Showing posts with label pampering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pampering. Show all posts

Friday, 18 July 2014

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Sink in Moisture Mask Review

Salut tout le monde!

It's the return of FACE MASK FRIDAY Y'ALL!! FMF was brutally put to a stop when I sadly could not remember to buy face masks in time, and because I was on a semester abroad in Maastricht. Mais c'est la vie!


(Beautiful Maastricht church)


Maintaining the on-and-off, not-really glorious tradition of smothering face masks and then telling you about them on Fridays was unfortunately a long lost pastime. UNTIL TODAY.

This week I turned to The Body Shop's Vitamin E sink in moisture mask to make me feel fabulousssss (well more so than already).

If you have read my previous review on The Body Shop's Honey and Oat Mask, you will know that I was quite impressed the Body Shop's face masks. Hence I went out to my local TBS store and got myself a sample of the Vitamin E sink in moisture mask.



TBS had always gotten good reviews from me because their products are so lush and smell like my idea of heaven. Fact. My daily choice of spray in fact is from TBS, and they've recently started giving students free Body Shop (discount) cards which has made my life.



Back to business, the serious shit, the hit product: the moisture mask!

In substance, the Vitamin E mask was a pale pink soft cream-like product. It had a light subtle yet sweet fragrance that reminded me of baby cream (in a good way). I was feeling very positive about this product because I have sensitive skin and this looked ideal for me.

So I scooped up a bit of this fluffy mask and started spreading it in a thin layer around my face. There was a big difference between this mask and the Honey and Oat one, or in fact any mask I had yet reviewed. The Vitamin E mask was very smooth and I could hardly feel it as I waited for the recommended 10 minutes. I kept it on for a little longer (20 minutes) because I had been told that some women left this mask on over night.

Unlike other face masks my face did not feel irritated or tingly, just very cool.



I'm a real abider of the rules (despite the amount of times I have failed my driving test), so I took off the mask using a tissue as recommended on the instructions. My skin looked shinier but it also felt a little sticky and there was a slight irritation on one of my cheekbones.

I had a distinct feeling of uncleanliness so I washed off the mask, any my skin did look a bit cleaner and felt slightly softer for the next couple of days.

Overall, the Vitamin E Sink in Moisture Mask didn't really excite me because it felt more like an overnight cream than it did a face mask. It smelt nice but not as nice as the Honey and Oat scrub mask. I would recommend this to those who want to tackle the lines on their face or signs of aging because of the Vitamin E.



Due to it not giving out as good of a result as I thought it would, and because a price of £13.00 per 100ml is just simply too high for me, I would have to give this product a mediocre 3/5.

It sure does the job, but it does the job of a moisturizing cream, not an ideal face mask.

Friday, 2 August 2013

Honey & Oat 3 In 1 Scrub Mask by The Body Shop review

Bonsoir the part of the internet that's into face masks,

As promised in my past review, I am going to be reviewing TBS's hit product, 3-in-1 Honey and Oat scrub mask. Now let me tell you I was very very excited about trying this product out, mostly because I gave it a sniff last week and it smelt heavenly. I was interested to see if the product would really be worth its retail value of £10.00 for 100ml. Most Body Shop products I have encountered have actually been worth what I paid for them, like the body mists, which smell wunderfullll and don't run out for a good six months. 

Now here is what the product looks like on the shelves if any of you have severe difficulties in locating it and/or are merely interested in the packaging:

Very good. Now let us move on to the glory that is held inside this pot. The texture of this face mask was unusual. It was a smooth creamy mixture with some gritty bits in. You know, to make it seem natural and exfoliating. Did you know you could put sand in a body wash/face mask and you'd have the exact same exfoliating result, if not better? 

So the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous smell of the mixture (which I've mentioned like five times already). It was an amazingly sweet yet natural fragrance. The whole product seemed to scream natural at the top of its lungs. In fact I must have awarded it 2 out of 5 in my head just for the smell regardless if it gave me rashes or not. I just thought to myself, even if I do get dry skin and spots everywhere, boy there would be no better smelling way of doing it.

As I put it on I felt a cool sensation and hoped that the mask was really going to be worth it. Surprisingly, it was. I took it off after 10-15 minutes and not only did my face smell lovely, my skin actually looked cleaner and shinier, in the good way, like I had a healthy glow or something. Dead impressed, well done The Body Shop! Unfortunately all good things must come to an end so the effect of the mask did not last long but none the less, it was lovely to go around for a day with my skin looking as it did (i.e. slightly improved).

Overall, 4/5. Smelt amazing. Loved the natural feel of the product and the fact that it actually brought good results. However, the price was too high for me. Maybe it does bring mega results after long term use but honestly, £10 is a good roast, drink and dessert at 'Spoons. And I'm the kind of girl who chooses to get fat over good skin. Aw yeah. 

P.s. Any French readers, can you tell me how to say 'aw yeah' in French? If there is such a saying for that in French. If not, don't worry, I'll improvise and put a French accent on while saying 'aw yeah'. Yes, I know, I am terrible. 

A plus tard.

Friday, 19 July 2013

Body Shop's Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask Review

Salut,

Well look at that, Face Mask Fridays is so a thing. I mean if you've done something twice it's a thing isn't it? At least that's how it works in my world. Which is probably why I consider myself an expert at yoga from having been to ten lessons or so in the space of a year.

Moving on from my lack of yoga skills, I was browsing in my local branch of The Body Shop this week (they're having a sale so it's only understandable why I was won over). Then I saw the sachet version of Body Shop's Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask on the counter. The original pot packaging looks something like this:


The pot is £12 for 100ml and my sachet was £1.50 for 6ml. I know, The Body Shop wins again for its brilliant affordability factor. Okay yes go on all you Body Shop fanatics, throw a rant at me about how this is because The Body Shop goes out of its way to avoid animal testing but may I just point out that my Tea Tree face peel from Superdrugs (refer to last weeks post) was more than a third cheaper and for more product too, as well as the fact that it stated at the back that it did not test this product on animals. 

The question is, was this face mask worth it? I applied the clay like mixture onto my face, so well done Body Shop for really sticking to the title there. The face mask smelt lovely, really fresh and clean which made it bearable to sit around improving my yoga until I realized my face was so stiff I could only mumble. It was time to see the results. I washed off the stiff bits of mask and in that aspect Superdrug's Tea Tree mask was more fun because I could easily peel it off. Well life is not fair, so I continued in my struggle to remove the concoction from my face.

Now the result was pretty non-existent. In all fairness this face pack is for oily skin which I do not have but it seemed like a bit of a fluff product to me. Body Shop describes it to "draw out impurities" be "clarifying" and "refreshing". Refreshing it was. I really enjoyed how fresh my face felt but it still left my blackheads as they were and my skin looked a little clearer. But that could have just been a bit of the clay mixture left over. 

I'll give it a 2/5. Lovely smell, felt fresh after but made no difference to me really, could have achieved the same by washing my face in cool water and I would have saved myself a good bit of money too. 

That's all on Face Mask Fridays.

À bientôt.  

Friday, 12 July 2013

Tea Tree Peppermint Peel Off Face Mask Review

Hello my lovely lovely blog viewers,

So today I thought, hey, it's Friday, let's get crazy. The sun is shining, it's nice and warm. It's time to bring out the face mask I brought upon impulse yesterday in Superdrug.


So let me say, this is the first time in my nineteen years of existent that I have used a face mask. I know, I hear all you well-groomed gals yelling "how could that be?!". As it turns out I'm not so well-groomed. I tend to get by on the odd splash of water on my face.

So anyway, I thought it'd be a lovely pampering thing to do for a jobless university student. I even thought about making it a thing you know? Like Face Mask Fridays! We'll see how far my budget stretches (yes I am that broke, all money is welcome).

Tea Tree Peppermint Peel Off Mask costs £0.89 at Superdrug which I thought was quite good, and it's enough for two masks (if you've got a small enough face like myself). The minute I put the jell like goop on my fingers the smell of peppermint hit me. Quite nice if you like that kind of thing. I'm more of a grapefruit girl myself.

The first thing I noticed after I spread a thin layer of it on my face was the cool burn of it. Before you go on about the paradox I just created for you let me try to explain. It numbed my face but I could also feel a kind of sting to it. I just went along with it, what do I know about face masks after all? I'm guessing this was the peppermint playing its part. The description did say "Peppermint oil is renowned for its therapeutic effect on skin disorders and for its cooling sensation". The slightly uncomfortable sensation continued for the next five minutes or so until the mask had stiffened on my face.

Now to see the results. I peeled the mask off my face and for a moment my skin looked a little brighter but then I went to wash the remainder of the mask off my face with water and my skin just kind of went back to before.

See, my skin's quite normal. The occasional spot and a bit of dry skin but nothing face cream can't solve. The tiny spot on my chin was still there after the mask, and maybe, if it wasn't the light of my bathroom messing with me, it had gone down a little and lo behold the blackheads on my nose were fading too. My skin hadn't brightened, it wasn't softer and my complexion was pretty much still the same. 

All in all, nice treat, face felt refreshed and my skin was a bit cleaner. Good for a girls night in, but soap does the exact same function if you're broke like me. 3/5 at a push.

I guess sometimes face masks are all about the psychological effects they bring. Maybe my spot hasn't really gone down and blackheads are still there. Who knows, but I think I'll try another face mask next week (a brand called Amie or Superdrug's finest depending on money - side note Superdrug did not pay me to do this aha). 

Face Mask Fridays  is rapidly becoming a thing.

À la prochaine fois!