oooh shiny

OOOh my two new little loves are these shiny looking beauties. They are from the Boots 17 range and are from the mirror shine collection. I first heard about these on Laura 's blog. I thought these looked like a great high shine lipstick with a subtle wash of colour, I was not wrong.

I chose the colours beehive and peace. Beehive is a great neutral pinky tone that is pretty subtle and looks like a nice gloss. Peace is a light coral colour that looks more red on the lips, (sorry for the lack of swatches but my camera couldnt pick the colour up well) These are great inexpensive high shine lipsticks for just a subtle hint of colour, nice for summer when you dont want a sticky gloss or heavly pigmented lips. The magpies amoungst us will love them, anything shiny has certainly got me.

xxx

Lush Ocean Salt scrub

I like a good old scrub now and again and my choice of exfoliator is usually one that is pretty grainy or has big granules. At the moment I'm loving Lush's Ocean Salt scrub. It can be used on your face and body, but as I have so many other body exfoliators that I prefer (with essential oils in), I only use this on my face. At first it did sting my face, perhaps that was the lime, grapefruit and vodka, but after a couple of uses I had no issue with the stinging (it was only minor in the first place.) The scrub is very rough in texture and the sea salt provides the granules, some fairly chunky, others more finely milled. At first you need to mix the scrub as the salt settles on the top.

Sometimes I like to mix this with another favourite exfoliator of mine, the Liz Earle Gentle face exfoliator to make the consistency more creamy, however I have used it alone for a more intense scrub. The tub is available in two different sizes but I thought I would try the smaller one to see if it agreed with my skin. Overall, I will be repurchasing this when it runs out as I like the grains in the exfoliator. I also like the fresh feeling it leaves my skin.

xxx

A tummy tuck?.........

So its that time of year again that I want to feel as slim as possible, and most of the time this is an impossible task (I'm a lover of all food that is bad for me). So I thought I would give the Rodial Tummy tuck sticks a try in hope that they would streamline me to within an inch of my life, ok, maybe that's an over exaggeration but still, being £48 I was hoping for a near miracle.

So, Rodial claim that one of these sachets mixed with water after your evening meal for two weeks will "help speed up digestion to achieve a slimmer waistline". In my opinion this seems a pretty big claim for one sachet mixed with water for two weeks, but I was willing to try them to see if they worked. The sticks contain ingredients such as pineapple and papaya enzymes, fennel seeds and green clay, which all, in some way, claim to help you achieve a slimmer waist. So after just over a week I can safely say they are not worth £48.

They might have worked yes, but that also might have been down to some fairly healthy eating that I have tried to adopt. I don't really feel any less bloated, not that I particularly was before, and I am not sure I'm that much more "streamline" in the waist area, well not enough for £48 worth of product. The sachets did not taste too bad, they were ok, a pineapple flavour, however I did find it hard to mix in the water as it separated a bit and some of the mixture would float to the top in lumps. Would I repurchase, no, simply because they are expensive and I feel something like green tea would have a similar effect but for much cheaper.

xxx

Clarins Hydraquench serum

I used to work for Clarins when I lived in London and having not used any of their products previous to working for them I now have quite a few in my collection. Most of them I didn't purchase myself as we were allocated a certain amount of products every 2 months therefore I chose them from all of the products available. One of the products I will miss obtaining for free is the Hydraquench serum.

This is used underneath moisturiser to add water content, not oil to the skin, therefore can be used on all dehydrated skins from dry to oily skins. I like to use this in the summer if I have been out in the sun and in the winter to add hydration as the cold air and heaters zap all of my skins hydration. It sinks so easily into my skin and makes it feel more comfortable and less tight. This a product that I would purchase with my own money once I have run out of my little stash, which unfortunately is depleting rapidly - bad times.

xxx

May Favourites

What have I been loving this month........well, a few random bits really. Carmex in the little tube has become my new best friend. I kind of liked the one in the little pot as I like the finish it gives to my lips, they always looked really smooth with it on and i like the sheen it gives. So having spotted this I had to purchase as its cherry flavoured and I prefer lip balms in a tube as its much less messy. So I'm loving that at the mo.

Coralista Blusher by Benefit was a blusher I bought a while ago as was stopped by a Benefit SA when it was first released and got suckered into her sales pitch and ended up walking away with a couple of products I didn't really need, (I'm such a sucker for pretty packaging). Anyway, I dug this out and have been swiping it over my cheeks for a corally glow (made up word I know).

Macs Fix + is another love, I find it really refreshes me and brightens my skin and is a great pick me up for hot days in the sun.

Sudocrem has always been a love of mine and is so multipurpose. I mainly use mine on blemishes and redness on my face. I love how cheap it is and how effective it is at minimising red areas and making spots less angry.

The Mac lipstick is Angel, and although only a recent purchase it is a good all round pink lip colour that says you have not tried too hard but you have made some effort with the lip area.

The pencil is a Gosh eyebrow pencil in grey brown. I have only recently decided that I should fill in the brows on the odd occasion as it makes my look seem more groomed. This baby is only used on nights out for example and is a good match to my eyebrow colour, easy to use and is pretty cheap too.

xxx

Mac Haul

So, I was perusing a Mac counter and obviously had to purchase.

I went for Angel lipstick as I have wanted this subtle pink for a while. I wore it out on Saturday night with a bit of carmex over the top to give a sheen and was very impressed.

As summer is coming up I wanted to add to my collection of bright lipsticks. I went for Impassioned, an amplified creme shade that is a bright fuchsia pink. I will try this baby when I have a tan and whilst on holiday as I feel it won't look so hot on my pale skin at the moment.

I also had to get well dressed blusher as I have heard so many people rave about this. I was surprised that it seems very sheer and the colour pay off is not as much as I expected, but I am pleasantly surprised as I feel it gives a nice hint of colour but can also be layered for more intensity.

Last is the Prep and Prime finishing powder. I wanted to try this as either a primer type base for makeup or as a finishing powder. I had been using MSF natural to set my foundation but I wasn't too keen as I didn't need the extra coverage (all be it very slight) and felt it didn't do much to the longevity of my foundation. I like the idea that the prep and prime is loose as I feel it is a softer finish on the skin. It claims to give a "flawless finish", and as that is what I'm after, I thought I would give it a whirl. We shall see how I get on with that as I haven't played around with it that much.

Does anyone else have any of these products?

xxx

Eyelash extensions

A while ago when I was living in London I came across the idea of eyelash extensions. Now, as I worked in central London in a store selling makeup and beauty items I always felt the need to look my best. When I first found out of a place to have them done I immediately had to have them done, even with the £100 ish price tag. Yes, expensive I know but they look so pretty! I'm a sucker for long eyelashes and would love to be naturally blessed with them but that is not the case I'm afraid, so alternative measures needed to be found.

I use false eyelashes for a night out and have tried Talkia eyelash growth treatment which you apply to your lashes for a few months and they are supposed to grow slightly and fall out less. Yes, that is what it did and my eyelashes were a bit longer and definitely fell out less. But that was about it, I still use it every now and again when I feel I need it but I still didn't have the effective I was longing for.

So I found a mobile beauty therapist who specialised in Jinnylashes (supposedly the best ones for this kind of thing) and I had them applied to my lashes, lash by lash for around 1 and a half to 2 hours - yes a long long time to lie on a flat beauty couch and let me tell you my bum was very numb by the end of it! So I walked away with lots and lots of lashes applied to my lash line to create a lovely long lash effect. I was so pleased with the results. They lasted in perfect condition for about 4 weeks and slowly one by one fell out with my own eyelashes. Towards the end I did have some randomly long extensions left which did look a bit odd but I managed to soak them off with an oily eye make up remover.

I didn't have to wear mascara, however on nights out I applied a special oil free mascara that would not ruin the lashes, just to give a bit more of a dramatic look. I could not use an oil based remover so used 'simple' eye makeup remover as it contains no oils which would remove the lashes.

I loved them. I really did. I could have had infills when they started to fall out which would be cheaper than the initial payment but I didn't want to keep up with the maintenance and only really wanted them for a special occasion.

At the time I had them I didn't really take any pictures of the lashes themselves but I have many pictures of them where I randomly blinked at the wrong time whilst someone took a picture so they are not great but the best I can do.

Has anyone thought about or had eyelash extensions?

xxx