Alba Botanica Hawaiian Body Oil Review - Cruelty Free Skincare Body Moisturiser

Back when I was in the states I fell in love with the Alba Botanica Hawiian Spray Sunscreen. I ended up buying a back up before returning to the UK as I knew Alba wasn't a brand that was easy to get in the UK. Imagine my surprise when I was browsing in TK Maxx and came across some of their products in the beauty section. 

This is their Hawaiian body oil with kukui nut. Its one of those oils that you apply when your skin is wet from the bath, rub in and then dry yourself off. Also it smells like nutty biscuits, which is amazing. 

So along with being a moisturiser, this product can be used as a massage oil and also added directly to the bath if your skins feeling extra dry.

The bottle boasts it is hypo-allergenic, pH balanced and vegetarian. Theres no artificial colours, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate or sodium myreth sulfate. I looked up the things there I hadn't heard of and they were either irritants or potentially carcinogenic so yay for it not having any of them.

They're also leaping bunny certified and the bottle is 100% recycled. So more yay for them.

I don't know why I attempted to swatch this. Its clear oil. 

I wasn't sure how I would feel about it as I hate my skin feeling oily or greasy and this had the potential to do both. It doesn't do either though, and actually absorbs really nicely. It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth without leaving thick streaks of moisturiser on my skin. 

I'm also crazy about the smell, its everything I want. Light, nutty and biscuity. It sounds weird but it works really well.

If anyone out there knows a proper UK stockist of Alba Botanica, please let me know. I am in love (managed to get another couple of pieces out of TK Maxx I'll review at a later date) with everything I've tried and I want it all. 

XOXO Scruffy 

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com

7th Heaven Argan Oil Mud Mask Review - Cruelty Free, Vegetarian, Skin Care

So its been a while since the last time I used a foil packet mud mask. Recently I've been trialling sheet masks and using up some peel off ones I had sitting for a while.

My skins been a little congested and crazy recently. I'm putting it down to a mix of stress (it got so bad I ended up with stress headaches), air conditioning and hormones, so a clean out was drastically needed. 

I went through my big bag of masks and things I need to review and found this guy. It's advertised for combination and oily skin and claims it deeply cleanses and balances skin. The package contains 15g of product and costs £1, so its very affordable. Here's hoping it works.

So this smelled good and applied well. There was also plenty so it was easy to get a good layer. 

So the first problem I had with this was that it took a really long time to dry. As you can see from the bottom photo the area around my mouth was dry and almost completely cracked whilst areas on my cheek and nose haven't dried at all yet. I did try to keep my face as still possible but after about twenty minutes I had to move jaw. Cracking this hurt a lot, it felt like the mask clung to every single little hair on my face and when I moved it felt like I got an accidental wax. Ouchie!

The second issue I had was once it began to crack little bits of mud fell off everywhere. I found bits in the living room, bathroom and the bedroom floor. It was so bad that I ended up having to put my dressing gown in the laundry because it was covered in light pink flakes. 

It was easy enough to remove with a damp cloth and a little patience. Once I got it off my skin felt really dry though, drier than it has in a long time and and far drier than I like it being. I have some issues with the skin from the apples of my cheeks down to the corners of my mouth and these areas had become very tight and almost painful.

The next day some patches of my skin were very dry and peeling slightly and the areas on my cheeks were sore and the little bumps seemed to have come to a head. Normally I would have said this was a good thing but as the rest of the area was sore I'm not so sure. 

In all honesty, I wouldn't buy this mask again. I think there are better ones out there at a similar price point and it did not do good things for my skin. 

XOXO Scruffy

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com