Original Source Lavender and Tea Tree Shower Gel

Original Source products are something that I will always buy if I see them on offer. I try to get something I haven’t had before every time and the newest was the Lavender and Tea Tree shower gel.

Original Source is a company that is proud to use as many British products as possible. Their 'About Us' page on the website (www.originalsource.co.uk) states that they are proud to use British products and where possible, will always use these. Original Source are a member of the Aromatherapy Trade Council and also work closely with the Vegan Society. The website also has a great list of promises that the company has made and they can be seen below.

Never ever consider, or even think of, showering or bathing as a routine

Always remain curious

Use our senses to discover intense experiences

Use natural ingredients

Never tire of looking for new ingredients

Never stop messing around with new ingredients and packaging

Never test our products on animals

Always test our products on ourselves

Never be wasteful

This shower gel comes in the usual Original Source packaging, a clear bottle which lets you see the colour of the product inside. The plastic the bottle is made out of feel quite thick and not flimsy at all unlike some other shower gel bottles I have had before. The brand name and variety of the shower gel are printed on the front of the bottle. The colour of the shower gel inside and the Original Source packaging make this a product that is hard to miss on the shelf.

The bottom of the bottle is black and that is where you can find the flip lid which allows you to get at the shower gel itself. The clasp clicks open with ease and I have never had problems being able to open it, even with wet hands. The bottle is also really easy to grip whilst in the shower and I have not had any problems with it slipping out of my hands. I really like the packaging as sad as that sounds but it is one of the better brands out there for good packaging.

As soon as you flip open the lid to this shower gel, the strong smell of lavender hits you immediately. Although this shower gel has tea tree in it as well, it is quite overpowered by the lavender. I love lavender as a scent and find it really relaxing so this is a product I tend to use more at night rather than in the morning. As with all Original Source shower gels, once put onto a shower puff, it lathers up really well so you don’t need to use a lot of it at once. The shower gel lathers up quickly, filling the bathroom with a wonderfully relaxing scent. This shower gel is also really soft on the skin and it feels fantastic to use.

Original Source can be found is all major supermarkets or anywhere that sells cosmetics/ toiletries. At regular price, the same size bottle will usually set you back somewhere between £2.50 and £3 which is still very reasonable and well worth paying for such an amazing product. Original Source shower gels can often be found on offer though so they’re worth looking out for.

I really love this shower gel and is now one of my favourites from Original Source. I do with the tea tree was a bit more evident but I don’t mind too much because I love the lavender scent so much. 

Wilko Candle In Glass

The product in question for this review is the Wilko Candle in Glass. I love Vanilla scented candles so I'm always on the lookout for new ones. As this is a Wilko product, you will only be able to find it in store or online. You can buy this one here.

The reason why I bought this candle (multiples of it actually) is because it was already housed in a glass casing. Most candles from Wilkinson don’t have any kind of covering unless you buy candle holders from them. This vanilla scented candle is only £1 and it has a lovely glass casing which I assume will be reusable. The glass is nice and thick and you can see that it won’t break easily. The candle inside is also of a decent size with about an inch left clear from the top. The candle is white in colour which goes with the vanilla scent and has a small white wick in the middle.

This candle is so much better than the cheap tealights you can get from Wilkinson. There is no advice anywhere about how long the candle is supposed to last for although I have been burning one for roughly 7 hours and there is still way over half of the wax left. The scent of vanilla is also really strong with this candle, which is something that you don’t get with the tealights. The wick burns really brightly and as I normally have 4 of these burning at any one time, they light up my bedroom really well. I have these on my bedside table so 4 of them give off enough light for me to be able to read next to them.

I really like these candles in comparison to the cheaper items available. Once the candle are blown out, they do give off quite a lot of smoke which is my only real negative about this product. It takes a little while for the smoke to clear and that isn’t a good thing when I blow them out just before going to sleep. However, I would definitely buy this candle again. 

Lush Angel's Delight Soap

As part of my shopping splurge in the sales after Christmas at Lush, I picked up quite a few different things. I like to try something new and although I don’t use soap (always shower gel instead) very much, I decided to give Lush Angel’s Delight Soap a try. Now, this is another Lush product which is only available at Christmastime so if you want some, you will probably need to stock up for the year if you use it a lot.

Usually this product is sold in chunks although I got mine as part of a set which was on sale. My piece of soap comes in the shape of a star and is a lovely sugary pink colour. When sold in a chunk, there are other colours such as blue, yellow and purple running through the soap. I do think the larger chunks of soap are much prettier than the star shaped soap you get in the gift box.

Before even wetting the soap, you can smell how sweet it is. To me, the soap smells like a lovely chunk of sweets which is one of the reasons why I couldn’t wait to try using it. The soap contains coconut oil, rapeseed oil as well as tangerine oil amongst a range of other ingredients which is why it smells so sweet and nice. This has a very girly scent to it though so I can’t imagine too many men wanting to use it.

While using this in the shower, I was surprised at how well it lathers up. I wasn’t expecting a soap to get anywhere near as much lather as a shower gel but this one did really well. The warm, sweet scent of tangerines fills my bathroom each time I use this. The soap is very soft on the skin and the scent also clings to my skin. However, if you use any other product after this one, the scent will be overpowered but if you don’t, it will last on your skin all day.

I was also surprised to see that the soap doesn’t go down very quickly at all. I’ve been using this for a good few weeks now and the soap is barely any smaller than it was when I got it. Because of that, I think it would be fantastic value for money should it be bought in a larger chunk. I definitely want some more of this next year when it comes back into stock. 

Nails Inc. Motcomb Street

A good friend bought me some new Nails Inc. nail polishes for Christmas and I couldn’t wait to use them. The first one that I got to try was the limited edition Motcomb Street. Nails Inc. polishes are pretty expensive considering they’re £11 each for a single bottle so they’re not something I would buy myself very often. However, Nailsinc.com often have them on offer at 3 for £22 which is basically 3 for 2.

This nail polish comes in the typical Nails Inc bottle which is quite small and made from glass. The lid is metallic silver and unscrews to come off. On the see through bottle is the Nails Inc. logo along with ‘limited edition’ printed below. The back of the bottle has on it the company address along with showing that there is 10ml of liquid inside. If you turn the bottle upside down, you can see the name of the nail polish on the underneath.

Motcomb Street is actually a really dark navy blue nail polish although I originally thought it was black. It wasn’t until I started painting my nails that I realised I had gotten the colour wrong. As you paint on your first coat, the colour looks like a mixture between a strange green colour and blue but don’t be put off, the second coat makes all the difference. The brush used with this nail polish is just like any other and generally takes 2-3 strokes to cover one nail which isn’t too bad.

The nail polish itself is quite thin so be careful how much you have on your brush at any one time. This isn’t too bad if you’re doing one of your bigger nails but I did my pinkie finger first and ended up with way too much. What I really love about this nail polish is how quickly it dried. Although it isn’t a quick drying product, the first coat dried in a few minutes which made it possible to do the second coat quite quickly. After the second coat, all of my nails were completely dry and not tacky at all after about 10 minutes.

This polish is also extremely easy to remove which I was glad to see. I use acetone to remove my nail polish instead of general nail polish remover which does make it a bit easier than normal. Using cotton wool pads, each nails needed one quick swipe over, removing all of the nail polish.

Although I do think this is an expensive nail polish, I love the colour and I think it will quickly become a favourite. 

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel

It’s only over the past year or so that I’ve gotten more into my bath products. One of the best known and most popular is Lush, a company who prides themselves in selling fresh, handmade cosmetics and bath products and I only tend to shop here during the sales after Christmas. While their products are nice, I don’t want to pay their full prices.

Last Christmas my fiancé bought me the Snow Fairy lip tint after I had tried some of my friend’s so this year, I went on a hunt for other Snow Fairy products. I managed to get hold of a 100ml bottle which cost £1.75 although full price is £3.50. Larger 200ml and 500ml bottles are also available before Christmas but these had already sold out by Boxing Day. All Snow Fairy products are limited edition and are only available around Christmas time.

== How Lush describe it ==

Our winter temptress shower hair and body gel that’s bursting with fruit fragrance and has a sparkle of ice through it.

Now we must confess, it’s a mystery to us why this one particular product should become our No1 Christmas bestseller. It’s not your classic hippy dippy Lush herbal offering. Instead it is an intensely sweet, fruity pink shower gel loved by people everywhere.

== My experience ==

I couldn’t wait to try this out on Boxing Day night after braving the shops during the day. The shower gel comes in the typical Lush shower gel bottle which is made from plastic with a black flip top cap. On the bottle is a black label which has on it the Lush logo, a ‘packed by’ sticker with a use by date along with the name of the product and a description. Although the Lush packaging is pretty much all the same in different colours, at least they match on my bathroom shelf. A good thing about the Lush bottles is that you can take the lids back to the shop to recycle.

The colour of the shower gel is a bright pink which will appeal to girls of all ages but I think this would be a lovely treat for younger girls. As soon as you open the lid, the rich and sweet smell. Although this is supposed to smell like candyfloss, I think it smells more like cheap cherryade which I love the smell of. I haven’t had a Lush shower gel before this one but when I began to pour the liquid out of the bottle, I was pleasantly surprised with how thick it was. Unlike cheaper shower gels, this one has a lovely consistency which also means you don’t need to use too much of it in one go.

As I began to pour out the shower gel onto my fluff ball thingy, the sweet smell instantly hit me again. Now, while I really love the scent of this shower gel, I think it may be too sweet for some people. While this is in the bottle, it has tiny flecks of glitter mixed in but once out of the bottle, it seems to disappear which was a bit disappointing. You only need a small amount of Snow Fairy and it lathers up really quickly. The shower gel feels very luxurious and thick on the skin and feels wonderful to use in the shower. It feels extremely soft and smooth on my skin and the scent fills the bathroom for ages.

My only real big disappointment with this shower gel is that the scent doesn’t last very long on the skin. I wish it lasted longer as I think this would make it better value for money. I wouldn’t pay the full price of £3.50 for a 100ml bottle but I will definitely be looking for it in the Christmas sales every year.

Disney Mike Soft Toy

After being bought the Sulley soft toy by my fiancé a, I desperately wanted Mike Wazowski to go with him. Sulley looked lonely sat on top of one of my chests of drawers and needed his best friend to keep him company. Luckily, I got bought the Disney Mike Soft Toy for Christmas.

Mike is a small, green, one eyed monster. The material used for this soft toy is polyester and a bright lime green colour. Next to Sulley who is blue and purple, they make a well matched pair. This soft toy also has a partial bean bag filling in the bottom of his belly. The most striking feature about Mike is his one, big bulging eye which is made from a deep green with gold stitching. He also has grey horns on either side of his head and his claws on feet and hands match. Mike is roughly H34 x W36cm in size although he does also sit down which makes him smaller (About H23cm).

At full price, this soft toy costs £18 although he is in the sale quite a lot for £10. At either price, I think he is worth the money. Mike is soft and very cuddly, although he doesn’t look like he should be. The material he is made from is very smooth and his long dangly arms and legs make him perfect for kids to drag around. He also makes a great addition to your collection if you have other Monsters, Inc. characters like Sulley or the Yeti (which I really want now). This soft toy is also of a decent size, although not as big as some of the others which cost the same.

Somehow, I love Mike much more than I do Sulley. I think this is mostly down to the fact that he is better to cuddle and is just a nicer looking soft toy generally. 

Disney Sulley Soft Toy

I really love my Disney soft toys and a while back, my boyfriend bought me Sulley from Monsters, Inc. This is one of my favourite Disney films so it was a nice surprise to get a character that I already loved so much.

Sulley, at full price is £18 although The Disney Store, both in shopping centers and online, often have sales on where you can get him for £10 instead so this is worth looking out for. I think £18 is a reasonable price though for this soft toy and I would have happily paid it myself. Sulley measures 31cm in height and roughly 26cm in width which is why I think the price is so reasonable. There are smaller soft toys available for the same price so with Sulley, you’re getting quite a large soft toy for a very good price.

Sulley looks exactly like he does in the film. His fur is bright blue with purple spots and is really soft. However, it feels as though some of the inside of Sulley is made out of something a bit harder than other Disney soft toys as he isn’t quite as cuddly as others I have such as Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear. Sulley also has brown claws on both his hands and feet and purple horns on either side of his head. This soft toy also comes with a huge smile on his face which is something I think children will like.

Although I do love my Sulley, I don’t quite love him as much as some other Disney soft toys that I have. For children especially, he isn’t the kind of soft toy that you can cuddle up with in bed so this is why he isn’t a five star toy for me. I still need to get a Mike to go with Sulley which might be something to buy in the Christmas sales.