Holidays!

Hi everyone!

I didn't post anything for a very, very long time. The main reason: exams! But I had my last exam on Friday and I now have a 3 1/2 month holiday until I start university half way through September (If I get the grades, that is). I have quite a few plans for this summer, starting with Speech Day tomorrow (a 'closing off' event with the whole class, with speeches from teachers and students) and prom on Friday. I will also be going on some trips: in July I will spend 5 days in Prague with Eline, and in August I will spend 7 days in Agios Nikolaos on Crete (Greece) with Kim. For the rest I will be doing to usual things: meeting up with friends, shopping, reading, and going on a few day trips to the zoo and attraction parks. And of course I will mainly RELAX, because that's something I haven't done a lot in the last 2 years!

Today I handed in my books at school and then went for lunch at Bagels and Beans with Sara and Abena. Do you know Bagels and Beans? They have amazing bagels - I had one with salmon and cream cheese, absolutely delicous :)
After that I went shopping with Abena, and just on time I found a dress for Speech Day! I will show you the dress and a couple other things I bought.

 The dress I bought for Speech Day. First I was thinking of wearing a black dress, simply because I have nothing else. But that dress is really wintery so I am glad I found this! Will wear it with simple black pumps I think, don't have anything else and couldn't find anything else today either.
The theme for Speech Day is Harry Potter, but as you can see I am not dressing for the theme. I think a lot of people aren't, because it is a really hard theme to dress for unless you want to look like a school girl with a skirt and tie.

I bought this dress at H&M for 19,95 euros (so cheap!).

Our Senior Prom this Friday is a masquerade so the main goal of our shopping spree was buying a mask. This is the mask I bought. Probably won't wear it very long though, because I have glasses and without them I can't recognise people very easily. I bought it at a 'party shop' for about 4 euros.
I already bought my prom dress last summer in Hamburg, maybe I'll post pictures of it after prom.

And last but not least some products from The Body Shop!
Left: Body Butter Duo - Floral Acai. I already wanted this for a long time, it smells lovely! I never bought it because I found it too expensive (17 euros) but I thought I deserved it now because I survived my exams.
Middle - Coconut Body Butter (small). My big coconut body butter is almost finished, but I didn't want to buy another big one, because I was already buying the duo one, so decided to buy a small one which we also be useful to take on holidays. I think it was 5 euros, but I am not exactly sure.
Right - Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray (small). Saw this in the rack with mini products and decided to buy it, it is a spray which refreshes and revives tired feet. Very useful after prom, and for taking on holidays because it is so small. This also costed about 5 euros.

Are you also doing exams this year? If you are in the Dutch system and you are in the middle of your exams: good luck!

Loes

Review: The Body Shop Spiced Vanilla Bubble Bath and Body Butter

Last week I went shopping for some present for my best friend, Eline, and as I still had a 5 euro voucher for The Body Shop, I decided to also buy a little 'present' for myself. After smelling different projects and thinking which I like best I decided to go for the Spiced Vanilla Bubble Bath and the Spiced Vanilla Body Butter. The Spiced Vanilla range was a limited winter range, and the products were on sale. At the moment most shops are selling the last few products from this range, but I still would like to review these products because I was dissappointed by one and surprised by the other.

 First of all, the Spiced Vanilla Bubble Bath. I actually wanted to buy the shower gel, but they did not have it anymore, so I decided to go for the Bubble Bath. I also needed a new bath product, and I love foamy baths, so I though this would be a great product for me. The product promises a bath full of bubbles, so I tried it out right away. But what a disappointment. When I added some of the product, which has the consistency of a shower gel, to the bath while the tap was on, I already saw very little happening. I thought I was adding too little, so I added some more. The Bubble Bath created a very thin foamy/bubbly layer on the water, but nothing more. This foamy layer also dissolved very quickly, so that I was left with just water with the fragrance of Spiced Vanilla. Speaking about the fragrance, I have no complaints about that! I think it is really nice so I decided to use the product as a shower gel, and using my puff sponge it becomes quite foamy.

Then the Body Butter from the same range. I was pleasantly surprised by this product. I really need to start using body butter more often, but I am usually too lazy to spend time 'buttering' my whole body in the morning. However, this one smells great and I just have to use it! It works just like any other body butter, but the smell is what makes it special. Spiced Vanilla greatly describes the fragrance of both the Body Butter and the Bubble Bath. Personally I do not have dry skin, but I think this would be a great product for people with dry skin because it is really like butter and it melts in to your skin quite well.

Because of the disappointment with the Spiced Vanilla Bubble Bath I probably will not buy a product like this at The Body Shop again. However, I do really like the body butter and I would really like to recommend it to you. You may still be able to find it in a The Body Shop, but it is not sold online anymore, unfortunately.

What do you think of these products and The Body Shop in general?

Loes

Review: The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter

I really like The Body Shop, but most products are quite expensive, so when I got some money for my birthday I decided to try out one of their body butters. I bought this coconut body butter in March, but didn't use it much back then. A few weeks ago I decided to start using body butter more regularly, and therefore I can now share my experience of this body butter with you!

As we are used to from TBS, this coconut body butter comes in a simple but very nice pot. I especially like the picture of the coconut on it, and I think it makes the product look attractive. It took me long to choose the body butter I liked best, because all of them smell so good. Eventually I chose this one because of its soft, subtle smell of coconut. When you open the pot, you smell the coconut right away but when the butter is on your body you only smell of coconut very subtly, and that's just how I like it.

The main ingredients of this body butter are shea butter, cocoa butter and caprylic, which is derived from coconut oil. So, as with all TBS products, this body butter is full of natural ingredients that are a treat for your skin.

 The body butter has a creamy, buttery texture - just what it's meant to be like.

And this is what it looks like when you smear it out.

The body butter has a nice, creamy, buttery texture (see pictures above), actually just what you would expect from a body butter. You need to actually cream it in, but it 'dissappears' quite quickly. Just after applying it my skin feels a bit 'sticky'/fatty, but I think this is because the body butter needs time to be absorbed by the skin. Later in the day, my skin just feels soft! Also, the body butter leaves behind a subtle but wonderful smell of coconut!

I use this body butter for dry places, such as my knees and elbows, but sometimes I just cream it on my whole legs. If you want to cream in your whole body, it is better do it in the evening because the butter needs time to be absorbed by the skin so you don't want to pull tight clothes over it right away.

Conclusion

Advantages: makes your skin very soft, lovely smell, nice pot

Disadvantages: takes a while to be absorbed by your skin, it is quite expensive (especially for poor students like me)
Buy it or not? Buy it! I think this body butter is really worth its prize, and since the pot is quite big (200 ml) you can use it for quite a long time. Especially if you like coconuts, this will be a great body butter for you.

You can buy this Coconut Body Butter at The Body Shop shops or in their online shop. It costs € 15 for a pot containing 200 ml. 

What do you think of the body butters from The Body Shop?