March Favourites 2013

Hello...wow almost April!

I kept my favourites short and sweet this month so decided to feature them all, rather than top 5.

As always you can watch my faves instead if you prefer...(When it's uploaded I'll link you up!)

1. Soap & Glory's Heel Genius. A god-send to my over-exercised, dry, itchy feet! I apply a small blob to my heel area and work across the entire surface of my 'under' foot. It gives a nice cooling sensation and really feels like it's doing something! Leaves my feet soft as a babies bum :)

2. Rimmel's Metal Rush nail polishes. Featured here and here, I've really been enjoying using these beauties. The metallic effect is truly lovely and in different light you have a different nail colour...especially the Blue shade: that can appear blue, purple and green. They apply really easily too and are fast-drying.

3. Baremineral's Matte mineral foundation. I have really come to love this recently, with the shade Fairly Light matching my now slightly tanned skin perfectly. The product provides a light to medium buildable coverage and it buffs really easily into the skin. I like this foundation for days when I can't be bothered to apply a heavy liquid foundation...This looks and feels like normal skin so you can't even feel that you are wearing it.

4. Urban Decay's Naked Basics Palette. Amazing. I did a quick review along with a eye look I like to create using this palette here, but if I had to choose just one fave this month it would be this! I love how the shades all compliment each other so well and as always with UD's eye shadows, they apply and blend really well. There are 5 matte shades and 1 shimmer which is a nice change from the the other Naked Palettes that heavily feature shimmers. I love it and it's super cute size means it can go along with you anywhere :)

5. Urban Decay's Naked Flushed Palette. Again a great buy. I love how all three products: blusher, highlighter and bronzer all feature in one compact and convenient palette. The blusher is truly amazing. It's very heavily pigmented so a little bit will go a long way. It will last years I tell you! The highlight is really pretty, nothing out of the ordinary but nice all the same. The bronzer is a great builder so if you have pale skin you'll be fine with a dab of this. As for the darker skin tones you will also be good to go with this as you can build it up really well. I like that it is more subtle and not over-kill though. I've been using the palette almost everyday since I opened it. Brill!

6. Rimmel's Apocolips Lip Lacquer in Celestial. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about these but I'm  indeed a fan. I would say they are a cross between a nourishing lipstick and a lipgloss. Not sticky like some glosses but they keep that moisture without drying out like a lot of lipsticks tend to do. I want more shades!...I forgot to mention this in my video but the downside for me is the scent/smell. They remind me of something I'm not keen on...plastic-y, waxy? Not sure but I wish they smelt/tasted like Mac lipsticks <3

7. Lastly, Body Shop's Born To Be Lippy Lip Balm in Pomegranate. Delicious smell and makes your lips soft and moisturized. What more could you want!? My lips have been incredibly dry lately so this has been taking some hammer but it seems to be lasting a long time :) For £3, bargain!

Thanks for reading. Please link me your monthly favourites, I love hearing about them all :)

NOTD: Rimmel's Metal Rush

Hello :)

Hope you are all having a good Monday!...

My day has so far consisted of travelling back to my student house, a doctor's appointment in another attempt to get rid of my frustrating chin acne (yes, it's lovely), and then just generally being lazy and putting off revision or any form of work.

With that, I decided I would repaint my nails. Since buying two new nail polishes I've been keen to try them out and today I went with Rimmel's Metal Rush varnish in Royal Blue (7).

I applied two coats of the polish to get the above effect and its application was smooth and easy. The formula is very quick drying...just what I look for in a nail polish. I'm far too impatient and actually don't enjoy the process of painting my nails...although I do it often enough!

It's really difficult to capture the beautiful metallic effect on camera but one minute the colour looks predominantly lilac-y/purple, then the next it's a lovely sea green/blue shade.

It truly gives a very pretty look, and I would definitely recommend you give this polish a go! Prettttyyy :P

x

Rimmel 3 for 2 Haul

Hello :)

I've been fairly good since my Urban Decay splurge and have been fighting off the urge to try out the, much hyped about, Rimmel Apocalips. Yes I know, I'm fairly late to jump on the band wagon but nevermind...got there in the end!

Today was a day that deserved some celebration as I passed my QTS Literacy Skills Test,,,yayyy! Thank god! I said to myself, before taking the exam, that I would buy an Apocolips if I passed it...so with that I headed to the nearest Superdrug!

3 for 2 on makeup products is always a tempting one for me and with it being a happy day and all I thought why not...I'm going to take advantage of the offer :)

Starting off with the Apocolips I selected shade 101 Celestial. I had my eye on this from the beginning with it's subtle rose pink colour: a welcome new addition to my lipstick range. The bright pink shade, in Apocoliptic, also appealed to me but I'll see how I get on with the product before indulging in the more stand-out tone!

Pictured on the left, the gold nail polish in God Save The Queen (32) caught my eye. I liked that it has flickers of yellowy-green to it and I thought it might help curb my craving for Chanel's Peridot, which is truly beautiful but truly pricey for me!

I really liked the last of the two polishes, another of Rimmel's Metal Rush edition in Royal Blue (7). Although it has definite blue in it, I'd personally describe it as more of a tortoise shade and it has a lovely iridescent shimmer about it.

I'm really excited to try these things out...No doubt there'll be some NOTDs coming up, along with my thoughts on the Apocolips :)

Disappointing Products!

Hello beauties :)

This week is half term in Nottingham, so I left my uni abode and came back to home comforts for a bit! 

And, upon opening up my make-up storage (currently a weird shelved wardrobe thingy magig) I was surprised at how many products I'd left behind, like the 'Renford rejects'...Give me a comment if you remember this classic 90's kid programme! :P

But on closer inspection I realised why they'd been forgotten and thought about how disappointing each of them had been. So, maybe in an attempt to prevent others from suffering the same disappointment I thought I'd share what they were and tell you why I don't like them, or why they aren't worth the money. Of course, it's only my opinions so you can take my advice as you will. With a pinch of salt if you wish? :P

If you'd rather watch me talk about these products click above! But if you fancy a read...scroll on down :)

First up, MAC's Cleanse Off Oil. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of you might love it, but for me I just can't get on with it! Agreed it does literally 'melt off' your make-up without any effort, but for me it also finds a way into my eyes and temporarily blinds me! No matter how carefully I try to remove my eye make-up, it seeps in somehow. Give me Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish any day thanks!

Goodbye cellulite?! Hmmm. I'm afraid it's true...I fell for the gimmick. I mean as if there's a product to essentially disguise fat cells?! Sure it gives a nice cooling sensation, application is pleasant, and I suppose it helps to moisturise your skin but hard work and exercise is the only thing I've found works in regards to cellulite. Don't fall for the nice idea like me!

Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Mascara. To be fair I think Rimmel are actually doing a fab job at the moment and are definitely in the running for the best high street/drug store brand imo. But, I guess there's always the odd anomaly or 'blip'. The brush is far too big for my liking and this makes application really difficult and darn right fiddly. I'm not a big fan of the formula either which seems to take ages to dry, but perhaps that's to do with the many a clumps this attracts?! It's cheap and cheerful at £6.99 but nope, it's not for me!

Avon's Colour Trend...eye shadow/liner stick? Had this one a while and only used it once...says a lot really! The quality of the cream shadow and crayon liner just isn't great. It blends...with effort, but there's nothing that nice about it. Just a big thumbs down to be honest!

Nicola Robert's Dainty Doll WHITE Foundation by Jelly Pong Pong. Yep, I guess the shade is enough to put you off, unless of sure you're Snow White. But I thought maybe the idea behind this would be to mix it with those foundations that are perhaps a little too dark for you? Waste not want not and all that. Wrong. In fact this questionable foundation contains serious sparkle! I mean I like a bit of shimmer and all that but not over my entire face! It's just odd. Enough said. 

Laura Mercier's eye lash curlers. I'd say be aware of these. Sure the design is really cool and you think 'ahh they're so compact and nifty', but they over-curl like a bi-atch. They don't fit my eyes particularly well either and I remember them to be fairly pricey. I'll stick to my bog-standard cheap curlers for now I think!

Lip stains/ lip pen markers. I guess this isn't all that personal to Maybelline's Color Sensational and Max factor's Lipfinity versions, but they dry out so quick! I mean under the month mark. And then you get that scratchy feeling when trying to apply them. I don't think I can warrant the money for just a few week's worth of use. However, I must say the Maybelline one smells absolutely delicious...like summer fruit berries! Yum.  

Max factor's Lipfinity two step duo. I really like the concept of this, with the glossy texture drying quickly. Application is fairly easy and it leaves a nice finish. It seems to withstand perhaps more than many lip products but it's staying power starts to crumble after an hour or two...literally crumble. You're left with a flaky peeling effect that looks to me like you either haven't applied your lipstick well or indeed you have the driest lips ever known...I mean seriously grab yourself a Carmex quick! These aren't personally looks I like to go for, so I'll pass on this. 

And that's a wrap...some of my most disppointing purchases!