Happy New Year!

I wanted to wish all my lovely followers a Happy New Year and I hope 2011 brings you happiness, joy and lots of opportunities!

I know I know, you’re probably sick reading these kinda posts but I want to put my resolutions down in black n white this year so I absolutely, definitely, positively must stick to them! So here goes…

I will take more pictures. I come from a really big family and have 3 brothers and 2 sisters yet I think it’s been about 5 years since we took a pic of everyone together!

I’m gonna stop worrying about my weight and just eat what I want. I’m sick counting calories and worrying that I wont be able to squeeze into my favourite dress. If necessary I’ll just buy the same dress in a bigger size :)

I’m gonna spend less and give more. I hardly ever give to charity these days so instead of buying stuff I don’t particularly need I’m gonna save the cash throughout the year and give it to a worthy cause

I’ll learn to drive

I shall run the Belfast marathon. I used to run a lot but I’ve gotten lazy over the last while so this will be a hard one but I know I will be able to do it if I put in enough time and effort. I’ll donate the funds to charity

I’m gonna take up a new (creative) hobby. Havent decided on one yet but I’m thinking something like origami or knitting might be good

I’m gonna read more. I seem to read nothing but trash at the min so I’m going to pick up a few classics that I’ve been meaning to get for ages and will actually go to bed half an hour earlier to ensure I have time to do some reading every day!

I guess that’s all… seems like LOADS but I think a lot of them are things I should be doing anyway! How about you? Made any resolutions this year? Do you ever stick to them or are you like me and have often given up by the 3rd of Jan? ♥

Joy xx

Soap & Glory - Glad Hair Day

Don’t you just love when you have really low expectations for a new product but it turns out to be completely awesome?!

My secret santa at work was my best friend and house mate so he got me a ton of Soap & Glory stuff! I was sooo pleased because I’ve started to really enjoy their products and I had run out of almost everything – I love my Scrub Actually so much that I will always cut the bottle in half to scrape out every last drop!

I wasn’t really looking forward to trying the Glad Hair Day shampoo or conditioner because I’d tried the Hair Supply conditioner in the past and it’s crap…

Possibly one of my least favourite conditoners ever...

So I was pleasantly surprised when I used my new hair goodies on boxing day because my hair felt clean, soft, smooth and it even had that distinctive Soap& Glory smell (MMMmmmmMmm) I’ve used them 3 times since then and love them more every time I do :)

One of the most annoying things about shampoo/conditioner combos is that a lot of them leave a build up over time and it always makes me feel the need to change what I use every month or so. Glad Hair Day claims to have a no build up formula so in theory I should be able to use this forever without feeling the need to switch. I kinda doubt that but shall let you know ♥

Oh I nearly forgot to mention the price! These are just over a fiver each for 250ml bottles. Far from bargain products but not exactly expensive either

My favourite MAC product

Happy Wednesday all! Hope you’ve had a nice week so far

I wanted to thank everyone for commenting on my “pre-owned makeup” post. I was really surprised (and delighted!) by the positive responses so I’ll be snapping away and posting pics of some stuff asap. Haven’t decided on all the details yet but it should be fairly straightforward :)

On another note I wanted to mention a lip gloss that I absolutely adore because I don’t think I’ve actually done a post specifically about a MAC product before. To be honest I’m not a big MAC fan *le gasp!* I know there are people who totally worship the whole range (not to mention all the limited edition collections) but I just think a lot of it is hyped up and overrated

It’s not that I dislike all the stuff of course; I just think there are a lot of drugstore brands that do the same job for less than half the price. When it comes to makeup if I’m gonna be spending 3 hours wages on a single item then I expect some seriously good results

Dazzleglass in Rags to Riches

One of the MAC items that definitely delivers is the Dazzleglass. I think this is one of the best glosses around and I love almost everything about it. It smells lovely, feels smooth but not oily and although it’s sticky it’s not uncomfortably so

This gloss looks beautiful on; it’s a bit OTT because the teensy shimmery glitter particles catch the light brilliantly so the end result is glittertastic (or dazzly if you will) and it leaves my lips looking shiny and full. It even comes in a massive range of shades so you’re almost guaranteed to find one that suits you – I’m pretty dull when it comes to gloss and generally opt for a pretty pale pink colour

Oh oh oh did I mention that it lasts ages too? Always a bonus if you ask me cos I’m not a big fan of reapplying makup throughout the day

My only complaint is the applicator because it’s a brush. I guess we all end up liking what we’re used to so when it comes to lip gloss I’m always disappointed if the applicator isn’t just a standard wand. This still works perfectly well but I definitely think gloss is more difficult to apply with a brush

Anyone else tried this? Would you consider yourself a big fan of all things MAC? ♥

Giving away unwanted makeup?

I know this might seem like an odd question but how would you feel about using “pre-owned” makeup?

As part of a New Year resolution I’m planning on clearing out my makeup collection and I hate the thought of just chucking stuff that people might really enjoy using! It seems like such a waste and I thought giving the stuff away would be a nice thing to do instead of swapping it, you know? :)

I was thinking of giving away things I don’t use – it would all be stuff I don’t like, don’t use or just have too much of and I was just wondering if anyone would actually be interested before I take pics of things and actually start posting about it ♥

More Lush Goodies

Good evening all :) Hope you've had a nice day so far... I spent mine cleaning my bedroom and have thrown out soooo much stuff! I've decided to keep my house as neat and well organised as possible so after work tomorrow I shall be cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. Not the most exciting way to spend the evening but needs must n all that!

Honey I Washed The Kids (£2.95 per 100g)

This is a honey and toffee scented soap with aloe vera. Now I should probably mention that I hate soap. By soap I mean the traditional bars that you had to use as a kid, the ones that don’t come in particularly nice packaging, never look very pretty and are a bit of a nightmare to store. They don’t appeal to me and although I try to be open minded I wasn’t expecting great things from this

What pleased me greatly is the quality of this soap… I found it so nice to use that I invested in a lovely little silver soap dish cos I’ve already bought my second bar. Who’d’ve thunk it, eh?

As with all Lush goodies the first thing that I noticed was the smell! I hadn’t even got it out of the little paper bag and knew I was onto a winner. It’s sweet and smells scrummy enough to eat. As for how it looks, well as far as I’m concerned it looks like any other bar of soap; bland, boring and er, dull :)

The texture is creamy and luxurious – makes me feel like I’m washing myself in something really sweet and natural like milk and honey. I generally use this all over after I’ve shaved and although it leaves my skin all nice n smooth it doesn’t leave behind a horrible residue which is always important!

The reason this stood out to me was because Adryen noticed that my skin felt softer. He’s a typical man in a lot of ways; I’ve had to point out that I had half my hair chopped off before he realised I looked a bit different, so the fact that he actually noticed that my skin felt softer spoke volumes about the quality of this soap

Would I buy this again? Already have

Whipstick Lip balm (£4.75 for 10g)

This is a chocolate-orange lip balm and I’m afraid I’ve found it to be completely average. The taste is ok, the texture is ok and the softening/smoothing ability is… Yep, you’ve guess it… just ok

If you’re a big fan of orange chocolate then this might be worth investing in but it’s £4.75 for a teensy tin and in the interests of reviewing this I’ve used it fairly frequently so I can say with certainty that it’s not gonna last that long

Although it might be handy in the autumn or spring I think most people will need something more hydrating in winter to deal with that awful combination of harsh winds and central heating so as far as I’m concerned this just doesn’t cut the mustard

I love the little metal tin this comes in and I have enjoyed using it but I wont be purchasing it again ♥

Lush Goodies

Good evening all! Can you believe Christmas is over for another year? I'm so glad I have tomorrow off work cos I've been incredibly busy so I'm looking forward to a day spent doing as little as humanly possible

Buffy (£5.00 90g)

An exfoliating scrub for your seating area

I kinda wanted to be able to say this was yummy scrummy on my bummy (yep, I've definitely been spending too much time with my brother Matty. He's 10. To him that's the height of sophisticated wit) but alas it wasn't, so I can't :( Now this isnt a particularly bad product or anything but the residue it left behind just didn't sit well with me. See what I did there? "sit well with me" and it's a bum product? Oh I crack myself up

Aaanyway...This looks, feels and smells perfectly nice when I'm using it - not too rough but still coarse enough that it feels like it's smoothing and softening the skin on my thighs n bottom. I used this a couple of times as instructed on the packet but the greasy residue didn't soak into my skin at all so it was driving me mad cos my jammies were sticking to my legs

Now when I'm using this I give myself a good old scrub and then wash the same area with a regular shower gel. All scrubbed and grease-free - result!

I haven't noticed much difference in my skin texture but it’s a pretty enjoyable product to use

Would I buy this? Nope, I'll be sticking with Soap & Glorys Scrub Actually

Oatifix Face Mask (£4.75 for 75g)

There isn't a single thing about this product that I don't like. It looks really natural, smells like my nephews mushy baby desserts i.e deliciously sweet and lovely and leaves my skin looking and feeling fantastic. All for the bargain price of £4.75!

I kept this in the fridge for a couple of days before trying it so it felt all cool and refreshing. Thanks to the natural ingredients it didn't irritate my skin and the best part was how the little almond shavings exfoliated my skin as I washed this off. Kinda like a face mask and face scrub in one. Absolutely brilliant

Ever had a great face mask that leaves your skin feeling seriously gorgeous but can't be used often cos it's just too harsh? Me too. I used this mask every other day for 2 weeks cos I just enjoy the ritual of applying it at about 9pm when I sit down with a nice cup of tea and magazine with QVC on in the background and my skin seems to have really appreciated all the attention

I've heard great things about all the other Lush face masks too and thanks to this one I shall be treating myself to a little selection asap

Hope you had a fantastic Christmas and got everything on your list to Santa ♥

Winners! - Vaseline Lip Therapy Sticks Giveaway

Good evening all. Sorry about the late post… As you can probably guess I’ve been seriously busy over Christmas! (comes with the territory when you’re the 2nd oldest of 6 kids)

So without further ado the winners are;

Pammy
Stacey
Anitacska

Congrats! An email is on its way to you :)

I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who entered and I’ll be posting a new giveaway to celebrate the new year so keep an eye out for that one! ♥

Exceptional definition mascara

Good evening all! Hope you’re having a great week and are looking forward to Santas arrival – only a couple of days to go!!!

I’ve had such a long day so wanted to do a little review of a mascara I picked up a while back before I go and soak in the bath for an hour or two

I’m a massive fan of No7s Extreme Length mascara – it’s one of those products that look fantastic when applied but take minimal effort and skill to use. I’ve gone through 3 of these in the last year or so which is completely unlike me, I usually suffer from grass-is-greener-syndrome :)

So I picked up the Exceptional Definition mascara because I’d heard people rave about it and compare favourably it to the Extreme Length one (Ok ok I’ll admit I also wanted to get my hands on the GWP)

I think the wand is really interesting cos there are different types of rubber bristles so in theory it should do everything well; coating the lashes, separating them and preventing clumps

Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed by this mascara. The formula is meh. The brush is nothing to write home about; if anything the various bristles just make this a pain to apply. Also, for the price (£12.50) there are loads of better mascaras out there such as Max Factors False Lash Extension Effect which is about £11

Christmas tag

I was tagged by the lovely Audrey at Cupcakes and Chanel to answer these Christmassy questions...

1. Whats Your Favorite Holiday Movie?
Home Alone 2

2. Whats Your Favorite Christmas Color?
White. Haven’t had a white Christmas in years so fingers crossed!

3. Do You Like To Stay in Your PJs Or Dress Up For Christmas?
pjs all morning, dress up for dinner, pjs for the rest of the day

4. If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?
My mum

5. Do You Open Your Present Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning?
Christmas morning of course! Is it not like against the law to open them sooner?

6. Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House?
Yep, the biscuits were all soft n soggy by the time we ate it but it still looked pretty

7. What Do You Like To Do On Your Christmas Break?
As little as possible

8. Any Christmas Wishes?
Uh-huh. Loads

9. Favorite Christmas Smell?
Cinnamon

10. Favorite Christmas Meal Or Treat?
Warm apple pie with a scoop of ice-cream. For some reason I only eat it at Christmas

I tag everyone who fancies doing this :)

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation

As a general rule I'll know almost immediately whether or not I'm gonna get along with a new foundation and there's very little grey area; we'll either be arch enemies of BFFs.OMG, did I acutally just say BFF?!? And OMG?!?! Arrrggghh what's wrong with me?! Right, I've officially been spending waaay to much time in front of my computer

Where was I? Oh yes… the foundation. Application is always important to me cos I'm insanely lazy first thing in the morning so I essentially want a foundation that I can throw at my face, rub around a bit and end up with a perfectly blended, flawless look with great coverage. And this delivers. I'd give the coverage 7/10 as it hides my blemishes pretty well and even does a great job evening out the skin tone around my eyes after a late night

Unfortunately the desired effect is short lived because after a few hours I look so greasy you'd think I'd smeared baby oil on my face. I kid you not. I sometimes suffer from a slightly oily t-zone, which kinda sucks but it's no biggy cos it's nothing a little powder wont rectify. However with this foundation my entire face looked oily. To top it off the product had sunk into my pores so they looked like enormous (oil-filled) olympic sized swimming pools. Niiiice

It's a shame really because I had high hopes for this what with Rimmel Lasting Finish being one of the best foundations ever. I have no doubt that someone with dry skin might adore this but if your skin is veering towards oily at all I can't see it working out too well

I reckon I'd happily wear this if I was only heading out somewhere nice for a couple of hours because the colour matches my skin tone perfectly, it's easy to apply and looks absolutely superb for a little while. But as an all day foundation or big night out foundation it just doesn’t cut it

I’d love to hear what you reckon if you've tried this as I haven’t come across any posts on it yet :)

Oh and as for price it’s about £8.99 so wont break the bank but there are far better foundations out there in the same price range! ♥

Face Candy Couture giveaway winner

Good evening all! Just a quick post to annouce the winner of my Face Candy Couture eyeshadow giveaway. I used random.org to generate the winner. Massive congrats to...

Jennifer

I've just sent you a confirmation email ♥

Thank you to everyone who entered! I'll be doing another give away or 2 in Jan so feel free to keep an eye out for those :)

My favourite beauty bloggers

I have more free time this evening than usual so figured I’d finally get around to posting a ginormously massive thank you to the lovely Real Girls Beauty who was nice enough to give me a blog award like a million years ago

The whole point is to thank the person who gave you the award, link back to their blog, tell people 7 secrets/facts about yourself and then pass the award onto 10 other bloggers… I’ve found this part really hard cos I adore sooo many blogs

Firstly my 7 secrets/facts. My mind kinda went blank when I tried to think of any so these are the best I could come up with :/

1. I’m a foodie. I adore everything about food; cooking it, growing it (though not particularly successfully I might add) shopping for it, watching tv shows about it and of course, eating it :)

2. When I wear a hat – any hat – I look like a French tourist. I’m not even French!!

3. I play World of Warcraft. Yep, I know this makes me a geek. The thick-rimmed glasses add to the effect

4. My favourite music genre is metal

5. One of the only foods I don’t like eating is fish. Yet I love fishing

6. I have a slight obsession with socks. I own about 80 pairs, always wear 2 pairs at a time and change them at least twice a day

7. I have a Metallica tattoo on the back of my neck

Now to the awesome bloggers I’d like to pass this award on to! I’ve been following a lot of these girls since before I started blogging and they’re all incredibly beautiful, sweet, funny and inspirational so you should definitely check them out ♥

Anne Marie Bardot – Marisas blog to everything beauty
Beauty broadcast
Cheekys beauty blog
Miss prissypants
Nails by asami
Nicolettas beauty space
The HQ of beauty

Natural homemade masks for fab skin

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I’m a bit of a faddist. I’ll go through little phases where I decide I’m gonna be an artist or a chocolate maker or a runner or a writer or a guitarist (I kid you not – these have all seemed like totally feasible ideas to me in the past!) and I’ll throw myself into my latest project with such vigour that I’m sure I can’t possibly fail. Of course my new found enthusiasm wanes after about 5 minutes and I find something else to get excited about…

So I guess now would be as good a time as any to get to my point, eh? Well a few years back I decided I would only eat and use completely natural organic products. This included all my beauty products, makeup and food so it was far from easy, which is probably why the plan was all but forgotten within a month. My intentions are good, I’m just missing the all important follow through

One of the good things to come of it that I’ve actually done consistently (I never do anything consistently!) is make homemade face masks. I reckon they’re fab because the ingredients are usually things that I’ll have in the kitchen anyway – except for the strawberries which never last more than a day in my house – they’re all cheap as chips and the masks actually work fantastically well. You can’t really ask for more than that :)

Aaanyway, just wanted to mention a few that I think you might enjoy. They’re all unbelievably simple and only include a few basic ingredients

Yoghurt and Oatmeal mask. This is great for soothing chapped and irritated skin. If your skin is particularly oily feel free to add a few drops of lemon juice, if it’s on the dry side mix in a couple of teaspoons of honey

½ cup natural yoghurt (the mask is all the more refreshing if you use yoghurt straight from the fridge)
¼ cup oatmeal

Mix the ingredients together. Apply to the skin and leave for 10-15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly using warm water

Strawberry mask. I’m sure you have all heard of salicylic acid which is found in most over-the-counter acne products? Well strawberries are a natural source of salicylic acid which makes this great for keeping spots at bay and of course the youghurt is really soothing

1/3 cup fresh strawberries
¼ cup natural yoghurt

Mash the ingredients together. Apply to the skin and leave for 10-15 mins. Rinse thoroughly using warm water

Banana face mask. Thanks to the vitamins and minerals in bananas they make an amazing face mask ingredient because they are soothing, moisturising and even work as an anti-wrinkle treatment! The honey is particularly great for oily skin due to its antiseptic properties

¼ ripe banana
½ cup natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon milk

Mash the goodies together. Apply to the skin and leave for 10-15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water

If you’re a fan of homemade face masks and have any favourite recipes feel free to mention them below. I’m always on the lookout for awesome new ingredients and combinations that will keep my skin looking its best! ♥

Awesome Accessorize goodies

I was wandering round Superdrug the other day and spotted their new Accessorize cosmetics range… Not being one to jump to conclusions or anything I barely gave it a second glance before deciding it was probably all a bit crap. I’m not sure why but it struck me as cheap and tacky looking

So I was more than a tad surprised when I stumbled across a couple of reviews online and the girls had essentially said the brand was so superb they had replaced their makeup collections with the Accessorize goodies. Obviously I was sold and went to pick up a few bits n pieces

After swatching a few eye shadows I spent about an hour narrowing it down to my favourites. What with Christmas being just around the corner (say it with me now! WOOOOHOOO!!) I could only afford a few items so here they are :)

Merged Blusher (4 – diva) £5

8 grams of totally gorgeous blush for a fiver. It just doesn’t get any better than this! I’ve really enjoyed using because once it’s applied it lasts forever. The colour payoff is fab which makes it the perfect blush to apply when I’m in a rush – one little sweep over my cheeks and I’m good to go

Illusion eye shadow (21 – Iris) £4

Ok, I’m just gonna let these eye shadows speak for themselves cos they look bloody gorgeous. If you happen to be in Superdrug any time soon you definitely have to have a nosy cos I can’t imagine how anyone couldn’t like these :)

Baked due eye shadow (6 - Pick Up Line) £4

I just think the quality of this stuff is exceptional and the price is great. The lip products and nail polishes look beautiful so they're next on my shopping list ♥

Face scrubs – Love it / Loathe it

Thanks to the good old British weather my skin has become a lot more dry n dull over the last few weeks. Toasty warm indoors with the central heating on then freezing cold outside with icy winds blowing in my face; Not exactly kind to the skin! :)

Though nothing a good face scrub can’t help with so I wanted to mention a couple I’ve picked up over the last few months

Scrub your nose in it by Soap & Glory - £7.25 per 125 mls

This little beauty does 2 jobs in 1 – it can be used as a face scrub or kept on the skin for a few minutes as a mask. Either way it totally kicks ass! Everything from the smell, texture, colour and price pleased me immensely and I’ve found that it actually does what it says on the tin. Er, I mean tube

My pores have been really noticeable recently but this scrub has been doing a bloody good job of showing them who’s boss so now the only obvious ones are around my nose. It’s also helped clear up the hideous blemishes around my chin (I know you must be sick hearing me moan about them but I can’t help it – they’re just so annoying!!) and it’s left the skin on my cheeks and forehead looking much brighter and smoother

Clinique 7 day scrub cream rinse-off formula - £16.50 per 100mls

I can’t stand this scrub. The texture of the liquid is horrible because it’s not quite a cream yet not quite a gel so it just feels kinda odd. The little beads are incredibly small so I expected this to leave my skin feeling extremely soft and exfoliated but even after using it every day for a few weeks there was no difference at all… It also commits the cardinal skin of any face wash/scrub by leaving a yucky residue even after it’s be rinsed off. Which irks me greatly

The packaging is dull, there’s no smell and as far as I’m concerned this is just an all round rubbish scrub, which is a chore to use. I know loads of girls who swear by this so it obviously works for a lot of people but I just can’t get on board with it. I’d rather just use my regular cleanser with a muslin cloth or scrublet because I reckon it does a much better job. End rant.

Hope you've enjoyed what has to be the worst day of the week! I'm always much cheerier once Monday is over ♥

Christmas wish list

Good evening and happy Sunday to you! (is there such a thing I wonder?) Hope you’ve had a stupendous weekend and are looking forward to the rest of the week :)

My weekend couldn’t have been any better cos I got a dog *cue happy dance and insane grin just thinking about said dog* Her name is Zoe and although she’s 2 years old she doesn’t seem to have been toilet trained so I’ve basically spent hours walking outside in the cold waiting for her to do her business only to get home and have her unleash rivers of wee pretty much straight away. Grrr!

Took me months to toilet train Bernard so it’s gonna be a long pee-streaked road ahead but she’s so adorable it’ll totally be worth it!

Anywho I’ve been browsing a lot of your blogs over the weekend and I really enjoyed reading (and looking at all the pretty pics) your Christmas wish lists and I figured I may as well post one myself…

NARS Love Me Set

Kiehls Coconut Lip Balm

Sigma brushes - Face Kit

ELF High Definition Powder

Estee lauder Pure Colour Lip Gloss Set

MAC My Scottish Fling Set

Anywho thats my list... nothing majorly exciting, just some gorgeous little things I rather fancy. Anything in particular you'd like Santa to bring you this year? ♥

Giveaway - New Vaseline Lip Therapy Range

Guess what?! It’s Friday tomorrow. Wooooooo!! And of course there’s no better way to kick-start the weekend than with a little giveaway

The lovely people at Vaseline have asked me to post a competition and the winners (there will be 3 prizes for a change!) will receive 4 Vaseline Lip Therapy sticks; Original, Aloe, Rosy and Cocoa Butter

I’m sure you already know that I’m quite a big fan of the Vaseline lip therapy tins so I was really excited when I saw these new stick versions! Le sigh... excited by a new lip product. I think we can all agree that I need to get out more :)

So, here’s what the Vaseline people have to say….
The ultimate beauty classic, adored by lip-loving women around the globe has got itself a brand new addition! To celebrate, we’ve teamed up with Vaseline to offer three lucky readers the chance to put the new handy sized Vaseline Lip Therapy Sticks to the test!

Made with the special combination of natural waxes and caring oils, you can now enjoy moisturising lip care benefits in an all new easy to apply stick format – a perfect and effortless way to keep your lips looking and feeling great during the winter months.

The lucky winners will be kitted out with the complete new Vaseline Lip Therapy stick range, so you’re fully prepared for the colder months ahead. Available in four variants, Original, Aloe, Rosy and Cocoa Butter, thanks to Vaseline you can protect your lips from the elements with a simple twist of a stick!

Vaseline Lip Therapy sticks, RRP £1.99. Call 0800 085 15 48 for stockists, and visit www.vaseline.co.uk for more information

To enter you must be a follower of this blog

For one entry simply say enter me in the comments below and include your email address so I can get in touch if you win!

For additional entries :

Recommend your all time favourite lip product

Post about this giveaway on your blog (including the picture at the top) and leave a link to this post!

This giveaway is International so anyone can enter. I'll select the winner on 23th December using Random.org

Good luck all! ♥

Max Factor Xperience weightless foundation

As you guys probably know by now I’m a tad obsessed with foundation and Max Factor do some good ‘uns so I was expecting superb things from this and I’m pleased to say that it delivered in almost every way. There’s always an almost…

The packaging is a simple plastic squeezy tube – think Rimmels lasting finish. I love this because it means I’m not worried about glass smashing when I’m carrying it around in my bag and thanks to the little squeezy dispenser you can choose exactly how much product you need; anything that stops me wasting foundation is a plus

I should mention right away that this only gives a light/medium coverage so if you’re having a bad skin day or generally opt for more coverage then this probably wont be for you! Having said that I have horrible breakouts around my chin so I applied a nice layer of this foundation and then just dotted concealer where needed and it looked pretty damn good. Even if I do say so myself :)

My shade is Beige Linen 50

This claims to be a weightless foundation and I’d be happy to vouch for that. When I applied this it genuinely felt like I had nothing on my skin at all. It also manages to blend fantastically well (and easily!) so if it wasn’t for the flawless finish you wouldn’t know you’d even applied anything, which is pretty much the exact result I’m after from a good foundation!!

What I found odd – and bad- about this was how it went from matte to greasy so quickly. When this is first applied it sets to a beautiful, slightly powdery matte finish and it feels brilliant; soft, smooth and very similar to my natural skin. However, after about 4 or 5 hours my t-zone was incredibly oily looking and I was definitely in need of a little dusting of powder

I’ve worn this quite a lot since I picked it up recently and even after a whole days wear there isn’t any patchiness, streaks or dry areas. Overall I think it’s a great product and thanks to the natural jojoba it should be the perfect skin pampering foundation to wear over the winter months. Not bad for £9.99 methinks

Oh and a quick note on application! Even though this goes on evenly without much effort I’ve found that my skin tends to absorb a lot of the liquid as it’s applied so in order to use as little as possible for natural, sheer, even coverage I’ve been using my AVON foundation brush (my fingers and a sponge have done the trick too but the end result just wasn’t quite as good)
This brush isn’t nearly as dense as the ones I normally use but I’ve found it actually aids the application of an extremely fine layer of product :)

Has anyone else tried this? Reckon it’s as good as other foundations in the same price range?

Joy ♥

Top 10 products for dry, chapped lips

Happy Tuesday all! Hope your weeks been great so far :)

Anywho, I was walking Bernard this evening and after an hour wandering round the park in the cold my lips felt horrible! They really don’t agree with this miserable weather at all and are constantly dry, chapped and really uncomfortable

Extremely dry lips seem to run in my family. I called into my mums a few days ago and my brothers lips were so dry and broken that he had resorted to a big slick of Bepanthen – yep, the nappy rash cream - on and around his lips (it’s the only thing that’s actually worked for him in the past!)

These are my top 10 products for keeping lips looking and feeling tip top over winter but feel free to leave a comment if you have a particular favourite that I havent mentioned because I’m always on the lookout for awesome new products ♥

10th - Clinique superbalm lip treatment

9th – The Body Shop vitamin E lip care

8th – Dermalogica lip treatment

7th – AVON botanicals naturally glossy lip conditioner

6th – Flexitol lip balm

5th – Burts Bees replenishing lip balm with pomegranate oil

4th – Softlips vitamin enriched lip conditioner

3rd – Carmex moisturising lip balm (my fave is the cherry one cos it smells scrummy)

2nd – Rose & Co Apothecary; beeswax lip salve with honey and vanilla

1st – Vaseline lip therapy tins

Giveaway – 4 Face Candy Couture Eyeshadows

A few examples of the gorgeous shades available

Just wanted to announce a little eyeshadow giveaway courtesy of the lovely Shantle from Face Candy Couture

The lucky winner will win 4 3 gram jars of eyeshadow and you can choose your own colours from the website (If you’re anything like me the most difficult thing will probably be narrowing it down)

If you’d like a review of the goodies before you enter I’ve mentioned them before so feel free to have a look here :)

To enter you must be a follower of this blog

For one entry simply have a nosy at the Face Candy Couture site and list the 4 shades you’d like if you win and include your email address so I can get in touch

For additional entries (and more chance of winning!) you can do any of the following;

Follow Face Candy Couture on Twitter at http://twitter.com/shantleshipp

Tweet about the giveaway leaving a link to http://www.facecandycouture.com/

Like Face Candy Couture on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FaceCandyCoutureMinerals

Heart Face Candy Coutures Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/facecandycouture

Post about this giveaway on your blog and leave a link to this post!

This giveaway is International so anyone can enter. I'll select the winner on 20th December using Random.org

Good luck all! ♥

New favourite lip product

GOSH Soft n Shine lip balm in Sweetheart (39)

Sunday again :( *le sigh*Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Today has been totally awesome cos we put the Christmas tree up so the house is all festive and cosy. Then I went to the cinema and watched Megamind (best animated film I’ve seen in ages) and generally just pottered about after that. Perfect Sunday in my opinion :)

I wanted to mention a lip product I picked up recently cos it’s quickly become one of my favourites

This is such an odd item because it looks like a lipstick, the package says it’s a balm, yet when it’s applied it looks like a gloss :/ So far I haven’t found a single fault with this (Give me time. There’s bound to be something!) so figured it deserved a few words of praise

A few things I love about this:

Packaging: Sleek, simple, thin black metal tube. Different from any other product I own and I think it’s very plain and elegant

Smell: Sweet subtle vanilla scent. Pleasant but definitely not overpowering

Texture: Although this looks like a lipstick it goes on like a good quality lip balm and managed to stay feeling smooth and creamy for ages. I haven’t found anything else that looks as good as this whilst still feeling exceptionally moisturising

Appearance: Theres a great selection of colours and after debating with myself for about a decade the shade I’ve gone for is pale pink with a hint of shimmer. It’s not drastically different from my natural lip colour so I can get away with wearing this with pretty much any makeup look

Price: Under £8

Right, I best be off because I wanna make some tea and read a few chapters of my book before I head to bed ♥