EGYPTIAN MAGIC CREAM | REVIEW

As someone on a budget and also someone who prides themselves on organisation I LOVE anything that has more than one use. I am a lover of anything that is efficient and can help save space and also money.

This product has some pretty bold claims, first off it's called 'MAGIC' cream, so it does have a lot to live up to. 

Here's a little information about this cream and the brand before I give you my opinions.

Background

This cream has been on the market since 1991, it has a built a solid reputation over the years and their mission has been to continually provide a professional skin care product, that offers multiple purposes whilst being made from 100% natural ingredients. 

This cream is said to have healing properties which is attributed to the natural ingredients which include Honey, Olive Oil, Bees Wax, Bee Pollen, Bee Propolis, Royal Jelly and Divine Love.

It doesn't contain any additives, added preservatives, parabens or GMO ingredients, it is also not tested on animals. 

Because of natural yet effective formula it has increased popularity and has grown by word of mouth to be one of the most popular and widely endorsed skin creams in the world. It has become a beauty favourite among celebrities such as Madonna, Gisele Bündchen, Cameron Diaz, Eva Mendes, and loads more. 

Uses

There is a very comprehensive list of 20 fantastic uses for this cream, this can be found here - http://egyptianmagic.com/best-uses/

The uses that are most relevant to me are as follows:

• Moisturiser
• For burns, cuts and scrapes
• Fading scars
• Eczema 
• Conditioner
• Lip Balm
• Aftershave
• Makeup remover
• Hand and cuticle cream
• Makeup Primer
• Face mask
• Cracked heels and elbows

My thoughts 

I wanted to use this for as many things as possible before posting up my final review, however there are just so many uses that it would mean a great delay in providing you with my opinions, 

This is a really thick oil based cream, I have been using a small plastic spatula to get this out, I just scrape a little bit out and then rub it between my fingers which melts this into a rich, thick cream. 

So far I have used this as a general body moisturiser and on my elbows, it wasn't long before I noticed an improvement there.

As a lip balm this is very oily and doesn't have any added scents or flavours so it is a very basic lip balm. It's great for deep conditioning and leaves lips kissably soft, the pot would last me for years if I was to just use it for this one purpose.

I've tried this on scars, so far it has made the skin in those areas feel very soft and more supple, however as they are quite old I am not expecting miracles in terms of them fading. However it has certainly made them feel a little softer and flatter. 

One use I have tried which isn't listed above was to tame my eyebrows, usually I use a brow gel, but this worked a treat, I filled them in and then popped a little of this cream on a spoolie and worked this through to tidy them up. 

All in all I can agree that this cream is very multi use and I have it on standby for any skin emergencies in the future. What's great is it's suitable for sensitive and delicate skin so it's ideal,

Have you tried this amazing cream? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cookie x

*PR Sample

BATISTE DRY SHAMPOO REVIEW

I'll be the first to admit I don't wash my hair everyday so when I got the opportunity to try Batiste products I was pretty excited. 

I've always known of Batiste for their dry shampoo range, however I have discovered that they also sell hair sprays, texturising sprays and plumping powder.

First things first, I think the packaging is so gorgeous, I particularly like the colours and patterns on the Moroccan themed dry shampoo.

I was lucky enough to be sent a style spray and a dry shampoo to try.

I used a dry shampoo about 10 years ago and didn't rate it at the time, it made my hair white and full of a greasy residue. 

My hair is long and I don't wash it every day, I wash it 3 times a week max as I don't have the time and it dries out if I wash it too much. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo | Marrakech 200ml for £3.29

The first thing I tried was the dry shampoo, I'll be completely honest here. The first time I tried this I did end up it grey hair and yes that did put me off a little. I built up the courage to try this again a couple of weeks after. My hair as at a point then that if I the spray didn't work it would need a wash anyway and I was in a position to do that there and then. I thought back to my previous experience and thought i'd take a different approach to using this product so I held the bottle at arms length, tipped my head over and really focused on the roots and a little on the lengths of my hair, and the results? Much better! I had a much better experience this time and managed to retain my natural brunette locks, whilst also managing to make my hair feel a little cleaner. I managed to leave the house that day without washing my hair, this product isn't something I am going to use on a daily basis, however as a mid week pep or even when my hair looks a little worse for ware and I just don't have the time. 

I think this product will last me a long time meaning that it's fairly good value for money, I also do really love the scent, however there are so many other to choose from I feel I do need to pick another one up to try, especially tropical with coconut or cherry!

Batiste Stylist | XXL Volume spray 200ml for £4.29

This spray has a very similar consistency to the dry shampoo. 

My hair doesn't really lack in volume too much, however sometimes a little lift at the roots is a good thing. I was excited to use this product and yes it does work, its got a fairly dry texture meaning that the hair goes a little stiffer and therefore creating volume. 

For me, I had similar results using the dry shampoo in the same way, so I think I only really need the one bottle of product as for me it does it all. 

This smells really pleasant, however again the scent of the dry shampoo was really lovely also, so for me the unique selling point of this (volume) isn't really there because I achieve that with the dry shampoo. That's not to say I didn't like this product, it's just that they are very similar so I feel I only need one or the other. 

Have you tried these products? Please share your thoughts below! I would really love recommendations on what scent to pick up next.

Cookie x

BLENDING SPONGES - REVIEW / COMPARISON

Just recently I have experimented with different methods of application for foundation,

I have tried several different sponges and I thought I'd share with you what I've learned so far.

At the point that I took these photos I had tried all of these sponges with the exception of the Real Techniques one. The first impressions of that sponge were really positive. Keep reading to see how i got on with each of these. 

1. This sponge cost me £1.50 and was purchased from Primark, it's quite hard and not very flexible. I feel that the best application with this sponge is through dabbing, if you try to sweep you do end up fairly streaky. This washes OK and as you can see hasn't really stained too badly.

2. The middle sponge is the 'Beauty Blender',this cost me £16 and it is a popular blogger and youtuber favourite. It can be purchased with free delivery on www.beautyblender.co.uk here along with a load of other interesting products.

3. This sponge was purchased from Dealz and retails for £1 in the UK, the shape is different from the other two and I must say this is more awkward to use because of this. In addition it is very stiff and not very flexible. Again, like the one from primark it does tend to only work when bouncing the foundation in rather than smoothing it onto the skin.

REAL TECHNIQUES MIRACLE COMPLEXION SPONGE

And for the piece de resistance, coming in at just £5.99 from boots, this is soft but not as soft as the beauty blender. For me this is just the right consistency, it doesn't suck up all of your foundation and it works with a variety of different textured foundations and concealers. I can achieve such a light layer of foundation with this, yet it still gives flawless and full coverage. This is by far the best value sponge I have tried and I use it everyday.  This washes really well and a couple of months in it still feels like new. I will definitely be repurchasing this sponge, whats more you can get it even better value, 2 sponges for £9.99 here

WHAT NEXT?

OK, so I am loving this sponge, but I am still open to trying others, see below images taken from the boots website.

The first one I would like to try because it is so refined in shape and looks like it would be great for getting under the eyes and getting into any awkward little places. 

The second one is another really interesting one, it's not a shape I have seen before in beauty blenders and for this reason alone I would like to see what it can do. I think this is perhaps just for fiddly areas as it's a little small for larger areas.

And the final one I would like to try is cheaper than the 'Beauty Blender', however it's by the brand Dior. So in the case of this sponge I would like to know if it's Dior quality or if it's just a cheap blending sponge with Dior branding. 

Have you tried any of these sponges? Let me know what you thought, also if there's any sponges I haven't mentioned let me know and I will give them a try!

Cookie x