Mybeautywaxstash

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  • 5 Teacher Gift Ideas For Under £5.00!

    It’s nearly the end of the school year, and this is when some parents/carers are thinking about teacher gifts. This isn’t something that people should feel they HAVE to do, but personally I think my daughter’s teacher’s are brilliant so I will. It’s my way of saying thank you for all their hard work, especially considering how difficult the last 18 months have been. So a small gift will be winging there way to them in less than 2 weeks. If you are doing the same, what are you going to purchase? Or are you stuck for something to buy? Here are 5 gift ideas to help you out. These ideas are super affordable, each under a fiver and can be picked up in a supermarket or high street store.

    Miss So…? Secret Crush Perfume Mist from Superdrug. A clean, fresh fragrance with powdery and delicate musk notes. A really good perfume mist because it’s one that the majority of people will like e.g it doesn’t belong to a particular fragrance family such as floral, smells heavily bakery based etc. Always seems to be on offer and currently half price at £2.98. Review here.

    Miss So…? Secret Crush Perfume Mist

    Treacle Moon’s Marshmallow Hearts Hand Cream from Tesco. A highly moisturising, sweetly scented hand cream housed in super cute packaging! A great practical product and ideal for those teachers who have a sweet tooth and love these types of scents. Only £1.75. Review here.

    Treacle Moon’s Marshmallow Hearts Hand Cream

    Treacle Moon’s Marshmallow Hearts Shower & Bath Gel from Tesco and ASDA. If you want to match the hand cream with the shower & bath gel, this product is perfect for a gift duo! Scented the same, 500ml in size, lovely packaging and only £1.95! Review here.

    Treacle Moon’s Marshmallow Hearts Shower & Bath Gel

    Superdrug’s Turmeric Face Mask. A great detoxing face mask that leaves the skin feeling fresher and smoother. Brilliantly priced at 99p AND on a 3 for 2 offer with other skincare masks! So great time to buy a few if you have more than one person to buy for. Review here.

    Superdrug’s Turmeric Mask

    The Body Shop’s Moringa Bath Bubble. A small but mighty part bath bomb part bath truffle. Fragrance, foam and honestly at £1.50 a bargain! Comes in 4 other fragrances including Pink Grapefruit, a few of these in one gift bag with a card would be welcomed by anybody. Hopefully they have a bath and not just a shower….Review here for Moringa Bath Bubble, and Pink Grapefruit.

    The Body Shop’s Moringa Bath Bubble

    All of these items for the bath and body are under £3.00 EACH! The great thing about the products above is you could be doing your usual food shop or grabbing hair removal cream, and stock permitting, get these gifts purchased at the same time! Happy teacher shopping!

  • Soul Energy’s Sweet Red Berry Sorbet Bath Bomb Dust

    Just as I was enjoying the cooler temperatures in the UK, I’m sweating in places I didn’t realise existed! It’s getting a little brighter and definitely warmer in the city of Manchester. Despite this, as per usual, I am DYING to throw myself into a warm, fragrant, relaxing bath late afternoon time. And this is where my stash of bath products comes in vary handy! One that I had recently used as a mental and physical tranquilizer was Soul Energy’s Sweet Red Berry Sorbet Bath Bomb Dust. 150g for £4.20, although I bought this when there was a sale.

    Soul Energy’s Sweet Red Berry Sorbet Bath Bomb Dust

    Why did I go for this one?

    I LOVE bath bombs! But I also find bath dusts a great alternative. They do exactly the same job but you tend to be able to get at least 2 uses out of them rather than throwing one bath bomb to it’s death. The look of this dust is so pretty and the scent is perfect for me, sweet and fruity sounding! So I was quietly confident I would enjoy using this.

    Packaging.

    150g of bath dust is filled (and I mean FILLED AND SQUEEZED) into a resealable packet. Clear on the front so you can see the bath dust, with the company label in black on the top of it. And behind it’s opaque silver with an ingredients label added.

    The look.

    This bath dust really is a grabber! You can see through the packaging 4 different colours to the dust. A beautiful royal blue, a bright Barbie-esque pink, a white iridescent and speckles of purple. Eye catching, pretty and super appealing!

    Fragrance.

    Right up my street! Think of a mix of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and cherries and this is it! Of course, it’s sweet, but not sickly. There is a slight tartness about it which makes it smell more sophisticated rather than a bag of sugary sweets that smell like berries. Love this scent, it is a delight!

    In the bath.

    I used just over a third of the packet in the bath. I let the warm water run and not so delicately threw the dust into the bath and wow, did it make an impression! As soon as the the dust hit the water explosions of colour swam on the surface. Rounds of pink, dots of purple, areas of blue. Such a colourful sight. A little white foam was produced, but not much. But it was all about colour for me. And the water underneath remained constantly an indulgent shade of purple which made me want to jump into this even more.

    The fragrance was there, but only lightly. And if I’m honest I didn’t feel as if it lasted or was noticable during my 20-30minute soak.

    Once all the foam and pockets of colour had gone, the water in the bath was the beautiful parma violet purple which I loved and stayed that way to the very end. What took me some time to notice was the fact the water gently glistened. I don’t want to say sparkle as it was so much more subtle than that. It lightly twinkled and I have to say the magpie in me found it totally mesmerizing!

    On the skin.

    Not too sure whether it’s the heat, being run down or whatever, but I have a few small itchy areas on my body. This bath dust didn’t make them worse or trigger them in anyway. Overall, no issues with this and it didn’t dry my skin out.

    Recommended?

    Definitely recommended! The look of this is absolutely stunning and in my opinion, this is where smaller businesses really shine. Time, thought, creativity and love are put into hand making products like this and it really shows! You would be hard pressed to grab something that looks like this off the shelf in a supermarket. Up to 3 uses from one pouch makes this affordable and comparable to a decent quality bath bomb. This was gentle on my skin and of course provided perfect me time at bath time. Only thing I would like to see an improvement on is the fragrance, which a little more stronger would have been better for me because the scent is so good!

    At the time of writing this post, Sweet Red Berry Sorbet Bath Bomb Dust isn’t available. BUT there are other fragrances such as Lovely Peony and Cherry Flower (how good does THAT sound?). These can be found here if you want to indulge in a quality, bathing experience.

  • Secret Scents Home Fragrance Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam

    Wax melts are very popular. They have been for a good number of years now, which I can’t see disappearing anytime soon. Why are they so popular? They provide fragrance for the home, they tend to be affordable and come in a variety of shapes, colours and scents. Some you can grab from the high street or local shop, others available online. Most of my waxy purchases are bought from businesses who hand make and sell their own wax melts. One wax vendor which I have been lucky enough to be sent samples of different wax melts from is Secret Scents Home Fragrance. I loved them so much I bought my own, including Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam Shell.

    Secret Scents Home Fragrance Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam

    Why did I buy this one?

    My scent choices tend to be very predictable. This one I actually chose as a gift for someone but cheekily kept it for myself (don’t tell, shush!). Total opposite to what I would normally go for, but I do like clean scents and thought this could fall into that category.

    Packaging.

    This wax is housed in a plastic container. Lidded, but one piece so top and bottom is connected. Clear, and from the bottom you can see the wax and it’s shaped the same as the underside of the container. Labelling is black and gold which gives this an elegant look. Finished off with a matching gold bow on the lid. Perfection!

    Appearance.

    It’s a very chunky segmented bar which is made up of 6 squares that snap off when you need to use them. Opening up the packaging, you can see the top of it is flat and white in colour. Turn it around, and not only can you see the segmented sections but also the fact there is an added sparkle. A beautiful mix of gold and black glitter is drizzled on these pieces. This makes it pop against the white background of the wax. Understated yet eye catching.

    Fragrance.

    This has a herbal, slightly earthy and fresh base to it. Having a soft salty addition in the fragrance makes a very clean and refreshing scent. This isn’t heady, but does have a powdery edge to it along with a little sweetness. It’s a treat for the nose!

    In melt.

    You only need 1 square of this in a wax warmer. While melting, the wax pool became clear with small amounts of glitter swimming on the top. I used this in both my kitchen and my living room. It melted evenly, and the fragrance was released steadily into each room.

    Strength & Longevity.

    Strength wise I would say this is light close to being a medium, based on using one square. In fact, I will say medium! It’s a hard one to put a label on it because the fragrances this is made up of I don’t think are designed to overwhelm, but are meant to be quite natural in smell but with a twist. If this was lavender and sea salt as an example, I would be surprised if it was anything other than strong because lavender is that type of scent. But what I would say, is when this is melting, it’s there. It makes the room feel cosy, clean, while bringing inside a bit of the outdoors.

    Longevity wise I’ve had the same square melting in each wax warmer for around 3 days for at least 10 hours and the scent is still there with a good strength.

    Recommended?

    Totally! If you love your wax melts in fresh and clean fragrances but want something a little more earthy, grab this one! It’s very different to your usual clean, laundry style fragrances but gives the same sort of feel but more natural and less harsh. And did I mention Secret Scents products are packaged so beautifully? Great value for the amount of wax you get with lots of hours of melting time. Cost? £5.00 each, or 6 for £25.00. A wide variety of fragrances available, so visit their Facebook page to stock up on your home fragrancing items!

  • Primark Bergamot & Amber Reed Diffuser

    I’ve become a little obsessed with reed diffusers lately. Don’t ask me why I just have. It’s another form of getting my home fragrance fix and I’m enjoying it. About 2 months ago I bought 2 Primark Mini Reed Diffusers. Unfortunately, I found them to be very disappointing. So while buying a birthday gift for a friend more recently, I decided to pick up a full size of Bergamot & Amber hoping this would give me a better experience than my last. This costs £2.50 for 100ml and came in a variety of different fragrances.

    Primark Bergamot & Amber Reed Diffuser

    Why did I go for this one?

    I smelt the candle form of this and really liked the fragrance. So when I went to look at the reed diffuser version I have to say the packaging caught my eye, along with the price, so thought I would give it a go and prayed this would be half decent.

    Packaging.

    The reed diffuser comes boxed. Quite a sizeable, rectangular, cardboard box which is pretty standard for this type of thing. But it’s the colours of this box that spoke to me! An ombre of off white from the bottom heading towards the top into an almost golden burnt orange colour. Text sets it off as its in black and gold. Striking yet simple.

    The diffuser itself is glass, cylinder shape but short and chunky with the labelling a similar colour and effect as the box. The diffuser itself looks beautiful and well presented in and out of box.

    What do you get?

    The glass jar with the fragranced oil in it, 6 long reeds and an instruction leaflet.

    How to use.

    Unscrew the cap around the top of the jar. Remove the little plug out of the middle of the jar. Put the cap back on and slot the reeds in the middle. Turn the reeds around every week or so to fully immerse in oil and enjoy. Is designed to last 6-8 weeks.

    Fragrance.

    This is quite warming yet refreshing all at the same time. There’s a slightly spicy citrus element in this. It’s not sharp and acidic but energising and uplifting. A little musk gives it depth and with a slight sweet edge to it, makes me think this could easily be a perfume.

    In use. Strength & Longevity?

    So, it took me about an hour to get the scent of this. Originally I put this in the downstairs toilet and as I walked in I smelt something faint but very comforting. It just gave this small but perfectly formed room a lift that wasn’t obvious. I then moved it in my bedroom which is much more sizable, just to see if the fragrance could still be detected and it was. The look of this in this space was super stylish and fitted in perfectly with my gold/bronze accents.

    Strength I would say is light to a near medium at rare times. There are times this would be in my bedroom and the scent is quite prominent. Then it’s faint. Sat on a window it could be both. You really do have to play with positions for placement. But consistently it is light but I can smell the scent. I haven’t been using this for 8 weeks less than 2. So how long this will throw a fragrance I can’t tell you yet but so far it’s been ok.

    If you want something not heavy and intense this would be it. Personally, I think it’s better suited to smaller rooms as bigger ones it will struggle. But sometimes a scent doesn’t have to pack a punch to be noticed or nice but it does need to be there which this was. I would have LOVED this to be a little more stronger! It’s such a gorgeous scent it deserves it. And if it was I would be buying this in multiples I promise you! But considering how much you pay for this, and the look, it evens itself out in my opinion.

    Recommended?

    Tough to answer! I stress, if you want the HULK of reed diffusers in regards to power this isn’t it. Are you happy for this to go in small spaces such as a toilet, spare room, cupboard or even a caravan then yes. The fragrance is glorious I love it. The look is perfect and the price is low. But I guess you have to take into account the low cost may influence the strength and quality of this.

    So think carefully if you pick this reed diffuser up when you are out buying a t-shirt, leggings or sunglasses in Primani. I’m still not sure.