Mybeautywaxstash

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  • NSPA Coconut & Vanilla Rich Body Butter

    Is there one part of your body care routine you can’t skip? Mine is applying a body lotion or moisturiser of some description. And this is for a few reasons. I have afro Caribbean skin. Having ashy skin is NOT good! It basically means skin that looks dry and grey if you didn’t know. And THAT is a no no, so lotion is a must! On top of that I’m a psoriasis sufferer. Like eczema, it’s important to keep the skin moisturised and protected or it can become cracked and sore. So it should be no surprise I have plenty of body moisturisers in my beauty/body stash to keep me going. One on current rotation is the NSPA’s Coconut & Vanilla Rich Body Butter. I bought this from my local Asda store for £1.50 while on sale ( rrp is £3.00 ).

    NSPA Coconut & Vanilla Body Butter

    Why did I buy this one? I bought several of these butters in different fragrances thinking of my pre-teen son. I’ve been encouraging him to get into good body care habits e.g moisturising, using deodorants etc, now he is getting older. Body butters are great for improving the appearance of skin. I thought one would provide him with fragrance too so ideal. I asked him to choose some which he did. He didn’t want this one so I kept it for myself!

    Packaging. Quite a sizeable screw top clear plastic tub housing 200ml of body butter. Its quite basic in regards to the labelling ( picture of coconuts, product fragrance, brand name etc ), but it does the job!

    Scent. This doesn’t have a strong coconut scent for me. It’s there. Just a touch, with a hint of vanilla in it giving it creaminess. It’s quite balanced between the two and not overpowering. The scents themselves together are exactly what I thought it would smell like, so quite typical and very pleasant. It’s one of those fragrances most people would like as it’s not offensive.

    Consistency. White in colour. Body butter like definitely, but less greasy and solid and more of a thick lotion consistency.

    On the skin. I found this was very easy to apply to the body because as mentioned its not crazy thick or greasy. So this didn’t need to be worked in like a richer body butter. It does have a slip to it, and when rubbed into the skin I could feel it leaving a protective layer. What it didn’t do was leave my skin shiny or oily. It was matt and not tacky. I love textures, oils and balms. But what I liked about this was it felt more like a supercharged body lotion which could be applied and clothes could be thrown on straight away.

    I felt this left my skin moisturised without being or feeling heavy in use and on the skin. Easy and quick to use in the morning and evening, and skin felt supple and nourished straight after. Through out the day I didn’t notice my skin drying out or needing a top up. I could smell my skin had been lightly fragranced by this body butter which was lovely. It wasn’t strong or lingering for hours on end, but was a nice touch.

    Recommended? Totally! This is a budget friendly body butter which won’t break the bank, and will moisturise the skin beautifully. Because its not as rich as other body butters, this would be a good one for those who don’t want that that type of texture but feel they need more than just a body lotion. Coconut & Vanilla is a great one for those who want something that smells nice and warming but not strong.

    This is regularly on sale I’ve noticed in my local ASDA store, along with other fragrances available. But can be purchased direct from Spa At Home here if needed, with a fuller range of butters and other products from the company. There is zero excuse for ashy skin!

  • Snap Wax Melt Holiday Romance Wax Snap Bar

    What’s the best shape a wax melt can be in? Tricky question and one I couldn’t answer! It really depends. Wax comes in so many different shapes and sizes with each one having benefits. Snap bars are a form I really like. They are already sectioned off so you have a good idea how much to use. Easy to separate each piece and visually you can’t really go wrong with the shape as they look really good! So I was very excited to be sent a selection of wax snap bars from a wax vendor I follow on Instagram called Snap Wax Melt

    Snap Wax Melts Holiday Romance Wax Snap Bar

    Packaging. Like most wax snap bars I’ve had in the past, this came in a clear plastic sleeve. You can see the wax snap bar inside it. A sticker of the vendor’s logo is on the front of the sleeve with ingredients listing and scent name on the back.

    Appearance. This is a 10 square segmented bar of wax. Holiday Romance is orange in colour with a peachy tone to it. A beautiful and liberally dusting of purple coloured glitter and purple and pink pigment on top finishes the look off perfectly. The contrast between the colour of the wax and the glitter and pigments really makes this pop look wise.

    Scent. I wasn’t too sure what I would expect with the fragrance name Holiday Romance. Maybe something floral? Well floral this isn’t! Holiday Romance is a glorious bowl of mixed fruit. Now on the website it mentions mango, but for me this comes across more on the peachy side. Possibly because of the mix of berries in the fragrance. Mouth wateringly juicy. Reminds me of a packet of tropical flavoured Starbursts or something similar. Its gorgeous! It makes me think of summer, where the weather is warmer, the sun is out and cocktails are on tap!

    In melt. I broke 3 squares of this wax bar into my wax warmer. Slowly they melted, and merged into a gorgeous, vibrant, slightly shimmery pool of sunshine orange liquid. The scent was there straight away, and it filled the kitchen it was melting in and even into the room next door.

    Strength & Longevity. Both were excellent! Strength was medium. It doesn’t need to be anymore to pack a punch and any less would be a shame and crime to wax. In regards to longevity, this was melting for around 4 days and still gave a great throw of fragrance so fantastic quality! And this wasn’t even a third of the wax bar so this would give hours and hours of fragrance time.

    Top tip. If you love your wax melts and have a little collection at home, do you feel brave? How about a little mixology? This particular scent I think would work well with citrus based fragrances such as lemon. Clean and fresh scents such as baby powder/lotion or clean cotton, would give this a different dimension. And other fruity scents such raspberry or watermelon would add to the moreish factor.

    Recommended? 110%! Even though this was kindly gifted to me by Snap Wax Melt, this is one I would definitely purchase for myself and for other wax lover friends too. The scent literally makes me wipe dribble off my mouth because it smells that yummy. Great strength and longevity…and the bar itself is super pretty!

    Fancy having a Holiday Romance? Purchase here for £3.00 per snap wax bar and thank me later!

  • Squashies Bubblegum Bath Fizzer

    When it comes to what I put in the bath I’m fairly opened minded in regards to the type of product, scent and brand. Although I would say I have an invisible check list when it comes to requirements, I’m happy to try most things. So when I saw Swizzels Drumstick Squashies Bath Fizzer in the fragrance of bubble gum for 99p in Home Bargains, I thought I would give it a go!

    Swizzles Drumstick Squashies Bubblegum Bath Fizzer

    Why buy this one? The packaging struck me. Brightly coloured, mirroring the packaging of the sweets that this is inspired by. It naturally caught my eye. I love anything bubble gum especially where scents are concerned. And for 99p I didn’t feel I had much to lose.

    What’s a bath fizzer? I normally go for products labelled bath bombs rather than bath fizzers. So I’ve always assumed a bath fizzer would provide fragrance, colour to the bath and basically fizz a little while in the water.

    Packaging. Packaging wise the bath fizzer is shrink wrapped ( very well! ) in plastic. The labelling is identical in style and colours as the Drumstick Squashies Bubblegum sweets are e.g blue and pink stripes, pictures of the sweets on it, the company and sweet name/type on it etc. Clearly marked, and rightly so, are warnings not to eat this. Surprised? I’m not! It looks like a massive gobstopper!

    Appearance. Rounded, and a similar size to a standard bath fizzer/bomb, slightly bigger than a tennis ball. Chalky in texture but smooth, and made up of two colours. The top half is baby blue in colour, and the bottom half baby pink. Same colouring as the actual sweets themselves.

    Fragrance. I could definitely get a hint of bubble gum but it wasn’t massively strong. I could also smell the chalkiness to it. It was ok but I didn’t love it. It smelt too synthetic for me and needed to be stronger and more fragrant.

    In the bath. It was fun watching this in the bath. Under warm running water this bobbed and fizzed about. What I really liked was seeing two trails of colour coming from the bath fizzer, one being the blue from the top and the pink from the bottom. The colours didn’t remain separate for long because as they merged they turned into a shade of purple. Once the bath had been filled the fizzer had gone to fizz heaven and totally disappeared. No foam, no residue, just a purple coloured bath was left.

    On the skin. I had no issues with this while I was in the bath but when I got out I did feel as if my skin was a touch dry. But I’ve been experiencing this with another bath product so I suspect this is down to my skin being awkward rather than the fizzer itself.

    Confession. I found the bath lacked something for me, so I added a few squirts of Carex Drumsticks Squashies bath and shower gel in the scent of raspberry & milk. This pimped up my bath to a better level and I liked it! Firstly I got bubbles which I desperately wanted! Secondly, the fragrance was more noticeable and smelt like a freshly opened sweet packet! Raspberry and bubble gum gave an almost grape soda scent to this and it was a winner!

    Recommended? If you like your bath fizzers that give you a little scent and colour to your bath then yes buy this! Its fun in regards to packaging and what its based on and is cheap. It’s also brilliant to mix the sweets inspired shower and bath gels if you want to add a another dimension to it. For me though, I wouldn’t buy this again for myself. I go for bath bombs that produce foam, colour and fragrance and more hydrating to the skin and this isn’t. But I can see this being liked by children, teens and those who love affordable bath time treats.

  • Crafting In The Dark’s Golden Berries Wax Melt

    Where do I get my wax melts from? It’s a question I get asked quite a lot. And the answer is, from a variety of different vendors. Most of which have a website or an online store rather than a physical shop. Some I find on social media, but the majority are recommended to me by people who have bought and tried wax from particular sellers. Someone who has been on my ‘ I want to buy from ‘ list is a wax vendor called Crafting In The Dark. I didn’t get a chance to make an order from them in 2020. But I was given Golden Berries wax melt for Christmas from a friend.

    Crafting in the Dark Golden Berries Wax Melt

    Why was I given this? My friends know me well when it comes to wax. They know the fragrance families I like, and they have a good idea which wax vendors I’ve tried or not tried. Firstly, this is a new vendor for me and both my friend Jenny ( the wax giver! ) and I had heard good things about their wax products. Secondly, the actual scent Golden Berries, sounds very fruity from it’s name alone which is right up my street!

    Appearance. I’ve never seen a wax melt shaped like this before and I love unusual pieces so this already got me excited! It’s quite sizeable, roughly 7 cms in length and 6cm in width. Not chunky in depth so quite flat. It’s a deep shade of aubergine purple and shaped very much like a basic flame shape. Embossed into this is the company name.

    Scent. WOW! Fruity, rich, berries which are slightly tart but with a hint of sweetness. Totally intoxicating and quite grown up in smell too. Not your typical fragrance of simple strawberries, raspberries etc. More complex than that and totally beautiful and quite clean all at the same time.

    In melt. I decided to use half of this. It was super easy to snap. Required no cutting due to it not being chunky in depth. Melting was quite fast, but please explain to me how there was a shimmer to the wax pool!? No pigment or glitter was visible looking at the wax melt while solid, but there it was! I LOVE little surprises like this! It looked like a simple but stunning, slightly thick and shimmery pool of Vimto. Scent was released straight away and smelled identical warmed through compared to when cold and solid.

    Strength & Longevity. I would say this was a light to medium. I melted one half in my kitchen and the other in my living room. The scent was there and delicate, and it gave both rooms a lovely fruity fragrant feel. What I would be tempted to do next time is use more than a half of the melt for it to be a touch more stronger. Longevity was good. I had this melting in the 2 rooms over 2 days for quite a few hours and I could still get the scent.

    Recommended? Yes. I’m glad I’ve tried this wax melt from Crafting In The Dark as it was a lovely one. Great to look at, nice scent to it, strength and longevity was good. I would have a play with the amount of wax I would use per melting though as I would like it a touch more intense. The question now is, what should I order from them next?

    Need some new wax melts in your wax warmer? Visit Crafting In The Dark here to add to your home fragrance wardrobe. Prices start at £1.75, with a variety of scents and home fragrance products available for sale.