In need of retail therapy...

Phew, January is finally over, and payday finally came!  That seemed like a long month didn't it?  I've got some Trafford Centre vouchers burning a hole in my purse and I can just feel in my bones that ASOS will put out a discount code soon (or at least I hope so), so I just thought I'd show you some of the items I'm dying to indulge in:

Topshop

Knitted painted parrot print top

Pink French Word Studs

Tangerine Boyfriend Blazer

Tall Unicorn Sweat



River Island

Purple Bow Neck Midi Dress

ASOS

Tulip Dress with Scoop Neck

Sleeveless Mini Dress with Double Skirt

Boohoo

Hannah Colour Pop Skinny Jeans



As you can see, orange is featuring quite strongly here!  There's a lot more stuff I want but it's things like bikinis and tshirts and stuff, which is far too early/depressing to be looking at!

Good Things Total Wipeout Cleansing Wipes - Raspberry and Cranberry

I bought these on a whim for those nights when you just want to take your make up off really quickly (like I did on Saturday night) - I'd ran out of my seemingly endless stock of facewipes and decided not to buy any more but I missed them!  I know they're not the best thing for your skin but as an occassional thing I think they're ok.

These smell so nice, very fruity (as you'd expect) and yummy!  The wipes are also really wet too, which sounds a bit silly, but I hate taking my eye make up off with dryish wipes as I feel you really pull at your lashes, so these are great in terms of that.  They also don't sting your eyes or irritate your skin when you use them, which is obviously really important.  I've used really cheap wipes before and actually had an allergic reaction to whatever's in them.

They were developed by beauty writer Alice Hart-Davis and are also free from animal ingredients, parabens, SLS', petrochemicals and mineral oil.

Good Things Cleansing Wipes are available from Boots.com for £3.49 (and you get your Boots points too!)

Revitalash Eyelash Conditioner

You might remember when I reviewed RapidLash last year and had some good results - though my lashes were probably still pretty short by most normal-lashed standards.  Well, I was given Revitalash for Christmas and have just started trying it this week. My natural eyelashes are so short, I'm always searching for that holy grail product/treatment that will give me gorgeous, long lashes...I don't know how viable this is if I'm honest, the only things that make my lashes as dramatic as I want are falsies or lash extensions (and even then sometimes extensions aren't thick enough).

So, I thought I'd treat you to another picture of my mascara-free eyelashes.  Pathetic aren't they?

I'm going to try and give regular updates of growth and any side effects that may occur (hopefully none), I have read some reviews saying that it can cause discolouration of the eyelids and/or take up to 3 months to notice a different but I'll persevere.

I still haven't tried LiLash which is meant to be one of the most effective products for lash growth, but it's considerably more expensive and to be honest for the price, and the really short length of my eyelashes I just don't feel any product is going to give me the long, dramatic, fluttery lashes I want.  But here's hoping!

Lush Yuzu and Cocoa Bubbleroon

I struggled to get a picture of this where it looked nice, and I was desperate to use it so I didn't have the patience to get one!  It does look like a yummy macaroon though.  But this has become a bit of a favourite, it's my usual taste...sweet and fruity.  Apparently Yuzu is a kind of Japanese mandarin (I had to research this) and the citrus aspect definately comes through in the smell, though it's made of a blend of citrus oils rather than Yuzu,  as does the sweetness of the coconut oil/shea butter.

I used half of this in the bath and it created loads of bubbles, made the bathroom smell gorgeous and made the water a bit orange.  It left my skin feeling really smooth and looking more moisturised too.  I've not had a bath for ages, and I like them just a bit too hot, so I came away from this feeling the most relaxed I have in weeks!  I will definately be buying this again - it's going into my list of favourite bathbomb/bubble bars along with Flosty Gritter (which I don't think you can get any more), Creamy Candy and Dragon's Egg.  Mmmmm!

CND Shellac in Hollywood

I got Shellac nails done at the weekend, and the colour that I chose was Hollywood - a gorgeous, classic, true red that in the right light has a really really subtle shimmer to it.  The finish on this is really glossy and it's the kind of colour that I think you can wear at work, on a night out, with casual clothes etc without feeling daft...I don't think you'd necessarily get sick of it either.  I've had my eye on it for a while but the salons I've been to never have it in, they always have some of the other reds, but not Hollywood and I don't know why as it's my favourite by far!

I got this done for £10 with a KGB Deals voucher.  On the same day I also used a Living Social voucher for a chiropody appointment where I usually go anyway (again £10) and another voucher (2 for 1) for Champagne Afternoon Tea at Richmond Tea Rooms, which was absolutely gorgeous and I'd really recommend.  So all in all I had a pretty nice, luxurious day for a relatively bargainous price....champagne lifestyle, lemonade money!

YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in No 1 Luminous Radiance

 Everyone's heard of Touch Eclat haven't they?  I was really pleased to receive this actually as it's something I've been thinking about purchasing for a while because I seem to be getting the dreaded herediatary dark circles under my eyes  Now, if I remember rightly, Touche Eclat isn't necessarily a concealer as such - more  a highlighter that reflects light away from the area and masks any undesirables.   It's suitable for all skin types and comes in a variety of shades.  You can actually use it in a whole variety of ways as shown in this blog post but I use it mainly for under my eyes.

Now firstly, the packaging - typical YSL gold, luxurious packaging that looks nice in your make up bag or on your dressing table.  It looks quite similar to my YSL Faux Cils mascara and I'm forever taking the wrong one out of my bag but that's not a big deal.  It has a brush applicator and to dispense product you just click the end, I find that I don't need many clicks to get enough product dispensed.  Application is relatively straightforward, you just brush on and then I blend in with my fingertips - it has a really light consistency and this shows in the way it applies.

In terms of wear, I find it lasts all day, if I'm going somewhere after work or something I might have to reapply it then.  I do think it hides a multitude of sins particularly well and I think I would actually repurchase this once it runs out, it's just one of those products that instantly makes me look more awake.
YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch is available from CheapSmells.com for £17.95

After looking at the Cheapsmells site they actually have quite a bit of YSL stuff, all of it a bit cheaper than it would be if you bought it at the counter.  When I think about it, I'm sure I've actually bought YSL Faux Cils Mascara from Cheapsmells before as it was quite a bit cheaper than buying it in store, but they're not offering it at the moment.

Loreal Mythic Oil - Nourishing Oil for all hair types

I first came across this after receiving it in a Glossybox a while ago but to be honest I didn't really bother using it as I already had my hair products that I liked, and tended to just use it to finish my do and add a bit of shine.  After receiving another sample of this recently, I've been converted! 

I use this now when I blowdry my hair and it makes it look really shiny - as a blonde, I sometimes struggle to get a nice shine to my hair - and feels very soft, and not at all like I've got product in it.  I feel like it holds my hair a bit straighter too without weighing it down or making it feel greasy, as an oil it's really light.  It also doesn't smell too strongly either - the Dumb Blonde Shampoo I'm using at the moment has such a distinctive smell, I'm glad this doesn't fight with it.

I'd definately recommend giving this a go, especially if your hair is a bit longer or in need of some TLC - apparently this is even good for fine hair, but with my fuzzy, thick hair I can't really comment on this.  It's enriched with a blend of grape and avocado oil, amongst other things.

Mythic Oil is available from CheapSmells.com for £11.95

Jewellery storage...

I posted a while ago about my dressing table and my little heart shaped makeshift jewellery box in this post from October.  It was getting a bit cramped in there (and quite hard to find things) so I decided to see what else was around and came across this double drawer jewellery box from ASOS :

The jewellery I mainly wear is earrings with the odd bracelet/bangle or ring thrown in there so this was perfect.  I like that I can see where things are and that I can keep my earrings as a pair in the top section rather than having to root around and try and find the other earring.

Here's some pictures of it in action and some gratuitous earring shots - my favourite earrings at the moment are the gold ones that look a bit like curtain ties (from River Island) and the Unicorn ones at the bottom (from Topshop) - they look like the unicorn is jumping through your ear, which sounds a bit ew but actually looks really nice!

This jewellery box is now in the sale for £15 and can be found here - it comes in green and there's also a single tier version available too, which might have actually been a bit more of a sensible option for me!  And to end, a slightly better pic of the Topshop earrings I've shown above - I've never had so many comments about a pair of earrings before, people are really intrigued by them:

Interview for Reasons to be Beautiful Magazine

I was asked if I'd like to be interviewed for Reasons to be Beautiful, an online magazine that represents real women and relevant issues.  I was asked some questions about blogging and beauty products/tips ( as you'd expect), if you'd like to hear a bit more about my opinions other than reviews of products, then you can read the interview here.

Pssst...I'm selling quite a lot of stuff on Ebay at the moment....

I had a good old New Year sort out at the weekend and came across quite a lot of stuff that I've only worn a few times so decided to have a major Ebay session, some of the things I'm selling is shown below, there's a lot more though:

Carvela Auction Platform Shoes

Topshop Loretta Bow Sandals

 Warehouse Pink Damask Dress



 French Connection Wendy Dress

 French Connection Rockafella Dress

Topshop Star Jumper

So y'know, feel free to have a look - you can check out my Ebay items here  - if you see anything you like don't be shy about bidding :-)

Smashbox Bionic Mascara in Jet Black

I was sent this to review and after trying it a few times, this mascara isn't really for me - it creates brilliant volume and makes lashes look really full/dark but when your eyelashes are as short as mine, I'd prefer something that elongates my lashes a bit more too.  It is a good mascara and if you've already got long lashes, or your lashes are fair/sparse then this would probably be better for you.

The packaging, wand and formula are all nice, they're just not right for my eyelashes and don't give me the extra length and flutter I so desperately crave.  However, in saying that I have been using it when I wear false lashes because of how dark and full it makes my lashes, so my own lashes blend in much better with the falsies.

Smashbox Bionic Mascara is available from CheapSmells.com for £12.95 (a 22% saving from the retail price.  I got a whole load of Smashbox stuff for Christmas so expect a review to come on that stuff soon!

I didn't realise the YSL Spring 2012 Candy Face collection was out already!

Spring isn't even on my radar since it's January, grey and cold but I thought I would have a bit of a Google to find out when the YSL Spring 2012 Candy Face collection was out as I'm coveting a few things and it turns out it's already out!  I don't normally get too excited by new collections  but this really catches my eye.
Here's what I like from the collection:

Vinyl Candy Palette

Golden Gloss                  Manucure Couture

YSL Rouge Volupte Perle

• Vinyl Candy Palette
• Golden Gloss in Golden Violet and Golden Peach
• Manucure Couture No 8
• YSL Rouge Volupte Perle

Realistically I'll probably buy the orange/pink polish combo (definately) and maybe a lipstick or lipgloss depending on the colour when swatched.  The Voile de Blush are nice too but to be honest I think I'm a bit over liquid blush at the moment and have gone back to powder blush with a vengeance.

New Shellac colours being released in March 2012 (or February if you're in Ireland or the US)

 

For any of you that are Shellac fans (like me), just a quick post to show you the new Shellac colours that are being released in the UK in March.  To be honest none of them really jump out at me but I'm interested to see some swatches of them on the nails  - especially Silver Chrome, which I'm interested to see if it is truly metallic, and I do think it would be good to use with a nice holo silver glitter for Rockstar nails.  I did originally want Asphalt (a dark grey) but I might change that for Cityscape or Rubble because these are more "my sort of greys".

If you live in Ireland or the US, you'll be getting these about a month earlier than in the UK so you could be getting your nails done in these colours in just a few weeks time!

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark and OPI Over the Taupe

I got both of these for Christmas and I absolutely love both of them - I don't know why it's taken me so long to try Lincoln Park After Dark in particular!  Basically, my nail collection consists of purple, black, red, pink, grey, taupe and a couple of random metallics and some oranges so both of these ticked the colour box for me.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark
This is a really glossy, dark purple, so dark it actually looks black most of the time but every now and again in certain lights a little bit of purple will flash through.  I love it, especially when my nails are a bit shorter.  I think it would be nice to layer it too, maybe with a purple glitter or flakie?  As ever, I found the OPI brush really easy to use and longevity was ok.  If you like dark colours, you'll like this.

OPI Over the Taupe
This is a pretty standard taupe - not too orange and not too grey - which, to be honest, is why I like it.  I wear quite a lot of taupes for work or when I'm wearing an outfit that already has a lot of colour in so I'm happy to add another one to my collection, as they are all ever so slightly different.  As above, I liked the brush and it lasted ok.  I'd recommend this if you're a taupe lover or if you don't really have any in your collection and want a decent first one.

A trio of Topshop treats...

I was lucky enough to be given this by my friend as a belated birthday present - by belated I mean my birthday is the beginning of September, and I got this the weekend before Christmas.  But never mind, I was pleased to get it!  My friend was like "I debated on whether to get you this as I thought you'd either have them already or just have the same colours from somewhere else".  It comes in a really cute little plastic zip container with a bow on it that I'll probably use for other things.

Lacquered is a really glossy, pretty blue-based red that I really like.  To be honest it's not that different to other reds I have, but I still like it nevertheless and it's definately wearable.  Hyperreal is a colour I don't already have anything like.  I've so far been most impressed by the metallic polishes from the Topshop collections and this is no exception, I'd describe it as a metallic bronze.  It's really pretty and unusual, plus it's one of those colours that I can't stop staring at on my nails - this one is definately my favourite out of the three colours, though I like them all.  Deceptive is a smoky dark purple that borders towards grey/taupe.  I really like this kind of colour but don't have anything quite as dark as this with a purpley tinge.

This is another (perfectly painted) thumbs up to Topshop for their nail collection - I don't think I've tried one yet that I haven't been impressed with!  Keep up the good work, Toppers!

Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum - 40ml

Happy New Year!  Can't quite believe we're in 2012 already!

I had sniffed this a few times while I was out Christmas shopping and really really liked it - and I ended up getting it for Christmas, yay.  I think quite a few people I know got this too so it must be popular!

I'm not really wild about the packaging it came in or the bottle (bottle appeal is normally quite important with perfumes for me as they sit on my dressing table for all to see!), the box looked a bit cheap to me and the bottle looks old-fashioned, and I don't necessarily think in a good way, but the bottle is ok.  But, moaning aside, the main event is obviously the perfume inside the bottle and I definately like that!

I'm no perfume buff and I don't think I've ever successfully identified base notes, top notes etc.  but to me this smells sweet with a hint of citrus (maybe grapefruit or orange) and something else that stops it smelling too saccharine.  After I did a bit of research apparently base notes are toffee and Indian patchouli, top notes are pear nectar and sweet Italian orange, heart notes Tiger Orchard.  Ok, I know I wasn't that close but I feel quite pleased that I managed to sort of identify something in it.

I think my perfume taste is evolving slightly from the overly sweet teenybopper perfumes (hello Britney Spears Fantasy and pretty much any Escada perfume ever made) I usually like...only slightly though.  I've got my eye on Pulse by Beyonce and Valentina by Valentino which kind sort of still fall into that category (Valentina much less so).

It's quite expensive at around £39 for 40ml but the scent does last quite well and of course, you are paying for the Jimmy Choo name.  If you like sweet or citrusy perfumes, I'd definately recommend giving this a little sniff if you're out and about.

Collection 2000 Cream Puff in Cotton Candy and Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium

I haven't bought anything from Collection 2000 for ages - I used to always buy their stick concealer and powder but I guess I just moved on to higher end stuff.  I needed some concealer for my under eyes (I'm getting dark bags!) and after seeing some positive reviews of the Lasting Perfection Concealer I decided to go for it, as it's only £4.19 from Boots so I thought if it doesn't turn out to be that great it doesn't really matter.  While I was there I also picked up Cream Puff in Cotton Candy and a pressed powder as it was on 3 for 2.  Apologies again for the slightly naff pics but as I said in my earlier post I'm relying on my Blackberry for pics at the moment!

First up:  Lasting Perfection Concealer - this really did cover my eyebags and I tried it on a spot that had appeared on my chin too and it covered both really well. It was easy to blend in and didn't glow through my foundation or anything weird like that.  While it doesn't last 16 hours really, it definately would last say, a day at work or a night out.  I'd definately recommend trying this, it's really good - my only criticism is that there isn't a huge range of shades, like if I had a tan, I don't think there would be a colour in the range for me and let's face it, my skin really isn't dark at all.  Another point is make sure you blend it properly, if you just dab it on and go you might look patchy later, but I'd expect that if I didn't blend any concealer.

Now on to Cream Puff.  I was really pleasantly surprised by this.  This sort of creamy matte finish seems to be really popular at the moment and the finish and colour on this was lovely.  The pink is actually quite similar to Topshop Lipstick in Brighton Rock that I showed you in November - I've actually put one on my top lip and one on my bottom and you can hardly tell the different apart from Cream Puff maybe has a slightly more matte finish.  It lasts quite well and leaves a powdery matte finish on the lips.  It also is heavily scented with synthetic vanilla, which I like, but if you're not a vanilla/sugar fan you might not (it wears off pretty quickly either way).  This was £2.99 and I'd definately buy again, and maybe try the other pink in the range.  Again, there's limited colours but I think there's only certain colours that would look good/stay in place nicely with this finish.

The powder I bought was the same as ever, just a standard pressed powder for finishing my make up through the day if I start to look a bit shiny.  I'd recommend trying all three of these products from Collection 2000, I was really pleased with them all.

Hope you have a great time whatever you're doing tomorrow night and happy new year!!

What I'm wearing on my nails at the moment....

Firstly, hope you all had a lovely Christmas - mine was really busy as usual but I got loads of amazing bits and pieces (people know that if they buy me beauty stuff/perfume etc they're onto a winner) that I'll probably be blogging about in due course.

Just thought I'd show you what I'm wearing on my nails at the moment.  It's not a nail polish, or a gel polish or acrylics or anything, it's....

Yep, some red stick on nails by Nailene that I bought from Asda!  I ripped a lot of one of my nails off peeling potatoes on Christmas day (I'm an oaf) and to stop me biting it (I'm also an ex-nail biter that sometimes has a relapse) and cover it up whilst it was sore I decided to get some stick on nails.  I didn't really want French tip ones so other than that I was left with the red and I have to say I'm really pleased with them.

They're quite short but not so short that I've had to cut my own nails down and very thin, they go slightly over my free edge.  They also have a good range of sizes and application was really easy.  I love the red as well, my Mam was really impressed and didn't belive they were falsies!  Only problem is, they didn't come with glue included - luckily I checked this beforehand so I bought some brush-on glue at the same time, I prefer this to the squeezy bottles as I find it easier to apply and useful for applying diamantes etc for nail art.  As with any kind of stick on nail (or false lashes) I recommend that you carry the glue with yout just in case you ping any off.  I'd definately buyt these again as they're a relatively cheap and easy way of getting perfect nails.

Joico K-Pak Deep Penetrating Reconstructor Treatment for Damaged Hair

Another hair product review here!  I've blogged previously about Joico K-Pak Intense Hydrator for dry, damaged hair here but I decided to go a step up and go for the Joico K-Pak Deep Penetrating Reconstructor Treatment for Damaged Hair as my hair is wrecked through having highlights, hardly ever getting it cut and heat styling a few times a week (I am trying to cut down on this, honest!).

First impressions is that packaging looks nice but is a bit boring. The product however, smells just like Calpol, you know the lurid pink medicine you used to take when you were a kid? It took me a sec to work it out but that's definately what it is! The product is white, a looks rich and thick - you don't need a lot of it. It turns much more runny on the hair and straight away you can feel it working, making your hair feel much smoother and less tangled. The instructions say to leave it on for 5 minutes and then rinse which is what I did.

My hair was really easy to brush through after washing, even when it was still quite wet which is really unusual for my somewhat dry, overprocessed hair. I left my hair to dry naturally and it definately wasn't quite as fuzzy the next day - after a bit of straightening my hair was left smooth and sleek without looking dry at the ends as it normally does. My hair tends to unstraighten itself throughout the day but really pleased to see that it didn't with this one.

It is quite rich so I wouldn't recommend using it every time you wash your hair, maybe once a week but I'd definately recommend this product as a nice hair treat, especially if you're a bit cruel to your hair like I am (hello backcombing, straightening and curling!)

I bought this from feelunique.com for £12.75, including delivery.

A little Illamasqua haul...

When I bought Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Ambition, I had a little swatch of a few products and decided I wanted/had to have them so when there was an ASOS 25% code going, I snapped them up!

I bought:

• Sheer lipgloss in Divine (pink)
• Sheer lipgloss in Torture (orange)
• Nail Varnish in Raindrops
• False Eye Lashes in 17

First up is the Nail Varnish in Raindrops - this is quite an unusual colour, a light milky grey that I think almost borders on being a very pale blue as it's quite cool-toned.  It also has little splashes of subtle glitter in it that really does give it a raindrop type look.  I love grey polishes and I really like the slightly unusual quasi-glitter finish.  In terms of application and wear, it's great (as I've found with other Illamasqua polishes I've tried), the formula and brush in particular are great.

The sheer lipglosses are great too - just the right mix of sheerness and colour, really glossy, fairly long lasting for a gloss and nice taste/smell (always important to me!).  I'm definately going to buy more of these, even though I'm more of a lipstick girl than lipgloss.  Divine is a really pretty bright baby pink - it reminds me of a Sephora gloss I bought when I was in New York that I loved and pined for desperately when I'd used it up!  Torture is a fairly easy to wear orange, more on the neutral side than acid side of orange, which is what I wanted - think I need a bit more of a tan to wear this regularly though!

Now, onto the eyelashes - I actually first bought these a couple of years ago and wrote about them when I first started blogging here (there are some pics of me wearing them on there too!) - I wasn't enamoured with them at the time, finding them quite heavy to wear, not being overly impressed wtih the glue and difficult to apply because of how stiff the lash band was.  However, I've since come across a tip about "snapping" the lash band by winding them backwards around a pencil or similar so I'm going to try them again.  I absolutely loved the way they looked one me so I'm giving them another chance!

I've been really pleased with every Illamasqua product I've tried so far, and as I've mentioned before there's a really helpful sales assistant who works at the Selfridges Manchester Exchange Square counter, think I'll definately be buying more things from Illamasqua in future, got my beady eyes on the Chased poweder blusher (another pink blusher, quelle suprise!).

OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not Nail Polish

I recently had a makeup and nail drawer clear out and it turned out all my dark purples were too far gone, so I had to throw them away.  Dark purple is one of my favourite nail colours (along with black, red and pink) so I knew I'd had to invest in another.  I had a salon pedicure done a while ago and got my toes painted with this, I loved the colour so much I went and bought it.

Louvre me, Louvre Me Not is a dark purple that borders towards plum.  It's quite tricky to pick up in pictures!  It had the standard OPI brush, which I like but I'm aware that some people don't.  The formula was good, it didn't drag or anything but I was concerned that it still looked a bit patchy and sheer after two coats, a third coat and some Seche Vite sorted this pretty quickly though.  The wear on this wasn't that great but not sure if that was down to the Seche Vite or the polish.

Just realised this is the first nail swatch in ages that I've actually done on the nail because I keep getting gel polish on!  As I said in a previous post, hopefully buying some Shellac in the new year so I'll be able to swatch those soon.  Can't believe it's 6 days until Christmas and less than 2 weeks to New Year!