bath and body

UK / Canada swap!

~ stashy ~ 64 Comments

Let me get back into beauty blogging with a bang – I got new makeup!  Huh?  But aren’t I on a No-Buy? Allow me explain.  Nicola of Beauty As I Know It contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in doing a swap – she’s in the UK, and I’m in Canada.  I contemplated this: was this a violation of my No-Buy?

Let’s weigh the facts:
• I’m not buying makeup for myself, but rather, buying makeup for someone else, like a gift
• I’m receiving makeup in return – but I didn’t pay for them!

My friends are 80/20 split in their opinion that I’m an horrible dirty cheater vs I might have found a loophole in my No-Buy. 😛

Regardless, I went ahead with the swap because, hell, what’s the fun of having a blog if I can’t connect with amazing people from all over the world?  Nicola and I set out some parameters for the swap:
• focus on makeup / skincare from drugstore
• target total of £30 / $55 CAD

I also sent out a little questionnaire to help each other narrow down our preference, here are my answers to the questions:

1) Are there any brands that may not be available in your country that you’re interested in?
Natural Collection (Boots), Sleek, Makeup Revolution, Soap & Glory (we have the skincare but not the makeup), MUA, Barry M

2) Skin type / skin tone / eye colour / hair colour / allergies?
Combination / NC25 I’m usually in the shade range light/medium or “Buff” shade / brown / brown / no allergies

3) What are your top 3 favourite makeup / skincare categories?
eye shadows, blush, concealer (I’m particularly interested in the Collection’s Lasting Perfection Concealer [I would be in Warm Medium] hint hint!)

4) Do you like sweet or savoury snacks? Any candies / chocolate that’s not available in your country that you would like to try?
I love sweets! I know there are loads of UK sweets – most of them are available in Canada as well in specialty British shops.

Here’s the parcel I received!
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She included a lovely handwritten card and put little star stickers on the items to indicate her personal favourites!

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Salux beauty skin cloth

~ stashy ~ 16 Comments

When someone touches my arm in passing and blurts out, “omg your SKIN, it’s SO soft!” I’m a bit embarrassed and surprised – I mean, I really have no frame of reference to the degree of skin softness on other people. This invariably leads to said person asking someone else to touch my skin to verify that it is indeed SO soft, which leads to petting time at the zoo…

I can’t pinpoint exactly why my skin is “SO soft” but I can attribute it to a few things:
•  Genetics 60%
•  Skincare products (soaps, shower gels, lotion, body butter) 25%
•  Salux cloth 15%

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What is this Salux cloth?  It’s like the cherry on the cake!

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Yves Rocher Tradition de Hammam Oriental Soap with Argan and Olive Oil

~ stashy ~ 23 Comments

I just finished up another ill-gotten bar of hotel soap (L’Occitane Shea Butter soap in Milk, my fav) and decided to open up a full sized soap next.  The Yves Rocher Tradition de Hammam Oriental Soap with Argan and Olive Oil was something I bought on a whim, in order to qualify for free shipping on an online order.
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It’s listed as $17 for a 5.3 oz. / 150 g bar, but I know that I paid less than half that price when I bought mine. That’s the thing to always keep in mind with Yves Rocher (YR): never ever pay full price for anything from there.  They constantly have sales and all the products go on sale in rotation.

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PUFU update

~ stashy ~ 23 Comments

Earlier this year, I introduced my little project, called Project Use it the F*%@ Up! (or PUFU for short).  I had identified 2 products in my stash that I really love and enjoy using, however, they were neglected and risked spoilage before they were get used up.  So I set out on a mission to finish them up.
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A quick re-cap:
1) Mirabella Outshine lip gloss in Illusion
It was at 1.40cm used up out of a total of 6.2cm (7.5ml total volume).

2) Stella by Stella McCartney eau de parfum
It had 1.10cm left in the bottle out of a total 4.60cm (30ml bottle).

So how did I do? Read more to find out

Trash Stash: April 2015

~ stashy ~ 36 Comments

April was another stellar month for using up more products from my stash!  Let’s get right down to it:
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These are ALL full sized products, folks!  #soproud

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Bath & Body Works Foaming Hand Soap stash

~ stashy ~ 20 Comments

As mentioned in my previous BBW post, I’m a big fan of BBW’s Foaming hand soap – I find the Deep Cleansing Hand Soap (formerly Antibacterial Soap) to be too drying and the cream-based ones not to rinse well (and it seems like they’ve discontinued now? – I don’t see them anymore).  The Foaming Soap, on the other hand (see what I did there?), cleans well, but doesn’t strip my skin raw.  I stock up whenever there’s a sale, and I also put them on my Christmas wishlist.  This is how my current BBW Foaming Soap stash came to be:

  1. Tis The Season (this is in the older style pump which leads me to believe it’s been in my stash since 2013!)
  2. Raspberry Meringue
  3. Mixed Berry Tart
  4. Cherry Almond Shortbread
  5. Sundrenched Vineyard
  6. Peach Bellini
  7. Kitchen Lemon
  8. Mango Hibiscus
  9. White Citrus
  10. Warm Vanilla Sugar
  11. Perfect Beach Day
  12. Seaside Bloom
  13. Sweet Pea

Have you tried any of these scents?

More sudsy goodness this way

Bath & Body Works Wallflowers stash

~ stashy ~ 26 Comments

Besides my HG night lip balm, there are just 2 other items I really enjoy – and hoard – from Bath & Body Works: their Foaming Hand Soaps and the Wallflowers.  More than the Wallflower fragrances themselves, I LOVE collecting the seasonal Wallflower fragrance plugs – but very specifically, I only buy the designs that light up:

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Currently I’m still using the snowflake design… Spring is coming a little late this year to our bathroom!

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Untrieds: Kiehl’s Creme de Corps Coriander Whipped Body Butter

~ stashy ~ 11 Comments

This was a limited edition item from winter 2013… and just over a year later, I finally get around to opening it up!  This whipped body butter features one of my all time favourite fragrances: Kiehl’s Coriander Essence Oil (which is now discontinued.  Of course it is.  Everything I love gets discontinued…!)

I was quite excited to see the Coriander scent released in the form a body butter.  I had never tried Kiehl’s Creme de Corps lotion or body butter before, but I got over the initial sticker shock ($46 for body butter?!) and bought this during the Friends and Family sale (20% off).KiehlsCremedeCorpsCoriander1

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Winter hair rescue

~ stashy ~ 11 Comments

This is the companion post to my Winter scalp rescue topic – that entry was getting long so I thought it would be good to give your eyes a break by splitting it into 2 posts.

In addition to the scalp issue, in the winter months I also battle frizzies due to the dry air, causing static and fly-aways.  My hair is wavy and cut in long layers to just past my shoulders – luckily I don’t have particularly thick or unruly hair – but it can look frizzy if I don’t use moisturizing and taming products. These are some of my tried-and-true hair styling products:winterhair1

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By Kilian Perfumes – Guest contributor

~ stashy ~ 2 Comments

Today’s entry was written by my good friend, AngelWearsPrada.

She’s passionate about high-end, exclusive fragrances and sent a lengthy email to me describing a brand that I knew nothing about, By Kilian.  I’m no perfume aficionado, and I thought it would be a nice change to have another voice on this blog, so I’ll let her explain why By Kilian has captured her heart.

In the following entry, all text inside square brackets [  ] are my comments.  The rest are AngelWearsPrada’s!

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