Party Season Make-up Essentials

I am guest blogging over at Tesco Magazine sharing my party season make-up essentials. To find out what beauty products will be helping me get through the season and which trends I will be embracing click here

Happy partying!

Win a Skin Wisdom/Day Spa Pamper Basket - NOW CLOSED

*NOW CLOSED*

If you enjoy pampering yourself then you will want to read on!

The lovely people at Tesco Beauty have got in touch and would like to treat one lucky follower of BeautySwot.com to a pamper basket full of goodies from the Day Spa and Skin Wisdom ranges.

Below is a taste of what it will include:

Day Spa Pure De-Stress Rose & Geranium Bath & Body Oil - £6.00
Day Spa Truly Relaxing Warm Cinnamon & Fig body butter - £5.00
Day Spa Very Enriched Vanilla & Neroli Wash ‘n’ Scrub - £4.00
Skin Wisdom Instant Benefits Line Eraser - £5.00
Skin Wisdom Instant Benefits Derma Polish - £6.00
Skin Wisdom Ultimate Life Serum - £7.00
Skin Wisdom Age Delay Deep Wrinkle Concentrate - £5.00
Skin Wisdom Skin Essentials Detox Thermal Mask - £1.00

To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous prize, leave a comment below telling me why you deserve a little 'me time'.

The winner will be chosen by me as the person I deem is the most deserving.

Make sure you say how you follow me - along with your twitter / facebook / blogger ID so that I can get in touch if you are the winner.

The giveaway closes at 23:59 on Friday the 30th September and is open to United Kingdom residents only.

GOOD LUCK :-)

Skin Wisdom Day Spa Gentle Revive Gingerlily & Orange Wash 'n' Scrub

I was sent another item to review from the Skin Wisdom Spa Range at Tesco after I was so impressed with some of the other products in the range. If you missed the reviews you can read them here.

Skin Wisdom Day Spa Gentle Revive Brightening Wash 'n' Scrub in Gingerlily & Orange

This is described as a 2 in 1 wash and scrub for the body. It comes in a flip top tube and the product comes out really easily in a gel formula. What struck me was how pretty it was when it came out, I don't often say that about bath products but this really was. I tried my hardest to capture in photography but essentially the scrub bits, which are square shaped, are swirled around in the gel forming a pattern.

On contact with water the gel changes to a more creamy consistency which allows you to wash using it.

I am not sure what gingerlily is supposed to smell like and I couldn't really make out any orange scent in it but it smells pleasant, the only way I could describe it would be to say.. a bit like a holiday scent!

I would consider this product to be more of a body polish than a scrub as the particles are larger and less than you would find in a traditional scrub but with that in mind I found it to be effective and for the price (less than £5), great value. The packaging is nice, the product feels expensive and leaves the skin comfortable, soft and smooth. I was particularly impressed with how smooth my upper arms felt, this is exactly what I look for in a scrub. I didn't find it overly harsh and although the scrub bits don't melt, a quick rinse of the shower (if you are using this in the bath) will wash them away.

I am a huge fan of using scrubs, particularly in the Summer when having super smooth skin is important when applying fake tans. I liked this scrub a lot and it would seem I am not the only one, as the gentle revive brightening wash 'n' scrub has been shortlisted by a panel of experts in the body care category of the Tesco Your Beauty Awards.

This is the first year Tesco are running the awards. One lucky voter will win a luxury holiday for two to Antigua and each week (whilst the awards are running) all entrants will be entered into a prize draw to win all 55 shortlisted products in the awards. Hurry though the awards close on 23/08/2011

To vote in the Tesco Your Beauty Awards just click this link - http://www.tescomagazine.com/beauty-campaign.html

*Sponsored Post 

Skin Wisdom Day Spa Range By Tesco

Readers of BeautySwot.com know that I love everything and anything to do with Rose scents, so when I read in a Sunday Magazine recently that Tesco sold a bath and body oil with Rose and Geranium in their Skin Wisdom Day Spa Range, I was looking forward to trying it.

The range was created and is used by three UK Spas - Cupcake, Pure and Glow - and is available exclusively to Tesco.

Now I love to be pampered but don't often get the chance to take time out of my life and head to a Spa so home pampering is the next best thing. I do try on a Sunday morning to spend a little time treating myself to a soak and have been using this range.

The packaging is attractive and not dissimilar to Molten Brown's, which a lot of brands seem to be doing now.

Pure De-Stress Unwind Bath and Body Oil ((Rose and Geranium)


Disappointingly I cannot detect the Rose which I was hoping for, but it is a pleasantly sweet floral scent which nods more to the Geranium. This is a bargain bath and body oil whose scent rises beautifully in the steam of the bath. I like the fact that it is dispensed in a handy glass spray bottle (non messy). I find it calming and leaves my skin soft.

Pure De-Stress Shower and Bath Gel (Rose and Geranium)


This complements the above product nicely. It has the same scent, lathers nicely (a little goes a long way) and once again leaves the skin soft to touch

Very Enriched Skin Silk Shower and Bath Gel (Vanilla and Neroli) & Very Enriched Ultra Rich Body Butter

Once again the scent lends itself far more to the Neroli than Vanilla which is quite spicy. I like this scent a lot and something keeps drawing me back to smell it on my skin. I think that it has something unisex about it and my husband is happy to use it.  Just like the Rose and Geranium, a little goes a long way.

The body butter has the same familiar spicy scent. It is a thick rich butter but sinks easily into the skin and is non sticky.

Used in conjunction with each other the gel and body butter perform exactly like their descriptions. My skin is deliciously smooth and silky, far silkier than it has felt in a long time.

My only reservation with the gels are that they do contain SLS - which can be a skin irritant, which explains why they foam up nicely. I do try wherever possible to avoid products that do contain them but realise that so many mainstream products have them in.

Overall, I think this is a really expensive feeling pampering range which really performs and of excellent value for the cost conscious.

The products are currently on offer, making them even better value!

You can find them at Tesco stores or online at www.tesco.com.

*PR Samples

Barbara Daly Long Lash Mascara for Tesco in Black

I was recently sent this mascara as a thank you for filling in an online survey for Tesco.

The packaging is basic, nothing to rave about. The wand is light and the actual brush quite nice, seemed to coat each individual lash but it just felt wet on my lashes, not a feeling that I really like.

So what was it like ?

I would do pictures but really there is nothing at all to see, honestly, I kept applying more and more mascara with no effect whatsoever. 4 coats later and still no change. I asked my husband to look at my eyes and his reply was " yes natural eyes, nothing on them" and then I told him that I had applied mascara, he was surprised!

No black colour, no lengthening, no curling, nada.

Sorry Barbara D and Tesco, this is one mascara I will definitely be leaving on the shelf!

What do you think?

Do you use any Barbara Daly products - any that you would recommend me to try ?