Tonic Cosmetics, York: Soaps, candles and bubble bath cupcakes!

So last week I made a day trip to York for a Postgraduate open day when I stumbled upon a shop called Tonic in the city centre which has the cutest selection of soaps, candles and bubble bath cupcakes. All the products are paraben free and the soap slices are hand made using the cold process method, ph neutral and they contain perfume oils which means they leave long lasting scent. I was really impressed with the look of all the products so I thought I'd just share with you some photos of the things that really took my fancy. As well as the cheeky purchase that I made!

A lovely sweet Rhubarb scented soap! I've never come across anything like this before.

I was mainly drawn to this by its appearance but it smells gorgeous.

I love how this looks and the lavender scent is so dreamy.

Cupcake candles! And cute soapy swirls on a stick :)

Cupcake soaps and soap cake slices, so so pretty.

Although I was tempted by pretty much everything I saw I only ended up buying one item and that was a rose scented bubble bath cupcake. It smells absolutely heavenly and is something that anyone who is a fan of rose scents would just start drooling over! It cost me £5.50 but is really big and I reckon I can get at least 4 uses out of it (the Tonic website also advertises this as being the case).

I have tried the bubble bath cupcake once now so I can do a very basic review of it. It smells just as gorgeous when it dissolves and it creates beautifully milky, cloudy bath water but it really doesn't foam up or bubble as much as other products that I've tried. Saying that, however, it does bubble enough for me and the scent (which really lingers on the skin after use) is just so delicately fragrant. Given how cute it is and how many uses I'll get out of it I would definitely repurchase this, although now I'd have slightly lower expectations on the bubble-front!

Overall, a lovely find and I'll definitely be returning to purchase some of their soap next time I'm in York! They also have a website where you can browse their products and make purchases so that is also worth checking out if you like the look of the products.

Have you found any lovely independent shops like this? I'd love some recommendations! 

Angelica

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100 Follower Giveaway!

Very recently I reached my first big blogging milestone of 100 GFC followers! I have to say thank you to all my lovely followers for reading my blog and to all of you who leave comments. As a thank you for your continuing support I thought I'd have a little UK only giveaway featuring some of the brands that I really love.

I've had a lot of feedback from people saying that they hadn't tried any Ren products so I've included some Ren Sample Size products that I've picked up over the last couple of months- all of which are sealed and unused. I've tried all of these products and enjoyed using them all, so I hope whoever wins does too!

A lot of you also said that you hadn't tried any of the Body Shop's cosmetics, so I thought I'd include a pencil eye liner and mascara, as well as a Model's Own Nail Polish in the shade 'Peaches and Cream'.

Lastly, I picked up some goodies from L'Occitane a couple of weeks ago that I thought I'd include as I have already tried these products before; a Cherry Blossom shower gel, Almond Shower Oil, Rose 4 Reines Hand Cream and an Angelica Radiant Hydration Cream.

So these are all the products in the giveaway prize! Entries are through the Rafflecopter widget below- it is UK only this time around but hopefully the next one will be international. You must be following via GFC to enter, so good luck to you all and thank you for following my blog :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW: Macadamia Healing Oil Spray

After introducing a new conditioner into my hair care regime and noticing the effects it had I thought that I'd treat my hair to an oil, replacing my usual cheap and cheerful leave-in conditioning spray. I hadn't tried any of the Macadamia range before trying this Healing Oil Spray so I didn't really know what to expect in the quality of the product or the effects that it would have on my hair. 

I've been seriously wowed by the instant and long lasting effects of this oil. It adds shine, softness and manageability to my hair (which in this season is a big ask). All you have to do is spray it quite sparingly on the ends and even more sparingly on the mid lengths of damp, towel dried hair before styling. I don't blow dry my hair so I don't know how it works with heat but when I let my hair dry by itself it just really helps to keep my hair sleek and under control. It's even had an effect on my split ends- I usually get quite a few between hair cuts but my hair has been in great condition lately and I put this down to adding this into my routine.

I know that the Macadamia range isn't all that cheap but I picked this up (along with the Macadamia leave-in cream) for just £19 from BuyaPowa so it is definitely worth keeping an eye out for offers like this. I've also seen a lot of Macadamia products in my local TK Maxx but even there this 125ml bottle was still quite costly at just over £20. I do, however, think that this is worth every penny as it leaves your hair amazingly soft, nourished and you don't need to use very much at all so even a 60ml bottle [£12.95 from FeelUnique] would last you a long time. I'm going to be trialling the Macadamia leave-in cream next and I have really high hopes for that too, it has the same scent as the oil which is a little odd but in a good,  sweet (nutty I suppose!) sort of way.

Do you use a hair oil? If so what do you use and how is it? I'm keen to try some of the Morrocon Oil range now to see how it stands up against this!



Angelica

BEAUTY BARGAIN: Laidbare Butter Me Up Organic Shea Body Butter

Now this is a sticker that I like to see in TK Maxx! Especially on a 250ml tub of Shea Body Butter that hasn't been tested on animals, that's free of synthetic colours and fragrances and doesn't contain any parabens. The box was pretty battered but the tub inside was unopened so I whipped this off the shelf and have never looked back! (Again, I have to lay all the thanks for me even thinking of buying this on the lovely Evelyn from We Were Raised By Wolves as her positive review of the Laidbare cleanser inspired a whole array of Laidbare purchases on my part.)

This body butter is rich in Vitamin C and also contains Organic Shea Butter, Rosehip Oil and Avocado Oil. It is basically a pot packed full of ingredients which are all designed to intensely moisturise dry skin and as it isn't full of chemicals it is suitable for sensitive skin.

I've been using this for daily for just over a week now and I just love it. The scent of this is fantastically  but still naturally, sweet and fresh and reminds me of 'Fizzers' sweets that I used to eat when I was a child. This body butter is really thick but absorbs a LOT quicker than the Body Shop Body Butters that I've used previously which makes it a lot more convenient to use as I can put it on right before bed and even (albeit with a less liberal hand) in the morning without fearing that it's going to get on my bed or clothes. 

I'd gotten through about half a tub of this over the course of a week but I had been using this all over me at least once a day and sometimes twice (using a bit more in the mornings on my hands, arms and neck). It leaves your skin absolutely baby soft and the softness and moisturisation lasts very well, which is quite an achievement given how my skin has been reacting to the weather and central heating lately. Tragedy struck last night though when I was half way through applying this and I knocked the tub off my desk sending it spraying body butter all over my carpet :( I lost quite a lot of product which really annoyed me, but I guess this highlight's the major downside of buying products that come in tubs like this!

And here's a list of ingredients!

This body butter normally costs £11.99 online here and here. I think in comparison to the Body Shop Body Butters this is a lot better quality for a similar price and I personally find the scent of this beyond delectable- if I could smell like this everyday that would be more than okay by me! I would definitely repurchase this and if you see this in a discount store such as TK Maxx snap that baby up because I don't think you'll be disappointed- for me, at just £3, this was one of the best value purchases I've made in ages.

Do you have a favourite body butter? 

Angelica