Nails of the day

 

 

This is my first nail of the day post, let me know if you like this kind of post in the comments please.

 

I Created this nail colour using my Miss sporty clubbing polish in 205 as a base and my

Revlon Scented nail enamel in Grape fizz. I hope you like it!



 

Pretty Purple Eyeshadow Look

I was just experimenting with a few new products I have bought and I thought this look turned out really nice so I decided to share it with you guys. Hope you like it!

 

Products used

• Urban Decay Original Primer Potion
• Avon True Colour Palette in Glamour Eyes
• Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Purple
• Mac Look in a Box Mascara

UK Glossybox September 2012

After a huge battle with Glossybox in which I had to phone them a countless number of times to find out where my September Glossybox was I finally received it after they posted me out another by Royal mail. So I'm sorry I'm a little late on this box but I really have only just received it a few days ago.

 

This was my first Glossybox and the box itself was really very pretty.

 

The box was designed by illustrator Maggie Li this month for London fashion week.

Lets get to the products shall we?

 

The first product in my box was Fame Fragrance by Lady Gaga

This is a really tiny amount of perfume but none the less I was really excited to smell it because I had heard so many good things about it and I have to say I love the fragrance, it is a sweet scent which reminds me alot of Britney Spears Fantasy. It also sprays out of the bottle black and then dries clear, I have no idea why they have done this but It is very cool.

 

The next thing I got in my box was Rodial Glamoxy Snake serum and 5 minute facial.

 

There were two of each of these sachets in the box but they felt like they had nothing in them and at over £100 for the full size my budget couldn't handle that, its safe to say I wont be purchasing these in future.

The next thing in my box was the Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream.

This product I actually really like, I was looking for a new eye cream and this one feels really nice. It cools the under eyes while feeling really moisturising and you only need a tiny amount which is good because this is only a 7ml sample. I might seriously think about purchasing this product in future.

The next thing was Vichy Idealia Day Care Cream.

This is a lovely day cream, it feels moisturising on the skin without being greasy or too rich, it smells lovely and the best thing is its PINK. This is a 15ml pot which is an okay sized sample and the full size is 50ml and costs £25 which is not too bad for a good quality day cream.

The last thing I got in my box was Maghrabian Hair oil.

This was a 10ml sample of this sweet smelling hair oil, it really does the job when it comes to taming hair and I have alot of hair to tame. As with most htings in this box this feels a little small but I suppose I cant expect to get full size products for £10. Its a good little hair oil though and does what its supposed to.

This box had a value of around £26 which makes it worth the money paid but for the amount of trouble I had to go through to get the box in the first place I'm not sure if it was really worth it. Let me know what you thought of your box if you got it this month and if you have ever had any problems with Glossybox's delivery service.

UK Joliebox September 2012

I know I'm a little late on the bandwagon but I finally subscribed to some of the UK beauty boxes, namely Joliebox and Glossybox, but this post will be on my first ever Joliebox.

I was so excited to get this box as i didn't know what to expect and I just love getting little presents (don't we all) even if I did pay for them myself.

 

The first thing you see upon opening the packaging is a lovely mini glossy magazine called Joliemag which if full of really interesting articles.

 

 

The box itself is really cute, mines is a lovely vivid orange colour.

 

Inside the box is a September menu which tells you what is inside and a little bit of info on each product. It also tells you what the theme of each box is and this box had a London Fashion week theme.

 

 

The First product in the box was a full size Balmi Lip balm.

 

My lip balm is in raspberry and it smells amazing, I could smell it before i opened it up so it is very strong. It feels really moisturising and has SPF 15 which is always a plus. It has a little string attached so it can be put on a keyring but personally I'm just gonna keep this little beauty in my bag. you can pick this up in Boots here for £4.99 and they also come in Strawberry, mint and coconut.

 

The next item I have is a full size sachet of I Love face mask.

My sachet of face mask is in mango and it is suitable for all skin types. It has natural fruit extracts and as with all the I love range I love it! You can pick up I love products from superdrug.

 

The third product in my box was the Redken Align 12 Protective Straightening Lotion.

This is a 30ml sample size product which is a decent size, it smells lovely and it works as a heat protectant while also claiming to banish frizz. I have extremely frizzy hair and was in dire need of a new product for this so my hopes are high for this one. The full size of this product is £12.90 on feel unique here.

 

The next product in the box was two Twistband Hair Ties.  

I got a yellow and a grey one of these nifty little hair ties. These claim to keep your hair secured without leaving bumps in your hair. I'm all for that as I wear my hair up alot but at around £4.50 for three of these I think i will stick with my good old bobbles and as you can see from the picture these look like they are going to fray like crazy.

 

As a little extra in the box we also were given two small sachets of Dr Bragi Bio Marine Exfoliant.

These are tiny samples but they do come with a code for a 20% discount at the Dr Bragi website but at $25 for 50ml of this its a little out of my price range but none the less i am happy to try It out.

 

Joliebox gave me another surprise product with the So Susan Wide Awake Face Palette.

They said "Since this is your fist box, we thought we'd add a little extra! A palette of skin enhancing tools, perfect for concealing imperfections and illuminating the skin". This is a very generous extra gift at £15 for the palette.

It has an illuminating cream for hiding dark circles, a highlighting cream and three eyebrow colours which I will more likely use as shadows as they are a little dark for my brows. It also includes a small brush which is a little cheap feeling and a pair of mini tweezers which i like. The creams feel nice and the brow colours have good pigmentation. The packaging is also very sweet and girly.

 

I am really pleased with my first joliebox it has products I will use and a good range of things. The value of this box I worked out to be over £30! Now I just cant wait to see what I get next month.

MeMeMe Little Angels Collection

At the end of last week while surfing the net I came across a groupon offer for a cosmetics brand called MeMeMe Cosmetics, I had heard of them before but never tried out any of their products. They are a company which sell high end type products for a much lower price tag (always good to hear)available online and in superdrug. The groupon offer was £18 for £45 to spend on the website which is a great deal.

I bought a variety of things but this review is going to be on the Little Angels Collection which are very reasonably priced dupes for a few Benefit products.

First thing which caught my eye was that the packaging is very sweet and girly which I love. On the back of the box it says,

"This adorable collection of Little Angels is ready to give you an added flush of colour whatever the occasion or skin tone"

All four of these come in 12ml bottles, which when opened have a brush just like nail polish and simply brush onto the skin to be blended in with fingers or a makeup brush.

Beat the Blues Moonbeam is a light pearly pink toned highlighter, you use it by applying it to the top of cheekbones and the brow bone for an iridescent glow. 

 

This colour really suits a pale or blue skin tone and brings a slightly shimmery pearlescent brightness to the complexion it is not glittery at all but just seems to catch the light perfectly and create a glow. Another way to use this highlighter is to mix a small amount with foundation or tinted moisturiser if you like a really dewy  and glowing complexion.

Beat the Blues Sunbeam is a shimmery gold highlighter which reminds me alot of Benefit high beam. This is used the same way as Moonbeam.

This lovely golden colour looks great on a slightly warmer skin tone as it brings a shimmery sun kissed look to the skin. This also looks amazing when mixed with a foundation because it gives that lovely golden glow which will look perfect for summer.

Both this and moonbeam have a nice creamy workable consistency to them and they don't dry out the skin either which is great if you have naturally dull dry skin like me.

This is a cheek and lip tint which you use by putting a few strokes on cheeks or lips for a nice pink flush.

This is an almost perfect dupe of benefit's posie tint, it is the exact same colour (light pink and pretty) and a very similar consistency. The thing I like about this colour so much is that it is buildable and natural looking on my pale skin. As I was swatching this colour on my hand I got distracted for a few minutes and when I went back to remove it it wouldn't budge at all. So my advice to you with this is blend quickly unless you wand a line along your cheeks. They don't call it a stain for nothing!

Pussycat Lip and Cheek tint is a stunning deep red colour which is used the same way as Poppy tint.

I know this looks like a scary colour to be putting on cheeks but it has a very  runny watery consistency which means that once is is blended it only gives a lovely rosy tint nothing too dramatic at all. Although I will give the same warning with this as Poppy, on cheeks blend quickly!

Overall I am really happy with this purchase, it is so pretty and I will use all of these products again and again!

MeMeMe Little angels collection £15

Avon Supercurlacious Mascara

I have been super lazy in the last few months when it comes to blogging partly because I have moved house and been busy getting that all sorted but also because I havent really bought many new beauty products.

I made the huge change last week from a blonde to a brunette (Eek!) and it got me thinking I may have to change some of the makeup I have been wearing because some of it looks a little wrong now. So i decided to have a bit of a clear out and came across my all time favourite mascara, which I had kind of forgotten about, Avon Supercurlacious.

I have naturally long but straight eyelashes whch need so much curling and when my mum got me this from her Avon catalogue a while back I instaintly fell in love with it! It looks pretty with just a splash of my favourite colour, pink, but its the wand which makes it stand out to me. It's bristles are so small compared with other mascara's but there are so many of them that it coats every lash and feels like it is brushing them into place rather than just caking them in product. It dispenses just the right amount of product for a natural curled effect but after a few coats your lashes will look amazingly long and thick.

This is a must have for anyone who loves a good curl!

You can buy this mascara here

Parma Violet Candle

I wanted to just say a quick word about my ultimate favourite candle. The Parma Violet Candle tin.

These candles are amazing, when i first saw them in BHS i was so excited and when i actually popped the lid off and took a whiff I was blown away with how much they actually smell of Parma Violets. They smell good enough to eat and look so cute as well. They come in a fun little tin and would make an excellent gift.

If like me you love Parma violets and want your home to smell like a sweet shop then these are a must have!

Find them in store or online at

http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/bhsstore/96679

Birthday Boxes on a Budget

Well the holidays are well and truly over and it’s getting into birthday season once more. This year I decided that since two of the most important birthdays come around in February (Sam, aka my best friend and my mum) that I would try something a little different.

I am on a major budget this year as I am not currently working and am also moving house in the next few weeks so I decided I would show I care by giving them each a few small presents. This idea quickly evolved into making up a basket hamper for each of them but when I saw the cutest gift boxes in a local card shop I decided a gift box hamper was the way to go.

I wanted it to feel a little like Christmas for them when opening their gift boxes so I layered the presents with some nice shredded tissue paper interspersed with birthday confetti.

This is what I got them both in the end.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods

My mum is a big reader so for the bottom layer of her box I got her a book which I have heard a lot of good things about. She is also a science fiction lover so this seemed perfect for her.

In the top layer to her box is Thornton’s chocolates, Assorted Fruit Soaps, Pink grapefruit shower gel, Pink grapefruit soap and Sweet lemon soap all from The Body Shop. My mum has very sensitive skin so I made an effort to get her very gentle products.

This is the finished product. I love the glittery box because it is so pretty and she will be able to keep it to store things in which is always a plus!

On to the second box!

The bottom layer of Sam’s box has a mini bottle of her favourite wine, and some sweets from back when we were young.

Every girl loves a nice bar of Galaxy.

For the third layer of this box there is a cute sparkly shoe key ring and a manicure kit both from Claires. There is also a Lipgloss from MUA in shade 4 and a Nail polish from MUA in shade 8. .

On the final layer of this box there is a Beauty UK Palette in the shade pastels, two Beauty UK Pearl Liquid Eyeliners in number 4 blue lagoon and number 6 purple haze.  

This is the finished product for Sam. Again a lovely box which can be reused.

I really hope they both like their gifts.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation Review

My skin has undergone a slow subtle transformation in the past few years from my oily teenage skin to the quite dry skin I have today. Because of this the foundations I was using before seemed to cling to my dry skin far too much so I decided I need a change.

After many hours of researching blogs and reviews on drugstore foundations (I’m working on a bit of a budget) to try out I finally decided that Bourjois Healthy mix foundation was the one which seemed to meet my particular skin needs. 

I bought shade 51 light vanilla because I have very pale skin all year round and it is a very good match for my skin tone. It is also available in shade 52 vanilla and shade 53 light beige. It boasts it has apricot for radiance, melon for hydration, apple for anti oxidant and ginger for energy. I’m not sure about these claims but the fruity ingredients have given it a very subtle and pleasant fruity scent which is really nice.

The texture of this foundation when you first pump it is very creamy and light, it feels expensive and blends beautifully into the skin with almost no effort. It gives a light to medium coverage which is buildable and leaves skin with a gorgeous radiant glow without looking shiny.

 I do feel like I have to use quite a few pumps of this foundation to cover the whole of my face which is a slight drawback but at around £9.99 for 30ml you can afford to be more generous with it than some of the more expensive foundations around. It also claims to have 16 hours of wear which is a bit optimistic although if you set it with a powder it does last really well for the price.

All in all this is a great product which I highly recommend if you are looking for a high quality drugstore foundation. It is available in the UK in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.ASOS.com