April showers are sprinkling here and there and the sun is shining it's face for a lot longer in the daytime. I've just had my first pina colada of the year , which can only mean summer is slowly on it's hazy way. With no signs of any Easter eggs left but a bloated stomach , April has flown by! All of my April favourites are under £10 with one of my favourites this month being just a pound.
I'll start my April favourites with two eye products I've been using. The first eye cream is Benefits - It's potent! The pot that you see in the photograph is just a sample size that I received in a gift set of miniatures from the benefit B.right skincare range. Now I mentioned all the products in my April favourites were under ten pounds , however the benefit miniatures set fluctuates in price and can retail between £10-£15. firstly, the packaging of the benefit miniatures is beautiful! They all come in aqua glass bottles or aqua coloured tubes looking as they they belong on a dolls dressing table. Despite their gorgeous attire they actually make getting the product out rather difficult.
It's potent! is a thick and creamy eye cream that moisturised my under eye area. Due to it's impact to moisturise the eyes, it added a veil of hydration to eye area that gave it a slight brightening effect. The brightening effect is small , however it doesn't rely on any shimmer to reflect light that in fact makes my under eye circles look worse majority of the time. The thickness of the eye cream made it a great base for applying a creamy concealer on top.
The second eye product was an eye gel by the company Anatomicals. I love the name of this eye product, " no old bags allowed" , I'm all up for quirky names on packaging. I hadn't used an eye gel before but I think I may just now be a convert for an eye gel for life! It's a clear gel that when rubbed between my two fingers begins to turn more fluid which I then apply to my eye and orbital area. The gel was so cooling around my eyes, refreshing and helped to reduce my morning puffiness. I didn't feel awake until I had used some of this soothing eye gel.
It contains some lovely ingredients such as orange flower water and glycerine to seal the moisture. The down side to it's packaging is that the hole where the product is squeezed out from is quite large , so I would always squeeze out far too much product. Anatomicals- No old bags allowed can be purchased here.
The next three products in my April favourites are hair products. The first product on the left being from Avon.
Advance techniques, Moroccan argon oil conditioner from Avon was brought on a whim as I was in need of a new conditioner. I was pleasantly surprised at the scent as it appeared to be clean yet sweet. The thick , creamy white conditioner gives a fantastic finish to my hair leaving it smooth, shiny but just a little weighed down ( though I can look past that). I was so impressed by the end result of this conditioner it was as if I had used a hair mask as it gave the same result as a higher end conditioner. With argan oil and vitamin E , I would definitely repurchase this conditioner as it costs less than £3! You can view the Moroccan Argan hair range at Avon here.
The next hair product in my monthly favourites is VO5 - Surfstyle sea salt spray ( try and say that fast five times ). Sea salt sprays are a great way at adding tousled texture to your hair. Just a couple sprays of this added a matte texture to my hair as if I had spent the day by the seaside. If you use it on wet hair before blow-drying it can add mega volume to your locks.
The down side to this sea salt spray compared to others is that it can leave hair so dry it feels crunchy and can make hair appear chalky at times. This depends on how much you lavish your hair with it. It's a great budget texturing spray but not so for those that wish to make their hair dryer than it already is.
The final hair product is another conditioner specifically for brunettes made by a company called "creightons". I have never heard of this brand before and I grabbed this conditioner from the shelves of pound land. At just £1 I didn't have high expectations for this conditioner but boy did it deliver! I loved it so much that I have already repurchased it. It left my hair smelling great, left it shiny , soft and I do believe it enhances the brown tones in brunette hair. At just £1 I am ecstatic with this little high street bargain.
Two shower and bath products I have used up in the month of April include The body shops raspberry ripple shower gel and soap & glory's "The breakfast scrub".
I believe the breakfast scrub has now been renamed as "smoothie star" as soap & glory have had a name and packaging shuffle lately. The breakfast scrub is a delectable body scrub that smells so good you could eat it ( please don't , I discovered it really doesn't taste nice). The body scrub smells of maple syrup, containing oat and sugar kernels to buff off the dead skin cells. This delicious scrub also contains banana, almond and honey extracts . Note : if the product says scrub, this often refers to what the product will do and not an action. The product itself will do the hard work of buffing your body to perfection , whilst actually vigorously scrubbing a body scrub could leave skin feeling irritated and perhaps damaged.
The breakfast scrub is incredibly thick so it shouldn't fall into the plughole straight away and leaves a light layer of moisture on the skin afterwards. to avoid the risk of the scrub falling straight into the plughole, i would often turn the shower off, scrub and then rinse away the beads. Plus you don't waste as much water! It is a bit of a struggle to scoop out the body scrub in the shower and then finding a spare hand to put the lid back on. My only desire for this product is that I wish it came in a tube. The breakfast scrub ( "smoothie star") can be purchased from boots here.
Raspberry ripple shower gel from the body shop smells absolutely gorgeous! Every time I lathered myself in the red ripples I felt as if I had landed in some katy Perry-esque candy music video. The shower gel gave a light lather, has a beautiful fruit scent and didn't leave my skin feeling dry afterwards. I believe my skin didn't feel dry afterwards due to the added community trade aloe Vera. bonus.
My final product in my monthly favourites is a strawberry and white chocolate air freshener from Avon. How tasty does that sound? At less than £3, I am pleased to say that this is a fantastic air freshener. It is strong so you only need a couple of sprays and there are always offers on Avon throughout the year as well as new limited edition house fragrances.
I recommend spraying them before going shopping so once the scent has lingered in the air and settled, you return back with a sweet scented home. Unfortunately, I believe this was a limited edition scent but I wanted to mention these house sprays as they are brilliant. The packaging is sleek and small making them easy to store.
Have you tried any of the products mentioned above ? Leave a comment of your Blog so I can read your monthly favourites too.
Themintapple :)
