Body Scrub showdown

Well, it's August and less than one month until Winter is officially over!

What does that mean? It's mean it's time to start the de-hibernation process. Scrubs, moisturisers and tanning. 

I've tried a few scrubs over "my time" and here's the low down on what I've found and what I like and not so much...

Frank
This is a coffee scrub with orange and almond oil being one of its main ingredients which leaves the skin soft and feeling moisturised afterwards. I find this is particularly awesome as I hate having to moisturise myself afterwards so to me, it's a 2 in 1 number. A few people I've talked to however, don't like the feeling of the residue oils on the skin, so I think this is for ahem "lazy" people or those who don't mind that oil feeling and take it for what it is. 
The smell is amazing and smells like Jaffas. The only real downside to this (and any other scrub to be honest), it makes a mess. You will get coffee grains EVERYWHERE! So prep some time to cleaning up when you use this. 
Repurchase: Yes, this is my favourite scrub
Available: frankbody.com.au
RRP: $14.95 (free shipping)

Garnier Body Tonic Sugar scrub
This is a fantastic cheaper scrub version that I love. It's gritty in all the right places and doesn't melt down a lot. This one is great at getting off those last remnants of tan without over-exfoliating your poor skin. I remember this being the first scrub I ever used and I used it for years until I decided to try out other things. 
Repurchase: Yes
Available: Priceline and most supermarkets
RRP: $11.99

The Body Shop body scrub
I'm pretty sure this is a sugar scrub with the way that it melts and very quickly loses its "scrub" factor. I do like something that is quite gritty and for me, for the price, I do expect something more gritty and scrubby.  There's a ton of flavours, and as always with The Body Shop products, new limited edition scents. After using this I find that it leaves a "moisturising" residue, although I'm not a fan of this residue (it must be what the Frank go-ers mean about those oils), I feel like it's almost like it's dirty and sticks to you. It's not enough to make me want to scrub my body clean, but it's not ideal.
Repurchase: No
Available: thebodyshop.com.au and in store
RRP: $23.95

The Body Shop body polish
This is more of a plastic bead type of scrub vs the above sugar scrub. This comes in a tube bottle and again, has a ton of flavours. I find this slightly more gritty than the body scrub, due to the grains not losing their shape as fast, but it still leaves me wanting more. 
Repurchase: No
Available: thebodyshop.com.au and in store
RRP: $11.95

Summer Salt Body
This is a VERY intense salt scrub. Be warned: do not use this if you have shaved anywhere within the past 24 hrs, it will BURN! (thats the salt). I bought the limited edition Pineapple, Watermelon and Coconut summer one. It smelled amazing and the 3 scents were broken into layers so you can use each scent by layer until they mix up further on down the bag. This is a scrub I would use very gently as you can easily irritate your skin, so sensitive skinners, beware, this may not be a product for you. Even though it has sugar in it, and as one of its main ingredients, it didn't break down like other sugar scrubs. Also, 2 things that really put me off, 1. the random water droplets that inevitably occur, acted like glue and made the scrub form clumps which aren't easy to break up; 2. eventually ALL of those little drops of water start to accumulate in the bottom of the packet and essentially turn the bottom stuff into a sludge. It still remains granulated but it's not that nice so I ended up chucking it out when I got the the bottom. Although it does say, use within 6 weeks and I definitely had mine a lot longer...
Repurchase: On the fence. It has the perfect scrubby-ness but, the not-so-nice extras kill. 
Available: summersaltbody.com
RRP: $16.90 

Have you tried any of these? What's your favourite body scrub? 

June favourites: what I'm LOVING this month!

This month I thought I'd do something a little different to a haul, because well, I guess hauls can get a bit boring and showy, so I thought I'd show you some of my favourites instead of what I'm just buying!

MAC MORANGE (lipstick) & TEMPERATURE RISING (lip pencil). 
I don't know what it is, maybe the fact that it's now cold here in Australia and I'm subtlety trying to get those summer feels, but I'm really into my bright lipsticks. I just don't feel right with nudes. Dark colours aren't really doing it for me either. But brights are where it's at for me. Reds, oranges, neon pinks, I'm right there! This month Morange is my go-to shade! I seriously can't get enough of this shade! I find it so strange that as a pink based skin tone, this colour should look like shit on me. Maybe it does, I don't really care. I'm in love. I team this with another favourite (and honestly my favourite lip liner, Temperature Rising). Unfortunately, Temperature Rising is pretty old, from the To The Beach collection from 2010.

TOO FACED SWEETHEART BRONZING BEADS.  (Bronzer/ highlighter)
I've heard so many not-so-good reviews on these but I love them! I think I actually prefer these over my usual MAC Natural skinfinish. I am definitely a fan of a subtle glitter/ highlight/ sheen thing going on over my whole face, and these definitely give me that. It might be a little too much for some people, or not quite the look they're going for, so I probably would skip them if that's not for you. I like that these aren't powdery or build up product heaps so that it looks cakey. I wouldn't call them bronzing either, but they do have a mix of bronze, pink, white and peach hearts so it's a mixed bronzing highlight situation, which is perfect for my face (NW20 for reference). I think the main reason that people aren't so crash hot for these is the amount of product you get. In the pictures, the container looks full to the top but you get maybe half that in reality. Even though the quantity is a little disappointing, these last forever. I've had these for about 6 months now, using them pretty much every day and I feel like I've barely used them. I highly recommend these, unless, as I said, you're not a fan of subtle shimmer, glimmer, glitter, facial highlight. Whew! (Soz for the novel).

MAC CANDY YUM YUM. (Lipstick)
Oh my, this lipstick is definitely yum yum! My fave pink lipstick. I'm sure everyone on this planet (well the beauty planet, that is), has heard of this phenomenal, stunning, coveted lipstick. If you haven't, then you need to get on the candy train. This is definitely for the brave hearted, however, it is MUCH more wearable than you might think. I seriously think every girl needs this shade in their life. Not. Even. Kidding! Thankfully this shade is now permanent!

MAC SOUL SERENADE. (eyeshadow)
Wowwwwww! What a stunning shade. I do not understand why this shade wasn't one of the first to be sold out. It's a stunning (there's that word again, haha) deep, almost gunmetal, brown with amazing pigmentation. I only own 3 of the extra dimension eyeshadows and I seriously want more. These eyeshadows are highly pigmented (as I said), buttery soft and easy to blend. These eyeshadows alone make me wanna board the MAC train again in a BIG way. They might be smaller in size for the price vs the original eyeshadows but they are worth every cent. Next time they're released do yourself a favour and go buy them (all).

FRANK. (body scrub)
Holy moly this scrub is great. It smells like jaffas (coffee and orange) and works a treat. What I especially love is the almond oil making your skin softer than baby's bums and kittens at Christmas time afterwards. Perverted, but I seriously can't stop feeling myself up once I'm dry. They've also come out with a Coconut and Chocolate versions too. Only down side: it's a bit messy. It's also apparently good to do selfies with too.
Go buy it here: frankbody.com
$14.99 (with free shipping!)

The Body Shop HONEY lip balm
If you've ever had braces you'll understand how a good lip balm is SO important. Especially at times when you're getting them on, or through each brace tightening. I received this lip balm as a gift for my birthday last week, and it has been a godsend! I also had a new wire put on my bottle teeth so it's rubbing and my lips are dry. I already had the chocolate and cocoa butter Body Shop lip balms, but they're creamy vs waxy, like the honey one is, which I feel like it suits my dry lips better. Very moisturising with a subtle honey scent.

Swatches of Soul Serenade, Temperature Rising, Morange & Candy Yum Yum.

A couple of extras faves for the past month!
I very rarely hear new tracks and get excited, I'm "sorry not sorry" stuck in the 90s. I love my Spice Girls, Britney, Christina, N*SYNC etc, however, my man played this and I.FELL.IN.LOVE! You know when you hear something SO good, you get goosebumps? Yeah, this is it for me.
Robot Koch ~ Happy People
Check it out here: soundcloud.com/robot-koch
Or YouTube it! ;)

A really random love this month. PESTO. Yes that delicious smashed basil dip. I've been mixing pesto with Mayo to make "pestonaise". It is DELICIOUS! I'm having it as a salad dressing or on crackers. I first discovered it on pizza, and since then, I've been hooked! Haha.


What I'm not loving:
This weather. Totally not beauty/ makeup related, but I hate the cold. I get cold easily and it stays with me. My birthday was also this month and it's miserable because no one wants to go out, because, suprise, suprise, it's too damn cold! Rarrrr!!!! However, I do like my warm drinks, so that's something positive... Also, bed....

What are you loving this month? What are your all time faves? Do you prefer hauls vs favourites?