so I went with rehab. I haven't used it yet but it smells really fresh and a lot of reviews say it adds a lot of body to their hair and helps to reduce fly-aways whilst making their hair look lovely, healthy and shiny.

I haven't used the bath bombs but I chose them for a good reason! 1. They both smell SO GOOD. Honestly I put them in my handbag after purchase and when I went to college later that day everyone says they smelled so lovely, especially raspberry jam. It smells like rose turkish delight - sweet and fruity. Yuzu and cocoa one smells like cocoa butter, and feels creamy and thick in my hands, I can tell it's going to make my skin feel soft. 2. They come in a 'macaroon' shape, which means it's easy to pull them apart for two uses - so much less effort for something I always do anyway! 

From Boots (left to right) I have:

• Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration - Factor 50 (£14.99)
• Hawaiian Tropic After Sun Moisturising Lotion (£10.49
• Piriteze (£4.69)
• Vitamin Water - Citrus Guava (£1.80)

I'm going to talk about Hawaiian Tropic Factor 50 Sun Cream and Hawaiian Tropic After Sun together. On Monday I got really sunburned at work - I wasn't wearing any sun cream whatsoever and I work outdoors all day, I also burn even if I am wearing sun cream if it's anything less than factor 50, unfortunately :(. I had heard a lot of good things about Hawaiian tropic products as seeing as though they were half price when I went into Boots on Tuesday I decided to try them. At this point I had bright red sun burned arms, including the backs of my hands, which were so tender to touch, and a sunburned forehead, side of my face and my nose. As soon as I bought these products, especially the after sun, I was relieved of the pain. It's now Wednesday (technically Thursday at 00:18...) and my arms have gone to a tinted brown (never happened before, I'm certain it's with the help of the after sun - I don't tan!). Both products are so moisturising, I haven't got any more sun burn and the only sun burned bit of me is my forehead which is still tender to touch but that may be because I rub my forehead lots when I'm stressed. The sun cream smells amazing! and the after sun smells so refreshing and feels so cooling its amazing. I'd definitely recommend these products. 

Piriteze I have only included because it is my go-to hay fever tablets that I take when my hay fever isn't bad enough to go to the doctors to get the stronger stuff from. 

Vitamin Water is one of my favourite bottles of drinks, especially in dragonfruit - it tastes like jelly before it hardens, mmmm. This one is in citrus guava which is new, I wasn't too impressed with it, it just tastes like orange and mango squash :(. Try some vitamin water in a flavour you think you'll like if you haven't already!

I hope you've enjoyed this post, keep an eye out for more in the future!