Ambre Botanicals: Herbal bath oil, Costa Del Azahar Soap, Cupuacu & Nut oils body butter

I've been continuing to use and enjoy Ambre Botanicals. They are an independently owned raw natural skin and body care brand; the products contain no chemical ingredients, preservatives, artificial colour or fragrance.

The Rosemary, Thyme and mint herbal bath oil 150ml (£18) is certainly eye-catching with its sprig of rosemary.

Just a few drops in the bath and the aroma is relaxing and calming, good for when you are feeling a bit bedraggled and worn out. My skin is left feeling pleasantly soft but not oily.

The Costa Del Azahar warming & moisturising soap 100g (£5.95) is inspired by the endless orange plantations in the Spanish Costa del Azahar.

It contains safflower petals, orange, clove and ginger. I only detect a slight scent. It lathers quite well and my hands are left feeling clean and soft. I wouldn't say its drying but I don't find it that moisturising, though to be fair I can't say I find the majority of bar soaps moisturising.

The Cupuacu & Nut oils rich moisturising body butter 120ml (£25) is lush, its a blend of 100% raw cold-pressed plant oils and butters.

It feels really rich so you only need a bit, this is a great all round cream for the family as I find it very good on sensitive and sore skin to help alleviate dryness/irritation.Its able to maintain moisture levels throughout the day without leaving a greasy layer on the skin.

Ingredients Cupuacu Butter (Theobroma Grandiflorum), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii), Avocado Oil (Persea Americana), Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus Armeniaca), Sweet Almond Oil (Prunus Amygdalus), Sunflower Oil (Helianthus Annuus), Safflower Oil (Carthamus Tinctorius ), Sesame Oil (Sesamum Indicum), Hazelnut Oil (Corylus Avellana). Non-GMO Natural Vitamin E (D-alpha Tocopherol), Rosemary Antioxidant (Rosmarinus Officinalis). Pure essential oils of: Bergamot (Citrus Bergamia), Mandarin (Citrus Racemosa), Lemon (Citrus Limonium), Rosewood (Aniba Rosaeodora), Ylang-ylang (Cananga Odorata). Components naturally occurring in essential oils: Citral, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate. 

I bought these from Etsy.com, you can also buy them from ambrebotanicals.com

Chantecaille The Elephant Palette

The Elephant Palette (£74) is one of those items that as soon as you see it in real life you can't help but be wowed. I knew I had to buy it after reading the great review over at bestthingsinbeauty.


The elegant deep dark green palette reveals 4 elephant embossed shadows in lush earthy colours, the shades really encapsulates the autumnal season.

It contains Ivory, which is true to its name and has a satin finish. Its a great base shade which obliterates any redness/discolouration from the eyelids and gently brightens the area. Grasslands is a medium smoky green with a shimmer finish, it doesn't contain a yellow tone like a lot of greens. Red Earth is a rusty copper with a shimmer finish. Iron Ore is a deep charcoal/grey, and though the base is matte it contains tiny sparkle.

The pigment is superb and the shadows apply true to how they look in the pan and wear well. Though I find Iron Ore has a dryer texture than the others (which are smooth and blend easily) its great as a liner.
Here's what the palette looks look without the overlay

Unfortunately my camera washed out the colour so it looks subdued below but hopefully it gives you a bit of an idea.

The colour palette brings together an unexpected range of shades that complement each other well and gives an interesting eye look whilst remaining wearable.

Once again Chantecaille's diligence to raising awareness and giving support to animals has to be applauded, five percent of proceeds from the Elephant Palette will be donated to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an organisation that rescues, fosters and release baby elephants orphaned by ivory poaching.


I bought this from spacenk.com

The newly revamped No.7 cosmetics

The entire No.7 cosmetics range has had a re-vamp. Lisa Eldridge is the creative director of the range and whilst there have been improvements over the the last few years I've never thought the products on par with mid end ranges, so I was intrigued to see how the re-vamped products would fare. First off I think the packaging has improved, though it does have the typical light weight feel of similar priced brands, it now looks a bit more sleek and modern.

The crux of the range is the new foundation match made service which uses a hand-held device which measures which of the 17 shades you match, however as none of the foundation ingredients looked suitable for acne prone skin I gave this a miss and settled on some eyeshadows and a lipstick.

The Stay Perfect Eyeshadow Trio in Good Earth (£8.50) contains shimmery shades in a cream/white, brown and taupe.

The shadows feels reasonably smooth, the pigment level is average but they apply well and blend nicely.
Here is what the trio looks like on

The Stay Perfect Eyeshadow single in wheatsheaf (£8) is a shimmery peachy champagne, it feels smoother and has more pigment compared to the trio.


With a eye primer these last the day with only a slight colour fade.
The Sheer Temptation Lipstick (£9) in Caramel Kiss #12 is a plummy rose with a glossy finish.

It feels creamy and moisturising  though its wear time is very short (even less than my Chanel Coco shines).
Swatches below L-R: Trio, Single, lipstick

Whilst these items cannot draw me away from my higher end brands, from what I have tried the quality is much improved and these easily compare with similar priced brands and even excel. They are on 3 for 2 at the moment so if you do find yourself wondering around a Boots store I think its worth a peruse.

I bought these from Boots.

By Terry Fall Luxuriant collection: ROUGE TERRYBLY

The By Terry fall luxuriant collection is very much about saturated, rich colours. There are 5 new shades in the Rouge Terrybly lipstick, 3 new shades of Ombre Blackstar, 3 new Nail Laque Terrybly and a Bordeaux colour in the Mascara Terrybly. For more details check out these great posts on makeupandthings, here and here.

As I don't have the budget to buy as many By Terry products as I would like I settled on the Rouge Terrybly in No.403 Bare Instinct (£31). I have a few of these lipsticks now and I find them a very reliable formula that provides extremely smooth coverage with rich pigment and long wear (though I don't find them that moisturising).
Bare Instinct is described as a rosewood, however on me its a cranberry red.


I'm always searching for a wearable red and think I might have found it.  Though the colour is actually deeper and more intense than I had imagine, it is wearable and I am able to wear it out in the real word (I usually feel uncomfortable going out with bolder, high impact lip shades).

I always find deeper colours are prone to bleeding and I do think you need a lip liner or to apply with a lip brush to ensure a crisp line with this, I applied it from the tube below and you can see its not that neat on the edges (apologies for my blotchy skin, I'm re-introducing gluten into my diet and have a reaction every time I eat a bit of bread).

It is a statement  colour on my pale skin but unlike a lot of reds it does not look garish, warm, or too bright.

Ingredients:


I bought this from spacenk.com

Fresh Supernova Mascara & Sugar Lip Gloss

The fresh makeup range has dwindled over the years, which is a shame as they used to have some nice eyeshadow palettes and a good brush collection.

I really like their packaging, the delicate detailed design is really pretty and adds a nice touch.
Though I am not a gloss person, the Sugar lip gloss remains one of my favourite formula's (I've had 5 shades and have used them all up).

They give sheer colour with a high shine finish.Though some shades have tiny microglitter I like that they never register as shimmery once on.

They are not sticky and feel cushiony and moisturising and have the sugar lemon scent. I bought Sugar Kiss this time (£15.00) which is a sheer peachy nude with a hint of gold.


I've bought the Supernova mascara (£17) several times in the past (though the firebird mascara, which no longer seems to be on their website, was my preferred formula). It separates, lengthens and gives a bit of lift.

I would say that if you try to build it up it is prone to clumping. What I really like about this is that the black is really glossy and the formula does not make my lashes feel brittle. Unfortunately this time around this smudges on me quite a bit for some reason.



I probably say this every time I review Fresh but I really think they need to get online for more countries, its not that convenient having to mail order and to not know what postage will be until you place the order, and I know that I would order much more from the brand if they had a UK website.

I bought these via mail order from the London Marylebone High Street Store.

Neal's Yard Remedies Organic Make-Up

I've been trying to use more natural/organic brands in the last year or so but the area I struggle with most is makeup. I can't say I have found a brand yet that is on par quality wise.

Neal's Yard first brought out their makeup range around 2010 but they had a bit of a re-launch this year with some additional products. The whole makeup collection is Certified by the Soil Association. Its a small range and to be honest when I saw it in the flesh it didn't really excite me; the packaging looks rather drab and the colour range is very duplicable.

The eyeshadow in Oak (£11.50) is an extremely sheer beige with a pink tone and a slightly shimmered finish, though it registers as more of a glow.

It not that noticeable on me but acts as a more glowy, your lids but better shade.
It feels very smooth but I find the texture too soft and its easy to kick up a lot of product. Unfortunately it does fade (even when using a primer).



The Mulberry lip gloss (£9.50) comes in a squeeze tube. Its a cranberry with golden micro glitter and has a fruity scent. It has a smooth texture and feels moisturising, it does have a very slight tackiness. It has good colour payoff and wears quite well for a gloss. It contains No parabens, silicones or carmine.

I was hoping to really like these as I applaud the ethos of this brand and wish more brands had the same mentality towards the environment. Unfortunately whilst these are not bad products I still find them average and there isn't really much else from the currant line up that looks interesting enough to entice me.
I do however think the range is worth checking out if you are moving towards more organic/naturals lines as these fare better that a lot of makeup I have tried within that category.

I bought these from a Neal's Yard store.

Omorovicza Gold Sugar Scrub & Soothing Shave Cream

The gold scrub (£57) looks luxurious from the get go. It comes in the signature Omorovicza modern packaging and comes in a large container (200ml).


It contains an abundance of Fair trade golden sugar cane, its very thorough without irritating my sensitive skin. My skin is left smooth and feeling soft without an oily/greasy residue. I really like the scent, which I find warming with a slight citrus note.

Amongst other things the scrub contains Gold (which is said to have anti-inflammatory and repairing qualities), Apricot kernel oil (gives softness to the skin and is rich in vitamin A) and Capsicum peptide (rich in antioxidant vitamin C, and is meant to stimulates micro-circulation and promotes a healthy glow).
Ingredients:

At this price there is no doubt this is an indulgence but its an indulgence that works and one I will buy again.


The Soothing shave cream (£18) has been a great find. Its quite thick but spreads well and leaves the skin feeling moisturised. My skin is very sensitive and I always have a problem when shaving day after day, and often end up with irritated itchy skin or razor burn. I've tried copious amounts of shaving products and different razor blades without success. The Soothing Shave cream allows me to shave day after day without creating redness, bumps on the skin, dryness or razor burn.
Ingredients:

I was initially worried as this contains menthol which I don't get on with but I have had no irritation and the anti-inflammatory properties of the Hungarian minerals and sea mayweed may well be the reason for this.

I'm again very pleased with these buys and Omorovicza is fast becoming one of my favourites, my only quibble is some of the pricing which is rather high, that said I do continue to re-buy the brand.

 I bought these from http://www.omorovicza.com