Lusting after …

Just when you thought you would be free from beauty products temptation when going to buy milk, you need to think again. I am doing this diet at the moment where I am trying to find alternatives to traditional skimmed milk. So I headed to my local Hollands & Barrett to find some 'different' kind of milk. I had no idea there were selling so many organic beauty products and the first sight which greeted me when I entered the shop was a very tempting stand full to the brim of Dr Organic skincare products.







The stand is absolutely massive, from face moisturisers, face masks, serum, shower gels, body butters. Huge, I tell you. And they extend, from what I can gather, across 12 ranges, with the Moroccan Argan Oil and the Coconut one as their most recent.







I can't buy everything that I see but if I could, this would be what I would love to spend my pennies on:






Virgin Coconut Oil Hydrating Radiance Elixir (£12.99, 30ml) I am totally nutty about coconut, anything with coconut in and I am there. This is what they have to say about it: An intensive treatment that organically replenishes and rehydrates the skin for instant radiance and softness. This light, fast absorbing elixir instantly penetrates the skin, helps restore the hydrolipidic barrier, improves the dynamic and static hydration and decrease the trans epidermal water loss.


Virgin Olive Face Mask (£6.19, 125ml)
I have been recently disappointed with a certain olive oil face mask but I am still craving olive oil products.  "This nutrient rich clay based formulation draws oil from the pores while ridding the skins surface of dead cells and impurities and supporting the circulation deep into the capillaries to leave the skin feeling toned and perfectly hydrated".


And finally, I also fancy the Pomegranate Skin Lotion (£7.19, 200ml). This is the only product I was able to test on my skin: so light and smells divine. In fact, I don't know of any other pomegranate product which smells equally as good. Yum!


Have you ever used any products from Dr Organic?
What would you recommend?

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Olive Face Mask from Montagne Jeunesse

If I received a pound for everytime I slated the packaging of Montagne Jeunesse face masks, I think I would have accumulated a small fortune. The scalloped rounded shape of the face mask is actually quite nice but it's in the active ingredients of the mask shoved into layered onto the model's eyes which I have a problem. And it's for this this reason only that I hadn't bought a montagne jeunesse until now. But I am big fan of olive oil, my last discontinued face cleanser was made with olive oil, Montagne Jeunesse is getting quite a bit of love in the bloggosphere, so I thought what the heck and made the plunge to go and get one.







They say:

Nourish our cold pressed Virgin Oil mud masque for soft and supple skin. We've added ultra moisturising rich Shea & Cocoa Butter to leave your skin super smooth and deeply cleansed.

For me, a face mask is so much more than the efficiency alone: it's a multi sensory experience. It needs to have to have the right fragrance, a colour which pleasing to the eyes, nice texture to work with, easy to apply, easy to remove and of course I need to have experienced what it says on the packet.






My first impressions were disappointing: When opening the packet I was greeted with a mint green texture when I had bought a olive mud mask. Now this might be a small detail for you but for me it's a big deal. Ideally, if I buy an olive based mask, and regardless of the other ingredients, I'd expect something of an olivy colour. I don't care what it takes and if you need to add a natural colourant in there, but give me an olive for goodness' sake: I paid for olive and I want olive.



Fragrance wise, again the mask let me very cold, like the virgin oil it contains. The smells was very pleasant and fresh but it didn't smell one bit of olive oil. I don't remember what the smell reminded me of, but it certainly didn't smell remotely of olive oil.


As far as the texture is concerned, I have found it very rich and very thick. That's got to be right, right? It was too thick for my liking and I found that the application took so long that it was going to start drying in places before I finished the whole face. To be fair, I was trying to be neat, with the purpose of taking a snapshot of me, wearing the mask but still, the face mask felt a bit too thick for my liking.


I always have the habit to leave face masks a bit too long but I was good this time and stuck to the 15 recommended minutes. Now if I thought that application was hard work, the removal process was hard work but on a whole new level, which flew off the chart of hard work. It felt as if I was trying to remove an inch thick of mask and by the end of it, I was down to using some tissue paper to help me with it. Worse, I ended up using my cleanser to help me remove the last bits of minty green texture.






By the end of it, I was left with a red face with lasted until the following morning. Now all clay/mud masks tend to leave me with a reddened face but the redness usually subsides after a few hours. Did it leave my skin deep cleansed? No. I just felt dirty from the whole experience and felt sorry for myself to have to resort to my cleanser to remove the mask. On the plus side, I am happy to report that my skin felt more moisturised the day after.


So to summarise: colour was wrong, fragrance was wrong, texture was too thick, application was hard work, removal was excruciatingly laborious, face was too red (sensitive skins beware) I didn't feel deep cleansed and too many negative to put up with for a more moisturised face at the end of it. Would I purchase this again? I think you've read my mind already. If you haven’t, perhaps the expression on my face in the picture below will give you a clue






What: Montagne Jeunesse Olive Oil Mask
How much: £1.00
Where: Superdrug and Boots nationwide, even the ‘crappy’ little ones :)

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Oh no they didn't!

Oh yes, they did and I am mourning.





In their wisdom, Boots went all out and redesigned their Botanics skincare range. If you have been to Boots recently, you will have seen colourful additions to the Botanics skincare range, and 5 lines emerging from these colours:

1. The Youth Skincare Range for young skin,
2. The All Bright Skincare Range for brighter looking skin,
3. The Ultra Calm Skincare Range to sooth sensitive skin,
4. The Shine Away Skincare Range to target blemishes and reduce shine,
5. and the Organic Skincare range for customers 'who desire an extra level of proven purity'







It's all well and good but in the process, Boots discontinued my ultimate two favourite cleansers and I can't find the words to describe how upset I am. I've waxed lyrical about both of these (here and here) in 2 separate individual posts, so I'll to keep it straight to the point: these cleansers did everything I asked to and more:
1) the feeling of moisture when I rinse my face off was amazing,
2) the scent of these were just spot on and I could quite frankly never get bored of,
3) the bargain price (ranging from £3.99 to £5.10) made me very happy.
4) I absolutely adored the packaging. Totally up my street. love, love, undiluted love.
I was rarely buying them full price as boots Botanics were very often on offer and I was able to get ample supplies at a discount price. If I had known they had plans to discontinue it, I would have definitely stocked up.






There was hope for the organic one, but Boots added some shitty bonus rosehip extract in there, which now makes the product stink of flower. Rosewater and rosehip are really good for you yaddi yadda Zzzzz, people rave about them but I don’t want it in my cleanser, I get bored of it so quickly.  I have purchased the brightening one (with hibiscus ) which smells really nice and surprisingly not too flowery but it made my face a little bit itchy and tight. Fortunately I was able to return it on that basis.


If you have been a fan of Botanics skincare range, I would urge you to go to Boots immediately and check if your favourites are still there. I was able to get a last bottle of the 'rice and honey' cleanser, which I now want to keep for special occasions (how sad is that) as it has suddenly increased in value so much in my eyes.


I doubt I will ever find a cleanser which ticked so many boxes for a fiver.
The search has started. *blows snotty nose in a tissue*

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