Friday Favourites!

Hey guys! Just super quick favourties from me this week since I haven't done one in while! 

First up is the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. I've been using this powder for years (around twelve to be exact!) and have never felt the need to switch or even try anything else. It's light, it sets my foundation well and it's affordable. This one is always a favourite.

Linking nicely from the powder is the Real Techniques Powder Brush - this brush is around £12.99, so not the cheapest but it picks the powder up well and I find it's the perfect size to apply the powder to my face.

Next is the Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub. If I'm honest, I bought this because the scent reminded me of Snow Fairy but it sat in my drawer for ages and ages without me using it. I recently dug it out again and I've been using it frequently. Does it do anything? Who knows really but it smells amazing and does feel good on the lips, so I can call it a favourite, right? ;)

 Lastly is the Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange perfume - I got mine from America but I have seen the odd one sitting in random places in Tesco, although I've never actually seen a spot for them on the shelves. Anyway, when first applied this has an odd scent but once it's had a few minutes to sit on your skin it has a beautiful citrus-y/sweet scent which isn't something I would typically go for but I really like this. I just which it wasn't in a roller-ball form because I find that a paint to apply. 

What have been your favourites recently? 

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram

Scrub Series: Soap and Glory - Pulp Friction

I seem to be slowly working my way through all the Soap and Glory scrubs, deciding which ones I like and which ones I'm not too keen on. Today's is Pulp Friction, which is described as a 'foamy fruity body scrub'.

As far as the scrub goes, I really like it. It's sand like texture is really gritty but not too abrasive or harsh, it feels good on your skin and it lathers up really nicely, almost enough to act as a scrub and wash 2-in-1 product. I actually rate this as one of my favourite scrubs I have come across so far. What gets me is the smell, I think I may be getting used to it now but at first I really didn't like it. This may seem harsh but it reminds me of the way that the soap you get in public bathrooms smell. My tube has the new 'Fruitigo Fragrance' to it, so I would have been interested to see what this smelt like before, I assume, they changed it over. Peppermint oil is listed as one of the ingredients (which I would never have guessed had I not read it on the front) and I so wish that it one of a the more dominant scents because then I would absolutely love this scrub! 

One thing that I can never get my head around with S&G are all the funky terms they use for their ingredients that they list on their products - 'lemonade tree liquid' WHAT? 

Anyway.. Have you tried Pulp Friction? Do you like it as much as I do? What about the smell? I'd love to know what you think about it!

Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram

Too Faced Borderline Clear Lip Pencil

When I first heard about this clear, wax lip pencil I thought, as someone who has trouble with lipstick staying neatly on their lips, that I would love it.. but I just don't love it.

The Borderline pencil claims to stop your lipstick from 'feathering' which I have to be honest, wasn't the issue I bought this for, so maybe I set my hopes too high but in my mind it made sense to me that if it stops feathering it would also keep my lipstick from moving off my lip line.. which it kind of does but at the same time my lipstick just seemed to sit on the line which I had drawn on with this and left a visible line along my lip of a slightly different shade to my lipstick due to, I assume, the two products mixing together.

I like that it's clear - you don't have to worry about getting the outline of your mouth perfectly shaped right or having the right shade to match your lipstick but it does make it tricky to see exactly where you have applied it. I also find that it wears down incredibly quickly (which is something I have heard said about this product before) so I'm not sure how long this would last and at the whopping price of $18 which I paid from the States (it was on the Boots website but I no longer see it on there) I'm not sure if this is good value for money and is a product I regret buying.

Have you used the Too Faced Borderline pencil? Did you like it?

Rimmel offer a clear liner too if you'd like to try out a more affordable option first!

Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Barry M Matte Nail Polish

Hey everyone, Happy Halloween! I remember a while back a few companies (I have Rimmel in particular in mind) were selling matte top coats which when put over any nail colour, gave it a matte finish. While I was read a blog recently, I read that Barry M have come out with a line of actual matte polishes and I was eager to get my hands on some and try them and for some reason (not sure what exactly) I thought they fit well with Halloween and so comes this blog post!

L-R: Vanilla, Crush & Espresso

I actually found these pretty hard to find, wherever I was at the time seemed to be sold out of all the colours except a darkish tan/nude colour which I wasn't too keen on. I finally found these last week in Superdrug and since they were on a 3 for 2 offer I decided to try three of them. 

I wasn't sure how I would like these, especially after hearing people weren't so keen on the matter top coats but I was pleasantly surprised. I tried 'Crush' first and while I'm undecided on exactly how matte the finish is, it definitely isn't your typical polish finish. I also found this dried a lot quicker than my normal polishes. I'm excited to try the other two colours which I'm sure will pop up on the blog in NOTD posts soon!

Have you tried the matte polishes?

Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

NOTD: Sally Hansen - Bubblegum Pink

Bubblegum Pink is just that - a bright pink colour but this one is a blue toned pink with a very subtle shimmer to it. I really love this nail polish, I love the colour, it applied really nicely, was completely opaque in two coats and I was also pretty impressed with its longevity too. It's also a perfect colour for spring and summer.

I wish the Xtreme range was more readily avialable in the UK!

Have you tried any of the polishes from this range?

Haul and an exciting find!

I recently picked up a few beauty items and managed to get a couple of complete bargains! Bic Soleil razors are some of my favourites at the moment and while I was in Savers (which is somewhere I don't tend to shop), I spotted this one with six heads for only £1.99 so I grabbed one along with a little bottle of 100% pure tea tree oil for £1. Then In Boots I picked up a little mini bottle of the Moroccan Argan conditioner to try and a Clean and Clear cream facial wash. I'm having trouble finding my favourite Garnier face wash at the moment so I'm on the look out for a new face what that I like.

L-R: Cinderella, Forget Now & Winterberry

While I was in Boots I spotted that they had a stand of Sinful Color polishes. I already own a couple of these which I bought whilst in America but recently I've been wishing we sold them in the UK because not only do they have a really nice colour range but in the states they are really affordable  So I was rather excited when I spotted these! To top it all off these are only £1.99 in Boots and to make it even better after paying I realised they were on a 3 for 2 offer! 

Have you picked up any bargains lately?

NOTD: Essie - School of hard rocks

Since I now have quite a collection of nail polish, I have started to look at swatches of the colours before I decide to buy them to make sure I don't already have anything like it. When I looked online at the swatches of School of hard rocks, I took it to be a very dark teal colour. As as you can see from my picture above though, it looks like a deep forest green colour (which might just be due to the shoddy light/weather right now). 

As it stands, I'm not too sure how much I like this colour but we will see how I go.

Would you wear it?

Essie's Ridge Filler

I’ve been wanting to try OPI’s ‘Nail Envy’ for a while now but while I was recently looking at the £1.99 Essie polishes on Fragrance Direct, I came across Essie’s ‘Ridge Filler’ which was only £2.50 (RRP £10.50). I’ve always had pretty strong nails, which grow fast and that I’ve been happy with but ever since I started to wear nail polish on a regular basis, I’ve started to notice that when I take it off with nail polish remover, my nails sometimes peel a little bit and have also noticed a couple of ridges on my one finger nail, so the ridge filler sounded perfect!

Due to wearing so many different colours on my nails, they have become really stained and the first thing I love about the this product is that after the first time I used it and removed it when I was ready to repaint, I already noticed a difference in the staining of my nails. It doesn’t claim to remove stains but I definitely saw a difference. The second thing is the way it looks on the nail; I would definitely be okay with having just the ridge filler on if for some reason I didn’t get the chance to go ahead and paint them. It makes your nails look whiter and all around just healthier. It also dries incredibly quickly which I something I really like. The product itself is white and depending on how much you apply, depends on how opaque of a base you are left with, which I feel acts in the same way as if you were to paint your nails with an actual white polish to make your nail polish colour ‘pop’.

The only complaint I have with this product is that it is pretty unforgiving on the cuticle area or if you don’t happen to have the best/smoothest skin around your nails. I’m someone who can’t seem to stomach pushing my cuticles back and the thought turns my stomach upside down, so I just leave mine how they are and I’ve noticed this product emphasises any imperfections in this area. This is easily managed though by not painting it too close to the cuticle. Also, I have to mention if you were to buy this hoping for it fix any ridges you have in your nails then I think you might be disappointed since it didn't really seem to make no difference to mine.

Have you used this or OPI's nail envy?

MUA mosaic blush in ' English Rose'

I am someone who is generally a little bit scared of blush; I either think it puts too much colour on my face and looks silly or I think I put it on unevenly and end up with one cheek looking different from the other. However, I heard someone mention this blush and they said that it gives you a pretty subtle (key word subtle) flush to your cheeks and after thinking how pretty it looks when I went into Superdrug to check it out, I decided to give it a go.

MUA's Mosaic blush in 'English Rose' is a pretty mix of neutral brick toned colours with the odd lilac chunk thrown in to mix it up a little bit. 

Depending on how you want it to look, you can focus your brush more on the darker colours to get a more vibrant pinkish flush on your face or you can use the lighter toned parts to get a more natural looking colour or you can simply swirl your brush over the entire thing (which is what I do) to give your self a more subtle flush of colour but also with a pretty natural glow. The colours can look a little frosty when you build them up but personally, since I only use it very lightly I don't find it to be a problem.

I really can't say how much I love this blush. I believe it was around £2.50 from Superdrug but I can't find it on their website - I hope they haven't discontinued it because this is a product I would definitely like to repurchase!

Have you tried this blush?

NOTD Accessorize - Steel

Now that Autumn is officially here, I have started to pull out my darker nail polish shades, which has been something I've been looking forward to doing for a few weeks now! Today's nail polish is 'Steel' by Accessorize, which is a purple toned grey colour and which has a metallic finish to it. If I'm honest, I don't think I really like this colour on my nails and that may be due to the metallic look it has - I'm not the biggest fan of metallic polishes. 

It took three coats and a white toned base coat to get the opacity shown in the picture and after two days of wear (without a top coat) you can see it is just starting to chip at the ends.

Do you have any polishes from Accessorize?

They have a huge range of colours but I find them to be very hit and miss. 

Balance Me, citrus and spice.

After my recent blog post reviewing a couple of other products from balance Me, I was contact by them and kindly asked if I would like to test out a couple more of their products. After looking on their website, I was intrigued by their 'Citrus and Spice' line and was very interested in testing out what they were like (and even more interested to see what 'citrus' and 'spice' would blend together to smell like!). 

Citrus and Spice hand and body wash 99% natural RRP £10.25 for 260ml

I haven't used this as a body wash and have instead just been using it to wash my hands. I was worried that with it being made with natural ingredients that it wouldn't lather very well but with two pumps and plenty of water, it lathers really nicely and leaves your hands feeling clean and fresh. I'm someone who is constantly washing their hand and after using this for around two weeks now and haven't found it to be at all drying on my skin.

The main thing I like about this soap is the smell; it smells very strongly of ginger which I really like and I find that I can still smell it quite a while after I've wash my hands. I can't imagine how good this would smell if you were to use it as a body wash in the bath or shower!

Citrus and Spice hand and body lotion 99% natural RRP £12.25 for 260ml

I've so far been using this lotion on my hands and legs and absolutely love it. One thing that puts me off lotions and creams is when they take forever to dry and leave your skin feeling sticky, but this thick and smooth lotion sinks into your skin and dries really quickly leaving it feeling super soft and refreshed.

The scent of this one is a lot different to the soap and smells mostly to me of peppermint, which I again really like and which I think helps add to the refreshed feeling it leaves on your skin. Over the soap this is the product I would be most likely to repurchase, I just love it!

Balance Me is a brand I am becoming more and more interested in and although I have been put off in the past by the scent of a few of their products, the products themselves have not disappointed so far.

If you would like to read more about what balance me say about their citrus and spice line or to look at other products they offer, you can do so by visiting the balance Me website.

Have you tried any of their products? I would love to hear about what you have tried and your thoughts.

*

Polish, polish, polish.

Source

I was flicking through someone's photos on Facebook recently, when I came across this picture and knew straight away I wanted to use it on my blog somehow. So it inspired to me to write this post..

Over the last couple of years I have fallen in love with nail polish and have managed to acquire myself quite a hefty collection. To be fair to myself though, I don't want every colour; I'm not the biggest fan of blues or greens and when I have two (or three) in almost the exact same shade, I feel slightly guilty. However, my collection keeps growing and although I have recently been on a polish ban to try and use some of the ones I already own up, there are still lots more that I really want!

Anyway, while we're talking about all things nail polish, I am curious about a couple of things:

1. What is your favourite nail polish/colour?

2. Do you have back ups of your favourite ones? If so, what are they and how many of each do you have?

3. How many bottles of polish do you think you currently have in your collection?

4. Which ones do you want to get next?

NOTD: Natural Collection's 'Shimmer Pink'

Today's Nail of the day is Natural Collection's 'Shimmer Pink'. I have a few Natural Collection polishes and I have to say, I really like them! They're cheap, they have nice colours and they apply nicely. 

Shimmer Pink is a pink based polish with silver micro glitter in it. This is such an easy and simple colour to wear but the glitter just gives it that extra little something. This one is a little sheer (pictured is four coats) but I was pleased with how it ended up, so for once I didn't mind having to layer it on.

Natural Collection polishes are available in Boots for £1.89.

Do you own any Natural Collection polishes?

Review: Tangle Teezer dupe by Primark

I am someone who has very thick, naturally curly hair which is prone to tangles, so when I first heard about the Tangle Teezer I was very tempted to try it but with a £10-£12 price tag I didn't actually ever pick one up. Then I heard that Primark were doing their own version of the egg shaped brush for a steal at £1.50, so I was delighted when I spotted them whilst out shopping and grabbed one for myself to try.

I wasn't really expecting much from it because like I said, my hair can be very knotty (especially after it's been washed) and I didn't expect this to be any different from other brushes I've tried in the past. I first used it when my hair was wet and was really surprised at how smoothly it brushed through my hair and tackled all the tangles and knots and was even more surprised that it didn't hurt - at all!

I then tried it again when my hair was dry and this was where it didn't work so well for me. It was still getting rid of the tangles but I felt like because the bristles are so short it was only brushing through the top layer of my hair and not reaching through to the bottom parts. If I separate my hair into smaller sections it works well but not if I literally just brush it through my hair like I had done while it my hair wet.

I'm pleased I got this to try out and I'm very pleased with the way it brushes through my hair when it's wet but I think that will probably be the only time I really use it. At £1.50 though, I'm really not complaining. If you have thin or short hair, I think this would work a lot better for you.

If you would like to read more about the real Tangle Teezers you can look at the range Boots.com offer by clicking here.

Have you tried a Tangle Teezer or will you be getting this Primark dupe?

Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation

I recently had to repurchase my Chanel Vialumiere Aqua foundation as my current one is finally running out and I thought since I have now used almost a full bottle it was about time I did a review on it! I originally bought this foundation after hearing lots (and lots) of good things about it last year and while I was at the airport and in duty free I decided to give it a go. Needless to say, it became my favourite very quickly and since buying it I have not used anything else.

The thing I love most about this foundation is the way it feels on your skin. I HATE the feeling of having a thick and heavy foundation on my face but this is so light it feels like you aren't wearing anything. It has quite a thin consistency (I decided not to include pictures as I'm sure you've seen them before) and blends into your skin really nicely. I'm am someone who worries that the more foundation I put on the more orange I am going to look and the more you will be able to tell I have slapped on my foundation but I feel like I you build this up without looking orange or having to worry.

I personally quite like the smell but I think for people who don't like the smell of rose then you might not like it, although after applying it to your face the smell fades quickly and I don't recall smelling it again during the day. I never touch up my make up during the day and this lasts really well. I also noticed that with the foundations I was using before this, my skin would look really dry and flaky in places after applying them but since I have started using this I have found that problem to be significantly better.

I am someone who doesn't wear make up every day, so I'm not sure how long a 30ml bottle of this would last someone who does but I have currently been using mine for 11 months and am only now just noticing that it is starting to run out.

The ONLY criticism I have of this product is it's coverage. I am someone with quite troublesome skin and I wish this foundation would cover better on the days when I feel like I really want a heavier coverage.. However, as far as evening out my skin tone I feel like this works really well and I like how it looks.

When I bought this I was also given a sample of their Hydra Beauty gel creme moisturiser. I haven't used this yet but I did try some out on my hand and it smells amazing!

Phew. If you read all that then it probably obvious that I love this foundation!
Have you used it? What do you think?
Do you know of a Chanel foundation with better coverage that I should try out next?

I bought mine in the shade B20 at House of Fraser at £32 for 30ml

NOTD: Essie 'Flawless'

Essie's Flawless is a pretty blue toned pastel pink colour. I was expecting it to be streaky and difficult to apply but it surprised me and in two coats I was able to get the opaque colour that I wanted. I wore a topcoat over it and it lasted pretty well.

You can buy Essie at Superdrug and also here at Boots.com

What is your favourite colour polish by essie?

NOTD: Essie 'Mint candy apple'

Essie's 'Mint candy apple' is a pastel green colour which is perfect for summer and would look perfect with tanned skin. This polish isn't streaky which I thought it could be since it's a pastel colour and I was impressed with the longevity of it. In the picture I'm wearing two coats with Barry M's clear polish over the top.
If you would like to buy Essie online, you can do so here at Boots.com.

Do you own Mint candy apple?

NOTD: Essie 'Cute as a button'

'Cute as a button' is a solid red/pink colour which dries with a super glossy finish . It goes on pretty opaque but after applying two coats you could just faintly see the white tips of my nails which I don't like but I think you would have to look pretty close to notice it and could always add another coat. I didn't wear a top coat over this and noticed it started chipping pretty quickly which was disappointing. 

What are you favourite Essie polishes?

Blue nail polish!

NYC - Water Street Blue £1.79 

Barry M - Cyan Blue £2.99

Models Own - Indian Ocean £5.00

I have never really been a big fan of blue nail polish (except for the odd dark navy blue colour here and there) but I recently saw someone wearing Butter London's 'Slapper' and absolutely loved the way the bright, vibrant turquoise blue looked on their nails. So, I decided to creep out of my comfort zone and pick some blue polish up for myself. After doing a little bit of research, I decided the best high street dupe I could get for 'Slapper' would be Barry M's 'Pure Turquoise' which I thought I had picked up but - and this will teach me in future to actually look at the names of the products I pick up before buying them - I ended up with 'Cyan blue' which, as you can see from the picture, is still a pretty bright colour.

I purchased all three of these polishes from either Superdrug or Boots.


What are you favourite blue polishes for summer?

NOTD: OPI 'Bright lights, Big color'

For the last couple of days I have been wearing OPI's 'Bright lights, Big color' on my nails, which is a very pretty orange/pink colour that has a golden shimmer in it. I absolutely love this colour and don't have anything else quite like it. The only problem with this polish is the longevity is terrible and I feel like it starts to chip almost instantly (even with a topcoat). I think this may be one of the worse polishes I own chipping wise which is disappointing. The colour definitely makes up for it though and I think this will be one of my most worn polishes this summer!

Do you own this colour? Do you have problems with it too?