12 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS - DAY NINE - SOAP & GLORY

DAY NINE! SOAP & GLORY time.

You can't go wrong with a little Soap & Glory, so we're giving you a LOT of S&G. :)

To win all of the below:

Mist You Madly Fragrance Mist
Scrub Your Nose In It Facial Scrub
Drama Clean Makeup Remover
Pulp Friction Body Scrub
Bright & Beautiful Energy Boosting Radiance Serum
The Righteous Butter
Flake Away Body Polish
Glow Job Sunkissed Tinted Morning Moisture Flash
Clean On Me Shower Gel
Heel Genius Foot Cream
Hand Food Hand Cream

Simply enter via Rafflecopter below.

As with all the giveaways, you have 12 Days from their launch to enter and you can enter daily.
Full T&Cs are here:

www.carolinehirons.com/12-days-of-giveaways

Good Luck! Thank you Soap & Glory!

www.soapandglory.com



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Budget Week - Day 4

So I'm thinking this could maybe become a regular fixture - mini-reviews of the products I show in Instagram - thoughts? It won't take the place of anything else - it'll be in addition to the other usual stuff. Let me know what you think. :)

Anyway, without further ado:

Una Brennan Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil - £10.99 - formerly known as 'the good product with the packaging from hell'. This is a great cleansing oil, it removes all of my makeup, doesn't leave any residue and doesn't sting my eyes. It is only hindered by the fact that it is a runny oil, in an open-neck bottle. No pump. The new ones at least have a snap cap but still, you have to pour this into the palm of your hand, put it down and get most of it on your face before it dribbles down your forearm like a cold lolly on a hot day. Other than that it's great. *stabby*

Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion - see previous post

Nuxe Gentle Toning Lotion - £14.00 for 200ml - this is a perfectly lovely and affordable toner for all skin types. As an aside, it has one of the worst 'ingredients' pages that I think I've seen on a website. I'm not joking. Check it for yourself. What's the point? Taking none of that into consideration because it's hardly reflective of the actual product, which is why we are here, have a look at this the next time you see it instore. You may like.

Soap & Glory Make Yourself Youthful Serum - £16.00 for 46ml - A great price for a serum containing a lot of ingredients found in much more expensive  products, albeit maybe at lower %'s as they are near the end of the inci list. Feels good on teh skin, and does give an immediate plumpness to the skin. A good budget buy.

Organic Surge Extra Care Replenishing Facial Oil - £23.50 for 30ml - taken from Organic Surge's more premium line 'Extra Care', this smells and acts very similar to a lot of other high-end oils but it does have a slightly 'gritty' feel that the more expensive oils don't. If you're an oil addict you'll know what I mean. It's a good oil, just not great.

Organic Surge Overnight Sensation Night Cream - £12.95 for 50ml - this, from Organic Surge's original line, is much more like it. Completely worth checking out if you're in the market for a night cream, as promised on the box, this does make you wake up with refreshed skin.

Budget Week - Day 2

Ooh, I'm a couple of days behind so you'll have to excuse me. Busy with work and I'm skin prepping behind the scenes for London Fashion Week as well so will be playing catch up for a few days. :)

The above routine is actually my favourite of this week so far (I'm a few ahead as I write this obviously). This was an A.M. routine.

The Ultimelt Deep Purifying Hot Cloth Cleanser - £10.00 for 100ml - Soap & Glory's foray into the 'Hot Cloth' domain is easily one of my favourites. I'm obsessed with the packaging, which is akin to a large toothpaste tube and the product inside doesn't disappoint. Although it says it is 'deep purifying' and it contains clary sage, I don't find it too strong at all. It does not leave my skin red and instead leaves it subtly refreshed, ready for the day. I would also use this as a second cleanse in the evenings.

Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion - £16.50 for 200ml - this caused some shocked reactions when it went up this week. This Clinique MCL is used as an exfoliating acid and it's a brilliant one - especially if you can't/don't want to use glycolic. It contains 0.5% salicylic acid and has a ph of 2.9 - making it one of the stronger exfoliating acids on the market. It's also, for those of you that were horrified, alcohol-free. Dive in my friends, it's lush.

Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Eyes & Lashes - £24.50 for 15ml - not particularly 'budget' this one, but one I am asked about a lot, I think because these french pharmacy brands can always be found on offer or used with Boots points for example (in the UK!). As it is designed to increase the strength/length of the lashes - you would obviously need to use this up to the end to see the results, but for texture and usage purposes, it has a great slip/feel to it and is incredibly soothing and hydrating....

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Dynamic Serum - £17.00 - well Hughes is right. This is a great hydrating serum, that instantly imparts moisture without greasiness and a feeling of relief without stickiness. At £17.00 it's also considerably more affordable than others in its genre, including Hydraluron.. If you are dry/dehydrated and haven't already, try this out. You'll probably love it.

Twas a good face day!

(Note: I am trialling some embargoed moisturisers that can't be photographed yet. I did use a moisturiser after this serum, as brilliant as it is, it wouldn't have been enough for me on its own)

Soap & Glory Online Exclusive 'The Big One' available Friday

Every year is the same. Ava and I wait patiently for Soap & Glory's big Christmas Limited Edition to hit Boots. This year, there are two. Both designed by fashion 'doodler'  Hattie Stewart - and the online one is prettier. SCORE. No more traipsing around the shops carrying the huge things.

What's in it this year? Take a looksie.

The best part, as ever, is that it's £29.00. A saving of £47.00.

Available from www.boots.com from this Friday while stock lasts.

STOP THE PRESS: SOAP & GLORY SUPER SIZE

Holy Crapbags! One of my favourite body moisturisers EVER - and one of Boots best-selling items - Soap & Glory's Righteous Butter, is launching in a MEGA 1 litre-sized Limited Edition on 1st February.

I make no apologies for it - I love this product. The smell, the formulation and the packaging. 

And it's going for £25.00. £25.00 for a LITRE of product?

Form an orderly queue peeps. And get THE HELL out of my way!

Soap & Glory

Soap & Glory Cosmetics Launch

Marcia Kilgore is a genius. I don't throw that word around thoughtlessly - she just IS. The woman behind Bliss and Fit Flops is in a league of her own. I remember being at a talk she gave to industry people a few years ago just before the launch of Soap & Glory. She was presenting the concept of the brand to the bigwigs at Harvey Nichols when they asked her 'Why Harvey Nichols would possibly sell something so cheap and 'mass' market?' to which she went around the table and asked each of them 'How much do YOU spend on a shower gel?'
The answers were resoundly 'not more than a fiver' and she sealed the deal. At the same event she mentioned how the trademark office hung up on her team when they tried to register 'Sexy Mother Pucker' thinking it was a prank call...

And thus Soap & Glory launched in Harvey Nichols Beyond Beauty whilst simultaneously becoming the Number 1 brand in Boots. In the beauty industry - this is unheard of. You're either 'mass' - and sold in chemists/supermarkets etc or 'prestige' and sold in department stores such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. To cross over takes real skill in marketing and good product with no BS. Women are not fools.

So: after the huge success of the bath and body range (of which I have a healthy stalker-like obsession) which included a little dabble in cosmetics - comes the official launch of Soap & Glory Cosmetics.

Affordable, funky in style and staying true to the original S&G ethos of fun 50's packaging and images - it's undoubtedly going to be a sure-fire success.

I personally showed no restraint when invited to their Head Office and spent a good hour ooh-ing and aah-ing at the new products on offer which include Fabulipstick, Show Good Face foundation, Cheekmate cheekstain and various eye products including kohl pencils, eyeshadows and mascara....

Thick & Fast Mascara

In fact my only gripe is with the mascara. A big brush does not necessarily big lashes make. It's too big to actually be able to get it on the lashes successfully. And the formula is a little dry. I have used it over another mascara to give 'oomph' and that works well - but for me, it's not great for normal everyday use. Sadly.

Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder

Glow All Out however is lovely. I need a bronzer to stop me looking like death and my bronzer of choice this year has been New C-ID's Coral Glow. This is a great cheaper alternative. Lifts off nicely on to the brush and doesn't look orange or dry. I know my bronzers. This is a good one.

Sexy Mother Pucker in Yummy Plum

Predictably, from a Sexy Mother Pucker addict, this is my favourite. There are other colours but this one I think is the most user-friendly. It gives great sheer colour - and you get the notorious SMP 'burn'. LOVE.

Soap & Glory Cosmetics prices start at a bargainous £5.00 and are available from Harvey Nichols and Boots - although surprisingly not from their own website. Sort THAT and it'll be damn near perfect.

P.S. - As I hit 'publish page' S&G is on 3for2 in Boots.

P.P.S. - the above were PR samples - but I'm off to Boots to stock up on all things Righteous Butter....