Lipstick Fever

I've Been Away

2013-12-24T03:40:00.000+00:00

Hey everyone, you may have all have forgotten about this blog now as it's been so long since I posted (over a year I think).
Life has been tough the last year or so, blogging took a back seat even, though I've still been reading your blogs :)

After recent events I've decided my lifestyle is going to change (hopefully for the better).

First off I'll mention I've been a vegetarian since I was 12years old, I'm now 30, so I guess you could say I take the vegetarian thing quite seriously.
I firstly began my vegetarianism due to my love of animals and discovering the tough reality of what happens to animals to feed us, which was oddly through a Welsh lesson in school.
Before I turned veggie I was a big meat eater, and after that Welsh lesson I just stopped eating meat and began to become more serious about what I ate.
Anyway to my point, everyone knows my other love besides animals is makeup and beauty products. I have to admit I have been pretty ignorant concerning all the animal testing laws lately. I thought if a product was made in the EU that it wouldn't be tested on animals, but I then learned of the law in China where products must be tested on animals before being sold in their country. So after most brands being cruelty free for years they have now decided money is more important than animal welfare.
So that has led me to decide I shall only be using products Not Tested on Animals from now on. I thought at first it would be easy as many brands have claimed to be Cruelty Free for years, but after looking into things more closely I've realised how deceitful some claims can be.

Okay, I'll get to my main point. I've decided my blog now will be mainly organic, cruelty free products.
It's going to be tough, ignorance was bliss (well for me not for the animals) before I decided this.

Anyway thank you for reading, and I hope to be back very soon with some great cruelty free buys :)

Some more reasons why I Love TKMaxx

2012-10-24T04:33:00.001+01:00

I just wanted to show some fantastic bargains and items I have recently purchased at my local TKMaxx.

TKMaxx seems to be delivering in the beauty department lately, as well as the usual clothing and homeware.

When I enter my local TKmaxx I always shoot towards the beauty section (which is downstairs at my store) and I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing as it just feeds my want for beauty products.

One of my latest finds is this Korres Vanilla Cinnamon showergel for £3.99. I have often wanted to buy Korres showergels, however since I live in a fairly rural area nowhere stocks Korres products and I never fancied spending £8 on a product that I may hate the smell of. But this shower gel is gorgeous, it’s a warm non gourmet vanilla with warming cinnamon. I love it.

Ok, this next item is my most exciting buy. Frederic Fekkai’s Glossing cream for only £5 and it usually retails at £20. Amazing.

I didn’t really have high hopes for this product as it was selling at £5 I thought it must be bad or something, I was very wrong. A little bit of this product goes a long way, and it really defines and glosses hair. I’m going to go back for some more.

I’ve never heard of the next brand Intra, but the fact that it 98% natural ingredients with a vanilla scent sold me. I’d been looking for a different body lotion due to my usual Palmer cocoa butter making me feel hungry all the time. So as this was only £3 I gave it a go, and really love it. It’s a pretty, subtle vanilla scent and it sinks straight into skin.

Something else I like to stock up on at TKMaxx is Lierac products. I use to buy all my Lierac products from Feel Unique, however they seem to have stopped stocking them and Look Fantastic have also limited products, so when I go to TKMaxx I buy a Lierac product in case I never see these products again.
Lierac skincare has to be one of my favourite brands, and if it is to stop selling in the UK it will make me so sad.
I bought this Hydra-Chrono lotion for normal/combination skin for £9.99, which is a bargain as I’ve spent around £25 on it in the past.

Thank you for reading. x

Little Lush Lovelies

2012-10-24T03:13:00.001+01:00

I’ve started a bit of a Lush obsession again.

I now and again feel the need for comfort, which at the moment I think is due to the fact that winter is drawing closer, and the days shorter and nights cold, dark and lonely. To make things easier I like comfort, cosy, nice smelling things that lift my spirits.

I decided to buy something I’ve wanted to try for a while, Lemony Flutter which is a really moisturising cuticle butter. I don’t usually like citrus scents but lemony flutter is delicious and may have changed my opinion of citrus scents. At the moment I have cuticles that are pretty dry, and I have a bad habit of picking at them when they do this (I know, bad). So Lemony Flutter is blessing for my dry, ragged cuticles, and also dry skin of knees and elbows this winter.

I also bought Vanilla Puff. I have to say I haven’t worn a talc since I was little, but something in me urged me to buy this (probably the vanilla scent).

This dusting powder smells exactly like Lush’s Vanillary Perfume, a fragrance that I did not get on with at all for some reason, however the dusting powder isn’t as concentrated (as you’d expect , as it’s not a perfume ) and so I get along with this just fine. This can be used in drawers to scent your clothes, can be used as a dry shampoo and their are other uses too, but at the moment I just like sprinkling it on after a nice bath.

Bargain Essie Polishes

2012-10-24T01:45:00.001+01:00

I told myself not too long ago that I would cut down on my nail polish purchases and it hasn’t happened and you know why?! TkMaxx, that’s why :)

When I have been at my local TkMaxx lately I have been coming across Essie Nail Polishes at very cheap prices, and as a nail polish addict this is hard to resist.

The two Trios that you can see on the left were bought for £5 per trio, yes £5 for 3 polishes.

The only problem though is half of them didn’t have shade names on them.

The Bright pink one here had a label on it which is True Love, however when searching online and looking at swatches it doesn’t look like it.

The other two colours I have no idea what they are.

The only one labelled here is the white polish which is labelled and I believe to be Below the Belt. The other polish is Labelled Lovie Dovie. The red polish isn’t labelled so I have no idea what it is.

As you may know from a past post I absolutely love Essie’s Demure Vixen polish. While picking some hair things up in Tkmaxx I saw in the corner of my eye a shade that looked familiar to me, and so I looked closer and yes I was right it was Demure Vixen in a pack along with Essie’s protein base coat for £7.99. Bargain.

Not a Tkmaxx purchase but it’s still an Essie Bargain.

I sometimes like to browse a store called the Factory Shop and well I found this little gem, Essie’s Sugar Daddy for just £3 :)

Thanks for reading. x

Hair Supplementation

2012-10-11T02:28:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning to write about these supplements for a while now, better late than never hey?! :)

As you may know if you've read my blog over the years I did have some hair loss a while back, ever since then I have been on a mission to grow healthy hair.

My hair did recover from the loss and I did have a bout or two of loss again, but now thank god it seems to be normal again :)

Anyway just over a year ago I had my hair cut to a medium length which I immediately regretted and vowed to grow back as quickly as I could, with regular trims to keep it healthy, shiny and split-end free.

I owe many thanks to Natures Best for my quick and healthy hair growth.

I have taken silica supplements regularly since the whole hair loss scenario, however I read that the Horsetail form of silica could deplete your thiamine (vitamin B1) levels (you'd have to do more research on this matter as I'm not at all scientific, but as I'm a vegetarian my B-vitamins are usually low anyway). So I looked into other forms of Silica and the most promising sounding form was the Bamboo one, as it is the richest form of silica.

Bamboo Silica is said to be good for arteries, tendons, skin, bones, cartilage and of course hair and nails :)

If you google bamboo silica you will find out so much information, much more than I can give.

The Silica I use is by Natures Best and can be found here for the excellent price of £5.40.

These supplements are also Vegetarian, so you don't have to worry about geletine shells and also you receive 90 capsules, and you take only one a day, so you have 3 months supply, which I think is great for the price as I've paid double that for less than a months supply with other brands.

Bamboo Silica

I also take the Maxi Hair one a day supplements also by Natures Best. These contain most (if not all) the B vitamins, zinc, vitamin c, copper (see below for more) and a decent amount of Iron which is essential for hair growth.

I take these instead of a multivitamin as I find they contain most things I would need from a multi-vit.

Nature's Health Maxi hair tablets can be found here

They cost £10.50 for 60 tablets.

Maxi Hair Product info.

So along with these supplements, healthy eating and exercise I have found that mu hair has grown quite well.

And below are some pictures of my hair one being from last summer (on the left) and one from the present :) Excuse the silly pics :)

Thank you for reading :)

Alterna Bamboo Kendi Oil

2012-10-10T02:36:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone, I'd like to share my review on Alterna's Bamboo Kendi Treatment oil.

I bought this a couple of months ago from the Gorgeous Shop website, my hair at the time was very dry, over coloured and in need of a trim (which it had now had) and after reading comments about this product on various sites I decided I would give it a go.

Ok to the review.

Claims: Alterna say's 'Cultivate stronger, smoother, healthier hair. Instantly absorbing Kendi Oil with strengthening Organic Bamboo banishes frizz, imparts intense shine & protects color while providing vital nutrients. Best for use on medium to thick hair.'

Who's it for: As the claims above Alterna says it's best suited to medium to thick hair. I do have fine hair but lots of it, and it's curly and wavy in parts :s My hair has a split personality.

Texture: I find the texture quite runny, and not particularly thick or greasy, so it does absorb easily into hair without leaving any residue on your strands.

Scent: Delicate, sweet scent.

How to use: Taken from back of bottle Alterna says;

' As a styling aid, apply a small amount throughout damp hair and style as usual.

As an oil treatment, 1-2 times per week apply liberally to dry hair, leave for 10 minutes and wash as usual'.

Packaging: Ok to the packaging, it's not at all like your pump bottle oils, this one actually had a little dropper (see below). Which for me being clumsy can be a bit fiddly and it creates more work, so that's one of the points I really dislike about it.

Price: I paid £15.80 at GorgeousShop which I think for the amount of product you receive (50ml) is quite a steep price, but it is Alterna you're buying.

Product size/ amount: 50ml

Pros:

Eco-certified ingredients, Grown responsibly and Traded Ethically.

Free of: Parbens, Phthalates, Synthetic Colour, Mineral Oill & Petrolatum.

Absorbing.

Light.

Cons:

Quite Expensive for the amount.

Hard to find.

Contains Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone (silicones).

Would I buy again:

I'd like to say I would, but I probably won't be buying again sadly.

This is due to price, the oil being too light for my hair and I can't say I noticed a huge difference in my hair. I also had to use a lot of product each time to tame my tresses.

I really did want this product to work for me, all I can say is it's not bad and may work for some, but for me it wasn't moisturising enough.

I hope you find this post useful.

Little Treats

2012-10-07T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, I hope you're all great :)

Sorry I'm always quiet with the blogging, I have lately stopped buying as much makeup as I use to, I think I use to buy too much makeup and never use it and so it was a waste of money and I felt guilty. So lately I have been making sure to pick products that I know I'm going to use. Also with life being crazy with too much to do I find myself too tired to blog sometimes. I will try to blog more though, even if they're just short posts.

Anyway today I treated myself to a few little bits and bobs, and I'd like to share what I bought with you.

So with further ado here are some pictures.

I have been eyeing a Ted Baker makeup bag that I'd seen in Boots for a few weeks, and today I bought it :D Yippe.

I've been looking for a makeup bag that's pretty, with a luxury feel, not too big yet big enough and something that reflects me a little, so the wild birds are perfect :) I love wild birds.

It can be bought here Boots

A compact cute bag

I love that the inside has clear compartments, so not so much rummaging around in the mornings, stressing where things are.

And of course I love the bird prints, they are gorgeous :)

On to TKMaxx I found this little frown pen for only £4.99, it was an impulse buy due to me looking in the mirror and seeing more bloody laughter lines, the buggers.

It claims to target wrinkles, crows feet and laugh lines with ingredients such as amino acids, purslane and centella.

I don't know if it will work for me but we'll see how it goes, I just checked some reviews on the Boots website and the reviews weren't glowing.

Next is Garnier's Olia permanent hair colour. Which is said to be ammonia free and 60% oils.

I have refrained from dying my hair so often and have been trying to go back to my natural colour ( dark/medium mousy blonde), however after dying my hair red for years a red tinge still comes through so I use ash and beige tones now and then to tone the red down.

This colour was purchased from Superdrug for £5.99 however usually sells for £6.99.

I have to admit I dyed my hair the next day after buying.

The application process was slightly different to other dyes as the applicator container didn't contain the developer, as the developer comes in a tube otherwise it's the same process as usual. The applicator bottle was quite funky, reminded me of something sixties with it's black nozzle and curvy bottle, I'm sorry I didn't take pictures.

In all the dye while on my head didn't irritate my sensitive scalp, there was hardly any to no smell, only a light fragrance which was pleasant and not at all overpowering or sickly.

The dye washed out reasonably easily and the post dye conditioner was quite nice.

If the colour is long lasting and doesn't washout within a week or two I will certainly buy again, as the colour is spot on and my hair is soft and doesn't feel like it's been coloured.

I don't think I know anyone that doesn't enjoy a nice, hot, long, relaxing bath at the end of a hard day, though I could be wrong.

I received my usual Lush catalogue in the post the other day and soon noticed Twilight.

It caught my attention as it is a mixture of lavender, benzoin and ylang ylang which are some of my favourite scents.

Twilight is quite a gentle, calming, soothing scent that is also creamy (thanks to the benzoin). It also contains silver luster.

I just wish it wasn't limited edition for Halloween :(

Sorry for the rubbish unfocused picture above, you can see what the product is though. Just!

This is my first BareMinerals product :D I so can't wait to try it.

I have started to come to the end of my Dior forever foundation :( and thought a change would be a good thing.

As you can see I went for Fairly Medium c20 as I have pink undertones.

I shall come back to this product when I have played around and applied it :)

Thanks for reading.

Christina x

Rosie Huntington Whiteley for Autograph my second set :)

2012-09-18T02:51:00.001+01:00

Hello all :)

Last week I picked up the other set from the Rosie for Autograph from Marks and Spencer and here it is :)

I really can't express how pleased I am with this line of Lingerie and how great the style and quality is for the price :)

I purchased the Rosie for Autograph French Designed Rose Lace Padded Plunge Bra with Silk in Light Taupe (as seen here), with Brazilian knickers and suspender belt.

Here are the pictures.

The bra is a great shape and fit, and the textures are so sensual.

The suspender belt again is well made, and has a contrast of texture also which is so sexy ;)

The knickers again are exquisite :) The lace is so soft and delicate.

Front

Back

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, I will be buying more from this collection as I'm totally in love with everything :)

My hair saviour - L'oreal Professionel Inoa Shampoo Review

2012-09-11T16:00:00.000+01:00

A review of the shampoo that has saved my hair.

I'm sure you have all heard of the in-salon hair colour Inoa which is said to be an ammonia-free permanent hair colour, and kinder to hair and scalp. I have yet to have my hair coloured by this as I don't go to salons to get my hair dyed often if I'm honest, I'm a bit of a DIY'er.

Through being a DIY'er this summer I wrecked my hair by applying highlights, which dried the hell out of my hair and made me curse myself for ever thinking it was a good idea, Grrr.

So after trying several different shampoos and conditioners this was the one that pampered and babied my frazzled hair most.

So here is my attempt of a shampoo review.

Claims: The L'oreal Inoa website says: Enriched with argan oil and green tea extracts the no sulphate shampoo helps protect INOA colour treated hair, leaving hair feeling silky with dazzling shine.

What the bottle says

Who's it for: Anyone with coloured, damaged hair.

Texture: This product has a lovely, creamy consistency which is moisturising and rinses out easily.

Smell: Lightly fruity I'd say, nothing overpowering.

Packaging: The packaging is a sleek tube, and easy to squeeze. The only qualms I have about the bottle is the screw off top which can be a pain as the product runs out quickly and screwing the cap back on can be a bit of a pain with wet hands.

Price: I paid £10.80 in my local hairdressers but you can buy it at feelunique.com for £8.85

In my opinion the price is good as it is a salon shampoo,and a little goes a long way.

Product Size: 250ml

(List of ingredients, sorry for shabby picture the curvature of the bottle made it impossible to show the whole list).

Pros:

Moisturising

Sulphate free

Doesn't fade colour

Cons:

None, I just don't like the screw cap.

Would I buy it again?:

Yes, definitely. Has really made my hair more manageable when other shampoos could not. This shampoo doesn't strip hair, and also doesn't leave a gum like film on hair.

I shall be buying the conditioner next, but for the moment I'm using Paul Mitchell's Strengthening conditioner along with it which is working well as a combination.

Result: Shiny, moisturised, tamed, manageable, happy hair ;)

I hope this review helps :)

Rosie Huntington Whiteley for Autograph Marks&Spencer

2012-09-09T01:50:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone, I hope you're well.

I don't normally post about my choice of underwear but since hearing in May that Rosie Huntington Whiteley was bringing out her own Lingerie collection for Autograph at Marks and Spencer I have been extremely excited :)

I am a big fan of RHW's style and beauty oh and her hair and body also, she's so effortless and cool, yet feminine.

Anyway to the collection comprises 33 pieces containing silk, including lingerie sets, kimono style robe, french knickers and camisoles.

Prices start at £12.50 - £65.

From the collection I picked the Rose Print Lace set, I was intending to buy more however my size had been sold out, apart from the Rose Print of course.

I have ordered the Taupe Bra, Knickers and Suspender belt which should arrive in store on Tuesday :D

On the lingerie set is perfect, they are true to size, comfortable, the silk is so soft and the lace is delicate and soft against skin. They are a true joy to wear. Perfect for cheering yourself up and feeling special.

So without further ado here are some pics :)

Thanks for reading.

Remembering an old fragrance

2012-08-25T04:21:00.000+01:00

Image taken from Fragrantica

Hey everyone, sorry I don't pop by my blog more often, I will try to make more time for it.

Tonight I've been reminiscing about an old perfume I use to buy back in 2002 when I was 18. The perfume in mind was from a catalogue I use to buy all my makeup from at the time, CCB-Paris. I use to love their Agnes-B makeup and I was totally obsessed with it. They stopped selling in the UK years back, I can't remember when as I tried not to think about it too much as I was broken hearted about it, and tried to move on :p

Anyway my mum bought a perfume from an Avon catalogue by Herve Leger and something about the perfume brought back all the memories of that perfume years ago.

So tonight I decided I was going to find out the name of the perfume it reminded me of. So with some determination and only knowing it was from CCB paris and it was in a funky pink bottle I found it :)

The perfume was by Corinne Cobson and called 'Love etc', which is now discontinued as I guessed it would be.

Looking at the notes of both perfumes they are very different, so I have no idea why they remind me of each other, maybe it's the spiciness of them. The 'Love etc' had notes of pink pepper (which I absolutely love) and sweet vanilla, whereas Herve Leger doesn't (confused smiley) but there is something spicy about it to my nose anyway. Possibly it's that they both share citrus and cedar notes?! Who nose (get the little pun, anyway) I still miss that darn perfume and wish ccb paris would come back to the UK and bring back that fragrance also.

Thanks for reading, I know this post is pretty pointless but I felt an urge to share these thoughts.

Take care x

Burberry Body

2012-05-11T17:30:00.000+01:00

Finally I am blogging about my beloved Burberry Body perfume, I've been putting this off for months due to my lack of experience in writing perfume reviews. I mean I find it difficult to describe a perfume, especially since perfumes smell different on everyone.

However I shall give this my best shot.

I have to admit I am a big Rosie Huntington Whiteley fan, she's gorgeous, sexy and seems down to earth. She doesn't even seem to try to be sexy, she just is. Everything about her screams SEXY! The Lips, The Hair and Those Legs.

When I found out this perfume was coming out many months ago now, I sincerely hoped I'd like it. Before it actually came out Burberry was giving away free samples so I sent off for one and waited eagerly for it to arrive. When it came I received a nice sized sample and a postcard with RHW's campaign picture on.

So for the perfume the notes include absinthe, peach, freesia, rose absolute, iris, sandalwood, cashmeran, vanilla, amber and musk.

For me this scent is warm, sensual and creamy.

At first I smell a slight chypre, but it disappears quickly and settles into a sexy vanilla (not sweet sickly, gourmet vanilla), with sandalwood and amber.

It has great staying power and I seem to receive compliments on it several hours after spraying it on, saying that though it is not at all overpowering.

The bottle itself is a little tower of art, its sleek and feels expensive and looks great on the dressing table, however it is a little heavy to carry around.

I paid £45 for a 35ml bottle, which is quite steep I guess, but in my opinion definitely worth it, so worth it that I bought the box set :) Which contains a 85ml bottle of Eau De Parfum spray and an 85ml bottle of Body Milk in a spray container which is super handy.

Now I just wish I had a man to smell it on me, Ha!

Late Saturday Haul Post

2012-05-10T16:30:00.000+01:00

Hiya, bit of a late post due to lack of time and and general life :) But hopefully best late than never.

I just wanted to show you some bargains I picked up in TkMaxx the other day :D I felt very excited taking these home I'll tell ya ;)

So firstly I picked up a New CID Look Book for £6 (TeeHee) which has a RRP of £20 so I was very chuffed with that.

This is my actual first New CID purchase of cosmetics, I do have their Makeup Travel Case though which I absolutely love.

I haven't used this palette yet so I can't say tell you much about it to be honest, however the eye shadows are extremely pigmented when I tested them.

I also bought this set of assorted Stila. Three Stilla items for £7.99 with a RRP £36.00, which I thought was really good, especially since I've been dying to buy a Stila Convertible Color for as long as I can remember. So I saved so much by buying it this way.

Ok and here are some pics and swatches.

Stila Lip Color in Lara. This is quite a bold, berry colour so I can't see myself wearing it very often but it's nice to have it and maybe when I get the balls I'll wear it.

Then we also have a Stila Lip Shine in Orchid Shine, which I'd describe as a neutral pink, so nice and easy to wear :)

And for the item I purchased this assortment for the Stila Convertible Color :)

I think it's pretty safe to say nearly ever blogger will have heard or have one of these.

My set contained Gerbera which is a gorgeous pinky/peach colour.

Sorry I can't say anything further about it as I've only used it once so far.

To the left Stila Convertible being worn on cheeks.

Then for something not bought in TKMaxx ;)

In Debenhams I bought Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara, I use to use the original High Impact but thought I'd try the Curling one, and so far so good.

I also thought I'd pop this into this Haul.

InStyle magazine is giving away a Nails Inc nail varnish and there are three to choose from, I went for Bluebell.

Anyway sorry for a brief post, I will try to make the others more interesting for you :)

L'oreal Rouge Caress

2012-04-13T04:48:00.000+01:00

This proves how bad I am, and I still want more *hangs head in shame*

What can I say though, I love lippies :)

I wasn't going to write this yet, but since I took the photos and drafted them on here I'm too impatient not to post yet.

Ok, so these look like they'd come under a balm like the revlon lip butters, but for me these are more of a gloss shaped in stick form. I will say they're not sticky at all though. They're very light on the lips *Kiss*

I wouldn't say they're very moisturising (for me anyway) but I do like how light they feel and they have a mouthwatering look about them.

The colours are sheerer than the Revlon Lip Butters, and it did take a while trying to photo the swatches as they're so sheer the camera wouldn't focus on them, so I appologise about the swatch pictures.

From Left to Right: 07 Cheeky Magneta, 03 Lovely Rose, 01 Fashionista Pink

Cheeky Magneta

Lovely Rose

Fashionista Pink

Colour wise I really like how Cheeky Magneta and Lovely Rose as the colours are sheer yet bright, and what's lovely is the sheerness allows your lips pigment to come through slightly, so I think these will look pretty different on everyone.

I have to say I'm not so keen on Fashionista pink, the colour is a bit 'Bla' and this one seemed to settle in the lines on my lips more for some reason, maybe it will grow on me though.

Anyway I hope my swatches help someone to makeup their mind on which colours most appeal :)

XxX

Revlon Lip Butters

2012-04-13T03:55:00.000+01:00

Left to Right: Strawberry shortcake, Sweet Tart and Peach Parfait

I surrendered.

I found and bought three Revlon Lip Butters :)

I told myself no-more lipsticks, lipgloss, balms or whatever but I couldn't resist, then went on to buy the L'oreal Caress the next day, I have problems :p

Anyway as you already know these are more or less lip balms with colour, I probably wouldn't have spent £7.99 on a lip balm but these ones are so cute. The packaging is bright and have a jelly look about them I think. They have cute names such as Strawberry shortcake, Sweet Tart and Peach Parfait (which are the ones I bought) which makes me want to eat them, or go buy cake.

As they are lip balms you can't expect them to be long lasting, on me they last and hour or two at most.

They are moisturising, they glide on and they're slightly glossy. Though they're not so glossy that your hair will stick to them. They just give a nice comfortable feel and they're quite coloured for a lip balm.

Left to Right: Strawberry Shortcake, Sweet Tart and Peach Parfait (for above and below)

Swatches

Ok colour descriptions, hmmm, to me I think Strawberry shortcake is a cool, light pink.

Sweet Tart is the brightest one I bought and I'd say it is a berry, pink colour.

Peach Parfait is a warm peach with a gold frost in it, which is really pretty and gives a sheenier look.

On Lips

Strawberry Shortcake

Sweet Tart

Peach Parfait

Overall I can see why they are loved.

For me these are easy to apply, they're subtle and moisturising, and there's plenty of colour choice unlike other coloured balms.

Hope I made some sense.

Thanks for reading. XxX

A Pastel kind of day :)

2012-03-27T01:45:00.000+01:00

The weather in Wales (and the rest of the UK) lately has been amazingly lovely :)

It's been warm, sunny and very summer like, which has put a spring in my step ;) We've had lovely blue skies and temperatures of 20C, which for March is amazingly good. Please remain like this until October pleaassseee weather :p

All this sunshine and warmness has made me crave pastel colours, and the other day while in TK Maxx I found this mint coloured blouse for £3, ha! It isn't a great fit, but after a bit of playing around I managed to make it look ok (I hope).

Carrying on the pastel theme I wore some OPI Panda-Monium Pink nail varnish, which is a light baby pink, with a little splash of lilac. It's a very opaque, creamy finish.

I've had this nail varnish lying around for so long (along with OPI Lucky Lavender) but I've never gotten around to wearing them. I remember liking them when I first bought them, but then I decided I wasn't so keen on how they looked. I'm glad I kept them now though and didn't give them away.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely week :)

Guerlain Cruel Gardenia and Guerlain Météorites Compact Teint Powder Compact

2012-03-25T04:04:00.001+01:00

This is how rubbish I am at blogging lately, I bought these two beauties way back at the beginning of February and I'm only blogging about them now. Yeah, I suck!

To treat myself back in Feb I bought these two, I couldn't resist.

I'm not really a highlighter wearer but Guerlain's Cruel Gardenia looked so pretty in magazines that when I saw it I knew it would be mine :)

Me being me I couldn't resist buying myself The Meteorites compact :)

So here's some pics.

As you can see the packing is so pretty =) Looking at it you'd think they'd be heavy cases, but they're not, they're both pretty light. They do feel a good sturdy light, if that makes sense?!

The only thing I'm not keen on with the Cruel Gardenia packaging is the twist off top, I always feel as though I'm going to knock the lovely flower patten as I take it off, so I'm always extra careful.

So here is Cruel Gardenia in all it's glory.

As you can see from the swatch it's a beautiful, glowy light pink and I wouldn't say it was frosty at all, just glowy.

I can imagine that this highlighter might be a little too light for some skin tones, but I might be wrong.

It was pretty pricy at around £40 (sorry I can't quite remember how much it was now), I'd never usually pay so much for a highlighter, but it's so pretty I couldn't help it. I guess it was a one off.

Next onto Guerlain Meteorites powder compact, it comes in 3shades 01Rose, 02Beige and 03Dore.

I bought it in Rose as I'm pretty fair skinned and I have a pink base.

I use this to set makeup or for touch ups during the day. It provides a light, barely there semi matte finish, but still radiant at the same time.

It also smells like those little violet sweets that use to be sold in pharmacies back in the day, and for some reason the smell makes me feel calm which is just what I need when I feel stressed out as hell.

You can buy it at Debenhams for £34, it's a pretty steep price for a pressed powder, but it's just so pretty and light and it makes touching up feel glamorous :)

Guerlain Meteorites in 01Rose swatch.

Thank you for reading x

Clarisonic Mia Poppy - Cleansers I'm currently using

2012-03-23T02:36:00.000+00:00

The Clarisonic Mia is probably my most favourite beauty gadget, ever. My mum bought this as a gift for me at Christmas and I really don't know why I didn't get one sooner (price is a probable factor). I had the Christmas version in a poppy red and was around the £120 mark I think.

Since having this sexy little gadget I think I've only exfoliated my face twice, before it was everyday as I get blackheads on my nose and dry skin.

For the first few weeks of having the Mia I was using the sample cleanser which came with it, and I found it lovely to be honest and will purchase some more when my wallet allows me as I think it will be perfect for the summer months, though I found it slightly drying for the winter months and for everyday use.

That's why during January I bought Dermalogica's Ultracalming cleanser which is more suited to sensitive skin, it's a lovely cleanser to use with the claisonic as it gives enough slip and doesn't irritate skin, but I found it not to be so good when removing a days worth of makeup :/ On a light use of makeup it's fine, but when you've been out all day and you want to thoroughly rid your skin of nasties I felt I had to use a lot of product and at £20 odd I felt as though I was wasting a lot of product for the price.

That is why Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Balm is my favourite of the two. It costs only £9 and a little goes a pretty long way. There's good slippage and it doesn't dry or sensitize my skin (though dermalogica didn't either) and it's really good at helping the Mia cleanse skin. Plus the squeezey tube makes it more convenient for dispensing the product, which is good if you have the Mia in the other hand :)

Anyway all of that said I have found my skin to be much smoother since using the Clarisonic, and I feel that moisturisers or oils penetrate my skin better instead of sitting on-top of a layer of dead skin, Yuck! Therefore they do their jobs better :)

I only use the clarisonic at night, and usually give my skin one day a week off from it, to give it a little rest.

Thanks for reading x

Pink Opal Pandora Ring and Veggie Carnation Jelly Attemp

2012-03-23T01:12:00.000+00:00

I've been meaning to blog about this ring for yonks, but kept forgetting, even though I admire it everyday and never want to take it off :)

This for my first Pandora piece and before Christmas when I purchased it I had a lot of trouble trying to find somewhere with stock in my size (I'm a Size K or 50, both mean the same thing).

I was able to get my size though from Hugh Rice where one of their assistants ordered the ring directly from Pandora for me :)

So one day when I arrived home from work to find it had arrived I was overjoyed and it was definitely worth waiting for.

I'd always fancied an opal as it is the stone of my birth sign, however I could never find anything I thought to be special enough and most opals tend to be white and as a Libra I'm a hopeless romantic and I read pink opals are meant to bring love.

I paid £35 for this ring and I'm so glad I did, although I do want to buy some rings to stack with it now though, maybe one day soon ;)

On a different note I have just stuffed my face with what was meant to be milky jelly, however it turned out to be more of a mousse :/ Tasted nice though :)

I'm a vegetarian and have been since I was 12, and as a kid my mum always made milky/carnation jelly, but since turning veggie I haven't had any :( due to the jelly containing gelatine.

Finding vegetarian jelly is a bit of a pain, and when you find the little powdered packets it doesn't gel as much as the gelatine based jellies.

I came about craving milky jelly when I was drooling though my favourite cookery book the other day 'Sophie Dahl's Voluptuous Delights' and I saw her recipe for Carnation Jelly I had to attempt at making my childhood desert.

However mine didn't go to plan, and as I mentioned it turned out more moussey than jelly and bouncy like, though on the bright-side it was lovely and I now have a little recipe for mousse.

I think in future I will add some argar-argar which is a veggie gelatine substitute and we shall see what happens, lots of experimenting get on with :)

Thanks for reading lovelies :) x

Maybelline Forever Strong Nail Polish - Rose Nudes

2012-03-12T01:58:00.000+00:00

As a fan of nude colours I'd had my eye on these polishes for a while, but for some stupid reason I kept putting off actually buying them.

Until last Saturday that is.

Superdrug had them on offer at £6 for two, instead of £4.09 each. So I scooped them up.

First-up is Nude Rose 135, which is a pretty medium, soft pink.

I had the polish on for 4days so it may look a little aged, but I think it lasted pretty well considering I've been gardening, cleaning rabbit hutches, housework and other daily things.

Next we have Rose Poudre 130 which is a subtle, soft nude pink.

These two polishes will probably my go to polishes for the next few weeks, as they're easy to wear and make nails look pretty.

Trying to be fit and healthy.

2012-01-03T04:23:00.000+00:00

This isn't a New Year resolution post, oh no, I don't do resolutions as they're for breaking.

This is more of a picking up where I left off last October.

What is it about the winter that makes you want to laze around and eat?! Maybe it's a lack of sunlight or that the shops are stocked full of too many nice things.

Anyway I decided a few days ago that it's time I start getting myself in order again after I noticed my belly starting to look like jelly :(

I'm a firm believer that you are what you eat, and that it shines through your body.

I am reasonably healthy as I'm a vegetarian and have been since the age of 13. Though I do have to watch my iron levels and did become anemic back in 2009-2010, which wasn't a fun experience. Since then I have taken iron supplements (mainly in liquid form).

Even though I try to eat healthily it doesn't mean I don't eat what I want, and that's why I try to do both of these DVDs when I have time (or I make the time).

The Tracy Anderson Method Mat workout is a really good DVD for working out your muscles at different angles. I work muscles I never knew existed with this DVD. I'm not really looking to lose weight, more to tone and be slightly more defined in certain areas :)

I also mix it up with the 10minute solution - Pilates perfect Body DVD. I'd never tried any pilates until I tried this dvd and I can tell you that as soon as you start pilates you will feel your posture becoming better and you will feel stronger, which I guess is due to working the core (as that's what pilates is about).

Both DVDs are set into 10min sections, which I find really handy when you're in a rush or feeling too tired to do a whole 30min workout.

I don't really know enough about fitness to say much more, however I did find when I was using these DVDs a couple of months back that mixing up the sections a bit gives great results.

My favourite sections on the Tracy Anderson DVD are the; standing legs, standing abs and arms workout with weights. Then my favourite Pilates Perfect sections are; pilates perfect belly, perfect buns& thighs and perfect silhouette sections.

I'm also trying to get back into the swing of making green shakes again, "ugh" I hear you say and yeah it can be unpleasant sometimes, but once you start drinking them quite often you get use to it :)

Green shakes are meant to give you an energy boost, plus it's good for you :)

To make a green shake I usually mix spinach, green apples, celery and anything else I can find.

In the smoothie below I used: Spinach, Kiwi Fruit, Pear, Pineapple Juice (still counts as one of your five a day) and I also added a Gala Apple.

I first read about green shakes in Womans Health when Rosie Huntington Whiteley was on the cover, she mentioned that she drinks them.

Taken from Here

Though for the one she drinks she adds five fistfuls of spinach, three stalks of celery and three apples, and well if it's good enough for Rosie, it's good enough for me. :P As she does have an amazing body.

Thanks for reading :)

Essie - Demure Vixen Swatches

2012-01-03T01:25:00.000+00:00

It would seem I go for purple/mauvey colours like a magpie to shiny things.

I was browsing Zuneta looking at their sales on Christmas day and Essie's Demure Vixen was down to just £6 and so I ordered it, along with a New CID makeup case (which I'll post about on a later date). For now I just wanted to post some pictures of Demure Vixen.

I think it's gorgeous :)

Coat and Jacket Haul.

2012-01-02T03:29:00.000+00:00

Happy New Year everyone, I hope you have all been blessed with a good start to 2012 :)

I just wanted to post about a coat and jacket I have bought in the last week.

The first one is a coat I bought in Topshop on sale, it's a waxed coat something I've been after for some time :)

Since I live in the Welsh countryside with lots of sheep, mud and crappy weather I thought it was time I bought something country style'ish, I need wellington boots next.

I thought it was a good price down to £40 from £85, and it was the last in my size :)

So here is a pic of me wearing it and some solo shots.

I love that this coat feels that you can wear it out in the country having a little stroll or you can wear it shopping without looking scruffy.

The fur collar can be taken off which is a bonus, as I know I can wear it during the rainy spring months but at the moment I like wearing it with the fur collar so I can feel a little glamorous and warm.

The belt also gives it a nice structured, put together feel which I found other waxed coats/jackets did not have.

The jacket I bought was quite different for me, I don't really wear many blazer type jackets (I use to, but not so much lately) however it was more of the colour that was alien to my jacket wardrobe.

A pink blazer :)

I didn't intend on buying one, it was more of an impulse thing and I'm glad it happened :)

Waiting in the queue in H&M there was a pile of pink jackets on the table all laid out, and they caught my eye and I thought to myself 'they're cute'. Then I saw that they were just £14.99 and I grabbed one and took it to the checkout without thinking.

It's quite a striking pink, but I love it I think it will look really nice during the spring summer months.

I think I'll probably pair it with something studded to harden it up a bit.

What I also love is the spotty lining inside, so cute.

Speaking of Welsh weather I thought I'd just pop some phone shots in that I took over a week ago, so you'd get the idea,lol.

Thank you for reading and I wish you all the best for 2012 :)

I got my hands on Bioderma Sensibo H2O

2011-12-31T04:01:00.000+00:00

A couple of weeks ago just after blogging about the Lierac Cleansers I noticed they were becoming empty, so panic hit me. I decided I needed some Bioderma, I've been itching to try it for yonks and my mind was made up that I'd have it. Fast!

Luckily I found some on Ebay and not badly priced, and it arrived quickly and I got to using it that night like an eager beaver :p

I'm not really sure where I first came to read about this amazing stuff but I'm so glad I heard about it. All I do know is what I've read and that is that models use it backstage at shows and it is apparently readily available in French pharmacies ( I want French pharmacies in the UK).

The reason that models use this cleanser is that it's gentle, removes every scrap of makeup and it's I guess an all in one :) So no need to rinse off.

I've been using it for say over a month now and I have noticed that I haven't had any imperfections (the kind that pop up every damn month, ugh) so I'm not sure if that's hormonal or the cleanser.

I've always been a person into gentle cleansing, as I think that cleansers and toners that strip the skin back always end up in the skin overcompensating by making too much oil to replace what's been taken away.

I did believe that the Lierac cleansers were amazing (and still think they are good) but I find Bioderma Sensibo H2O better at eye makeup removal, more convenient and a little goes a very long way (something that the Lierac cleansers did not).

Okay I feel like I'm raving about this stuff too much now, but all I have to say really is if you have the chance to try this stuff take it.

Also being the skincare freak that I am my mum bought me a Sonicare for Christmas,lol. So I'll probably be writing about that very soon, even though I only use it every 2days at the moment while I get use to it.

Anyway if you want to read about the Bioderma cleanser I've been wittering on about you can click HERE for more in depth information.

Take Care and if I don't blog tomorrow

HAPPY NEW YEAR XxxX

Half Price Lush Goodies, YES PLEASE!

2011-12-30T03:24:00.000+00:00

Hello lovelies, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas :)

I have to say mine was probably the nicest I've had in years.

I wanted to blog about what I received for Christmas however I thought I'd show some Lush items I bought half price in the sales.

A couple of months back I bought the Glogg shower gel, it was my first experience of it and I'm totally in love with it. I feel that I can shower in a warm mulled wine, with the comforting smell of cinnamon, it's just divine. This shower gel makes me want Christmas to be every week just so this shower gel never goes out of season. I'll definitely be purchasing it next year, if Lush make it again.

As I was just after sale items when I popped into Lush (trying to save the old pennies) I noticed Charlotte Island was half price. I'd fancied trying this for sometime however as I don't really wear fake tan (too pale) I never thought there'd be any point buying it. The half price sticker made me buy it though this time. I have yet to use it (well only tested on the back of my hand) but I will probably use it for nights out and in the summer, I know I have it now if I need it. I must add it has a lovely fruity smell, yummy.

When popping my items onto the counter I ended up playing around with the lip tints. Celebrate ( a pink champagne flavoured and coloured lip tint) and Chilli Tingle ( an orangey/red coloured lip tint) were the two tints that took my fancy.

(Lush Celebrate)

When I returned home and saw the gold lustre stuff in the tin of celebrate I sort of wondered if it was meant to be there,lol, then I realised it was. I do find that it looks pretty, but it can make application a bit tricky as I ended up with a big blob of gold on my lip, hehe. Celebrate does give a lovely soft pink shimmer though, I really like how it looks on.

(Lush Chilli Tingle)

Chilli Tingle I found to be slightly intimidating though, I imagined having red smeared all over my face ( something that happened with the blistex lip tint when I was in secondary school, but I was more naive then) I do like how Chilli Tingle looks on lips though, it gives a sheer coral tint.

I must add that even though these tints are lovely I don't find them at all moisturising enough and I do apply Lush Honey Trap before application.

Thank you for reading, I hope you found some bargains in the sales ;)

*Lipstick Fever*