Balea Luxury - Golden Glamour :)

Hello! Are you also a fan of Balea products? I have a couple of products at home at all times, since I really like to buy their body and hair products, I especially like to try out new shower gels and hand creams. The big bonus being that their products are effective, don't irritate my skin and they are super cheap! If you love cosmetics as much as I do, or if you just take a moment at the stand and check out the prices of other brands - there is really almost nothing cheaper than Balea products, especially looking at whole DM store, but you can still get some products cheaper at lets say your local grocery store, as in Lidl or Hofer or such.. Don't take me wrong, I love that these products are so affordable! What I love even more is that some of these products are soo good that they could easily be from a more expensive brand! In todays post I am presenting two products by Balea Luxury, from their Golden Glamour edition, a handlotion and bath salt!

I have already talked about the hand lotion in my Winter essentials - handcreams post! This is truly hands down one of the most amazingly scented hand cream I ever had! The packaging is super luxury, especially compared to other Balea products, the black and golden combintaion looks very chic. I love that it comes with a pump dispenser, not like a regular cream in a tube. It contains 150 ml and is super sleek, can fit in the tiniest spot on your working desk plus you can carry it with you in your bag if you like, it wont' just oppen as you need to turn the whole dispenser head to get the product out.

The consistency is as the name already suggest like a body lotion, not too liquidy but not too creamy or heavy. One press on the pump will give you enough product for one use, meaning this bottle will last you for quite a bit.  Since this is a handlotion one would expect it to sink into the skin fast. Well it does faster than other creamy creams but still not that fast, you will need to take a moment and let it sink in. It leaves no sticky or greasy residue on my skin, once it sets it makes my hands really smooth and soft, without any unpleasant stickyness. I find it suitable for normal to dry skin, but not for those vith very dry skin or very sensitive one as this hand lotion simply contains too much perfume. Anyway, this could compete even with more expensive hand creams. Lately I've been loving especially the Kozmetika Afrodita hand creams and L'Occitane ones, which have been one of my favourites for a long time, but this really performs well, almost as well as they do. 

The scent of this collection is what really impresses me! It's oriental, slightly floral with vanilla and patchuli. The patchuli scent here is more on the gentle side, vanilla stands out more and is stronger. All in all, a product I recommend to any hand cream/hand lotions enthusiasts out there!

The bath salt comes in a simple packaging containing 80 g of product which should be enough for one use, but I actually used this one twice. The design with black and golden colour is the same as with hand lotion and the whole collection. The price for bath salt is really affordable  at 0,79 euros.

Bath salt is slighlty yellow coloured, it also leaves the bath tub coloured a bit and very strongly scented. My whole bathroom smells amazing and the scent lingered even after I already washed the bath tub and finished with my bath! The scent is the same as with hand lotion, very strong, so not suitable for those who can not stand strong scents. 

The use is very simple, just put in the tub, about 36 to 38 degrees Celsius, leave it to dissolve and than enjoy your bath for the next 10 to 20 minutes.

Love this bath salt as well as the hand lotion so much! I will definitely repurchase! The Golden Glamour collection also offers a body scrub/peeling and body lotion, so if you want you can try four different products! I ahve read great comments for those as well. If you prefer more fruity scents, Balea Luxury also offers Red Love collection with coconut and peach scented products!

Hope this post was useful to you! Thanks for reading!

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Love, UniqaPoly

WINTER Essentials - HANDCREAMS!

Hello! Are you also in love with hand creams and can't say no to buying another one, even though you already have a couple at home? You are? Really? So am I! And this post is perfect for all hand cream junkies out there! I have prepared a post presenting my current stash of hand creams. Of course these are not all I have, but I will explain later why I haven't included the rest as well.

So, winter and well all colder months tend to make my hands really dry and my skin gets more thin and itchy and I do need to use a good moisturizer a lot. That doesn't mean I don't use hand creams all year round, just that I need them more in these colder months. I have had a couple of hand creams I have really loved and they will be honorably mentioned at the end, as I no longer have them and haven't repurchased them yet!

For today's post I have selected six hand creams I still have at home and have not been mentioned yet or talked about on my blog, except for  Lemony Flutter, I have a full review for that one over here. This is not exactly a hand cream, but more of a cuticle butter that you can use all over, not just on your hands! I won't be talking long about this butter, but it's pretty versatile and ba used as more than just a cuticle butter! Though cuticles are very targeted in wintery cold months, this can be used just as a hand cream or on your elbows and such. You need just a small amount and it may take a bit longer to sink into the skin, but it will make your skin really soft and do it's magic well. If you love fresh, lemony scent - than this should be perfect for you!

First hand product is actually a creamy hand gel called Fresh Aloe by Dvorec Trebnik. I must say I love their hand products! They really do the job and sink in to the skin really fast! I have already talked about one of their hand gels on my blog, you can read the review here. This is a creamy hand gel base on valuable oils. Aloe is as we know very hydrating and leaves the skin soft and smooth. Avocado oil is very moisturizing and promotes skin renewal. Wheat germ oil contains high vitamin E and protects against the influence of weather. All in all, this product sounds very promising and it also delivers! It's got a creamy but light texture, a gentle fresh scent I reall like, sinks into the skin really fast! Doesn't leave any greasy residue on my hands and I can go working on my stuff right away! It also doesn't contain any parabens, mineral oil, silicones or synthetic colouring. It comes packaged in a round plastic pot with a lid, it contains 50 ml and retails at 4,79 euros. You can get more info about this hand cream here!

I have already mentioned LUSH Lemony Flutter above but I just have to say if you are a fan of natural cosmetics, if you like LUSH products, if you like fresh citrusy products you should try this or maybe just at least try it in the store! It's not the most expensive but it's also not that cheap - for 50 grams you will give about 10 euros, at least that's the slovenian price here. Still, as I am saving this a bit and only using it for my hands it lasted me a whole year and some! So For such a long period of time this is well worth the buy! Also other beuaty bloggers I know also recommended me this especially for the winter time as it really helps with the dry cuticles! Which I always have!

And now two hand creams that are a bit cheaper and available at local DM stores! First on is by Essence and it came in this years hand creams limited edition but you can probably still get it at some stores. It's theirs Hi, I care for you! hand cream with floral fragrance. This one promises to be an intensive care for particularly rough and dry hands. The repair formula with shea butter and coconut oil provides moisture and care and protects your hands from dryness for up to 24 hours. And also promises not to leave an oily residue! I can confirm that, it doesn't leave your hands sticky and greasy! It's also a very light cream, the texture is light and gentle, sinks in easily and nourishes my skin, but it did not help me from feeling dry hands in 24 hours, this helps me more for a couple of hours at most. It comes in a plastic tube that contains 75 ml and retails for about 2,19 euros. 

The second one I bough a couple of months ago but recently started using it! It's by Balea and it's from their Luxury collection - Golden Glamour! I must say I fell in love with the scent! This is just soo amazingly smelling product that I also bought a bath salt and will be posting a separate post about both products as well! They smell of patchuli and vanilla and the combination is divine! The other Luxury combination is called Red Love and smells of coconut, just so you know, all you coconut lover out there! The bonus is these Balea products are really affordable, I think this hand lotion was a bit more expensive, something over 2 euros, but the rest of the products from this collection are a bit under two euros and up to three, so really reasonable priced and also look amazing! I love the packaging of this hand lotion! The black and golden design looks very glam, the pump dispenser makes the use of this very clean, more than with Dvorec Trebnik or Lush. The plastic bottle contains 150 ml, so you also get the largest amount for the price! If you don't have a Christmas gift yet and you are on a budget - this could be perfect! However, this is a hand lotion, meaning the texture of this is more runny than with other products presented here and may not deliver as well as other hand creams. It nourishes well, but you may need to reapply more often. Anyway, the combo of price, amount and scent is just too good not to give this a try!

Next one has been in my stash for quite some time now and it's by Yves Rocher, from their last years winter collection Fruits Noirs/ Blackberries hand cream. I admit I've been saving this one as well, as I wasn't sure I will be able to buy it again soon and it smells so amazing! It's very similar in texture to Balea hand lotion as it has a more liquidy, more runny texture than other hand creams. It sinks into the skin well and fast, but may leave a greasy residue if you apply too much at once. It smells soo good! The sweet scent of berries is simply amazing! It doesn't perform so well at nourishing, but it can be compared to the Balea one or Essence one. It comes packaged in a plastic tube that contains 75 ml and the price was about 4 euros or something like that. This year they have a bit different winter offer and you can get three different hand creams - orange & almond, orange & cinnamon, spicy vanilla.  Anyway, if you are into super scented and delicious hand creams you should try something from Yves Rocher!

And the last hand cream I have here is by Kozmetika Afrodita and is also already on my repurchase list! Because it's really amazing! It comes packaged in a plastic tube that contains 75 ml. It's actually 2 in 1 product, a hand and nail care hand cream Olive. It's a fast absorbing cream and also has antibacterial effect! I love to carry this one with me in my bag or just have it on my desk at all times. They way this dries up and sinks into my skin is amazing! If I said before with other creams they sink in fast - triple that with this one! This just sinks into my skin before I am even finished rubbing it in! It's also got a very lightweight texture, doesn't leave any greasy residue ever and is perfect even to take with you to your work as it dries up so fast you can use your hands almost instantly. I alo love that it contains olive extract and lemon essential oil, these two intensively moisturise the skin on your hands, provide nail and cuticle care and is also mildly antibacterial. It's also paraben, paraffin and silicone free! Plus is also reasonable price, depends where you buy it though, it can be somewehere between 3 or 4 euros! Really recommend this one, it's been my favourite to use in the last two months!

And now some honourable mentions! I loved the Caudalie Hand and Nail cream and I wish to repurchase it as it was really great to my hands! Full review you can read here! Nivea Soft, that is actually universal cream but I mostly used it as a hand cream! Performs really well, love the secnt as well as the effect on my skin. The Body Shop also makes some mean hand creams! I loved this one - Coconut! The texture was very light but still very nourishing and the smell was amazing, I want it again! If you like natural cosmetics and don't mind getting your hands a bit greasy this one by Alverde, might work well for you - personally I didn't like it enough to repurchase it again - Alverde Naturkosmetik Intensiv handcreme with pomegranate and shea butter. Also a shout out to all L'Occitane hand creams, especially the Shea butter ones are amazing! Weather you buy it as a gift or just for your own personal use they perform very well. The Shea ones are the ones that really nourish the best and I have had a couple of them already. I would love to repurchase but I am currently enjoying one from the latest winter collection Pierre Herme Pamplemousse Rhubarbe, you can read more about it here. Also love to use the classic NIVEA creme in the blue round tin pot as a hand cream!

I have not included all my handcreams into this post as some of them will be Christmas presents, some will be talked about in seperate  posts and some I have already posted about and I included them in the honourable mentions, as I already commented on them on this blog and didn't want to repeat myself too much! Just wanted to show you the bunch that rotates my desk and hand bag frequently!

I hope this post was helpful to you! If you liked it let me know and I would be very happy if you also decided to share this post on your social media! If you have any recommendations for me let me know in the comments! Have you tried any hand creams that impressed you as well?

Thanks for reading!

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Love, UniqaPoly