Sunday, July 30, 2017

Simply Soaps

Simply Soaps

Handmade Soap

Rose Soap

Organic Soaps

Rose Lavender

Over the last few weeks I have been testing out some new soaps from Simply Soaps. The premise behind the company is to create natural, organic soaps to suit all types of skin. They pride themselves on being able to provide high quality products for those who suffer from skin conditions, such as psoriasis and eczema.

The soaps are made in a woodland factory in East Norfolk. Simply Soaps sell a range of different products, including creams, lip balms, candles and bath melts! There is definitely a little something for everyone in there. I know for one that I like to buy products that are made locally and vegan/organic products are all the rage these days! It's always a nice touch to have a product that is handmade too, especially when buying gifts.

I have been using the Rose Petal and Geranium Soap (£2.79) and the Handmade Lavender Soothing Soap (£2.79). Both of which came in plastic wrapping, as you can see from the photos. The soap is clearly of very good quality. As soon as I took them out of the packaging, I could see that the soaps had been made with good quality and fresh ingredients. The two soaps smell really lovely and their scents aren't overpowering. 

The Rose Petal and Geranium one is my favourite out of the two, I am a huge sucker for anything that smells like roses! I love the look of this soap, as you can see the rose petals marbled into the soap. You use the soap just like any other bar of soap, and it washes off very easily. The soap is soft on the hands and doesn't leave that squeaky clean feel (which I hate!). It leaves the hands feeling clean and soft, with a hint of rose on the skin. 

The Lavender soap is similar in the way that it leaves the skin feeling afterwards, except it leaves a lavender scent on the skin! Again, a pretty bar of soap and very pleasant to wash your hands with. The lavender fragrance isn't too overpowering in the bar itself or on the skin. You still get that bar of soap scent, but with an added touch of lavender. 

I'm so used to having liquid soap in the house and I forgot how nice bars of soaps were! They really are much more pleasant on the skin, especially knowing that they're organic and handmade too. Mum is definitely happy about having some nice new soaps in the house!

Have you ever used any Simply Soaps soaps? What's your favourite soap to use?

Thank you for reading! 

Love, Gweni xxx




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This post is sponsored but all opinions are my own.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Evoluderm Argan & Primrose Range

Huile Précieuse

Argan Oil and Orange

Orange

Primrose Oil

argan oil

A few months back, I was sent a really lovely package from Evoluderm! As I spent a year in France as part of my degree, I was pretty excited to work with a French brand. Evoluderm prides itself on producing good quality products for a low price. In the UK, I've seen their products being sold on Amazon and TK MAXX. So the next time you find yourself scouring through the shelves at TK MAXX, make sure to keep an eye out for Evoluderm!

I was sent the Argan and Primrose Oil range and instantly fell in love with it. It is targeted for those with drier skin, and you can really feel that in the products. Argan oil is well known for its moisturising, nourishing quality and this range is no exception.

My favourite part of the range is most definitely the smell. It smells like holiday! It's quite a sweet smell, a little bit milky but floral scent. It's very very hard to describe. But it smells very Summery and reminds me so much of being abroad. 

Out of the range, my favourite product is probably the Body Exfoliator (Crème Gommant). It is a super creamy formula with little exfoliating beads in them. It's one of those lovely creamy exfoliators that both exfoliate your skin but also leave your skin feeling moisturised afterwards. It also leaves your skin smelling lovely as well! I love using this product a few days before I shave my legs. 

There is also an exfoliator for your face, the Crème Gommant. I have recently run out of my Clinique exfoliator and this has worked just as well if not better, it's a little more moisturising than the Clinique one! Again, a very creamy formula with little beads in. It leaves your skin feeling much clearer but also soft after use. I continue with my normal skin routine after using it. I particularly like using it if I have a night out (when I have a life) and want nice clear skin! 

The least used is probably the Hand Cream (Crème Mains), as I am just not a hand cream enthusiast. However, I have used it a couple of times as just normal moisturiser and it works really well! It leaves my skin feeling really soft and smelling amazing. The smell lingers as well, which I am a big fan of. 

Last but not least, is the Face Mask (Masque Crème). I have never used a mask like this before, which is a cream mask? Essentially, it is like a really really thick moisturiser that you put on like a mask. You leave it on for 10-15 minutes and then wipe off with a cotton pad. As my skin is combination, I don't feel like I need the full benefits of this, so I rinse it off with water instead. I found the cotton pad to be a little stubborn when taking it off! If you have dehydrated skin, this is definitely something to look into! It leaves your skin feeling verrrrry moisturised straight afterwards and very soft the next day. 

I have been super impressed with the Evoluderm products, so glad I've been able to test them out! If you have dry skin, definitely look into this range. Although saying that, I've really loved them and I don't have dry skin! The brand has loads of hair products on Amazon that look amazing that I think I will have to try out at some point!

Thank you for reading! Have you ever used any Evoluderm products before?

Love, Gweni xxx



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This post contains PR samples but all opinions are my own.
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Saturday, July 22, 2017

Panasonic IPL Hair Removal System


Panasonic IPL Hair Removal System

does ipl work

ipl before and after

panasonic ipl review

review ipl

ipl

I am so so excited to be writing and sharing this post about the Panasonic IPL Hair Removal System with you today, I feel as though I've been testing out the product and racking up opinions and thoughts for years! In fairness, it has been months since it was sent to me but STILL! 

As a generally hairy gal, I am always interested in ways of reducing the amount of hair on my body. One of the methods I had been looking into was salon laser hair removal, but as you probably already know - this is verrrry expensive. When I met the lovely Panasonic team at the Glam Gala they showed me the IPL and I was instantly hooked. I got in touch with them the very next day and they were kind enough to send me through the Panasonic ES-WH90 IPL Hair Removal System to test out. And tested out I have done! 

What is the IPL I hear you ask? I'm not going to pretend to be an expert but I will do my best to try and explain. Essentially, Intense Pulsed Light is a broad-spectrum light which is absorbed by the melanin in the hair to reduce hair growth. In very simple terms, the light off the IPL is absorbed by the hair, this heats up the hair and this destroys the hair-producing part in the root. It is not laser, as laser only uses one colour whereas the IPL uses the whole colour spectrum (I think!). As it only works on "active" hair follicles, it does take quite a few treatments for it to work. Darker hair absorbs more of this light, as you can imagine, and therefore it works better on dark and corse hair. It is not advised to be used on blonde and white hair. 

I have been using it since March 20th, as you can see in the Before picture. I decided to stick to just my armpits to test out for this post. I hope you all enjoy seeing photos of my pits! I won't lie, it take quite a while before I started seeing results. But now that I have, the results are getting better and better. I noticed a particular difference when I was on holiday. I was definitely shaving my armpits much less than I usually do!
Both the Before and After pictures show one week of growth. 

So, how do you use it? First of all, you clean and shave the area where you are going to use the IPL. Once dry, you press the IPL device against your skin and you will see a bright flash. It feels quite warm on your skin but doesn't hurt. Then you remove and place it on the next part of the skin! It's super quick and the head is large, so it can cover a large area of skin. It's seriously easy to use! You can shave as many times between treatments as well, very handy for when you have events.

For the purposes of this post, I shaved once a week for 12 weeks and used the IPL pretty much straight after I shaved. It is advertised that it takes 2 minutes to do both armpits and I would either agree or even argue that it takes even less time than that! It takes no time at all and definitely doesn't take any time out of your day. Again, so so easy to use. I started on the lowest setting and went up to the full level 5 setting by week 5. 

Like I said earlier, it did take a while for me to see results. By week 8, I still hadn't seen any massive results. But as it only works on active follicles, it is hard to expect instant results from it! You definitely do have to be patient with it. As you can see from the Before and After photos, which was around 12 weeks, there has been a clear reduction of growth. The hair is definitely taking longer to grow and I think it has become much finer.

As I shave my armpits anyway, I didn't find using the IPL to be a hassle at all. The one downside to it is that you have to shave, you're not allowed to wax or epilate I'm afraid. I'm not 100% sure why, but I assume it is because the root is still in tact when you shave, which allows it to absorb the IPL light. I should make it clear now that the IPL does not burn the whole hair off, the hair is still there after you apply the device to it. For some reason, I thought it would burn the follicle off completely and fall out. This does not happen, silly naive Gweni! 

The Panasonic IPL comes with a charger and a face attachment, which makes the window for the light a little bit smaller. You can use the device on pretty much every part of your body, although it is not advised to use it on the upper lip area, abdomen or genitals. You can do your bikini area but they advise to wear underwear and so you may not be able to do quite as much as you may like to. It makes a little bit of noise when you use it as well, but not so loud that you couldn't watch TV at the same time.

It is not permanent hair removal, but it does reduce growth as long as you continue using it. As you only pay for the device once, it is not difficult or expensive to keep up the use of the product. And as it is only once a week, it's not a massive pain either! It is worth the investment, in my opinion. You can buy on a few places on the internet, the Panasonic website being one place! It retails at £349.99 on the Panasonic website, but I have seen it being sold for quite a bit cheaper on other websites,  for example Amazon is selling the IPL for around £169.99. 

I hope this review gives you a good idea of what to expect with the IPL. Please do let me know of anything else you would want to know so that I can add it to the post. It's obviously not a cheap product to buy, so would love to help as much as I can!

Thank you for reading! 

Love, Gweni xxx



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This post contains PR samples but all opinions are my own.
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Tuesday, July 04, 2017

What I Learnt From Living Alone

Living alone

Since September 2016, I have been living alone in my little flat. I made some very last minute decisions last Summer and it was unfortunately too late for me to live with any of my friends. Consequently, I have ended up living by myself in a flat in the centre of Birmingham for the last 10 months and it has been a ball! I have now moved out but I have learnt quite a few things along the way and I wanted to share them with you today.

You become self-reliant

I mean, this is a pretty obvious one but it is something I had to become very quickly. I was pretty independent beforehand, hello boarding school and 4 years of uni but it was still a bit of a learning curve. When I first moved in, absolutely everything went wrong. It was so tragic but made for excellent snapchat story time. My hot water was not working, the kettle stopped working, the oven smashed on the first evening and the internet stopped working. It was pretty hilarious but you quickly learnt to be very self-sufficient, call people and fix things yourself. 

Everything is your fault

You know those times when you run out of loo roll, or the washing up hasn't been done or the hoovering hasn't been done for a good month. Yeah, all of that is your own fault. You become responsible for absolutely everything and you can't blame it on anyone other than yourself. You suddenly realise how useless you can be as an adult.

Life is very expensive

You know what's fun? Paying bills. You know what's even more fun? Paying the whole of the bills yourself. I miss living with 8 other people and paying £2 for internet every month or having bills included. The good days. This is something I am really looking forward to living with people again just so that I don't pay silly amounts to bills again!

It is lonely

This is something that I didn't think I would struggle with, but I really did at the start of it all! I really missed just coming back from being in uni and talking to someone at the end of the day. I missed getting into TV programmes with friends and procrastinating by drinking silly amounts of tea. I really missed just general gossip and having a laugh! I started a new course so I was making a lot of new friends at the start, and my old uni friends were living the other side of the city. The course was pretty demanding so I didn't have a huge amount of free time to go out and socialise, so I did struggle a little at the start.

But you start to enjoy your own company a lot

I have been making myself laugh a lot from living alone, which is so sad but true. I have definitely become more comfortable in my own skin and you get really used to the way your brain works. It has definitely matured me a little and I like to think it has chilled me out a bit. You become quite sure of yourself and of what you want. I like making all of the decisions myself! I am not looking forward to having to compromise again!

You appreciate the time you spend with friends and family

As you don't have the social contact at home, you're forced to make an effort to socialise. Although this turns out to be quite expensive, you do really appreciate the time you do spend with friends and family. I used to take it for granted a lot! As I use my phone for socialising when I'm in the flat, I like to be completely away from my phone when I'm with people. Social contact really is 100000% better in person.

You have so much space to yourself

This is definitely the best part of living alone. I have a whole flat ALL TO MYSELF! A whole bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room! I am one of those people who owns an insurmountable amount of things and having all of this space to myself is amazing. I like being able to spread my things everywhere and keeping it the way that I like myself. I am definitely going to miss this! I will also miss being able to walk around without any clothes on.

You get so much done 

Obviously, I still procrastinate. But not half on the level that I used to! It is so easy to just waste a couple of hours messing around with friends, on top of scrolling Twitter and Instagram. Now it's just social media scrolling procrastination! I did a very intense course this year, on top of doing job applications and blogging. Being able to have all of that space to myself with no distractions was a god send!

It is so much fun

I really have enjoyed these 10 months with myself. I learnt a lot about myself and had a lot of fun doing so. I learnt that I was more than capable of looking after myself and I really enjoyed the independence. As much as I am looking forward to seeing the cat and my parents over Summer and pals in September, I will definitely miss living alone. I am super excited for social contact though, you have no idea how much of a hermit I have been! Or maybe you follow my Twitter and see how often I tweet and maybe you have picked up on this...


Thank you for reading this post! I had a lot of fun writing it. Let me know if you've ever lived alone and if you enjoyed it? I know a lot of people really struggle with it!

Love, Gweni xxx


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