Thursday 31 December 2009

Happy new year! It's resolutions time...









2010 is finally here, and i can't believe it!

I had the most strange year last year, and i'm hoping this year will be a bit more lucky for me. I lost my job in January (my poor bank account has suffered since), i became an auntie (he's so adorable), i had my one year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend :), i almost lost my dad (the worst thing of the year :[) and i went back to college (only to be surrounded by the fresh out of school bunch that are driving me insane!)



So in a bid to start things off on a good note, heres my new years resolutions...


1. stop eating rubbish

2. join a gym - i'm finally having to accept that ever more prominent belly is really there!

3. make my wardrobe "quality not quantity", it really is better to buy something nice from selfridges that will last, than 5 things from primark that will fall apart in a couple of months!

4. find that perfect red lipstick

5. pay more attention to my youtube channel! - i haven't uploaded in ages!

6. make more time for my bestie. Since high school i see her a few times a year (she lives miles away) and it's just not enough.

7. finally accept that no fake tan works for me - and embrace being pale!

8. find a job!

9. sort out my makeup collection, it keeps growing but my storage solution doesnt

and 10. remember to live life to the fullest and be happy, as my mum always says!



happy new year guys :)


xxx

Wednesday 23 December 2009

December Favourites!

Only two more sleeps till christmas! eek! :)

Another month gone, another lot of goodies tried and tested. Heres my favourite products i discovered and re-discovered this month...


First off - Front cover eye spy palette












I got this for £30 at boots, even though it said £40 on the tag! The colours are amazing. The top three rows are shimmer shadows, my favs are Powder puff - a golden peach (2nd from the left, top row), Burnt toast - rich coppery brown (to the right of Powder puff) and Taffeta blue - a gorgeous navy blue with light blue reflects (4th from the left, 3rd row).

Underneath the shimmer shadows are five matt shadows, i've not really taken to these as they're nothing special, if i'm honest!

There are also four small tubes of glitter that can be applied all over the lid or mixed with the shadowline (the black thing that looks like liquid eyeliner!) to make glittery eye liner.




Body Shop Tea tree face mask






I've been using this heavenly mask for a few weeks now and it's fast replacing my current fask mask! I found it to have a warming effect on my skin, even though it doesn't mention a warming effect on the label. It is a bit hard to wash off as if doesn't dry, but my skin feels so soft and cleansed after wards i'll let it's only con slide!



Soap & Glory Sugar crush body scrub










In scent, it sort of resembles "BIG" by LUSH. It's very limey, so if your not one for citrus scents this, isn't one for you. In winter skin gets dryed out by the cold, so it's important to invest in a good body scrub and this one is my new wonder scrub! It's a sugar scrub which means it's super gritty (which i love). It does leave a residue on the skin, but not as bad as some scrubs i've tried, and it doesnt stay sticky after your dry. Left my skin feeling soft, looking great and smelling delicious!



Rose & Co Rose petal salve







As it says on the tin, an excellent all round salve! Now don't get me wrong, i love my blistex relief cream, but i'm getting tired of it oozing out every time i take the lid off and holes appearing when i'm squeezing the last of it out. So for now i'm switching to a tinned alternative. I've been using this salve what seems like forever, it's amazing for a lip balm and a cuticle balm. It smells like roses as the name suggests but i've had a few people comment on it smelling like turkish delight :S. I'll let you make your minds up!



Lee Stafford Growth treatment mask









"A treatment for hair that never grows past a certain length" - what it says on the tub.

It's a protein based complex that fertalizes follicles, creating a healthy environment on the scalp to help hair grow and reach it's maximum potential length. I've been using it for a week and it's not made this list for it's hair growing powers (i've not been using it long enough) it's made the cut because since i've been using it my hair and scalp has honestly never looked healthier! It has that typical hair product smell, heavily perfumed and what not! You apply it in between shampoo and conditioner and leave it for five minutes. I'll keep you updated on whether or not it helps my hair grow!



and finally... Remington Spin curl







Curls whilst it drys... need i say more? I've been using this to style my hair almost every day since i got it. It's quicker than blow drying then curling and has similar results! It's only two cons - it only curls one way and it doesn't completely dry your hair (i've found leaving it for 10 minutes after will dry it out completely).


For shorter hair (like mine) it creates a messy mix of curls and waves and on longer (tried out on a friend) it creates long lovely ringlets or olsen twin-esk waves if combed out. Which is great because it's not limited to one hair type.



Hope you all have a very merry christmas and a happy new years guys :)


thankyou all so much for following!



xxx

Friday 18 December 2009

Ins and Outs

As much as i love christmas, there is so much to do! I haven't had time to blog in ages, but luckily i've had a snow day today (woohoo!) so lets get blogging.


Ins


snow!
rose & co rose lip salve, life saver!
watching christmasy films
just mascara eyes
eating lots of mince pies
republic, miso clothing = gorgeous + cheaper than topshop!







Outs


ice, my poor car is skidding everywhere now :(
how much more tempting the beauty floor in Selfridges looks at christmas
snow - love it but my UGG boots are officially ruined
the price of new UGGs
always leaving christmas shopping till the last minute

+ finally - scrooges, lighten up it's christmas!


xxx

Saturday 5 December 2009

Shoe lust

It's my boyfriends little brothers birthday and i stole away from watching them play xbox for the last 4 hours *sigh* to drool over one of my favourite things in life... shoes!



I don't know what it is about shoes, but they're like my kryptonite and it's my personal opinion that there is no such thing as having too many shoes!



Here's a few that if i won the lottery next week (fingers crossed) i would buy in a heart beat..







Jaeger ankle boots, £220






KG by Kurt Geiger, £140




KG by Kurt Geiger, £90






Carvela cuff platform shoe boot, £140


stunning! and expensive! I need to get myself a well paid job asap haha :)


xxx

Wednesday 2 December 2009

PRODUCT RANT: Body Shop Almond oil hand rescue treament






Winter is deffinately here, and winter means one thing from my poor hands... dry skin and cuticles!


I'm obsessed with having soft hands and up until now i've been using LUSH's Smitten hand cream. But i'm pleased to say i've found something that beats it :)

I've only been using this product for 5 days and already i can see the difference! I apply it every night avec cotton gloves (you do look a bit michael jackson-ish but oh well!) and i wake up in the morning with silky smooth hands!


I've also been teaming it with Body Shop's Almond oil hand and nail cream in the day time, another product i'm falling in love with. I'd reccoment both of them, two perchases you deffinately wouldn't regret!


xxx



UPDATE: this is so strange, But this product has actually made my nails stronger! I have really weak nails (thanks to my love of acrylics) and honestly i can push down on the tips now and they're solid! If any of you try this product let me know if it did the same for you :)

Miracle spot treatment?

So my brother moved back in yesterday, he split up with his girlfriend (bad times), and decided rather than use up his own money in a flat he'd come home and spend my parents!



Now my brother, bless him, has suffered from full blown acne for years and he still had it last time i saw him (baring in mind this was only a few weeks ago) but when i saw him yesterday his skin was completely clear.



so the first thing i asked him, typical of me, was "how did you do it? where did you get it? i want some now!" haha



and to my suprise it wasn't some expensive night cream or some fancy gel, it was dettol. yeah...the stuff you clean you kitchen with!



He said every couple of days he would put 2 caps of dettol in his bath, soak for 5 or 10 minutes and his spots would go down dramatically.



Now i'm a total sceptic when it comes to spot treatments, i've been there, used that and never found anything amazing. But i tried it anyway.



The smell was a love or hate smell. It reminded me of when i was little and my mum would clean up my cuts with it. But to some people i can imagine it not smelling too pleasant, but you get use to it after a bit.



When i got out i felt squeeky clean! (it is disinfectant after all)and my spots where visably smaller and less red. I really have to admit, the stuff works!



It's advised not to use it too often and to make sure its well diluted. If not you could cause skin irritation and it would defeat the whole point of the bath.



Thumbs up i say! :)


xxx

Christmas gifts a la ASOS!

Christmas is that time of year where you show your friends and family how much you love them with gifts. But if your like me, you'll be thinking "lets get something thats good but cheap so I can spend the rest of my money on myself!" Come on! you know it's true! :)


So i've done some browsing on ASOS (they always pull through at christmas) and compiled a list of the best (and cheapest) beauty gifts I found!




Best under £10




Anatomicals "I will survive" Gift set.


I've tried a few Anatomicals things and non of them let me down! All their products come with witty one liners and a play on words like 'Get your filthy hands on me!' soap.

includes - 'Puffy the eye bag slayer' eye mask

'Glow glow quick quick glow' brightening face cream

'Hungover? Rub it in why don't you' headache relieving balm

'Are you looking to get picked up?' shower gel







Christmas pudding lip blam £3



Small but cute! Would make a good stocking filler









Eyeko nail polish set £6



Includes - Vintage polish (jade green)

Cosmic polish (black with multi-coloured glitter)

Indigo polish (Midnight blue)







Jelly pong pong soap popsilce £5


How cute is this? Comes in Neapolitan, The love stick, Looney lemon, Water melon and Loli-choc



Best under £20






Twilight Mortal glow blushing creme £17 and Femme Fatale Lip gloss £15


Twilight do makeup? Yup! These are my two favourites, there is also a really cute lip stain but they've run out :(








Urban Decay hall of fame £18

I think i'll be buying this for myself!


Includes XL Primer potion (60% bigger than the original!)

24/7 Eyeliner in Zero

Pocket rocket lip gloss in Timothy

Skyscraper Multi-benefit Mascara

Midlight cowboy Lipstick







Nails Inc. Autumn/Winter four pack £20


Includes - Berkeley square (dark grey)

Hampstead heath (burnt red)

Victoira gate (glossy purple)

Belgravia (warm brown shimmer)







Bliss Spa-la-la-la-aah Gift set


Includes - lemon and sage body butter lite

lemon and sage soapy suds




Those are a few good ones, but theres plenty of others worth taking a look at!

Happy shopping :)


xxx

Monday 30 November 2009

Mini haul - Body Shop goodies! :)


Like many people, i've always thought of the Body Shop as "that place that sells nice body butters" and thats it. But after much um-ing and ah-ing i decided to venture into the Body Shop and try some of their other stuff.



and they don't half love giving away freebies!






So these are the things i actually bought:

Tea tree blackhead scub
Tea tree blemish fade night lotion
Tea tree face mask
Almond oil hand rescue treatment
Blush in no.12
Eye shadow in no.02 (this isn't on the picture coz i've left it at my bfs :[)


The Almond oil daily hand and nail cream was free for buying 2 skin care products


The Coconut shimmer body butter was free for spending £25 on any items in store


The Glitter eyes eyeliner and mascara duo was free for buying 2 makeup products


and the Coconut body milk and shower gel duo was free because i had £5 to spend from my Love You Body card!



I haven't tried them all yet (if only i had the time!) But the blush has replaced my Mac Pinch o Peach, the eye shadow is the most amazing lid colour and the coconut shimmer body butter is just heavenly!



Hopefully the rest of them will be just as good :)


xxx

My hair routine :) (video)

I was asked by one of my youtube subscribers to show how i style my hair. I have my hair messy and curly, and i like it with a lotta lotta volume!











I've never used mousse on my hair cause i hate how it makes it all crinkly and solid! So i found an alternative to mousse - Vo5 extreme style clay!


Now i know what you're thinking, clay replacing mousse? But it works! If you work it in yours hands to warm it up and comb it up through your scalp (like in the video) your hair will be nice and big :)


You only need a small amount though, or your hair will be a bit sticky and your mum will be shouting at you for blocking up the plug hole!




xxx

Sunday 29 November 2009

REVIEW: Mac 187 vs Ruby and Millie stippling brush (video)


I had this requested a few times and i've finally got round to it








Conclusion: Go for the Mac 187 if you have the money, but if not, the Ruby and Millie brush is still good!



Remember, if you ever have any requests just throw em my way :)



xxx

Friday 27 November 2009

FOTD

Remember me? i know i've kind of fallen off the face of the blogger earth recently! I've been so busy with college and my dads ill :( so between seeing him in hospital, college, coursework and making time for my boyfriend i've litrally had no down time at all!



But today i had the day off college so i'm having a blog + youtube cram shesh!



First off... FOTD!














(i really am that pale! eek!)






Products used:


Face

Revlon colour stay foundation in Buff
Mac sheer select pressed podwer NC15
Benefit hoola
Body shop blush in no.12


Brows

Urban Decay brow box


Eyes

Urban Decay primer potion
Body shop eye shadow in no.02
Mac brun
GOSH liquid liner in brown
Rimmel sexy curves mascara
Eylure girls aloud lashes (nicola)


Lips

GOSH Darling





xxx

Tuesday 10 November 2009

MAC fakes on ebay



In a video i did recently on youtube, i showed off a few things i bought that week. One of these things was a MAC 187 stippling brush. I got mine for around 7 or 8 pounds and it is NOT a fake. This raised some eye brows though, as that is pretty cheap considering its RRP! But it was sold by a private seller (not a shop or power seller), a woman clearing out her makeup collection. She had other MAC products including eye shadows, hello kitty + dame edna shadow palettes, other MAC brushes and blushes. You can suss a seller out by looking at the other items they are selling, if she was selling 20 187's at really low prices, then i'd be suspicious. But every now and again you get ebay novices, people who put expensive items at a 99p starting bid price and people like me will take advantage of it (why not?!) which is why i got it so cheap.



But there are fakes out there and they are gettig closer and closer to the real thing! So i thought i'd share with you a couple of ways to tell if a brush your thinking of bidding on is fake.





1. PACKAGING

Authentic MAC brushes come in a clear plastic sleeves with a bar code printed on the sleeve. Many fake brushes I have seen come in clear plastic sleeves without the bar code. Also, many fake face brushes come with additional hard plastic protectors for the hairs. Real MAC face brushes do not have this additional plastic protector. They come in the simple clear plastic sleeves with bar code.


2. HANDLE

Real MAC brushes come with black wooden handles and the neck (the part that connects the handle to the hair) is silver. Some bad fake brushes will have black plastic necks.


3. LETTERING

Authentic MAC brushes are labeled "MAC ###". ### being the number of the brush. On real brushes, the lettering is printed on the handle and easily rubes off. On most FAKE brushes, the lettering is engraved into the handle and very hard to rub off.


4. BRUSH SETS

Keep in mind that MAC has never offered a set of full sized makeup brushes except until November 2006 called the Pret-a-Porter brush set. The Pret-aPorter set includes 8 full size brushes (187, 190, 129, 213, 224, 266, etc). The set comes with a black satin brush roll. If you see a full size MAC brush set with more than 8 brushes it's fake!


5. THE SELLER

Never buy MAC products from a seller you don't trust! Sellers to watch out for are a) Newly registered sellers with no or little feedback, b) sellers in other countries such as in China and Japan and Singapore (they'll be garanteed fakes) c) sellers selling a lot of other MAC brush sets (you have to wonder where they are getting the endless supply of brush sets). Don't let 100% feedback fool you. Look at the seller's completed listing and see if week after week they list full size MAC brush sets. That's a sign the brushes are fake!


6. PRICE

If the price is too good to be true, it's probably because it is. The best way to avoid buying fake brushes on Ebay is to buy brushes one at a time, instead of in a set. If the seller seems to have an endless supply of brushes and is happily selling them for 50% off of the retail price then thats a sure sign they are fake.


7. PICTURES

If the picture is blurred and doesn't have a close up ask for a close up picture, if the seller refuses to give you one it's FAKE!


some examles of fakes:



Authentic brushes don't come with the brush covers the ones in the middle have




A really bad fake travel size set! The necks should be silver, not black.



Ever seen MAC selling a set this big before? This has got fake written all over it, and again the necks are black and not silver!




I hope this has helped you guys :) remember if your not sure DON'T BID.


xxx

Revlon Lipsticks

So i'm going through a bit of a lipstick phase right now. I read a good review of a revlon lipstick on Zoella's blog the other day and headed straight to superdrug to give them a go! Now i have many lipsticks, but i've never tried a revlon lipstick before and i must say i'm pleasently suprised!



Here are the four i got:





Cherries in the snow

Kiss me coral

Gentlemen prefer pink

+ Twinkled Pink


Top to bottom: Cherries in the snow, Kiss me coral, gentlemen prefer pink, Twinkled pink




I love the Kiss me coral and Twinkled pink!

Cherries in the snow is an amazing lipstick, but as i've said before red lipstick + me = not the best combination. I'm still trying to find one that doesn't make me look a bit like a clown! any suggestions?


Gentlemen prefer pink i thought was nothing special, but still it's a good colour and stays on well. Just not my cup of tea.


All of the lipsticks have staying power, i hardly ever have to re-apply them through out the day. Deffinate thumbs up! :)



xxx

Sunday 1 November 2009

REVIEW: my LUSH haul!

Last week i did a LUSH haul and got a load of stuff. So now i've tried and tested them all i thought i'd do a little review on each product :)







Snow cake soap

Not my favourite scent, but left my skin feeling amazing! Some of the lush soaps i've used i found quite drying but this an exception. I was so annoyed when i found out it was a christmas soap. I'm gonna go back and stock up on this one for sure!


Angel delight soap

Looks great, smells great! This is one of my favourites just purely because of the smell, and it's also another christmas soap (damn you LUSH!). It smells fruity and sweet and has little sequin stars in for an added bit of sparkle!


God mother soap

As i said in my video, smells like vimto! Isn't that a good enough reason to love it? Add in the fact that it leaves my skin feeling soft and smelling great it became an instant favourite!


Love soap


This was a freebie i got for spending a certain amount of money. I didn't like the smell of this soap at all. It smelt weird, thats the only way i can describe it! It also left glitter all over the bottom of the shower, which is fine if you like standing there with the shower head trying to wash it down the plug hole!


Mask of magnaminty


Hate the smell! But love what it does for my skin. When you put it on it starts to tingle and after a while the tingling gets to a point where it feels a bit like burning. When i washed it off i could tell the difference it had made. My pores were smaller and my skin just felt thoroughly cleansed.


BIG shampoo

I was suprised by this shampoo. It starts off as a mush of salt grains and shampoo but when you put it on wet hair the salt disolves and you get a seriously lathered shampoo! My hair was deffinately bouncier and had more volume after using this.


Godiva solid shampoo and conditioning bar

I don't have much to say about this after my rant a few posts back! Turned into my favourite shampoo ever :)


Jungle solid conditioner


Maybe i was using it wrong or maybe it just really was as rubbish as i thought! Rubbed and rubbed against my hair but didn't do anything. Waste of money.


Sex in the shower emotibomb


Makes the most heavenly shower ever! Smells musky and masculin, a bit like mens after shave! I honestly didn't want to get out of the shower!


...and finally Fair trade foot lotion


In pictures, this bright pink foot lotion looks quite thick but the reality is its watery and didn't really make that much of a difference to my feet. Think i'll be sticking to the body shop body butters!


xxx

Thursday 29 October 2009

Random halloween post!

So this has nothing to do with beauty products but it does have to do with halloween! and since it's halloween in 2 days i thought i'd share my pumpkin with you haha! :)







It's a hello kitty pumpkin!

Took me bloomin' ages! thought i'd mix it up a bit this year :)



don't worry my next post will be non vegetable related! xxx

PRODUCT RANT!: LUSH Godiva solid shampoo








I'm in love!


I've only had this little wonder 5 days and it's fast becoming my favourite shampoo ever!

To start with it's a solid shampoo, easier, small and lighter to haul back and forth to my boyfriends every weekend and perfect for holidays. Its jasmine scent is amazing and lingers in your hair all day. It contains shea butter so it leaves your hair feeling so soft but skweeky clean! My hair looks in so much better conditon and it's all thanks to this little yellow bar.


I love it when i find things that really work :) I would seriously recommend this if you haven't already tried it or have never tried a solid shampoo before, it might just suprise you!


xxx

Wednesday 28 October 2009

My skin care routine







i've decided i like doing videos haha!

heres one of my skin care routine. i'll probs be doing my makeup routine as well soon!

hope you like it :)xxx

Monday 26 October 2009

Going over to the pink side...

I'm a nude lipstick girl, always have been but maybe not always will!

i went on a haul recently and got a lipstick from mac when i returned 6 empty items and i got a pink lipstick! yep pink! and i must say i was pleasently suprised.











The shade is Snob. and i really like it!

I think i'll be trying out more pinks from now on but not reds.

reason why...












I look a bit like an 8 year old trying on her mums makeup haha


x

Messing around with makeup :)

I'm on bank holiday this week and have nothing to do all day! So i thought i'd take this opportunity to have a play with my makeup :)

I saw a look in avon magazine a while back and it was a leopard print eye. I thought'd i'd give it ago and heres the results...











Products used:

Urban Decay primer potion
Barry M dazzle dust in no.44
Urban Decay eyeshadow in stray dog
Mac Black Tide
GOSH liquid eye liner in brown
Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof eye liner (water line)
Ardell 101s



I'm no makeup artist so it's far from perfect! But i bet i could polish it up a bit next time :)


x

Sunday 25 October 2009

LUSH HAUL!













SOAPS



Angels Delight



Snow Cake



The God Mother



Love





BODY/FACE




Fair Trade Foot Lotion



Mask of Magnaminty





HAIR




BIG



Godiva solid shampoo and conditioning bar



Jungle solid conditioner





SHOWER




Sex in the Shower Emotibomb





So thats all the stuff i got from LUSH :) as promised heres some swatches of the stuff i could actually swatch!




From top to bottom:

BIG
Fair trade foot lotion
Mask of Magnaminty


and also some swatches of the other stuff i got :)





From top to bottom:

GOSH liquid eye liner in brown
Barry M Dazzle Dust no. 44
MAC Snob Lipstick





This is a reeeeally long post i know! but i hope you liked it :) x