Thea Skincare

A few weeks ago I was sent this Thea Skincare Cocoa Butter and Chocolate Body Scrub and Rich cocoa and coconut body butter to test. I have used them for the past few weeks so that I can review them for you.
Thea was started by Althea Giscombe a former Avon manager who was inspired to create this brand after a trip to Africa.

First up is the Body Scrub.
I found the body scrub had a very buttery texture that warmed up really quickly and melted into my skin. I thought that the pieces of sugar in the scrub were just a tad too large and so you had to be gentle with rubbing them in. Thea skincare is natural and organic and what I loved most about this scrub was that It looked and felt like a homemade scrub. It made it feel more luxurious as it didnt feel mass produced. It works very well as a scrub skin is left feeling very moisturised afterward but I did find that parts of my skin felt a little dry after use and so It does need to be paired with the body Butter.

The Body Butter really reminds me of the ponds cold cream, It just feels ice cold when you put it on It is thick and creamy but spreads much more easily than other body butters I have used its more like a light version of a body butter. As ive said already it pairs beautifully with the body scrub and they really compliment each other. The body butter moisturised my skin well. I was dissapointed when the body butter didnt smell like yummy coconut as I was expecting but I do find that happens with natural products sometimes.

All of thea skincare products are free from parabens, sulphate and artificial fragrance, they are vegan friendly and do not test on animals.
Have you tried any Thea Skincare, Let me know in the comments.

Beautiful Irish Brands : Holos

Welcome to today's installment of Beautiful Irish Brands a series spotlighting Irish brands in the beauty industry as always I will begin by telling you about who is behind the brand followed by a product review. 

Holos is an Irish natural beauty brand from Wexford to be exact creating hand made natural products made with essential oils. Their belief is that the beauty products that we use are absorbed by our bodies in the same way as our food. so they have created these natural, healthy and environmentally friendly products that also have the bonus of luxury.
Holos have got seven different product ranges Love your skin: A range suitable for all skin types but aimed towards dry and mature skin. Good Morning: A quick fix, minimal fuss skincare routine Good Night: Aimed toward balancing and relaxing you at the end of the day Blossoms: A feminine range made with Neroli, ylang ylang and my favorite smell in the world jasmine (I have my eye on this range to be my next treat) Woodlands: range for men, Happy Baby: An oil for use in the bath or massage onto babies skin and Happy Momma: products are safe to use during pregnancy and nursing.
Niamh Hogan is the creative force of the brand whilst her partner Paul is the man behind the scenes. Niamh is a practicing aromatherapist and natural lifestyle practitioner, her vocation led to a passion for a natural lifestyle and essential oils which led to her creating the Holos brand initially for her own use followed by the decision to share with all of us!

For my review section I was sent and have been testing Anti-Ageing facial oil from the Love your skin range. The oil combines Rose, Palmerosa, Benzoin & Frankincense with Argan oil which aims to reduce appearance of wrinkles by restoring the lipid layer of skin! -very scientific after writing that I feel like Im after travelling back to Leaving Cert Home Ec. The Rose and Benzoin are there to reduce inflammation and the Frankincense and Palmerosa keep the skin looking young by reducing fine lines.
I have been using this oil every night for the last two weeks and I am really loving It. First off I adore the packaging It is in a glass bottle with a dropper for the oil so no mess yay! I really like the smell of the oil It has a beautiful rose scent that's in just the right place between subtle and overpowering. I have found that It has been aiding in me relaxing at night and Its even quite therapeutic to just apply it every night.
I noticed a difference in my skin from just the first use and the effects have been magnified over the course of the two weeks. What It has done is make my skin plumper especially on my cheeks I feel like my face isn't dragging down anymore It has really lifted It. My forehead wrinkles have visibly eased and my forehead is no longer dehydrated. My whole face has been glowing, just really radiant! This was my first time to trial a facial oil and I will never be without this again. I cant believe how much better all of my skin looks and feels after just a short time. The oil retails at €22.20 and in two weeks I have used just about a quarter of the bottle this works out around €0.40 per day for spectacular skin a complete steal!
Its a credit to Niamh and Holos that a product that does so much can be all natural too I'm looking forward to seeing this brand explode across the market as It deserves.

You can purchase the full range on www.holos.ie and a number of health stores nationwide.
I hope you have all loved today's post please leave a comment to let me know.
You can also find me on twitter @clareken86
Instagram: sparkleblossombeauty

UA-54503097-1

Beautiful Irish Brands : NIA Skincare

Hi everyone

Welcome to my new post series Beautiful Irish Brands. There is an amazing array of Irish beauty brands in the market right now and I want to put a spotlight on some of the best. I am so excited about starting this series and I hope you will love it too. Every week I will post and review a different brand starting today with nia.

Nia was founded by a lady named Celia O'Grady.The goal of nia is to create 'natural, easy and cost effective solutions that will integrate mind and spirit'.
All nia products are hand made in Limerick  and the brand believes that it is important to eliminate peoples contact with as many chemicals as possible. Following this all of the ingredients used in nia products are Natural and where possible organic. Nia balms are the first 100% Natural formula of their kind and here comes the science bit!!  they are formulated like a cream but without using water so they dont need emulsifiers, preservatives or chemicals which also gives them a longer shelf life in turn making them better value for customers :)
For my testing section of this post I have tried out some small pots of Just Balm and Intensive Restoring Facial Moisturising Balm. I have been sent these as samples and as always put a * next to them, opinions are honest and my own.

Just Balm* were told is a fragrance & steroid free moisturising balm aimed towards treating ecczema, dermatitis and psoriasis to name a few. I myself suffer from a horrible skin condition called pompholyx eczema on my hands where at any time for unknown reasons my fingers swell up and all of the skin turns scaly dry cracks and becomes very painful. When I read the info card that I got with this I knew exactly where to test this out. Im very aware of what I use on my hands because Im not sure what sparks off the eczema. I was happy enough to trial this as I am a bit of a believer in Natural things not causing as much harm as chemical filled counterparts. This balm felt more like a souffle to me It was really light and fluffy and melted into my skin. Once it is on it sits on the skin like an oil for a while before it dries. Its the type of product that you need to use when you have a little time for it to sink in  rather than applying it on the go. After a few days of trialing this It definitely gets the thumbs up from me It was very gentle and really improved the dry skin on my hands especially underneath my rings. I can imagine that this would be the perfect product to use for babies with eczema or other dry skin conditions because it is unfragranced and so gentle. I would most definitely not only purchase this for myself but also reccommend others with dry skin conditions to try this out too. 150ml retails at €12.95.

Intensive Restoring Facial Moisturising Balm* we are told this is a blend of natural butters, oils and herbs for the care of dry,sensitive and irritated skin. This balm like the Just balm is in texture more like a souffle light and fluffy.It has a very earthy smell  which is not unpleasant. The facial balm is less oily on the skin and the first time that I put it on my skin sucked it up very quickly as It was a little dehydrated oops! It says to use the balm morning and evening however after the initial day I did find It was slightly too moisturising for me during the day and so I used it as a night time treat instead. I also loved how gentle this balm was on my skin while it gave great hydration. The facial balm retails at €24.95

Nia has also got a great range of other products one especially that caught my eye was the Hot Oil Massage Candle R.R.P. €19.95. I love relaxing and de-stressing and this looks like such a fun way to do this the fact that you can relax with the aromas of the candle before your massage has me sold and this item has made its way onto my wishlist.
All of the products are available on www.nia.ie and there are a list of stockists on their website.
Well done to all at Nia for creating such a Beautiful Irish Brand.
I hope you have loved reading as always please leave a comment.
Clare x