A few years ago, Zoe Sugg (a.k.a. 'Zoella') launched 'Zoella Beauty' - her very own beauty range. I, obviously, bought a few things to try out (as I did here) and I actually really loved them. Sometimes, there's this negative stigma surrounding any products or 'merch' released by Bloggers, YouTubers and Online 'Influencers' (or whatever the best 'name' is), but I only had good things to say about the products I tried and so when the launch of the 'Tutti Fruity' Collection came in halfway through 2015 and then 'Sweet Inspirations' last Summer, I again picked some of the items up to test out and - surprise, surprise - really enjoyed all of those too. Overall, it's safe to say I am a pretty big fan of 'Zoella Beauty' as a brand in general and so, it would've been rude to not give this year's collection - titled 'Jelly and Gelato' (cute name, I know) - the same treatment, yeah? This year's is definitely more of a 'First Impressions'-type post as opposed to a full, lengthy review as I have done in the past as this time round, I wanted to give you lovely lot more of my initial thoughts when trying out what I picked up from this year's range. I just fancied a bit of a change, yanno? Don't worry though, as I will continue using them after this (obvs) and hopefully, if they get the thumbs up - you might juts be seeing them pop up in this month's 'The Love List', where I'll give them more of a detailed review. Keep your eyes peeled...
But, before we begin on the actual products and given this is the first product I'm debriefing on in this post - let's talk about what is probably the thing you've all been waiting for me to discuss - the scent! To be honest, this was probably the first thing I 'tried' as before I even gave the individual products a go - I obviously opened them up for the first time and of course, the thing I was most excited to do was give them a good ol' sniff! But what do I think, eh? Given the 'Jelly and Gelato' branding, the fragrance is a pretty delicious-sounding combination of Elderflower and Double Cream - with added extracts of Pomegranate too! - and all in all, I'd say it is just as yummy as it reads. It's fruity and fresh, yet still has this air of creamy indulgence to it that you'd typically associate with jelly, ice cream and all that kind of tasty goodness. Aside from the 'Classic' Range, it's probably the most luxurious, sophisticated scent of all of the 'Limited Edition' Zoella Beauty Ranges that has been released so far and I feel like it's one that I can picture appealing to a really wide variety of ages so if you like the sound of it and are pandering whether to pick up something to try - I'd definitely suggest you just go for it as I'm sure you will love it!
However, moving onto the actual products that I picked up (eek!), firstly - we have the Zoella Beauty Jelly and Gelato 'Shower Shake' Moisturising Body Wash. This retails for £6.00 (as always, very reasonable price-points I think) and can we first off please take a minute to appreciate the super-cute, very original packaging design? Following the whole 'Jelly and Gelato' theme, it's shaped like a milkshake - hence the name - even down to a little cut-out straw at the top of the bottle. Definitely top marks for creativity and innovation but what's the actual product inside like, eh? Despite being packaged inside a tube that looks very similar to the design of Zoe's previous body lotions, this is in fact a shower gel - but, it's a moisturising formula. Oooh. Zoe has brought out many a bath and shower gel/creme in the past, but never a moisturising variety and so this is all rather exciting and given that at the moment I am rather obsessed with something very similar from Soap and Glory - I was pretty darn hopeful that this would be just as awesome. And you know what? It really is. The consistency looks very much like something you would smear onto your body after getting out of the bath or shower, but it is in fact something you slather on during it. It comes out as a thick, white cream, but as soon as you apply it to your wet skin - it instantly turns into a creamy, almost foamy lather. Just as it claims, it really cleanses and refreshes the skin (and smelling rather awesome too) but it also leaves you feeling super smooth, soft and silky too. I personally can be pretty lazy when it comes to moisturising my body (which is pretty laughable when you consider how much I do to my face) so products like this are just perfect for me. I can wash and moisturise my body at the same time? Winner. I really, really like this stuff and can see this becoming my new go-to body wash, whether it's the bath or the shower...
Next, comes the Zoella Beauty Jelly and Gelato 'Bath Frosting' Bath Milk Powder' (£7.00). Now this one is really intriguing. Don't get me wrong - the collection as a whole really excited me when I first saw it - but this is something completely new and different to anything I have seen before and whenever a product like that comes along - you just know I'm gonna be all over it wanting to see what it's all about. Bath milk powder, eh? Sounds a little crazy but actually, it kinda makes sense when you think of it. Think of a standard bath milk that you might pour into the bath to create that creamy, milky consistency - this is simply a powder version which transforms into said milk once it's sprinkled into the bath water. Officially, it claims to be 'enriched with moisturising milk and extracts of Elderflower and Pomegranate to help smooth, brighten and tone' and inside of the cute little tube (once again - top marks for design!) you get four sachets of 'milk powder'. Simply pour on into your bath, swirl it about and you're done, supposedly! I personally really like how the powder has been pre-separated into individual 'servings' as not only does it make it much easier and quicker to use, it also makes it much more cost-efficient too, as you never will end up using too much at once. It also means that afterwards, you have an already clean tube to use as a storage pot if you fancy it. Winner! As for how the product itself is like - again, going on first impressions - I likey so far. I actually found when throwing this under the running water that it did more in terms of creating nice, foam bubbles as opposed to making my water all milky white - but being a bubble-lover, I am in no way complaining and I definitely did find the water to feel milky in texture nevertheless. The water felt super silky and almost creamy and as a result, when I emerged a little while later, my skin felt really soft and supple too. I do love a good multi-tasker...
Third in line, we have the Zoella Beauty Jelly and Gelato 'Bath Wafers' Moisturising Bath Fizzers. The cheapest offering of the lot (out of the whole collection, not just this selection I've got here) at £5.00 - these are super affordable and accessible. One of my ultimate fave type of products that Zoe has ever released in her 'Zoella Beauty' Collections are the Bath Fizzers, or as they are typically branded as - 'Fizz Bars'. They're basically bath bombs, yet shaped into a bar shape that you can break off exactly the amount you wanna use before plopping it into the bath. It's a super unique and also really compact concept and I always look forward to whatever variety is being lined up in the upcoming product launch and this time round - I am even more excited. Not only are these packaged even more cute than ever before - Bath 'Wafers'? I can't cope - they're also the first to claim to be 'moisturising' too. I really like the whole 'moisturising' theme of this collection - with a lot of the products claiming to have hydrating, replenishing properties - as especially in the Summer, skin can tend to get a little dry and it's generally the time of year when we all want to have smooth, silky limbs. Sounds kinda strange, but you get me. And you know what? I really, really like these. Inside the outer casing you get two 'wafers' - joined together into a square shape. Simply break them in two (or you could even go further and snap them in half again and get even more bang for your buck) , pop one into your running bath water, leave a while to fizz away and you're good to go. As always with Zoella Beauty 'Fizz Bars', they're not the most exciting, 'firework display'-esque type bath bomb that leaves your bath water super right in colour and with pretty patterns etched into the water - but they're still super good, in their own right. Instead, they focus more on leaving your water super fragrant and delicious-smelling and this time, also helps it to feel really silky soft and creamy too. I found my skin to feel really lovely and smooth once I got out and the gorgeous scent also made me super relaxed too so all in all - it's a winner in my eyes. I could imagine these making a great little gift and maybe if you're just looking at buying one item from the collection (or you're maybe on more of a budget) - I'd highly recommend giving these a go...
And finally, the fourth product from the latest range that I decided to throw into my (online) basket was the Zoella Beauty Jelly and Gelato 'Cream Scrub' Body Scrub. The most expensive item I picked up (but still very reasonable when you compare it with other, similar brands) at £8.00, I just had to pick this up. As you may or may not know depending on how long you've been hanging round these parts for - I am a big fan of the body scrubs from Zoella Beauty. I loved the 'Scrubbing Me Softly' from the Tutti Fruity range and its Classic-scented counterpart that was later released as part of the permanent range - 'Pretty Polished' - was (and still is) just as much of a roaring success for me. They're both super 'scrubby' (in that they're packed full of grains to buff away all those dead skin cells) yet they're still super gentle to use and actually feel rather creamy and moisturising on the skin so I've got my fingers firmly crossed that this one will be just as good. On first look, while those two were basically the exact same formula - just in different scents - this new 'Cream Scrub' is a completely different formula and fragrance entirely. It's also completely different looks-wise too - a bright, vivid orange in comparison to the milky white colouring of the previous Zoella Body Scrubs. However, the proof really is, as always, in the testing and so I reserved any further judgment until I actually used it. On first look, it appears that you get slightly less in the tub than usual as the pot looks much more shallow, but I was in fact wrong as there is the exact same amount in there as they always is. I personally quite like the slight shift in design as it does make it slightly easier to get product out and also means you don't have to dig so much to get the very last scraps at the end. A subtle change, but noticeable, in my opinion. As for the actual scrub itself, I am kinda on the fence. I can see where Zoe and the wole 'Zoella Beuaty' team was going with it and I love it and will continue to use it but I still feel like in comparison to the other two body scrubs that have been released - there still come out on top for me. I understand that the brand wants to create a balance between a body scrub being actually 'scrubby', but also having enough of an emollient to it to ensure the skin is still hydrated and cared for - but I think that balance was (and is) ever-so-slightly better nailed in the formula of both 'Scrubbing Me Softly' and 'Pretty Polished'. I love the scent of 'Cream Scrub' and I really love the super creamy, almost waxy texture that kind melts onto the skin and feels really nourishing and indulgent - but for me, I feel the 'scrub' aspect could have been just a little bit higher. As I said, I do still love it, it does still do a decent job at softly buffing the skin and leaving it feeling really smooth and lovely but if I want a scrub that really does get to work on the dead skin (yum) and still leaves my limbs feeling moisturised - I will continue using my beloved 'Pretty Polished'. Overall, I feel the two different formulas are for a reason as they are for two different purposes - one for super-gentle buffing and the other for slightly more abrasive, but still not at all harsh exfoliation - and so, depending on what you want from your scrub, I would say determines which one will appeal to you best. Still a very good product (especially the actual consistency of it) but perhaps not so much for my tastes personally.
So, all in all, what did I think? As always, I am in love with this new collection. Yes, the 'Cream Scrub' was not so much catered towards my 'needs' and was not so much what I expect in comparison to the 'normal' Zoella Beauty Body Scrubs; but I can see the brands intention with it and for a body scrub that perhaps leans more so on the moisturising side of things - maybe for people with super-sensitive skin or who do simply not want/need a more intense exfoliation - it is still pretty darn good. As for everything else, that gets the solid, full thumbs up from me. I am not completely surprised seeing as what I said at the start of this post at how much of a positive experience I have had with 'Zoella Beauty' as a brand so far, but nothing is ever guaranteed and so I was still unsure at how I would find these new additions but thankfully - I was proved wrong yet again. For such an affordable, reasonably-priced brand that's super accessible too - these are awesome, creative and innovative products - and I would not at all hesitate in recommending that you all hot-foot it to your nearest Superdrug, or online at Feel Unique - ASAP. Do it, now.
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