Beauty and chocolate

Posted in Beauty, Skincare by Dani - So Many Lovely Things

Chocolate. We all know how great it is. For me, the darkest, the better. But what about chocolate in beauty? Skincare almost good enough to eat, that turns the goodness of cocoa into amazing beauty products?

That’s Rabot 1745 Beauty, which is part of Hotel Chocolat. The mix of discovering a new beauty brand with such an amazing connection to a luxury food brand is too exciting for me to contain myself!

In fact, Rabot is the name of the estate in St. Lucia where Hotel Chocolat’s sustainable cocoa is grown and is not only inspired by the cacao itself but also the love for St. Lucia, its people and plants – always harnessing the properties of their high quality natural ingredients and the craft that goes into their products.

It is a beautiful story which bears gorgeous fruits. I was lucky enough to try a great selection of their range and can tell there isn’t one single thing that I do not like.

My favourite? Probably the stunning Cacao & Almond Bath and Body Oil (£18, 200ml). Cocoa seed oil is the hero throughout the range and of course, present here, blended with sweet almond oil to provide vitamins and fatty acids for great hydration.

I have been applying to damp skin after my shower and my skin has been super smooth, most times does not need extra moisturisers. The smell? Divine. It absorbs quickly and has a long lasting effect.

Then, a tough choice between two, but going for the lip butters (£8, 10ml): I have the Coconut Chocolat lip balm, with cocoa seed butter, shea butter and abyssinian seed oil and the Fruited Chocolat lip balm with cacao butter, almond oil, cacao butter and rosemary leaf extract.

They are a little delight in smell and taste, and do their job to keep lips moisturised. It comes in 7 different varieties with yummy ingredients mixes.

Not a secret I am a massive fan of body scrubs and of course I had to try one of them. Mine is the new Salt & Lemongrass Body Scrub (£16, 280ml) and it smells so fresh.

It could have a little more grit to it, but overall, this rich salt, lemongrass oil, sweet almond oil and cocoa seed butter scrub does a great job in exfoliating and also leaving skin soft and deeply moisturised. It comes in 3 other varieties (with a coffee and a sugar base) and is a best seller!

Plus, it comes in a reusable cup that , once you finish the scrub, you can clean and take to any Hotel Chocolat shop in the UK for 50p off your hot drink or a free one at the Rabot 1745 restaurant in Borough Market (London). How amazing is that?

And that’s not all; as a fan of scrubs, I am also loving the Avocado & Sour Orange hand scrub (£9.95, 60ml) which leaves hands so soft and ready so soak in the moisturiser.

Plus their Avocado & Lime Smile Reviver (£9.95, 30ml), a lip scrub with avocado oil, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin A, D, and E, gently exfoliates to leave lips soft and well, more kissable, perhaps!

Also, have you noticed how affordable the products are? Amazing value for money and great for gifting.

This is just a tiny sample of their beautiful range, which you can get the Rabot 1745 website and at Hotel Chocolat shops.

You know the drill, but I’ll say anyway: this post contains PR samples and the product was GIFTED, with no obligation to post. This review, however, is based on my experience with the products and reflects my honest opinion on them.

4Nov2018

Beauty, evolved

Posted in Beauty by Dani - So Many Lovely Things

Evolve Beauty is a brand I tried before and loved – their ethical and organic approach to beauty is something I really appreciate and I’m always happy to discover more from their range.

I absolutely love face masks and tried many with varied purposes, but is always delightful to stumble upon something different.

The Radiant Glow Mask (£20, 60ml) has raw cacao powder, sweet almond oil and clay and it smells like your favourite dessert. And that’s not even the best thing about it.

The thick rich brown paste is quite grainy but does not feel rough on application. Apply generously and leave for 5 minutes. Because it smells so good (thank you, organic vanilla oil), I left for 10.

Removing with warm water is a delightful surprise; the mask melts and it gets so wonderfully gritty due to the coconut shell granules, providing great exfoliation. Gently scrub it away to reveal soft, clearer skin. I am in love.

Talking about scrubbing, not a lot of things bring me much joy as a good body scrub, and the Tropical Blossom Body Polish (£20, 180ml) is certainly my dream one.

This oil-based sugary scrub, which has an intoxicating fragrance thanks to Tahitian coconut monoi macerated in exotic Tahitian blossoms of gardenia and hibiscus, makes for silk soft skin that is moisturised and nourished.

The sugar extracts combined with water make a milk making this an indulgent, self-caring experience.

Last, but not least, is the Miracle Facial oil (£30, 30ml). This time of the year is when they come back into my routine as skin is begging for that extra nourishment.

It contains natural retinol from organic rosehip and antioxidants from organic argan oil and organic blackseed oil, and is very light.

Applies and absorbs well and a little goes a long way, with a gorgeous organic rose otto and organic vanilla, which revitalise and soothe, on top of giving the oil a lovely fragrance.

I’ve also been using the Rainforest Rescue Blemish Serum (£20, 30ml), which is so mild and replenishing for a spot treatment.

Evolve Beauty Rainforest Rescue Blemish Serum

It contains a blend of Amazonian acai e copaiba, as well as willow bark, and I tend to apply only on affected areas and most of the time, at night, the oil and this serum are the only things on my skin.

After a few weeks using the above, plus the Daily Detox Facial Wash (£16, 100ml), with papaya, goji ad moringa peptides, my skin was brighter, less blemished and overall happy, reaping the benefits of all these natural, organic ingredients.

Their price is also very appealing and they are lovingly made in the UK.
You can get these (and the other Evolve Beauty products I tried before) on the Evolve Beauty website.

You know the drill, but I’ll say anyway: this post contains some PR samples. This review, however, is based on my experience with the product and reflects my honest opinion on them.

31Oct2017

That peeling face mask…

Posted in Beauty, Body, Skincare by Dani - So Many Lovely Things

Oh face masks… is there anything that screams being pampered more than a lush face mask accompanied by a fluffy dressing gown?

BLAQ mask (£14) is a peel-off facial mask with activated charcoal to target toxins and draw out impurities.

I must admit I’ve been a bit scared of peel-off black face masks as so many people seem to have had some asphalt mix that set on their faces, was damn hard to peel and took a layer of their epidermis off when finally pulled out, leaving them with that newborn panda look.

But when I got my hands on this, I could not resist and I am glad I didn’t.

After cleansing and using a warm cloth to open pores, I applied an even layer of the mask avoiding hairline, eyebrows, lips and eye area.

I waited around 15 minutes and I went off to peel the shiny layer of face mask that was set like plastic on my face.

Laugh away:

I found a little spot to grab on to and started. It did come off quite easily, and although I could feel the pull, it wasn’t aggressive on the skin, but there was a little bit of redness.

After a few minutes, my skin felt super soft, clearer, calmer; blackheads were pulled out.

Together with the face mask, I also got the BLAQ Hydrogel Eye Masks (£22), which I have to say, I’ve been very excited about.

The slug like patches come in a solution and are extremely soothing and cooling upon application.

After 15 minutes they easily come off and the area felt de-puffed and had a glow, brighter and tighter. Sounds a load of rubbish, but I did noticed a visible change.

It contains glycerin, witch hazel extract, bamboo charcoal, Irish moss powder (0.1%), konjac fibre, algin and citric acid.

Finally, the BLAQ Meteor Shower scrub (£19.95). I mean, just to start with: pretty. It fells lovely on the skin, and really exfoliates, leaving it soft, shimmery and glowy. It is perfect to prep for tanning!

I find it quite sweet that you can “track” the origin of the meteorites used on your scrub. Each pack has a number, here’s mine:

It contains sea salt flakes, meteorite powder, mica, activated charcoal, soybean oil, sugar and olive fruit oil. The meteorite powder as found in the scrub is 100% biodegradable; the scrub has no preservatives or additives, and BLAQ does not test on animals!

You can get them all at blaq.co.

written by Dani

You know the drill, but I’ll say anyway: this post contains PR samples. This review, however, is based on my experience with the product and reflects my honest opinion on them.

Product review: St Ives Renew & Firm apricot scrub

I am pretty sure most of us know the classic St Ives apricot scrubs, after all, it is said to be the number 1 scrub brand in the UK!

Part of the Timeless Skin range, the St Ives Renew and Firm apricot scrub has been in my bathroom for a few weeks now and I am getting at least one, but usually two good scrubs a week with it – especially before my weekly fake tan session.

This scrub contains apricot – which is full of vitamin A type goods and antioxidants and corn kernel meal and walnuts as super 100% natural exfoliators. Also has gentle alphahydroxy, it is non-comedogenic with 100% natural extracts and without parabens, phthalates or animal-derived ingredients.

It has been used as a body scrub and provides soft exfoliation; the granules are firm and well distributed in the cream; you noticed the two textures of exfoliators . It is not super dense with granules and feel very gentle on the skin. when washed away the skin feels soft and quite moisturised.

The smell is very subtle and pleasant; the scrub goes quite a long way too! I am not quite sure about firming, as I am using all over the body and it would probably take some time to see this type of effect, but my skin feels renewed for sure!!!

By browsing their site, I also found out that they have not only scrubs, but a very extensive range with different care for various skin concerns!

Worth checking out the St Ives site for the Renew & Firm apricot scrub, usually priced under £5 and 0ther products.

This post contains PR samples. This review, however, is based on my own true experience with the products and reflects my honest opinion on them.

Product review: Bahoma London fragranced body scrub

Given the lack of sun in London, I am very partial to a bit of fake tan – and there is no better way of preparing your skin for it than a good exfoliating scrub. even better if the scrub leaves your skin super moisturised – and that’s exactly what the Bahoma London body scrub does.

I used the Desire fragrance, which has some vanilla notes on it and it smells gorgeous! The consistency of this scrub is very thick, butter like, and full of grain. As soon as you dig into the pot, it melts in your hands and when scrubbing, the grains last enough for a few scrubbing movements, before melting.

After applying in my whole body, I rinsed it off and my skin was super soft, lightly fragranced and feeling really moisturised, as if I had applied a body oil (which I usually do after showering, but didn’t need in this case!), and this absorbed quickly, with no greasy after feeling.