Garnier Moisture Match

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I've taken on extra shifts at work and so finding the time has been a little bit tricky, but I'm trying to plan ahead so hopefully the blog won't go so long without a post again any time soon!

Onto the product(s) in hand, Garnier Moisture Match moisturisers. If you haven't heard about these (seriously? Their advertising campaign was massive, to have missed it you must literally not own a television) this is an assortment of moisturisers- 5 in total - that are each tailor made to suit a certain skin type. The five tubes are really similar to look at, but each a different colour. When I picked these up a few weeks ago they were on offer in Asda, so I managed to pick up three out of the range "Wake Me Up" for dull skin (the orange tube), "Protect and Glow" for normal skin (the yellow tube) and "Shine Be Gone" for combination to oily skin (the green tube). You'd be forgiven for thinking that these would contain similar products, each matching the colour of the tube, but I was surprised when I tried them out because this actually isn't the case. Wake me up is a sheer slightly peach tinged gel, Protect and glow is a glossy yellow cream and Shine be gone is a lovely matte green lotion.

As their marketing campaign promised, it seems like each really is tailored to a different skin type, and perhaps more surprisingly each one genuinely seems to do a brilliant job or at least certainly in the three that I picked I can't find a dud. Wake Me Up is for dull skin, and I can see how this would work really well for someone targeting that specifically. It goes on as a gel and settles as a sheen on the skin, too much for my oily skin but for someone who lacks moisture and natural shine, this would almost definitely give a lovely dewy finish. Protect and Glow is a weird one, it's a standard moisturiser as far as I can tell and it's smell is identical to wake me up. It's not unpleasant, and it's nice that it has an spf 20 but I'm just not as blown away with it as I feel like I am with the other two. Having said that, I'd still happily repurchase it as a Summer moisturiser.

My favourite out of the three is by far Shine Be Gone, though. This is a personal preference definitely, a dewy glow is something I will take off running from and I would always pick a matte finish. This is lovely, you only need a tiny bit for your whole face and although it has the texture of some primers (l'oreal studio secrets resurfacing primer springs to mind as the closest comparison for texture) I feel like it doesn't sit uncomfortably on top of the skin but sinks in nicely instead, and it does keep shine away for a decent length of time.

I'd recommend these three moisturisers in a heart beat, but if you're not sure which one is right for you and you're not willing to pay out for a few, you can do a quiz to find out which is probably the closest match to your skin. I'll definitely be trying out the other two when I get the chance, especially at £3.99/50ml.

Sammy xo

Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser

I'm a moisturiser junkie, no doubt about it. I tend to buy any that are on offer, and that means that I usually have drawers and drawers full of bottles I've used literally once. Having said that, I couldn't just walk past when I saw Vaseline Spray & Go (£4.99/190ml and only available in Boots for the time being.) There are three different types Essential Moisture, Cocoa Radiant and Aloe Fresh. I tried Aloe Fresh and Cocoa Radiant but I wasn't keen on the smell of Aloe Fresh, so I settled for Cocoa Radiant instead.

I quite like the can, the whole design and idea makes it seems much more extravagant than the original moisturiser designs (which are still available). I wasn't entirely keen on the whole idea of the product though, I was worried getting the right amount of product would be difficult and it would either leave parts of me unmoisturised or it would be greasy and much too thick. I needn't have worried though, the spray distributes fairly evenly and goes on quite thin and watery (see the above right picture) and can literally be rubbed in straight away to leave no grease or residue (bottom right picture). It definitely lives up to the idea of spray and go, because although I can still feel it on my skin, it just feels soft and not "sticky" like other moisturisers (even the bottle version of this moisturiser, in fact.)

All in all, this is a call between whether you'd rather have ease or more money in your pocket. In my mind, there's absolutely no doubt that this is a more convenient product, after your shower you can spray and put your pyjamas straight on, in fact you could even do it before leaving to go out without worrying about your skin uncomfortably sticking to the residue, however it is more expensive than the traditional bottle version (which is £2.99/200ml), however I'm more than willing to spend that extra £2 just for the convenience.

Sammy xo

STEAMCREAM

I hadn't heard much about STEAMCREAM until I stumbled upon it completely by chance, but when I started researching it seemed that literally no one had anything bad to say about it and it was seemingly barging lesser products out of it's way to claim it's rightful place as a cult body, face and hand product. I'll be the first to admit, the idea of cult products makes me suspicious; I just find it really strange that so many people can all agree so wholeheartedly on one product (just for it to fall out of favour to a completely different, but remarkably similar, one a few months later). Still, I dubiously sent them an email asking a few questions and to see if I would be able to get a sample, and they happily sent me a tin. 

First of all, we need to talk packaging. I hate to be so obviously fickle, but packaging  can make or break a product for me. This is one thing absolutely nobody can fault STEAMCREAM on. They sent me "Freedom And Discipline" (an ode to the cream's British beginnings) which you can see below, but there are literally tons to choose from, depicting everything from star signs to clowns. However, here comes the first hi-we're-not-your-usual-company sign. The product in the tins is exactly the same, and it's the only product that they sell. That's right, one product in (at the time of writing) 61 different tins. At first, this struck me as strange, but the more I think about it the more it actually seems really clever, it's reminiscent of obsessive pokemon card collecting in primary school, and it makes me want to snap up each type and put them on display.

The second thing I feel like I should talk about is the company ethics. I know this makes me sound somewhat uncaring, but I don't tend to go out of my way to buy vegan products (I know a fair amount of people are becoming this way inclined) however, it does make me really happy to see I have stumbled across a product that is approved by the vegan society. Reading into the company ethics though, it gets more important, they're valiantly against animal testing, so much so that they won't buy off companies that partake in animal testing, even if the ingredients they would be buying off them aren't actually tested on animals. Fairly impressive, I think you'll agree.

Now, onto the cream. The company calls the making of the cream a "recipe" as opposed to a "formula" and I quite like that, it suggests if you were that way inclined you might be able to recreate it at home (ok, maybe not...) The cream boasts an impressive array of natural materials such as orange flower water, oatmeal and vegetable glycerine, as well as almond oil and cocoa butter (all fresh and traceable ingredients). The cream itself is almost watery in how thin it is, which confused me a little at first, but when you start using it, it quickly becomes clear that this helps it soak in quickly and it leaves next to no grease lingering on the skin (yay, no fingerprints left on my phone screen!) It's nourishing, relaxing and (seeing as you have to use almost none of it at a time because of it's consistency) I'd imagine, really long lasting. Plus the tins are recyclable (or you can fill them with earrings and bobby pins after use like I plan on doing). The one bad thing I feel like I should mention about the product is the smell, which kind of smells like sudocrem with a hint of lavender, however after a few days solid use I've even come to like that (I had a rough day yesterday, and you can't imagine how soothing the smell of lavender can be!)

All in all, I really didn't expect to like STEAMCREAM, but I think I'll definitely be paying the £12.95 to replace my tin (with a different design though, right now I'm loving jam jar) when it eventually runs out. For those of you new to the product, or just needing to replace your own the website currently has a few different sets- The Ibiza Collection, The Escapes Collection, The Tropical Collection and The British Collection- where you can actually nab two pots for £18, which is a bargain if I ever heard one. This is a cream I imagine I'll be an avid user of for the foreseeable future, I genuinely haven't been able to get enough.

Sammy xo

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p.p.s. This product was received in view of me trying it and giving it a review, this in no way affects my opinion of the product and all opinions expressed in this piece are mine and are not influenced in any way by the STEAMCREAM company. Just in case you were wondering.