Wrapping up my Best Beauty Discoveries of
2025 with hair and body care! I am a creature of habit but still found some
newbies to me last year that I loved!
Starting with the Coco and Eve Like a Virgin Hair Masque RRP $56 CAD | £30*and this blew me away this year! It’s
an intensively nourishing formula containing shea butter and argan oil to
detangle hair and tame frizziness. I let it marinate in my hair for 5-10
minutes then wash out and style as normal. The result is manageable, soft,
shiny and hydrated hair with no straw like ends! Usually, I don’t see a huge
difference between normal conditioners and hair masks but with this one I can
really see and feel the difference in my hair! It’s got a lovely lightweight
coconut scent and works for all hair types!
On days I don’t plan to use a hair mask,
I have been making a point of oiling my hair before washing with the OGX Coconut Miracle Oil RRP $13 CAD| £9.99. This is definitely the Abbey Yung
effect and has made such a difference to my hair! This would be way too heavy
of an oil to use on my hair after washing but I coat my ends in it and let it
soak in for about an hour before showering and wash out with a clarifying
shampoo. I am left with soft, hydrated hair with great shine and my ends don’t
look or feel as frazzled! It smells like a vacation and it’s so affordable I
don’t feel bad or like I am wasting it by washing out!
Sticking with the drugstore and after
enjoying the pre-shampoo treatment from the same line, I picked up the OGX Bond Protein Repair Heat Protect Spray RRP $11.97 CAD| £15. This protects
up to 230°C and is a weightless mist with a continuous spray. I spray on damp
hair, it doesn’t weigh it down and leaves it feeling soft and protected from
the heat I use! The spray is formulated to rebuild bonds in the inner hair
cortex and to bind to damaged sites on hair cuticle to help keep hair strong,
smooth, and resilient. I enjoy the scent too, it’s hard to describe but inoffensive!
Moving onto body products and this 2025
was the year of Josie Maran for me! The Body Butter in Topless Tangerine RRP
$22 CAD*is so creamy and hydrating and leaves my skin feeling soft and glowing!
It contains argan oil, avocado oil and shea butter good for skin elasticity and
suppleness and it moisturises my skin so well and smells incredible! This travel
size is so handy for trips too, I took it to Norway last year and it lasted me most
of the trip as you don’t need a lot of it! The formula is perfect, thick but it
sinks in easily!
The body butter is the perfect companion
to the Josie Maran Fragrance Mist in Topless Tangerine RRP $38 CAD*. I used
this so much during summer especially and it smells so fruity and fresh! It is a
milky emulsion scented with pixie tangerine, pink grapefruit and brown sugar. Like
the body butter, the mist also contains argan oil to lock in moisture and scent
and the two can be layered. They both come in a range of scents, but Topless
Tangerine is so special, I love it! Read more here!
With Black Friday happening, I thought I would do a
roundup of one of my favourite sales of the year and talk through some of my top
picks from Naturium! The last couple of years I have done a big Naturium
order in November for Black Friday and stocked myself up for the year ahead
with some key bodycare and skincare products! I just love the sizes and how
well the products work for me and it’s a good time to splurge right now as they have 25%
off with the code CYBER2025 and have free gifts when you spend $60+ USD and $100+ USD!
What I hadn't counted on, was that shipping to Canada would be paused (I assume due to the ongoing rotating Canada Post strike) so looks like I will be saving myself some money this year :( It's worth checking Space NK in the UK and Shoppers Drugmart in Canada over Black Friday too as I'm sure Naturium will go on sale there aswell! Their products really are some of my favourite body care to use so let's get onto the review!
This is one of Naturium’s cult products and I remember
when it first came out and everyone wanted to get their hands on it! I’ve been
through quite a few bottles of it now and it’s a super hydrating body wash that
changes from an oil consistency to a gentle, milky lather. I love this for my
skin in the winter as it’s so nourishing and doesn’t strip my skin. It’s formulated
with 50% glycerin, a blend of linoleic-rich oils and plant-derived squalane, and
is rich in humectants that hydrate and nourish skin. It doesn’t leave a
residue, leaves my skin feeling clean, soft and hydrated and lasts ages too!
This is a really robust body lotion and I love having
it in my collection! It works to replenish moisture, leaving skin feeling soft
and supple and is formulated with omega fatty acids, shea butter, B vitamins
and sodium PCA. It hydrates my skin and absorbs quickly with no greasy residue
left behind. I particularly love it in the winter as it feels a little thicker
than some other lotions I’ve tried.
Probably one of my favourite products (along with the
glycolic body lotion!) and I love that this comes in a jumbo size! It is formulated
with an encapsulated stabilized pure retinol complex and allantoin and leaves
skin feeling soft, supple, and nourished while also minimizing the look of
redness and irritation. It has been developed for all skin types and I find it
gentle enough for everyday use but it really does improve the look of my skin
and smooths textured areas like KP on the backs of my arms as well as keeping
it hydrated! Like the Bio-Lipid lotion, its creamy and absorbs quickly! Obviously,
if you are using in the summer, make sure you apply SPF!
Like I said, one of my favourite Naturium products!
This one contains 10% glycolic acid, working to smooth texture and brighten
tone and decrease the appearance of dark spots. It’s also got shea butter to help
boost skin's moisture. All three body lotions I have tried have similar
consistencies so again this one is creamy and hydrating and helps with
exfoliation and smooths my skin, working overtime the KP on the backs of my
arms this summer, so it was non-existent! My skin tone looks more even and
brighter when I use it and I need to get a new one ASAP!
The body lotion goes very well together with the KP
scrub and mask! This is a body exfoliant containing pumice and jojoba esters,
plus AHA/BHA/PHA chemical exfoliants. It feels very “scrubby” and grips easily
to the skin if you want to keep it on longer as a mask and works to smooth any
rough or dry skin on my body. It exfoliates well both physically and chemically
and leaves my skin feeling super soft and looking brighter!
The bodywash form the glycolic range is also a good
one! It exfoliates and resurfaces rough and uneven, bumpy skin texture and the
formula contains a blend of AHA’s including glycolic, lactic, pyruvic and
tartaric acids. It works well to slough off dead skin cells and reveal softer,
smoother and more supple looking skin. I didn’t realise, but this can also be
used as a facial cleanser! It’s also gentle enough for daily use and is a
creamy formula!
All of the bodycare is unfragranced which has its
positives and negatives (I do love fragrance!) but I appreciate its simplicity
and the sizes and prices are so good! Moving onto skincare now and I haven’t
tried quite as much as I would have liked to but I do love what I have tried of
it too!
This is such a great daily moisturiser and contains a
multi-peptide blend, encapsulated ethylated vitamin C and panthenol to target
the look of fine lines and wrinkles. It feels lightweight and I tended to use
in the AM more so than at night as it worked so well under my makeup! It
absorbed quickly and hydrated my skin well, smoothing texture and leaving it
feeling supported!
The sister to the face moisturiser and another simple
but well formulated, lightweight product! Again, this helps to hydrate and
smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and contains peptides,
including Argireline, known as “botox in a bottle”. It sat so well under my
makeup and kept my under eyes hydrated and fine lines at bay!
Lastly, one of my favourite lip products I think I
have ever tried! The shade pictured is Peach as I wanted to try a new shade but
Petal is definitely my favourite! It’s a super nourishing, glossy balm
containing shea butter, cupuaçu butter and plant squalane to moisturize and
cushion lips. My lips are so hydrated when I use this and I don’t need to
constantly top up as it lasts so long on my lips – it’s perfect all year round
but especially for the Canadian winter! They are left feeling soft and smooth
and I love the glossy finish and sheer hint of colour. I had some major issues
with the first one I bought which burst at the end but customer service were
great and I duct taped it and used it up anyway! It has a non-offensive vanilla
scent and is the perfect amount of stickiness for me. Thankfully I didn’t have
the same issue which my second balm so it seems like the packaging issues have
been sorted!
I also have a few products in my stash that I haven’t
got round to trying yet including the Energizer Mandelic Acid Body Wash, Retinaldehyde
Cream Serum 0.10% and Vitamin C Complex Cleanser and I have high hopes for them
too! Similarly I have also tried The Brightener Vitamin C Brightening Body Wash
(lightweight, hydrating and evened my skin tone!), The Soother Sensitive Skin
Body Wash (simple and gentle body wash but discontinued) and the Skin Soothing
Recovery Lotion (smelt awful but worked well though now also discontinued!).
As I mentioned, Naturium are one of my favourite brands expecially for bodycare and have featured on my blog before in the
following blog posts if you want to read more!
I skipped this category last year –
probably because I already threw the packaging I needed out - but it’s back
this year! 2024 really was the year of body skincare for me and I upped my
retinol and AHA usage and saw good results!
Starting with theNaturium The Glow Getter Multi-Oil Body Wash RRP $16 USD | $21.99 CAD | £18and this really
does deserve the hype it gets. It’s gentle, contains 50% glycerin and a blend
of oils and squalane and changes from a light oil into a milky lather while
showering. It leaves my skin feeling soft and hydrated, doesn’t strip it and
doesn’t leave any residue. I wish it had a scent like I do with all Naturium
products but I’d rather it stay scent free than have a scent I don’t like! My
mum enjoyed using this so much when she visited me last summer she bought her
own to take home and I just repurchased during the black Friday sales along
with the next two products!
Moving onto body lotions now and I have a
few that I loved last year and have repurchased for this year too! The Naturium Skin Renewing Retinol Body Lotion RRP $44 USD for 414ml | $40.99 CAD for 234ml
| £27 for 234ml might just be my favourite of the three, so much so that I
repurchased the jumbo bottle! This is suitable for daily use and is formulated
with an encapsulated stabilised pure retinol complex that works to nourish the
skin all over the body to help improve its tone, texture and firmness. It has a
lovely creamy texture and sinks in quickly leaving my skin feeling soft and
smooth. It’s fragrance-free, keeps my skin hydrated, supple and firm and I
don’t experience any sensitivity. Obviously if you are using in the summer,
make sure you apply SPF! I picked up one for my mum for Christmas too as I
loved it so much!
The Naturium The Smoother Glycolic Acid Body Lotion RRP $17 USD | £19 is another great body cream that helps
with exfoliation and tackles uneven skin tone. It contains 10% glycolic acid to
smooth skin and encourage a brighter appearance and the shea butter in the formula
keeps my skin hydrated too! This worked well to keep KP on the backs of my arms
at bay and I loved this in the summer!
I find Naturium really well priced for
the quality of products and to be fair they go on sale quite often too but The Inkey List PHA Exfoliating and Hydrating Body Water Cream RRP $19 CAD | £13is
a really great budget pick! It’s a lightweight lotion containing 3% PHA to
gently exfoliate while hydrating my skin and made it feel so smooth! It is also
scent free and was another lotion I used to target my KP on which it worked
very well to smooth and brighten!
Lastly, the JVN Complete Pre-Wash Scalp Oil RRP $43.50 CAD | £28which I have been using regularly for a year
now. As you can see, I still have some left so a little goes a long way with this
one! It’s a pre-shampoo hair treatment that works to nourish, hydrate and
cleanse the scalp. I use it 1-2 times per week and leave it in for 10 minutes
or more before washing my hair as normal. It contains rosemary extract to aid
scalp circulation supporting hair follicles in the growth phase, turmeric oil,
a natural anti-inflammatory that helps reduce redness and irritation and
hemisqualane to improve hair health and strength. This has been working well
making my scalp less irritated and I notice less flakes. I haven’t noticed a
huge difference in hair growth but I am happy with how my hair is looking and
feeling right now. My hair is shiny and my breakage isn’t as noticeable and
neither is hair fall. It’s als silicone and sulphate free! Read more about it and my other haircare essentials here!
So, that’s the end of my favourites for
2024! See my makeup discoveries here and my skincare discoveries here! Let me
know if you have tried any of the hair or body products I’ve mentioned or tell
me what your favourite discovery was last year!
I got sent the Cohorted X ESPA beauty box* at the weekend and had an impromptu photoshoot so thought I’d make a
quick bonus blog post featuring it! I haven’t had a chance to properly try out
the products yet so this is more of a first impressions!
Cohorted is the UK’s No.1 premium beauty
subscription box and offer a monthly beauty box as well as Limited Edition
curations. July sees a collaboration with ESPA so you can enjoy a luxury spa
experience at home and included in the box are five ESPA products with the box contents
worth £139:
There is also a mini Chopard Neroli Eau
de Parfum.
The products are packaged beautifully and
I love the stone effect lids while the contents are a nice mix of body, skin
and hair products for a full pamper session! I am a big fan of beauty boxes,
they are a great way to save money and discover new brands and products and I
have to say, opening the Cohorted box was such a luxury experience! The boxes are
hand packed beautifully and 100% recyclable though aside from the stuffing, I tend
to keep the box itself anyway for storage and organisation!
The monthly subscription is £39.99 and you
can use the code WELCOME15INF for 15% off if you are a first time
customer! The boxes are the perfect gift for someone or to yourself and
Cohorted have collaborated with the likes of Fresh and Verso in the past too.
Some of the previous boxes are still available to buy as a one off for £50 in
their Classic Box Collection!
Overall, I am so impressed with the presentation
and contents, and I can’t wait to see what else they have coming up this year!
Have you bought any beauty boxes in the
past? What do you think of this one?
