My 2015 Hair, Bath and Body Favourites

So the final instalment of my 2015 beauty favourites is going to be focusing on all things hair, bath and body. If you've been keeping up with the rest of these posts you'll already know that these aren't "hall of fame" type posts, they're very much like the monthly favourites I post. But here we have it:

I've loved two shampoos pretty equally this year and both are from the L'Oreal Sulphate-Free range. The first one I liked was the Ever Pure and I've since moved on to the Ever Strong as it gives more volume but I love this range in general. Leaves your hair really clean but not stripped and is great for not making colour-treated hair fade too quickly.

My other hair favourite this year is the only styling product I've ever been faithful to: the Color Wow One Minute Transformation. I got this in a gift-with-purchase at a Space NK event back in February and I've loved it ever since. I literally use a tiny pee-sized amount in the roots of my hair to give some lift after straightening and it's great.

My favourite bath product of the year was a tough choice because I've used and loved so many this year, but when it came down to it the one I wouldn't want to be without it the Aromatherapy Associates Bath Oils. I've had the mini set for a while now and since some of the oils are getting pretty low I've recently invested in the slightly larger Ultimate Bath Jewels set that they had out this Christmas. They're just so relaxing in your bath.

For body scrubs I've tried some great ones towards the tail end of the year but my consistent favourite has been the Soap & Glory Pulp Friction. The scent on this is lovely and the scrubbie-particles are really exfoliating without being painful or irritating at all. The best thing about this is the formula though, the particles are suspended in a creamy formula that really clings to your skin and so it doesn't go everywhere and leave your bathroom a mess.

Last but not least we have the Soap & Glory Heel Genius Foot Cream. Smells like mint, feels great. You just apply a thin layer to your feet,pop on some socks and there you have it, silky smooth feet in no time. The tube recommends wearing it to bed but I can't sleep in socks so I just wear it under my socks around the house when I haven't got much on and I love it.

So my 2015 favourites series has come to an end, but check back on Monday to see what products I really didn't get on with through 2015.

Empties: Round Three

As part of my pledge to use up my stuff, I'm here with another empties post. Sadly my backups drawer seems to fill up just as quickly as I manage to get through stuff (I blame the Boots 3-for-2 offers). It's a good mixed bag this year with lots of bath and body, some hair, skincare and even a little bit of makeup, so since we have a lot to talk about, lets get on with it.

So I've worked my way through 2 shower gels this month (is it just me that seems to have 2 or 3 different shower gels in the shower at any one time? Hopefully not?). The first of which being the Radox Nourish Shea Butter & Ginger Shower Cream. This is a great shower gel that you can usually find on offer for £1-£2 and the scent is amazing. Lathers well, smells great and lasts quite a long time for the price, a nice unisex shower gel that I would repurchase if I didn't have more shoer gel than I'd care to admit waiting to be worked through. I've also finished a mini Life NK Ultimate Unwind Body Wash. The scent on this was just a bit bland and it was pretty expensive for how average it was to use. Wouldn't pick up another.

I used up two of my back-ups of Lush Butterbear Bath Ballistic. They're essentially the Butterball Bath Ballistic but slightly smaller, cheaper and bear shaped and were a limited edition release last Christmas. I picked up a few because I like to put Butterball in the bath with bubble that doesn't give you that hydrating feeling to make them a bit more luxurious but I only have a little bath in my bathroom so the smaller-sized christmas releases are usually more than enough. I hope they bring it back this Christmas.

I've also used up quite a few body moisturisers. One I wasn't so keen on was the Soap & Glory Girligo Spray-On Body Moisturising Mist. I love S&G's body butters and body creams but this spray was a bit flimsy for me and my skin didn't really get on with it, I'd rather just go for one of the other formulas from them in the future. I also used up the last of my Aromatherapy Associates Renewing Rose Body Cream. This is one of the nicest smelling body creams I've tried in a while and I was sad to see the last tiny bit be used up, at £36.50 for the full size it's a bit overly pricey for me to justify a repurchase when the texture wasn't much more than that of a £10 S&G body cream but it was a treat to use up.

If you want a body lotion that's a bit of a treat but that won't break the bank quite so hard as the Aromatherapy Associates choice, let me point you in the direction of the Cowshed Gorgeous Cow Blissful Body Lotion. At £18 for 300ml, it's not too expensive but the scent and the texture on this is really nice. One thing to keep in mind with this one is that the scent is really quite strong and it will linger on the skin, Space NK are currently advertising a gift set with this body lotion and the shower gel that might just make it onto my Christmas list this year.

A few picks for hair, I'm sure no one will be surprised to see the L'Oreal Pure Colour Shampoo in an empties post. This was my favourite shampoo for a while but last time I went for a repurchase it was out of stock and since I've tried the Ever Strong from the same range and I think I actually prefer that one. The L'Oreal sulphate-free range in general is a really nice one and I'm sure you'd be able to find a formula to suit your own hair needs.

I've also got two heat protectors in this empties. The Vo5 Heat Protect is my all-time favourite that I continually repurchase and will continue to use and love and I've been through another one of those but I also tried the Bumble and Bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil Heat/UV Protective Primer and used up that. It's a nice formula and the scent is lovely but for me it was just a bit too heavy in the roots of my fine hair and while it was nice through the ends and I did manage to use it up, I'd rather just stick to my Vo5 next time.

I finally made it through my giant pot of Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm. I will more than likely be picking up another eventually but right now my cleansing cabinet is so over-flowing that I can't justify it just yet. It's a lovely cleansing balm that's equally good for make-up removal or an AM/PM main cleanse. Another skincare pick I've worked my way through is the Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel. While I used this up and didn't mind how it felt on the skin, the texture was a bit lumpy and it's not quite as cooling as other formulas I've tried so I can't see myself repurchasing this one.

And finally, some make-up picks. I had a mini of the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and thankfully it dried out on me pretty quickly. I really didn't get on with this mascara, it did nothing for the length of my lashes and just made them look clumpy and spider-y. I also made it through another Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot Powder, need I say more? I've got back-ups upon back-ups of this now and have pretty much given up on testing other formulas, it's my favourite setting powder by a long shot.

And there we have it, another empties over. If you have any recommendations for things I should try that could make it into the next empties post, give me a shout in the comments section.

September Favourites

Another month down and its been a good one this month both for finding new favourites and rediscovering old loves that I'd forgotten about. With it being the end of skint-tember, not everything will be high-street this time around but there's some affordable products in the mix. An honourable mention needs to go to the Fleur De Force Lipglosses, I love these at the moment but haven't had them long enough for them to qualify as a monthly favourite but I didn't want to leave them out.

A couple of products I found when testing affordable products for Skint-tember are the L'Oreal Le Blush and the Maybelline Master Drama Khol Liner. The blush is a nice peachy pink that's easy to apply and just brightens up the complexion and the texture is lovely on the face, I wouldn't necessarily have picked this up if I hadn't been trialling products specifically for the posts for last month (one day I'll show you how the blush drawer has gotten out of hand since the blog) but I'm really glad I did because this was a nice affordable find.

I've been picking up a few pieces from Maybelline's Master range lately and it seems to be a line of on-point releases from what I can see. I discovered the Master Sculpt Contour Palette last month and that went straight into a favourites post and this month I picked up the eye liner from the range and again it's shot straight to the top of my love-list. It's a nice strong black eyeliner that wears well but is creamy to apply.

On the topic of the Maybelline Master Sculpt, I may have been cheating this month. Birchbox sent me a small size of The Balm's Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush and I've been liking this for a contour shade lately. It's a bit deeper than the Maybelline so I do have to be a bit careful but it's been nice for popping in my makeup bag when I'm on the go.

I've also shelved my long-loved L'Oreal Pure Colour Shampoo for a while. I ran out a few weeks back and when I went for a repurchase I couldn't find it in stock anywhere, so after a few moments standing at the display in dismay I decided to try the Ever Strong from the same range. The Pure Colour is marketed for "Flat, Coloured Hair" and the Ever Strong claims to be new and is for "Fine, Flat Hair and Delicate Scalp" and it's still sulphate-free from what I can see so good for the colour too and I think it's my new favourite. It's just so much better for giving texture and volume to the hair and I like it a lot.

I've recently been investing in some nice quality brushes as well. I've been using a set I picked up from Frauline for the last few years and they were a great, affordable starter set for me but they've gotten a bit old and need replacing and I've decided to slowly start switching them out for really nice ones (if anyone wants an update on all of my recent brush buys let me know and I can do a post on that). After finally picking up a MAC 217 I don't know how I've managed without one for so long and I'm tempted to go back and pick up this brush in duplicate. It's makes eyeshadow application so easy and if you don't own this brush and you're into eyeshadow, I'd recommend giving it a go.

A re-discovery this month has been the Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils, I particularly like the "Relax" and "De-Stress" sub-ranges and will more than likely be picking up a full size of some of these soon. I've been saving these oils for special occasions but I've decided I need to just get using them because they're lovely. I like the miniatures set because I think it contains a mini of all the ones in the range and you can sample which ones you like best before you buy. And if you have a small bath like me you can get 2-3 baths out of each bottle. They're also a great size for travel.

And finally, I wanted to throw in a random favourite this month. My boyfriend and I have made our way through a marathon of most TV series' by now and we decided we wanted something new to do together and decided on getting an xbox game to play. He's really into gaming and I've been known to have a dabble at things here and there. So after much deliberation, we decided that the Lego Games range would be a nice way to introduce me to gaming as they're aimed for a younger audience and generally a bit easy. We picked up Lego Jurassic World a few weeks back and it's been great, the two player is good and there's lots to do so you get a lot of game time for you're money, we've also recently picked up Lego Star Wars so we've got some variation and hopefully I'll pick up some Xbox skills and we'll be able to get something more difficult next time but we're really enjoying it so far. If anyone has any game recommendations for next time we're all ears.