Say Goodbye to Winter Lips!!

When the trees lay bare and you begin to sport a case of 

Rudolph-nose you know winter is here!

Winter brings round snow, the Eggnog Late in Starbucks and crazy over indulgent treats but it also comes with many downsides one of which being, dry... dare I say crusty lips!

This year I've decided enough is enough and have put in place a routine to say goodbey to those sore, dry lips. 

In this post I'll share the routine that has been working wonders so far,

Step 1: Scrub, Scrub, Scrub,

This Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub is great, the organic jojoba oil keeps your lips hydrated and the sugar granules scrub away the dead and dry skin but thats not the best part! It's completely eatable and tastes wonderful. Job done! Scrub, scrub, scrub then lick away!

Step 2: Condition

My Balmi has been a life-saviour, an all round great product, it smells great, it last for a very long on your lips and it's in a cute EOS type packaging. I've always been a bog-standard vaseline girl but this trumps all the lip balms I've tried until now!

It comes in 4 flavours of coconut, strawberry, raspberry and mint. 

I have the raspberry. 

Step 3: Prime

For me this step is essential as I find that lipsticks and lip glosses alike apply horrible onto my lips. I use the MAC Prep+Prime to make sure that lip products glide on easily and don't build up in the ridges. 

Those of you with lovely smooth lips may choose to omit this step!

Step 4: Lipstick

This step is all you! Choose the brand you love and colour you adore! I used MAC's Amplified in Chatterbox. The only tip I have is to use a brush; yes it may take longer however it will give you a great deal more precision and accuracy. Using a brush also gives you more control over the colour you achieve and the pigmentation of the colour on your lips. I use the Real Techniques Detailer Brush.

Step 5: Gloss

Until last week I wasn't sold on gloss, I've tried and failed with all the MAC formulations, it's always too sticky.. too heavy and clumpy looking, however after a haul video one too many I stubbled upon the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick . I used the shade Fushia-Ristic. I might do a full review later but I can say that it's definitely the way forward it looks great on it's own or over lipstick!

I feel that although a matte look is great in summer, nearing winter it's great to add a bit of depth and brightness to the face with a glossy lip and well with this product I can finally practice as I preach!

So pucker-up and make sure your lips are baby smooth for all that kissing under the mistletoe!

x

Review: Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation

Hey There!

Haven't posted in quite a while, it has been a busy few months. It is always hard to get back into the swing of things so I thought I'll start nice and simple and do a product review. 

This is a product for which I had high hopes for, and who didn't it is after all the love child of the Touche Éclat and a brand which never fails to deliver on quality but I must say I am a little underwhelmed about this foundation. 

Now I'm going to admit I'm very cautious about make-up in general, a high coverage foundation, for example wouldn't brush with me, but I can't even describe this as high coverage... it's just heavy.YSL describe it as 'Weightless Perfection' and that it certainly is not. With a finishing powder it's wearable, without it's dewy at it's max, and I personally prefer my foundation a little on the natural matte side.

Not only does it for me not deliver on the look and feel it also has an awful, pungent, garden smell. Cosmetics should either smell fresh and clean or smell of nothing at all. 

Although this has been a little negative so far I must say the packaging, as always, a hit. Classy and expensive feeling, and well at £28 it should be.

 All in all, if you're a fan of the dewy-look and don't mind a foundation that you can feel all day maybe this is worth a try, however for myself definitely not a re-purchase.

Oh and to add I do think I have a slightly paler shade than I should wear, the counter girl was extremely unhelpful, but what to expect at a suburban Debenhams!

I think I'll just stick with my £10 foundation and my Tocuhe Éclat!

x

It's Autumn!

With Autumn come jumpers!

I was in dire need of some jumpers, with it getting cooler and cooler here in London came m opportunity to buy some jumpers. I must admit I rarely find jumpers that suit me, I know 'baggy jumpers' are all the range and comfort but on me it's more like the 'fat jumper' but H&M has as always come up trumps for me. The great thing about H&M is it's so much more affordable than TOPSHOP or Warehouse, not to say I don't love these brands equally as much. So to the point now! I thought I'd share the jumpers I've bought so far!

 I love the colour of this one, it's more bright than I usually go for but I think I'll dare to wear it!
£14.99

My personal favourite! In the picture it's hard to see but it has little sequence stitched into the knit and it looks absolutely great.
£29.99

The baggy-nerdy one! Going to love this on the days I want to be nice and cosy .
£9.99

Sex Sells:Bobbi Brown Jumps on the 50 Shades of Grey Bandwagon!

Oh dear I don't know wether I love this or really hate this! 

I know 50 Shades of Grey has taken the world by storm but is capitalising on it ok? Although it doesn't make a blatant connection to the raunchy novel, it's rare to find a person today who hasn't heard of the book. In todays world there is no doubt about it, sex does sell, and that annoys me more than it should. So do brands like Bobbi Brown and Nars use sexual connotations to sell they're products or do they see it as harmless fun? I've come to the conclusion that it's a bit of both, they use the sexual connotations to play on the fun, naughty side inside all women but do so to sell more products. All that said I think I love the collection enough to put this aside, it's a shame I couldn't find it on the UK store. Maybe soon.. Fingers crossed!

x

Lazy Sundays Recommends: New Talent

So it's been a while since I've felt like I have found something worth recommending to you guys and this evening I have stumbled upon something which is worth a look. I'm not gonna lie I do know this lovely man but that is all the more reason to share this with you guys, his name is Karl Reay and he is a wonderful as he is talented! 

 So I actually couldn't insert the video I wanted to share with you guys (silly blogger!), but here is a cover of Cold Coffee originally by Ed Sheeran, although if you click on his name you can get to the video I'd like you all to see.

Although this isn't the video I wanted to show you guys (just because you don't get to see what a lovely person Karl is!!) it is a great cover and it's definitely on my iPod! 

Hope you guys enjoy Karl's music and do check him out on YouTube! Show him some love and support!

x

Beauty Haul and MAC Dupe!

Watch out for the post on make-up storage as I will certainly need some soon with the amount of beauty products I have been buying. I normally never buy much in one go just pick up a few bits and bobs here and there, but these past two weeks I have gone all out! 

Here's most of the products I purchased ( I probably forgot some, silly me! )

So lets begin on the left with Oilatum, I purchased mine in Boots but I linked to Lloyds Pharmacy because it is cheaper! Now this is £6.10 in Lloyds Pharmacy, and I haven't used this for very long, but I have heard marvellous things about it; I must say so far so good, I'm definitely not disappointed. It hydrates quite well and takes away the raw/tight feeling I get after cleansing and isn't whatsoever greasy, after about 10-20 seconds you can barely feel it on your skin! I first heard about this product two weeks ago when I popped to the Urban Decay counter in Debenhams; the counter girl suggest I'd be better off with a finishing powder than the setting sprays, but I mentioned my dry skin, she was absolutely lovely and suggested a range of products she had tried herself one of which was this cream. I'll let you know how I get on with it in a later post.

They're Real by Benefit, now this is a mascara I desperately want to love, and in some respects I really do but in some I'm just not a fan. I'm a girl who doesn't like to stand out, in terms of my make-up, I keep it plain and natural so I don't think the mascara and I are a match made in heaven whatsoever! It's great if you like a lot of volume and striking lashes, I unfortunately found it a little clumpy and a pain in the bum to remove! So difficult in fact it became frustrating, I'll use it up but probably stick to Max Factor next time. In my opinion definitely not worth the £18.50 price tag, as you will probably only use it on night's out or parties so won't get your moneys worth.
Real Techniques Blush Brush, I absolutely love, love, love it! It's absolutely brilliant, for £9.99 you could not do better; there isn't much more to say! Come pay day I'll be back in Boots buying myself every single one in the range, just a pleasure to use!
Urban Decay's All Nighter Setting Spray, well I can't say I can't live without it, but I do like it. I've been religiously using this for a week and half now and I do like it but no way do I get the quoted 16 hours. It also dims your make up down a lot so if you do use a powder blush be prepared to apply more than usual just because it will take away some of the colour. The reason I don't get the 16 hours may be because I don't use a setting powder so don't take it as a sign of it being a bad product! A lot of people love it and I do agree it has prolonged and slowed down the inevitable disappearing act of my make-up! I would say £19.00 is a little steep but I think you do get a lot for your money as you don't need much of the product.
TRESemme Salon Shine Glossing Spray, well it does what it says on the tin! It's not magic, it doesn't get rid of my frizz all together but it does help. It's light therefore doesn't weigh down my hair and it does contain Argan oil, so all in all a good product for £4.99. One little side note, I really don't like the smell, but that's me just being a little picky!
MUA Shade 17- Matt, You've probably heard all there is to say about the great, affordable eyeshadows. Lets leave it at that, it's lovely and it's only £1, this shade is an absolute essential for any look.
I've always been a bit unadventurous with my blushes, I got my first blush when I was 12 or so and stuck with it, imagine the emotional breakdown craziness that went down when the shade I loved and enjoyed got discontinued. Please don't judge me but I still have the old blush and save it for special occasions as I treasure it more than most of my other belongings and it's only a Maybeline mouse! Anyway so as it's slowly running out I decided to find a back up and I think I have, the Liz Earle Powder Blush in Coral 05. It's not a colour I'm used to as I normally stick to light pinks and rather natural looking colours, and one day I did overdo it, mum even asked if I was sick but what the heck I like it. You do have to be very careful as it is very pigmented but paired with the Real Techniques Blush Brush it's fabulous! I will definitely buy it again when it runs out and maybe add some more colours to my collection.

Here's a little swatch, and this is a very pigmented swatch just to show you the colour. Don't be scared you definitely don't have to apply it this heavy to your cheeks! I certainly don't. 

Last but not least I will do the lip products together because when taking pictures of swatches I realised they're basically the same. Great, got two lip products exactly the same shade.The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous is what one may call a dupe for MAC Cremesheen Ravishing in colour anyway.

Now there is a slight difference, the Balm Stain is slightly more sheer and has a shimmer to it, whereas the MAC lipstick is more matte, more of a pink tone to it and has a slightly better colour pay-off. However, what does one expect, one is only a Balm Stain and the other a lipstick. I initially bought the lipstick because I thought I needed something a little brighter to cut through the doom and gloom of London, and well the Balm Stain was just an impulse buy after I read the review by Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter, she did say she does get a lot of wear and does not have to re-apply and I don't know if it's just me or others have had the same problem but I wore it for the first time today and within an hour it was gone! I will give it a go with my lip primer but I thought this might have been the end to 101 and lip products in my little bag!
Just to prove when first applied they do look almost identical here's a picture of my lips.

When first applied I actually prefer the Balm Stain but as I say it barely lasted me the train ride into work. As I say lip products in general don't last well for me and do crease, so do check out Louise's blog as I do agree with her opinion most the time and she is very honest!

Just before I finish I must warn you of the slight peppermint/eucalyptus type smell that the Balm Stain has, it's not really to my licking but some of you may like it. I didn't notice it on the testers so it probably fades with time!

Woah.. All done! Long post I know but I thought I wouldn't do this half heartedly as I've actually tried some of the products so just giving my opinion!

x

Project Kate Upton

Let me take you back.. back to 2006 in fact; the year we lost Pluto, the year the Wii allowed us to look silly and work out in our living rooms (very appropriate for this blog, makes me think it was all meant to be) and the year Google bought YouTube. However none of these events made as big an impact on me as the release of 'Step Up' and before you rush to judge and heckle me I have two words: Channing Tatum. The man is a beast and recently, being the good little fan *cough*stalker*cough* I am, I got to see him when he was promoting his new movie at an Apple Store in London along side Matthew McConaughey! Talk about a sexy duo! 

So yes the picture is a little crappy, unfortunately we were a wee bit away. Nonetheless  they're both still sexy blurry!

And this probably where I get to the point, when I saw Tatum and McConaughey I realised that I will never have the chance with someone as sexy as these two, unless I myself become a sexy little devil! So here comes project Kate Upton. Despite what a little naughty blogger has said about Kate Upton recently I think she's a sexy little minx who is only 20! Crazy ha?? So I have set myself a challenge to get a Kate Upton body by the time I'm 19-20. Yes I understand I'm probably way out of my depth, but I'm a similar height to her so why not, and she's not crazy skinny just sexy so who knows, maybe I can get her spiffing figure! Without disclosing how old I am, I still have a fair amount of time so today I decided to take a rest and bake some cookies!

Don't mind the mess, it's all part of the process! And no I could in no way do this alone, however my chum was a little camera shy!

Hopefully next summer I'll have beach pictures to be proud of! So wish me luck guys!

x