Makeup disaster and NOTD x3

Good evening all! Hope you had a nice weekend… As you can probably tell from the pic of Zoe it was all go in my house :) Spent ages in the park with Adryen and the pooches cos apparently a hurricane is gonna be hitting the UK so if the weathers as bad as expected I’ll probably be stuck indoors every evening

I was watching 24 earlier today (yeah, I’m a teensy bit behind everyone else!) and decided to try a few different colours on my nails. They’re all from the NYC In A New York Minute range which is easily the best new nail polish I’ve tried this year
Times Square Greenwich Village
Spring Street

I’m not exactly skilled when it comes to polish application but this makes it unbelievably easy… it’s totally self-levelling so all I have to worry about is staying inside the lines and it generally looks grand when I’m done

At the minute Superdrug have a 3 for 2 offer on the NYC stuff so I’ve bought quite a few bottles of this as they only cost £1.79 each. 3 gorgeous polishes for under £4… bargaintastic, eh?

Know what really sucks? When you absolutely love a product, have just written a very complimentary review about it, only to drop it and have it smash all over the floor rendering it pretty much unusable :( That’s what happened to my fantastic Laura Geller blush last night. I’m just coming to terms with the loss but it’s been rather upsetting *sniff*

Amazing Laura Geller blush

Baked Cheek Dream Highlight and Blush

This baked blush came in the Vanilla Nudes collection I got from Laura Geller recently. I wanted to do a quick post on it because it’s beyond awesome and the colour is one of those universally pretty shades that manages to suit pretty much every skin tone. Oh and it's called Neapolitan - I'd have bought it just for the name :)
I hadn’t expected much from this because I’m generally not a fan of the blend-in-the-pan blushes that have a few different shades but I’ve actually enjoyed using each of the colours separately too… the highlighter is gorgeous on the brow bone, on the cupids bow, in the corner of the eye and, er, on the cheeks as a highlighter (but I guess that one goes without saying) and of course a quick swish in a circular motion in the pan is perfect for getting a pink/peach shades for an every day simple blush shade
One of the things I dislike about powder is how it can look cakey and heavy even if you only apply the smallest amount but this is so finely milled that it doesn’t sit in the pores or look thick on the skin. It’s incredibly natural and easy to use because it blends more easily than I’d have thought possible
The only negative? This came with a collection that I got from QVC and I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else so once I run out I’ll have to buy the whole set again! Though considering I’ve used this loads recently and have barely made a dent in it I reckon it’ll be a while before I have to shop for another one ♥

The scent most favoured by men?

When it comes to perfumes and body lotions my favourites are the ones that smell like food. Nothing beats the smell of yummy oranges, cherries, cinnamon or strawberries! My latest purchases have all been scented with vanilla, which has gotta be one of the best smells ever. Honestly I think it's right up there with freshly cut grass and coffee first thing in the morning, the only problem with it is that the smell means I'm constantly craving sweet foods (like vanilla ice-cream funnily enough)

And of course when it comes to delicious smelling body stuff few places rival The Body Shop. I got myself some bath and shower gel, body lotion (they don't do a vanilla body butter. What’s up with that?!) and perfume. I've been really impressed by 2 of them and fairly impressed by 1
The shower gel smells like heaven and is seriously economical; it's so concentrated that I only use about a teaspoon of it to wash my whole body. Twice. It creates a lovely lather and a tiny squirt of it under running water is enough for a fab bubble bath
The perfume (well, eau de toilette) is one of the most complimented scents I've ever used. It actually smells like proper vanilla pods mixed with vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with crushed vanilla cookies. So it's a wee bit vanilla-y. It's not the most long lasting perfume I've ever worn but by the same token it isn't one of those scents that enters the room before I do (giving people headaches and dizzy spells for good measure) so it suits me perfectly and is a good replacement for Fantasy by Britney Spears, which I've been using for years
Last of all we have the body lotion which is was the most disappointing of the 3 products. It smells absolutely edible and is quite fluid so doesn't take much time or effort to apply. Unfortunately once it's been applied it takes an age to be absorbed! I'm always left with a moist residue all over my body - It's not exactly greasy but it's just…well, kinda moist and just sitting there on top of my skin not getting to work with all the moisturising it's s'posed to be doing! The smell lasts a while and it's definitely helping with the dry areas around my knees and elbows but it's not the best body lotion ever

I was wearing the lotion and perfume the other day and one of my friends said she’d read that vanilla is the most favoured scent by men all over the world, which is apparently why a lot of perfumes use it as the base note. Rather surprising I thought cos I figured floral scents would be most widely liked. So I asked Adryen what his favourite smell is and know what he said? Yup, vanilla. Not the most scientific experiment or anything but still!... ♥

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint - At long last!

I'd say 99.9% of the people I speak to who have tried Liz Earle fall in love with the brand straight away and end up extolling the virtues of the products to anyone who'll listen (talking of which - if you haven't tried the Hot Cloth Cleanser you really must!) Anywho, the nice people at Liz Earle sent me a bottle to try as the new Sheer Skin Tint SPF15 is being launched this month

Fans of the brand know that they can rely on the products to keep their skin clean, well-balanced, moisturised and looking it's best with very little effort. I actually learned this from Sarah, my 16 year old sister, who is pretty much obsessed with the range and literally doesn't use anything else on her face. I got her the Ultimate Hamper for Christmas '09 and she was still using a lot of the products almost a year later… The goodies aren't ridiculously expensive or anything but she has to save her pocket money to buy the essentials every few months so that'll probably give you an idea just how much she doesn't wanna go without 'em :)

With that in mind I think I can safely say that this is one of the most anticipated products I've come across in a while; It's Liz Earles first foray into the world of makeup, albeit a very subtle one! This is a sheer skin tint with SPF15 and is a perfect blend of skin nourishing yummyness and a subtle sheer dewy tint that adds a nice glow to the skin
I think the best thing about this is how it helps even out my skin tone and gives a radiant finish to my face without actually feeling like makeup. It feels like I'm looking after my skin in the long term (thanks to the avocado oil, borage seed oil and vitamin E) as well as making it look a million times better in the short term. I know a lot of people have referred to this as a tinted moisturiser but I'd say it's more of a very sheer foundation, mostly because I wouldn't wear it without applying my moisturiser first

Being someone who normally wears pretty heavy coverage foundation I wasn't sure if this would work for me on a day-to-day basis but I've actually really liked the sheer look because I feel finished but not too dolled up

The texture is smooth and creamy, making it the perfect product to apply with your fingers. In fact you could apply this without even looking in a mirror - like when you're on the bus to work after hitting the snooze button 4 times then just sleeping right through the alarm altogether. Yeah, wasn't the best start to today - and it still ends up looking nice!

But onto the most important thing… Does it actually last?! After wearing this all day I can usually see where it's faded around my nose but impressively my t-zone is shine free and my skin feels lovely, not overly dry or greasy as it can with other tints and foundations. For anyone who wants the look of a really sheer coverage foundation that feels like a moisturiser then I think this could be just the ticket
As you can see the texture is quite thick...
...but blends unbelievably easily...
...and just leaves a nice subtle glow...

Price : £21 for 40mls

Shades available : Bare, Beige, Beach (I’ve been using the beige)

Bonus : If you order a bottle from the website they'll send you 3 samples - one in each shade - so you can try them to see what suits you best and then just return the unopened bottle for a different shade if you've made the wrong choice ♥

Free All About Nude Quad

Eyeshadow + Lipstick + awesome free All About Nude quad = happy smiley face!

I always find it really satisfying to use makeup that didn't cost me a penny which is probably one of the reasons I've really enjoyed this little All About Nude quad from 17. I got it when I picked up an eye shadow and lipstick from Boots... 17 have one of those buy-any-2-roducts-and-get-the-quad-free offers. If I’m honest I like the freebie so much I’m tempted to buy a few more things so I can get a quad for my sisters as little stocking fillers. I know Christmas is months away but you can never plan too far ahead! :)
Now that I've finally gotten my braces off (WOOHOOOOO!!!!) I'm pretty much obsessed with wearing lipsticks and glosses as I’ve kinda veered away from them for the last 18 months. Braces might be practical but they're definitely not the prettiest things ever. I'm making up for it now though and have bought about, oooh, 20 lipsticks in the last 10 days, with these little 17 ones getting a very respectable 8.5 outta 10 for their all-round superbness. My most recent purchase is called Bon Bon (swatched below - left) it’s a lovely rich nude shade that isn’t much darker than my natural lip colour; perfect for making me look finished but not too made up
This iridescent shimmery taupe (swatched below - right) eye shadow looks a bit bland in the pot but looks a million times nicer when it's actually applied. I've been using it as my all-over-lid shade for about a week now and have just been topping it off with a darker shade in the crease. It's one of those shadows that has reminded me just how good some of the lower priced drugstore products can be as there are plenty of light shimmery taupe shadows in my collection that cost 10 times as much but aren’t nearly as gorgeous
As for the quad…
The gold shade in the palette is really pigmented and looks lovely on, I’ve been using a teensy pencil brush to apply it just under my lower lash line as it really widens my eyes and is a nice change from the browns and blacks I normally opt for. At first I thought the cheek colour was just a plain powder but it’s actually a beautiful pink cream with a subtle hint of gold sparkle through it

I hadn't even intended to use the little lipstick square it but it's rather nice on! I generally find these little lipstick and lipgloss squares a bit useless as the colour payoff is rubbish and they're just annoying to apply thanks to being brushless and wandless but this is an exception… it's pigmented, pretty, easy to apply, long(ish) lasting and not too sticky so I don't mind smearing it on with my finger :)
The only square I'm not too keen on is the pink eyeshadow. I find any pink shadow can be a nightmare to use because it can leave me looking ill and tired. And a bit mouse like. It might be my imagination but because mice often have red eyes any sorta pink eyeshadow leaves me looking suspiciously like Brain from the Animaniacs
An interesting look but not really what I'm going for ♥

My new favourite makeup

Good evening all! Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend so far :) I’ve had a seriously busy month and haven’t really had time to blog so I have about a million and one products I wanna mention but I just have to start with something by Laura Geller because it’s officially my new favourite makeup brand. I’ve only tried a few things from the range but have loved them so much I now have a Laura Geller shopping list which is in danger of reaching page two of an A4 notebook
You’ve probably already noticed that I’m a bit of a QVC addict (the lazy girls window shopping!) and it’s introduced me to a few good brands – like Smashbox and Decleor – so I’d seen demonstrations of the Laura Geller makeup dozens of times before I actually bit the bullet and decided to treat myself to a little 5 piece Baked Vanilla Nudes kit. The main reason I got this was because it included the Balance n Brighten powder which I’d had my eye on for ages

The 5 piece kit includes a blush/highlighter/bronzer trio, balance n brighten, mascara, an eye shadow duo and a lipstick

Ever noticed how you see adverts for some foundations and you kinda go aye, right! when you see the before and after shots cos it doesn’t actually work half as well when you try it out? Well with this stuff it’s the other way round! I wore this by itself today. i.e without a liquid foundation underneath. That’s pretty much unheard of for me cos I not only love liquid foundations but actually veer towards to high coverage ones like Double Wear so to get away with just a powder is incredamazing

I opted for the fair shade which has adapted fairly well to the slight tan I got on holiday!

This powder starts out as a cream which is baked for 24 hours. As you can see from the swirly pattern it’s a mix of numerous different shades which seems to be why the few shades available can adapt to match pretty much every single skin tone there is. The texture of this powder is silky smooth and it’s really really tightly packed into the pan so you can swirl your powder brush around in it again and again without leaving a big powdery mess everywhere

I find that I can swirl a brush in the pan, tap off the excess, buff this all over my face and have perfectly finished foundation in about 15 seconds. Honestly, it’s just beyond easy. As for the finished look… The first thing I have to say it that it isn’t yuckily powdery! I generally wouldn’t dream of using a powder foundation (unless it was just to set a liquid one) because I hate that really unpleasant cakey, dry, matte look, not least of all cos the powder clings to all those unbelievably small hairs all over your face, settles in any lines or creases and just looks horrible. The finish you get from Balance n Brighten is definitely matte but it’s a much more smooth creamy look than you’d expect from a powder compact Oh and the biggest compliment that could be awarded to this? My mum used (and liked!!) it whilst we were on holiday. She doesn’t wear any makeup at all unless it’s a really special occasion but she liked this so much she dusted a little over her face every morning to hide her dark circles and the little broken capillaries over her cheeks. I’ve used this pretty much every day for about 6 weeks and you’d hardly think I’d used any at all. Apparently it’s fairly long-lasting and I reckon I’ll still be using the same compact after Christmas
This is definitely gonna be a repeat purchase and I’m now looking forward to buying and trying more Laura Geller stuff. Feel free to let me know if you have any favourites from the brand!

My favourite July goodies

Evening folks! And what a marvellous evening it is... I’m all giddy and ridiculously excited because I’m finally getting my braces taken off tomorrow! Honestly I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to it, because although I love what they’ve been doing for my teeth, I’m not keen on how they make me look like a 15 year old :) I’m not kidding when I say I havent even been able to concentrate on writing a proper blog post but I’ve been looking forward to posting my July favourites so here goes…

ChapSticks; Strawberry and Cherry flavour. I'd forgotten just how good these old favourites actually smell cos it's been so long since I owned any. Pleased to report that they're as scrummy as ever :) Soltan Once Face sun cream - SPF 30
Bourjois Smokey Eyes Trio in Mordore chic
No7 Natural Blush in Candy Pink
Biore Skin-Boosting night serum. I recently picked up loads of stuff from the Biore range but haven't made a final decision on the other goodies yet ♥