Korres Makeup Review | February 2016

I'm really excited to share these wonderful natural products with you.

I have been so lucky to be able to try these in order to share my thoughts you all.

As you will see from previous posts I am a big fan of this brands, however I have predominantly tried their shower gels and body creams so far and haven't really touched upon their makeup much.

So here are the products that I tried along with what I thought.

Wild Rose CC (Colour Correcting) Cream £26 for 30ml - Can be purchased here 

Last summer I tried a BB cream for the first time and was astonished with the results, I have now tried this CC cream and have been wowed once again. It's so light yet manages to help iron out the appearance of imperfections. It's not really heavy coverage but I don't wear makeup for any reason other can concealing a few freckles which is does rather well. It gives such a beautiful glowing and dewy look to the skin and has been really kind and gentle, not causing any outbreaks or sensitivity. I only apply a thin layer but I think with more of this product you can achieve a higher level of coverage should you want it.

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Black Volcanic Mineral Mascara £17 for 8ml - Can be purchased here 

I thought I had found the one, until this mascara came along. I couldn't believe just how amazing this is, it's got one of those lovely thick bristle brushes that I love and it does a great job making each eyelash stand out and look voluminous! It lasts really well throughout the day and does need a fairly strong eye makeup remover to assist with removal.

Mango lip butter £8 for 6g - Can be purchased here

These lip butters are really nourishing and leave my lips feeling super soft and cared for. This mango one is particularly delicious in scent and has a pleasant taste too just in case you accidentally consume some.. I really love the coral orange colour of this product which isn't too bright and gives a nice look to the lips making them really kissable.

To summarise I have loved using these products, I'd find it difficult to name a favourite of these 3 as I love them all for their individual properties. I was blown away by the mascara and couldn't believe how much volume it added to my lashes. The CC is now a regular in my morning routine and eliminates the need for foundation or heavy makeup. As for the lip butter, these are a fab everyday staple which I love to have in my bag or at my desk.

The finished look

Please check out my video review below for my full thoughts on the products!

Cookie x 

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Salcura DermaSun and BioSkin - Review

In preparation for my holiday I was kindly send some products to review from the Salcura DermaSun and BioSkin range. Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to Chloe for your help pairing products with my skin type and situation.

 

I didn't intend to get burnt on my holiday  (who does?) and to be perfectly honest I was hoping not to suffer any skin irritation, but alas, it seems that these issues are part and parcel with hot countries.

We went to Lanzarote and the temperature was in the high twenties, it was very humid so it often felt hotter. 

Despite covering myself liberally with factor 50 several times a day I did manage to get burnt, mainly whilst on excursions. My legs and feet burnt whilst floating in a rubber ring and also quad biking, my arms got their turn whist kayaking and snorkeling. 

My skin was irritated too, itchy either from the UV exposure or from the SPF in the sunscreen. In addition the mosquitoes made a meal of me so I am covered in hard lumps.

So, did these products help me? The answer to this is YES, the 2 sprays were fairly similar and they both worked at soothing my burns and irritations. 

The spray eliminates the need to rub in which was really convenient and easy to apply. The spray for irritation also aided with my insect bites and helped to calm the affected areas down.

The BioSkin Zeoderm was really a savior and stopped my burned skin from peeling, it kept me moisturised without feeling greasy and absorbed into my skin perfectly well. 

As these were taken on holiday I decanted them into smaller bottles (50ml). The sprays are £16.99 for 100ml and can be purchased here.

As for  the BioSkin Zeoderm cream, this can be purchased here and is available in 2 sizes, £9.99 for 50ml which is perfect for travel and £19.99 for 150ml.

These items were absolute lifesavers whilst on holiday, I just wish I had brought the full size sprays as I got through all of what I brought with me and I will definitely be bringing these along with me the next time I go somewhere hot!

Cookie x

5 Quick Money Making Tips

Hi Everyone,

Recently I posted 5 Quick Saving Tips, this turned out to be a really popular and much viewed post so I thought I'd share with you another post with some more frugal living tips, this time rather than money saving I am focusing on making extra money!

1. Sell, Sell, Sell - Have a good sort out, most of us have 'stuff', so much 'stuff' we don't know what to do with. The kind of 'stuff' will differ from person to person, but if your not using it, and your not going to - then SELL! I have recently started selling using local groups on facebook, mainly I have sold clothing that me and my partner don't use, this has been fairly productive. I have made a few hundred pounds and have managed to organise my a little more. You could sell on Facebook, Ebay, Amazon, or even locally at car boot sales.
2. Make, Make, Make - Are you crafty or perhaps your talented in the kitchen? Is there something that you can make to sell at a profit; have a look into things such as jewellery, knitted/sewn items, candles, there is so many projects out there that you could turn into profit given the right skills and target market. Check out www.pinterest.com for inspiration on hand crafted items that you could make to sell. You could sell your hand crafted goodies at craft fairs, on Ebay or even using Etsy.com
3. Surveys - Doing online surveys is another way to earn a couple of extra £££'s, these take a little while for the funds to mount up. If you have spare time then it could be worth a try. I am not the most patient person and have managed to earn just £50 using these over the last 2 years, but I really haven't been that proactive. Here's a list with some of the top survey sites to check out if your interested: Click here
4. Rent out your space - Do you have a spare room? Maybe a parking space you don't need? Failing that, some spare storage space. You would rent a room, parking space or even some storage space.
5. A bit on the side - This could be a weekend job or if you want something more temporary a Christmas or seasonal job. Casual work and odd jobbing is also another good way to make extra cash and you can work the hours you want and fit it in with your lifestyle.

Cookie x

Out with the old and in with the New

Hi everyone,

I have recently finished off a couple of the products that I have been using. Please check out my Youtube video where I discuss each of the photographed items in detail.

1. Rituals Volume Mascara 8.5ml for £17.50  - This was a 1.5ml sample that I got from a magazine. I really liked the fine bristle brush, this did a great job in keeping all of my eyelashes separate and not clumped together.
   
   
2. Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Lifting Mascara 6ml for £21- Again another small sample, this time 2.5ml. I think this was part of a gift set. And like the above mascara I really liked the brush. It did a great job of making my lashes really defined and stand out.
   
   
3. Lancome Galateis Douceur cleanser 400ml for £36 - 50ml bottle, I believe this came with a gift set. I thought this was just your standard cleanser and I have used similar/better cleansers which are cheaper.
   
   
4. Cowshed Grumpy Cow Uplifting Body Lotion 100ml for £10 - This was a sample from a magazine, other than the lovely packaging I have to say I didn't really like anything else about this product. Its creamy yet citrus scented and I just don't like the combination. It's also quite thin and greasy and I wasn't keen on how this felt on my skin, I ended up using this as a foot cream and definitely wouldn't purchase this item.
   
   
5. Ren Vita Mineral day cream 50ml for £20 - I had a 13ml sample of this cream which lasted me about a week. I used this in the mornings and it was lovely and hydrating and had a great light rose scent.
   
   
6. Lancôme Hypnose perfume 30ml for £39 - 5ml sample which came with a miniature perfume set. I really like this smell, I would recommend popping into your local perfume/Lancôme counter and having a sniff!
   
   
7. Eyeko SKINNY eye pencil 2g for £12 - I got this from ASOS and its great for the first couple of uses and then it stops working and drys out. I have noticed that this product now says New & Improved next to it so I am wondering if maybe they have worked on the formula following feedback from others, let me know if you have used this recently and what you thought of it. I it's genuinely improved I may have to give it another try. 

As I have come to the end of the above products I have decided to add some new ones into the mix, see below.

1. Skin Doctors Hair inhibitor 100ml for £9.99 - I have had this product for a little while, it was bought on a whim and I have lost the box so will need to conduct research into how I even use this. I believe you use your normal hair removal method and spray this on to work deep into the follicles? If you have tried this, please comment below!

2. Lancôme Hypnose Volume a Porter Mascara £22.50 - I've been using this for the last few weeks and whilst I like the actual mascara the brush took a little getting used to. Unlike the brushes I'm used to (thick an bristly) this was a little more sophisticated in design. It's made of a stiff rubbery material and the bristles are spaced quite far apart. You need to be careful to avoid clumping lashes together.

3. L'Oréal Gentle Makeup Remover EYE 125ml for £3.65 - My mum got me this to try and I have to say I have always used either Lancôme or Clarins eye makeup removers so when I heard this was less than £4 I thought it wouldn't perform as well. Proved me wrong, it is so incredibly gentle, it feels like water and genuinely it does a fantastic job of dissolving and removing mascara and eye makeup.

4. Clinique Liquid EyeLiner 3g for £14-17ish - This appears to have been discontinued which is a shame because it is an old favourite of mine. It looks like there are some new variations of this product at Clinique - I may have to try these!

5. Salcura Bioskin ZeoDerm 150ml for £19.99 - This company very kindly sent me this item to try along with 2 others. These are for irritated, dry and problem prone skin. I am looking forward to trying these when I go on my holiday at the end of this month. For the time being I will be testing the Zeoderm to see if it works for my skin. For more information on this product and other products that the company has to offer please check out their website: https://www.salcuraskincare.com/

6.Perfume Phials - I have so many of these and I have finished off a couple of large bottles recently so figure its time to try something new! The scents I have chosen are: Angel by Thierry Mugler, Agent Provocateur, Prada Eau de Parfum, SJP Lovely and SJP Dawn.

Finally, I am going to try some different haircare products.

I got this kit for Christmas and totally forgot I had it. I have now ran out of my usual shampoo so couldn't of come across this little gem at a better time.

Watch this space. For any items that I haven't tried I will at some point either post a blog with review and thoughts or perhaps I will do a video. Let me know below which you would like to see!

Cookie x

AnnMarie Skin Care - Review

I got in touch with a lovely lady called Lisa from AnnMarie Skincare and she very kindly let me try their products.

When the envelope arrived the first thing I noticed was the sensational natural scent that was coming from the it - just beautiful!

Here's what the kit I received contains, this retails at $20 and can be purchased here

Repair Serum
A lovely nourishing oil that didn't leave my skin too greasy and luckily didn't cause any blemishes. It just left my skin feeling cared for.

Herbal Facial Oil for normal and combination skin
This oil was nice and light which is important to avoid outbreaks. It absorbed into my skin very well and felt good throughout the day.

Neroli Toning Mist
This is a really refreshing mist. It can be used to make you feel cool and refreshed, it can also be used at the end of your skincare routine and will help boost the benefit of your skin serum helping it soak deeper into your skin. This product also smells wonderful.

Coconut Body Oil
I love coconut, so of course this product really appeals to me. When I first received it the oil was solid and I couldn't get it out of the bottle (must have been cold in the porch) and after an hour in my warm kitchen this was a nice thick oil that was easy to apply and felt beautiful on my skin!

Aloe Herb Cleanser
This was lovely and cooling on my skin, a little went a long way.  It did a great job of removing impurities.  The product smelt very pleasant,  almost citrus-y but very subtle.

Ayurvedic Facial Scrub
This comes in powder form, to which you add some cleanser or alternatively water. It smells similar to henna and again this made my skin feel nourished, however a slight scent did remain on my skin for some time.

Purifying Mud Mask
This mask also comes in powder form, you add water. It's a great idea, especially when your travelling and there are restrictions on liquids and pastes.

Dead Sea Facial Scrub
This is a very fine scrub which you massage into your skin in a circular motion. After applying a thin layer you leave this on for 15-30 minutes for it to get to work. This made my skin feel truly polished and left a lovely natural glow. The website offers the following useful advice 'exfoliating is most effective in the mornings, as the most cell turnover happens while sleeping.'

Picture from http://www.annmariegianni.com

What I really loved about these products is that they are completely natural, containing no chemicals, parabens or preservatives like a lot of cosmetics on the market. They smell beautiful and as nature intended they are not harsh or synthetic scents.

A really lovely and extensive product range with something for all skin types, I would definitely recommend these wonderful natural products. This is such a great little kit and would be perfect to take on holiday or for travelling.



 

A sample kit can be purchased here http://www.annmariegianni.com/samplekit/

For more information on the sample kits see Ann Marie's youtube video https://youtu.be/eV9lThR3Qwo

Cookie x

Lipcote - Review

At just £3.69 (from boots) this is a beauty must have and an absolute bargain. 1 small bottle contains 100 applications and importantly this product works.

I tried this with a bright lipstick - I find they look great for about half an hour, a drink or meal later and its gone. I seldom wear bright lipsticks purely because they don't seem to stay on and it's much more noticeable when they're fading throughout the day.

To this situation I now know the solution is easy, Lipcote.


           Just applied                                         2 hours later                          5 hours later

I managed to keep my lipstick looking fresh after a workout, a meal, several glasses of wine and many kisses. This product is definitely a keeper.

The instructions are simple; apply your lipstick, blot, apply a coat of lipcote (it's just like applying nail polish), leave this to try and repeat the process once more. This left my lips looking bright and beautiful with colour that wasn't budging which is exactly what I wanted.

This product did make my lips tingle a little at first and it doesn't smell great but these issues are so temporary they're not worth worrying about!

Lipcote can be purchased at all the major pharmacies and also online, for further details see their website - http://lipcote.com/

To show you how great this product is I did a little experiment with some tea cups, one I sipped from with lipstick applied and no Lipcote and the other with lipstip and Lipcote, the difference is impressive!

 

 

 

 

 

Lipstick with no Lipcote



Lipstick with Lipcote

 

Thanks for reading all, please share and follow me/subscribe.

 

Cookie x

 

 

 

 

Freebies from 19/07/2015 - 25/07/2015

Here are the freebies that I received last week.

 

 

1. Samples from EVE LOM, I have seen this on a few youtube videos. I just emailed the company asking if they have any samples - contact them here

 

2. Dr Organic samples, again this is on many videos at the moment and this was another company I emailed asking to try - contact them here

 

3. Faith in nature, check out their website. Like Dr Organic they have a huge selection of wonderful sounding scents and flavours. - contact them here

 

4. Sunsense sun cream samples - contact them here. I got this idea from Ambers blog

 

5. Oz Naturals - I was able to try this for free using www.brandbacker.com all I need to do is to give an honest and unbiased review. Watch this space for my review.

 

6. Treat pouch from http://www.thedogtreatcompany.co.uk/ - I was lucky enough to get these free of charge to try on my pooches. for this I sent a message on facebook https://www.facebook.com/thedogtreatcompany

I will be doing a review on this product so again please watch this space.

 

7. Upbeat coupons - I emailed asking to try in exchange for a review, they sent me £2 off in coupons and a further 2 £1.79 coupons which should each cover the cost of a bottle. I went to Tesco on Sunday to purchase these and they were running low, only 4 bottles left and they were all strawberry flavour, I am going to check again this week for another flavour. contact them here customercare@feelingupbeat.com     

 

8. CIF Express floor cleaner - This was £1 in Tesco and I had a £1 coupon from www.mymail.com

 

I did a freebie video for most of these items - here is my VIDEO

 

A couple more items I received that I forgot to photograph but have been included in my subsequent videos are

 

1. X3 bags of Jacobs Cracker crisps (Sweet Chili, Sour Cream & Onion and Salt & Vinegar), not technically my freebie, it was my boyfriends www.bzzagent.co.uk campaign, but he has to share :-)

 

2. A purrfect box from https://purrfect-box.co.uk/concept/try this came with a selection of cat toys and treats and I only had to pay £2.90 postage- details of the contents can be found at the end of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBMUU8W9HVA and the rest of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw1wLM33_zg

 

3. Samples from Sothys, saw this on many blogs and videos - sothys@sothys-uk.co.uk.

 

Thanks for reading

 

Cookie x

Nair Lavender Mist Wax Strips

This product was sent to me courtesy of Toluna.

I have used DIY wax products before, I currently use Veet easy wax roll on which I really like.

It's been a little while since I used wax strips and this is primarily because I thought they are quite messy and weren't as effective as some other methods.

Wax strips that I have used in the past have been backed on paper/fabric which is more pliable, these are on plastic which is somewhat stiffer however this didn't pose an issue.

They smell very pleasant

I used the following steps

1. Warm the strip between hands
2. Pull strip apart into 2 separate strips
3. Apply 1 strip to leg and smooth with hand put other down plastic side down

4. Pull skin taut and pull off strip back on itself

5. Repeat with the other side of the strip,
6. Repeat process until hair is all gone!
7. Use after wax oil wipe provided to moisturise legs and remove any wax residue

One thing that wasn't easy to do was my knees, the wax kept coming off the strip onto my knee and not removing any hair, it seems that the strips are too large for this area. It would be a great idea if this kit was designed with knees in mind and perhaps they threw some smaller strips into the mix. In order to make this a little easier for myself I used an old pair of scissors and cut one wax strip into 4 pieces which I used in the same way on my knees, the smaller strips worked much better to remove those pesky hard to get hairs!

This isn't the most painful waxing experience I've ever had but there are less painful hair removal methods - I wouldn't recommend using these anywhere other than legs!

After waxing my legs were quite red but this soon went away leaving me with very smooth soft legs.

I would probably use this product if I was travelling as it's portable unlike my roll on which is quite heavy.

Have you used these or something similar? Please comment, share your experiences.

Cookie x

Products to review - July

This week I received quite a few products to trial and review

 

1. Oz Naturals - Ocean Mineral Facial Cleanser which can be found here

I came about this opportunity on BrandBacker, if you're not already signed up I would recommend it, check it out http://www.brandbacker.com. If you get chosen they will give you a link to the item on Amazon and a promotional code so that the product is free. In exchange for the product you must give an honest and unbiased review on Amazon.

 

2. InstaNatural Stretch Mark and Scar Cream which can be found here

This was advertised on http://bloggersrequired.com/, again I would recommend having a look here as they put companies in touch with bloggers and have many projects on the go which you can apply for. For this product I was again given a product promotion code for Amazon, I have been asked to review the product on my blog and to also leave an honest and unbiased review on Amazon.

 

 



3. Lipcote

I bought this many years ago as a teenager and think I used it once before it went missing in the bottom of my bag with many other impulse buys!

I contacted the team at Lipcote and a nice member, Daria, very kindly offered to send me a trial. Thank you and watch this space for my honest review.

The product was beautifully packaged, along with a handwritten compliments slip - always a nice touch!

 

4. Nair Lavender Wax Strips

 

I had  no idea this was on it's way so it was a pleasant surprise. I applied for this using https://uk.toluna.com/ which is primarily a survey site but also sends products out for testing too.

 

 

Please comment and follow my blog.

 

Reviews coming soon!

 

Cookie x

OZ Naturals Rice Enzyme Dermafoliant - Brand backer

I signed up for a site called brandbacker about a month ago and they put companies in touch with willing bloggers and you can apply for assignments/trials.

I applied to try some OZ Naturals products and received an acceptance message a few days later. They gave me the option to choose which product I wanted to try so I completed a form (they gave me through a link) and confirmed that I wished to try the ancient orient rice enzyme dermafoliant - this was great as I am looking for the perfect exfoliator.

In exchange for the product all you need to do is complete a review on Amazon, here is My review.

 

One of the great things about this company is that they are happy to let you try their products for free, they have since contacted me again and I am going to try their hyaluronic acid serum  and their  ocean mineral facial cleanser. 

 

Big thanks to Oz Naturals and Brandbacker

 

                               

 

Cookie x

Oatly - Review

A little while back I wrote to the Swedish company 'Oatly' - see blog post here.

They specialise in dairy products which are made primarily from oats! They do a really exciting range of products as opposed to just milk which I think sets them apart from other dairy alternative companies. Unfortunately as I live on an Island we have limited supermarkets in which to shop in and I can only get my hands on their plain milk, organic milk and best of all chocolate milk. I would have loved to be able to try other products that they offer such as their breakfast drinks, energy drinks, oatgurts and ice creams! For more information on this wonderful brand and their products check out their website.

Firstly the taste of this was very pleasant, slight oaty as you would expect and as such I'd say this product would be perfect for use with porridge, or cereals. I preferred the chocolate flavour of course and I couldn't get enough of this. Out of the 5 bottles we have had to date 4 have been chocolate flavoured. I have found this to be a very versatile product, I have used it in tea and coffee and whilst it doesn't sit as well as some other milk alternatives the flavour is still great.

A couple of quick reviews

Here's a couple more of the reviews from my to do list, these are relatively short so I have grouped them together. I will start with the shortest.

Escada born in paradise perfume - this was just a small perfume scented wipe sample, the smell is pleasant and like most of the escada perfumes I have tried it is quite a sweet smell. This one is fruity, perhaps peachy in smell. The scent lasted well throughout the day and I have to say it smelt best after an hour or so when it had sunk into my skin a little and wasn't so sweet and strong.

Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion - £5.45 for 200ml - My initial impressions of this was that it's a only a 10ml sample and will be impossible to determine whether it works for me or not in one application. So the little sample managed to cover my arms, legs and décolletage. It was strangely thick and hydrating but not greasy and it felt very nourishing. The packet does however

Pure Potions Review

 

So a couple of weeks of gone by and I have had a chance to test drive the products that the lovely people at Pure Potions kindly gave me to test and review.

 

1. 50ml Skin Salvation Intensive Hand Cream - £10.99 for 50ml

 

This is a perfect, deep moisturising hand cream. I use it in addition to my usual hand cream as my usual hand cream is lighter and this is slightly heavy and more oily- it gives a nice protective barrier. However I tend to use this either first thing or last thing at night to really feel the benefit. I tend to use the lighter cream in the day time to save covering my key board in it and making all the doorknobs greasy (I do apply A LOT of hand cream throughout the average day.)

 

2. Skin Salvation Daily Moisturiser £13.99 for 100ml

Pure Potions have arrived!

Recently I wrote to Pure Potions to ask if I could try some of their products to include on my blog as a review feature and they very kindly agreed. I heard back from a really helpful person, thanks Jess for your positive response and thank you to Pure Potions on the whole for investing in me and providing me with some products from the dry skin range to try and review.

These products are hand made using 100% natural ingredients (no harmful chemicals), they are suitable for people of all ages and can be used almost anywhere on your body, they are suitable for those with eczema, dermatitis and dry sensitive skin. Interestingly these products are also suitable for use on pets to combat dry patches, etc. For more information about Pure Potions products see here

 

 

The products that I have kindly been given to try are:

 

1. 50ml Skin Salvation Intensive Hand Cream - £10.99 for 50ml

 

This is described as an intensive natural hand cream for daily nourishment and maintenance of hands. Hands come into contact with a number of allergens and irritants every day, which can leave them dry, sore and cracked. Once the barrier is broken down on the skin of the hands further irritants can get in easily and the problem worsens. To combat this, it is vital to find a product that gently protects the hands whilst feeding nutrients into the skin for healthy regeneration.

Freebies, products and samples

Here is what I have received over the last few days

 

 

I contacted http://uk.spacenk.com/women/ and asked for some samples of Chantecaille products, some of which retail at £90 -£200+ per pot so it's worth trying these things to see what all the hype is about before making a purchase! They kindly put in a variety of samples.

 

The other items I have is £7.50 worth of vouchers to spend on Oatly,

Sublime Bronze - Review

Further to my last post here are a couple of the products that I proposed to review.

 

I have tried these and as such I can share my experiences and opinions with you.

Overall rating: 7/10 (I am open to seeing what else is out there)

 

1. L'Oreal Sublime Bronze Spray Tan Mist - Medium- £15.49

 

 

I have used this product for several years and I always keep a bottle in the cupboard for special occasions - I am not permanently fake tanned as I just don't have the time. This is the only tanning product that I have had success with, others have been streaky, patchy and caused skin reactions. I always get a nice even colour with this product which can last up to 5 days before it starts to fade.

 

The colour is medium, and I would normally choose fair skin, but to be honest there isn't a lot of difference and I would say that this is fine for those with quite fair skin.

 

A great feature with this is that you simply spray it on, I can even get my other half to spray it on for me.

 

I would say the product is fairly good value, I normally get about 3-6 tans out of this (I tend to just do certain areas, for instance if I'm wearing dark tights then I don't bother with my legs.)

 

The only downsides to this is that it does smell like fake tan, although it smells better than others I have tried. The other negative is that after a couple of days, and when the product starts to fade I get quite itchy in some areas of my skin, I don't think it's a coincidence as this happens every time. Its only mild and does subside fairly quickly, but I would say for the products results and bearing in mind that I don't use it too regularly a small amount of itching is worth it! 

 

If I can give any advice on this product it would be 1. to ensure you have exfoliated well prior to application and again when it's fading 2. to spray in a ventilated area, and put an old towel or matt down 3. Be careful to spray away from any precious items such as light coloured furniture 4.Go easy on your feet, I definitely wouldn't do them first as they will have already been subject to all the excess spray that's missed your body!

Cookie x