Skin Care Haul

I've always been a bit lax when it comes to my skin care routine, relying mainly on face wipes which aren't the best, so after obsessively reading Caroline Hirons blog (you can find it here, I strongly recommend it!) I realised it was time to invest more in my skin care.

So I thought I would share some of the products or samples I have bought so far...

I bought 2 packs of 3 face cloths for £1.50 from Primark - I have read on different blogs including Caroline Hirons that face cloths are just as good at cleansing and a much cheaper alternative to muslin cloths.

REN Mayblossom T-Zone Control Cleansing Gel 150ml for £18 - This is more than I would normally pay for a cleanser but I have been using it the last few days and I love it, my skin has been much more balanced and my pores have appeared smaller.

I got some free samples of Elemental Herbology products from Space NK, I haven't tried these yet so I don't know how good they are. Have you tried anything from this brand?

A free sample of Decleor Paris Purifying Serum in Ylang Ylang, a lovely face oil to help balance my combination skin and it smells gorgeous! I have really liked trying out this product, but the full size is very expensive at around £40, so I may treat myself if I come into money somehow!

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer Light (Travel Size) 12ml for £12 - I had went to the Smashbox counter to try out their foundations, but they didn't have a tester in my shade and the sales assistant suggested I give the primer a try as it would enhance my current foundation, the full size primer is £27 so I thought I would get the travel size primer to test before I spend that much money on a new product. 

I have downloaded the Make-up Alley app on my phone which is really useful to look for reviews on new products I see when I'm out and about, it's definitely helped me make more informed purchases! If you have a smart phone I would recommend this app or something similar!

Elaine

Free Lancôme Mascara with Tatler Magazine

Get a free Lancome Hypnose Star mascara with the September issue of Tatler, for only £4.10.

I saw this in the supermarket and had to have it, I have never tried a Lancome mascara before so can't wait to use it, and I haven't read Tatler before so I'm looking forward to reading this magazine on the long journey to work!

I'm looking forward to using this mascara, and will let you all know my thoughts.

Elaine

NOTD: Essie Sew Psyched

This is my current go to nail varnish, although its rather autumnal I just can't resist wearing it now. I've been looking for the perfect khaki for awhile, but I've found most of cheaper brands were a bit too bright, not quite what I wanted, so I was chuffed when I found this Essie one. For me Sew Psyched its the perfect dull khaki with a grey sage green hint. As with all Essie nail varnishes it wears well and it went on extremely easily, it would look fine with one coat - I've done two.

What do you think? Khaki nails a good look or just a bit wrong?

Rachel

NOTD: Rimmel Peppermint

This Rimmel Lycra Pro nail varnish has been my favourite summer colour, I love it! I originally bought it as a dupe of Essie's Mint Candy but it is actually more of a brighter colour when it is applied. I have been wearing this constantly! 

In the photo I have applied one coat of my Essie ridge filling base and 2 coats of the peppermint. The varnish has quite a large brush so it is very easy to apply.

However I wouldn't say that it lasted 10 days, I've had it on for 2 and it has already started to chip on the edge of my nails. But I would still highly recommend it for the colour alone.

You can get Peppermint here.

Elaine

Birthday Haul

It was my birthday last week and I thought I would share with you all the lovely presents my family and friends got for me... they all know me very well!

Ralph by Ralph Lauren

Sweet Delicious by DKNY

(2 of my favourite perfumes!)

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Flying Fox Shower Gel from Lush

Urban Decay Nail Varnish in Carnival (NOTD here)

17 Nail Varnish in Parma Violet - one of my favourite nail varnishes you can see an earlier post where I have used this colour - here.

17 Nail Varnish in Forever

Benefit Sugar Bomb Lip Gloss

Elaine 'Carrie'style necklace (lovelovelove)

Accessorize Necklace

3 month subscription to She Said Beauty (Yay) - My friends obviously were listening to my ramblings about Glossybox! haha!

My mam and sisters were asking me for ages what I wanted for my birthday and the only thing I could think of was a bag for when I go to Paris in a couple of weeks (yay), and it was the typical thing of when you go shopping for something specific you can never find it so they gave me some money towards a bag when I find one.

So I went shopping a couple of days ago and found this gorgeous bag from Zara for £29.99, perfect for nights out in Paris!

Sorry for the stock photo - my camera broke when I was trying to take pictures of this bag!

I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures above but the bag consists of two pockets on either side of the bag, so the bag itself is quite a bit smaller inside than it looks, but I don't mind it will just encourage me to stop carrying around as much stuff!

I really love the metal stud detailing that goes around the middle of the bag, and the cute small box shape of the bag. 

With the rest of my birthday money I got this cute bag from Primark for only £4 and got a new contract iPhone 4!!!! I love my new iPhone, I have been dying to get one for ages and I haven't put it down since I got it! 

Rachel also got my this 'hilarious' extra present! I guess I go on about my annoyingly large pores a bit too much! haha!

Watch out for a new series of posts on my hunt for a new foundation with a medium coverage that really compliments my skin but can handle how oily it can become. 

I finally built up the courage to ask the shop assistants for samples of foundations instead of buying straight away (although how nice the assistants have been has varied!!) and I am really pleased that I did or I would have wasted a LOT of money by now! 

Are there any foundations you can recommend?

Elaine

Selfridges and Co: The Beauty Box

This morning we received an email from Selfridges & Co about their exclusive The Beauty Box to celebrate the opening of the Beauty Workshop, the box costs £15 plus p&p which costs at least £4.95.

Selridges say: To celebrate the launch of The Beauty Workshop we've created The Beauty Box, a limited edition bespoke box, available exclusively at Selfridges.com. Filled with wonder products from some of our favourite new brands - from high-end Hungarian skincare Omorovicza to Fashion Week favourite Stila.

The Beauty Box Includes:

Philip B Katira Hair Mask, 60ml

Antipodes Avocado & Rosehip Divine Face Oil, full size

Stila One-Step Correct, full size

Omorovicza Deep Cleansing Mask, deluxe sample size

Estelle & Thild Lip Balm, full size

Aesop Parsley Seed Antioxidant Serum,

Bioeffect EGF Serum, 5ml

The beauty box is pretty impressive, as you receive quite a few full sized products that are worth over £20 on their own! Unfortunately even though the email only went out at 6am this morning all the beauty boxes have sold out :-( you can see the beauty box here, fingers crossed they may come back into stock but I doubt it as it was an exclusive offer, I will be checking constantly just in case!

Were you lucky enough to get this beauty box exclusive?

Elaine

NOTD: Urban Outfitters Birthday Glitter

I'm not normally one for glitter nail varnishes as I like the glitter look to be solid and I find with most glitter varnishes it's very hard to get this look and it takes loads of coats that never seem to dry! So when I saw this nail varnish in Urban Outfitters I wanted it straight away as the glitter payoff in one coat was brilliant and it dried very quickly, I think it's called Carnival. So I asked for it for my birthday, and I was lucky enough to receive it from my lovely sister!

I applied one coat of Barry M Berry Ice Cream (one of my favourite nail varnishes ever!), and 2 coats of the glitter varnish, I could have easily gotten away with only 1 coat but I wanted as much glitter as possible!

I really love this nail varnish! It's an absolute bargain at £6 (I know I shouldn't know how much birthday presents cost) I will definitely be trying out more nail varnishes from Urban Outfitters.

The photo below shows just how concentrated the glitter is.

Have you tried nail varnishes from Urban Outfitters?

Elaine

Sleek i-Divine Ultra Mattes v2 Darks Palette Review

This is the first Sleek palette that I have bought, I have always been tempted by their other palettes (Rachel has the iconic Storm palette which has some great colours) but this is the first palette where I actually thought I would wear all of the colours. It was definitely the colours that attracted me to this palette rather than the fact they were matte shadows, as I normally wear shimmery or metalic shadows. 

The colours that I reach for most often are Thunder, Flesh, Paper Bag, and Villan. 

Flesh is a really great neutral shade for a daytime look and I have been using Paper Bag on my eyebrows, by blending the colour on the back of my hand so the colour isn't too dark. 

All of the swatches are below.

Top to Bottom - Orbit, Ink, Highness, Noir, Dune and Pillow Talk

Top to Bottom - Thunder, Maple, Flesh, Paper Bag, Villan and Fern

I have mixed feelings about this palette, I found that some of the colours look completely different when you swatch them such as Fern and Noir, and not as dark as they appear in the palette. Some of the more vibrant colours are quite difficult to blend which means they aren't the best to add as an accent colour, so I tend to use when I want to have a single eye shadow look so not as much blending will be required.

Pro's

• My favourite colours Fern and Thunder - Fern creates a nice natural day time look, it gives your eyes a great even look, your eyelids but better. I have been using Thunder for a subtle evening look, when you don't want to look too 'done'.
• The price, £6.99 is a great price for a palette which contains 12 shadows.
• The packaging feels secure and good quality for the price, I also like that there is a mirror included.

Con's

• I found that the eye shadow's were very chalky which felt really cheap, especially as I know that other palette's tend to be more on the creamy side compared to this.
• The colours are quite difficult to blend and take a lot of work, and the more you blend the lighter the colour becomes so to get the colour you want you need to apply more layers of shadow.
• Some of the colours when applied and swatched weren't true to how they looked in the palette even when you layered the shadow.

Verdict

I was quite disappointed in this palette, I had expected the quality of the shadows to be better as I know that everyone raves about the Sleek palettes. I have found that I don't wear as many of the colours as I thought I would as they are difficult to blend to create different looks. 

I don't think I would rush to try Sleek matte eye shadows again.

Elaine 

Coconut Oil - The Wonder Hair Product

Coconut oil has been hailed as a miracle product for a long time and ever since Miranda Kerr mentioned how much she adores it to help keep her skin and hair in tip top condition, sales of coconut oil have apparently went through the roof – who wouldn’t want to look like Mrs Bloom?!  I’d heard about the buzz surrounding the oil for some time, so I was pretty chuffed when Holland & Barrett sent us some to try – I now can’t believe I’ve never tried it before!

It’s generally believed that consuming coconut oil can improve your hair and skin, has anti-aging properties and can apparently be a great aid to losing weight, Miranda Kerr is said to consume several tablespoons a day for a healthier appearance. Other than consuming coconut oil as a supplement there is a million and one ways coconut oil can be used, below is just a few ideas I’ve come across but I'm sure there are MANY more –

•    All over body moisturiser - keep it in the fridge for a great after sun
•    Hair mask/ conditioner
•    A small amount used as a hair oil to add shine and control frizz
•    Rubbed into your scalp it can apparently help get rid of dandruff
•    A great alternative to cooking oil
•    Shave oil
•    Hand and cuticle cream
•    Make up remover 

it comes in a solid form an melts when warmed up in your hands

I haven’t yet tried consuming pure coconut oil but I’ve been using this one from Holland and Barrett for the past few months as a body moisturiser and hair mask. I use it as a moisturiser on my super dry patches eg. elbow, knees and feet and I find It’s extremely moisturising and cooling, best of all it smells amazing too – pure coconut bliss. Although it’s worth noting that it does take some time to sink it so light layers are best and definitely not one to put on when your in a hurry!

However my favourite use of all is using Coconut oil as a hair mask. I simply take a chunk of oil and apply the oil all over my hair from root to tip, for as long as possible – usually over night (don’t forget to lay a towel over your pillow though) I then simply shampoo it out in the morning. I’ve found that this leaves my hair feeling supper soft, tangle free and just feels incredibly healthy. For me this is better than ANY hair mask I’ve used before and it’s great to know that it’s all natural no nasty chemicals or sulphates! I would HIGHLY recommend trying this if you enjoy hair masks!!

Overall I couldn't recommend coconut oil enough– the tub is huge so it’s going to last a long time, therefore it works out a LOT cheaper than buying separate products. It’s a winner for me and my new wonder hair product.

Are you as mad about coconut oil as me? Do you have other uses to share?

Rachel

NOTD Revlon Cloud

I bought this Revlon nail polish 'Cloud' from a cheap makeup stall, I've seen a few people post that they bought this colour from Poundland and was on the look out for it for awhile so I was chuffed to see it for £1.99! 

For some reason I found it really hard to photograph as I couldn't get the colour to show true, I would say its slightly more lilac than it appears. The formula was a bit thick and difficult to work with but it dried super fast and I love the colour so it doesn't bother me. This is the first Top Speed Revlon nail varnish I've tried but I'm really impressed that it is truly a quick drying polish.

What do you think of this polish? Have you found any must have Revlon colours in Poundland?

Rachel

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream Review

Maybelline's launch of it's BB cream passed me by at the time, I just assumed it wouldn't be for me, not really sure why, until recently I sent away for a free sample pack available through Maybelline's facebook page. I'm not sure how long they took to arrive, but it was quite a long time, as when they arrived I had actually forgotten I had even applied for a sample!

I received 3 sample sachets in light, so I gave a sachet to Rachel to try out too.

Maybelline say... Feel BB Fresh! Our 1-step wonder for a dream skin day, every day. 8-in-1 Skin Perfector. Why you'll love it, imperfections look blurred, a natural looking glow, fresh feel, compliments skin tone, skin looks smooth, hydrates, protects with SPF 30, and oil free, non greasy.

I found the consistency to be thicker than I expected and was more like a foundation, quite similar to the original Garnier BB cream, however it did feel lightweight on my skin. You only need to use a small amount of BB cream for your whole face, I found the coverage to be light to medium as it can be built up for extra coverage, I did need to use concealer for blemishes. The BB cream did gave a great natural fresh finish, without looking too much, it lasted on my oily skin for about 4-5 hours before becoming quite shiny and started to disappear. Price £7.99.

Pro's

• I found that this was quite a good colour match for my skin, not perfect but one of the best light shades of BB Cream on the high street.
• Maybelline have 4 shades in their range, which isn't huge but it is pretty good for BB creams.
• SPF 30 is quite impressive.
• Coverage was better than I expected, and I did find it gave me a great even finish. 

Con's

• My skin did become quite shiny after a few hours, so it might not be the best match for my oily skin.
• I found that it didn't have the longevity that I wanted, by the time I finished work the coverage had disappeared.

Would I purchase?

Elaine - I did like this BB cream, but it didn't come close to my Garnier BB cream for oily skin, I would consider buying this if some how I fell out of love with Garnier.

Rachel - I'm used to wearing tinted moisturiser so I found this BB cream to be quite heavy, I also didn't find it to be particularly moisturising, overall it's ok but it doesn't stand out enough for me to buy it.

Have you tried Maybelline's BB cream? Which BB cream would you recommend?

Elaine

Lush Emotional Brilliance Makeup Range

Lush have now released their first makeup range of fresh handmade colour called Emotional Brilliance, the release has been widely anticipated as it seems everyone is talking about Lush products at the moment. They have a range of colours that can be used for lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara, for £14.50.

On Lush's website they have a colour wheel game, you spin the wheel and immediately pick 3 colours that are drawn to you and not just your favourites, I thought I would show you the 3 colours that I was drawn to, you can see the full range of colours here.

1. Your Strength or Weakness

 

Today your strength is that you are DYNAMIC in all that you do. It will give you the ability to be energetic and effective in your actions. You have the drive to achieve and it is wide-ranging today. You are putting your mind to action and getting things moving and shaking. This can only be perceived as your weakness if those around you are not as DYNAMIC as you. They may feel intimidated by your pace.

2. Your Subconscious

Mind flitting about all over the place is it? Your subconscious is reminding you that a little bit of FOCUS will go a long way to improving any situation. So, come on! Whatever you know needs to be accomplished, FOCUS on it, stay on track and the results will speak for themselves.

3. Your Aspiration

 

DRIVE is your talent today. It is something that you already do well and it will help you achieve your subconscious need. You are compelled today to move forward and are guiding everything around you with the same energetic motion.

 Overall I like the idea of linking the colours to your emotions rather than the colours that you normally like or wear, it's a great way to introduce people to colours that they wouldn't normally of considered, it's a fun gimick on the website.

However when I nipped into my local Lush shop, I was disappointed that the display of the products was pretty ordinary and it was actually quite difficult to tell which product was an eyeliner, mascara, lipstick... The colours do seem very pigmented and vibrant, but I can't justify trying these products out on a whim at £14.50 each.

Have you tried any products from the Emotional Brilliance range at Lush?

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, work has been a bit crazy for both of us! We have loads of posts to write so will be back on form soon.

Elaine