Caudalie Beauty Elixir | Review

Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml £9.90

The Caudalie Beauty Elixir is something I picked up a few months ago after watching a video where Lisa Eldridge mentioned this particular product, along with the copious amounts of other fellow beauty enthusiasts. It intrigued me as the thought of spritzing a water filled with lot's of beneficial ingredients to refresh your face or your makeup a very interesting concept. I know there are plenty of hydrating water sprays, but I've never been a fan of those, and have never really noticed much of a difference in my skin when using them unless I had particularly dehydrated skin, so I had quite high expectation of this spray. 

The spray contains grape, orange blossom, rose, organic balm mint and rosemary, which all claim to help smooth features, tighten pores and give your complexion a burst of radiance. This can be sprayed onto the face after cleansing as a sort of "toner", a face of makeup to set, or just during the day for a skin pick me up. I found it quite pleasant to spray on. There were no droplets on my face and no awkward hand fanning to dry. I also felt that the mist was the right density, and covered a good area (as weird as that sounds, I hate sprays that are too dense and leave you looking and feeling very wet). It did feel very refreshing to spray, and I can see how people can become a little addicted to spraying this on their face all day, especially if it is at arms reach or sat on your desk at work. The scent of the Beauty Elixir is very strong. I almost didn't expect it to be as strong as it was. It smells very natural and organic, but also has a huge note of mint and what I can only describe as "uriney-smell" (how professional of me). I know that not everyone will agree with me here, and in fact I'm almost certain most people really liked the scent, but for me it was a little too overpowering. The main question though, is did it do anything to my skin? The answer to that is, no, not really. I didn't notice any benefits from this product at all. I've used almost the whole bottle up now (photo above taken a while ago). In fact I used it constantly a few weeks ago as I was having a hormonal break out, and I'm convinced it made everything worse, as when I stopped using it, everything calmed down a lot quicker. The only thing that I do believe it does very well, is make your skin appear a lot more radiant after applying makeup, or if you are choosing to have a no-makeup and healthy skin day. It does border slightly on "greasy looking" sometimes however, so if you have oily skin, i'm not sure you'd want to use it for that purpose. 

As something that has been hyped up in the beauty blogging world, I felt that I too, would fall in love with the contents of this quaint little glass bottle and that it would do absolute wonders for my skin. I was a little disappointed that it didn't work in the same way it had for others, but that's the risk you take when buying something that has been so hyped up. Products are never going to do the same to one person that it does to another. 

Have you ever tried the Caudalie Beauty Elixir? What experience have you had with it?

♥

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Bedside Beauty

I've decided to do a little summary of the things I keep on my bedside table. After all, every girl has a little stash that she keeps to hand pre and post nights sleep, doesn't she? I'm going to do a series of posts like this. My bedside table necessities change all the time as I try and rotate different products so I get to try them out. Here's a little glimpse at what I'm using last thing before bed, and first thing in the morning at the moment. 

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - I'm enjoying using this so far, besides the smell, which definitely needs to grow on me. I like to spritz this on my face in the morning mainly, just as a quick refresh. I often spritz it before bed too, but normally before my night cream. 

Taaj Micellaire Water Makeup Remover* - I will have already cleansed before bed at the sink, but I keep this here for the morning. This is probably the best makeup remover I've ever used. I love everything about it. It was a sample in a JolieBox not too long ago and I am definitely repurchasing a full size when this runs out. I like to sweep this across my face just to remove any missed mascara which might be lurking underneath my eye area after 8 hours of sleep. I also just find it really refreshes my skin, and is the perfect little pick me up (or roll me out of bed). 

Body Shop Wild Rose Targeted Hand Oil* - This nifty little roller ball is perfect for applying oil to specific areas of your hands. As you can imagine, oil slathered all over your hands won't be too comfortable, so it's nice that you can apply a little bit in the places that you really need it. I put this across my cuticles and areas of the skin on my hands which could do with a little more moisture.

Bare Minerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment - I'm currently trying out this powder foundation night treatment. It's definitely a little weird applying this last thing before bed but there is no nasty pillow transferring and it feels very comfortable on my skin. I don't want to report back about this product yet, as I want to give it a fair trial before I let you know my thoughts, but so far I like it.

Lavera Hand Cream* - Again, this was a sample in a beauty box (I find these samples perfect for my bedside and my handbag). This is probably one of my favourite hand creams recently, alongside the Burt's Bees one that I reviewed a while back. I like something that feels moisturising and nourishing but doesn't take an age to sink in, or leave me with greasy mitts, so this ticks all the boxes. 

Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm - A new obsession of mine. I can't praise this lip balm highly enough. I apply this before bed, and when I wake up it's STILL THERE! It really gets to work on my always-impossibly-dry lips. Since i've been using this, I've found that I can apply lipstick more often without getting scaly lips, or having to rub it off, and re apply it. I think this will be at my bedside for a long time!

What do you have on your bedside table? Anything you think I'm missing or that you think I'd love?

♥

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Little Online Shopping Spree

It's not all that often that I will buy things from the comfort of my own home. It's not that I don't like online shopping, it's just that I tend to shop more on the High Street. However, come pay day, there were so many things I wanted to buy/try that I wasn't all that sure i'd be able to get hold of in the shops. I went onto the feelunique website (which is just brimming with every product you could ever think of) and bought the above items. 

The first thing that accidentally hopped into my virtual basket was the Caudalie Beauty Elixir. I've heard such amazing things about this face mist, so of course, I had to give it a whirl and see what all the hype was about. The next thing that ended up in my basket, was the Benefit Erase Paste (bought in 01 fair). This is actually my third pot of this stupidly-overpriced-but-equally-amazing undereye concealer. I absolutely love it, and when I reach the bottom of the cute little pot, I always get that horrid feeling of dread & despair at having to fork out another £19.50 because I can't really live without it (trust me, I have tried). There was also a little deal where if you bought a Benefit product you got a little "Cha-Cha Tint" for free. It's a lovely mango lip and cheek stain, much like the benetint and posietint, but being peach, A LOT more up my street. I think this will be really pretty in summer. The last thing I bought, was all because of Millie Mackintosh. If you are familiar with the TV programme "Made In Chelsea", then you will know who I'm talking about. She is absolutely gorgeous, but one thing that always makes me ultra envious, is her healthy golden glow. I recently read a blog post she did, where she says that she uses "Institut Esthederm Self Tanning Face Cream" so naturally, I needed this in my life. I can't say i've ever heard of the brand before, but i'm looking forward to seeing if I magically wake up looking like Millie....(I can only hope right...). 

Let me know if you'd like to see any reviews of the above products once i've put them to the test!

♥

GlossyBox April 2012 | Limited Edition Natural Box

Aprils GlossyBox* was another special edition. These are definitely my favourite kind of beauty boxes, something about it being different from the norm, makes the anticipation of un-peeling the sticker that little bit more exciting. This months box was full of products guaranteed to make you feel your best whilst satisfying the green goddess within. Inside the limited edition 100% biodegradable box, are 5 eco friendly and ethical products. I know that for a lot of you, products sourced naturally with no harmful nastiness is quite an important factor when shopping for cosmetics. So for those of you who prefer your products to be a little more organic, look no further. I was really hoping that GlossyBox would do a box like this, as I think it is very appealing to a vast majority of us. I know I love it any-who. 

The products included in my GlossyBox:

Caudalie SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum - Caudalie is a fairly new brand on the beauty blog scene. We've all heard how marvellous the beauty elixir is (I have just purchased it myself also) so I was super intrigued to try out this serum. Although you only receive 10ml, I think it's a good amount to indicate if you enjoy using the product. The 30ml full size product is worth £29, which is quite steep but for a serum but if it does what it says on the tube, you get what you pay for. I've used this twice, and so far I do really like it. It's very easy to use quite a lot though, as it sinks into your skin so quickly, you almost feel as though you need more. I haven't noticed any dramatic changes to my skin, but I'm not expecting miracles after 2 uses. It does however, leave your skin feeling silky smooth, and made my makeup application that little bit easier. 

Inika Cosmetics Certified Organic Lip Liner - Inika is not a brand i'd heard of previous to receiving this box. They use a blend of cold pressed plant waxes, oils and natural pigments to make up their liners. I think I would have preferred to receive an eyeliner, as opposed to a lip liner, as i'm one of those people who never uses lipliners. Saying this however, the pigmentation was very good, and the liner very easy to use, so I can't fault it for that. I do think this will end up going to my mum though :) 

Ayuuri Natural Body Wash - Now, i'll be honest, when I first saw this giant shower gel, I wasn't overly excited. I have SO many body washes to get through, and the packaging didn't entrall me (I definitely judge a product by it's packaging... shallow but true) The fragrance I received was "rose" and I am absolutely OBSESSED with it. I definitely didn't think i'd end up loving this so much that I'd use it twice in one shower session! It smells amazing, but more importantly just feels so lovely and moisturising on my skin. At only £4.95 for a whole 235g of product, i'm going to be buying some more. 

Figs & Rouge Lip Balm - This is the product that I was initially excited to try. I've heard so many great things about these little lip balms. They are 100% pure, natural and organic and can be used as a multipurpose product on your lips or skin. The one I received is "Peppermint and Tea Tree", it is so lovely to apply and tastes yummy. I already want more of these to keep on my desk, in my handbag and next to my bed.

Philip B Styling Gel - When I initially saw this, I wasn't too excited by it. After all, when you hear/see the words "styling gel", you automatically think of boyish hairstyles being slicked back Danny Zuko style, for an awful wet "do"...no? Just me then? I was actually relieved to discover that this can be applied to damp hair, and is just an aid to styling and to boost volume at the crown of the head before blow drying. I've not used this yet, but i'll be sure to let you know if it's gravity defying stuff :)

What did you all think of the April GlossyBox?

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