…and badger me for constantly
Giving that I’m someone who just doesn’t enjoy having a lot of stuff, my mates do pretty well out of this whole blogging thing. Whilst kindly receiving PR samples is a glorious perk of the job, I’m not the owner of a small warehouse and am only one person who ultimately doesn’t need 2756 different moisturisers, so I’m more than happy to pass on products that I know won’t get used to friends and family. Sometimes there are items that I quite literally can’t give away (anything majorly colourful or anything to do with contouring because my friends are absolutely terrified of it), but often they’re more than happy to dig in and I love nothing more than their unabashed feedback.
I thought I’d collate the best crowd pleasers into one post as a nod to the items that get the seal of approval from not just myself, but a whole host of people in my life who can’t get enough of them. They all take their testing roles very seriously and my Grandma practically demos a YouTube style ‘empties‘ video whenever I’m round there and lets me know what she thinks about every single item that I give her. I also get the deats on what Joy, Jan and Aunty Jill thought of their goods that she passed on too. It’s lengthy, but I love it. So here are they are, the items that everyone I know adores, and rightly so…
It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream. I’ve decided that I’m basically the local Avon lady for this product. I first pimped it out during a trip to Lisbon where one of my friends had forgotten their makeup bag. She used this and was wowed, like properly gasped out loud when she applied it. It happened again when I went away on a hen do and some of the girls had a root around my makeup bag. Swooning ensued and there I was sending them the link online – and this was when you had to ship it over from the U.S! That’s how much they needed to get their hands on it. I first purchased a tube three and half years ago now and it’s still to this day probably my favourite foundation for the fact that it packs a punch in the dewy department, never looks dry and gives a pretty decent coverage for a product that’s so darn glowy.
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream. I’ve been lucky to work pretty closely with Kiehl’s over the years and seeing as I only have one face I’ve tried out a fair amount of their stuff, but call on my friends and family to be chief testers as well. Through this they have become OBSESSED. To the point where my friend who had never spent anything above a tenner on an item of skincare, now buys a pot of the Super Multi Corrective Cream twice a year. Although their original moisturiser and best-seller receives great feedback too. My Mum also loves the Clearly Corrective Deep Moisture Clarifying Cream which she says has really helped even out her skintone and Mark laps up the Ultra Facial Cream SPF30 everyday, like I do too. It’s by far the skincare brand that whenever I give out, is returned with the most compliments and I can see why.
DIOR ADDICT Lip Glow. Lip products are always a big hit and the more balm-y and sheer they are the more my mates seem to love ’em. This Dior one is exactly that and I have a friend who has been through about three of these over the past year because it’s the only thing that she wears on her lips. People feel similarly about the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector, which has become my Mum’s favourite lip product and it’s big news as she really doesn’t feel that strongly about any makeup genre. It’s my favourite gloss too as it’s nourishing and the complete opposite of sticky. A fair amount of Glossier Balm Dot Coms have made it into my giveaway bag simply because when they were launched in the U.K, I went a bit overboard and bought every single flavour they do. I mean I still have like four hanging around in the flat, but anyone who got one of the spare ones has fallen in love with the matte balm formula.
Therapie Slumber Sleep Spray. Now really my mates go nuts for any kind of sleep spray. There are actual arguments over who got given the last bottle of whatever slumber-inducing potion has landed in my donation pile, so I have to make sure that they’re distributed in a fair and ordered rotation. I think the allure is that anyone can use them; whether you have sensitive skin, you don’t really wear makeup, you can’t be bothered to partake in some kind of 30 minute skincare routine before bed – it doesn’t matter! Everyone loves the idea of giving their pillow a three-second spray of something that smells AMAZING, with the hope of a better nights sleep. I enjoy this one, although the This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray Spray is a friend and family favourite too.
Aesop Post-Poo Drops. Thanks to the lovely team at Space NK we actually gave these out as wedding favours as a bit of LOL on our big day. Firstly because we’re a fan of toilet humour, and secondly because they actually work. None of that horrible ‘Is it orange I can smell or is it just poo?’ masking whatever goings-on have been happening in the bathroom, but instead it actually leaves everything fresh. All of our friends and family already have a bottle that they proudly display in their bathrooms which makes me smile whenever I spot one, so no one has needed a replacement yet, but I’ve had a lot of enquires about where they can grab a bottle once their stock runs low. It looks fancy, but it gets the job done whilst making your bathroom look like it should be on Into The Gloss.
Photos by Emma Croman
*Sign up to my monthly newsletter ‘An Edited Life’ here*
SHOP THE POST
Comments