Elemis Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt

The original post from 2007 (!) by way of 2013 (!!) was about picking a solid top ten out my Sweet Sixteen Top Faves, and this sprung to mind because I dug it out of my dragon’s hoard to see could I use it. The issue: my new apartment doesn’t have a bathtub (*sobbbbbbb).

What I did was bring it into the shower and see would the hot water and steam melt it enough so I could use it on my damp skin, post-douche? 

It did melt enough! And joy was felt throughout the land—or at least in my tiny bathroom.

Obvs the use below still applies, but if you’re stuck without a tub, there’s other way to use this, and it is still as delicious and wonderful as ever. 

***

Here is my recipe for the perfect home-spa experience: Elemis Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt.

That’s it. That’s all you need.

I’m delighted to be able to make this recommendation in typed-out words, because confidence in my articulation abilities takes a terrible dip when I try to speak the word ‘frangipani’; ‘monoi’ is not so bad, but following hard on the heels of the preceding fail, it just makes the whole situation worse that it needs to be.

mmm elemis{I say fraangeepannee, as opposed to the more American way, which because of the longer, fancy ‘a’ sounds, would be frahhhhngeepahhhhhnee. Both sound equally awkward in my actual voice.}

Linguistics aside, this stuff is the stuff of dreams. Fill your bathroom sink with hot water. Set the bottle — the lovely smoked glass bottle — in the water so that the solid material within softens into a luscious oil. Run a bath. You could even run the bath and meltify the Melt in the tub! Whatever: at some stage, shake in a few {million} drops. Enter; recline; relax.

Dunk your head under the water, then proceed to shake a few {million} drops of the Fraheheheheh on your head. Massage into your scalp. Sigh with pleasure.

Language, and pronunciation therefore, will cease to be an issue.

Get out of the bath before you, yourself melt. Shake the previously recommended number of drops of oil on your wet skin, massage. Pat yourself dry with a towel. Maybe rinse your hair out if you’re going out that evening — although why you would is utterly beyond my comprehension. You’ve just given yourself an amazingly self-nurturing treat! Stay home! Put your feet up! Get someone to make you your tea!

The only caution I have is that I’ve heard from pals who are as in the know as I, that the Fraheheheheh yokie can tend to discolour white toweling robes. Not that you’re not going to wrap yourself up in one regardless, but know that you may have to give it a spin in the washing machine sometime after your Melt event. Or you may simply avert your eyes, because your robe is going to smell gorgeous — almost as gorgeous as you do.

***

2025 prices vary wildly, from €42-52/£53/$55.00, so YMMV

***

Notino Dot Ie Haul Under €50

Everybody but the US can enjoy this site (soz)

I had to have a think about how I came upon notino.ie (scroll down for links to your country). I am a fragrance fangirl* and I may have been clicking around looking for a reasonable facsimile of D&G’s Velvet Desert Oud… but I think it’s because I came across Barnängen as a product line and did the google and it lead me there.

It was a fortuitous google indeed as I am now addicted to their shower creams and gels, all under €6 a pop. I’ve tried their body cream and the pump version didn’t pump so great, and the body butter is fab but really thick, so that’s like a night time application, no good for someone like me who is always rushing out the door of a morning. It’s like cake icing only thicker, so you need to plan for using it.

I hadn’t been happy with the shower gels I had on rotation, so I visited the site in order to stock up and went a lil bit bonkers.

Hidden in the back is HASK Curl Defining Cream; my hair is wavy enough to be able to encourage some curls if I apply stuff like this to damp hair and twist it up for 24 hours. I’ve tried it and can happily recommend. I mean, I don’t get any gorgeous corkscrew curls, but I do get tighter waves; don’t expect miracles.

The rest of the stuff you can read the labels yourself. I will say the OnlyBio only works well on damp skin and the Dermacol nail hardener there isn’t great.

I will also say that huge Syoss shampoo was the free sample I checked off when invited to choose one! I will also say I reckon it’s been sitting in the warehouse for ages as the bottle was literally actually dusty. But I lovvvvve itttt not only for its size but for its efficacy. I forgot how good keratin is for my hair.

I had a coupon code for 15% off because I’m on the mailing list, and also got free shipping, so I’d say this was excellent value (ymmv).

That’s me set up in shower gel for a good while anyway!

*Watch this space for an absolute squee over some French perfume I found circuitously via TikTok!

This Could Be Better: Nuxe Huile Prodgieuse Neroli

Is that shouting and mayhem I hear?

I’m not saying that this bottle of deliciousness isn’t good, I’m saying something could be improved upon.

As a long time fan of the original huile – I mean, look here – I did not think the formulation could get any better than it was, and then the Neroli version dropped in 2021. I loooooovvvvve neroli. Though its fragrance derives from orange blossom, you won’t smell like you’ve spilled your Tropicana all down your front. This is citrusy, for sure, but also green and a bit floral, a darker floral than the original huile (that’s down to its sweet almond and the camellia).

So okay, 10/10, no notes, except…

The bottle.

The bottle is glass and it is square. When one has just stepped out of the shower and wishes to squirt this delectable oil onto one’s still damp skin, it is an entire pain in the bum.

The squareness does not sit well in the (damp) palm, and the glass-ness is the nightmare you’d imagine it to be in a wet hand.

This is deeply irritating as there is nothing like oil on the damp skin for hydration. The open pores suck it in, and it, in turn, locks in the moisture and you are not only highly moisturised but also spectacularly fragrant.

Or you would be. If you could get the stuff out of the bottle and onto your bod. It was so bad the last time I tried to spray myself down I was sure I was almost out of it, but no: there is a good 1/3 of oil left.

Must I remove the spray part and pour into my palm? I will, if I have to, and question the whole point of the inconvenience of having to ditch the part that’s meant to be the most convenient thing of all.

I would not be happy with a bottle that had one of those lil plastic covers that have the one hole in them either. What if the bottle was tall and thin??? That might work…

Argh!!

***

Interested in paranormal Regency Era Romance? Visit susannaallenwriter.com and please consider giving us a follow there, too <3

***

The Body Shop Ramie Shower Lily: Noble, but Not Available?!?

Look, I rate The Body Shop highly but researching got frustrating, fast and also: the thing is not so great to use.

I winkled a lil Ramie Lily by The Body Shop out of the box of random offerings from those who receeved them and are keen they find a good home.

I adore The Body Shop: I was gifted with some mandarin-scented soap, before my second trip to Ireland, way back before I lived here, and anytime I smell something even remotely orange-y, I recall with pleasure my sojourn in a hostel in Westport, Co Mayo (hang on… here she is). So sure, I’m going to grab whatever someone else is silly enough to give up.

Except… yeah, not so great.

The impulse is terrific: make a shower/bath scrubby thing — does everyone call it a lily? — that is not made of plastic. Fantastic! I am happy enough with my exfoliating gloves, but wanted to give this a try.

Lil Body Ship Ramie lily hanging in the shower
So sad!

Verdict?

A) It is very smol.

B) It gets very flat? And doesn’t scrub very well?

C) The flatness doesn’t distribute your shower gel, like, at all.

Then I tried to find images that wouldn’t look so woeful: it is discoverable on thebodyshop.com; this is maybe a small press sample? There seem to be none for sale on the flagship site and is only available from portal vendors, ie, long-distance from Indonesia, for example. Which: carbon footprint how are ya.

This is not advancing saving the planet. Ultimately, one must ask: wtf???

Me being me, I wanted to see what happened if I unbunched it. Trusty X-acto knife in hand, I cut the twine that bound it…

X-acto knife and unbound lily ramie
Eh.

Not convinced, but I’ll give it a go!

***

Interested in paranormal Regency Era Romance? Visit susannaallenwriter.com and please consider giving us a follow there, too <3

***

Time Out of Time: Lusty Beg Island

Take time out, they say. It’ll be grand, they say. Truth: there is nothing like a nice weekend away, much less one that involves pampering. I’m honoured to have been hosted at spa hotels all over the country, but the sensation of being on an island almost exactly in the middle of this island added even more of that special feeling of ‘being away’ than I’ve experienced so far.

Lusty Beg Island sits in Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh. The drive from Dublin to Enniskillen was a manageable 90 minutes-ish on the bus, and travelling from the depot to the island took about half an hour. When we crossed a bridge onto Boa Island, I was a tiny bit bummed and said to the driver, ‘Oh, so… this is like Achill? You can just drive on?’ He said, ‘You’ll see,’ and in moments, I did: after going up a boreen (okay, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t a dual carriageway), we came to a dock, and zipped onto a tidy little two-car ferry.

It was a journey of less than five minutes, if that, but once we disembarked, everything changed.

Lusty Beg Exterior (11)

Lusty Beg accommodation — one of the many options

From the Irish for ‘small lodge’, Lusty Beg was once home to monks, and within moments, I felt like I was stepping in their contemplative footsteps. Even with all the accommodation — 40 rooms, and an assortment of chalets, lodges, cabins and apartments — I felt like I had the place to myself. Even after having a lovely lunch in the bar, and seeing actual other people in the place, once I left to get my treatment, I had an uncanny sensation that I had the whole island to myself.

***

THE SEAWEED BATH

Deep bath + VOYA seaweed = bliss!

I am masso fan of Lazy Days Seaweed Bath from VOYA, as I have described here; in fact, this was one of the very first products I ever blogged about. I haven’t had one in ages, so the chance to enjoy one, practically at the source, wasn’t something I was going to pass up. I’d already had a facial in the Island Spa that used VOYA products, and as such was pretttttty relaxed, but the soak in the seaweed-infused water finished me off, in the best possible sense.

There wasn’t a toxin left in me by the time the 30 minutes was up — and I didn’t actually make it for the full time. The tub, straight out of a sexy, renovated TV-decorating show bathroom, was long enough for me to stretch out in, and I added a bit of hot and cold water as necessary… but the drinking water from the pitcher that was set tub-side ended up going over my head to cool me down, as much as it went into me. I crawled out to take a break, and just as I was about to go back in for more, the knock on the door landed. As much as I wished it could have gone on forever, half an hour was in fact exactly enough.

I made my way to my self-catering log cabin (the kitchen was nicer than the one in my apartment), didn’t bother unpacking, and sat myself down on the couch, because:

THE VIEW

Utterly relaxing, rain…

And the next day, I spent a good few hours there again, because:

THE VIEW2

…and shine

***

It’s not all seaweed baths and contemplation: there are numerous activities to avail of as well, of the casual adventure-type — although, having said that, the off-roading probably gets pretty hairy; from my own experience in the speedboat, don’t eat before embarking, because even if the lake’s not rough, which is was when I was taken for a spin, then the speed may make you want to vom.

THE BOAT

Yeah, okay, it looks as smooth as glass — it was not

Or you can try archery for the first time ever in your life and MAYBE HIT THE BULLSEYE.

BULLSEYE!

BOOM

***

I adore a good illustrated map.

LUSTY BEG MAP

I literally didn’t even get to explore anything but the long skinny part #GottaGoBack

I can’t recommend the place more highly: it’s perfect for families, couples, solo travellers, you name it. Don’t bother thinking you can have your wedding there anytime in the new few years though, someone told me they’re booked out ’til 2018 — and I can’t imagine a better, low-key, fun, beautiful place to get hitched. See here for all the ins and outs and special offers, but honestly rain, shine or hail (I am pretty sure we got a little dose of that at some stage), this is one of the better breaks I’ve ever had — and I think it shows:

GLOWING!

Relaxed and glowy

***

Snap! Judgment: Vichy Ideal Body

Basically said OH MY GOD really loudly when I dabbed a bit of both of these on.

VICHY IDEAL BODY

Both use active ingredients like hyaluronic acid and LHA which you’d be more likely to find in face creams, but surely the rest of our bodies can benefit from them as well? With 10 lovely oils included as well — among them passionflower, macadamia and jojoba — there’s an added sensuality to these products.

The oil smells like summer; the body balm is like wrapping yourself in a cashmere blanket. At €23 and €22 respectively, you might prefer to pick one or the other. I’d go with the oil for spring-into-summer action, and keep the balm for winter. It’s optimistic to think that winter’s over, so IDK, do what you think best.

There’s a serum, too, which may be the bridge between seasons…

Very excited to give these a proper whirl!

***

Gift Guide 2015: Happy Holiday Skincare

If you’ve someone near and dear who doesn’t indulge in luxury products, give them a helping hand this holiday…

DERMALOGICA
OMG look at all those gift sets €17.15-79.70
DERMALOGICA group
This literally puts the truth in the phrase ‘there’s something for everyone’ — and something for every budget, too. The Clean Start is perfect for the tween/teen on your list — and not just the girls, my nephews are huge fans of the Soothing Clearing Booster and would use this stuff in a shot. Skin that is mature, dry, normal oily, frequent travellers who want to keep their body care routine on fleek, those love a good facial exfoliation, those who just love the brand and its best sellers — that’s all catered for here. The packaging is also refreshingly non-festivity specific, so those who don’t celebrate via the fat man in the red suit won’t be alienated.

 

CLARINS PARIS
Double Serum And Super Restorative Collection €69.50
CLARINS Double Serum gift
Here’s one of the many offerings from this brand, and all of them targeted to a variety of concerns, but this has to be my pick, thanks to the Double Serum. I went through that stuff for a shortcut and still think of it fondly. The addition of the Super Restorative Day, Night, and Eye cream only adds to the attraction. Plus! It all comes in an elegantly iridescent gold clutch — I adore that detail on the zip tab.

 

CAUDALÍE PARIS
Huile Divine/Divine Oil €8.70 Eau de Beauté/Beauty Elixir €12.60
CAUDALIE BAUBLES
May be the best beauty baubles ever: both are a terrific introduction to the natural, paraben-free French brand, they look adorbz, and they are really well-priced. This is Secret Santa sorted. The Divine Oil is suitable from top to toe and smells delicious; the Beauty Elixir works as a toner, a makeup setting lotion, and a general pick-you-up.

 

CLINIQUE
Clean Skin, Great Skin €89
CLINIQUE Clean Skin Great Skin
Bit of a splurge, but I am such a fan of the Sonic that I urge you to splash out on someone special. It’s not enough that you get their terrific skin-cleansing brush — you get a carry case too! I will not travel anywhere without this little beauty, and a case like that surely beats the pair of socks I’ve been using to protect in as we journey forth. The samples of the soap, DDM+ and Clarifying Lotion pretty much set your dearly beloved up for a kickin’ start to the new year.

***

Gift Guide 2015: Happy Holiday Gift Sets II

Make your giftee clean and bright…

LUSH
Selection of gift sets ranging from €11.95 to €220
LUSH gifts
Any Lush outlet takes on the atmosphere of Aladdin’s Cave at this time of year, and they’ve truly cornered the market on thoughtful, beautifully presented gifts. From the smaller boxes that contain two well-matched, full-sized products, to the massive collections like Wow! that comes with 36 samples from across their Christmas range — or the Winter Wonderland {117.50}, for the serial bath-taker in your life: 20 bath additives of the bomb, melt and bubble variety are sure to make someone happy for months.

LUSH winter wonderland

Here’s that magical box, and at right: the barest tip of the festive bathing iceberg. I know that people have widely diverging opinions related to the scent of Lush stuff — I heart it big time, personally. The best part of this particular gift set? The artwork on the box was created by ARTHOUSE Meath, a collective of art instructors who work with people who suffer from severe epilepsy, and those with learning and physical difficulties. This is just another indication of Lush’s commitment to outreach, and to involving local artists and artisans in their process. That’s the true spirit of the season, right there.

BENEFIT
Party Poppers €46 Get Your Party On and You’re So Party €56
BENEFIT GIFTS
This brand get it right year after year, and they’ve surpassed themselves in 2015. These two are my faves: Party Poppers is designed along the lines of an Advent Calendar, but celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas — along with a song that belts out when you open it… or even walk past it with too much vigour. It’s full of minis of Benefit’s greatest hits, and it’s well worth the fright you get when you hear someone singing and you don’t know where it’s coming from.

As far as collectible tins go, both Get Your Party On and You’re So Party are the proverbial gifts that keep on giving — I can’t even imagine how much stuff you could stash in these tins, once you gleefully decant the prizes inside. As regards the former, your amazed love one will find They’re Real Mascara and Hoola Bronzing Powder as well as a bottle of High Beam, and Gimme Brow in mediUm/deep. The latter will discover full-size They’re Real Mascara and Hoola Bronzing Powder, and mini POREfessional and Ultra Plush Lip Gloss Mini In Hoola. Like Lush, there are many choices to make based on your budget — it couldn’t be easier to shop.

ELIZABETH ARDEN
Original Eight Hour Set €30, available @theloopdublin in Dublin Airport
Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Original Set €30.00
It’s unheard of for a brand to have a product that retains its cult status — for 85 years! — but that’s exactly what Elizabeth Arden have in their Eight Hour Cream. Originally developed by Miss Arden herself to doctor her thoroughbreds, it was the very first product to be released under the now classic name. For an astonishing price, you get Face Cream, Skin Protectant — which literally is useful from top to toe, for shaping brows to soothing rough heels — and a lip balm. A great introduction to a versatile product — and seriously, that price!

AVOCA
Medley Of Soaps €17.50, also at The Loop
Avoca Medley of Soaps €17.50
Everything about this is exquisite, which is one of my favourite words. The packaging, the variety of scents, and the price all combine to make this an terrific Irish gift for someone with excellent taste and fancy spare loo. Oh, forget that! Encourage your giftee to treat themselves and use them everyday! Just because something’s exquistie doens’t mean that it can’t be quotidian.

***

Gift Guide 2015: Happy Holiday Gift Sets I

Welcome to 2015’s gift guide! 

Gift sets have come a long way since the days of buying your mum a dusting powder duo from the chemists. Here’s a few of my stylish faves.

GIFTS I

DERMALOGICA
Super Rich Repair + Two Gifts! €79.70
I adore this treatment cream, and this gift also come with Skin Resurfacing Cleanser and an exfoliating mitt. That mitt! I don’t know, I’d say any old skin cells will takeo ne look at it and give themselves up without a fight! When they say ‘super rich’, they mean it: this is a heavy cream that is well-suited for this time of year, when weather conditions are primed to wreck your face. The cream alone is the same price as the gift {it’s full-size} and the travel-size of the cleanser is big enough to get a good intro to it. That mitt, though — that’s the real bonus in this little beaut.

BURT’S BEES
Love From Nature €16.95
Sadly, we lost Burt this year, but his legacy lives on. As a devotee of lip balm, it doesn’t get any better than this — you get full-sized samples of their legendary Beeswax Lip Balm with Vitamin E & Peppermint, a Honey Lip Balm and Almond and Milk Hand Cream. As a devotee of gift boxes that you can use to put stuff in, this is one of the best I’ve seen so far this season.

L’OCCITANE
Hand Cream Collection RRP €32
I am not a fan of hand cream, but I adores those produced by the Provencal brand. This a lovely variety of scent, from clean {Dry Skin Hand Cream} to floral {Roses et Reines}, to fruity-flowery {Fleurs de Censier} to citrusy {Vervaine}. I received this sample from The Loop, the shopping centre in Dublin Airport, so if you’re stuck for a last minute gift and don’t want it to look you were stuck, then I’d say grab this up before you head for your gate.

ORIGINS
Ginger Pleasures €60
ORIGINS ginger
I love this range, and the scent is not so gingery that you smell like a little baked cookie man: there’s lemon, lime and bergamot in there, too. The brand have redesigned the packaging so that it’s got cool 60s Saul Bass-designed-movie-titles vibe {too graphic designer insidery?} and the samples in the set are really generous: 200mls of Ginger Souffle body cream, 100mls of Ginger Burst body wash, 100mls of Ginger body scrub, along with a mini Ginger Essence fragrance and a bottle of Ginger Gloss body oil — and a body puff!. This version is available at Arnotts, and if you like to layer, this is fragrant set does the business.

***

The No7 Advent Calendar {Deal With It}

Ooh, this is super fantastically gorgeous:

No7 ADVENT CALENDAR

The 25 Days of Beauty Wonder Calendar {so not Advent, strictly speaking}: 25 days, 19 minis, six full-sized products, €49.50 — which is insane as the total value is €193. You can expect nail varnish, skin care, body care, make-up, and some of the brand’s heroes like the No7 Instant Illusions Airbrush Away Primer and the No7 Stay Perfect Amazing Eyes Pencil.

Get on the waiting list here!

***

Look, it’s almost Hallowe’en, okay?!?

**