Category Archives: tropic

Sweet Dreams.

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Hands up, who needs more sleep? Or better sleep? Or struggles to fall asleep? Can I put my hand up for all three?

Before Oliver I could sleep for 12 hours no problem, I’m a natural night owl who can sleep until noon, easy. But my baby has other ideas, he is still waking regularly all night, even more so because he’s teething at the moment, and even when I do put my head on the pillow I find it really hard to fall asleep. It’s like I perk up the moment I lie down, I’m suddenly awake! It can take 2 hours to fall asleep some nights, and just as I drift off… I’m up to feed the baby. Damn it.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to find ways to combat this and help make drifting off easier because I could really do with those two hours sleep, please.

Some things I have been trying include:

  • No sugary treats after tea/dinner (this is the most difficult for me as I’m a chocoholic!)
  • A warm bath instead of a shower in the evening
  • Not using my phone when I get into bed.
  • Going to bed when I’m tired instead of waiting for Michael to want to go to bed, too. 

Along with these simple things, I’ve been including the two beauty products pictured above into my routine.


The Tropic So Sleepy Pillow Mist has quickly grown to be a firm favourite of mine, helping me associate the divine, calming scent with sleep. I love lavender so it was obvious I would love this too, but it also includes a lush blend of Rosemary, Chamomile, Frankincense, Rosewood, Eucalyptus and Rose Geranium essential oils too. These oils come together to create something a little more complex than just your standard lavender pillow mist, it’s not overpowering but strong enough that I only need to spray my pillow once for a long-lasting scent that calms me down. If I focus on the scent and breathing slowly, then I’m often asleep before you know it.

For skincare, I have been including the Neal’s Yard Remedies Beauty Sleep Concentrate. A night time serum/light moisturiser that’s dreamy in all the right ways. The cream contains cocoa butter, grape seed oil and aloe vera, along with ylang-ylang for that dream-inducing scent and a host of other good skin ingredients, too. If my skin isn’t too dry I tend to use this alone, but it does also pair well with a facial oil or thicker night cream on top. Smooth over skin and breathe in deep for all those sweet aromatherapy benefits.

Do you have any tips for better sleep?


Glowing All Winter Long.

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It seems oddly inappropriate with this freakish snowstorm that we’re currently having to be talking about showing some skin – and tanned skin at that. But, seeing as spring still feels an eternity away, I think we all deserve a little self-care and self-love in the form of glowy golden skin, even if you’re the only one who sees it. A tan cheers me up. It makes me feel a little more confident. It puts a spring in my step.

After being stuck indoors with a brand new little human for the past 3 months, I am so READY for spring and summer adventures. but until then, I can shop online and apply gradual tan to my heart’s content. I’ve been using two products for this, one for face and one for body. They’re equally fantastic and work a treat at turning my vitamin D lacking pallor into something a little more healthy.

Face

The Tropic Sun Drops Gradual Tanning Facial Serum is a booster serum that you add to your regular daily moisturiser to instantly give a little warmth and glow whilst gradually tanning the skin over several days.


The serum is incredibly intense and a little scary at first glance, but don’t be afraid like I was! It dilutes right into your everyday moisturiser and application is as easy as pie. Suitable for tanning pros and first-timers alike.

Tropic say to use 2-3 drops for a subtle tint, or 4-6 drops for a more sun-kissed glow. I only ever use 2 drops at a time to go slow with the gradual tan developing. I have used this at most for three days in a row so far and I really loved the colour it gave to my skin, it evened out redness and made blemish marks seem less harsh. I don’t wear makeup regularly at the moment, so this has been great for making me feel a bit better when I catch myself in the mirror after being up 4 times in the night 😉

Ingredients:

Aloe Vera Juice, Coconut Water, Sugar Beet DHA Skin Tanner, Plant Allo-Melanin, Plant Derived Humectant, Vegetable Glycerin, Jojoba Esters, Plant Erythrulose, Caramel, Radish Root Extract, Passion Fruit Extract, Corn Sugar Derived Gum, Gentle Preservatives from Basil and Star Anise, Lactic Acid, Phytic Acid

Body

For lacklustre limbs, we have the Eco by Sonya Winter Skin Gradual Tanning Moisturiser. I’ve been using this on and off for ages now and the bottle is still going strong, so that’s a huge win right off the bat.


I originally bought this in September last year to apply it a couple of times before our holiday so that I wouldn’t be so shockingly pale next to all the gloriously tanned Spanish folk and of course the crispy brown Britons who sunbathe from sunrise until sunset. You know the ones. Upon first use, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the moisturiser is, in fact, more of a thin lotion consistency that makes application quick and easy, no spreading a thick cream over the skin and massaging it in for half an hour only for it to gather at your ankles and turn them 5 shades darker. It sinks in quickly and you’re free to get dressed and go about your day, or evening, without feeling sticky.

The colour transformation is subtle and does take a good few days to build up to that ‘beautiful honey complexion’ mentioned on the bottle, but I like that! It’s much less scary waking up in the morning to a subtle tan rather than a patchy orange disaster.

At the moment I only use this once a week, during the 15 minutes or so every 168 hours that I get to myself to have a mini pamper routine; apply a face mask, moisturise, and maybe even brush my hair. Glorious. The boost in colour lasts a few days, even after showering, and like I said before, it’s not necessary for winter really, but it makes me feel good, so screw it!


Bump Friendly Bodycare

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My plans to write this post up before giving birth didn’t seem to go to plan. Those last few weeks were so exhausting and uncomfortable I couldn’t sit anywhere comfortably and type for long periods of time… and now I have a baby that is 16 days old! How did that happen? (see my Instagram for a little picture of his adorable-ness)


Anyway, I wanted to round up my top bodycare products that I’ve been using for the past 9 months to help with itchy stretchy skin problems and attempting to avoid stretch marks. I luckily didn’t get any stretch marks – and I couldn’t say whether it was my obsessive application of these products, or just good genes? Because I think they both played a part. What I enjoyed most was a few moments to myself to have a little pamper and mini massage after every bath or shower, especially as my bump got bigger and bigger and I could feel little limbs wriggling around!

Lucky Cloud Soothing Body Butter £16.50


This was my favourite scented product. So calming and perfect at bedtime to wind down with. The cream was rich and silky but not sticky or greasy after application. I used a lot of oils on my bump and eventually wanted something lighter feeling on my skin, especially when it was warmer – this was perfect. Definitely check out this vegan brand!

Tropic Tamanu Healing Balm £32 or mini size £16


This green balm is a multitasking wonder! and now baby is here can also be used on any of his little dry patches too. The balm is super concentrated so I liked to use just a little mixed with another body oil, Tamanu is the main ingredient here and is wonderful for scars and helping skin renewal, so seemed like the perfect companion for a growing baby bump.

Trilogy Pure Plant Body Oil £15.50


As you can probably tell this was my most used oil! With just three ingredients (sweet almond, apricot and rosehip oils) this oil was simple and really lovely to use. Perfectly nourishing I used it all over my body and it made a great massage oil for when I often had back pain.

Tropic Body Love Firming Buttercream £20


This dreamy scented body butter is super rich and well… buttery! I used this mostly on my legs because I liked the idea of helping keep my skin firm. I only used this on my bump a couple of times when the skin was very itchy as it felt like one of the richest products in my stash and took a while to sink into skin.

MOA Energizing Body Oil £22.50


“hello sunshine” is appropriate here! Scented with eucalyptus, peppermint, lemongrass and pine, this sunny scented oil had a lovely light texture and was another one great for a back massage and mixing with the tropic balm to help it spread further.

And those are my top picks! Whether you have a baby bump or not, I think I’ve found some fantastic body care products for keeping your skin (almost) as soft as a baby’s bottom during the winter months! 😉


My Summer Base, Sorted.

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Meet my latest face obsession: Tropic Skincare. 

I’ve been wearing the Tropic Pure Effects Beauty Booster paired with the Correcting Cream Concealer for a couple of months now, with the pair quickly becoming my go-to couple for work day makeup.

Since receiving my Beauty Booster, Tropic appear to have repackaged the serum foundation to come in a new squeezy tube, with more shades and a slightly tweaked formula. This makes it difficult for me to review, knowing you can’t go out and buy this exact product should my review win you over! Why do brands do this to us? 😉

I’ll keep my review of the Beauty Booster short and sweet, and if you haven’t tried anything from Tropic before, especially their makeup, I urge you to have a look at what they offer! I have quite a few things on my list after being so impressed with these. Everything is 100% vegan, too!

Swatched.. Top – Cream Concealer in Light. Bottom – Beauty Booster in Light.

(The colour is a little off here and my skin and the swatches are looking much more orange than they do in real life!)

The Beauty Booster is a serum foundation/BB cream that offered me a surprising amount of coverage. What really impressed me, however, was the lightweight feel and non-greasy finish. I’ve tried a lot of natural bases recently and have found it difficult to find a match that isn’t very heavily oil based, or thick and dry feeling. With aloe vera juice as the top ingredient, this acts more like a serum (as the name suggests) and sinks into the skin beautifully, covering redness and helping hide marks, spots and scars making them easier to conceal afterwards. Like I said above though, this exact formulation is no longer available, so maybe try and get a sample if you can!

Moving onto the Correcting Cream Concealer, which is actually my favourite! Long-time readers of the blog will know that once upon a time I used the RMS Un-Cover Up as my concealer of choice, and this reminds me of that. Except that it’s thicker, very creamy, has more coverage and is not based on coconut oil (!!!) so all around it’s better for me and my troublesome skin.


I have the shade light, which as you can see above is a very good match for me, it covers under eye circles like a dream and can be dabbed onto blemishes and blended in with a brush or your fingers to create a flawless finish. In this summer heat I do tend to set it with a quick dusting of powder, as it started to crease under my eyes in the heat – but that’s a small thing really. I would definitely buy this again when I run out (though I think it’s one of those products that might expire before I can use it all! it’s lasting really well even with daily use!).

What do you think of Tropic? Have you tried their products before?

(P.S. Sorry this review seems all over the place, I’m rusty!)