Sample Stash #5

Honestly guys, I'm so proud of myself for sticking with these sample stash posts - and I'm thoroughly enjoying rooting through my little box of sachets and tubes to find four products to try each month. So without further ado...

Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Neck & Shoulder Cream // By far the most awful thing I've ever put on my body, and that's saying something. I've just started working out (and by that I mean, half an hour of Just Dance and 20 minutes of yoga each day, but it's something!) so my shoulders were killing me. Sam said she would give me a massage (keeper) and I grabbed this. Maybe I'm being stupid, but I thought the pink packaging meant it would be a bit less intense than original deep heat - bloody hell I was wrong. It felt like someone had thrown acid across my back/neck/shoulders, and it did nothing to alleviate the muscle pain I was experiencing. I had to run the cold shower across the top of my body to take away the burn, and my skin was truly hurting for a few hours afterwards. 0/10

Soy Bio+ Fermented Lumpoule // These (I have two) were from a Memebox of Sam's, and she didn't want them so I graciously took them off her hands. I'm good like that. It is, I wouldn't hesitate in saying, a miracle product. It's choc-full of AMAZING things, such as hydrolyzed collagen and scutellaria baicalensis root extract (both moisturisers) and loads of anti-inflammatory ingredients like willow bark extract. I used this in place of a serum, though I've heard it does wonders mixed with your day cream too, and it was just incredible on my skin. 10/10

Zoeva Pearl Eye Shadow Fix // This came with the Zoeva palette that I have and it's a very yellow toned shimmery eye primer. It takes a while to dry so I wouldn't recommend it if you're in a rush but for a special occasion or whatever, it's a decent eye primer. It definitely grabbed onto eye shadow and made it look a lot more intense, less streaky and longer-lasting. Plus it isn't particularly expensive, so it's definitely something I'd consider purchasing if I was the type of person who actually used eye shadow primer on the reg'. 8/10 (here)

Baylis & Harding Sweet Mandarin and Grapefruit Hand Cream* // Debenhams sent me this for Christmas with a whole host of other things (we had a girls' night in on them) and it's been skulking around in my drawer for ages. Not necessarily sample size, but what the heck. It's fab; it sinks in really fast, and smells amazing to boot. I wouldn't say it's the most moisturising out of all the hand creams I've tried, but it's not bad at all! 9/10 (here)

A proper mixed bunch this month, but it's been exciting to try out all these different products and put together some mini reviews for y'all. Here's to ten more of these posts this year!

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