My Favourite Concealer

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer

I thought that Mac Studio Sculpt Concealer was my favourite, until this product changed my mind. After reading hundreds of positive reviews about this concealer I just had to try it and at £4.19 from Boots you cant go wrong. 

First of all, the packaging is light weight which makes it a great item for the handbag and it has a wand to apply the concealer making application quick and easy. Admittedly the packaging design isn't too interesting and eye catching, but it's what's inside that counts and what's inside is actually amazing. The concealer comes in four shades, fair, light, medium and deep. I wear the light which is number two and am in NC20 in Mac products, it's a tiny bit darker than my skin colour but it works well and the fair shade (number one) was too light.

Once I bought it I put it on straight away and was amazed by how high the coverage was and i'd say it left a matt finish once dry. Hours later it was still in place, it hadn't creased or set into any lines around my eyes or revealed any redness. I was amazed, I didn't actually think it would be this good. This little tube has now replaced my Mac concealers and I will be re-purchasing this, over and over and over again. I would call this my favourite drug store/high street concealer but it's more than that, it's my favourite all time concealer. Cheesy as that last sentence was.
                                              ♥

How Did I Ever Live Without It: Tangle Teezer

If you read a lot of beauty blog's you may of come across the amazing miracle hair brush that is the 'Tangle Teezer', if not read on. I was so excited to see that so many people loved this brush and couldn't wait to buy my own, after all my hair can get extremely tangled, especially at the back for some strange reason. So my hair is the perfect example of tangled hair to put this brush to the test.

I was amazed, the brush literally pain free glided through my hair separating each strand in about two brush strokes and eliminating all tangles. Finally that daily battle with combs, detangling sprays and hair brushes was  over. My hair has never felt so soft and been so manageable. This honestly is the best £10.20 I've spent in my entire life. Another thing I love about the product is that it can be used on wet hair once all the shampoo and conditioner has been rinsed. Which is great as brushing your hair when wet can be quite damaging and using a wide toothed comb never really got my tangles out. You can buy Tangle Teezers online, here and from highstreet stores such as boots. This brush has replaced all my hair brushes and gets a ten out for ten from me!

                                             ♥

Wednesday Wishlist 004

1. Oversized Mulberry Alexa: This is definitely an 'I wish' item. I have wanted this bag for longer than I can remember, but at £925 I doubt I will be getting it any time soon. 

2. Lush Cupcake face mask: I've fallen out with my face at the moment, it is going through an awful, dry, sore and break out faze. So ill be getting a little pot of this to see if it helps. It's meant for people with oily and breakout prone skin, if it works I have no idea, but I'm running out of options. The fact that it smells like chocolate makes it even more desirable. 

3. Woodland Rabbit Night Light:  How cute, seen this on other peoples blog's and around the internet and I've fallen in love.

4. BaByliss Root Boost: As my layers and hair have got longer and thicker my hair needs a lot of back brushing to get the slightest bit of volume. These would just be interesting to try and save so much time and of course hair spray. Which as we all know is a nightmare to get out in the morning!

5. Benefit's Confessions of a Concealaholic: That describes me well: 'a concealaholic'. This would be a good kit to try out some of benefits concealers without spending too much money buying them individually and of course the box it's self is very pretty.

6. Tangle Teezer: My hair is in desperate need for a 'holy grail' hair brush. One that can get out all of the knots and tangles and still keep it looking healthy. This will hopefully aid my daily battle with the hair brush and my hair.                                              
                                              ♥

Mushroom Nails

Barry M mushroom, my current obsession. My mum bought me a lovely Barry M nail polish set for christmas and she said she nearly didn't buy it because she didn't think that I would like the mushroom coloured one. Little did she know that I would actually love it. I haven't stopped wearing it since, it's such a lovely colour and goes with literally everything. I doubt I would actually buy this if I saw it in the shops, just goes to show how many products you might think you don't like but actually love. I've always loved Barry M nail polishes, they are so cheap, last for ages and they have such a beautiful selection of colours. I think the only Barry M nail polish which I haven't liked is the red glitter one, can't remember the name exactly but it was just awful. It didn't apply well, it literally never dried and was impossible to get off! But I love this one to pieces.

Whats your favourite Barry M nail polish?

♥

Merry Christmas!

Cath Kidston rose toiletries set, Cath Kidston rose lip gloss, rose bath petals, new purse, Olly Murs c.d , owl blanket

I've eaten far to much food, been in my pyjamas all day, worn paper hats that have been too big for me, made my dog wear a christmas jumper and spent some lovely time with my family. I love christmas. On christmas day I went to my nana's house and had the most amazing christmas dinner, of course mine had veggie sausages instead of turkey, how very traditional! I got some beautiful presents which I'm very thankful for. Hope you all had a wonderful christmas and continue to enjoy it! Now to spend the rest of the day eating more food and watching films. Perfect.              

                                              ♥           

Dead Sea Spa Magik: Bath Salts

I have to admit I was a little excited to see these hiding in my sisters November Glossybox as they claim to 'alleviate dry skin conditions' and I have quite bad dry skin. Once I had convinced her that they would be better off with me and them sitting on my bathroom floor for a month I finally decided to use them. I poured the whole packet into a hot bath and soaked in them for about twenty minutes. They did dissolve literally straight away which was good but they didn't leave a nice scent or change the colour of the water at all. I suppose that's not what they are for, but it would of been nice. Well I was rather disappointed, it didn't do a thing to my dry skin and I had wasted twenty minutes just sat there. I find the best thing for dry skin is just  to continuously moisturise as much as possible. They do claim to do other things such as relieve aching joints so they may of worked for other people using them for that purpose. However I doubt I will be repurchasing these, they cost £5.50 for 1kg of product and I wasn't all that impressed.

Did anyone else try these out, what did you think?
♥

December Glossybox Favourite

The first thing that caught my eye while opening the December Glossybox had to be the deborah lippmann nail polsih. It was on my nails within about ten minutes of opening my Glossybox and I haven't stopped admiring it since. It's such a beautiful glitterly colour and is really quite festive. It only took two coats to get a full glitter nail, which is amazing as I've had other nail polishes such as Barry M ones where the glitter spread all over the place and took forever to dry. The nail polish costs £14 for a full size bottle, so I'm trying to make my bottle last as long as possible and being very careful not to chip my nails, I love it that much!

What was your favourite December Glossybox item?

                                               ♥

Wednesday Wish list 003

1. Frankie 2012 Diary: This is such a pretty diary and I'm a highly organised person and life couldn't go on without a diary.

2. Moroccanoil: I have very dry hair and the amount of blog post's I have seen about this bottle it would be a crime not to want it.

3. Jelly Belly Very Cherry Candle: This excites me. I love scented candles and cherry has to be one of my favourites, the fact that it's a Jelly Belly product makes it even more exciting.

4. Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover: I used to wear Estee Lauder's double wear foundation about a year ago and I always look for high coverage in my foundations. This looks like it will be perfect for me and I can't wait to but it after christmas.

5. Cow Coin Bank: How adorable is this. I'm a vegetarian and love animals and this is so cute and different compared to a 'normal' piggy bank's you can buy. 

6. OPI Gone Gonzo Nail Polish: Such an amazing colour and I love the name themed around the new Muppets movie which I can't wait for.

                                             ♥

Dermalogica: Special Cleansing Gel

So the story goes, I came home to Manchester for christmas and left my face wash at university, great! It's nothing special just a cheap average face wash, a Clean and Clear Morning Energy face wash, which does smell beautiful but what an earth was I going to wash my face with? I can't use soap and water as I always end up with it in my eyes and it gives me very dry skin and I couldn't just not wash my face. Luckily enough my mum has plenty of face washes so I've been using her Dermalogica Special Cleaning Gel and I absolutely love it to bits! After one use it worked wonders, my face felt so soft and looked so radiant. On top of that it actually cleared my skin up, it calmed redness and reduced any blemishes.

Dermalogica say that special cleaning gel is: a concentrated, soap-free, foaming gel designed to thoroughly remove impurities without disturbing the skin’s natural moisture balance. Contains no artificial fragrance or colour. 

The last picture shows what the gel looks like when it comes out of the bottle and it foams really well once rubbed onto your face and because of this you only need a tiny amount. The only downside to this product is the price, it costs around £33 for 500ml, which is very expensive, but I suppose you pay good money for good products. My mum said that a bottle really does go along way which makes the price a little more reasonable I guess. I may purchase this for myself, after I've tried the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish so I can compare the two.

Has anyone else used any Dermalogica products? Some people got a few samples in the October Glossy Box which I'm very jealous of. What were they like?

                                              ♥ 

Current Most Used

I can't wait for christmas to see what lovely products I kindly receive off the beautiful people in my life as I'm finding that I am tending to stick to the same things which I know work. Which I suppose is a good thing, after all you try products out until you find them set few which work for you. Well I wanted to share my current most used products and the reason why they have been used non-stop.

I recently bought the Loreal Studio Secrets Primer as I never used to use a primer before and was always puzzled as to why my make up didn't last and went patchy in some areas. So I invested in a primer to see if this would solve the problem. Admittedly I don't religiously use it every single day but when I do I find it makes my skin feel really soft and helps my foundation stay in place for longer. My all time favourite concealer is Mac Studio Sculpt, I could go on for hours about how amazing it is, I really could. But to cut it short the coverage is amazing and it lasts for hours and isn't too expensive at £13.50. The same goes for Mac Studio Fix Fluid, this is my favourite foundation. I'm looking forward to trying Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover foundation, which I've had my eye on for a while now. With thanks to the lovely cold weather Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturiser has been used every day and I couldn't live without it.

On to eye products and my most favourite mascara in the entire world, Maybelline Collossal Volum' Express Mascara. This makes my eye lashes so long and volumised, I've used it ever since it came out. As this is starting to run out I've been using my Ted Barker mascara which I received in a gift set last christmas. Unfortunatly I don't think you can buy this anymore. Which is such an upsetting thought as it makes my lashes look so full and is a really jet black colour. Maybeline's Line Definer liquid eye liner is another amazing product, it's got a 'felt tip' like nib which makes application so quick and easy and it lasts all day. Been using ELF Smudge Eye Sponge on my eyebrows along with a teenie tiny bit of Rimmels Soft Kohl Kajai Eye Liner Pencil to fill in my eye brows, probably not the best brow products, I really would like a HD brows pallete.

My current most used hair products are products I could not live without. My hair is a nightmare. A big curly, awful hard to manage nightmare. Without these products I probably couldn't set foot out of the door. To deep condition my hair I use Umberto Giannini Overnight Beauty Moisture Balm and leave it in whilst I sleep to wake up with soft and gorgeous smelling hair. You can find a detailed review here. When washing my hair I've been using Boots Expert Build Up Removal Shampoo as it really does get rid of every inch of product build up in your hair. Even if you don't have any it makes it really clean and lathers really well, you can find a  review of this here. Been using Aussie Take the Heat Leave in Spray as heat protection with my daily battle to fight the frizz with my GHD's and finally Batiste Dry Shampoo for them 'oh my gosh, what is going on with my hair days'.

                                                 What's your current most used products and why?
                                              ♥ 

Christmas Glossybox

What I got

Blink and Go Eye Shadow and Blush, Rituals Yogi Flow Sweet Indian Rose and Sweet Almond Oil Shower Gel, Bionova Eye Wrinkle Treatment, Cargo Lipgloss, Deborah Lipmann Nail Polish and Lavender Nail Finger Mitt

Finally  home to get my Christmas Glossy box, I'm a little late with the post and you probably know what's inside but I still want to share mine. This months box wasn't the usual dusty pink colour it was a bright glossy red, which made it even more exciting. Overall I'm very pleased with this months box especially because there are three make up items in there! My favourite item has to be the deborah lippmann nail polish it's such a pretty glittery christmas colour. I'm also very impressed with the blink and go eye pallet although I would of preferred to try the mascara other people have received and the eye shadow colours are a little bright for my taste. However the shadows are extremely pigmented and amazing quality and I may be daring and give them ago. Only item I not so keen on is the eye wrinkle cream, for obvious reasons as I'm 19 years old and don't have any wrinkles yet, touch wood!
                                              ♥

Snow is Falling all Around Us

So today little Ormskirk saw it's first lot of snow. It started when I was in uni and no one could concentrate as we all got a little giddy over the fact that it was snowing and all started to all worry about being stuck up here over christmas and not being able to get home because of the weather (me in particular). Once back at my flat I took this quick snap of the view from my window and I think the park looks rather lovely covered in snow. I popped on my wellies and walked down to uni with my boyfriend as he had to hand in an assignment, but reality then hit as the snow didn't stick instead it turned into that delightful slushy, muddy, watery mess which we all love and gets you completed soaked and becomes a humongous slipping hazard. So within the space of twenty minutes the beautiful snow became rather annoying. Hopefully it snows over night and sticks and stays nice and 'snow like' but doesn't prevent me from going back to Manchester for christmas. 

                                            ♥

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush

I think this was the first make-up product that I ever bought where I just went straight in over to the shelves and came out with something in under five minutes. Usually I spend ages looking at the different make up products, testing out literally everything on my hand until there is no room left and I then end up with foundations and blushers rubbed up my arm and stand there for ages trying to figure out which product is which. But not this time. 

The reason I didn't spend hours looking for this is because I saw this and straight away loved the colour. I've used Maybelline dream touch/mousse blushers before and really liked them, although I do have to admit that they don't last a while. The colour I went for is '16H12W' which isn't even a colour name funnily enough, don't understand why Maybelline have done this it's not easy to remember and doesn't describe the colour of the blusher at all. The blusher is very shimmery and glittery and highlights your cheeks whilst providing a little peachy, golden colour. To be fair the blusher doesn't last all that long and needs regular top up's but looks lovely faded.

The blusher has a really creamy smooth texture and you only need a tiny amount. Compared to older blushers such as Dream Mousse Blush (pictured above on the left) in Dolly Pink this blusher is a lot thicker and has a more matt appearance compared to the Dream Touch blusher. I use to wear this blusher every single day of my life back at college but stopped wearing it for bronzer. Shame you can't buy it any more but they do a similar colour in the Dream Touch blush, would be interesting to buy to compare that with the older ones.

What's your favourite blusher? I'm lusting over alot of benefit ones at the moment!

♥

Wednesday Wish list 002

1. Benefit Hervana Blusher - It hurts how much I want this and I can't wait for it to come out. I just love the different colours and the beautiful packaging. 

2. HD Brows Palette - Had my eye on this for a while now, usually use eye-liner to fill in my eyebrows but I'm sure using this would make my eyebrows look much nicer.

3. Garnier B.B. Cream - Everywhere I look there is an advert for this cream! It just seems to be one of them things I have to try.

4. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - In need of a new skin care routine, I'm sure this will do the trick as everyone raves about it.

5. No 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara - If you don't already know yet I am a massive mascara addict and I've managed to find one that I haven't tried yet, so wanting this recently.

♥

Everyones Worst Nightmare

Not exactly the nicest of topics to blog about but one we all have to live with and that's spots! The reason I want to blog about this is because I feel that I need as much advice as I can get about the best possible spot treatments there is and I want to provide this advice to others based on my experiences. Recently my skin has been terrible, I'm blaming it on the stress of being back at uni and being on my teaching practice and I just need that little pot of 'miracle cream' to make every blemish go away! Harder than it sounds!

The picture below shows all the products I have tried recently and to be honest they haven't made a difference to my blemishes at all. Quite disappointing really when they claim to show results in just one day, hmmm. However they may not have got rid of my blemishes but they are still quite good products and I personally like to see reviews and posts about products that weren't so good which may change my mind about buying them in the first place. Just to add just because they didn't work for me doesn't mean that they won't work for somebody else!

Garnier Exfo-Brusher Wash, Simple Anti-Blemish Moisturiser, Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Night Treatment Gel and Simple Oil Balancing Facial Scrub.

Garnier Pure Active Exfo-Brusher Wash
Although this product didn't make a difference to my blemishes it definitely exfoliate's really well. It's one of them products that even though you scrubbed all your make up off it still manages to find some more. The product comes with a brush on the top (picture above) which is really soft and a pretty good idea as you don't have to use separate brushes. It lathers really well with only using a little product. I'm not to keen on the smell however.

Simple Anti-Blemish Moisturiser

My favourite ever product has to be Simple's replenishing rich moisturiser. So when I saw this I couldn't help but be excited to have my favourite moisturiser with anti-blemish elements. After using this for a few weeks I didn't notice much different in my blemishes and the moisturiser wasn't half as good as the replenishing rich moisturiser. I found it too light as I have quite dry skin and need a rich long lasting moisturiser. 

Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Night Treatment Gel

I LOVE the smell of this, I have no idea why, most people would probably hate it as it's quite a strong smell but it just smells really clean. Onto the important stuff, people have said wonderful things about tree tree and witch hazel, so putting them together in a product must be amazing right? Not really, don't get me wrong I do really like this and I do use it, but it didn't make a difference to my skin. However I find that it helps prevent spots when put on every now again over night.

Simple Oil Balancing Facial Scrub

I decided to give Simple another go after my disappointment with the anti-blemish moisturiser as I kept in mind how amazing the replenishing rich moisturiser is. Actually this product isn't to bad, it has little gritty bits in, not as much as I would of liked like the St. Ives invigorating apricot facial scrub does, but it was nice and gentle and left my skin feeling clean. It claims to reduce shine and control skin oils, I felt that it did, however I don't have very oily skin so can't comment on behalf of someone who regularly suffers from oily skin.

Sudocrem

Don't loose all hope there is one product out there which I feel does the best job out of them all to get rid of blemishes and that's Sudocrem. I swear by it, it's always on the floor at the bottom of my bed and I literately use it every night! Baring in mind its not a miracle worker, as I am yet to find one, it does a pretty good job! I blob a bit onto my blemishes each night and in the morning the redness is reduced dramatically! I wouldn't advice wearing this cream in the day as it is very thick. But if your not planning on stepping foot outdoors then go for it and pop on a sudocrem face mask! This pot has lasted me ages and costs under a fiver, amazing!

Has anyone found that 'miracle spot treatment' yet?
♥

Build Up Removal

Ever felt like you wash and wash and wash and wash your hair and it still looks just as it did before you started. Well that's product build up. Product build up is when a mixture of different hair products build up on your hair and scalp and don't come out using your normal shampoo. This shampoo solves this problem, I use it at least once a week just to keep my hair extra clean. What I love about it is that you can get the shampoo into a really good lather and only need to use a little amount. Once your hair is dry it looks really clean and shiny and grease free. Everyone needs a bottle of this to hand. I find that TRESemmé deep cleansing shampoo does a similar job too.

♥

Handbag Cravings, Time for a Change

This is my current handbag, bought of ebay about six months ago. I love it to pieces but I fancy a change and with christmas coming up it couldn't be a better time.  Although I doubt I will be getting my favourite handbag in the entire world, the Mulberry Alexa which costs about £800. Which is why I bought this bag which looks so similar and cost £15. What I liked about it is that it is not 'trying to hard' to be fake by putting the Mulberry logo on it. Just looks like a normal high street handbag which didn't break the bank.

Handbag wish list ...

1.Accessorize Bella Zipped Satchel. What is there not to like about this bag. It's such a pretty colour and satchel bags are my favourite.

2.Accessorize Cutie Pie Birdie Hobo. I love the shape of this bag and it would make a really nice 'weekend' bag for going home from uni. The bird pattern is pretty too.

3.Cath Kidston British Birds Day Bag. I am such a huge Cath Kidston fan, if I could, I would buy everything. I love this pattern and the day bag style is my favourite.

4. H&M Handbag. I really like the colour of this bag and I'm am always in need of small bags. 

Can I have them all please, plus the Mulberry Alexa?
♥

My favourite perfume

The White Company London - Noir

I got this perfume for my nineteenth birthday of my lovely mum and I would never think of buying perfume from the White Company, but I'm so glad I have it as it's beautiful. It smells really fruity and really reminds me of the scent of a Hollister shop, which as we all know is a amazing smell.

♥

Wednesday Wish List 001

1. Topshop Zebra Lace Embellished Top

The second I saw this top on one of my many 'internet window shopping' adventures, with absouletly no money to my name, I straight away thought of how lovely this would be to wear at christmas. The colours are very me, I love pale colours and tend to shy away from bold bright items of clothing, making this top perfect.

2. River Island Cream Cable Pom Pom Leg Warmers

It is getting too cold for my liking. I always look forward to winter but then I remember the harsh reality of being freezing, soaking wet and completely windswept and then can't wait to see the back of it. These leg warmers would look so cute over some brown boots, I love the pom poms too although in reality they would probably annoy me while walking and end up tucked into my boots by the time I even got out the door.

3. Benefit They're Real Mascara 

I'm a mascara addict. I've tried them all and will always be searching for that one better than the last. My current favourite, and it has been for years now is Mabeline colossal mascara. I really want to try this mascara.

4. Benefit Erase Paste

As well as being a mascara addict I am always on the hunt for my favourite concealer. A lot of people have spoke highly about this and I've wanted it for a while but never got round to getting it. Recently I've been wanting it more than ever, may have to give myself an early christmas treat!

5. Topshop Nails in Nice 'n' Neutral

I love this colour and am yet to try any topshop nail polish, this will definitely be the first colour I try. I adore all of Topshops make up packing.

6. Accessorize Oxford Structured Satchel

A girl can never have too many bags. I love the colour, the style, the buckles, just everything about this bag.

♥

Forgot About You

I love them moments when your pottering about the house and you find something you forgot you had. Well this happened to me the other day when I found my Hollister hand and body cream hiding down the side of my wardrobe.

If you have never seen or at least smelt the Hollister creams and perfumes I suggest you do as they are beautiful and you will be most likely temped to buy them all, the packing is really pretty too  which is always a bonus.

Is it just me though or do you love the smell of the actual Hollister shop? This cream smells just like it and I'm shocked that I didn't notice that it was missing. I am now reunited with my favourite hand cream, Hollister Laguna beach, and it hasn't been out of my sight since.

 ♥

My Amazing Find

So I was just in boots just about to buy my meal deal and at the till I spotted this, a crème brûlée Vaseline! I got too excited and just had to buy it. I don't usually like Vaseline only because I prefer to have flavoured lip products and am head over heals in love with carmex! But I love this and am quite disapointed that it's limited edition, may have to stock up and fast. It has a lovely vanilla scent and the tin looks really cute and above all soothes and prevents dry chapped lips.

♥

Miracle Conditioners

Umberto Giannini: Overnight beauty moisture balm (left)

Umberto Giannini: Instant beauty silky soft leave-in conditioner (right)

I have had the overnight beauty moisture balm for a while now and I'm always trying out deep conditioners for my extremely dry hair and my friend told me to try an overnight conditioner, so off to Boots I went. Over in the hair care section this product just stuck out on the shelf, the packaging is just so pretty, so I grabbed it and decided to give it a shot. 

First of all both products smell beautiful, it's quite difficult to describe smells but they smell like a really expensive conditioner. The overnight beauty moisture balm is applied to the hair at night and left in until the morning where you wash it out. I found that I needed a lot of conditioner, but I do have very thick hair. I wouldn't advice leaving the house with this in your hair as it looks like you haven't washed you hair in weeks. But I just pop it in and tie my hair up when in the house. Once the product is washed out it leaves hair soft, moisturised, shiny and smelling great. 

Only problem is this product is not good for a quick fix so I decided to purchase the instant beauty silky soft leave-in conditioner (quite a mouth full) to use on my hair when it's having a dry day. This product works best when applied to just washed wet hair but I have used it on dry hair when it's not doing as I want. Once applied hair looks shiny and feels hydrated! 

Definitely excited to try more of Umberto Giannini products out.

♥

Topshop higlighter in prism

Feel's like I haven't posted in a while, it's only been about a week but just feels forever. But i've been so busy with uni that I haven't had chance to post anything. Been on my teaching placement so been in school five days a week and spending my evenings doing paper work.

Anyway's, I've recently bought a Topshop cheek highlighter and have been using it quite abit now. I love the packaging on all Topshop make up it's really pretty and stands out. Not like my lovely white packaging has stayed white once my foundation covered hands were all over it. The pictures were taken before I used the product.

I rarely use a highlighter, but I wanted to try something different, so this is the reason this caught my eye, and now I see the love people have for highlighters. This product comes out as a light creamy shimmery colour and really catches the light, highlighing the cheek bones really nicely. However It didn't last for as long as I would of hoped, definitely needed a top up throughout the day and it needed a little blending before I was pleased with the result. I will be trying out more Topshop make up, the nail varnishes look lovely and there's some really pretty colours.

What's your favourite Topshop make up product?
♥