Liz Earle Essentials range- Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

At the beginning of the month I got an email from Laura at Liz Earle asking if I'd like to try their full size essentials range, a very kind offer and one that I was very excited to take up! 

I've been using the range twice a day since then and I love it! The Essentials range includes Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, Instant Boost Skin Tonic and Skin Repair Moisturiser. 

I'm going to be reviewing each of them separately to avoid a giant post and today is the turn of the Hot Cloth Cleanser!

For anyone who's somehow missed the Hot Cloth Cleanser before, it's a cream cleanser that includes ingredients such as eucalyptus, rosemary, chamomile and cocoa butter that you massage into your (dry) face and then remove with hand hot water on a muslin cloth which helps to gently exfoliate and remove all traces of dirt.

I received the 100ml pump starter kit which comes with 2 muslin cloths in a little zip up bag. The pump itself is great, it dispenses the perfect amount of product and it's not an "all or nothing" pump, if you press it down just a little bit then you get just a little bit, and the amount you get from 1 full pump is perfect for even my whole made-up face at night! 

The cream cleanser is wonderful, thick (but not too thick!) with a really lovely texture that feels natural (unlike you, Fab pore cleanser!) it's just the right consistency to smooth over your face and eyes to cleanse them perfectly. It is absolutely amazing at removing eye makeup! It's gentle enough that you can rub it into closed eyes without any sting or watering- bearing in mind even plain water hurts my eyes if it gets in them!- and it removes every last trace of eye make up.. You do like like a panda though, so just make sure the bathroom door is shut ;) 

I doubt I'll ever find something that does as good of a job as this does when it comes to my skin being smooth, it's amazing! I'm not even using primer anymore as all my little invisible-till-you-put-makeup-on-them dry patches have once again been banished completely and I can't stop touching my smoooothy soft face. Even my pores look smaller in size and blackheads are significantly reduced. 

Overall I love it and will almost definitely repurchase this when it's finished. 

Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser is available from Liz Earle's website where the starter kit is £13.00

Have you tried Hot Cloth Cleanser? What did you think?!

Rach x

Ebay addict?

I'm an ebay addict. 

It's almost always the first place I go to when I want to buy something, whether it's obscure or ordinary. 

Obscure being things like.. A camping washing line, or a 60cm gym ball (always sold in 55cm or 65cm) or slippers that are socks that don't slip ;)

Ordinary including never-endingly changing top coats and hair grips and avon colour trend liquid eyeliner. 

It's a great place to go for products that have a £3.95 postage tag attached to them, although there's always the odd muppet-like ebay seller trying to get £3 more than the product retails for PLUS £765 postage ;)

Plus when you use Pigsback you earn 3 points per pound you spend (3,000 points is a £10 voucher, they offer lots of retailers who you can earn points with!) on top of ebay plus points too. 

Genius.

Are you an ebay fan or more of a high street shopper?

Image credit.. Ebay!

Beauty Blog Link Love

Rae reviews a gorgeously packaged mascara that smells like blueberries (no, we're not kidding!) over at theNotice.

Tammerly from Pink Diva's Beauty Spot was GHD's guest at Little Joe Woman fashion luncheon which was also sponsored by Lancome.

IHeartCosmetics reviews the famous Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish .

The Pink Sith tries to put as many non sequitur references that she can into her review of Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Blush. See if she has finally gone too far!

Madame B Fatale swatches some Australian Mineral Shadows by Kylies Professional.

Jellyminx creates an affordable autumn inspired eye look perfect for the dreary weather the UK has had recently!!

Urban Decay announce The Black Palette and Lipglossiping has the photos! This one's for the rock chick inside each of us!

Cindy from Prime Beauty is finally leading the semi-"charmed" life she thinks she deserves by wearing the newest Three Custom Color Specialist lipstick. Find out how you can get yours as a GWP!

What's in the vanity drawers at The Gloss Menagerie? Come have a look at Alyson's makeup organization.

Beautywoome takes you through the no-chip manicure paces.

It wasn't easy, but Glitter Geek actually listed her top 10 products for Summer 2010. See any of your own favourites?

Jeweled Thumb reviews a face paint by Models Own as a blush and discovers it works!

Want to learn how to self-apply individual false eyelashes at home? Mz. More of The Glamorous Gleam has a video tutorial!

Hot Beauty Health shares how to get short, curly hairstyles like celebs!

The Lip Print makes a change and crosses over to the light side .

Retrodiva explores eight autumn beauty trends sure to be popular this year.

Want Chanel Paradoxal but don't like it's price? Musicalhouses shows you Paradoxal's (much) cheaper little sister!

Body shop offer..

The Body Shop have 30% off EVERYTHING on their website this bank holiday weekend, an amazing offer..! 

Enter AUG30 at the checkout for your discount.

x

17's wild curls mascara..

I picked this up the other day as I'm in need of a new mascara anyway and wanted to try a few different ones out.. Boots also currently have an offer on of 100 free Boots points when you buy it which is great!

Unfortunately I accidentally picked up Brown/Black which I wouldn't have chosen had I realised!

My usual mascara which I love is L'Oreal Telescopic mascara, which I reviewed here. I wasn't expecting Wild Curls to live up to this and I don't think it does, but it is pretty impressive given that it's £4 cheaper than the L'Oreal one. 

The packaging is great, it's nice to see something different and leopard print certainly does that! 

The brush is an ordinary one with bristles, it's quite straight and flat and the bristles aren't too long so you don't end up poking yourself in the eye with them. The mascara itself is quite wet, I imagine in a month or so it'll suit me better and be easier to apply. I have had a slight problem with this making my lashes clump together, which is quite unusual but I'm putting that down to how liquidy the mascara is (not that it is a liquid, it's just much more wet than the other couple of mascara's I've got- one of which is quite new too.)

Overall though the effect is very impressive..

One coat of Wild Curls on my right eye, and nothing on my left.

two coats.

As you can see it lifts lashes and adds volume but also lengthens them too! 

What are your favourite bargain mascaras?

Rachel xx

The Body Shop Body Butter!

So sorry for the lack of posts, I feel like a rubbish blogger ;) Aforementioned (oooh) excuses still stand! 

I recently tried a friends' Body shop body butter, it was the gorgeous almond one that has recently been discontinued (I can't believe I missed this! It was down to £3!) and it tempted me to try out one of their body butters. It only got better when I received a 2 for £15 on body butters and scrubs email, plus free delivery! 

Image credit: The Body Shop

I have really really dry skin, apparently it's something that comes along with my health issues, but it's flipping annoying to spend entire life moisturising to get my skin to resemble other people's non moisturised skin! I seem to spend my life buying the stuff and trying to find the perfect one. In general I like a nicely scented body moisturiser, for example, I love my skin so soft from Avon, but I'm not keen on their scent (non descript.. floral) on the other hand my FCUK body lotion (which was a gift, would never have thought to buy it myself) smells amazing, moisturises really well, but the scent is too strong and can make me sneeze! 

Anyway, TBS's Shea Butter body butter is near perfect, the scent is gorgeous but not too strong, and as it's a dry/very dry one it does a really, really good job of moisturising my poor dehydrated skin, especially when used straight after having a shower/bath. The down side to it being formulated for very dry skin is that it does leave an "I've used body butter" feel to your skin, but this doesn't bother me hugely, especially when I'm in bed/wearing long sleeves! The body butter itself is easy to use, not too thick, easy to smooth over your skin and generally a nice consistency, none of this block of rock hard uselessness! It leaves my skin soft and smooth for more than a day (practically unheard of!), it doesn't roll off, and I love it!

Yes, it's expensive, but with the current body shop offer it's well worth a look! 

Are you a body butter fan?

Rachel x

Beauty Blog Link Love!

Phyrra shows you Meow's Friday the 13th Collection, just in time for Friday the 13th!

Louise wonders about the Thierry Mugler wisdom of Womanity.

Lismarie from Beauty Crazed opens up Pandora's Box - Pandora's Makeup Box that is!

Take a look at swatches of Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipglosses and see what Sophie thinks of them.

The fish pedicure has come to London via Aqua Sheko and Beautywoome tries it out.

Lipglossiping has the scoop on the NARS Christmas Bento Box Lip Set that EVERYONE will want, but that at £95, few will be able to justify!

Krasey Beauty swatches her entire collection of Make Up For Ever eyeshadows, for all the world to see!

Retrodiva discovers a mascara that's almost identical to her beloved Max Factor 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumper. a solution to her oily skin, she just can't get enough of it!

Want soft skin, smooth legs and shiny hair? Cindy at Prime Beauty has your solution--find out what ten must-have beauty products are in her shower.

Broke your nail and don't know what to do? Musicalhouses will show you how to fix your nail with a DIY nail wrap!

Rachel's been finding possible Liz Earle alternatives.. is Soap and Glory's Hot Cloth Cleanser "the one"? 

Jeweled Thumb reviews a miniature blush from a brand that doesn't seem to get quite enough love (PS she loves it!)

Are you looking for some everyday nude lip products? Check out Spiced Beauty's top 3!

Jolie Laide Girl falls in love forever and its with the creamy Make Up Forever Aqua Creams.

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Finally, over to theNotice for Rae's Silicone Giveaway, which includes a lustrous hair lotion, a Canada-exclusive powder, and a bit of Urban Decay!

Lazy days eyeliner

Ok so it's not that lazy... That's no eyeliner at all ;)

In June when the weather was all hot and sticky (not like the autumnal weather we've got going on now!) I became really make up lazy, and it seems to have stuck... 

I've literally been going for foundation, concealer, eyebrows and mascara.. And lazy days eyeliner which to me, looks like I've at least made a tiny bit of an effort! 

Simple line with a bit of a flick and smudgey liner on bottom lashes, simples! 

What are your lazy day specials?

Rachel xx

Tweezer disaster?!

So this morning I was contemplating the state of my eyebrows and wondering why I'd let them get to the state that they are currently in.. (it's not good!). It was only when I picked up my tweezers and tried to start plucking that I realised.. MY TWEEZERS ARE BROKEN!

How do tweezers break I hear you ask! I have absolutely no idea. (unless trying to pull glue dots off with them was a bad idea.. It could well have had something to do with it!) They just don't pull eyebrow hairs out! 

So now I'm in the position of desperately needing new tweezers and I think they should be pretty... I can't believe how many different sizes/styles and colours of tweezers there are! 

Oh the decisions..!

Have you spent £10 on a pair of tweezers? Recommend Tweezerman? Let me know! 

Rach xx

All images borrowed from Google images... If it's yours and you'd rather I didn't have it up here, please do let me know :) 

A post of excuses!

Hello lovelies!

I know I've been quiet over the last few days, I had theory revision to do (I passed my theory on Wednesday!), I've not been feeling great, I've got forms and applications that I need to do and I've also been distracted by Big Brother!

Was also curious to know if anyone had anything they'd like to see a post on at some point... It's often hard to find things to post about when you've not been buying crazy amounts without rambling on like a loon ;) I do have some post ideas lined up for you, I just need to write them now!

Also, a huuuge thankyou to all of you wonderful readers and followers, my blog's only existed for 4 months and I have an amazing 121 of you that have clicked the follow button and I've been enjoying some amazing amounts of hits recently which is always so great to see!

Hope the weather's less dull and windy and more August like where you are!

Rachel xx

The saviour of my face...

.. Aqueous cream!

You can get huge amounts of this stuff really cheap from places like Home Bargains, and Boots and Superdrug.

It works wonders on dry/flaky skin as it's often used with eczema (which is why I have it in the first place!) but it also works fabulously as an intense overnight moisturiser, and you wake up with soft smooth skin. Mine smells like PVA glue, which isn't great... but it doesn't sting my eyes, or roll off my face, or make me come out in spots, so I'm happy!

Sometimes I put it on and leave it for 10 minutes or so before patting it off with a damp cotton pad, or toner, or otherwise I just use a little, rub it in really well and wake up with a smoooooth soft face without a hint of dry skin in the morning. You can even wash your face with it if it's particularly dry, same goes for dry areas of your body.

It also makes an ideal intense moisturiser for feet, slather it on and wack some socks on overnight and wake up with pretty feet! 

It is magical stuff! Not glamourous, but it does it's job and it does it well!

Rachel xx

Soap and Glory's Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser!

"It cleans, it smooths, it melts away makeup!"

Image credit: Soap and Glory

I cannot get over how gorgeous the packaging is for this, it's so pretty! 

Soap and Glory had 1/3 off some of their skincare products a month or so ago (they currently have 3 for 2 on "Indulgent bathing") so this cost me around £6 instead of the usual £9. There's 100ml of product and I'm predicting it'll last me around 3 months so it's good value. It also comes with a free muslin cloth, which has PINK stitching all around the outside which makes a nice change from the usual green. 

Soap & Glory claim this is a 3 in 1 concentrated "Deep Purifying Formula" with.. Panthenol, sweet almond, orange and lavender oils.. And yet despite all this I'm not overly keen on the smell.

It does an impressive job though! Bearing in mind that the last cleanser I used before this was the one and only Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, I think this isn't that far away from being up there with that as one of my favourites. I'm not keen on the texture though, when you first get the cream out of the tube it feels a little plasticky, which isn't something I'd choose in a cleanser! 

Anyway, once you've got a bit out of the tube Soap & Glory say you should... "Divide it between the pads of your fingers and then massage onto your face and neck for at least sixty seconds. (Concentrate most on your nose, chin, or other clog prone spots.) Leave on for another minute... Then press it all off with a warm, wet muslin cloth."

I wack it all on, rub it into my eye area (considering my eyes are pretty sensitive I can get all my eye make up off using just this, without any stinging or anything!), nose etc. and then I brush my teeth whilst it's on, I can't stand hanging around waiting for things, and this way it doesn't take any time at all really! The muslin cloth step at the end makes all the difference as it helps to gently exfoliate the skin to give the super smooth feeling that you get after using this!

If you can't bring yourself to pay the slightly more expensive Liz Earle price (plus postage!) or you're just hugely taken with the packaging! Then this is definitely worth a go :)

Rachel xx

OOTD

Typical holiday scenario, the clothes that you normally wear are either in the wash or in your bag, so you resort to actually flicking past the where the usuals live in the wardrobe to long lost items..

I bought this top a while ago from Dorothy Perkins and not really worn it since, with the right acessories I think it looks good, will definitely be wearing this more often! 

Have you made any recent back-of-the-wardrobe discoveries?

Rach x

Body Shop Mega Body Butter Offer...

The body shop currently have 2 body butters or scrubs of your choice for £15! They usually retail for £12.50 each so that's a pretty huge saving :)

They also have free delivery from today till 11am on Monday, genius! 

xx

8 Questions Tag...

This should have gone up on Saturday, but seeing as I wasn't here to check up on it my blog kindly decided not to post it.. So sorry to all those of you tagged, confusion! Also, please ignore the fact that this post is currently different fonts and sizes.. Blogger hates me!


The lovely Caz tagged me to do this... You answer the 8 questions set by the person who tagged you and then make up 8 of your own and then tag 8 people to answer yours.. It could go round and round! 

Caz's questions..

1. What magazines do you read?

Anything that I like the look of on the front! Katie Price is someone who will forever fascinate me, regardless of how I feel about her, it's some strange power she holds over me...

I also have a subscription to Marie Claire magazine.. I love it as it has some really interesting, well written articles that focus in on different stories that leave you intrigued as well as having the fashion side to it too, it's very different from a lot of the other magazines out there. 

2. Do you have any pets?

I do, as a family we have 2 chickens, a horse, 2 cats and 2 dogs!

3. What is your biggest achievement?

Ooh, that's difficult! I have to say that I'm really proud of managing a year of college whilst being really too ill to be there, it took a lot of sacrifices and I don't think I regret doing it.. 

4. If you could only wear one nail polish colour for the rest of your life what would it be?

Rimmel's Rose Libertine. I love it!

5. What are your ambitions for the future?

To be honest I want an amazing man for a husband and babies! ;) I'd love to be able to find a job that suits me perfectly too...

6. What is your favourite food?

I think that's a tie between chinese (sweet and sour and chicken chow mein in particular!) and macaroni cheese, but made with bigger pasta, like penne, which is in the picture! Both of these foods are just wonderful! 

7. Share your favourite photo from Tumblr or We♥It (if you don't have one of these just share your favourite photo)

I don't think I could choose a favourite, that changes all the time! One that really caught my eye on Wehearit was this one..

It's called Sunset at the Seaside 

8. What was the last song you downloaded?

I downloaded Jack Johnson's Sleep Through The Static from Amazon this morning as it was £3!

My 8 questions:

1. What's your first choice of colour for an eyeshadow?

2. Necklace, bracelet or ring?

3. What's your favourite book?

4. What's your favourite feel good song, one that never fails to make you smile?

5. Favourite TV series?

6. Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

7. What was the last text you sent about? 

8. Do you ever cook/bake just for the sake of it?

And I tag:

Isabel

Jemma

Leanne

Lucy

Kim

Zeby

Louise

Heather

Rachel xx

August's wishlist!

I can't believe we're just about to go into August already...! How flippin' scary!

Anyway, onto this month's wishlist.. I'm making progress, last month I actually BOUGHT two of the things on there! 

Image credit: Fragrance Direct

Urban Decay's liquid liner in Honey... Bargain at £3.99 here- I'm turning into more of a liquid liner lover so this is calling to me!

Rimmel's Sky High polish (can't find a decent picture for you, sorry!) I've been eyeing this up for ages and for some reason haven't got round to buying it!

Image Credit: Liz Earle

The wonderful wonderful Skin Tonic by Liz Earle, £11.50 

Lily Lolo's Silk Finishing Powder £12.00 -excited about trying this out, it looks really interesting!

17's matte top coat! According to their facebook page this is due to be released at the end of August.

What are you wanting this month?!

Rachel xx

NOTD

Diamond Cosmetic's OH, Tiff! with 17's Peacock used for the dots.. I'm surprised at the difference in look between a lighter shade for dots and a darker shade, makes a nice change! 

Rach xx

Beauty blog link love

This week's beauty blog link love..

Have you ever tried epilating? Well, now Rae has -- and she just loves her new Emjoi Emagine!


Vote NOW on what Makeup Series you'd like to see next on Betty Girl Makeup. Poll closes Friday, August 6th @ 11:59pm.

Jellyminx shows a summery golden pink look and features a surprise guest!

Kim Porter swatches products from the MAC In The Groove Collection to show you what it looks like on NC50 skin.

Krasey Beauty has exclusive swatches of the new Make Up For Ever Lab Shine Collection.
Rachel's been trying out new mineral makeup from Lily Lolo over at Queen of Turquoise.

Hot Beauty Health shares a list of the top 10 virtual hairstyle and makeover sites to try out a new look!

Musicalhouses makes Illamasqua's Beg blush wearable in her latest FOTD.

Find out everything about Summer 2010 makeup trends in the Makeup4All on-line beauty magazine.

Joeybunny over at the PinkSith blog tells us what worked and what didn't during her testing of Raw Minerals Makeup and Brushes. Did you know she's a Team Jacob and not a Team Cullen?

Jolie Laide Girl gets all hot and bothered playing with the Urban Decay Naked Palette.

Check out what makes Guerlain's Meteorites Perles primer so special on Beauty Addict.

Fed up of struggling to access your new makeup? Yeah... Lipglossiping is, too!
Christelle from Beauty Crazed learns that multiple X's are not always inappropriate... sometimes they mean mascara!


I Heart Cosmetics has become totally obsessed with the Clarisonic.




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Retrodiva is giving away the brand new Sampar's Good Weekend Kit, a new travel-friendly kit for urban skin survival.

Win an Infiniti by Conair You Curl curling iron from Audrey Dao.

There's still time to enter the Summer Smooth Skin Giveaway at The Gloss Menagerie!


Got troublesome skin? Enter Hellcandy's skincare giveaway for the chance to win some B-Liv products!

Do you want a new traincase? CSN stores is giving one Spiced Beauty reader a $40 gift card!