Limited Edition – Spoil Me Silly Glossybox (Feb 2016)…

The Glossybox team have given us two treats in February with their Valentines Edition box (review here) and then this beautiful limited edition Spoil Me Silly box.

Theme

This box is all about pampering and has been suggested as a great gift for Mother’s Day if you were able to snap one up.

This box is a really pretty blue-gray colour finished off with art-deco type gold detailing.  Very sophisticated!

Product Overview

In this limited edition box we’ve been treated to seven different products although some of these include two items so altogether there’s nine.

Box Worth

To purchase everything in this box (at full-size) would be £85.  This box was £30 for Glossybox subscribers and £35 to non-subscribers (plus p&p for both).

Unboxing

I’m including individual pictures for each item since this is a special box.  The first thing is something we received in the Valentine’s Box and it’s the Naobay Protective Hair Mask Volume Conditioner.

Now, I was slightly annoyed at this initially as it was included with a box I only received a couple of weeks ago and I can understand why Glossybox have received a lot of comments from subscribers who feel a little conned.  However, after using this a couple of times I’ve changed my mind over my first thoughts and really like this mask and due to this I was happy to receive more.

The first ‘new’ product is a cleanser by Aurelia accompanied by a cute little muslin cloth. This claims to decongest and soothe your skin.  I’m not a huge fan of these types of cleansers and I’m not keen on the scent so this may be a product I give away.  To buy at full-size would set you back £34 and I can definitely say I wouldn’t be paying that for this type of cleanser unfortunately.

Next up is a lip product which is always exciting to receive.  Laqa & Co Lip Lube in the shade Honeypot.  This is a lip balm so will provide a nice tint to your lips.  It smells really strongly of peppermint but I don’t see this listed in the ingredients.  It’s not a great shade for me but I’ll certainly give it a go.

Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream/lotion is always a welcome addition to my beauty collection and this one is the perfect size for my handbag.  The scent is pomegranate, argan and grapeseed.  It absorbs into the skin quickly and the scent isn’t too strong which I prefer with hand cream.

I’m really happy this was included in this box as I’ve been looking for a night time beauty cream for a while.  This Beauty Sleep Face Mask by Sanctuary should be applied at night 1 – 2 times a week over a cleansed face and left to work it’s magic.  They’ve even thrown in a cute eye mask!

The Eyeko lash curlers are another welcome edition to my makeup bag.  according to the information provided, you should receive a no-kink, pinch free curl due to the thick silicone pads.

I really like the design of these but the only thing that bothers me is that the handles are a velvet-like finish so are guaranteed to look dirty really quickly and won’t be easy to clean.  Not a huge issue but I’d have preferred a different handle covering.

The last item to unbox was these stunning Stella & Dot Vintage Crystal Stud earrings.  These are exactly my style so no surprises that I love them.  Even the packaging is beautiful.  I don’t own anything else from Stella & Dot but I’ll be checking out their website shortly.

Overall I’m really happy with this box although I think a couple of the products could have been better – especially the cleanser and lip balm.

H xx

De-coding Colour Correcting Concealers & Primers…

To begin with when faced with colour correcting products, I was lost. Why am I putting yellow, green and even purple cream on my face?

If you find yourself asking the same question here’s the answer…

Colour correcting products are great for making sure any imperfections such as that mega red spot or those dark under eye circles are completely concealed under your foundation.

Let’s be honest sometimes no foundation is a match for an angry spot!

So what are the rules?

Most importantly these products should be applied BEFORE your foundation and any other concealer. Think of them as a primer – some, like the Smashbox range, are marketed as primers.

That’s application covered now what about the colours?

The easiest way to explain this is by using a basic colour wheel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using our angry spot as an example, the problem here is redness. The colour directly across from red on the wheel is green so that’s the product colour you need. With that principle in mind, here’s the most common issues and what colour you need to fix them:

Red (blemishes, angry spots) – green

Purple (under eye circles, veins, bruises) – yellow. If you have a darker skin tone use orange, if you are very pale use a peachy/pink colour.

Yellow (sallow skin, general dullness) – purple.

Some products:

I’ve chosen three brands/products which cover the affordable, middle and high end price scale to give you good options.

First is the very affordable Makeup Revolution Ultra Base Corrector Palette. At £6 for 8 colours this is perfect for starting out on colour correction. These creams work well but keep in mind you’re getting what you pay for. Coverage can vary slightly and covering redness can be a little hit or miss.

Middle range products are the Max Factor Colour Corrector Sticks. These come in 6 shades and are £8.99. I love these sticks. They apply well and blend easily with concealer and/or foundation. They are very wearable and last all day. You can usually pick up 3 for 2 offers or buy one get one half price in Boots.

Finally at the higher end of the scale are the Smashbox Colour Corrector Primers. There are lots of options to choose from however these ones are £25.50 each.

If this price is a little bit too much it would be a good idea would be to invest in one of these for your main skin complaint (mine would be redness) and then buy more affordable colour correctors for any other imperfections that don’t bother you as much.

Last but not least I’m including a fourth product that I have had in my makeup collection for a long time – Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream. This is a great all rounder that can be used on its own or as a primer for foundation. It covers everything!

H xx

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Polish…

Some of you may know that when it comes to my nails I go to the salon and get shellac every 3 weeks. It’s my me time and a part of my routine I’d be sad to give up.

This time I had to go four and unfortunately I had to peel the polish off and look for something until my next appointment!

I popped into Boots and had a good look at the different polishes on offer before deciding on Barry M’s Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint. This seemed to be the closest I could get to a high shine, shellac-type finish.

I opted for this beautiful Rose Hip (pastel pink) shade along with the topcoat.

Impression

Okay so nothing is going to replace shellac but I’m really impressed with this product.

I applied two coats as the first coat was a little patchy followed by the topcoat.

It took quite a long time to properly dry I’d say a good 5 mins between coats.

The colour dries exactly as it looks in the bottle which was a huge plus for me as I’m usually left a little bit disappointed on application with a lot of polishes:

Excuse the poor technique – I haven’t had to paint my own nails in about 5 years!!

Price

I think I got the colour for £3.99 and the top coat was on offer for £1.49 (may have been a buy one get one half price).

Where To Buy:

You can pick up Barry M in most Boots and Superdrug stores.

H xx

Lover Lamp Bath Bomb…

I’m a little late in using this bath bomb – I’d hoped this would be a valentines post but better late than never!

Lover Lamp was part of Lush’s Valentines inspired range this year and is a white bomb with pretty red hearts throughout.

This has a really crisp, clean smell mixed with a sweet scent.  When I checked the info on Lush the two main ingredients in this are Vanilla Absolute and Brazilian Orange Oil.  I was surprised by the orange as that’s not the scent that came through for me.  I likened it more to the scent of Kola Kube sweets.

When dropped into the water this is by no means the most exciting bath bomb. It fizzes and releases teeny tiny little hearts as well as the bigger ones you can see in the first picture.

I didn’t think the scent was that strong but I could still smell this on my skin a few hours after being in the bath.

This is a really sweet bathbomb and is perfect for Valentines.

The only negative I have is that the hearts  took a bit of scrubbing to come off the sides of the bath.

This bath bomb is still available to purchase online.  I’m not sure if this one will be staying around for a while or if the range will be taken off the shelves soon.

H xx

Link to Lover Lamp on Lush Website

Micellar Water – What’s The Story…

All hail the Micellar Water. The lazy girls answer to no-nonsense makeup removal and cleansing.

Developed in France to help combat the effect of harsh water on the skin, this product is becoming more popular by the minute.

I’m a little later to fully embrace the craze, fearful of giving up my makeup wipes but here’s what I finally think of Micellar Water…

What Is It? 

To put it simply, the water is filled with teeny tiny micelles which, when put in contact with a cotton wool pad, act as magnets pulling all the dirt, excess oil and makeup off your skin.

Benefits?

Micellar water is generally suitable for everyone as it contains no harsh chemicals (no soap, no oil, no perfume) that can irritate many skin types.

As there are no harsh chemicals, Micellar Water can be very hydrating to the skin too.

It’s an all-in-one product meaning there’s no need for separate bottles of cleanser or makeup removers (keep reading below to see why I still use my wipes as well as the water).

I’ll link all products mentioned at the end of this post.

The One That Started It All…

 

Bioderma Sensibio H20 Micellaire sits quite comfortably at the head of the pack when it comes to this product. I’ve not tried this one yet as it seems to be quite expensive (£10.50 for 200ml at Boots). I can’t find a bad review anywhere. I’m planning to buy this the next time Micellar Water is on my shopping list.

Does It Work?

There are so many brands who have developed their own waters and each will vary on performance. I can only comment here on ones I’ve tried.

Soap & Glory Drama Clean

 

I loved this product for how fresh it made my skin feel but it scored a big fat zero on eye makeup removal. It only moved my mascara and eyeshadow around my face. This result really surprised me going by reviews but it just didn’t work for me.

Nivea Daily Essentials Gentle Caring Micellar Water

 

This one worked well but I had to use a lot of water to fully remove my makeup. I still liked using it and would probably purchase it again if I couldn’t get my first choice.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

 

This seems to be the most popular reasonably priced water and it’s my favourite. You get a massive 400ml bottle for 4.99 and it gives you approximately 200 uses. It still doesn’t fully remove my mascara but out of the three it works the best. My skin feels super clean and I never have any irritation.

Why I Haven’t Said Goodbye To Wipes…

I wouldn’t be without Micellar Water in my evening routine but unfortunately I still need a little help. I quickly run a makeup wipe over my eyes to wear down the days mascara before using the water.

Everyone is different but this combination works best for my routine/skin.

I never have panda eyes in the morning.

I’ve used Johnsons Makeup Be Gone wipes for years. I usually purchase the moisturising ones.

H xx

Product Links

Bioderma 

Drama Clean

Nivea

Garnier

Johnson’s Wipes

Alternatives to Red Lipstick on Valentines…

 

 

Not everyone loves a red lip so for your valentines day date what other options could you have that are just as apt for date night?

Nudes

Nudes are always a great option on valentines especially if you want more intense eye makeup.

I haven’t included Velvet Teddy in this because I feel I use this too many times in a week for it to be used on a special occasion.

One of my newest lipsticks is Private Booth from Lip VIP by Sleek and it’s a perfect choice.  Click here for my full review on this range.

Or you could go with Shade 45 from the Kate Moss Nudes by Rimmel.

Pinks

Super girly you can go either end of the pink scale starting a the pastel end with Snob by Mac or try a bright fun loving pink like Loved Up by Sleek.  One of my favourite pinks is 9o6 Hot Plum from Maybelline’s Colour Sensational collection.  Hot plum is verging on the purple side but for me it definitely has more pink tones than purple.

Purples

If you’ve read any of my previous lipstick posts you’ll probably know that dark purple lips are my all time favourite look so any time I can find an excuse to rock that look I will!

My all time favourite purple lipstick without any hesitation whatsoever is Mac’s Cyber.  Omg when this is on it looks unbelievably good.  Of course this has to be paired with a liner to ensure there’s no mistakes and I chose Bespoken For from Mac’s Pro Longwear collection.  For darker colours I really recommend Pro Longwear simply because it does last a lot longer and it glides on much better.

Two other purple options could be 338 Midnight Plum by Maybelline or Shade 30 by Kate Moss for Rimmel.

My last two choices are more of a reddy/brownish shade and are 342 Mauve Mania by Maybelline and Vamp by Sleek.  Vamp is a stunning matte shade (really matte so be prepared to put real effort into your application) and Mauve Mania is slightly more reserved in a creamy, long-lasting finish.

H xx

Follow Me On Instagram…

I still can’t thank every single person enough who has followed, liked and commented on this blog. I’m so grateful.

I’m tidying up my Instagram account and hoping to build it up alongside this page. Please go have a look.

Hit that follow button to keep up-to-date with all my posts and plans!!! 

 
H xx

February 2016 Glossybox – Valentines Edition…

Love is well and truly in the air with this month’s Glossybox.  As with all my GB posts this is more of a first impression unboxing post.

Theme

This month’s theme is obviously Valentines and we’ve been given a really pretty box. I love the balloon hearts on the lid.

The base of the box is a solid red or pink – my eyes can’t decide but I’m leaning more towards pink?

Product Overview

We’ve got five products this month; four full size and one luxury size.  We also got the option to choose the shade of lip product for February.  I hope you got your choice!

Box Worth

To buy everything at full size this box would cost £33.

Unboxing… 

So let’s get started.  The first product to get you beauty ready is Intuition Razor by Wilkinson Sword. I think I tried one of these (or something extremely similar) a few years ago.  I’ve always tended to buy the Venus Razors by Gillette but I was happy to receive this. The blades are encased by soap which eliminates the need for a shaving cream.  This type of razor is perfect for use in the shower. The soft grip handle and design of the blade should mean no nicks too.

I’m not overly keen on the smell of this one but I’m assuming all the refills will fit this one handle if I did decide to purchase any.

Something I’m really keen to try is the Protective Hair Mask Volume Conditioner by Naobay.  This is the second product I’ve had from this brand (the first being a cleanser).  My hair is still recovering from winter and Naobay claim that within 3 minutes your hair will be silky soft and manageable.

Tweezers are something that should be in every girls beauty box and why not have a super cute pair like these ones by The Vintage Cosmetic Company.  These look and feel really good quality and I’ll defiantly by putting them in my makeup bag.

The eyeliner included in my box was the 24h Waterproof Eyeliner by Nicka K New York.  I’m in need of a brown liner (this shade is dark brown) so this one is really welcomed this month.  It comes with the pencil on one end and then a smudger on the other to help create various looks.

Now the product I’ve probably all been excited to get this month because I got to choose the shade is MUA’s Power Pout Low Voltage Gloss.  I’m not a huge lipgloss fan and I would never go out my way to purchase a gloss so anytime I’m given one I love to try it out.  I chose the shade Allure which is a lovely punchy pink/plum colour. I can’t wait to wear it and I might do a separate review for this product.

So that’s our February box for 2016.

Limited Edition Box!!

Glossybox have released a limited edition ‘spoil yourself silly’ box and I’ve managed to secure one – I’m not sure if there are many left (if any at all) so hurry over to Glossybox and purchase yours.  The boxes are available to to subscribers and non-subscribers.

H xx

Brand New Range – Sleek Lip VIP Lipsticks…

I love Sleek lipsticks so when I found out they were releasing a new range I just had to get my hands on them.

Sleek have introduced the new Lip VIP line which has 6 creamy textured colours ranging from a classic nude to a chic red.  The colour palette is very on trend and is in-line with what’s expected to be huge in 2016.

Each lipstick is a semi-matte finish enriched with Vitamin E, Shea Butter and Coconut oil to give you the staying power of a matte with all the moisturising qualities of a cream or satin.

Packaging

These lipsticks are larger than the standard Sleek ones and I love the flash of colour at the bottom rather than a sticker displaying the shade.  I think Sleek have still managed to keep the product looking a lot more expensive than it is.

Price

Retailing at £5.49 I think this is an amazing price for such a high quality product.

Shades

The shades in this range are:

Reserved – sweet candy pink

Flaunt It – on trend punchy orange

Backstage – coral pink

Guest List – a warm coral with a more orange tone

Private Booth -a classic nude

Night Spot – a chic red celebrity ready

Application & Wear

These lipsticks apply really well (I made sure to scrub and moisturise first otherwise application might not be as even).  I found blotting and reapplying twice gave the best result for me.  For the time I’ve had them on they have lasted really well and my lips haven’t felt dried out.

I love every shade in this range as they all suit my fair skin tone.  I think the colour selection will be a perfect pairing with most skin tones I can’t think of any that would clash or wouldn’t look as good.

Where to Buy

As with all Sleek products, the Lip VIP range is available to purchase from Boots, Superdrug and sleekmakeup.com

Favourite?

If I had to pick one as my favourite it has to be Night Spot.  It’s bright enough without being over the top and suits heavy or light makeup looks. Perfect for Valentines!!

H xx

 

January 2016 Favourites…

I haven’t done a favourites post since October last year!  Mainly because I moved house and have had no internet for what feels like forever!  So I promise to stick to doing the whole 12 posts this year.

I have four products for my January favourites and they are mix of newly discovered products and ones I’ve had for a while but seemed to use more last month.

I’ll try to link all the products at the end of this post.

Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Moisturiser

The first product I’ve gone back to using in January is Simple’s Kind to Skin Hydrating Moisturiser.  I used this moisturiser at the start of last year and I’m not really sure why I stopped using it.

If you’re looking for a cream that will provide you with great hydration but won’t weigh down or feel greasy on your skin then this is the perfect product for this.  Because I have oily/combination as well as sensitive skin, I find a lot of moisturisers don’t react well.  I’ve also found that my Proactiv+ moisturiser doesn’t work well under foundation causing it to have a cracked/creased appearance.

This one is quite runny in texture and when first applied it doesn’t feel like it’s going to sink in but after a minute it’s fully absorbed.  As with most (if not all) Simple products it’s unscented and doesn’t contain anything that will upset your skin.

I tend to use more of this at night on my face and give it a few minutes to do it’s work.  In the morning a tiny amount is more than enough before applying any makeup.

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer 

This is a product I’ve seen quite a lot in blogs and/or Instagram so while it was on offer in Boots I picked it up.  I’ve only been using this if I’ve had a night out or anything on that makes me want a better base for my foundation.  So far I’m really impressed with this.  It’s non-greasy, lightweight and provides a perfect base for my makeup.   It’s scented so might not be suitable for all skin types but I’ve not experienced any problems.

The Multiple Nars 

This was something included in the Nars Glossybox back in November.  The shade is the classic Orgasm and I’ve completely fallen in love with this product.  I love the fact it can be used with a non-makeup look or built up for a more defined blush.  When paired with the orgasm blush the results are amazing.  I’ve used this nearly every day in January.

Maybelline Brow Drama

This eyebrow crayon has been my best find in January.  I don’t like traditional brow pencils, always opting for powder, but this gives me such good results I’ve hardly used my brow box.  I choose the dark brown shade as I’ve recently had my roots darkened so it matches much better than the lighter one.

Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Drama

Goodbye false lashes! A phrase I didn’t think I would ever be able to say.  The last two times I’ve had a special occasion I’ve not needed to add lashes to my makeup look after using this mascara.  Of course this completely depends on how you like your lashes to look.  I’ve never gone for really full, over the top lashes so this is perfect for me.

Tip – I’ve been using Benefit’s lash tint primer before this mascara to really help lift my lashes.

Product Links

Simple Moisturiser 

Nivea Primer

Brow Drama Crayon

Maybelline Mascara 

The Multiple, Nars 

H xx