Germaphobe!

I am a germaphobe, I won’t deny that and I have been for a very long time, if not all my life. I remember as a child my Mom when she first bought hand sanitizer, I hated the stuff. She picked up from school one afternoon and said, “Now you don’t need any water or towels to use this stuff, you just squib a bit on your hand and rub until it’s dry.” So I did as she advised and it was rubbish (in my mind anyway!) and I ended up wiping it off with a baby wipe.

Since then I have learnt that this stuff is wonderful and over the years it’s only got better as companies and shops have brought out more and more different alternatives, aloe vera, moisturising, sensitive, and of course scented!

Scented are definitely my favourite and in the past year and a half I have come to have loads in my possession.

So I thought for today’s post I would write a huge post on which scented hand sanitizers I recommend! It’s really cold lately and with autumn and winter coldness comes plenty of flu and colds, as well as kids and students alike going back to educate themselves once again where germs and freshers flu are all over the place.

Keep yourself germ free with these gorgeously scented beauties!

I’m going to talk about the only bad one first, just to get it out-of-the-way. I bought this hand sanitizer thinking it would be great, as I’ve used Carex’s Strawberry Laces hand wash in the past and it smells gorgeous! However, this doesn’t even smell that much of strawberry, let alone strawberry laces! I’m rather disappointed with it to say the least and I know I won’t be buying it again. I keep one of these in my handbag as a spare for work and on the go, but I’d much rather use one of my The Body Shop ones instead as they actually smell strong! These aren’t worth the money if you’re expecting a strong scent like I was, however if you don’t like strong scents or even a strong alcohol scent then this will suit you down to the ground!

I LOVE The Body Shop’s hand sanitizers and whenever I pop into The Body Shop I usually pick one up to add to my collection, or even try out for the first time. I’ve tried them all now apart from mango and absinthe. I doubt I’ll try mango, as I’m not a fan of that scent myself but absinthe is definitely one I’ll be giving a go next! The ones above are Lemon, Satsuma, Coconut, Strawberry and Pink Grapefruit. Lemon was limited edition and is now no longer available, however if you look hard enough SOME The Body Shop stores will have the odd lemon scent available. I have seen some before in the best and next time I see one I may pick it up. These cost £2.50 each, but are often in deals such as 3 for 2, or even buy one get one 50% off. My favourite of the bunch depends on my mood, but possibly coconut if I don’t want something strong and strawberry if I want something stronger. These are amazing for the money and I always get compliments whenever I wear these at work, or on the go. These are well worth the money and I recommend you give them a go if you fancy updating how you cleanse your hands on the go.

Saving the best until last, these are ALLLLLL my PocketBac’s from Bath & Body Works. May I just add, I have never been over the pond to America, but eBay does that for me, as well as my friend Poppy being my PocketBac dealer!

eBay is amazing for products from Bath & Body Works, but sellers aren’t cheap with these and if you can find a bargain on there then I suggest snapping it up straight away. Whenever I find any on there that I would like and are just under or over £2.00, I make sure to pick them up as they often don’t come up that cheap.

As you can see I so far have thirteen, although three are finished with now. They’re all in the order of which I have obtained them and most of these I have bought myself off of eBay, but as I mentioned my friend Poppy brought me some back this year and being the awesome person she is, she’s going to bring me back some more later this year.

L-R: Party Animal Confetti Cake, Fresh Picked Strawberries and Zippy Fruit Punch (A light refreshment of sparkling fruit punch).

Party Animal Confetti Cake Review

Fresh Picked Strawberries Review

Zippy Fruit Punch Review

Starting off with the PocketBac’s I’ve used up! These are all lovely starter hand sanitizers to start off with and are all fruity scents and were lovely to have over the spring and summer months. Party Animal Confetti Cake is one of my first favourites and smells delicious, definitely good enough to eat! Zippy Fruit Punch wasn’t exactly the nicest scent in the world but it was good enough to keep by my bedside table. I picked up Fresh Picked Strawberries really cheap for just a £1.00, but since then I haven’t found any other PocketBac’s that cheap. 😦

L-R: Twisted Peppermint and Pink Sugarplum.

Twisted Peppermint Review

These are probably two of my favourite scents, and they’re also from the Christmas line. As far as I know these come out every year, but I do know that last year the labels design changed which is a shame as they aren’t as cute as these ones are for sure! Twisted Peppermint is definitely my favourite scent and due to that and the fact its limited edition I don’t use it all that often, only if I fancy it as a treat. Pink Sugarplum is gorgeous and one that is really nice to use to cheer you up on cold winter days. I need to get more of the PocketBac’s from the Christmas range!

L-R: I Love S’Mores, Mr Fox Sugar Maple (The sweet scent of sugar maple, like a perfect drizzle of syrup) and Crisp Morning Air (Breathe in the invigorating scent of mountain pine, fresh juniper and pear).

Some of my newest scents, as well as an old favourite! I Love S’Mores is a definite favourite and it came out last year for autumn, and sadly I don’t know if it will be coming back out this year. I have a feeling it won’t… Although they have brought out Graham Cracker Marshmallow recently, which I want to get. The next two are my most recent purchases and already firm favourites. I recently watched one of HollieEatsLipstick‘s videos on YouTube where she was talking and showing off what she had recently bought from Bath & Body Works, which included Crisp Morning Air. She sounded in love with this scent and I knew I had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about, and I’m glad I did! This reminds me of autumn for sure! Crisp apples show through this and it makes me really happy, I have to say. It also smells like fresh air, just as the scent says and is named after. I love this and I really do want to order more of these to last me through until the end of the year and autumn time. As well as that I have Mr Fox Sugar Maple, which reminds me of maple syrup you get on your breakfast pancakes in Frankie & Benny’s. It smells sugary and just amazing and like something I haven’t smelt for a very, VERY long time. My boyfriend loved this too and the scent lasted on my hands for ages.

L-R: Fresh Picked Garden Strawberries (Succulent scent of sun-warmed strawberries fresh from the vine), Fresh Picked Meyer Lemon (Fresh and clean meets the legendary sweetness of Meyer lemon in this sun-kissed scent), Strawberry Cheesecake, Caribbean Escape (Lightly scented with crushed raspberries, sweet strawberries and warm musk) and Beautiful Day (Lightly scented with sun-kissed apple, wild daisies & fresh pink peonies).

Finally I have some PocketBac’s that my friend Poppy brought me back from New York. It was lovely of her to get these for me and I didn’t even ask her to pick me up any scents in particular, she just went off what scents I have smelt and liked on our days out together. Let me tell you, she did very well! Garden Strawberries smells just like Fresh Picked Strawberries and is one I keep on my bed side table to use before I go to sleep. Meyer Lemon is a beautiful fresh citrus scent that I am saving for winter mornings to perk me up. Strawberry Cheesecake is by FAR my favourite of the bunch as not only does it smell like it says on the bottle but it also have glitter/shimmer running throughout, which makes a pleasant change and also looks super pretty and girly. Now with Caribbean Escape and Beautiful Day I didn’t actually know if I would like either scents or not, but I love these both more than the fruity scents! Caribbean Escape reminds me of holidays as a teen as I used to use a body spritz just like this, it smells creamy and like coconuts, which I adore! Beautiful Day reminds me of spring in my garden, it smells of fresh apples and cut grass, which as a hay fever sufferer you think I would hate but this is delightful and light, something I will enjoy using during autumn and winter to perk myself up.

So those are alllll my hand sanitizers, and Pocketbac’s mostly as you can see. If you have seen any you are interested in finding out more about, feel free to request a review (or two), I’ll be happy to write some up in the future.

Until next time, take care all! I’m shattered, need a cup of tea and some much-needed sleep. Have a great bank holiday Monday!

May Favourites 2014

Wow I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the year and this weekend I’ll be off to Bristol for mine and my boyfriends first anniversary together. I’m beyond excited!

Also I apologise that this post is all of a day late but I had a rather busy weekend and I sadly didn’t get time to get anything written down, apart from notes on which products would be featured on this post this month.

So let’s get on with it!

• Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream.

I wrote about this hand cream a while ago on this post and since then I won’t lie, I hardly used it. It sat in my room being unused for months on end until recently I decided that I would keep it in my hand bag to use on the go and boy am I glad I did just that! This hand cream has the Soap & Glory pink scent to it, which is one I can tolerate in the body spray but not in their body products. This however isn’t so bad and has a lovely conditioning feel to it, I love to use it before I leave the house for work as well as when I’m out on the go as it absorbs quickly and isn’t greasy or sticky feeling so it won’t leave your hands feeling clammy. I recommend this if you want a good hand cream for your bag, this being said I probably won’t repurchase this just because I want to try something new when this is finished.

• Dettol Revitalise Hand Wash.

This was a random purchase during May and one I’m glad that I made! As regular readers will know I love my Dettol E45 hand wash and have always said I will never replace it, however I don’t think this counts as a “replacement” due to the fact it’s by Dettol too, it just doesn’t contain any E45. It only cost 99p from B&M and for that it really does keep my hands soft and smooth, as well as clean and smelling like pomegranate. Can’t go wrong really!

• Phillip Kingsley Flaky/Itchy Scalp Shampoo.

I love Phillip Kingsley’s shampoos and you can’t really go wrong with his products as they suit all hair types and do exactly what they say on the bottle. This one is the flaky/itchy scalp shampoo and whilst I don’t suffer from dandruff as much as I used to when I was younger, I do suffer from my hair getting greasy every few days so I like to try and tackle that with a good shampoo. This shampoo is amazing for that and since I started to use it my dandruff has pretty much disappeared and my hair feels soft and looks beautiful all day long after use. Not only does it leave my hair feeling and look good but it also leaves it smelling delicious as it has an apple scent to it! I love this shampoo so much and this huge bottle should last me ages too.

• Lady Million by Paco Rabbane.

A while ago over on a guest post I wrote for my friend Amy over at Von Dork I announced how I hated the smell of this perfume… I’ve kind of taken that back now as I’ve been using this perfume none stop for the duration May. Yes this does smell of fresh towels and clean bed sheets but that’s actually pretty nice, especially if you’re feeling a little down in the dumps and need a reminder of your nice warm bed. This was actually my Mom’s perfume but she wasn’t getting on with its scent and ended up giving it to me to try out. My boyfriend loves this perfume and when I say to him, “Hey help me pick out a perfume to wear.” he’ll usually pick this one. If I’m not feeling too well I won’t wear this as the powerful scent can give me a headache and a bit of an irritated throat, other than that I love it and it’s become my favourite perfume to throw in my bad so far this summer.

• Sure Maximum Protection Deodorant in Sensitive.

I’ve spoken time and time again of how much I love this deodorant but there is one reason why this is being featured on here this month, besides the fact that I love it anyway. As regular readers or even new readers will know I went to the Lake District with some friends during May and it was amazing! I also mentioned how we all climbed up a very tall mountain whilst we were there and without my deodorant I would have sweated loads, as well as being smelly and shown sweat patches on my t-shirt. Luckily this didn’t happen and if that isn’t some sort of marketing ploy then I don’t know what is! I love this deodorant and I wouldn’t go a day without using it.

• Maggie James Candle.

I have to first add that I don’t actually know the scent of this candle but when I’m sniffing it it does remind me of a latte, a caramel or a vanilla one, a sweet coffee anyway! I bought this from TK Maxx about a year ago and since then I’ve not burnt it all that much, due to neglecting it for my Yankee Candles. However whilst I had the house to myself I’ve been able to burn it, as well as the fact I decided it needed to start being used. It leaves a lovely strong scent behind, which doesn’t fade straight away after blowing it out either, which is always good. Although this is a strong candle it doesn’t leave you a headache or a dry throat, which is always good in my books! Apparently Maggie James do a lot of different scented candles, but where I do not know! I paid £3.99 for mine.

• Bath & Body Works PocketBac Hand Sanitizer in I Love S’Mores.

I love my PocketBac’s and I always make sure there is one by my bed, as well as in my hand bag for when I’m on the go and at the moment the one I seem to be reaching for the most is my favourite, I Love S’Mores. It’s such a yummy cake scent to it but not as strong as the cakey PocketBac scents, if that makes any sense! Sadly this was a limited edition one for autumn last year and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a replacement bottle of it on eBay somewhere, which is where I got this bottle from. As well as keeping my hands smelling gorgeous is leaves them lovely and clean, leaving me less worry about germs so I can concentrate more on how good my hand smell!

• Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lip Balm.

An old favourite and one that’s come back around again for yet another favourites post. My lips have been  pretty dry this month and I don’t know if that is due to being poorly, using too many satin lipsticks on my lips or just the dramatic weather changes. I know there is only one lip balm that can save the day when my lips get really dry and sore and that’s this baby! It’s a thick formula that applies like butter and feels super moisturisng as well as smelling and tasting of chocolate. I had a cold sore at one point in May and this did really help soothe it and calm it down too. I’ve actually missed using it and since beginning to use it again I’ve been making a habit of using it for work.

• L’Oreal Paris Glam Shine Stain Splash in Milady.

This was a new purchase I made mid May and since buying it I have done nothing but wear it out, both day and night! It’s a gorgeous purple lip stain that can be applied light or heavy to get the type of purple you desire. It lasts ages on the lips so I’ve been able to wear this for work and not have to worry about applying anymore, same can be said about nights out and when I’ve been out in the day time with my boyfriend and friends. I’m going to be writing a huge review on this soon, I have the images ready and everything, I just need to get some better pictures of myself wearing it. If you’re after an affordable and gorgeous lip stain then try out one of these by L’Oreal as they’re really worth the money.

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

I literally finished reading this book today and it has been one of my favourite reads for quite a while now. The film version of the book is one of my favourites and it always makes me cry when I watch it so I KNEW I had to buy the book to read and for £3.99 I knew I wasn’t exactly spending  fortune on it. I’m so glad I bought this as it was such an enjoyable read. I’ll be writing a full blog post about it because I just loved it so much. If you’ve watched the film version then I recommend you read the book as you’ll love it and if you’ve read the book but not watched the film because you’re worried you won’t like it, then I suggest you give it a go as the film is pretty great! Stephen Chbosky who wrote the book also directed the movie, so the film is pretty much how he pictured it to be. Definitely a good way to end May, such a lovely book!

So those were my favourites for May! I hope that June will be full of lovely summery things so when July comes along I hope to have lots and lots of lovely summery things to talk about with you all, if not a few new bits and pieces.

What were your favourites during May? Let me know in the comments!

So until next time take care all and see you soon!