Mybeautywaxstash

Tag: vanilla

  • Love Vanilla? Everything Vanilla For The Body & Home!

    I LOVE vanilla! It’s one of those scents that I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. It’s comforting, soothing, sweet which is just what I like from a fragrance. Surely I can’t be the only one who loves vanilla? Here are a few vanilla fragranced products for the home and body that has caught my interest (and maybe my basket!) on the high street:

    Everything vanilla!
    Bespoke London’s Salted Vanilla & Tropical Blossom Body Mist

    140ml of body mist which is made up of a blend of vanilla and florals. This looks, and sounds, quite feminine, soft and mouth watering in a none edible way. Regularly on a price promotion in Superdrug, but usual price is £6.99 for 140ml.

    Bespoke London’s Salted Vanilla & Tropical Blossom Body Mist
    Aldi’s Lacura Vanilla Shower Gel

    I saw, I bought and I used! This shower gel smells like vanilla! A gorgeous, sweet but not sickly or synthetic vanilla, which foams up beautifully in the bath. Not drying on the skin at all and enjoyable to use. £1.99 for 500ml.

    Aldi’s Lacura Vanilla Shower Gel
    Cristalinas Spiced Vanilla Latte Reed Diffuser

    These reed diffuser may look small, but their fragrance is mighty! I know…I’m currently on reed diffuser number 3! Spiced Vanilla Latte is a delicate blend of creamy vanilla, coffee with a hint of spice. Its not heady like many versions of this scent, which I think is ideal. Available from many places including the supermarket ASDA. But cheapest place I’ve seen this is from Home Bargains for £1.99.

    Cristalinas Spiced Vanilla Latte Reed Diffuser
    Radox’s Vanilla Cookie Bath Soak & Shower Gel

    Radox is THAT dependable everyday brand for bath and shower care products that many of us love and use. Vanilla Cookies isn’t an everyday fragrance that’s on the shelf throughout the year, but is a winter edition so possibly limited. Bath soak is £1.49 for 500ml, shower gel 250ml for 99p. Both found in Home Bargains.

    Radox’s Vanilla Cookie Bath Soak & Shower Gel
    So…? Vanilla Radiance Trio

    This gift set includes a body mist, shower cream and body scrub. All in a vanilla fragrance, so ideal for layering from cleaning the skin, exfoliating to moisturising. £5.49 in stores such as B&M.

    So…? Vanilla Radiance Trio
    Tiger Moon’s Vanilla Orchid Body Mist

    This body mist is a delight! It’s feminine, with vanilla, white florals, sandalwood and amber mixed together. This is one of those fragrances that stands out because even though it’s a body mist, it smells more like an actual perfume. £2.00 for 100ml in ASDA.

    Tiger Moon’s Vanilla Orchid Body Mist

    So, if you’re a vanilla fiend like me, these products will keep you going for a while. Lots are available on the UK high street without a massive price tag, so happy shopping!

  • Marks and Spencer’s Hand Scrub

    I work very close to a Marks and Spencer’s store. It’s not massive and sells food rather than clothes. I don’t visit it regularly because if I’m honest I don’t have Mark’s and Spencer’s money! But what I have noticed is, nicely tucked into their incredibly small healthcare section, is various hand, body and skincare products. Intrigued, curious and interested to try something from M&S, I purchased their Hand Scrub with Almond Milk & Vanilla. This cost £2.00 for 75ml.

    Marks and Spencer’s Hand Scrub Almond Milk & Vanilla
    Why did I buy this?

    I’ve always associated Marks and Spencer with high prices. To see some of their body products for such good, affordable prices is brilliant. I bought the hand scrub because I’ve got lots of hand creams. Before I start using them again, I wanted to get rid of any rough, dry skin first and thought this would be a nice product to try.

    What is this supposed to do?

    This hand scrub is supposed to help remove dead skin cells, leaving skin smoother and softer. Thanks to it containing yoghurt and olive extracts, it’s also supposed to be moisturising while leaving the hands lightly scented.

    Packaging

    75ml of scrub comes in a clear, plastic flip top lidded tube. Very simple, nothing imaginative. There’s a couple of almond nut illustrations on the tube but that’s it apart from the text, so no other detailing. But it does the job! Since the tube is clear you can see the scrub inside it which looks very inviting. So simple, practical and but it does what it needs to do.

    Look & Texture

    Squeezed out of the tube this looks like a gel. It has a slight fluidness to it but holds it shape as a gel does. It has a slight golden brown tint to it but it’s still clear, so you can see the scrub particles in it. I love a good texture, and this excites me because I’ve never used a scrub product that looked and felt like this one, so very different for me.

    Fragrance

    This has an almost marzipan scent to it. It’s clear this is almond based and the vanilla is present as there is that typical, vanilla sweetness to it although slightly floral as well. I really like how this smells. It’s one of those scents personally I would enjoy anytime of the year, but more so now its colder and edging closer to Winter this is ideal.

    How to Use

    On damp skin, massage a small amount of the scrub onto the hands and rinse.

    In Use

    I made sure my hands were damp, but not wet. I rubbed this into my hands and found my hands were now slightly white as if I had rubbed soap into my skin and it needed to be washed off. What I found when rubbing this into my hands was it was a very unusual in feel. It felt very moisturising as if it had a slip to it, a slight oiliness to it, but there was no oil. The actual scrub pieces in this were the right sizes and enough in amount which was perfect for hands. I didn’t feel they were too rough or too soft, just right, because I could feel the exfoliating action. Rinsing off was a bit like rinsing off a handwash. I did find I needed to wash my hands twice because the first time I felt there was residue left on my hands. It felt a little tacky, but the second rinse was fine.

    Hands after Use?

    My hands felt lovely and soft. They felt a little smoother and moisturised too. I also noticed my hands had been fragranced. It was lovely to smell and not distracting. Although this was a moisturising product it’s not to replace a hand cream. I think if possible, following up with a cream would be best to keep skin soft and supple. My hands a few hours later after being in and out of water looked and felt dry, so this hand scrub is just a scrub and treat it like such.

    Recommended?

    It’s actually a nice product for the price and size. A hand scrub isn’t something you would use everyday, maybe once or twice a week if that. So 75ml should last a good amount of time. It’s beautifully scented. I can still catch the fragrance on my hands a few hours after use, but it’s soft and not lingering. It’s a nice product to use, leaves the hands feeling smoother and only costs £2.00! So would I recommend this? Yes I would! It won’t break the bank and it’s a decent product. Team it up with a hand cream or lotion and it would make a killer combo for yourself or someone else.

    I end this post with 2 words which is a recommendation of what this product would be good for…. STOCKING FILLER!

  • 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!

  • The Body Shop’s Salted Caramel & Vanilla Reed Diffuser

    Years and years ago I went through a stage of using air freshener plug ins. I spent a small fortune on them, but that was my preferred way to fragrance my home at the time. Then it was candles. But I worried about leaving them lit so I moved from candles to wax melts. One product I didn’t really use was reed diffusers. When my kids came along I knew they would probably mess about with them thinking they were toys, so I never bothered buying them. But they’re older now and much more trust worthy ( ish ). So I decided to treat myself and buy The Body Shop‘s Salted Caramel & Vanilla Reed Diffuser for £16.00 last year.

    The Body Shop’s Salted Caramel & Vanilla Reed Diffuser

    Why this one? In the past year I’ve discovered The Body Shop have a wide variety of products. I’ve bought and tried many and found myself loving and enjoying them. The quality of products so far I’ve used have been high and I wanted to venture into their home fragrance range. This scent I went for is classic me. I love my bakery scents, sweet scents and visually I thought a reed diffuser would look nice in a room.

    What’s a reed diffuser? A reed diffuser is normally a bottle that contains fragranced oil, with tall and thin reeds placed into it. As they sit in the oil, the reeds suck up the oil and release fragrance into the air.

    Packaging & look. The diffuser comes in a slender tall box with the colouring and design reflecting the fragrance. All relevant information needed is on the packaging e.g scent description, instructions, ingredients etc.

    The diffuser itself comes in two parts. Six reeds, and 125ml of fragranced oil housed in a short and wide glass bottle which is lidded. The lid has a hole in it to place reeds in. A cap covers the hole once you remove the lid, so the oil is contained when not in use. Looks very typical of this type of fragrance product. Very simple, stylish and elegant. I think visually it makes a nice statement piece in a room and look wise different to what I usually would have out on display. I put this on a glass plate in my bedroom which sets this off even more so.

    How to use.Pop the reeds into the glass bottle that houses the fragrance. Spread them out a little in the bottle and once a week turn the sticks to get the most intensity out of the scent.

    Scent. This smells so good! I was worried if this would be weak, strong, even possibly too sweet. What I did find was that this scent was quite soft but I would walk into my bedroom thinking how nice it smelt. I wasn’t too sure where the scent was coming from until I remembered! This is a typical salted caramel scent of sorts. It has got the sweetness to it. Also an almost fudge like type tone to it. The vanilla also giving it an added creaminess. But what I got which I wasn’t expecting was a hint of floral. So overall the scent came across more perfume-esq than a stereotypical and predictable bakery fragrance. Sophisticated, warming and very expensive in scent.

    Strength & Longevity. The strength of this may vary depending on the size of room or space this is placed in. But in my bedroom, which is what I would call a normal but decent size, the strength I would say is light. Don’t think light is bad as it was there and very natural in scent and noticeable. Sometimes scents shouldn’t be strong and for me this was ideal for the space it was in. Longevity wise very good. After about a week I noticed the scent was fading, and as suggested on instructions I turned the sticks around and this brought the fragrance back to life.

    Negatives? Not a negative as such but something that did irritate me. When I tried to take out the cap so I could pop the reeds into the hole it took awhile, and a lot of effort. Imagine when you’re going to buy a new plastic bin or set of chairs. They’re all stacked together and the suction created by them means you’re playing tug of war to get that one item out? That’s this! Unless there’s an unknown magic or I should have turned this around a different direction or something, the only way I got this off was by using tweezers!

    Recommended? If you love The Body Shop as a brand and love home fragrancing, this would be a great item for you. The scent is beautiful, it looks great and packaged nicely and perfectly for Autumn/Winter. Both packaging and scent is ideal for this time of year. But it’s not cheap. At £16.00 for me I couldn’t repeat purchase this when I felt like it. It would be a well thought out and timed purchase. Possibly a gift for someone very close to me or maybe a house warming gift for a fragrance or home decor.

    I would be over the moon to receive this as a gift. If Salted Caramel & Vanilla isn’t your ideal fragrance, The Body Shop’s diffusers come in 3 other scents. Fancy trying out this perfect Autumnal scent for your home? Get your sweet smelling aroma here.