What are you playing at Clarins?!

I got the Clarins coffret for Xmas and I used up the handcream as I really liked it.  I decided to buy it again because it lasted ages and was pretty good.

Well, check out this brand new bottle of their handcream:

That's a 100 ml bottle..with 50ml of handcream in there..

I haven't been back to the counter to return it because I've misplaced the receipt but even still, that is ridiculous.

I haven't used ANY of it and it's nearly half empty? I know that when you buy cream products like this that they aren't full right to the top but nigh on half full is taking the biscuit!

I don't know if this is just how much Clarins fill their bottles..if it is then I'm sure you're not allowed to say it's a certain measurement when you're clearly selling a great deal less than that amount.  If it's a mistake/bad bunch then that's also just as bad because you'd think that a high end brand like Clarins would have a decent quality control set up going on.

Review: Skin Softeners: Anatomical's Help the Paw handcream and Badger Balm Ginger and Lemon Bodybalm

I've been a handcream fiend for the past few years and I'm always trying to find the best out there. I've tried Johnsons, Champneys, Dr Hauschka and now finally Anatomicals.

I found this gorgeous bottle in John Lewis and decided to buy three of them as they were priced (individually) at £1.95 and there was the small fact that they smelt like sweets.

I've never really had super dry hands but my hands do feel a bit tight after I wash my hair because nothing in South London is soft and the water too followed suit.

I've been using this cream for a week or so and it keeps my hands really well hydrated, a tiny tiny bit goes a long way. By the way, what's the best way to moisturise your hands? I saw on QVC once that it was to moisturise the non palm (sorry, can't think what that bit is called!) first and then the palm? I do it reversly..

I'd recommend it to anyone, it does the job and was relatively cheap.

So, here's the product:


I love the spiel they have on their boxes, it really makes me laugh. Their company tagline is what really gets me because it's so true, they do only want me for my body (join the queue!)

Repurchase?
I would buy this again and again, it's on par with my HG hand cream (Dr Hauschka) and it costs less than £2 but on the website is priced at £4 and delivery is about £4 too. I'm going to use it a bit more before I decide whether I'd spend £8 on it as Dr Hauschka lasted me 6 months though the tube did break.

The next product is Badger Balm. I've had this for quite some time and I'm recently trying to clear out my makeup/skincare stuff so I decided to use this. You can buy this in Boots for about £5 but I got it from my local chemist for £1.

The tin looks like this:

The product itself looks like this:
I used to use this on my lips when I had a sore throat and as the ginger and lemon smell is quite potent, it cleared me up.

I wasn't sure if it would work as a balm to soften skin so I decided to test it on the roughest knees I knew, my brother. I say "knew" because after one application, his knees are no longer as hard as they were. Before his knees were like a grater, it would hurt to touch them but now it's a lot softer. He really slathered it on his knees and then washed it off because he couldn't stand the smell but even after having it on for about 10 mins and washing if off made a difference so I can only imagine the difference it would make if you kept it on until it soaked its way in.

I can't really say anything about buying this again but if you have/know someone who has really rough skin then I would recommend it to you as it really works and you don't have to use a lot to get results. Also, if you get a really rough red nose when you have a cold/flu then this will work a charm, it soothes the redness and clears you up.