Tag Archives: b&bw

Aug26

August 2018 Finishes

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August 2018 Finishes

Hellooooo! Can you believe that another month of 2018 is already behind us?! Today, we will be talking about all of the beauty goodies that I finished up this past month. We will learn if these products are worth reusing, the approximate amount of uses you might get out of them, and what effect they had on my face or body. So, take a look at my empties for the month of August and let’s discuss:

augustt

Would I Use Again?

  • Pearberry body spray by Bath & Body Works: YES
  • Satsuma shower gel by The Body Shop: YES
  • Charcoal Facial Detox cleanser by Destiny Boutique: YES
  • Travel sized lotions by Bath & Body Works: YES
  • Nutriganics eye cream by The Body Shop: YES

Why/Why Not?

Pearberry Body Spray: I LOVE this fragrance by Bath & Body Works and my only regret is that they only had one to buy when they brought it back for the Semi-Annual Sale. It has the sweetness of a crisp pear and the bite of freshly picked berries and it is just delicious. It took me over five months to finish this spray and I would happily by it in abundance next time it makes a come back.

TBS Shower Gel: There is nothing more invigorating than showering with The Body Shop’s Satsuma shower gel in the morning. The sweet/tart orange scent is divine and the gel lathers so well, it just envelops you in freshness. It took me a month and a half to finish this body wash.

Destiny Boutique Cleanser: I LOVE THIS CLEANSER!!! There are no better charcoal products than Destiny Boutique and I will continue using this brand until TJMaxx doesn’t sell it any more! Nothing banishes blackheads better and my skin always feels amazing after each use. It took me over five months to finish this cleanser and at ten dollars it gives a two dollar cost per month. Not bad at all!

B&BW Lotions: Although I wasn’t crazy about any of these scents, which included A Thousand Wishes, Hello Beautiful, and Japanese Cherry Blossom, I will gladly continue to cash in my B&BW freebies. I got about one and a half full body uses out of each travel sized container.

TBS Eye Cream: We all know that The Body Shop’s Nutriganics eye cream will always be my go to brand. No need to discuss it further! It took me six months to finish this product.

August was a very successful month of finishes and I was happy to use up some of the products that take me a long time to get through. I would use all of the above goodies again and I would definitely recommend them to all of you!

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

Jul11

Bath & Body Works July Freebie

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Bath & Body Works July Freebie

Hello everyone and happy Hump Day! It’s no secret by now that 99% of the time that I go into Bath & Body Works is because I have a travel sized freebie coupon. That certainly rang true when I ran in last week to pick up this here mini shower gel! Take a look:

sugarrr

In my humble opinion, you can NEVER go wrong with vanilla scented anything. Candles, perfumes, lotions, and, of course, shower gels! I’ve been a bit underwhelmed with the freebie fragrances that I’ve been getting lately, so I decided to go for an old standby this time around with Warm Vanilla Sugar. It combines the decadence of vanilla that I love with the sweet warmth of brown sugar, making for a totally delicious scent during shower time!

What is one of your go to fragrances when it comes to bath and body care products? What is your least favorite scent? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May24

My Beauty Hoard

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My Beauty Hoard

Hey! When it comes to most of my material pleasures in life, I am lucky enough to have a lot of them. A beautiful collection of shoes, clothing, and accessories help to turn me into the fashionista by day so that I can delve into my pajama collection at night. And, when it comes to beauty products, a collector I am, as well.

I have always been a firm believer in buying in bulk and having the products on hand when I need more, rather than running to the store every month to reup. I am also a firm believer in the power of coupons, freebies, and treasuring gifts from friends, which also helps add to my collection seen below:

hoard

Now, that may look like a lot of stuff – but what if I told you that about fifty percent of the above products were free? Check it out:

  • The three cleansers in the front: FREE
  • Every single mini lotion or shower gel: FREE
  • The three shower gels from The Body Shop: FREE
  • Two mini body butters: FREE
  • Charcoal mask from The Body Shop: FREE

Meanwhile, the other products were all bought on the cheap. For example:

  • The seven perfumes from Bath & Body Works were purchased for about twenty dollars all together.
  • The body butters and skin care were all bought at TJMaxx prices
  • And the remaining shower gels were all bought with coupons.

So, where did all of the free swag come from? The three cleansers and some of the mini lotions are compliments of Walgreen’s freebie bags that I received when purchasing my hair dye. I always wait to restock my boxed color until I get an email saying that Walgreen’s is running their freebie bag promotion with a certain amount of money purchased so that I can score some free goodies while buying a necessity.

All of the Bath & Body Works minis are thanks to the free travel sized coupons that I get from B&BW. Right now I have over sixty dollars worth of free product from there in my hoard and I always have them handy for gift giving occasions. And, the rest of my free products were gifts that I use frugally so that I don’t have to buy more of my favorites until I absolutely have to!

The rest of my hoard was all purchased with the help of coupons or the amazingly low prices of TJMaxx. Very rarely do I purchase anything at full price anymore – and why would I?! With the power of apps, reward programs, coupons, and sale promotions, it’s simple to save and create a collection of your own.

Who else has a beauty care hoard at home? How do you score the best freebies and deals? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May22

Bath & Body Works May Freebie

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Bath & Body Works May Freebie

Hi! So Bath & Body Works finally sent me a freebie coupon after months of not receiving anything, so I was excited to run into the store and grab a travel sized lotion or shower gel. I was in a rush when I was in the store, and their new packaging definitely didn’t help, because I couldn’t tell what the idea was for any of their scents. Take a look and you’ll see what I mean:

gel

I really did like B&BW’s old packaging, because it let you know what the product would smell like without having to flip the lid. Now, you can’t tell what their scent would be like from anything and, frankly, I think the packaging looks cheap. I selected a new scent of theirs called Happy Vibes and it smelled okay. It’s a floral/citrus scent and the only reason why I selected it was because I was in a hurry. The flowers in this gel definitely overpowered any notes of citrus that you could smell, so I am not a huge fun. But, hey, it was free! 😀

How do you feel about B&BW’s new packaging? What is your favorite shower gel fragrance? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr26

April 2018 Finishes

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April 2018 Finishes

Howdy! I hate to say it, but 2018 is moving at a rapid pace. With April drawing to a close, warm summer days will be on the horizon before we know it. As much as I’d love for time to slow down dramatically, that’s just not the way things work! Lovely May is just days away and that means that it’s time to see which beauty products I am saying bye bye to this month. Check it out:

aprill

Would I Use Again?

  • Bath & Body Works Country Apple body spray: YES
  • Tresemme Botanique Damage Recovery hair product: YES
  • Jones New York body cream in White Tea: MAYBE

Why/Why Not?

B&BW Spray: We all know by now how much I love anything apple scented and Country Apple by Bath & Body Works will always be one of my faves. I buy this body spray in bulk for a whole three dollars during B&BW’s summer sales and it usually lasts me close to five months. Talk about a teeny tiny cost per use!

Tresemme Hair Product: I really, really liked this spray. 1) It smelled awesome. 2) It made my hair really shiny. And 3) It provided protection from heat while leaving my hair feeling soft and fresh. It took me at least six months to finish this product and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan on it once I finish up the oil that I’m currently using. I would definitely recommend this!

JNY Cream: I got this as a gift from my BFF for Christmas and I ended up really liking it. At first, I wasn’t too wild about the White Tea scent, but it ended up growing on me and by the time I finished my cream, I totally loved it. I love the texture of this product. It was thicker than a normal lotion but not as hard as a body butter by any means, which made applying it so easy. Despite the pillow soft texture, my skin still felt really hydrated and supple after each use and I got as least five full body uses out of the jar. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it again, but if I was gifted with it, then I would be really happy. 😀

Even though I didn’t finish up too many goodies this month, I enjoyed using all of my empties, which makes April a definite success!

Which beauty products did you finish up this month? Have you ever used any of my empties before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb11

Bath & Body Works February Freebie

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Bath & Body Works February Freebie

Hihihi everyone! It’s been a while since I have gotten a freebie coupon from Bath & Body Works, but it happened last week. I assumed that they had finally caught on to me never buying anything and just cashing in the coupons, but it looks like I am back in the good graces of B&BW. Since I haven’t been in in a minute to nab my freebie, I haven’t noticed that they repackaged their signature scents and I am so not a fan. Take a look:

bbwwwfreebies

  • Picture 1: New School
  • Picture 2: Old School

In my opinion, pretty packaging is a must when it comes to bath and body care goodies. Good packing should tell you everything that you need to know about a product before you even smell it. The new packaging tells the buyers nothing. If you didn’t look at the minuscule print at the bottom, you would have no way of knowing that I picked out the Pretty As A Peach lotion.

Not only did they do away with their signature scent packaging, but they also eliminated the coloring of all of the lotions, as well. I guess that’s a good thing, because they’re getting rid of any excess or unneeded ingredients – but it definitely makes for a pretty blah looking product. #notimpressed

The final surprise when I got my freebie was that B&BW increased the price of the mini products from five dolla to five dolla and fifty cents. Is that a huge increase? Not necessarily. But is a mini lotion or shower gel really worth five fifty? Definitely not. But, I got my mini lotion FO FREE so who am I to complain?! 😉

Am I super bent out of shape over this new rebranding? No, I honestly don’t care. But am I petty enough to nitpick the not so nice looking aspects of it. Hell yeah. Unappealing repackaging and a price increase is never a good look, B&BW!

How do you feel about the new Bath & Body Works packaging? Are you a fan of the new school or old school marketing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan15

Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Mini Haul

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Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Mini Haul

Bonjour! Back in the day, I can’t say that I was a huge Bath & Body Works fan, but as the years go on, I find myself eating my words. I stopped into a B&BW the other day, because I noticed that their semi annual sale was on, which is when they bring back their old school favorites – which happen to be some of my favorites! It was actually pretty fun to go into the store and rummage through the huge bins of product that were all marked fifty to seventy-five percent off. And it was even more fun to score three fragrance mists for the price of one. Take a look:

perfume

It should be no surprise that there’s two Champagne Apple & Honey sprays in my mini haul since all apple everything is my favorite. I really like this scent, because it still has the tart bite of a crisp apple but there is definitely some dry, fizzy sweetness added to it thanks to the champagne and a dollop of honey. Can we pop some bubbly now, or?

And, after all of these years, WHO NEVER TOLD ME THAT PEARBERRY SMELLS AMAZING?!?! I lucked out and snagged the last body spray of it and I am so happy, because I freaking love it. It seriously smells like biting into a fresh, juicy pear and all the while there is a huge bowl of strawberries and blackberries to snack on, too. I am always more partial to the fruity fragrances and Pearberry is the perfect summery scent to brighten up a snowy winter day.

I am super happy that I stopped into Bath & Body Works to shop their semi annual sale and I am looking forward to their SA sale in the summer time to hopefully stock up on more Pearberry spray! What is your favorite old school B&BW scent? Who else shopped the SA sale? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec27

December 2017 Finishes

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December 2017 Finishes

Helloooo everyone and welcome to my final finishes post for 2017! Crazy, right? December brought me two of my favorite fruity flavored finishes, so this post is going to be short and sweet. Here’s to health, happiness, and more empties in 2018!

dec2

Would I Use Again?

  • Bath & Body Works Country Apple body spray: YES
  • The Body Shop Vineyard Peach lotion: YES

Why/Why Not?

B&BW Spray: We all know by now that all apple everything is one of my all time favorite scents. I love me some Country Apple fragrance and I use it constantly. I pay about three dollars per bottle when Bath & Body Works brings back their discontinued products and it takes me approximately five months to finish one. I can definitely swing that! This scent is so refreshing – a sweet, crisp apple with just that perfect bit of bite to it. Country Apple brings you fresh from the orchard deliciousness in a bottle!

TBS Lotion: We all know by now that my other all time favorite scent is all peach everything! I got this lotion of my fave scent from The Body Shop for five bucks at TJMaxx and it lasted me five full body uses. It’s not the best cost per use but, hey, sometimes a girl has to throw caution to the wind and pamper herself! The Vineyard Peach scent is divine. It’s so light and sweet but not the overpowering kind of sweet. It’s more the “I just bit into a ripe peach” kind of sweet and it is such a treat.

Although I didn’t finish a ton of products in December, I got to enjoy two of my favorite scents in perfume and lotion form and there is really nothing better than that! Which products did you finish up this month? What is your favorite scent? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov4

Travel Sizes: Little But Fierce

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Travel Sizes: Little But Fierce

Hi everyone and welcome to the weekend! Because of my Manhattan travels last month for AnkhorRed’s Bloggers Conference, I was finally able to break out one of my many travel sized shower gels from Bath & Body Works, compliments of my freebie coupons. I have to say, I’m nothing short of impressed. Take a look and let’s discuss:

“Though she be but little, she is fierce!” – William Shakespeare

minii

Do you want to know how long it took to finish this three fluid ounce sized B&BW shower gel? ALMOST THREE WEEKS!!!! Three entire weeks of using a mini shower gel, says the girl who can finish a full sized body wash in a month flat? Yeah, you heard right.

BUT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!

I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out how this could be and I only have two solutions that makes sense. With a normal sized shower gel, I was so convinced that it would never run out that I would use way more than what was necessary. And, also, I really really like taking bubble baths. And when you combine these two factors, it just leads to using the body wash in excess, which causes me to use it up way faster than the average Joe.

HOW WASN’T THE SHOWER GEL FINISHED IN THREE DAYS?!

I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out how this could be and I only have one solution that makes sense. I honestly just think that I wanted to see how long I could make this itty bitty travel sized gel last. I was able to see clearly how much body wash that I had left, thanks to the clear packaging, and every day that I went without finishing it, I tried to see if I could tack on another. And, the Bath & Body Works gel lathers really nicely, so I still felt squeaky clean without having to use an excess amount.

Using this travel sized product was an extremely eye opening experiment about just how much shower gel I was actually using and how much is truly necessary to use every day. With all of this newfound knowledge in mind, I can’t wait to see how long I can make a full sized SoftSoap or Suave shower gel bottle last!

Travel Sizes have definitely proven to be Little But Fierce in the most amazing way possible, because it’s going to mean saving money on bath and body products in the years to come. Who else has had a similar experience with an abnormally long lasting travel size product? What are your must have products in travel sizes while you’re on vacation? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov1

October 2017 Finishes

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October 2017 Finishes

Hi everyone and happy November! Today we are going to kick off the month with a look back on my beauty empties from October. It feels like it was just yesterday! To me, October felt like it dragged on for an eternity. And, to make matters worse, it was a really shitty month for yours truly in general. Needless to say, I’m excited to be rid of all of these products that I finished up last month and am looking forward to hopefully brighter times ahead. Take a look at my October empties and let’s discuss:

oct.jpeg

Would I Use Again?

  • St. Ives Blackhead Clearing Green Tea Scrub: YES
  • Bath & Body Works Pretty As A Peach lotion: YES
  • The Body Shop Nutriganics eye cream: YES
  • Lush Don’t Look At Me face mask: MAYBE
  • IT Cosmetics Secret Sauce moisturizer: NO

Why/Why Not?

St. Ives Scrub: As you guys know, I have a problem with blackheads around my nose piercings. Is it a huge issue? No. But would I prefer them gone? Of course. I can’t say that the Green Tea scrub by St. Ives is my favorite one out of their selection. However, I wouldn’t say no to using this again if it were bought for me during my birthday/holiday skin care restock or if it were on sale.

My main issue with this scrub is that it just isn’t gritty enough to completely clear away blackheads. It does get some of them, I’ll give it that. But, for the majority of the pesky pen marks on my nose, you can see that the black tip is gone but the skin where it was is still raised, which shows that the problem is still lurking underneath the surface. I will say that my skin does feel and look nice after using this scrub but the purpose of eliminating blackheads is far from achieved. It took me a month and a half to finish using this scrub.

B&BW Lotion: We all know by now that peach is one of my favorite fragrances when it comes to bath and body care. We also all know that I really like this lotion a lot so no further explanation is needed, lol. It took me about six or seven full body uses to finish this product.

TBS Eye Cream: Obviously, I used up some old favorites in October, because everyone knows by now that this is my eye cream of choice. The Body Shop’s Nutriganics eye cream keeps any premature wrinkling of the sensitive skin around my eyes at bay. However, I do wish that this eye cream did more to help out with dark under eye circles. We can’t always get what we want, though, and for the value of this eye cream (I got it on sale for about eleven dollars.) and the fact that it lasts me around five months definitely keeps me from complaining too much!

Lush Face Mask: The Don’t Look At Me face mask is the first skin care product from Lush that I ever used and, although I enjoyed it, I don’t think that I would ever make the forty-five minute trip to the nearest Lush again to purchase it. If this mask or any other Lush product were given to me as a gift, I would be all over it. But, in my opinion, the trip out to Lush just isn’t worth the reward. Despite not making a special trip out to buy this mask again, you can see in my Face Mask Festivities post that it did make my skin look radiant and, although the mask was cold when you first apply it, it was quite pleasant to use. I was able to get seven or so uses from the Don’t Look At Me mask.

IT Cosmetics Moisturizer: I got this sample sized moisturizer for free while doing some early holiday shopping online at Sephora. This mini IT Cosmetics Secret Sauce moisturizer gave me five uses, which really isn’t enough to tell if it did anything or not. I can’t say that I was really impressed with it either way, though, and would rather just ball on a budget with my drugstore/sale price TBS moisturizers.

As I mentioned above, I am so happy to be rid of all of these products – even the ones that I liked. October sucked for Lil Red so it will be nice to have some happier memories associated with the bath and body and skin care goodies that I use up in November.

So there you have it, my October 2017 Finishes! Have you used any of the above products before? What are your thoughts on them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah