bargains

Cocoa Butter Delight: Vaseline Cocoa Butter Deep Conditioning Body Lotion

Yeehah! It’s Friday! 🙂 How has everyone’s week been? Ready for the weekend? (I’m sure you are! I am!)

As regular blog readers/visitors will know, I usually post at least twice a week and usually on a Sunday and/or Tuesday and Thursday. Things were crazily busy this week and so there’s been a delay. Sorry about that. However I am pleased to report that despite the busyness of the week I had a much better week than last week! 🙂

***

The Vaseline Cocoa Butter Deep Conditioning Body Lotion is my current #1 body lotion. I’m fussy when it comes to body lotions. I like them to absorb quickly, have a nice but not overpowering scent, and for the bottle/tub/container to last for a reasonable time so that I am getting value for money. This one certainly ticks all these boxes.

The range comes in pump packs as well as the different sizes and product types as you can see here:

image: popsop.com

Price: approx $8 AUD for 375mL pump pack; if you get the massive 750mL “value pack” pump pack that’s only approx $11 AUD depending on where you shop. I’ve noticed that currently Chemist Warehouse have a sale on this product – $7.99 for the “value pack”!!!!

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets, chemists, and discount department stores.

I absolutely LOVE the scent of the lotion. Chocolate, caramel and vanilla all rolled in to one. It smells so nice that you could eat it (though don’t try that at home haha!). The scent is light once applied to your skin and appears to dissipate within an hour or so post application.

I’ve been using this almost every day and have found it isn’t too heavy on my skin. The skin on my body is drier than on my (combination) face, but if I use body lotions that are too heavy I am prone to break out. No break outs with this product – wahoo! 🙂

The 375mL bottle, a month post purchase, has approximately 1/4 left. Not bad…

My only gripe with the pump packs is that you cannot close the pump once you open it post purchase. As such you’d need to transfer some into a sealable container for travel OR purchase one of the much smaller flip top bottles.

If cocoa butter is not your thing, you can also get this range in different scents including Cucumber and Aloe Vera.

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5 (no points deducted for the pump not closing as you can buy different types of containers in the range)

***

I will be posting again soon on an eye cream I’m loving! I will also be making a few more announcements (all good news!) about the blog this weekend.

On Sunday I’m due to catch up with some fellow Adelaide based beauty bloggers for High Tea… I can’t wait! I love High Tea – any other High Tea fans out there? 🙂 What is your favourite High Tea food or beverage?

News: Palmer’s have started a Men’s Range

Evening all!

I was reading through a Chemist Warehouse brochure yesterday (GREAT bargains there at the moment by the way – including 50% off all Garnier products! :)) when I saw that Palmer’s MEN Body and Face Lotion was discounted.

I didn’t know that Palmer’s had a men’s range so thought this news was pretty interesting. Palmer’s Aussie website lists this product as the only product currently in the range. The lotion is designed for both face and body, unlike their standard lotion range which is body only. It also has a special (manly, I guess haha!) “fresh scent” – I’m curious to find out what it smells like.

Behold, the first product in Palmer’s Men’s range!

image: freesamples.co.uk

Check out the US TV advertisement for this product here:

PS. It’s retailing at Chemist Warehouse for $5.69 AUD for 250ml, or $6.69 AUD for 400ml.
PPS. I do not have any affiliation with Chemist Warehouse. I’m just mentioning all this because they have got some darn good sales on at the moment and they are the only ones I’ve noticed advertising the product in Australia. 🙂

Cheap n cheerful – Cutex’s French Manicure range

Hi!!!! Has everyone been enjoying their weekend? 🙂 Mine got off to a lousy start – due to being unwell I did not make it to the Morricone concert. 😦 Since Saturday, however, I’ve been feeling much better and I did get to do some fun things this weekend. I also received a huge surprise early birthday present from Mr R (my birthday is actually this week)! I will tell you all more about that later on.

I briefly mentioned this polish in an earlier post, but love it so much I thought it was worth a proper review post all of its own – from Cutex’s French Manicure polish range. 🙂 There are several colours in the range, including pinks, whites and creams, and I have ~

#603: French Rose

Here it is, on my nails today! 🙂

I've got 2 coats of the polish on here. This pic unfortunately does not show the pinkish side to this polish to the fullest!

Price: I picked this up on sale for $2.99 AUD but usually it’s between $5 and $10 AUD, if I remember correctly.

Where can I get it? In my earlier post, I mentioned Priceline, but tonight I realised that actually I had bought it at Chemist Warehouse! You can get it at both of these places, however, as well as discount department stores such as Big W and some supermarkets.

I love the shade of this polish as it is a nude but it has a slight pink in it. It is long wearing however be careful to apply thin coats. I did have problems with the polish peeling off the same day (!) when I applied it thickly (I had wanted a more opaque effect at the time, but I now know that was not the way to achieve it!).

With a top coat this lasts on my nails up to 5 days, which I’m very happy with. However, as time goes by the colour of the polish can change slightly – becoming slighly more yellowed than pinkish. This has happened regardless of whether or not I’m wearing a top coat.

A good performer at a very good price! My rating of this product is based on the price I bought it for, which of course is a sale price –

Beautiful rating: quality 4/5, value 5/5.

***

Usually I’m very talkative, aren’t I, and have something to say down here! Not much to say tonight! (Don’t worry it’s not you it’s me! ;-))

Have a great week ahead everyone and thank you for visiting, reading and supporting the blog! I hope to have a new (privately hosted) version of the site up and running by month’s end… Overambitious much?! LOL 😀

Uberlash 50% Discount Offer for A Beautiful Story Readers & Visitors!

Hi everyone,

Just want to let you know about this before I upload my post on sleep (tips for getting a good one)!

I have been lucky to have scored a discount offer for blog readers and visitors for a new lash serum that has only recently become available in Australia – Uberlash. If you are someone who is wanting long, natural lashes and/or want to stop having to spend a lot of money on eyelash extensions, this could be for you!

To read more about this product and take advantage of the offer, visit http://www.uberlash.com.au/half_price_lashes/  🙂

Special Delivery… Thalgo + ! ^__^

How is everyone’s week so far? I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday, time seems to be going very slowly!

I had ordered more of my favourite facial moisturiser – my most favourite moisturiser of all time – Thalgo’s Collagen Cream (I’ve previously reviewed this product here). However, due to difficulties on the seller’s end (eBay – reportedly they were waiting on a new shipment of stock), there was a long delay (several weeks) in getting the product.

At long last, yesterday there was a package for me! 🙂

This is what was inside….

They included a Decleor body lotion as an apology for the delays! 🙂

I guess it was worth the wait – it was 66% cheaper for me to buy the Thalgo online compared to what I would have to pay at my local salon! I had kept a tiny bit of my old jar too so that I could compare that product with the new one (in case I got sold a fake) – luckily it seems genuine. 🙂

Have you ever had any difficulties with eBay sellers? Luckily, aside from delivery delays, I’ve had no problems so far…

Enjoy the rest of your week guys – I plan to upload another post this week on sleep (getting a good sleep… zzzzz!) 🙂

great last minute Xmas bargain – Paintbox compact by W7 (Warpaint Cosmetics)

Two posts in one evening! Productive huh? 😉

I found this bargain at my local Chemist Warehouse, for just…. drumroll please…. $7.50 AUD! It’s on sale for 1/2 price at present (so usual RRP is $15). 77 cute eyeshadow shades in the one compact pallette! It’s roughly 20cm x 15cm and 1.5cm high which means you could fit it into most hand bags if you wanted to. A mirror and applicators are included.

Each shadow is approx. 1.5cm in diameter (equivalent to an Aussie 5c coin) and the pigmentation is average, so depending on the shade used and the intensity you are looking for, you may need to use a reasonable amount. Having said that I can’t really complain given the great price!

I haven’t heard much about Warpaint Cosmetics (they call themselves W7 for short) so I did a bit of research… They are a British budget cosmetics brand but I couldn’t find much else… Has anyone else used their products or does anyone know more about them? At Chemist Warehouse they have a whole range of products from W7 including mascaras, foundation, etc etc.

For the eyeshadows specifically…
Beautiful rating: quality 3/5, value 5/5!

***

Have a very Merry Christmas all, to those who celebrate it!!!!
All the best for a healthy, successful, and happy 2012! 🙂

In the new year I have more men’s reviews planned, more articles for MIKA planned, and welcome more reader requests. I’m open to all constructive feedback so please feel free to contact me or simply comment on my posts! 🙂 Thank you to all WordPress & Twitter followers, readers, visitors, Bloglovins and FB fans for your support!!!

❤
Sarah

PS. Why not enter my free Xmas Giveaway comp if you haven’t already? Your chance to win some additional Xmas goodies & entries don’t close till midnight Jan 4th ’12 (GMT +09:30)! 🙂

mini haul: essence colour & go nail polish, gel-look top coat & french manicure tip guides

Recently I was lucky to receive a gift card from my employer for Christmas! 🙂 I was needing some more nail polish, and discovered the “essence” range which is inexpensive and has lovely colours, so decided to give them a try!

Essence are a European cosmetics brand that I haven’t heard of before, so I did some reading on their site (http://www.essence.eu/) and was happy to see that they don’t test their products on animals. In Australia you can buy their products at Target and they don’t just do nail polish! 🙂

Here’s a pic of what I hauled!

From L to R, top to bottom:

• gel-look topcoat – “topcoat that adds glossy shine and leaves a gel like finish on nails” (AUD ~$3.50)
• colour & go quick drying nail polish in lime up! (#39, a nice pistachio green), meet me now! (#48, a bright purple), choose me! (#38, a glittery turquoise) and ultimate pink (#08, an awesome Barbie pink!) (AUD ~$3 each)
• french manicure tip guides (pack of 30 strips; AUD ~$3)

The nail polishes were easy to apply and just one coat provided good coverage (except for the glitter, choose me!, which was quite sheer). However, I applied 2 coats of each polish out of habit! It did dry quickly. The top coat looked no different to my cheap BYS top coat that I typically use, however a week or so later I applied it on a nude nail and the glossiness of the essence top coat then really stood out and was very nice!

The polish lasted approximately 2 days on my nails before starting to noticeably chip. It comes off very easily with nail polish remover.

Here’s a pic of the colours on my nails, first in artificial light and then outdoors (I was watching TV at the time hence the remote control is my prop LOL! ;)).

The manicure strips were no different from others that I’ve used; I’m not a big fan of them as typically I find it easier to use the paint-the-tip-then-tidy-with-a-brush-dipped-in-nailpolish-remover technique!

Catch a youtube video of what I think is the easier (and gives a better result!) technique here:

Here are the results I got using the tip guides, meet me now! polish on the tips and Rimmel’s French Manicure in soft violet (#457) on the rest of the nail:

I would buy the polishes again, but not the manicure strips! However that is simply due to my preference as to how I do “tips” of nails. 🙂

Beautiful rating…

• gel-look top coat: quality 4/5, value 4/5
• colour & go polish: quality 5/5, value 5/5 (5/5 for both due to the great price)
• manicure tip guides: quality 2/5, value 2/5

Hope you all have a great week! ❤

Reader Request: Hand Lotions/Creams

Happy Saturday everyone! 🙂 Here the weather is just beautiful and fitting for the new (summer) season. I have been putting a giveaway pack together so that I can run a competition to thank my readers, visitors, and supporters… but I think I will wait to actually hold the comp in the new year! (Because December is such a busy month for everyone but also Australia Post – I don’t want the giveaway parcel to go missing!!)

How are people finding my use of CAPS for blog entry headers? I’ve started doing it as I think it fits better with the overall theme/design of the blog, but let me know what you think. With the use of CAPS, I’m not intending to shout!!!! 😛

***

So, onto topic… 😉 I have received a request to review more hand lotions/creams, and here are my thoughts on three that I have recently tried. One of my first blog posts was actually about a hand cream, Hand Food from Soap & Glory (you can read about that here)! I will also mention another cream which I don’t currently own but find to be quite good and reliable when I do use it.

#1 : Dove Visible Beauty Hand Cream

Price range: approximately $6 AUD for 75mL

Where can I get it? most supermarkets and chemists.

This cream is in a handy handbag sized tube. It smells lovely, a bit like a mix of cucumber and honey, and is easily absorbed. However, the scent is relatively strong (not as strong as Hand Food! ;)) and the product seems to contain a lot of chemical/artificial products. When reading the back of the tube I did not understand what most of the ingredients were! (a lot of “stearate”s, “edta”s and other things)

Beautiful rating: quality 3/5, value 3/5 (I would not buy this one again, I’m not a huge fan of lotions/creams that have a high chemical content – unfortunately I did not take a look at the ingredient list before I bought it haha! ;))

#2: Burt’s Bees Burt’s Shea Butter Hand Repair Creme

Price range: I’m not sure, this was a gift. However most Burt’s Bees products are not for those on a tight budget!

Where can I get it? Chemists, particularly chemists with a good range of beauty products such as Priceline.

What I like about Burt’s Bees is that they are committed to using as many natural ingredients as possible in their products. In this one they stated that it is “98.00% natural”. Unfortunately, this was my least favourite of the creams! 😦 I feel that there are too many essential oils packed into this lotion and it leads it to have an overpowering and almost medicinal smell, which put me off. I then washed my hands to try to get rid of the smell but it only dissipated when I then used antibacterial alcohol based hand gel! 😮

Beautiful Rating: quality 3/5 (they did deliver on what they promised – a natural hand product – the smell is what lets it down), value 1/5

#3: DermaVeen Moisturising Cream

Price range: approx. $8 for 100mL

Where can I get it? Most chemists, some bigger supermarkets

Now I realise this isn’t marketed as a hand cream as such, but I’ve included it here as I love using it on my hands! It was originally recommended to me by my GP (general practitioner – Doctor) for some psoriasis that I had (:( )due to the colloidal oatmeal content. Oatmeal is in a lot of Aveeno’s products (who also have a hand cream on the market) as it is thought to have special soothing properties.

This lotion easily fits in your handbag and has a mild, slightly nutty scent (it’s probably the oatmeal). It is ideal for those with sensitive skin, as that is who it was originally designed for!

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5 (my *fave* of the three! :))

One that I haven’t recently used but recommend (haven’t used recently simply as I have so many others @ home right now ;)):

Vaseline’s Healthy Hand and Nail Conditioning Hand Lotion

Price range: approx. $5 for 75mL

Where can I get it? Most supermarkets and chemists.

This one is a little beauty! Subtle fragrance, tube lasts a long time (a little bit of it goes a long way), hands feel moisturised instantly.

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 5/5

***

So this wraps up my first Reader Request post! 🙂 I hope you have found it helpful and encourage people to contact me if there are things you’d like me to review. 🙂

Tutti Fruity Nutri – 2 Fab Nutrimetics Products

Welcome everyone… liking my cleaner blog layout? I’m happy with it so far but I think I’ll need a week or so to be sure about what I think! haha 🙂

Earlier this week I mentioned I’d attended a Nutrimetics party. It was hosted by a friend of mine who is quite easy going and so I was assuming it would be a low key and relaxing event. It was fun BUT unfortunately the consultant was a real battle axe and really put the pressure on to buy things! :-O I ordered a nice hand cream (which I’m going to review soon – as per Reader Request! :)).

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to mention two of my favourite Nutrimetics products!

First, their Apricot Body Dew: Moisturising Body Lotion.

Price range: $9.99 AUD when on sale (when I bought it! ;)) but around double this usually.

Where can I get it? exclusive to Nutrimetics

This body lotion is awesome. It contains apricot oil (which the brand is famous for!) as well as shea butter, vitamin E, and wheat germ oil. It has a light consistency, is easily absorbed into the skin and leaves a yummy but not overpowering apricot fragrance.

Despite its high oil content it never clogs my skin which is important as I’m someone who can get breakouts on my shoulders and back if I use products which are too oily.

The 200mL bottle lasts a reasonable time; I alternate using it with Palmer’s Olive Butter Formula body lotion (see a review of that product here) and 2 bottles (I tend to buy 2 at a time, when they are on sale! ;)) usually last a year.

Beautiful rating: quality – 5/5, value – 5/5 when on sale

***

Second, the Nutri-Rich Moisturising Body Satin.

Price range: $9.99 AUD when on sale (when I bought it! ;)) but around double this usually.

Where can I get it? exclusive to Nutrimetics

This is like a spray on version of the body lotion I’ve mentioned! 🙂 It is perfect for spraying on lightly before going on a night out or other special occasion, as it leaves one’s skin with a light shimmer. Like the body lotion, it smells awesome and is full of natural oil goodies!

Beautiful rating: quality – 5/5, value – 5/5 when on sale

***

Are there any other fans of Nutrimetics out there? If so, what have been your experiences with their products? 🙂 (I hope you avoided the pushy sales consultant! LOL ;))

palmer’s face products: gentle daily cleanser, daily facial lotion & night renewal cream

Good evening readers!

The rain is bucketing down but it’s still quite warm outside = humid weather! It does, however make good weather for me to sit on the computer for a lil while! 😉

I was fortunate to pick up a free sample of Palmer’s Gentle Daily Cleanser, Daily Facial Lotion, and Night Renewal Cream recently. I’m a fan of Palmer’s olive oil based body lotion (you can click over to my review of that here) so have been keen to try their new face range. There’s also a clay based mask that they do which I haven’t yet tried and isn’t included in this review.

Price range: you can pick up these products for <$15 AUD each, depending upon where you shop!

Where can I buy it? Most chemists and supermarkets, with supermarkets typically being the more expensive place to find it.

I tried the three products across a single day – the cleanser and facial lotion in the morning and the night cream, well, at night!

The Gentle Daily Cleanser contains interesting ingredients in addition to the cocoa butter Palmer’s is famous for, such as milk proteins and antioxidants. It has a pleasant and noticeable floral scent which was not overdone. The cleanser is meant to be a “light foaming formula”, so I was disappointed when I had difficulties getting it to lather properly and it took a lot of work to wash off! (Perhaps I used too much?) My skin felt quite dry afterwards.

The Daily Facial Lotion contains SPF 15+ and seeing SPF in a skin product for daytime use always makes me happy! 🙂 It is marketed as a “lightweight moisturiser”. The scent was milder than that of the cleanser and the texture was indeed light weight. It left parts of my skin feeling dry; I’m not sure if this was due to my experience with the cleanser before hand or just my skin type (which is combination but getting older so needing extra moisture in the non t-zone areas!).

My experience with the Night Renewal Cream was the best of all 3 products. 🙂 Again the scent was lighter than that of the facial cleanser, and it had a nice consistency, not being too thick and heavy or thin. The hydration was good – my skin didn’t feel dry nor oily. A good budget night cream buy!

Of all 3 products I would buy the night cream, definitely skip the cleanser and probably not pick up the day lotion.

Beautiful rating – Gentle Daily Cleanser: quality 2/5, value 2/5

Beautiful rating – Daily Facial Lotion: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (for the right skin type – <25 year olds or for older skin if your skin is oily)

Beautiful rating – Night Renewal Cream: quality 4/5, value 4/5 (was fine on my >25-year-old combination skin! :))

PS. Priceline have 20% off all hair care products the next 2 days, and are selling Palmer’s Olive Oil body lotion with SPF 15+ for approx. $3 AUD (BARGAIN!!! XD) in their new catalogue which starts tomorrow! (Please note I have no professional affiliation with Priceline – I just shop there a lot so am on their email list :P)