*Milk; Ren Guerande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm (review)

Product description: A gently exfoliating body balm which removes dead cells and will leave your skin moisturised, renewed and glowing.

How to use: Massage onto dry skin before bathing or showering. Rinse off.

Summer has fiiiinaly arrived here in Holland so in order to make my pasty white skin ready for the sun I bought this Ren 'Guerande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm'.


The product

I never had much luck with the previous body scrubs that I tried. Both of them were oil based salt or sugar srubs and always left me feeling extremely oily and sticky whereas this one rinses completely clean in the shower. No slippery bathroom floor and no sticky legs! The balm gives the salt granules a bit of slip whilst making the skin soft and supple.

As you can see the balm is really thick but not too greasy. I also enjoy the subtle peppermint scent. I don't like heavily scented body products because you apply it on such a large area so it can easily be a bit too overwhelming.

Unlike most salt scrubs, the Ren 'Guerande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm' has very fine granules. The granules in oil based scrubs usually melt because of the oil, but these don't so you can really get a good exfoliation.


The verdict

The reason why I really adore this scrub is because it has helped to smooth out the bumps on my upper arms and legs without leaving my skin feeling dry or irritated. Although I don't use any self-tanner I can imagine that this would be great to use beforehand because it effectively gets rid of any dead skin and creates a great base for the self-tanner to adhere to.

Rating: 5/5





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*Milk; London beauty haul

As promised, today I will share with you some of the things that I bought whilst in London!
Base makeup has always been a weakness of mine and as you can see I could not resist the temptation when I went into Space NK. The first brand that I gravitated towards was 'By Terry'. Two of my favourite British beauty gurus, ViviannaDoesMakeup and Gh0stparties have raved about 'By Terry' products and so I wanted to try a few things out as well. I picked out the 'Cover Expert' foundation and the 'Touch Expert Advanced' concealer and oh man, do I looooove the concealer! Hands down best undereye concealer I have used so far! It covers without looking or feeling heavy and the shade is just perfect for covering dark circles.

Next, I also picked up another bottle of the 'Nars' Sheer Glow Foundation which is my favourite every day foundation and I also asked the sales assistent at Space NK to recommend me a good silicone-free primer and she recommended me the 'Pro-Prime' primer also from Nars. The primer compliments Sheer Glow very well and gives a very natural flawless finish.

The last face product that I got is the 'Kevyn Aucoin' The Creamy Glow cream blush in the shade 'Tansoleil'. I haven't had time to play with it yet, but am very excited! I really wanted to try a cream blush for the summer and read amazing reviews on this one.


I bought the 'Real Techniques' stippling brush to use in conjuction with the 'Kevyn Aucoin' cream blush because it's the perfect size!


Another 'Kevyn Aucoin' product, the expert lip color in the shade 'Blood Roses'. As the name already suggests, it iss the perfect shade of dark, burgundy red.


This 'Giorgio Armani' Flash Lacquer in '521' is also one of my favorite purchases. It doesn't feel tacky at all but still manages to give pretty good color pay-off. The shade selection is also very nice and if I had any money left I would definitely have bought another one!


I already mentioned this one in my London wishlist post and I ended up purchasing the shade 'Lovesick'. I can see why a lot of people love these, but is it me or does it smell a bit like toothpaste?


Another ViviannaDoesMakeup inspired purchase. These two shades are 'Satsuma' and 'Green Berry'.


Finally got my hands on the 'Paul & Joe Nail Enamel in shade '14'. I have been oogling swatch photos of this shade and it looks just as pretty in real life if not prettier. It is a bright raspberry red with ultra-fine mutli-colored shimmer. It compliments fair skin so well.


I had a full-sized tube of this 'Origins' Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask before, but it expired before I finished up using the entire tube so this time I bought the 50ml tube at Harrods. I have been using it almost every other night and fell back in love all over again. Such a great 'lazy girl' mask if you know what I mean.


Last but not least, my first 'Jo Malone' fragrance! I have never been a big fan of perfume because I have a very sensitive sense of smell, but have heard so many people with the same problem say that Jo Malone do fantastic light and unique fragrances that I just had to take a whiff of while I was there. And yes it's true, they all smell amazing and are non-offensive to my nose. The scent I ended up getting is the 'Nectarine Blossom & Honey' one.




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*Milk; Retro Summer

Cream polka dot cut out bralet - River Island (€33) ● Pale pink denim hotpants - 'MOTO' available at Topshop (€36) ● Wire wrap head band - 'Johnny loves Rosie' available at Asos (€18,50) ● All Stars Ox trainers - Converse (€60) ● Metal top cat eye sunglasses - Asos (€16) ● 'Geradium' lipstick - Lime Crime (€12) ● Nail Paint in 'Blue Moon' - Barry M (€4)

*** Note: Prices may differ per country and retailer.

I am back from my London trip! Was planning on doing a haul post, but found out that I forgot to include two items when I was editing and uploading my photos. Sadly the sun was already gone when I found out. No worries though, I'll be sure to post it in a few days, but for now I thought I would do an outfit post inspired by the warm(ish) weather.







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*Milk; Current favorites & mini reviews

It has been a looong time since I lasted posted a favorites post. I have been sticking to the same products for a while now and rarely experiment with skincare anymore since I have found a routine that really works well for my high maintenance skin. I will do an updated skincare and haircare routine soon, but for now I will show you a few products that I have been enjoying as of late.

Phyto has become my favorite haircare brand as none of their products contain any silicone and they are free of many harmful ingredients. The newest addition to my haircare routine is the 'Subtil Elixir' which is a pre-shampoo oil treatment. The oil smells so good and spreads easily through the hair. After leaving it on for 10 to 20 minutes you can then shampoo, condition and style your hair as usual. The oils really nourishes my hair leaving it very smooth and glossy (but not at all greasy!).

Something that I have repurchased multiple times already is 'Phyto 7', a leave-in conditioner with 7 plant extracts. My mom and I both share this product. She rarely has an opinion about beauty products and everything feels about 'the same' for her, but she says this is great for smoothing her frizzy, unruly hair.


The only makeup product in the bunch is this RMK 'Pressed Powder N' in shade '01'. The compact contains 3 semi-matte shades and one shimmery shade. Together, it gives a very natural pearly finish. The powder is extremely fine and smooth and doesn't look cakey at all. It is a great powder for normal to dry skin, but if you are looking for something to mattify or control oil then this is not the product for you.


Night serums have become quite popular recently. Take for example the Estee Lauder 'Advanced Night Repair' and the Kiehl's 'Midnight Recovery Concentrate'. I have tried a sample of the latter, but wasn't too impressed. The Ren 'Omega 3 Night Repair Serum' however works wonders for my skin! I first tried it in a sample kit and ended up purchasing a full-sized bottle! It plumps up my skin without clogging my pores and leaved my skin looking fresh and radiant the next morning!


I have the most horrendous looking cuticles! They always peel and crack which is so painful. I really wanted to get a cuticle cream instead of an oil because I wanted to use it on the go because I always forget to apply something on my cuticles when I am at home. The only time I remember to do so is when I am on my way to work and have nothing to do so I start to examine my horrible looking finger nails and cuticles. This 'Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream' by Burt's Bees smells great and is very easy to apply. It isn't the most nourishing product out there, but it does the job.

True story: Last weekend I was on a 2 1/3 hour train ride to Antwerp and since the weather has been quite nice the past few days, the other passengers literally REEKED of sweat. I held this little tin up to my nose so I could smell the sweet lemon scent instead of the icky smell of B.O. Taking multi-purpose to a whole other level yo!

Last but certainly not least, the 'Tour Tout Pour Lip Gloss. I reviewed this a while ago so I will not go into too much detail, but this is a great product for plump looking, kissable lips! You can read my full review here!




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*Milk; Candy Doll Cheek Color in 'Pink Flamingo' (review)

The product

This is not the first Candy Doll Cheek Color that I have reviewed so therefore I will keep this one short and simple. For more detailed information about the price and etcetera, you can read my previous review here.

Aaanyways, Candy Doll released a new color since my previous review and I have been eyeing it for a while now. The shade 'Pink Flamingo' is a really adorable orange apricot which is very flattering on Asian skintones. Similar to the 'Strawberry Pink' shade, this blush contains ultra fine golden shimmers that is barely noticable when applied on the cheeks.


Despite how I love the color, it does not show up on my cheeks as bright as I would like it to. I have to apply quite a bit of it for it me to achieve the desired effect (and I am already quite pale!). Below you can see a photo of the two shades swatched side-by-side. I swatched the 'Pink Flamingo' quite heavily for it to show up nicely whilst I only needed to swipe the 'Strawberry Pink' one very lightly to get that bright, intense color.

Pink Flamingo (left) & Strawberry Pink (right)
The verdict

I was really impressed with the quality and pigmentation of the Cheek Color in 'Strawberry Pink' that I decided to purchase this shade, but unfortunately the pigmentation is not that great. You really need to layer it on for the color to show up nicely on the cheeks which results in a slightly cakey look.

Rating: 3/5





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