Zoella Jelly & Gelato Collection | First Impressions

Just realised that I'm going to be posting two first impressions posts in a row. Sorry, but also I HAD to post this. Normally I'm not sucked into a new launch where I absolutely have to buy the product the day it's released. For some reason this one was different and I found myself frantically scrolling through Feel Unique trying to decide which products to buy. I settled on a shower gel, Shower Shake, and a scrub, Cream Scrub, partly because these caught my eye the most but also because I'm running out of scrub and I can always use a shower gel.

Just a disclaimer, I haven't been a religious buyer of the Zoella Beauty range but I've been getting more and more interested in the products with each new release.

Starting off with the packaging I am totally in love with it. The bright but muted pastel colours go really well together and massively give me summer vibes. That font is the thing dreams are made of and the shiny gold just finishes everything off. The straw on the Shower Shake is literally the cutest thing ever. When I saw the picture of it online I thought it was a bit gimmicky but in the time I've had this I've pretended to drink from it like thirty times. The pot that houses the Creamy Scrub feels really sturdy and there looks to be a fair amount of product in them both.

The scent. For some reason I was thinking this was going to be a sweet, vanilla scent, much like the Sweet Inspirations collection from last year. I know, I know, the description of these products is that they are Elderflower and Pomegranate but the ice cream theme and packaging took my mind to something sweet. That being said I do really like this scent. It makes me feel really nostalgic, I have no idea why, but it does remind me of jelly so maybe I'm thinking back to birthday parties. It's slightly sweet but also a bit floral, not in a granny way but in a refreshing way. Definitely summery.

Let's get into the actual products. When testing these out I went for the scrub first which is an orange colour (the same as the orange on the Shower Shake packaging). It's one of the thicker scrubs I've used and I found that I had to scoop right down to get out the product. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it shows how thick it is. I also had to rub the product together in my palm to make it soft enough to rub on my leg. This scrub sits somewhere in between rough and gentle, not quite as scrubby as the Soap and Glory Breakfast Scrub but not as gentle as the Body Shop Coconut Scrub, which is the scrub I'm currently using. The texture is like a thick balm with soft flaking beads in it which gives a good scrub without being too harsh and feeling like I've rubbed sandpaper up and down my leg. I'm a big fan of this scrub and I think it might become a firm favourite in my stash.

I'm just going to get this out there, the Shower Shake is amazing. I'm a big fan of the Soap and Glory Whipped Clean because it's so thick and this is exactly the same. It's a really thick cream that made shaving my legs an absolute dream and made my entire body feel soft in the shower. What I wanted to really test out though is how moisturising it was. The product description said that it would give a boost of moisture so I wondered if it would make my skin feel as it I had used a moisturiser after using it. I'm a serial moisturiser, I can't go a day without slathering a body butter on my body, so I was intrigued to see if I felt the need to moisturise. Although I will moisturise after using this product in the future, I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. My skin didn't feel tight and itchy like it does sometimes when I get out of the shower. My skin felt smooth and soft and I didn't feel like my skin desperately needed extra moisture.

Overall both of these products get two big thumbs up from me and I definitely want to try more from the range.

Have you tried any of the other products from this range? What did you think?

Travel minis to make your heart melt

I'm going to sound like every blogger on the internet when I say I love minis. Not only do they look really cute and dinky but they drastically reduce the weight of my suitcase.

I'm going to start with one of the cutest things I'll be taking away with me, the Gillette Venus Snap Portable Razor. It's a normal sized razor head on a short stubby handle and comes in a small plastic case. Whoever invented this is a serious genius because it just makes so much sense. It's just as good to use as a normal razor but is 10 times cuter!

One thing that takes up an unnecessarily large amount of space is micellar water. It's big, it's bulky, but I can't live without it. So I've finally been organised and bought (or got my parents to buy because I'm too lazy) the mini Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. Although at the minute I'm using the micellar water from Simple, this one is just as good and will do a great job at taking off the makeup that doesn't disappear after I've used my Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter - another great product to travel with.

The Body Shop are great for minis and thanks to my advent calendar at Christmas I'm pretty stocked up. I have the Rainforest Radiance Shampoo, Coconut Shower Gel and Pink Grapefruit Hand Cream. They all smell amazing and work really well, what more can you ask for! I also have minis of both of my moisturisers which I got in the advent calendar - talk about luck, Vitamin E Moisture Cream and Oils of Life Sleeping Cream. I'm going to use them both up and if I change moisturisers I'll just wash out the pot and refill!

Something which I totally love is the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner. I don't use it normally but it is just what my hair needs after it's been battered with chlorine. I also like to take a mini Batiste Dry Shampoo just in case I don't go for a swim so don't need to wash my hair but want to refresh it a bit. my favourite scent is Tropical but Blush will do.

Other cute products I have in my bag are a Nivea Invisible Deodorant, Burts Bees Coconut and Pear Lip Balm, Soap and Glory Puffy Eye Attack Eye Cream and, of course, a toothbrush!

What's your favourite product for summer?

A Scrub For All Occasions

Hi everybody, I'm Abz and I'm a scrub-a-holic. But to be fair it was thrust upon me! For Christmas I was lucky enough to get three of these lovely scrubs, which technically grew my collection, 400%. I spoke a bit about some of these scrubs in my What's in my Shower post if you'd like to go and read that but without further ado, let's begin.

If you want a scrub that gives your legs a real good, well, scrubbin' then look no further than the Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Scrub. This is a sugar scrub so imagine rubbing sugar on your legs, in a good way, and that's basically what it's like. It smells like sugar, syrup and a bit nutty so is great as a chilling out/ just before bed scent. For something a little more awakening then look no further than the Soap and Glory Orangeasm Exfoliating Body Polish. This is more like a bead texture where you rub it into your skin and the beads burst leaving your legs feel silky smooth. The beads are in a gel so you feel like you're getting a scrub and a moisturise in one. Use this if you need a bit of waking up! The Soap and Glory Scrub of Your Life is pretty much the same but is in the standard Soap and Glory scent. This is the scrub I use everyday to just top up the smooth! Last but certainly not least is The Body Shop Spa of the World African Ximenia Scrub. This is such a weird but amazing scrub. It's like a balm that melts in your hands when you touch it so it's quite hard to get out of the tub but once you do it's worth it! To feel it you wouldn't think it would be a scrub but as soon as you start rubbing it on your body you can feel it getting to work. What I love about this is that it gives you a gentle scrub but moisturises as well. If you haven't tried anything from the range before I would definitely recommend picking something up because everything I've tried has been amazing!

What's in my Shower

I was the luckiest girl this Christmas and I got SO many bath type products. I've never had so many at one time before and to say I was excited to try them all out was an understated. My first thought was "I can be that person that chooses what scrub, moisturiser and shower gel to use depending on what their feeling!". Yeah, that was my very first thought. But this has made me realise that I have a huge love for pampering products and enjoy having a good shower/ bath. Because I'm at uni, and uni accommodation tends not to have baths, I thought I'd let you into my shower and show you the products I use and my thoughts on them. So let's dive in!

Aussie

The Aussie shampoo and conditioner range is one that I love and don't think I would ever change up. If you've never smelt the wonderful products then I'd definitely recommend it, they leave you hair smelling like a tropical dream all day and even when you can't smell it anymore, other people can so you may attract more friends, or not. The Miracle Moist range is my favourite as I feel like it cleans my hair deeply and you can get a good lather with it, which I always like. the 3 Minute Miracle is something I've used for a while and it's something that my hair really likes. I run it through the ends of my hair and leave it on for 3 minutes (what a surprise) then wash and and kind of brush through my hair with my fingers to make sure it's all gone. Aussie products are normally on offer in Boots, Superdrug or most supermarkets.

The Body Shop

I love The Body Shop and I got very excited when I saw that I had got two products from their Spa of the World range for Christmas. So luxurious! The African Ximenia Scrub is really good is you want something that will still scrub but isn't too abrasive. There are tiny scrubby bits so it gives you an all over rub and it also gives your legs a good moisturise. You don't need too much so I have a feeling that this tub is going to last me for a really long time. The Frozen Plum scent is my new favourite from the Body Shop so I was excited when I received that Frozen Plum Shower Gel. It gets up a good lather and smells amazing! Body Shop shower gels always last a long time so I'm going to enjoy using this for a while!

Soap and Glory

I'm having a big Soap and Glory moment so there's a few of these products that I'm using lately. The Smoothie Star scent will always be one of my favourites and the Smoothie Star Scrub is great for getting rid of any dead skin. The smell is sweet and it's a sugar scrub so it's pretty abrasive which is sometimes just what you need. Another scrub on the other end of the abrasive spectrum is the Scrub of our Life. This has bead type things in them which gives a more gentle scrub. I've been using this everyday to keep on top of my legs to keep them smooth. It's in the original Soap and Glory Scent and I love using it. Something else in the original scent is the Clean on Me Shower Gel. I love their giant pump shower gels, they last for ages, dispense the right amount of product and lather up nicely. My go to winter shower gel is the Whipped Clean which is also in the sweet Smoothie Star scent. It's so thick and luxurious, lathers up amazingly and is the best thing I've ever used when shaving my legs, it moisturises so well!

The Most Exciting Festive Bath Ever!

Beauty bloggers seem to have this complete and utter obsession with Lush, something that I've never really had. I've had a few Lush products but they were a few years ago when I couldn't really appreciate what was going on and thought that bath bombs were just something that turned my bath a cool colour (which is still something that's important to a degree). Because of my lack of Lush knowledge and the fact that apparently Lush brings great things out around Christmas I thought that I would trial some products, and boy am I glad that I did.

I knew that I wanted to get Candy Mountain because last year I bought the Snow Fairy shower gel and loved the scent. Candy Mountain has the Snow Fairy scent and is a Bubble Bar, something that I have never tried from Lush. If you are a Lush newbie, as I am, I'm going to say that they bubble bars are really hard to dissolve. You have to really massage the bar to get the bubbles going but once you get the rhythm it's really easy and totally worth it! It gave me plenty of bubbles and turned my bath pink, but to be honest it didn't stay pink for long. I don't know why I went for the Father Christmas Bath Bomb but I wanted something that was festive and a bit different, and I mean come on just look at his cute face! I was told by one of the staff that it had the same scent as Snow Fairy but that didn't matter when it got into the bath. I was expecting a bright pink but what I got from my little santa chum was a very festive green! Amazing!

I am DIEING to try more Lush products so if you have some suggestions please let me know because I am a complete newbie when it comes to things like this!

Favourite Friday: Vineyard Peach Body Butter

My lovely mother kindly gifted me this Body Shop body butter, which I was very grateful for because I'm slowly working my way through by moisturiser stash and it's depleting by the day. I've never heard of this scent/flavour before but I've fallen in love with it! It's a standard peach smell, really sweet but not sickly and fresh. It's a great spring moisturiser and I like the fact that, as with most Body Shop body butters, the consistency is really thick so it feels like you're getting a deep moisturise. Other body moisturisers that I've enjoyed over the years have been The Body Shop's frozen cranberries and coconut body butters and the Soap and Glory sugar crush and smoothie star moisturisers. All of them were super moisturising and I much prefer thick moisturisers as apposed to runny ones. If you can get your hands on the vineyard peach scent then I'd definitely recommend it (I think my mum got it at an outlet store so I don't know if they still stock it in normal shops).