Love From November

Hello there lovelies

So it’s now December and the countdown to Christmas begins (eeek!) here’s a roundup of the things I’ve been enjoying throughout November.

Lush Star Light, Star Bright Luxury Bath Melt. I wrote in a post a while ago that I’d never tried any Lush products before until this summer when I tried a bubble bar and now I’m a total Lush addict especially when it comes to their Christmas range. The product I’ve been enjoying most is the star light star bright luxury bath melt. I bought 4 of them at the end of October and I only have 1 left now. I really like the bath melts (actually I love everything I’ve used so far, cinders has to be my absolute favourite though) as they leave skin feeling lovely and conditioned. This one smells so fresh and zesty with lime and ginger it’s really invigorating teamed with my favourite cranberry shower gel (another Christmas product that I like to stock up on) makes for a super festive bath experience. I usually go into a bit of a coma after a bath and literally won’t move for the rest of the night because I’m so relaxed although I’m nicely chilled out after using this one I'm not tired, it really uplifts me. If you’re a bath in the morning sort of person then this is a great product to use I also think it would be a great one to use if you’ve got a cold with the smell of freshly grated ginger clearing the airways. Some people aren’t too keen on the glitter but I love it, I haven’t noticed that I look like a sparkly bauble when I get out the bath anyway.

Rimmel blush in Pink Rose this is a really great budget friendly blush. It has great colour pay off with slight highlighting properties in it, it gives a nice flushed look to the cheeks while remaining subtle and natural and it’s really affordable. Rubbish packaging but a great blush and really tiny for putting in your handbag.

Toni and Guy texturising spray. Recently I’ve been embracing the bed head look, my hair is styled in a short choppy bob but its also really fine and flat, I’ve been enjoying adding some texturising spray to define my layers and make my hair not look so sleek and “done” this is a great lightweight spray with a pleasant scent and doesn’t leave and residue in the hair. It gives just enough texture so hair is left looking like you’ve made the effort without over styling.

Boiron Homeoplasmine. I’ve been using this on my lips at night when they’ve been a bit chapped and I wake up in morning to silky smooth lips. It’s also soothing if lips are feeling a bit sore. This is a multi-purpose product that can be used all over to relieve irritated or dry skin so it’s a great product to have for this time of year.

One Tree Hill I love this series, if you haven’t seen it and you like things like The OC, Gossip Girl and Dawsons Creek then this should be right up your street. It has quite a few tear jerker moments and every time I watch it I fall in love with characters all over again. I was pretty devastated when the series ended but I think all the characters had been taken as far as they could be and it ended on a high rather than being subjected to over kill. This is the only T.V. series that I’ve watched from start to finish and then bought every box set and watched them repeatedly. I’m now on series six and I’ve switched to watching it on Amazon Instant video as it’s easier than faffing around turning the laptop on, finding the DVD and remembering what episode you’re up to.

Mac lipstick in Syrup. This is a really easy colour to wear and adds just that bit more than a neutral lip, it’s a lustre finish so doesn’t have the best staying power but teamed with a lip liner prolongs the wear and mattes it down a bit, it’s also easy to reapply as it’s not a bold colour that you have to be really precise with.

Seche Vite. Now I’m not the best person to comment on the longevity of nail varnishes as I don’t very often get more than two or three days off in a row therefore nail varnish isn’t on my nails very long before I have to remove it (I’m not allowed to wear it for work) but even then it chips but I do have quite “active” hands. I recently had a week off work and really wanted my nail varnish to last and when doing my research on top coats Seche Vite came up time and time again so I decided to go with that one (I’d also read all the bad stuff about it too). I was absolutely blown away by it, my nail varnish lasted a whole 7 days without a single chip and the only reason I took it off was because I was going back to work the following day, I’d love to see how long it lasts without me having to take it off. My nails remained really glossy for the full 7 days they looked liked they’d just been painted all the time. I was dreading removing it though as I was expecting my nails not to be great condition but they were fine and it was easy to remove too. I can’t rave enough about this product, I’m going to Rome at the end of this week so I’ll be painting my nails the day before I go and I have enough confidence that I’m not even going to take nail varnish remover or nail varnish to top up with me.

Quiz up app. This is such a fun app to test your knowledge on different subjects, my speciality is One Tree Hill- yes I’m that sad and that much of a fan but it's so addictive, you think you’ll just have a quick game and before you know it an hour has passed by.

Black Converse. I got these as my white ones aren’t very practical this time of year but I wanted some kind of footwear for when I don’t want to wear boots but still want black shoes, they’re Converse I don’t need to go into detail.

I can’t end this post without addressing the poor quality of my photos, I literally chose the darkest day ever to take photos and had to use my flash for some of them so apologies for that but other than that I hope you enjoyed this post.

Until next time

MUA-mazing

Hello there lovelies

Now it’s no secret that I like (ok love) my high end beauty products but when I was recently perusing around my local Superdrug I found myself drawn to the MUA stand which resulted in a few cheeky purchases, 5 products for under £10 now I’d be silly not to. I’d always been aware of the brand MUA but I’d never found myself compelled to buy anything, to be honest the makeup snob in me thought it must be cheap and nasty at those prices and I’m ashamed at myself for even letting the thought enter my head. MUA is defiantly cheap but in no way nasty. I decided to try a few cheek/face products to see what I thought.

Blusher. I got these in the shades marshmallow, cupcake and candyfloss. Marshmallow looks a bit of a scary pink but actually applies really nice, you could go a bit over-board with this but it’s a nice matte colour just use with caution. Cupcake has more of a coral tone and is also matte and candyfloss is a dusky pink colour which has a slight shimmer to it. All have good pigmentation and feel soft on the skin you don’t have to scratch away to get product on the brush.

Shimmer Kiss Pink Blusher. This is like a blusher and highlighter in one, it adds a subtle sheer colour along with a bit shimmer without any glitter and looks very pretty on its own or applied over another blusher.

Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder. This is a lovely champagne pink highlighter that adds a lovely iridescent sheen to the skin. Now I’m a sucker for highlighter and I’ve really enjoyed using this one, it’s not quite up there with my MAC lightscapade but for £3 it's a really good product. If you're new to highlighters try this one first, you may hate them and regret forking out on a high end one, the same goes for the eye shadows, if your not sure of a colour you could always test it out first to see if you like it then go for a more expensive one in a similar colour. Would you rather be £3 out of pocket or £20+ lighter?

These are great products especially if you’re on a tight budget or experimenting with makeup products and different colours, for the prices you really can’t go wrong. Who says that just because your on a budget you can’t wear quality products, I salute MUA for creating these fab products at a price to suite most budgets and it’s a brand I most defiantly won’t be turning my nose up at again and will be purchasing more products form the MUA range.

Have you ever tried any MUA products? What did you think?

Until next time

An Absolute NARS-essity

Hello there lovelies

Today I thought I’d introduce you to my little Nars collection and share my thoughts on the products I’ve been using. I just love the simple elegant packaging of Nars products, it doesn’t need fussy packaging as the product speaks for itself.

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation. This is my favourite foundation, It leaves a lovely finish on the skin and blends really well, it doesn’t look too glowy just adds a nice radiance to the skin, the coverage is excellent without feeling heavy. It’s a bit annoying that it doesn’t come with a pump I think this is the general consensus among bloggers, the first time I used it I poured about half the bottle onto the back of my hand and was frantically trying to scrape the precious liquid back into the bottle as if it was the elixir of life. I was all prepared to buy the pump but it was out of stock at the time and I haven’t bothered looking since. I really like this foundation and will continue to use it unless I find something better or I keep pouring most of it all over my hand and it runs out too quickly.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. This really is a high coverage concealer but it doesn’t feel heavy or cakey, it blends beautifully and leaves a lovely finish and covers up what needs to be covered without looking like you’ve piled the products on to your face. I had to wait ages for this as I’m the shade vanilla and it was out of stock everywhere for ages but it was well worth the wait. This will be the concealer I reach for if I need that extra bit of coverage for dark under eye circles as nothing shows through this one. You need to have quite well hydrated skin though otherwise it may go a bit dry and flaky. I was a bit worried about the “radiant” part of the name as I didn’t want it to be glittery, it’s not in the slightest bit glittery it just seems to lighten and lift the under eye area while covering redness or imperfections on my face.

Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser. The coverage on this is the best I’ve known for a tinted moisturiser it’s more like a light sheer foundation coverage wise but feels like a good moisturiser when you apply it, a little goes a long way and it smells lovely. It’s good at giving just the right amount of coverage when you feel like having a lighter makeup day. It also has SPF 30 so will be a great product for me to use in the summer when I tend to go for tinted moisturisers more.

Nars Powder Blusher. I originally had the intention of getting the shade Orgasm but decided to go for Deep Throat after testing them. This blush is a rosey pink colour that’s not an in your face pink. It has a subtle shimmer but it’s not sparkly and a good shade for all year round and everyday wear.

Nars Highlighting Powder in Albatross. I mentioned this in a previous post so won’t go over it again except to say yet another lovely product from the Nars bunch.

There you go my little collection, I can guarantee it won’t stay this small as there are a few more items from Nars on my ever growing wishlish and I don’t think I’m going to be able to hold off much longer from purchasing them.

What Nars products do you recommend for me to try? What’s on your Nars wishlist?

Until next time