Kerastase Masquintense Review

Happy Saturday! 

Has been a week of driving other the half about, as he has no car at the mo.  Managed to get to the shops today though, and picked up 3 Nails Inc polishes at TK Maxx for £5! Has got to class amongst my best polish bargains ever! Will swatch them for you if we EVER get any sunshine, it's so dreary at the mo. Never mind, it'll soon be Spring. I've also started to pick up a few bits and pieces for my 100 followers giveaway, as it looks like I might actually get there, which is totally out of this world. 

Today I have a review of another hair product, Kerastase Masquintense.

I bought this after a recommendation from someone (so sorry, I can't remember who) on #bbloggers chat one Sunday, who was replying to someone who was looking for a cure for frizzy hair. I got it from Amazon LINK here

My hair has been a problem ever since Permageddon.  I went to Toni & Guy to have my hair permed, and when it was first done, I loved it.  Then after a couple of days the curls started fall out.  By the Thursday my hair was pretty much straight again in parts.  I phoned them up and they booked me back in to re-perm it again for free.  This time they didn't perm the whole lot, and even said to each other, "don't worry that bit's underneath no one will see it", I'm not deaf!!

So anyway, the curls in certain (different) areas started dropping out AGAIN!  This time when I phoned them up, they said, " it can't be falling out again", and made me feel like I was lying, so I didn't go back.  Annoying as the cut and perm together cost over £100.

It's sad though, because the cut was really good, and next time I have my hair cut I'll probably go back, but will never, ever, have a perm there again.

Because of the double perming, my hair has been gruesomely frizzy ever since.  I keep trying lots of different hair products, but haven't found anything so far that really helps.  I thought Morrocanoil might be it, but that doesn't help either.

So, I thought I'd give this one a go.  I know it's shallow, but when it came I fell in love with the packaging!

I am loving that orange and white together, so fresh and modern!  I almost don't want to throw the box away.  Here's what the front of it looks like:

You certainly wouldn't be ashamed of having this one out in the bathroom!  Or maybe it's just me, I think it's really pretty.

Here's what it looks like inside:

You can tell by the fact that it isn't falling back down into the bottom of the jar that it's a pretty firm consistency.  It has a fresh smell, almost identical to Shield soap, and quite similar to Head and Shoulders original shampoo.

Here's what it looks like out on my hand:

It actually feels like putting high end facial moisturiser in your hair, nice!

The blurb says:
 Highly concentrated nourishing treatment for dry, extrememly sensitised, thick hair.
• Glucose: Provides an energy boost for the nutrition of the hair fibre.
• Proteins: Nourish the hair fibre and leave it feeling soft.
• Lipids: Protect the fibre from drying out and improve its natural protection.

So, does it work?
 Well, it's not a miracle worker, but I can definitely see a marked improvement to my hair!  There is definitely less frizz (although still some there), and the pleasant smell does stay in your hair for quite a long time, over 12 hours on mine.  Seeing as all the other 'miracle' products have not made a jot of difference to my hair, the fact that there's any improvement at all is a real testament to it.

As beautiful as the packaging is, in use, I would much rather have had a pump, because the jar does get slippy if you're using it in the bath, and one day I have a fear that I'm going to drop it and lose the whole lot in the bathwater. I would not be happy.

At £18.95, it is expensive, but if like me you have problem hair, I would recommend it, as it's the only thing I've used lately thats made an improvement.  And believe me I've tried alot.  As this is a L'Oreal product, it's not cruelty free.

Are there any products you'd recommend to me?  I've tried the argan oil products, I've tried the Frizz Ease products, I've tried the K-Pak products (review to come), I've tried the Ojon products, and I've tried ALOT of high street products.

So apart from those, what can I try?

Once the weather gets warmer, am thinking of having most of it chopped off anyway, so I don't really know why I'm bothering, oh well!

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Ojon Products - what do I think?

Hi again!

Hope your week has started well.  Been mad-crazy for me at work these last few weeks, am feeling the need for a long bath to de-stress!  I don't get to have many baths, just showers, as our water is only heated by a coal fire, and when we're at work all day there's not time for the water to heat up enough before bed time, so they're a real treat when I get them. 

We're due some more snow tomorrow too, brrr!  Apparently it won't stick around for long though, which is good.

It's Pancake Day today, I haven't decided yet if we'll be having any, I've put 3lbs on over the last couple of weeks, so if other half doesn't realise it's today, I'll keep quiet haha.

Well here I am with a review of the Ojon products I've used so far.  Some time ago, Ojon had a special offer on their website, a free shampoo and conditioner with every product, plus free shipping. 
 
Who doesn't like free stuff?  I'd been wanting to try their revitalising mist on my frizzy twice-permed hair for a while, so it seemed like a win-win to me. 

I already own their intensive conditioner, so this is now the products I have.  I finished the shampoo and accidentally threw it away, which is the main reason you never see 'empties' posts from me! 

As you can see, the revitalising mist only has a tiny drop left in the bottom too, so I knew I would accidentally throw it away at some point, which is why I'm making my post now!

All these products smell pretty similar to each other, a nutty, sweet scent that I'm not too keen on.  It reminds me of the smell of the Aussie hair products, so if you've smelled those you'll know what to expect.

Here's close up of each of the products:

They say:
"Instantly hydrates and restores healthy condition to hair damaged by over-exposure to chemical processing, sun, or excessive heat styling."

So did it?
Well, no, not really.  I've used all the shampoo now, and am at the stage where I have to turn the conditioner upside down, and I have to say I didn't really see any difference to the condition of my hair.  It didn't look any better, or any worse, than using my regular high street shampoo and conditioner.

Here's the conditioner out of the tube:

As you can see, quite thick and creamy, and if you like a nutty smelling product you'll probably quite enjoy it.

And so on to the revitalizing mist:

They say:
"Fortified with pure Ojon oil, the 500-year old beauty secret from the tropical rainforest, this lightweight leave-in conditioner helps smooth away tangles, and prep the hair for styling"

And did it?
Yes it did detangle.  But it didn't de-frizz, which I was expecting it to.  Once it had dried I couldn't tell I had it on my hair. And for £20 for 175ml I'd expect to see some kind of difference.  Not incredibly impressed.

And on to the Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Treatment Plus.  I'm going to save you from the blurb of this one as they make it sound like some kind of hair-angel that came down from heaven to save us all:

Yes I know it looks scummy, I apologise.  I just couldn't bring myself to get it all over my hands, it's so greasy!  I don't actually know what that saucer thing is supposed to be for, it's bendy soft plastic, I use it as a scoop to get the stuff out of the jar so it doesn't get under my fingernails.  Heres what it looks like in the tub:

It's almost exactly the same consistency when set as lard.  Which sounds worse than it is.

You take some out of the tub and rub it in your hands, and it very quickly melts to runny oil.  You then rub this into dry hair, comb through and leave it as long as you can.  It is messy to do, and I use a plastic comb to work it through my hair which is easy to wash after.  Apparently the longer you leave it in your hair the better.  In the summer I put it in my hair when I'm sitting out in the sun, and the heat from the sun is supposed to make it penetrate better.  Other times I put in in before I go for a jog.  When you're ready, wash it out with normal shampoo.  For such a heavy oil, it washes out suprisingly easily. 

Did you see on the box that they said new lighter scent?  I dread to think what it smelt like before then, because I think this one smells pretty strong!  It's not unpleasant, it's just I'm not keen on coconut/nut smells in general, so I'm not loving it.

So does it work?
Bit trickier this one.  I would say to a degree that yes it does.  My hair certainly looks shinier, and feels softer after I've used it, and it's one of the only products that other half has commented that my hair smells nice with (typical!), but it was still as frizzy and flyaway as usual, so I didn't see any improvement while styling.  As you can see I'm quite near the bottom, so something must make me keep going back to it.

I've looked up their cruelty free status, and according to PETA, Ojon are owned by Estee Lauder, which makes them not cruelty free.  Sad.  You wouldn't guess for a minute that they had anything to do with Estee Lauder, there's not a breath of it on their packaging.  So no extra brownie points there.

So to sum up.  I don't HATE these products, but I'm not in love with them either.  They didn't make huge amounts of difference to my hair, but I'm happy to use them until they're all gone.  I doubt I'd repurchase them though.  They have had rave reviews on QVC though, so I'm sure they work brilliantly for some people, just not for me.  You can buy it on the Ojon website with free delivery HERE

Have you had better results with Ojon products?  Would be interesting to find out if it's just my hair being freaky and awkward haha.

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Magazine Sample Sachets - Skincare

Hi there everyone!

'Naileys' look away now haha

Although nails have completely overtaken my blog lately, and I'm happy about that, amazingly there are some other things I like.  Free things are one of those things.  However I'm terrible for hoarding things away and forgetting about them.  When Glamour Magazine had a free Nails Inc polish on the front (the only Glamour I ever bought) I took out the sample sachets and put them in a drawer.  Then I forgot about them. 

Anyway, as part of my New Years resolution to get more organised, I was clearing out one of my lotions and potions drawers and came across these samples.

There were four:


I decided that I could probably use three of these together.  Start with the ROC moisturiser, then on with the Nivea primer, and then the Max Factor foundation.  I'll try the BB cream another day.

I suppose then that you need to see my ugly mug?  Apologies for the terrible poses and the awful photos.  I hate having my photo taken, which is why I like nails haha.  Plus I'm not at all photogenic.  Plus you can see now what I mean about those big eyebrows!  Apparently big eyebrows are 'in' for 2013.  Yeah, that'll be why I let them get this way ;-)

So here I am, not long out of the shower with clean skin.  All that I've used so far is a squirt of toner.  My skin is not too bad, mostly I put that down to Decleor oils and Prolagene Gel, although it does get hormonal (don't we all lol):


And here's what I thought of the products:

ROC Hydra+ Bio Active Moisturising Cream SPF15 Normal Skin
I threw the packet away before I copied down the description (typical) but an online description I found (Marie Claire) says:

If you suffer from sensitive skin, then negotiating the right skincare products can be a beauty minefield. RoC has tackled the issue, and created the Hydra+Bio Active range, that is not only tailored to sensitive skin, but also to particular skin types, whether dry, normal or combination. £12.95

 

What I thought:

Looking for the description, I found out this product has been discontinued so I won't harp on too much about it. 

How much in the packet? 1.5ml/0.05fl.oz

Enough to do a whole face? Yes enough for face and neck comfortably

What was it like?  It had a nice smell, a bit like a light nivea cream smell, sinks in in about 5 minutes.  It had quite a thin fluffy texture, and did leave my skin feeling moisturised.  I wouldn't have like to have paid £12.95 for it.

Would I purchase?  No

 

Nivea Essentials Express Hydration Primer

They say:

We all know what it’s like to rush through your morning skincare regime with one eye on the clock.  So we’ve come up with an easy way to look fabulous fast. NIVEA Express Hydration Primer moisturises your skin and absorbs instantly. Giving you a smooth base you can apply make-up over straight away. For a look that lasts all day long. £4.99.

What I thought:

How much in the packet? 1.5ml/0.05fl.oz
 

Enough to do a whole face? Yes, and neck
 

Instant absorbtion?  No, took alot of rubbing in
 

Other thoughts: Didn't leave a slippy feeling like other primers, instead once rubbed in, skin feels a bit 'grippy'.  Fresh gentle Nivea smell which wore off quickly.  I did get a little bit of 'roll-off', but not as much as I had with the No.7 primer.

At the moment you can get a free sample of this if you want to try it for yourself on the Nivea website.link HERE although I don't know if it's international or just UK.

Would I purchase? Probably not

 

 

Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless foundation in Natural

 

They say:

All-Day Flawless 3-IN-1 Foundation with SPF 20 has been designed with a primer and concealer built-in, to give your look durability. The primer gives a smooth, even base for hold. The concealer corrects for a flawless look and the foundation gives a light, flexible finish. Now you can be certain that they will match, because they’re built-in, so you can be sure of a gorgeous flawless finish all-day long. Believe in beauty that lasts and lasts. £8.99

What I thought:
How much in the packet? 2ml

Enough for a full face?  More than enough, I ended up getting it everywhere.  Enough for at least two full applications.  I didn't realise it was supposed to already have the primer in, I couldn't tell how that made any difference.

Other thoughts: It was quite runny and it did have full coverage.  Not really any sense of skin left, however it did seem to emphasise my pores and a few of my deeper wrinkles.  The shade was fine for me, which was lucky.  Heres how it looked with everything on:

It has evened out my skintone, but in real life it did look a bit heavy, and I did have some cakey patches after a couple of hours. 

Would I purchase? No, but if you are looking at full coverage foundation, this would be a good alternative to Double Wear Light by Estee Lauder.  I already own that and it reminded me of it.  As I use (and like very much) the Bare Minerals powder foundation, I guess I'm spoilt now by the light feel of that, and so liquid foundation felt a little heavy to me.

I can't really decide if there's enough difference between the before and after pictures, in real life it was a huge difference, but by the time I'd got round to doing blogging today I'd lost the light, but hey, live and learn!  I've had a really productive day today though, decorations are down, house is all tidy and neat again.  Have been for a walk/run (bit of both), and started some organising.  Also so far am sticking to Dry January (no alchohol), so the blog got pushed back and back in the schedule.  Have still managed to squeeze it in though.

And there we go, certainly not a usual blog post for me, but I got rid of a few things out of my beauty drawer, and also got a blog post out of it, so win win!  This counts towards my organising resolution as it was part of a clear out so I'm happy.  Do you hoard freebies away like me?

Until next time...

MASPOOASE x x x
 ~Wendy~

 

Judith Williams Phytomineral Neck Treatment Review

Hi again!

I've had this cream for a while, I've been holding off writing a review on it because I wanted to give it a decent chance to work.  I bought it from QVC, where it had rave reviews, HERE's the link , I paid £26.00 plus P&P.

The packaging is pretty, if you have a nice dressing table, it would certainly 'grace' it:

While the nice shiny lid does look nice, I've found it slippy and difficult to open if I have any product on my hands, like face cream or hair oil.

It comes with a leaflet, here's what it has to say:

"This beauty treatment was especially developed for the care of the tender skin on the neck & decollete area.  Reveal a smoother appearance throughout your skin.  Gently massage into cleansed skin in the morning and evenings.
7 minerals, 7 plants.  An active agent complex made from 7 precious plant extracts and 7 important minerals & Coenzyme Q10 which moisturises your skin and protects it against the signs of premature aging.
The 7 plant extracts for revitalising the skin are Ginseng & Guarana, Hops, Cocoa & Cocoa seeds, Lotus blossom, Maca and Roseroot.
The 7 minerals to supply the skin with important trace elements are Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Manganese, Selenium and Zinc.
The Phytomineral care products are suitable for every skin type"

All sounds great right?  So what's it like then?  Here's what it looks like out of the tub:

Hopefully you can tell a bit about the texture from this shot.  It's a bit like a fluffy cocoa butter, it does have a really nice texture.  However the fragrance is a bit strong for me, it's a bit like a chemically floral, and it does linger for at least an hour.  If you put it on at bedtime, you're still going to be smelling it until you fall asleep.

It is VERY moisturising.  I've found that if I put it on in the morning, by lunchtime my thirsty skin still feels moisturised, but it was too heavy for my face, and it made me break out.  Of course it's not designed to be used on the face, but what can I say, I like experimenting.

Apart from the strong smell, my other slight disappointment with this cream is that it did nothing to improve the look of my neck area.  Now I look at the description more closely, there's actually nothing to say that it will, but call me old fashioned, I just expect a neck cream to have some kind of tightening properties to it. 

My neck area is starting to look a bit slack now, and I have perma-creases on my front, so I was hoping to have a reduction in the appearance of these, but nothing, no difference at all.  Granted I haven't been using it religiously morning and night, have pretty much only been using it when I remember, but I have had it, and been using it, for about six months, so if it was going to make any difference, I think it would have done by now.

So all in all, to sum up, it's not bad, and if dry skin is your only issue on your neck, and you don't mind a strong fragrance, you'll probably love this.  Certainly judging by the reviews on QVC lots of women do love it.  However, my neck area needs something with some lifting and firming, and while I'll probably use all this cream up, I'm still browsing for the next 'wonder' neck product.

Do you have a favourite neck treatment?  Or are you lucky enough not to need one yet?  If so, lucky you, enjoy it while you can!

Until next time....

MASPOOASE  x x x
~Wendy~

Carex Protect Plus Hand Gel Review

Hi again everyone!

Bit of a strange post from me today, it's not nails, it's not beauty.... BUT it is something I use alot so I thought I'd share.  As you've probably read the post description you already know - it's Carex's Protect Plus Hand Gel:

It's a holo label! Gotta love that!  I actually bought it because I needed a pound coin for the car park so went into Sainsburys to buy something cheap to get some change, and this had been reduced to a pound - perfect.  The bling caught my eye, and off we went to the till.  Not the self service till, I get too paranoid a shop assistant is going to accuse me of stealing something, so I go to a proper till.

From the first time I applied it I was hooked!  I'm a sucker for anything that smells nice as you know, and this has a fresh, soapy, kind of deodoranty smell to it that I love.  What it says on the bottle that it does:

"Cleanse your hands when you are on the go with our protecting hand gel that keeps on working for up to 2 hours.
-Before and after eating - After travelling or using public transport - After changing your baby's nappy - After using public toilets"

You can almost tell in the pic above that theres not much left in this bottle, there's 50ml in these small travel ones and thats lasted me the best part of a month.  I think they do a larger size too, but I like to keep it in my bag.  So I bought another one and I notice a change:

They've changed the top from a pump dispenser to a squirty lid.  I don't like this as much because, a) theres a chance it could get pressed in my bag and leak everywhere, and, b) because its not measured out anymore and it's quite watery, I find I use more.  But I'm sure it's cheaper for them to make.  When my pump one completely runs out I will try and see if it's possible to fill it back up, but I suspect not, as with most things these days.

 

It's just a clear gel, but I took a picture of it for you anyway, just because I'm like that.  I wonder if there's an award for the year's most uninspiring blog picture?  If so I might just win it with this one haha:





Anyway, it smells nice, it's not very drying on my hands, it kills germs, therefore stops me catching people's illnesses....... and did I mention it's got a holo label?  One of my favourite little purchases of 2012 so far, and will definitely be a repurchase as long as they don't change the scent!

Have you tried it?  If so, what do you think?

Until next time......

MASPOOASE x x x
~Wendy~

Lush Cosmetics Bubblegum Lip Scrub Review

Hiya All!
Today I'm going to review Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub.  I wouldn't usually go into Lush, as it smells just that bit too overpowering for me, but I'd heard good things about their Lemony Flutter cuticle treatment, so while I was in there I bought a few other things (of course!).

One of the things I bought was the aforementioned scrub:

So thats pretty much all I knew about it, had never heard of it before, and it was just a 'pop in the basket' item. It cost me £5.25.  So therefore when I got it home I got a bit of a suprise!

I'd been expecting some kind of cream, not this strange grainy thing!  So I read the rest of the packaging a bit more closely. Ingredients: Castor Sugar, Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Methyl Ionone, Flavour, Colour 45410, Colour 45380.  So basically coloured castor sugar mixed with jojoba oil.  Instructions: Scrub and buff your lips to softness, lick off the excess, then apply your favourite Lush Lip Balm.

So, tentatively, I had a go.  Wowee this sucker tastes delicious! Its a bit difficult not to just eat it rather than scrub your lips with it, but scrub I did.  I would say though, if you're doing this in the house, do it over the sink because it's hard to do without dropping some, and you don't want to attract ants, or leave the floor sticky.

I took a small pile on the end of my finger, and rubbed and scrubbed until it was all pretty much dissolved, then happily licked it all off (well it was in the instructions!).  My lips felt smoother and softer than they had done in a very long time indeed.  I love this product!

I actually am not a big fan of my lips, they're thin and weedy, and prone to cold sores (I should mention that the scrub didn't irritate them enough to make them feel like they might spring a cold sore either), so I usually just use a light coloured lipstick and hope no one notices them haha. Because of this they don't get much TLC.  But, because this tastes so delicious they might actually get a bit of attention from me for a while, for at least as long as I've got some of this baby left, and a sweet tooth, which I imagine will be a very long time indeed......

Thoroughly recommended, 5 out of 5

Until next time...

MASPOOASE X X X

~Wendy~

Aqueous Cream

Just a super quick post, I had to share this with you...

So, I was shopping in Sainsburys earlier this week, and as usual, loitering in the beauty section, when I happened to see a big pot of Aqueous Cream.  I remembered one of my friends who had eczema used to get this cream prescribed by her doctor, so I was surprised to see if for sale in the supermarket.

I'm not very good at remembering to moisturise my body, but since I've been going swimming have been getting itchy arms due to dryness so I thought I'd give it a go.

It was a really big pot, 500g, and have used a reference item for size that we all know :)

A big pot right?
So, that night after I came out of the shower I thought I'd give it a go.  Its a light(ish) cream, with a very subtle smell about it, a bit like a baby powder smell, after ten minutes or so I couldn't smell it at all anymore.

So, on to the results....  I was impressed!  My arms and legs felt super soft and moisturised, better than any body cream I can remember in a long time.  I kept asking other half to feel my leg, thats how soft it was!  At the end of the next day my legs still felt soft and moisturised.

If I had to make any criticism, it was that my legs still felt a little bit tacky when I went to bed, but I did use alot, and my arms were fine.

And the best thing of all?  This whole massive pot cost........    £2.40 !!!!!!!!!

Its the most amazing bargain beauty purchase I've seen for a long time, if you're in Sainsburys pick one up!

Until next time....

- MASPOOASE x x x

Lotions, Potions & Perfumes

Hits, Misses & Maybes

So, for this weeks blog, which has turned out MUCH longer than I thought it was going to, I thought I would share with you some of the items in my beauty arsenal that you might be interested in seeing.  As we're going from spring to summer, some of my heavier duty products are starting to take a back seat, and the lighter more summery stuff is coming back into use.  Also am starting to think about legs and feet coming out to play, so they're getting a bit of TLC now too, after a winter of neglect (sorry feet!).

So, the first section is Desert Island Heroes.  Obviously my first choice would have to be Ray Mears, for so many, many, reasons...... BUT! He doesn't really fit in with the theme of this weeks blog, so on to the first lot of goodies...

From left to right:

Estee Lauder perfume Youth Dew - I love this! I wear it pretty much every day, its spicy and sexy, a bit floral, and it's easy to put a bit on for daytime without overpowering a room.  In my opinion, day time perfume should just be the right amount of smell so that if someone stands close to you they say 'you smell nice', but otherwise not really noticeable.  I can't stand it when someone walks past me and nearly knocks me out with their perfume!  As you see I have the body lotion there too.  I'm a sucker for buying lots of stuff in the same range if I find something I like.

Decleor Experience De L'Age rich face cream - another must have, and another product I use every day, but this is one I hate buying as it's so expensive!  Am not surprised it has 'rich' in it's name, because you'd have to be to buy the big pot!  I got this little selection from Ebay for about £15, which is a bargain.  Not hugely blown away by Aromessence Iris, but will still use it until its gone as I did with the Tonilastil Oil from the same range.

Zovirax Cold Sore Cream - speaks for itself really, does the job if you catch the tingle fast enough.  If you catch it a bit late you can still avert the worst of the attack.  Have tried all kinds of chemist own brands, and for me, this really does work better than the rest.

Liz Earle Eyebright Lotion - fabulous for dry or tired eyes.  You pop it on a couple of cotton pads, and put those on your eyes.  Lie back for 10 mins and daydream (about Ray Mears, but maybe thats just me haha), and when you take the cotton pads off you'll have bright sparkling eyes!  I keep this on my bedside table so its always to hand.  It's supposed to reduce puffiness too, but so far have been lucky and don't have a problem with that, so can't tell you if it works.  Also in a Liz Earle vein, her muslin cloths are brill.

Boots Sparkling Eyes eye drops - I bought these because I've been using Bare Minerals powder foundation, and despite the fact that I love the coverage and ease of use, I found it was getting in my eyes and irritating them.  No point having lovely skin if your eyes look like you've been up drinking all night!  So I apply the powder, and my eyeliner, then I pop the eyedrops in to wash out any powder that might have got in there, and this seems to be working for me. No more red eyes!  There were two in Boots side by side and I bought this one as it has a blue colour in to make your eyes look whiter.

Dove Beauty Finish Deodorant - smells nice and seems to reduce shaving dryness

Burts Bees Lemon Cuticle Balm - loving the smell of this, and love anything to do with Bees so a double winner!  Have only had it a week or so, so can't give proper verdict on results, but have used it alot without hardly anything missing from the pot, and have noticed a possible positive change in cuticles.  My cuticles are super-stubborn and am having a problem with dermatitis on my hands (which I always get when the sun comes out), so its not fair to give it judgement right now.  Will save judging for another day, but it made it into this pic so must have something going for it!

Next section - thumbs up - ther things I like, but could leave at home if I only had a tiny baggage allowance.... will try not to rattle on too long about these ones

Decleor Prolagene Gel - I use this as a barrier between my moisturiser and my powder foundation.  I do have the Bare Minerals primer, but it makes my hands too slippy to open the pots.  Can't do with faffing about when I'm getting ready for work so this works for me.

Jessica Phenomen Oil - working well on my dermatitis, supposed to be good for nails but not seen a big difference

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish - good for getting off make up with the minimum of fuss after a night out, love how it takes off even waterproof mascara

Vanderbilt eau de toilette - lovely for when the day is too sunny for Youth Dew and I want to smell summery, somehow smells cheerful - once again note how I can't just buy ONE thing out of the range, tut at myself

Gliss Corimist spray - makes your hair smell nice & makes it shiny - have been using it for years and never found a shine spray that I like better

Flexitol Cuticle Cream - once again, the big cuticle problem - this one actually definitely made my cuticles better, but I don't like how sticky it feels - I may buy more though when this tube runs out

Boots Softening Foot Balm - it does work to soften feet but I didn't get the drastic results I wanted when I slathered it on & went to bed in cotton socks

Ojon hair treatment - got this from QVC when they had it on special offer P&P free, it did make my permed hair less frizzy but wasn't as amazing as they claimed - I will use it all but probably not repurchase

Next up - things I'm not that keen on - thumbs down products!

John Frieda Frizz Ease - I so want to like this, I do have frizzy hair and would love to tame it... being a naturally optimistic person I keep buying different Frizz Ease products, and have never yet found one that makes me completely frizz free

Tigi Rockaholic Born to Rock detangler & defrizzer - this one actually did detangle & defrizz a bit, but I HATE the smell! Kind of like apples or grapes that are going bad

Batiste dry shampoo - really wanted to like this too, used it a couple of times when my fringe was greasy but the rest of my hair was ok.... my hair felt dirty afterwards, and by lunchtime my fringe was just as bad (if not worse) than it had been in the morning when I applied it

How funny that 3 of my 4 thumbs down products are hair ones!

Last but not least in the disappointment stakes is Elemis Pro-Collagen Radiantly Smooth Body Cream.  This was a Christmas present and I was chuffed to bits when I got it, but its got so many shimmery gold bits in it, it almost makes it unusable!  Lets say you put some of this cream on your arms, ta-daa! they're all nice n shimmery, then you have to immediately go and wash your hands or you will get shimmery gold glitter EVERYWHERE!!!  And even then, it doesn't all come off your hands, and it will eventually make its way to your nose where it will distract you all day.... sigh.... rant over...

One bonus thumbs down not pictured, because I threw it away, is Benefits Dr Feelgood Balm - it didn't do anything, it was expensive, and any bit of fluff in the atmosphere would stick to the sponge - yuk!

Soooooooo there we have it, my favourite and not-so-favourite lotions & potions, what do you think?  What's your number one must have, and number one thumbs down?

On closing, I will wish you all a happy Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday (if you get it), and show you the nail art I did to celebrate it!  The base colour is Orly Lollipop, then a coat of Nails Inc Electric Lane holographic glitter, then I drew the bunting with Color Club nail art polish, and a top coat of Seche Vite, all done!  I tried a few different colour combo's but this was my favourite:

Until next week, take care and whatever you do, have fun!

- MASPOOASE x x x