Sunday 29 April 2012

Random April Favourites!

There have been a lot of new random favourites this month so I will get straight into my favourite music, TV shows, films etc which I've been loving this month!

TV:
I finall started watching this show this month and I feel in love with it after the first episode! It is such a funny show in which 4 friends have to do challenges including saying what the others are telling them to strangers. It is so funny and definitely worth checking out.

Music:
The Mars Volta - Nocturiquet, so this album came out at the end of last month and I finally checked it out this month. I love it so much and have been listening to it non stop! I love The Mars Volta and i'm loving the new direction they have gone with this album. Not many bands could keep changing their styles with each album and still sound like the same band. 
Jack White - Blunderbuss, so this album come out this week and after the first listen I knew I loved it. It's different to what I expected, a lot more piano based but I really like it. In a sense it's brings all the things he's done before into one album. 


Food/Drink:
A few months back I cut out diary to help improve my skin. This month I decided to try Almond Milk to have on my cereal. I'm not a nuts person, I honestly can't stand them! This does have a nutty flavour to it but when it's on my cereal I can't taste it at all. I would definitely recommend it as on alternative to milk.

Podcasts: 
Tell 'em Steve Dave! - A love most of the podcast on the Smodcast network, this one is a redisocovered love. There's not much I can say about it apart from it is very funny and easy listening when doing work and writing blogposts! 

So those were my random favourites for this month, what have been yours?  

Saturday 28 April 2012

April Beauty Favourites!

April has been a busy month for me with my first year at University coming to an end very soon meaning lots of last minute essays to finish! Again like last month i've really been trying to use products up and it is definitely working so there's not too many new favourites this month but here's the few things i've really been loving.
Skincare:
  • St Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub - I finally tried (and reviewed!) this product this month and I love it, I can definitely see myself repurchasing this product again and again. 
  • Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean - I got this to use with my Clarisonic and I really like it, it's a great cleanser and you can read my review here. 
  • Liz Earle Clense and Polish - Another product i've reviewed here and I finally got to try a sample of this well loved cleanser and I must say I love it! I've already ordered the full size and a few other Liz Earle products which I will have a post on soon. 
  •  Palmers Natural Bronze Body Lotion - I mentioned this in last months favourites and i'm still loving it! It's a great product and gives a natural bronzed look which is needed when the weather hasn't been great!
Make-Up:
  • MAC Eyeshadows - I finally got a palette to put my MAC eyeshadows in, I also treated myself to a few more shadows and i've been using them all month. 
  • ELF Warm Bronzer - I got this last summer and I rediscovered it this month, it's great for warming up the face but doesn't look too much especially when it's not sunny outside. 
  • Rimmel 3 in 1 Blush in 'Autumn Catwalk' - Again another product I rediscovered this month and I love it, I really want to try some more Rimmel blushes because this one is such good quality. 



  • GOSH Brow Pen - This has saved my brows! Even after one use I knew it was going to be a favourite of mine. You can read my full review here
  • Revlon Lip Butter 'Sweet Tart' - This is a lovely hot pink which is very wearable, I've been wearing it a lot during the daytime and I just love it!
 So thats my favourites for this month, what were your most used products this month?

Thursday 26 April 2012

Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean - Reviewed!

After I used up my No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser I needed a new cleanser to use with my Clarisonic. I love Soap and Glory's products but I haven't tried many of their face products. As always the packaging is lovely and I love the fact that it has a pump making it so easy to use. 
 Now this is classed as a 4 in 1 Wash-Off Deep Cleansing Milk and even though it is classed as a milk it feels very creamy.
The smell was the first thing that I noticed when I tried this, it smells of peaches and fresh mint. I normally don't like things that I used on my face to smell overpowering but this is very pleasant. 
This feels very soothing on the skin and I use about 2-3 pumps when i'm using it with my Clarisonic, if I was using it without I would probably use less. I says to apply more product in trouble some areas. I would say this cleanser is gentle enough to use morning and night (I just use it in the morning) but it still leaves your skin feeling so clean and fresh. It definitely works at removing excess oil without being too drying. Even though I use it in the morning it is very good at removing heavy make-up.
It doesn't lather up but goes clear when rubbed into the skin. I would definitely recommend this cleanser especially if you have oily skin because it helps keep the oils at bay! Even if you don't have a Clarisonic I think this would work really well with a muslin cloth.


Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean retails for £7 and is available at Boots.


Have you tried this cleanser before?

Tuesday 24 April 2012

GOSH Long Lasting Brow Pen - Reviewed!

I was never really into doing my brows as part of my make-up routine until I started colouring my hair. Since then i've been looking for for the perfect thing to make my brows look neat and match my hair colour, I now think I have found that perfect product. 
I first Brow Pen I heard of was the a la carte brow ink which retails for £22 I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on something for my brows! I found out about the GOSH version through essiebutton and I'm so glad I tried it! 
Now it literally looks just like a felt tip pen, now I was a bit scared that it might make my brows look too 'drawn on' which I personally don't like but it really doesn't. You can definitely build this up or apply it lightly. 
There is only 4 colours which is a shame but the colour I went for Venetian Brown which is a warm brown, when I went into Superdrug they only had 2 shades out, this one and a dark brown. Since my hair is mostly blonde these days I thought this colour would work better. 
It is so easy to use, you can literally draw in brow hairs. It makes my brows look fuller and neat. This lasts so long as well, at the end of the day my brows looks exactly the same as they did first thing. This is definitely something that I will keep using again and again and can't rave about it enough! 

The GOSH Brow Pen retails for £6.49 and is available at Superdrug. 

Have you tried a Brow Pen before?

Sunday 22 April 2012

Sample Test: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

Most people by now have heard a lot about the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish with many people raving about it. I love Hot Cloth Cleansers, I use them everyday to take my make-up off at night yet until now I have never tried this one. I guess the price has always put me off but when there was a free sample in this months Red magazine I thought I should give it a go!
Now you can actually buy this sample for £5.50 and you get a 30ml sample and a muslin cloth. The main thing that appeals to me about Liz Earle is that the products seem to be natural, with this cleanser it has rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus essential oil. This does have a strong smell of rosemary to it which i'm not a huge fan of but have got used to it after a few uses. 
It looks like your average cream cleanser on first sight, when applied to the face it feels very smooth and pleasant. I used about two pea sized amounts to cover my whole face. It didn't sting when applied to the eyes and removed all make-up very easily. My favourite thing about it is how soft and fresh my face felt after using it just once. I was very impressed and didn't expect to like it more than the cheaper versions i've tried but I really do! 

 I would definitely recommend picking up Red magazine for £3.90 if you are thinking of trying this cleanser. The full size (100ml) costs £14.25 and comes with one muslin cloth. I do think I will buy the full size because I think it is worth the money.

Have you tried this cleanser, what are your thoughts?

Friday 20 April 2012

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum - Reviewed!

I feel like foundation is one of those things that i'm always on the hunt to find the perfect one and never seem to. My favourite (and still is) has to be Bourjois Healthy Mix, when the released the serum version I thought I had to try it! When Boots had a deal on where when you bought a Bourjois foundation you got a free mascara I had to get it.

Now they made a few changes to the design of the bottle, changing from plastic to glass which I prefer also unlike Healthy Mix this doesn't show how much product you have used which is a shame because you have no real way of seeing if it's nearly run out. I do on a whole like the packaging, the bottle isn't too chunky so fits in a make-up bag nicely.  


It comes with a pump and is very easy to control how much product you use. I would say this foundation gives medium coverage and is definitely buildable. This is very easy to apply and is a little on the runny side which I like because it makes buffing it into the skin very easy. It feel very light on the skin and looks very natural whilst still covering any problem areas. The shade I have is 52 which is the second lightest. There doesn't seem to be a great colour range suiting to people with light to medium skin tones. Both shades 51 and 52 are both yellow toned which I like because it cancels out any redness very well. 

As someone who has oily skin I do find that this doesn't keep me matte all day. The original Healthy Mix does last longer for me and stays matte longer. From reading other peoples thoughts I would say that the original Healthy Mix is more suited to combination/oily skin and the Healthy Mix Serum will suit normal/dry skin. For me these are the best drugstore foundations out there at the moment, I have found very few faults with them. I don't find that it goes patchy and definitely doesn't feel cacky on the skin.

I wouldn't repurchase the Healthy Mix Serum just because I think the normal Healthy Mix foundation is better suited for my skin type. Healthy Mix Serum retails for £10.99 and is available here.

Have you tried any of the Bourjous Healthy Mix foundations?







Wednesday 18 April 2012

St Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub - Reviewed!

I have been changing up my skincare rountine a lot recently due to not being totally happy with the results I was getting from what I was using. I also realised that since getting my Clarisonic I haven't been using a face scrub in my routine. I decided to pick the St Ives Scrub up after hearing great things about all the scrubs they do.
St Ives are a brand that have been around for a very long time, my Mum even used to use their scrubs when she was a teenager. Each scrub they do works for a different skin type. I went for the Blemish Fighting one which is aimed at oily/blemish prone skin. I really like the packaging, simple and straight to the point! The scrub itself smells of sweet apricots which is very pleasant and not over powering.
As you can see the scrub is creamy with small grains it in which aren't too harsh. I like that this turns creamy the more you rub it in, you can almost tell when it's ready to wash it off. It is gentle but still feels like you are giving your skin a good clean. Even after just one use my skin felt so smooth and skin but it didn't feel dry or tight. I use the scrubs 2-3 times a week and I definitely think it is helping my skin stay clear of blemishes.I can see this being a staple in my skincare routine for a long time.

If you haven't tried the St Ives scrubs yet I would definitely recommend you do. They're very affordable and work very well. I like that they do a good range to work with different skin types too. This scrubs retails for £3.99 and is available at Boots and Superdrug. 

Have you tried any of the St Ives scrubs?

Monday 16 April 2012

My Most Used Face Brushes

Like most girls who love make-up I have a lot of brushes to apply it with! I feel like a have a brush for every possible product I might want to apply to my face. So I thought it would be useful if I did a post on the ones that I use pretty much everyday and the ones that I would bring if I was going travelling.
I do love my Sigma brushes but at the moment I have been using my Real Techniques brushes no stop, I seriously can't fault them. You can see a full post on them here. 
The first brush is the Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the Core Collection which retails for £21.99. This is the brush I use to apply my foundation or BB Cream because it is so fast to use and leaves you with a flawless finish. It like all of the Real Techniques brushes washes really well too. It is also good to apply powder and buff out products like bronzer.
 This is the Pointed Foundation Brush by Real Techniques again it is from the Core Collection. I don't see how you could apply foundation with this because it is rather small for that but it is really great for applying concealer. The pointed edge makes it really easy to get in around the nose and under the eye.
This is the  Real Techniques Contour Brush from the Core Collection. I use this to apply bronzers, it is small enough to use as a contour but it is so soft that you can easily buff out product to give a natural bronzed look. You could also use this with cream bronzers.
This is the Real Techniques Stippling Brush which retails for £11.99. When I first got this I used it for foundation which it work really well with and gave a great finish. Since I now use the Buffering Brush for foundation I found that this brush is great for cream blushes. It makes them really easy to use without leaving hairs behind in the product. I also use it for powder blush as well. 
I think ELF are really good for affordable brushes and this is one of their best. It is the Kabuki Face Brush which retails for £5 and it is so soft and applies powder perfectly. It is very easy to clean and hasn't lost it's shape. For this price the quality of this brush is amazing. 
This is the ELF Blush Brush which retails for £3.50, I use to apply highlighter when I remember to wear it! It is also a great size to use for getting powder under the eyes to set concealer if the Kabuki brush can't get into that area. I have had no problems with shedding and I have washed it mutiple times. 

So thats the brushes that I use everyday at the moment. All if these brushes are great qaulity and I would recommend them all. They all wash well and haven't lost their shape. I have also had no problems with shedding with any of these brushes. 

What are some of your favourite brushes? 

Saturday 14 April 2012

NOTD China Glaze 'Dress Me Up' from The Hunger Games Collection

This collection didn't really interest me at first since i'm not into The Hunger Games. My best friend is however so I said I would order her one off ebay since this collection is not available in the UK and i eneded up getting one myself since I love the colour so much!
Dress Me Up is an interesting colour, it is a brown toned pink which looks very nice with my pale skin. What I really like about it is the fact you could get away with 1 coat and it would look good! This is only the second China Glaze polish I have tried and I was very impressed with the formula and will be trying more shades in the future. This picture was taken after a few days wear and you can see there is hardly any chips, even when I took it off the colour was still going strong after over 7 days.
As I said above this collection is sadly not available in the UK but you might still be lucky to find some of the shades on ebay. Mine cost about £5 inc shipping from the U.S and took less than 2 weeks to get here.

Thursday 12 April 2012

Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer - Reviewed!

As someone who has oily skin I rely on primers to make sure my make-up lasts all day. Boots have had some great offers on recently and I ended up getting this cheaper than it should have been. (Can't remember exactly what I payed!). After using it for a few weeks I thought it was about time to do a review.
Now Bourjous say that this primer will 'even out and refines the skin’s texture, visibly hiding pores, blemishes and fine lines, leaving the skin looking flawless.Its melt-in airbrush texture leaves the complexion silky smooth.' They also say it isn't pore blocking and is an oil free formula. Sounds great doesn't it!? Well here's what I thought.

Now this definitely smoothed the texture of my skin, as I am only 19 I don't have many lines on my face but it did leave my skin feeling nice and smooth. I liked that it didn't take long to dry and you really don't need a lot to cover the face. It is a thick moose consistency rather than a liquid or a gel formula. To me it looks very similar to the Loreal Studio Secrets Primer which i've tried a sample of.
Now onto does it actually work? For me as someone who has oily skin, it didn't help my make-up stay 'flawless'. I didn't find that I had huge problems with my skin getting oily the main problem was that I found my foundation started to look patchy by lunch time. This was mainly on my chin and t-zone. I found I would have to buff out my foundation half way through the day which I never normally have to do. For that reason I stop using it. I did however find that it works well for me if I am using just a powder foundation it made that last well. I also found that if I applied it to soon after my moisturiser it applied 'bitty' and bits would start to flake off! If that makes sense.

On a whole i'm not impressed with this product and I really wouldn't recommend it. I don't know if it would work any better on other skin types but I also think it wouldn't be great for dry skin either. For the fact I can only use it with one product which I don't wear that often I wouldn't buy it again. I doubt I will even finish it! For me there are better products out there that will suit all skin types like the new No7 Airbrush Away which I reviewed here. This is the first Bourjous product I haven't liked in a long time so I really tried to make it work but it just wasn't happening.

Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer retails for £10.99 and is available here. 

Have you tried this? I would love to hear your thoughts if you have!

Tuesday 10 April 2012

NOTD Rimmel 'Peppermint' and Some Glitter!

As I have mentioned a few times now i'm in love with the colour mint, I don't know where this obsession has come from but i'm loving it! I went shopping the other day and both the tops I got were mint coloured! Anyway onto the nail polish I bought this in the 3 for 2 at Boots the other day and I love it. When I was painting it on my nails I thought it would be fun to had some glitter on top and I am so in love with how they turned out!
I really tried to get a good picture to capture the amazing glitter, hopefully these pictures do it justice.
I seriously can't stop looking at my nails at the moment! I really think the mint colour works with the many colours in the glitter polish. I also really love Rimmel nail polishes becuase they have a bigger brush which makes it so easy to use, it took about two coats to get it opaque. I did one coat of glitter so the mint base would still show through enough and then used a top coat to make sure the glitter wouldn't chip off.
The Rimmel polish retails for £4.59 which is a great price for such a good quality polish. They are available from Boots and the shade I used is 'Peppermint'. The glitter is the famous OPI Rainbow Connection for The Muppets Collection, it is an amazing polish I got mine from ebay . I payed £5-£7 but now it seems to be more expensive sadly. If you can't get hold of the OPI one I've hear that Technic do a good dupe which is available on Amazon here

Are you loving the mint trend as much as I am at the moment?

Sunday 8 April 2012

Boots Haul - Taking Advantage of the 3 for 2!

Boots have seemed to have had so many offers on at the moment which isn't great when you're trying to save money! Since I hadn't been to Boots in awhile since i've been i'll I went the other day and picked up a few things. My skin had been breaking out a little so I wanted some things to help that but couldn't resist the 3 for 2 on make-up!
I've heard really good things about St Ives face scrub so I thought I would try one. I got the Naturally Clear Apricot Blemish Fighting Scrub. I've used it a few times now and I really like it! It's smells lovely and leaves my skin feeling so smooth. I will defiinitely be doing a review on this soon! It cost only £3.99 too!
I really wanted to give my skin a deep cleanse so I pick this up. It's the Mudd Original Mask Deep Cleansing Pore Clay Formula. I used it the other day and it was very nice. It left my skin feeling really fresh and clean, it was also nice a colling whilst it was on. It cost 99p so can't really go wrong with the price.
Since the 3 for 2 was on and I had a £2 off revlon vouncher I couldn't resist getting some more Lip Butters! I love these things so much! The colours I got were Sweet Tart which is a lovely hot pink and Macaroon which is a UK exclusive and is a brown toned pink. Both colours are lovely and I will be wearing them a lot over the next few months. The retail for £7.99 each. 
So since I have been in lvoe with mint so much recently I had to get this. I love Rimmel nail polishes and I've had my eye on this one for a long time and I finally got it! Expect a NOTD very soon! The colour is Peppermint and retails for £4.59.

So thats my little haul, have you taken advantage of the Boots offers on at the moment?

Friday 6 April 2012

March Empties!

I love reading empties posts because if someone has used a product up it means they must have like it or have strong opinions on it! I've been trying to use up more products recently since I have lots of things halfed used things I thought I would start doing this empties posts. I don't know if they will be every month but whenever I have used a good amount of products I will do a post!
As you can see I have used up a mixture of skincare and body products, so what were my thoughts on them?
Skincare-
  • Manuka Doctor Foaming Cleanser- I got this a bit after I got my Clarisonic and I've been using everyday for over 2 months and it's just run out. I love this cleanser, it has manuka honey in it which is great for acne and I think this really helped improve my skin. It is a bit pricey at £ but I would definitely repurchase it. 
  • Superdrug Tea Tree Cleanser & Toner- Tea Tree is another natural product which is great for acne and this works really well, I use it at night after washing my face. It's cheap and does the job. I have and will be repurchasing this again. 
  •  Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturiser- This moisturisers is very nice and gentle, it was my favourite night cream until I got the Clean & Clear. I probably wouldn't repurchase this since i've now found something better but it is a good product. 
  • Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturiser- This is hands down my favourite moisturiser. It oil free it helps with blemishes and it's moisturising! This is a holy grail product for me and it's cheap! I can't recommend this product enough and I will repurchase this again and again.
Body Lotions-
  • Garnier Intensive 7 Days Replenishing Lotion- I love these moisturiers by Garnier they have lots of different ones for different skin types. This is the one for dry skin but I also love the one for very dry skin. They dry quick and last long (maybe not 7 days!) I have and will repurchase these. 
  • Jergens Naturals Skin Firming Body Lotion- I bought this becuase I really liked the smell of it. I didn't find that my skin was that much firmer but it's a nice moisturiers. For me they're not the cheapest but they seem to be on offer a lot and I would probably repurchase them when they are on offer.
Body Sprays-
  • Natural Collection Vanilla Body Spray- I've mentioned how much I love this before because it smells so good and the scent actually last very well on clothes. I've repurchased this a few times and already have a back up in! 
  • FCUK Pure Body Spray- I've had this for a while now and finally finished it this month. I do like the scent but it can be a bit overpowering at first and the scent doesn't seem to last too long either. I probably wouldn't repurchase this again.
So thars my empties for this month, I've definitely liked doing this and felt proud of myself seeing how many things i'd used up!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

No7 Airbrush Away Primer - Reviewed!

 As someone who has oily skin I rely on primers to help make my make-up last throughtout the day, I have also tried a lot of primers now and still haven't found the 'perfect' one. When No7 released thier new Airbrush Away Primer at the begining of the year I really wanted to try it but was put off by the £19.50 price tag! I was lucky enough to win mine in a giveaway. 



You get 30ml of product which is about the norm for most primers, it is a rather small bottle which is fits in the palm of the hand and is just over have the size of a foundation bottle. It is a squeezy tube which can sometimes be hard to control but i've gotten used to it. The product itself is almost like a gel in consistency. You only need a pea sized amount to cover the whole face and it feels smooth and slightly mattifying

I really am pleased with this product. I've used it with both foundation and BB Creams and I find that my make-up stays in place all day which can definitely be a problem for me. Products refuse to last on my chin or can look patchy but this really helps make it last. The hot weather in the UK recently has definitely put this to the test and it still worked very well which means it will be a great product for Summer. I do find I can get a little shiny still at the end of the day but that doesn't really bother me if my make-up is still in place which it is after using this product. 
I would recommend this product because it really does work, the price is too much in my opinion especially for a brand which isn't really high end. I personally would wait for one of the No7 £5 off vouchers making it slightly more affordable. 
No7 Airbrush Away Primer retails for £19.50 and is available at Boots.
Have you tried this yet, what is your favourite primer?