Category Archives: beauty

Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion Review

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The fragrance from Bath and Body Works “Mad About You” is fairly new, it just came out past February. Read ahead for more details.

bath and body works mad about you body lotion

Product Description:

America’s #1 Body Lotion just got better! With 2x the moisture and 3x the Shea, our enhanced lotion contains more of what skin loves, leaving it feeling incredibly soft, smooth and nourished. Fortified with nutrient-rich ingredients like protective Vitamin E and fast absorbing Jojoba Oil, our ultra-nourishing formula delivers 16 hours of continuous moisture.  A love-struck pairing of soft peonies and black currant kissed with creamy vanilla musk.

 

Key Fragrance Notes:

Top Notes: Black Currant, Luscious Strawberry, Sparkling Cassis
Mid Notes: Ginger Lily, Bright Peony, Pink Jasmine
Dry Notes: Amber Wood, White Patchouli, Vanilla Musk

Our exclusive Mad About You fragrance captures the rush of falling truly, madly, deeply in love.  Our triple moisture body cream is the perfect deep, daily moisturizer.  Provides 16 hours of continuous moisture.  Infused with Shea butter and with your exclusive Daily Moisture Complex of protective Vitamin E, Aloe and conditioning Vitamin B5.  Non greasy formula absorbs quickly, leaving skin feeling soft, smooth and nourished.

Price:

$12.50

Ingredients:

Packaging:

Okay, I am a sucker for pretty and cute packaging and this also has won my heart. This lotion has such sweet and simple feminine packaging which I would have even bought without even sniffing it :P It’s a transparent bottle with a silver color cap which you press the top to dispense product. The lotion is itself a very light pink color, so the bottle looks like it is that color too. The packaging also has “Mad About You” written on very pretty looking flowers. I am really glad BBW has new style bottles, I really got bored with the old packaging.

My Experience with Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion:

Before I bought this product, I had tried samples of this, so I knew what I was getting into. I received some free samples from my friend who had received these sample bottles even before the product came out. Ever since I became a fan of this scent and just had to go out and buy it.

bath and body works mad about you body lotion

Whenever I buy any type of lotion, the scent is always the main factor for me. The scent of this is just amazing! It is a smell which is hard to describe, something of various flowers and fruits and fruits – something sort of roses, jasmine, and berries. I just love how the scent lingers on my skin many hours later. I get so many compliments from my husband :D. I apply lotion all over my body after shower most mornings and when I return home around 6 or 7 o’clock I can still smell it all over me, though it is not as strong as it first smells, but it is still lightly there which is longer than usual lotions.

bath and body works mad about you body lotion

The consistency of this lotion is fairly thick. It is definitely not runny and when applied it goes on thick. It feels a bit too thick when applying but my skin absorbs it quickly and after some time, the thick heavy feeling is gone. I have combination skin tone but it mostly depends on the season. My skin tends to be on the dry side in the winter since most of my time is spent in central heaters so my skin over dries. I have been trying out this product since this winter and it has kept my skin from drying up and instead I am left with soft and supple feeling skin. Even after 6 to 7 hours, my skin still looks and feels moisturized. I do not have to worry about re-application (except for my hands). It works exceptionally well for dry elbows, knees, and heels. For the price of this product, I think it is definitely worth it and even currently BBW is having a huge sale so all you ladies must take advantage.

Pros of Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion:

  • Smells very refreshing and fruity.
  • Provides perfect amount of moisture for skin.
  • Perfect for winter time use.
  • Moisture lasts a long time.
  • Lingering scent, stays on skin for hours.
  • Pretty packaging.

Cons of Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion:

  • Consistency can be a bit on the thick side.

IMBB Rating:

5/5

Would I Recommend Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion?

Yes, I recommend. When I compare this with my other BBW lotions, this one has given me much better results.

Would I Repurchase Bath and Body Works Mad About You Body Lotion?

Yes, I would repurchase this.

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part – SAG Awards – Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

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Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

Last night was not only a big occasion for actors at the 19th Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, but a night for the next big trend in hair: the side swept wave! Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies including Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore all sported this retro hairstyle with a modern twist.

Read on to see how Julianne Moore‘s hairstylist for the evening, Living Proof‘s Chris McMillan, gave her relaxed, Veronica Lake-type waves.

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

“First, I applied Living Proof Prime Style Extender to her damp, towel-dried hair and combed it through. Prime Style Extender gave me the sleek, healthy hair I needed for styling. I parted the hair on the left and blow-dried it straight with a large round brush.

Hairstyle Trend Photos 2013: How To Get Sideswept Waves, Deep Part - SAG Awards - Jennifer Lawrence, Amanda Seyfried

On dry hair, I applied the Firm Hold Hair Spray as a heat protector and used a 1 1/2-inch curling iron to create a S-curve with her bang, accentuating her eyes and keeping her hair away from the face. I then used the same iron to bend the ends under, curling the iron in a counter clockwise motion. I wanted the look to be glossy, sleek and simple.”

Are you lovely ladies fans of this Old Hollywood side swept hair trend? Let us know by commenting below, which will automatically be posted to our Community Forum (click here to check it out!) where you can find other beauty related discussions! Don’t forget to also submit a photo to our Photo Of The Day (click here!) feature, where a new photo will be picked daily. Your photo just might be selected, so get going!

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Toners: Comfort vs. Balancing

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It’s well documented that I love Madara skincare, I even have an older in-depth spotlight post dedicated to all the products I had tried at the time here. Since then I’ve been using a couple of other products, two of which were these toners from their basic skincare line. I’m always looking for the perfect toner, it’s my favourite skincare step. Whether it’s a mist or one applied with a cotton pad, I always have a couple open and in use.

Madara actually offers three toners from their basic line and I’ve ended up with two of them – one to balance and the other to offer a little moisture. The third is for oily skin and since having a baby my skin is anything but oily! It’s actually been super dry and I’m struggling to adjust as I don’t really know what works for me anymore! I’ve just been layering on the moisturiser and hoping for the best!

I purchased the Balancing Floral Toner (£14/200ml) first before my skin really started to get dry, and I found it to be great and very refreshing on the skin. The toner has a base of rose water to remain nice and gentle, but also contains lactic acid to gently exfoliate. It’s also PH balanced to return your skin’s PH to normal after cleansing and helps the skin absorb products applied afterwards. There’s also Baltic raspberry, plantain, cucumber and chamomile in there for their added nourishment, balancing and calming properties.


The Comforting Toner (£14/200ml) is very similar, but with fewer ingredients making it more suitable for sensitive skin. Rose water, chamomile and glycerin make up the bulk of the ingredients here to soothe and hydrate dry skin. I do notice a difference using this compared to the balancing toner recently, especially if my skin is looking flaky and very dry. I apply this to a cotton pad and press the toner into the skin with the pad, then move it in circular motions to gently scrub away any flaky bits. That’s probably bad for my skin, but it seems to be a habit now.

Both of these contain alcohol so if your skin is 

very

 sensitive I would say to give these a miss, but I’ve found them both to be very gentle indeed. In that first week or two after Oliver arrived, I barely had a moment or the energy to bother with skincare, and used quite a bit of micellar water to clean and followed up with the comforting toner (or Balancing & Comforting mixed together) on my skin to get rid of that typical icky feeling after using a cleansing water. And that’s it. Who has time for moisturiser? (that’s probably why my skin is so dry now, come to think of it, oops!). I remember my skin was pretty great in those early days from the lack of fussing over it – and I think the blood loss helped my complexion look clear for a bit ha! grim. 

So there we have it, as usual some more great products from Madara for your face. I think I’m obsessed? They have another toner available as part of the Time Miracle range that comes as a mist and sounds gorgeous, so you know that’s on my list to try soon!

Are you a fan of Madara?


Spotlight: Esse Probiotic Skincare

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This South African, organic, all vegan, probiotic focused brand caught my eye back at the beginning of the year and boy am I glad they did. It took me quite awhile to get around to researching the extensive range (it’s a big ‘un!) to see what was for me. I read all of the product descriptions three times over and plenty of reviews to get a good feel for the brand and what to expect. It just sounded so good!

They have a core range split over different skin types, a range of body products, a special line for sensitive skin and a higher end super high-tech line of targeted anti-ageing products called ‘esse plus’. So there really is something for everyone here.

After much deliberating, I decided to try the serum from the core range. My skin was feeling a little dry and my current skincare wasn’t working to banish any flaky patches as effectively as usual so this seemed perfect. The serum contains a high dose of hyaluronic acid and a nice blend of soothing, hydrating ingredients such as rose, aloe and rooibos. There’s also inulin as a prebiotic for skin microbes, kigelia to lighten and much more, too.

This serum promises to deliver intense moisture (without overwhelming the skin with oils), reduce inflammation, brighten, firm and clean up any damage from pollution and everyday skin stress. It really is a little wonder and I fell in love with it very quickly.


The serum is a gel formula that is best used in the evening and applied to damp skin before following up with the rest of your routine. You can really tell it’s packed full of active ingredients as the gel is dark brown in colour and only a small amount is needed. It’s like a drink of water for your face!

My only negative is the size! This serum is just 15ml for £37 and I’ve used it up in around 3 months. I suppose this is a good thing to keep the ingredients fresh and potent, and just looking at the clean ingredients list below, everything has a purpose for bettering the skin.

I will compare it to something like Glossier and their hydrating serum Bounce, which is also 15ml for just £24, but contains a bunch of filler and rather useless ingredients that I wouldn’t want on my face.

Bounce full ingredients list: 


Water/Aqua/Eau, Biosaccharide Gum-2, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Caprylyl Glycol, Peg-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Polysorbate 80, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Octyldodecanol, Isohexadecane, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate.




Esse Serum Ingredients:

Aspalathus Linearis (Rooibos) Leaf Extract*, Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Water, Inulin, Glycerin, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Xanthan Gum, Astragalus Gummifer Gum, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract*, Sodium Hyaluronate, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Vanilla Planifolia Extract, Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower Oil*, Salicylic Acid, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Levulinic Acid, Sodium Levulinate, Water (Aqua), Tocopherol, Limonene***, Linalool*** *ingredient from organic farming ***component of natural essential oils 99.9% of the ingredients are from natural origin 49% of the ingredients are from organic farming 7% of the ingredients are fair trade

For me, esse wins hands down. 

Luckily for us, the brand stands out with their really great trial packs for the core and sensitive ranges, so I was able to sample some more of their products before committing to a bunch of full sizes. The trial packs aren’t too expensive, come in sturdy tins that are perfect to re-use and contain everything you need to get a feel for the products you’re interested in.


There are 4 trial packs available; oily/combination skin, normal skin and dry skin variations which contain 6 mini products for £31, and the sensitive set which contains 3 products for £23.

As you can tell I went with the sensitive kit, because even though pregnancy has been quite kind to my skin, I have tried to be as gentle as possible with any new products I’m using to avoid any reactions.

The sensitive kit contains the cleanser and both light (hydro) and rich (nourish) moisturisers from the sensitive range. The only product missing is the sensitive serum, but as this is quite an expensive product and the full size is only 15ml I can see why they chose to leave this out – though, even a tiny sachet would have been nice to include just to fully test the whole set of products, especially as I’m really interested in the sensitive serum and it’s benefits for reducing redness and repairing barrier function.

I really enjoyed using the cleanser and two moisturisers, and have been considering a purchase of the full size lighter moisturiser as it really seems to calm my skin and works well in both the morning and evening. I really like that it contains both pre and probiotics and I’ve been so interested to learn more about how these can help our skin. The cleanser is a nice and creamy gel sort of texture, it’s exceptionally gentle and removes light makeup – one for those of you who have very reactive skin types as it’s just so gentle. I also really liked the nourish moisturiser as it paired well with the serum to help dehydration, but I don’t think it’s something I would want to use long term as my skin usually doesn’t agree with shea butter and this contains it.

And that’s our brief introduction to Esse!


This is definitely a brand I want to explore more of. The sensitive serum is on my list, and they have a gorgeous sounding mist/toner with probiotics! I do love a good misty toner.


If you’re interested in dipping your toes into this brand I would definitely suggest a trial kit, or picking up some sachet samples from the Love Lula sample section, they have some of the cleansers and moisturisers for 50p each!


*products received as part of the LoveLula blogger programme*