Cocoa Brown Golden Goddess Shimmering Dry Oil Review

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

As a huge fan of Cocoa Brown I was very excited to hear that another new product was being added to their ever expanding range. This product hit the shelves towards the end of 2015 and despite spotting it in Penneys on the day of its release I didn't purchase until a few weeks ago. The reason being was that I basically had a 'derp' moment more about that later on though!

I have only used one other dry oil prior to this one which was the Tan Organic Dry Oil, I have reviewed that here if you are interested in reading a little more about that. The Cocoa Brown one is a completely different type of oil in my opinion. It is jam packed with golden shimmer particles and for that reason I would only wear it on my face and body, unlike the Tan Organic one which I would also use in my hair, in the bath, etc. One doesn't replace the other! 

I've always been curious about the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Gold Shimmer Oil after hearing so many people raving about it. It's a product I never purchased though purely because of its price point so it was nice to see a budget alternative burst onto the market!

Before Christmas I was up in Dublin attending an event and before I got the bus home I decided that I would quickly run into Penneys to pick up some lashes. While I was in there I spotted the Golden Goddess Dry Oil. There were loads of bottles sitting on the shelf and about 90% of them looked like the bottle in the photo above. I was a bit confused and I didn't know if they were testers or if the bottles were only half full but I didn't investigate further as I was pressed for time and ending up leaving without purchasing one. Not long after that I was scrolling through Twitter and I noticed that some people were just as puzzled as I was with the amount of product in the bottle. Cocoa Brown reassured users that you just needed to give the bottle a little shake and it was good to go. Still confused by it all I decided to put the product to the back of my mind and  I thought no more of it. That was until I was watching Marissa's Snapchat and she shed some light on it all. Side note, if you are not following her on Snapchat you need to, her handle is @CarterMarissa. On hearing Marissa's explanation I felt like the biggest eejit to grace the planet, I had never used a product like this before so go easy on me haha!

In a nutshell Marissa explained that the bottle is full to the brim with oil and then half filled with the golden shimmer. It is formulated in this way to allow the shimmer to disperse through the oil, if that makes sense. That's why you need to give the product a good shake before you use it so that the shimmer and oil will combine. Once you do that the product will look something like this!

The Cocoa Brown Golden Goddess Shimmering Dry Oil is designed to give an illuminating glow to the skin. As well as being used to give an all over radiant glow to the skin it can be used to highlight certain areas too. I like to use this product along the tops of my cheek bones, down the centre of my legs and to the décolletage area.

I'm really happy that there is pump because it makes dispensing the product very easy to do and you don't have to worry about accidentally pouring out too much and wasting product. In the above photos I have applied one pump off the dry oil to the back of my hand and then I have smoothened it out slightly so that you can see the effect it gives.

Finally then in this above photo I have spread the oil up my arm to show you the kind of sheen it gives to the skin. A little goes a very long way with this product so keep that in mind. One pump is more than enough to do my whole arm if I want to give an all over shimmery look to the skin. If I want to highlight down the centre of my legs then one pump is sufficient to achieve this effect and for adding a glow to the tops of the cheeks bones I find that half a pea sized amount of product will do the job.

The oil isn't greasy, it dries quickly, it doesn't transfer onto clothing and like the rest of the range it is scented with Cocoa Browns signature tahitian gardenia scent.

I'm very very pale so I like to wear this product when I have fake tan on. My favourite place to apply the oil is to the tops of my cheekbones but I've noticed a couple of things in doing so. If applied straight on top of foundation I've found that the oil caused my foundation to break down and separate but prior to this I loved how the oil looked on the skin and I was determined to make it work. Firstly, I apply foundation to my face avoiding the tops of my cheek bones. Then with whatever product is left on my brush I lightly buff over the tops of the cheeks just so I don't have a stark contrast between where I have applied the foundation and where I haven't. I then pat a small amount of the dry oil onto the cheekbones and that's it. I find that because I have such a light amount of foundation on the area that the oil doesn't cause it to breakdown. Not sure if anyone else has encountered this problem but that is how I make it work for myself!

Overall I'm really happy with the latest addition to the Cocoa Brown range, as usual you are getting great value for your money! The Golden Goddess Oil is available in Penneys and pharmacies nationwide. It retails for €11.95 although I think I paid €9.95 for it in Penneys. It is a little dearer in the independent pharmacies so if you want to save yourself a couple of bob check out Penneys!

Until next time!

Eimear x

Travalo Ice Easy Fill Perfume Spray

 Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

Today I'm reviewing a product that I think will come in handy for a lot of you, I know it does for me. As the title suggests the Travalo is a refillable bottle that allows you to bring your perfume with you on the go in a compact manner. 

The Travalo holds 5ml which according to the company is the equivalent to 65 sprays of perfume. One of the reasons why I bought the Travalo was because I carry an entire bottle of perfume around with me on a daily basis. I like to top up my perfume during the day but carrying around an entire bottle isn't very practical. Two perfumes that I always take with me, depending on which I'm wearing that day are Flowerbomb by Viktor and Rolf and Daisy by Marc Jacobs. They are not the cheapest perfumes on the market and if I happened to lose or break a bottle I would be devastated. The other reason I picked up the Travalo is because I plan on travelling more this year and its just a more effective way of carrying around perfume. Being that the Travalo is only about the size of a lipstick it cuts down on space too! 

There are different collections within the range and these are as follow:

• Travalo Classic
• Travalo Ice
• Travelo Milano

Travalo products are a little expensive for what they are, they range in price from €15 to €38 depending on which collection you purchase from. The Classic collection is the cheapest while the Milano collection is the dearest. The only difference between the two that I can see is that the packaging of the Milano collection is much more fancy. 

I picked up my Travalo Ice bottle from Tk Maxx and it was in the clearance section for only €2. I'm a great one for grabbing a bargain haha! I absolutely love the product so I will be purchasing another bottle but i'll be doing so from their Classic Collection. The Classic Travalo is €15 and comes in a wide variety of colours.

How it Works

Pick a perfume and then remove the spray nozzle.

There is a small pressure sealed opening at the bottom of the Travalo. Place this opening on top of the perfume dispenser straw and then simply pump up and down to transfer the perfume.

And that is all there is to it!

The spray bottles can be purchased directly from the Travalo website which you can find here. Debenhams also stock the range which is handy if you are living in Ireland like myself! You can browse their stock here. 

Overall I'm absolutely delighted with my purchase, there are no con's where I'm concerned!

Have you tried do you think of the Travalo? Let me know!

Until next time.

Eimear x

Vita Coco Coconut Oil

Hey Everyone!

Happy Halloween :)

Two years ago I bought my first ever tub of coconut oil and I haven't looked back since. Initially I used it for cooking as a replacement for olive oil but fast forward six months and I had a tub stored in my bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and in my handbag too. The more I looked into coconut oil, the more I discovered just how many benefits and uses it actually had so I decided to put them to the test. I've lost track of how many tubs I've went through and how many different brands I've used over the last couple of years but the two I've always went back to are the Biona Organic Coconut Oil and the KTC 100% Pure Coconut Oil from Tesco. Recently however, I came across the Vita Coco Coconut Oil and the tubs I had been using have now taken a back seat.

Vita Coco claims their coconut oil is a natural multitasker. 

"From baking to beauty it can do it all!"

That is most certainly the case, with all coconut oils. The difference between the Vita Coco coconut oil and other brands I have used is that the Vita Coco one smells of coconuts. Hardly ground breaking Eimear, you might think but actually none of the coconut oils that I have tried out so far smell of coconuts, they don't really have a scent to them at all. However, Vita Coco's Coconut Oil smells exactly like a bounty bar its absolutely delicious!

Last year I compiled a post on how I like to use coconut oil so I won't go into detail. If you want to read up on that you can click here. To give you a brief idea, here are some ways in which I get great use out of coconut oil:

• Hair Treatment
• Lip Balm
• Sooth Skin Irritation
• Moisturiser
• Cooking
• Body Scrub
• Shaving Cream
• Ease an Upset Stomach

Its a wonderful little product and i'll most certainly buy the full size tub of the Vita Coco brand of coconut oil once my little pot runs out. Vita Coco Coconut Oil retails at €12.99 for 500ml, which is dearer than other brands but I think its well worth the money!

Are you a fan of coconut oil? If so, what do you use it for?

Chat soon!

Eimear x

Coconut Oil: The Benefits

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all are well :)

Lately I have been using Coconut Oil for everything, and yes I mean everything. Coconut Oil offers a myriad of benefits and the brilliant thing about it is its affordable, easy to get and its 100% natural.

I have listed below my 8 favourite uses of Coconut Oil, so next time your in a health food store or even your local supermarket…pick it up and give it a go!

You won't regret it :)

1. Hair Treatment: This is probably the one I use the most, its definitely my favourite anyway! I like to use the Coconut Oil as a super conditioner/hair treatment. I apply it to dry hair focusing mainly on the ends and then massage whatever is left onto my scalp. Once you have the hair coated, you can leave it in as long as you desire. For a more intense treatment you can always put a shower hat or plastic bag over your hair and leave it over night. All you have to do then is pop in the shower, shampoo and condition as normal. Your hair will feel so silky afterwards and smell gorgeous too!
2. Lip Balm: Last year in Dealz I picked up a few boxes of pill organizers so I could depot my lipsticks into them and save space in storage. The great thing about the ones I picked up was that because they are plastic you can snap sections off. I took about a teaspoon or so of coconut oil, heated it slightly, placed it into the container and left it in the fridge to harden. Not a necessary step, I just wanted the coconut oil to take the shape of the container, once that is complete you have your very own lip balm. I pop the container in my bag so I can moisturize my lips on the go!
3. Sooth Skin Irritation: I've mentioned the fact that I have very dry skin on numerous occasions, along with the fact that my skin is extremely sensitive. I suffer with eczema on a regular basis and recently I just couldn't put my hand on my cream for the life of me. Sometimes I swear some things just get up and walk in my house haha! I had read somewhere before that Coconut Oil was really good for dry skin so I decided I had nothing to lose and whacked a bit onto the areas that my skin had broken out. It worked wonders :)
4. Body Moisturiser: As I said I had heard it was meant to be brilliant for dry skin and I knew it worked well on my lips so I decided to try it out on the rest of me! I like to warm the oil up in the palm of my hands before applying to any dry patches I may have, with continued use I definitely saw a difference with the skin on my arms. My skin felt a lot softer and looked a lot more nourished.
5. Coconut Oil and Cooking: Instead of drizzling your pan in vegetable oil which is really unhealthy, try a teaspoon of coconut oil instead. Lately too I've been adding an extra little something to my smoothies! I like to pop a spoon or two in the mix to add a bit more flavor…delish!
6. DIY Body Scrub: If you have just ran out of your favourite body scrub not to worry, you can make your very own one with products lying around in your kitchen! Mix your coconut oil in with some sugar and bobs your uncle! Use circular motions to buff it into the skin, rinse off and your skin will be left feeling super soft!
7. Shaving Cream: I can't remember the last time I used a shaving cream, I think its been years. I use conditioner without fail, its cheaper and I find its so much more gentle on my skin. I decided to try out the coconut oil to see how I would get on. It worked equally as well as my conditioner if not better. The only thing is you have to apply quite a bit of it, making it more expensive to use than my €1.49 Alberto Balsalm conditioner. But it works really well and is very soothing on the skin…it helps with shaving rashes too!
8. Upset Stomach: Not a lot of foods agree with me, combine that with anxiety and my stomach is constantly doing hula hoops! My stomach rarely is settled and I suffer from heartburn like no other. While I love the smell of coconut scented items, its my absolute favourite scent, I do find it hard to eat a spoonful of coconut oil on its own. When I know my stomach is acting the maggot I try to take a spoonful to put it at ease. If you don't want to ingest the coconut oil you can always rub a little on the inside of your wrist to keep the nausea at bay, but I find eating it to be more effective.

Thats a rap!

After reading some benefits are you interested in trying Coconut Oil for yourself? Do you have any uses that you would like to share, let me know!

Until my next post :)

Eimear x