Tag Archives: bath and body care

Mar4

Bath & Body Works March Freebie

Posted on March 4, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Howdy!! After going absolutely insane during Bath & Body Works’ winter Semi-Annual Sale, I have been receiving hella coupons in the mail and it is great. Each packet has contained a free travel size or full size product coupon and even though my shelves are fully stocked, free is free! 😀 This past Thursday, I had a quick minute to run into the store and used my coupon to get a free travel size shower gel in B&BW’s new scent, Tropidelic. I never would have picked it for myself so I was glad that the sales associate pointed it out! Let’s discuss:

Whenever I stop into B&BW during the work week, I am going at high speed because it’s in between shifts. I am a woman on a mission and I have been told as such the past two times I walked into the store lol. As per ushe, I bee lined to the travel size section to pick whatever tickled my fancy. I am never too picky when it comes to the smaller size because it’s nice to try something new without having to use it for forever.

As I was making my decision, the sales associate asked if I had tried out the new Tropidelic line, I said no, and she returned with a fragrance spray tester stick. I took one whiff and it was good enough for me. Tropidelic offers notes of “passion flower, ylang ylang, and misty rainforest”. I’ll be honest with all of you, I have no idea what any of this is supposed to smell like lol, but I liked it! This really is a lush scent that teleports you to a tropical climate. It’s slightly floral, but the main notes are quite earthy. Tropidelic is way different than what I normally go for. I can’t say I would make the plunge to buy it in full size, however, I’m happy to sample it for a while. 😀

Bath & Body Works has been dropping new fragrance lines like it’s hot so if you are looking for a new spring scent, you know where to go!!

Do you like to use one specific scent or do you change it up? Do you swap scents with the seasons? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb29

February 2024 Finishes

Posted on February 29, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Helloooo everyone! We are wrapping up the month of February today on lifewithlilred and that means it’s time to discuss the beauty products that I used up. We have quite a few new to me empties to chat about with hit or miss reviews so why wait? Let’s take a look:

Would I Use Again?

Rusted Acre Soap Co. Whipped Soap in Sugar Cookie: NO

Hope Soap Body Nectar in Fruity Loops: YES

Home & Body Company Rose Body Oil: NO

Simple Brightening Eye Gel: YES

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Moisturizer: YES

Why/Why Not?

Whipped Soap: I have always been intrigued by the concept of “whipped soap” and this was my first time using it. While Rusted Acre Soap Co. delivered with the Sugar Cookie scent, I wouldn’t use it again. I love a body wash that lathers really well and using the whipped soap just wasn’t the same as my standard shower gel from Bath & Body Works. I also found that I needed to use a lot of the soap to get a decent lather going so the value for this product wasn’t there. It took me under one month to finish the jar.

Hope Soap Lotion: I received the Fruity Loops Body Nectar by Hope Soap from my mother-in-law for Christmas and it was the best. Hope Soap is a local business in my neck of the woods and I have used several of their products before. Although all of them were pretty good, Fruity Loops took the cake for scent alone. It smelled exactly like Fruity Pebbles and it was divine! My niece also loved it and I had to send her home from my house with a little jar of her own. 🙂 It took me about five weeks to finish this jar with nightly use.

Body Oil: I have been working on the Rose body oil by the Home & Body Company since December and I am SO freaking happy to be done with it lol. I bought this oil from TJMaxx thinking that the bottle would last me a long time as a serum. And, it did. However, it definitely wasn’t my favorite. This product was very greasy and it felt like it never absorbed into the skin. It also didn’t sit well under makeup so I would have to use a different serum for the day if I planned on applying any. I did like this oil when my skin felt dry from the winter weather, but it isn’t practical for every day use. It took me two and a half months to finish the bottle.

Simple Eye Gel: Now, if you want to talk about a product with real longevity, the Simple Brightening Eye Gel wins by far. It took me a staggering over half a year of twice daily use to finish this little tube! How? The tiniest amount went a very long way! I was really impressed with this product and after such an extended use, I could see the results. I thought my designer bags decreased significantly and the skin around my eyes did seem brighter. I still can’t believe I got this eye gel for five bucks and it lasted this long. Highly recommend!

Palmer’s Moisturizer: I am a huge cocoa butter fan. I love the moisturize boost but, mainly, I love the smell! I had no idea that Palmer’s made skin care products too so I just had to snag a moisturizer when I saw it at TJMaxx. I’m glad I did because it was awesome! This moisturizer was so rich and creamy, but it still absorbed nice and quick. And, of course, it smelled good enough to eat. It took me about a month of twice daily use to finish the jar and I would definitely buy it again.

Despite some duds, I was stoked to be able to finish up some products that I have been using for forever this past month. I was elated to be done with the body oil lol. GREAT SUCCESS, indeed!

What is your favorite scent? What are your thoughts on any of the products above if you have used them before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb10

New & Improved Beauty Stock Pile

Posted on February 10, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! There are a few things about my apartment that drives me absolutely nuts. One of which is my under the sink cabinet in the bathroom. At my old apartment, both of these cabinets opened perfectly and I was able to house all of my beauty care supplies. Here, however, the left cabinet is stuck something fierce and it is a pain to open. You literally have to rain blows upon it from the inside to get it to open and it is incredibly annoying. It also makes it very difficult to store all of my products because I can essentially only use one side of the cabinet. So, I decided on a simple AF solution that I am so happy with:

As all of you know, I take my beauty stock pile seriously and it currently runneth over with skin care and Bath & Body Works hauls. What I love most about my hoard is being able to see all of the products and choosing which one to use next because it’s kind of like going shopping. This experience wasn’t possible with the cabinets so I used a chest of drawers to keep all of my goodies in instead. These drawers are old as dirt and I wasn’t using them for anything important – just random odds and ends that I had completely forgot about lol. I did find a ton of socks that I had convinced myself were gone for good, though, so that was a huge score!

Once I cleared out the top two shelves and condensed them to the bottom two, I began to fill each drawer. Bath and body care on the top shelf and skin care on the second one. This process was done in a flash, but it felt so good to do! I always consider my wardrobe to be my own personal boutique and now I get the same vibes with my beauty care. It was most pleasing to line them up in the order I wanted and have a visual of everything. It was pretty hard to tell what I even had in the cabinets when everything was piled on top of each other. In fact, I ended up finding tons of travel size B&BW freebies that got lost in the mix and is proof that this quick fix project needed to happen. 😀

Is this an HGTV level renovation? Not even HGTV Junior lol! But, I was able to problem solve and no longer have to punch my cabinet to get things out of it. Total GREAT SUCCESS!

What is a project you completed recently? What are your favorite things to stock up on? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb3

Bath & Body Works January Freebie

Posted on February 3, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! January was the month of a full fledged bath and body care restock. I came, I saw, I shopped during the Semi-Annual Sale at Bath & Body Works. Because I went absolutely nuts, I was rewarded with lots of coupons that included two free full size products. One in the mail and one because I’m a B&BW rewards member. Just when I thought I was done with Bath & Body Works for a while, I happily returned with another mail coupon for a free travel size product. I don’t think I’ll need to re-up my stockpile any time soon! Here is what I picked out:

When I get a coupon for a travel size product, I like to try and change things up from my usual scents. My theory is that I won’t be using them for too long so I might as well experiment! For my freebie, I went for a body cream in the scent At The Beach. I am a fruity gal when it comes to fragrances and shy away from more natural or musky scents. However, I needed some sunshine after an eternally grey month and I figured a beachy scent was the next best thing!

At The Beach features notes of “frangipani blossoms, toasted coconut, and bergamot waters”. While I can’t speak for what frangipani blossoms smell like or what they even are and I have no clue what bergamot waters are, I can definitely smell the coconut lol. This lotion smells exactly like sunscreen and I’m kind of there for it. Is it my favorite scent? Not really. Is it good enough? Absolutely – anything free is! I don’t think that I would get anything from this fragrance line again, but I’m glad I tried something new.

Thanks to all of these Bath & Body Works goodies, I will be the best smelling gal this side of the Mississippi. But is it bad that I’m already beyond excited for the summer Semi-Annual Sale?!

How do you feel about beach scents? What is your favorite bath and body care brand? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan29

January 2024 Finishes

Posted on January 29, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Helloooo!!! We are FINALLY nearing the end of January and all I have to say is thank gawd lol. This past month has felt like a year and I have been ready for it to be over weeks ago. I am eagerly anticipating the start of spring, warmer weather, and getting back to my walking regimen. The past several weeks in Akron, Ohio have been bitterly cold, rainy, snowy, sleety, icy, and everything in between and it has really been putting a damper on things both literally and metaphorically! Thankfully, the month is almost out and here’s to brighter days ahead! Now, let’s get to these beauty empties. This post will be short and sweet because there wasn’t much in the “all done” department:

Would I Use Again?

Bath & Body Works Gingham Vibrant Shower Gel: YES

Dead Sea Collection 24K Gold + Collagen Night Cream: NO

Why/Why Not:

B&BW Shower Gel: I am a Bath & Body Works Gingham girl through and through and it is one of my favorite scent collections. I LOVED Gingham Love and flipped shit when they released more scents like Gingham Vibrant, Gorgeous, and Fresh. Gingham Vibrant mixes the classic crisp scent of the original fragrance with tart blackberries and soft notes of vanilla. It definitely lives up to the name Vibrant because it is such a lively and bright scent. Sadly, the Vibrant and Fresh lines got discontinued, but they will live on forever in my heart lol. It took me a month and a half to finish this bottle.

Dead Sea Collection Cream: I have recently started introducing skin care with retinol and collagen into my skin care routine. Unfortunately, I haven’t found one that works for me yet because the last one I used and the Dead Sea Collection cream were massive duds. I’m not saying I want a product with tightening and firming agents to feel like my face is burning off, but I would like to feel something. Just for the confirmation that it’s working. I noticed no differences in the feel or look of my skin and that was disappointing. On the bright side, now I know which brands to steer clear of and am hoping through the process of elimination that I will find the moisturizer for me. It took me about three and a half weeks of twice daily use to finish the jar.

That’s that for the January empties – I told you it would be a short post! Bring on February because I can’t wait to try out all of my new goodies from recent bath and body and skin care hauls! 😀

What is a product you loved that got discontinued? What is your favorite collagen/retinol cream? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan25

Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Freddy Krueger Edition

Posted on January 25, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Freddy Krueger Edition

Hello!! This past weekend was a nice and relaxing one and I decided to take a soak with one of the amazing horror themed bath bombs my bestie got me for Christmas. These bath bombs by Rusted Acre Soap Co. are the literal bomb and I was highly impressed by the knife and Jason Voorhees ones that I used previously. They put on the most amazing show that put them on a Lush level for me and that’s really saying something! Needless to say, I was very excited to use the Freddy Krueger bath bomb but, unfortunately, it missed the mark in a big way. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

One, two Freddy’s coming for youuu

Similarly to the other two bath bombs that I used in this collection, not much happened for the first few minutes of the Freddy Krueger bomb being in the water. It fizzed out white bubbles and didn’t start turning the water red until the bath water was topped with a hazy film. Then, the bath bomb started really going into action with red and yellow bubbles bursting out at a rapid pace. This was pretty par for the course and I was actually willing the process to go faster because I was looking forward to the surprise finish that the previous two bath bombs had.

Nearing the end, the knife bath bomb spurted out inky, glittery black water and it looked SO cool. The Jason Voorhees one, on the other hand, erupted green and red from the eyes and ended up replicating his mask in the water. For the grand finale for Freddy Krueger, I was expecting to see the water bursts create a pattern like his gloves. This was the most logical way for it to go and I couldn’t wait to see it. Sadly, nothing happened once the bath bomb was about to fizz out completely and that was a big disappointment.

I will say that this bath bomb turned the water into a fantastic shade of deep, blood red and that was a nice touch. However, it basically did everything the other bath bombs did without anything unique about it. I’m not sure if this was because these bath bombs are a bit older. They did come shrink wrapped but maybe they needed to be used by a specific date to be at their most effective? We’ll see what the Ghostface and Michael Myers bombs do when I use them to determine if this was a factor or not.

Overall, I am going to rate the Freddy Krueger bath bomb with a four and a half out of ten stars. This was my least favorite one from the pack so far for its lack of excitement. Whomp whomp!!

Who is your favorite slasher villain? What is your favorite color palette for the water to change with a bath bomb? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan23

Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 2

Posted on January 23, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 2

Howdy! Judging from yesterday’s post, it’s safe to say that I come alive during the Bath & Body Works semi annual sale lol. With such amazing deals, I would be shocked if I didn’t! I can’t say that I have ever paid full price for anything from B&BW between their coupons, promotions, and fabulous semi annual sales and that is how it should be. I couldn’t imagine spending almost fifteen dollars for one body wash! And, for this haul, I didn’t have to. Each product totaled out to be about four dollars and fifty cents and I was on thrifty girl cloud nine! Let’s check out the rest of this haul and discuss further:

When I shop in store at B&BW, I tend to have my blinders on because I know exactly what I need and don’t want to be tempted by anything else. So, I was shocked to see that B&BW has skin care products as I online shopped my way through the semi annual sale! Despite the fact that I just had a major skin care haul from TJMaxx, I added a dry skin moisturizer to my cart anyway. The reviews for the moisturizer were pretty average and it only received three stars. Normally, I would shy away from something that doesn’t have stellar reviews, but curiosity got the best of me. It was also way cheaper than a moisturizer from TJs. I will be eager to try it out and will be sure to let you all know what I think!

Like the moisturizer, I really didn’t need more hand soap because I just had a holiday scent haul for that too. Also like the moisturizer, the hand soaps were dirt cheap and you all know that they are an absolute necessity in my household. The two soaps I chose were Express Your Elf and Very Berry Good Days. Express Your Elf was described as a “merry cookie” scent and I thought that was hilarious. With fragrance notes of “buttery shortbread, vanilla bourbon icing, and spun sugar”, I have to say that the merry cookie description was dead on lol. Hilarious, yes. Accurate AF, YES! 😀

Very Berry Good Days was said to have a strawberry soda scent and this one was just okay to me. The notes featured are “fresh strawberries, bubbly seltzer, and crushed ice”. It actually does smell like a fizzy, fruity soda and I thought that was cool. However, the strawberry scent translated more as a cough medicine and that was a turn off. One whiff of this soap had me wishing that they went for a limeade fragrance instead because I think that would be delightful.

Last but certainly not least from this haul is the Sun-Washed Citrus fragrance spray and shower gel. (Peep yesterday’s post for more on Poppy!) I am a fruity scent girl through and through and that includes all things citrus. It’s just so invigorating and fresh and gives summertime vibes in the dead of winter. Sun-Washed Citrus is exactly what I imagined it to be with notes of “sugared lemons, mandarin, and agave nectar”. The mandarin is soft and sweet while the lemon adds the perfect amount of zest and it is so very nice. Highly recommend!

This semi annual sale haul was one for the ages and I am so pleased with all of my purchases. The fragrances are sweet, but the prices were (Dare I say?) even sweeter!

What kind of fragrances do you like? What is a fragrance you can’t stand? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan22

Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 1

Posted on January 22, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 1

Hello!!! Countless stores run semi annual sales, but the only one that I participate in is Bath & Body Works. You simply cannot beat their promotions, which include up to 75% off of full size products. It’s not a deal, it’s a full on steal and their winter sale couldn’t have come soon enough because I was running low on the bath and body care products in my stock pile. I shopped the semi annual sale online and, admittedly, went a bit nuts lol. However, I won’t have to restock my supplies for a good long while and it was worth every penny!

My haul included twenty-two products (The ones not pictured are for Johnny!) for a grand total of one hundred dollars. This made each item about four dollars and fifty cents as opposed to upwards of eighteen! Like I said, worth every penny. Because this haul was so massive, I will be breaking it up into two parts starting with the following:

There was a point in my life when I was obsessed with the wallflowers from B&BW. What I liked most about them is the fact that they offered a way to add scent to the apartment without being overpowering. I feel like I can taste some of the air freshener brand plugins and I am SO not about that! Then, my favorite Wicked Apple plugin that I kept in the living room broke after a guest bumped into it and I never bothered replacing it. The wallflowers themselves are inexpensive, but the plugins are kind of pricey. The semi annual sale was the perfect time to rectify this and I purchased a new apple plugin and two new wallflower scents in Raspberry Thumbprint and Hanukkah.

I am a HUGE fan of raspberry scents and the Raspberry Thumbprint is just as delicious smelling as I imagined it to be. This wallflower features notes of “buttery shortbread, rich raspberry jam, sprinkled with powdered sugar”. It’s like a bakery in a bottle and I love it so very much. The Hanukkah wallflower was purchased for no other reason other than I was curious. What does Hanukkah smell like? Let’s find out because I’m taking a whiff for the first time now…

Coincidentally, I feel like Hanukkah smells exactly like Raspberry Thumbprint lol! The notes for this one include “Pillowy fried donut, sweet jelly filling, sprinkled with powdered sugar”. So, in other words: Raspberry Thumbprint haha. Hey, kudos to me for trying something different!

While I was most excited to see what scent Hanukkah is, what I was most looking forward to was my purchases from the Poppy line. Poppy is quite possibly one of my all time favorite scents from B&BW and when I say I needed all of it, I mean ALL of it! I ended up with three shower gels, three lotions, and three body creams in Poppy and it took all of my self restraint to not buy more. The fragrance notes of this scent are “fresh morning dew, wild poppies, sugared rhubarb, and juicy pear”. I can’t speak for the morning dew or the wild poppies because, to me, Poppy smells like a strawberry/pear combo and it is magnificent. It is fruity and sweet without being too much because the mellow pear balances out the strawberry scent. It is absolutely divine. ❤

Stay tuned for more from my Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul tomorrow because we have a lot more fragrances to discuss. See you then!

Which store has the best semi annual sale? How often do you restock your bath and body care products? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan19

Bath & Body Works January Freebies

Posted on January 19, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hellooo everyone!!! I live for my freebie coupons that come in the mail for Bath & Body Works and after a while of not receiving any, I finally got one for a free full size product. More than likely because of my hand soap haul and a huge semi annual sale purchase (Which you will see more of later!). I also had another free full size product to cash in from my rewards points so I couldn’t wait to hit up the store and pick out some goodies. I didn’t have the best weekend so I definitely needed a little treat! The best part about this little treat is that it ended up being over thirty dollars worth of product completely free. You can’t beat that! Check it out:

For my free items, I decided to do one shower gel and one lotion. These were very easy choices to make because there were lots of new scents from Bath & Body Works to try. I went for Calypso Clementine for my shower gel and Butterfly for my lotion. The clementine one is brand new to B&BW and I’m not sure if Butterfly is too, but it is new to me. Within ten minutes, I was in and out of the store with my freebies and I cannot wait to use them because they both smell fabulous!!

As you might have guessed, Calypso Clementine features notes of “juicy clementine, neroli nectar, and coastal woods”. Well, maybe you guessed the juicy clementine part anyways lol. This shower gel smells like summer in a bottle and I am obsessed. I am a huge fan of citrus scents and they are often my go to. I like that citrus fragrances tend to be more pungent than your typical fruit scent, but they are by no means overpowering. The Calypso Clementine is zingy and bright and smells good enough to eat.

I wasn’t sure what Butterfly was going to smell like, but I’m really glad I took a whiff instead of breezing by it for the fear that it might be too flowery for my taste. Butterfly offers notes of “raspberry nectar, iris petals, and airy vanilla”. I absolutely adore sweet/tart raspberry scents so this one was perfect for me! While I love vanilla and am not too fond of anything floral, I couldn’t smell the hints of either and that’s okay. All raspberry everything is what I wanted and that’s what I got!

This was a fantastic freebie haul from Bath & Body Works and I am most eager to use my new shower gel and lotion. Stay tuned for my semi annual sale haul that will go live the day after my Busy Day OOTD Bloopers tomorrow! 🙂

What is your favorite fruit scent? How do you feel about floral fragrances? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec29

Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Knife Edition

Posted on December 29, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Knife Edition

Hello everyone!!! I hope you all had a merrier Christmas than me because I have been sick as a dog. Thankfully, I have tested negative for Covid several times, but your girl has been feeling ROUGH. This has been most upsetting because I literally never take time off and took an entire week off for the holidays only to get sick. One thing that made me feel better in a sea of yuck was some pampering thanks to my Christmas gift from my sweet blogging bestie. Kate of Live In The Nautical treated me to an absolutely amazing set of horror bath bombs by Rusted Acre Soap Co. and I am in loooove. It was so nice to soak away my troubles for a bit and I was blown away by the show that my Knife bath bomb put on. Check it out:

It is hard to find a true substitute to Lush bath bombs, but I think that they have met their match with Rusted Acre Soap Co. This is, easily, the best not Lush bath bomb that I have ever used and it makes me so eager to try out the other four in the set I got. The Knife bath bomb was a slow fizzing one with thrilling surprises during every stage. What started off at a leisurely pace ended with a massive bang (As you can see from how the water was colored!) and I almost wanted to draw another bath to see what the other bath bombs were going to do!

When I placed the bath bomb in the water, it began to fizz white and smoky grey with the tiniest flecks of red. This process lasted for about two minutes and I assumed that was going to be all. I was so happy to be so completely wrong!! Just when I thought that this bath bomb showed me all it had to offer, the knife erupted in red and began to change the color of the water. After over a minute’s worth of red, the bath bomb changed to black, creating inky, glittery blood red water. It was like watching the climax of a horror movie all from my own bathtub. 😮

This was arguably the coolest bath bomb I have ever used and it smelled great too. Even while severely stuffed up, I could still smell the tangy lemon in the air which was both soothing and invigorating. I only had two qualms with this bath bomb and they are minor. 1) It stained my tub horribly. 2) It wasn’t as moisturizing as a Lush bath bomb, which is my favorite thing about them. Regardless, what a unique experience and I can’t wait to use more!

I am going to rate the Knife bath bomb with a seven and a half out of ten stars. If you are a horror fan, then I cannot recommend the Thriller Bath Bomb Set by Rusted Acre Soap Co. enough. You will love them!

How do you like to pamper yourself? What is your favorite horror flick? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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