Smell Wonderful All Day this A/W

Hello! Please exuse my lack of blogging these past few weeks, i've been so busy with other things that blogging has really took a back seat. But i'm determined to get back on track and get back into a regular routine.

Gosh life has been a little crazy recently (and i've been a little lazy) but one little routine i have kept up is this. It makes me feel pampered and smell wonderful..

Lately i've become addicted to body butters, not quite sure why, but i have. It might be because i used the mango one everyday on holiday and since then i've been craving the butteriness in a more winter related scent. Hahaa, mango and winter just don't go together, or is that just me?

So, i took advantage of that free body butter offer The Body Shop had recently and got a Coconut Body Butter. It smells utterly amazing, just like the typical coconut scent you would expect. At first it's a little strong but once settled you smell lovely all day long. So i apply this morning and night with a few squirts of Natural Collection's Vanilla Body Spray which also lasts all day. This combo is amazing.

But after seeing the Almond Body Butter on sale, i was dead set on getting that one too. I love the smell of almond it's much more sweeter than the coconut one but is still dusky and wintery. I also spritz abit of vanilla body spray on top of this too (which is only £2 from boots).

Both of these combo's are my go-to everyday. For a dusky winter scent, these will leave you with a light scent all day and leave you feeling moisturised and refreshed.

Battle of the moisturisers: Clinque vs Aldi!

I thought i'd share these two moisturisers - one 'high-end' and one bargain product! I thought doing reviews of them would be a bit boring so as i use these both daily i decided to put them up against eachother ;)

 Clinique's dramatically different moistursing gel is £29 for 125ml
 Lacura (Aldi's brand) multi-intensive serum is £3.49 for 50ml.

 So, is it really worth paying more? 

Clinque: This is a gel moisturiser - which is better for my oily skin than a cream. The gel is really lightweight and applies easily to the skin. One - one & a half pumps provides the right amount of moisture for my whole face and doesn't leave me feeling greasy atall. This is a great base for my makeup as it doesn't provide too much hydration so my makeup lasts longer! However this can take a lot of getting used to if you're used to thicker more moisturising creams sometimes i feel my skin needs that little bit more moisture. I'm not too keen on the smell of this aswell, although it's not detectable once absorbed into the skin.

Lacura: This a serum for all skin types, it's a cream consistency but is still very lightweight and not thick atall. I find inbetween a half and one pump (awkward i know) is more than enough to hydrate my entire face and again doesn't leave me feeling greasy. It provides long-lasting moisture however because it is slightly thicker than the Clinique one my skin gets slightly oilier through day but it's not a massive problem atall i can just use a little less. This cream smells gorgeous - it smells so fresh and 'clean' - i can't describe it but the smell is lovely believe me (once absorbed it is undetectable).
 

Left: Lacura Multi Intensive Serum                  Right: Clinique Moisturising Gel

Overall these are both so similar - both hydrating yet not too hydrating for my oily skin, both light and absorb into the skin quickly. The main difference is the price tag and the smell - both of these the Lacura serum wins hands down!  At the moment i used the Clinique in a morning before my makeup and the Lacura one applied more liberally as a more intense night time treat.

The Clinque gel is probably better if you have oily skin like me, but i don't think it is dramatically better! I don't think i will be repurchasing the Clinique moisturising gel unless i have a spare £30 as i think there are cheaper moisturisers - like the Lacura serum - that do virtually the same thing!

So, if you're oily skinned both these do the trick i would recommend them both but obviously the Lacura serum is far more purse friendly and suitable for all skintypes whether you have dry or oily skin i think it'd be great :)

Hope this has been slightly more interesting than a straight review, or maybe not haha!

So, how much are you willing to spend on moisturiser? Are you prepared to splash the cash or do you look for cheaper alternatives?