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Beauty and the Best of the Rest

~ A lot of beauty and a little bit of everything else

Beauty and the Best of the Rest

Category Archives: review

Trying OSMO

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by masquerade21 in Bargain, Beauty, Christmas, gift ideas, gifts, Hair, review, Reviews, Shopping, under £15

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bargain, Blinding Shine Conditioner, Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher, blinding shine shampoo, gift ideas, Hair, hair products, hair styling, how to get really shiny hair, Inspiration, OSMO, OSMO Shine Gift set, product review, review, shine, suitable for extentions, Wonder 10

I was recently sent one of OSMO’s 2014 gift packs and I would like to thank Laura at AJPR for sending this to me to review.

I was able to chose which range I would like to try a product from and I chose to receive something from the shine range as currently I have a few hair products which claim to enhance or add shine that I have been using, so I knew I would be able to measure up how OSMO compares performance-wise.

Laura sent me the OSMO Shine gift pack:

20141103_163638

When I opened my parcel to reveal this decent sized, heavy and glitzy box it did feel a bit like a present. I thought yeah, alright, hair care products maybe aren’t on the top of every  wish-list, they’re not on top of mine, but I would be happy to receive this as a gift – I wouldn’t unwrap it and be disappointed, I’d be quite satisfied and curious to try the products out.

The contents of the Shine gift set are shown on the box as:

Blinding Shine Shampoo 350ml

Blinding Shine Conditioner 350ml

Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher 125ml

So I was surprised when I opened the box to find the 3 above mentioned products plus a 4th product:

20141103_163910

I felt what can only be described as ‘well chuffed’ at finding this bonus product, I love surprises! Now it has only this instant occurred to me that maybe this bonus surprise product isn’t in every box and it may in fact be a perk of being a blogger sent the box to review but, as the surprise was actually in the box, I think it is a genuine surprise product and I give that a big thumbs up. ( The reason I subscribe to glossy box is because it’s basically a grown up lucky bag – surprises are always going to score high with me) EDIT: I have checked, my surprise was indeed a genuine surprise and not a blogger perk, which makes me wonder what surprises the other OSMO gift packs have.

The surprise product is called Wonder 10 and you spray it evenly over damp hair, leave-in and style as normal to :

  1. Repair dry and damaged hair
  2. Nourish and protect for radiant shine
  3. Provide thermal protection from styling tools
  4. Deliver soft, silky & more manageable results
  5. Colour Protect
  6. Create body and movement
  7. Detangle (incredibly apparently)
  8. Prevent static
  9. Condition (both natural and synthetic hair – so the bonus is a double bonus if you wear extensions)
  10. Smooth split ends and control frizz

Now, Wonder 10 is the one product I haven’t used yet as this week has been more about dry shampoo and less about soft, silky manageable hair-  because I have been rushed off my feet – but I’m trying it out after washing my hair tonight and will update this post tomorrow. Due to how well my other OSMO products have performed I have high hopes for this little wonder bottle. I can tell you right now that it smells amazing – I have no idea what it actually smells of but whatever it is, I would genuinely wear as perfume.

(EDIT: I have now tried Wonder 10 and I agree that it conditions, controls frizz and static, and detangles very well. My hair does also feel silky. Body and movement is a hard thing for me to measure as I have thick hair so it’s always full of ‘body’. Likewise colour protect, nourishment, thermal protection, repairing dryness and damage I can’t really comment on – my hair is my natural colour so no protection is needed (what is colour protection anyway? preventing fade?) The easiest thing for me to say is that my hair feels and looks good, so as far as I’m concerned Wonder 10 is delivering results.)

I did find time somehow to try the shampoo and conditioner, maybe because I put them straight on my bathroom shelf when I got them – I was happy because they are not run-of-the-mill and look quite decorative in my bathroom:

20141113_205047

I have a stupidly tiny amount of storage space in my bathroom so I always have products on the window sill and littered around the bath so I really really like it when something actually looks good on display. It makes my bathroom feel tidier so the OSMO bottles get top marks for how they look, that shelf wasn’t so great to look at when Head and Shoulders was up there.

I also think they look like expensive salon products so you might be surprised when I tell you that the price for my whole shine gift-set is around £14 (most places have it for £14ish but I did manage to find it online at fragrancedirect.co.uk and loopyhair.com for under a tenner.) I only did a quick search so if you find any good deals let me know because I am now an OSMO fan.

Part of the reason I’m a fan is because their products do what they say on their bottles and these products made my hair shine. The shampoo did all of the stuff that I would expect and gave my hair a noticable shine (I did take pictures as I was planning to compare results with my Vo5 Nourish My Shine shampoo but trying to show a difference in shine was asking a bit much of my camera.)

The shampoo made my hair nice and shiny. Curiously, it smells like an aftershave or cologne which is unusual for a women’s shampoo, but quite cool. My hair smells quite nice when I use it, it just doesn’t smell of something generic like strawberries.

The conditioner didn’t really have much of a scent to speak of which is no issue for me – not really any need for both of the products to smell. It conditions well and leaves my hair very soft.

My hero product is the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I actually used this without having used the Blinding Shine Shampoo or Conditioner as I wanted to see how well it worked on its own. It works amazingly. Anyone who uses GHD straighteners will understand this next part, you know when you have nice freshly washed hair and then you use your GHDs and instantly your hair is all shiny-shiny? The illuminating finisher is just that in a bottle – spray and be dazzled – instant shine. If you use too much you are in danger of going from shiny to greasy – I know because I  enjoyed  spraying my magic shine bottle a little too much until my hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in a week but if you have enough restraint not to get carried away then you will love the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I didn’t notice a scent until I sprayed some on my hand just now to tell you guys – if you sniff it it smells medicated but I don’t actually smell anything when I am just spraying it on my hair. It’s also not sticky or heavy in the slightest so it’s a pretty perfect product. The Wonder 10 is also not sticky – I just tried it on my hand.

Well that’s all I have to say about OSMO for tonight – if you pop back tomorrow night I’ll update this post let you know how I got on with Wonder10.

Lastly- Would I buy this gift set? Yes, without hesitation. 

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Mary Kay Press Event in Glasgow

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, Glasgow, Make up, Makeup, review, Reviews, Shopping, Skincare

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

40% discount, beauty blotter oil absorbing tissues, blotting wipes, cleanser, cosmetics, custom palette, exfoliating cleanser, EyeCandy professional make-up, face brush, free gift, Glasgow, good eye make-up remover, lash love mascara review, Lynne Mills, Mary Kay, Mary Kay Compact Pro, Mary Kay Men, Mary Kay Press Event, Mary Kay review, nail lacquer, oil-free eye makeup remover, press event, review, semi-matte lipstick, Skincare, skinvigorate, skinvigorate review, time 3-in-1 cleanser, translucent powder, true dimensions lipstick

Recently I got to go along to a Mary Kay Press Event in Glasgow. It was at the gorgeous Blythswood Hotel in a nice little bar which we had all to ourselves for the event. We got to wander around and try the products placed on tables around the room and ask the Mary Kay staff everything from how the brand began to what their latest products were. Below are some images that give just a hint of the range that Mary Kay has to offer. There is also some interesting information about the brand at the bottom of this post.
Table Pic (2) DSC_0943 (1) DSC_0946 DSC_0944 Mens (1) 20141028_174846 20141028_181414

I got to put together my own palette too!

20141028_174955 20141028_175009My palette wasn’t the only thing that I got to take home with me, Mary Kay were very generous.
20141103_155034 20141103_160440 20141103_161214 20141103_161455 You can buy and create your own custom Mary Kay palette. I still have space in mine and I’m thinking that I will include some brushes and maybe some of my own make-up like eye-liner.                                                                                                               Compact Pro (Empty) Palette : £12.50

20141103_163508I tried to pick my favourite product from my Mary Kay haul and I just couldn’t, everything I’ve tried is really good, but I have 3 products which I love and that I am already using everyday. The skinvigorate brush is one of them. To use it you wet your face, apply a cleanser ( I recently converted to cream cleansers and now there is no going back) I’ve used this brush with the Mary Kay Timewise 3-in-1 cleanser(more about that below) and with my own Elemis cleanser and it works great with both. I’m continuing to use it with the Elemis one just now as I like to use all of a product before moving on to the next one. I’ve used it morning and night for 3 days and I’m already much happier with my skin. Anyway back to how use it: wet your face and the brush, apply cleanser and then use the brush in a circular motion for 15 seconds on each area of your face (forehead, nose, cheeks and chin – don’t use it too close to your eyes where the skin is delicate) The brush has a pleasantly odd sensation which I find quite relaxing. I find a light touch works best as, if you apply too much pressure it can feel a bit like the brush is dragging your skin but if you hold it lightly enough it gently buffs and polishes your skin and leaves it looking and feeling great.20141103_163526 It even comes with batteries included and a replacement brush head (it’s recommended that you change the brush head every 3 months so I will have to pick up some more of those.) The only negative thing I have to say about the brush is that I had to wrestle a little bit to take the bottom of the brush off. I did eventually manage to take it off myself (to insert the batteries)- I’m not sure If my own model was particularly stiff or if it is the same story with all of the brushes but either way it is really not much of an issue and the excellent results are well worth this small hassle.                                     Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush: £35.00

20141103_161607 My second love is this Mary Kay mascara, I actually got one of these in a Glossybox a while back and hadn’t tried it yet ( I told you a like to finish a product before moving on to the next) Anyway I have tried this now and I LOVE it. The finished result is amazing. I’ll need to do a separate post on good mascaras because I have a few that I like but I think this one might be number one.                                                                       

Lash Love Mascara: £16:00

20141103_163318 20141103_163231 True Dimensions Lipstick: £14.0020141103_161949 Semi-matte Lipstick: £12.00

20141103_162736Beauty Blotter Oil Absorbing Tissues: £5.5020141103_161825 Translucent Powder: £18.0020141103_163002 Nail Lacquer: £9.0020141103_162400 The cleanser above is a good choice particularly if you want a cleanser which also exfoliates as it contains little exfoliation beads which do a very good job. This will be a weekend cleanser for me as I can be quite rushed in the morning and when I have used exfoliating cleansers like this in the past I end up finding/feeling exfoliation beads when I am doing my make-up for work, apparently I never manage to wash them all off. I will treat my skin to this on weekends when I have time to make sure it is all properly washed off and it will make a nice little addition to my routine.                                    

Timewise 3-in-1 Cleanser: £20.0020141103_162625This eye make-up remover is my 3rd love. It takes my make-up off effortlessly and works so well that instead of waiting for my Simple eye make-up remover to run out I have just ditched it as I think the Mary Kay one works much better.                              

Oil-Free Make-Up Remover: £13.00

After trying their products I’m impressed with Mary Kay and know I will make future purchases from them. If you want to purchase Mary Kay products too there are a few ways to do this, Mary Kay has 3 million beauty consultants worldwide in over 35 countries. The beauty consultants offer a try before you buy service and let’s face it buying make-up without trying it before hand is just a gamble and  the reason why I have so many full bottles of foundation gathering dust. 

Speaking of foundation, Mary Kay cater to all ethnicities and age groups with all of their cosmetic and skin care products so you should be able to find exactly what you need and stop adding to your dust gathering collection of bottles and tubes.

To find out who is your nearest Mary Kay beauty consultant or to buy Mary Kay products online visit www.markykay.co.uk, now is a good time visit as I spotted some free gift offers today.

Thank you to the team at Mary Kay for all of my great products and answering all of my questions ( the start-up story was particularly interesting, if you want to know the story it’s on the Mary Kay website along with details of how you can become a Mary Kay consultant – they get a 40% discount by the way)

Thanks also to Lauren at Pure PR for letting me attend at short notice.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Inside the September Glossybox (The London Edition)

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bargain, Be A Bombshell, Beauty, Blusher, box, Breviewed, British, budget, Cheeks, cosmetics, Cream, edition, Elizabeth Arden, expensive, Eye Liner, eyelashes, Eyeliner, Eyelure, Eyes, fake, false, Fashion, glossybox, good value, Hair, London, London Edition, make up, Mystery, Perfume, Pre-glued, Rimmel, September, Serum, shopping, surprise, Toni&Guy, Untold, women, work

 Hey 🙂

Here is what I received inside my September Glossybox :

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2013-09-14 11.48.16

2013-09-14 11.49.322013-09-14 11.53.42

2013-09-14 11.54.29

I have tried the perfume, the blush and the false eyelashes. I really like the perfume and the blush, Untold  isn’t overpowering or barely there, it’s just the right amount of noticable. I would call it a heavy scent, I don’t know what scent to compare it to but it is not fruity and smells expensive. I think this will be my new perfume for work.

The Rimmel Stay blushed blusher is a great colour for me, it looks like a dark coral when it comes out of the tube but blends to a light barely there pink. I would go for this if you want your blush to look as natural as possible.

The eyelure lashes are great because you just peel them off and press them on, no glue required. For a false eyelash virgin like me though, they are a bit too big and dramatic, not really my style.

I’ve still to try the eyeliner and the Toni&Guy serum but I’ll update this post once I have tried them.

Glossybox Breakdown

Full size items

Eyelure Pre-glued lashes (£5.06)

Tony&Guy HairMeetwardrobe Classic Shine & Gloss Serum (£7.19)

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Onyx Eye Line ($14)

Rimmel Stay Blushed Blusher (£4.49)

Sample size items

Elizabeth Arden Untold (5ml aprox £4.80) (50ml=£48.00)

Thanks for checking out my blog, I know it’s been a while since my last post. I got a new job and I’m moving house next week so I have been too busy to blog but I am now back to daily posts so stop by again tomorrow 🙂

Likes and Comments make my day 😉

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Dower & Hall – For when it needs to be special

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Fashion, review, Shopping

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bespoke, bloggers, bracelets, British, Celebrity, charms, chintz, Designer, Dower and Hall, engagement, event, Fashion, feather, Glasgow, gold, hearts, Inspiration, James Bond, jewel, jewellery, Judi Dench, Kasabian, lockets, M, pearls, pendants, Press day, rings, severine, shopping, silver, spiral, unique

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the Dower and Hall Press Day in Glasgow. I was absolutely thrilled to get an invitation, especially since most of the press invitations I get are for events in London which isn’t even in the country I live in. When I received this one and a) it was from Dower & Hall and b) it was in Glasgow, there was just no question about whether or not I would attend.

The Glasgow Dower & Hall store is tucked away on the first floor of the lovely Princes Square shopping centre. Princes Square is a gorgeous little shopping centre which is full of luxury stores. I normally only go there to wander around window shopping so this time it was actually quite nice to go in with some purpose and walk straight into a store.

2013-08-01 12.52.58

I was actually the first one to get there and this was my first time attending a press day so I was quite nervous and as at first it was only me and the store staff I felt a little awkward. That didn’t last long though as the Dower and Hall team were all really friendly and soon I was chatting away to Dan Dower.

2013-08-01 12.57.31

Now before I even tell you about  Dower & Hall jewellery or review the lovely piece that I was gifted, I will tell you the main reason why you should go there if you ever want something special. Dan. Dan is the reason. He is one of those rare and lucky people who love their job. And what does he love most about his job? Turning an idea from your imagination into a real, beautiful and one of a kind piece of jewellery. He showed me some images of  bespoke pieces that he had created and they were all really lovely. If you commision a bespoke piece he will really go above and beyond for you. He even goes so far as to cast the pieces in silver and then plate them in gold or whatever the client wants and set them with cubic zirconia instead of diamonds just so you can wear the piece and say ‘yes I want it like this’ or ‘please change this and make it x’ so you always know that the finished piece will be exactly as you imgained it. Dan showed me some beautiful images of the pieces he has created in the past but unfortunately I don’t have them to show you.

I can however show you one of the members of Kasabian wearing a  feather pendant that they commisioned from Dan and also Judi Dench wearing Dower and Hall pearls in the latest James Bond film Skyfall:

Celebrities seen recently in Dower & Hall_Kasabian _

Judi Dench

To be totally honest, Dower & Hall is a bit out of my price range, my budget only allows costume jewellery at the moment but now that I have met Dan and seen his passion for what he does and heard him describe how he really wants to create exactly what clients want and imagine, I am sure that I will be seeking him out for the one piece of jewellery that I will want to be unique, my wedding band (not that this is on the cards at the moment) So, if any of you would like to have your own unique piece of jewellery created, you know who I would recommend.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces that are on sale at Dower & Hall at the moment :

collage

collage

Would you like to see the lovely gift I received? Here it is:

2013-08-22 18.58.40 2013-08-22 19.00.20 2013-08-22 19.01.20

To see what else Dower & Hall have to offer visit : http://www.dowerandhall.com/

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Inside the July Birchbox

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Bargain, Beauty, beauty protector, birchbox, blanc cachemire, blush, Chia, Chia shots, conditioner, detangle, Eyeliner, Eyes, Fashion, french, gel, German, Hair, hair products, inkwell, instain, july, leave in conditioner, long wearing, make up, new look, protect, protectrice, purple, review, shopping, skin, Skincare, skinfood, the balm cosmetics, waterproof, waterproof gel Liner, weleda

Here is what I received inside my July Birchbox :

20130720_175401 20130720_175526 20130720_175615 20130720_175710 20130720_175805 20130720_175829 20130720_175908 20130720_180039 20130720_180205

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Inside the July Glossybox

29 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

alterna, anatomicals, Bamboo style, Beauty, boho waves, ciate, coconut, coola, dry shampoo, facial spritz, glossybox, Hair, inecto, july, nail polish, Nails, shopping, sunscreen, texture mist, tousled

Here is what I received inside my July Glossybox :

20130720_113038

20130720_113230

20130720_113430

20130720_113451

20130720_113504

20130720_113523

20130720_113540

I haven’t really used much from this box yet but it won’t be long until I do.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Inside the July Miss Glossybox

22 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

asda, bath, Bath Bombs, Bath fizz, Beauty, beauty box, Beyonce, eyelashes, fake, fake eyelashes, false, Fashion, glittery, glossybox, Hair, Heat, how to, Kiss, Kiss nail wraps, make up, Miss Glossybox, Miss Pattisseries, nail wraps, Nails, Perfume, pink and silver, plump it up, products, samples, shopping, style, summer, Teen, VO5, volume, volumising

So in my Beauty Box Bonanza post yesterday I gave you a sneak peak of what I had received in my July Miss Glossybox (the second box from Miss Glossybox not to be confused with Glossybox). This boz is £7.00 + £2.95 p+p and there is a new box every two months. Here is the full reveal :

20130720_113712

20130720_174702

20130720_174744

20130720_174808

20130720_174952

20130720_175148

20130720_175030

 

Thanks for checking out my blog, likes and comments are always welcome 🙂

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Beauty Box Bonanza! Glossybox, Miss Glossybox and Birchbox

21 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bargain, Beauty, beauty box, Beauty Boxes, birchbox, budget, different beauty, Fashion, glossybox, july, make up, Miss Glossybox, Mystery Boxes, Nails, self indulgence, shopping, subscriptions, summer

Hey 🙂

So I recently started a new job and guess where my first pay check went? Well a lot of it was eaten up by beauty box subscriptions. I have wanted to try so many beauty boxes for so long that I went a little OTT and ordered 3 different beauty boxes in one night. Of course, I rationalised that I could blog about them, so they are for research purposes too, not purely self-indulgence. Well that’s my story and I am sticking too it.

The boxes I ordered were all July versions, I got GlossyBox, BirchBox and Miss Glossybox ( this box is aimed at younger teens and is only £7 plus P+P while the other 2 boxes are £10 plus p+p) so at least one of my boxes was for research purposes as I have yet to see any Miss Glossybox reviews so I thought I would post one 🙂

But first, here are all three boxes together in their arrival condition:

20130720_112947 (2)

Inside these you will find:

20130720_113712

20130720_113038

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Stop by the blog tomorrow for a full review of the July Miss Glossybox, here is a sneak peak before you go :

20130720_113801

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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E-readers … To Buy or Not To Buy?

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Opinion, review, Shopping

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

amazon, book shelves, books, cons, e book, e books, e-reader, entertainment, future, kindle, literature, new release books, normal books, old-fashioned, progress, pros, reasons not to buy, reasons to buy, recommendations, Technology

I’ve been contemplating buying an E-reader but I really can’t make mind up. Maybe some of you can’t either so I am going to list all my pros and cons and they might help you come to a decision.

Image from amazon.com where this kindle is on sale for £69.

Image from amazon.com where this kindle is on sale for £69.

Pro’s

  1. They store a lot of books
  2. Portable – less bulky than the majority of books
  3. Discreet – you could read some trashy romance on the bus an no one would know.
  4. Instant – you can get a new book to read instantly, just jump on the internet and then bam! what you want is right there on your kindle.
  5. They save paper.

Con’s

  1. No pretty book covers for your book shelves
  2. Not waterproof -This is my biggest problem, I love a hot bath and a good book.
  3. Can’t swap with your friends the way you can with books.
  4. Can’t buy used e-books like you can with normal books – there are no charity e-book shops as far as I’m aware but feel free to correct me in the comments section.
  5. Don’t get to use pretty bookmarks
  6. There will be no more lining up at midnight at book shops for new release books – I did that for harry potter once (call me a geek if you want I don’t care) and there was a really cool friendly atmosphere.
  7. No more points collecting on my Waterstones card.
  8. You have to buy one and then buy books, with books you only need to buy the actual books.
  9. A book is never going to run out of battery.

I think I will probably get one at some point, I’m probably just reluctant to leave books behind. Books as we know them could actually cease to exist as we move to e-books, like how videos died out when we moved to DVD’s. That’s sad 😦

What do you guys think? Any pros or cons to add to my list? Let me know in the comments section. Also, if you have an e-reader what do you think of it? Would you recommend getting one?

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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Mmm…Milllennium

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Billionaire Shortbread, Breviewed, Chocolate, Christmas, Copthorne, Drops Gemstones, Eton Mess, fairground, George Square, Hotel Chocolat, ice-skating, Millennium, Millennium Hotels, review, Salted Caramels, Smiley Lick

 

As far as blogging gigs go, this one is the tastiest one that I have had yet. 
At the moment Millennium and Copthorne Hotels are trying to decide which chocolates from the Hotel Chocolat range they should place in the rooms of their hotel guests. This is no easy feat since the Hotel Chocolat range has a wide variety of beautiful chocolates to offer. So that’s where I come in, Milennium and Copthorne Hotels have sent me and various other bloggers a gorgeous bag filled with Hotel Chocolat goodies to review and to pick our favourite chocolate from. Don’t mind if I do 😉

Here is the lovely sample pack that I recieved and what was inside it :

choc_collage_web-large

Obviously I couldn’t wait to dive in and start reviewing.

First of all I tried the Salted Caramels.

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This was the first time that I had ever tried salted caramel so I was quite excited. The chocolates were a good enough size to give me a nice satisfying bite when I tried them. The first taste that hit me was unfortunately the salt which, although I was expecting it, I found quite unpleasant. After that the caramel taste kind of kicked in which improved things and then I finally got to the not so salty chocolate which was a relief. I think that people who like salted caramel would enjoy these but these just helped me find out that I am not a fan of salt in my caramel. With regards to the packaging I think that it resembles the packaging for tablets which, lets face it, is not very enticing but the look and shape of the chocolates themselves was quite inviting. I would say that guests who like salted caramel would enoy these but it is unlikely that all guests would enjoy them so I don’t recommend these for Millennium Hotels.

After the Salted Caramels I opted for the Smiley Lick.

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This was a nice and simple chocolate lollypop. It was easy to open and the chocolate was lovely and thick so you get a real mouthful with each bite. I liked this so much that I couldn’t stop to note down my thoughts after just one bite. It ended up like this before I could stop eating it long enough to take notes :

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The chocolate was very smooth and it melts in your mouth almost instantly. Out of all of the samples that I recieved it was the only one that protected you from getting chocolate on your fingers since it was on a stick. Although this was so nice that I felt like eating it all in one go, I think it is a little too goofy looking and not quite elegant enough to look at home within Millennium and Copthorne Hotels. If it were up to me I would stock this at the hotels but reserve it for the child guests and give the adults something a bit more elegant.

When I finally managed to put down the Smiley Lick I moved on to the Billionaire’s Shortbread Selector.

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I thought that the presentation of the Billionaire’s Shortbread was quite appealing, to me it looks like something that would fit in with the elegant and luxurious feel of Millennium Hotels so it ticked that box straight away. Then I opened them. They have such a strong smell! They obviously smell of chocolate and caramel so nothing unpleasant but I was surprised by the strength of the smell, it hits you as soon as you open the packet and I found that a little off-putting. After that I expected these to be very rich and sickly-sweet. It turned out that they were really quite nice. Like the Salted Caramels they were a decent size and gave you a nice satisfying bite. I was pleasantly surprised by the filling, I had been expecting runny caramel and instead I got some kind of caramel-praline blend which I actually quite liked. I loved that the shortbread cookies were on top instead of at the bottom. I thought that was quite a nice twist. The Billionaire’s Shortbread is a contender.

Once I had sampled the Billionaire’s Shortbread I moved onto the Eton Mess Slab.

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This smelled exactly like strawberry ice-cream. It wasn’t an overpowering smell either, you just got a faint whiff of it as you lifted the chocolate to your mouth. It was lovely

When I bit into this it was so flavoursome. The bar is a blend of strawberry and vanilla chocolate with scattered pieces of strawberry, merigue and cookies on top and inside. Each bite tastes a litte different depending on what kind of mix of strawberry, meringue and cookies you get. I really really liked this but there was just one problem. It was so messy. In the image above on the right you can see all of the debris that fell off of the bar when I snapped a piece off to eat. When you are staying at a nice hotel you really don’t want crumbs all over you so if Millenium and Copthorne Hotels do decide to offer this to their guests then I think they should offer it as a small bite size bar or in a selctor pakage like the Billionaire Shortbreads.

Last but not least I tried the Drops Gemstones.

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These are my winner! I would strongly recommend that Millenium and Copthorne Hotels pick these to offer to their guests. Each drop is a fusion of white and dark chocolate and they just taste great. They are quite small and very moreish and I imagine that they would be something great to snack on while unpacking your case.

If I go to a Millennium Hotel in future it will be the Hotel in Glasgow which faces right on to George Square. I’d go at Christmas time when George Square has a nice big ice rink in it and is filled with fairground rides. I would hope that the chocolates that I found in my room would be Drops Gemstones as not only could I snack on them while unpacking, but they are also small and portable enough that I could fit them in my pocket and take them with me when I go on all of the rides at George Square.

So that’s what I think but what about you? If you went to a fancy hotel which of the chocolates above would you hope to find in your room? Which would you least like to find?

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

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