Archive for 2013

Home Archive for 2013

Okay so I thought it was time to see what all the fuss is all about.

I've already mentioned Peppermint briefly in my blog, see here, but since then my collection has expanded a little bit.

Peppermint, Hip Hop, Urban Purple & Beige Babe.

So recently Rimmel released their Salon Pro varnishes in a fancy new bottle with a fancy new brush, and to be honest I wasn't really expecting much difference from it. The old range were a great formulation and had good lasting power, but I wouldn't have picked them up because the colours where limited and all seemed a little 'mature'. However Rimmel have really come into their own with this new range of colours, especially the Kate's collection, (I want them ALL.) Instead of playing it safe with just neutrals and the odd bright red shade, they've released an array of reds, turquoise, purples, pinks and the standard neutral shades.
Once you've got past drooling over all the pretty colours, they really come down to a great product, I'm not sure if they've actually changed the formula of the varnish or not, but man does it last! These varnishes contain Lycra, which allows the varnish to bend with the nail and reduces the chance of chipping and wear, I'm not sure, but these are the only varnishes I know of that obviously contain the Lycra, and it totally makes a difference. They have a more sticky gel-like formula and that seems to make the application smoother too. Nail varnish lasts about 3-4 days at most if I'm lucky, but these last upward of a week! And if you find doing your nails all the time a chore these are perfect. Not only do they last, but with the new bottle came a new brush, its the same one coat brush as their latest ranges, so application is quick and easy (as easy as its going to get!!)
Pretty much the only thing I could possibly say is that the brighter shades take 2-3 coats to build up a solid colour, but that is nothing is it? I can totally see my collection of these growing, I've already got my eye on Brit Pop (the link says its Jazz Funk, but look close at the bottle! I'm not lying honest!) and Reggae Splash. Plus the cute new bottles look amazing all lined up.
At around £4.49 (currently £2.99 in Superdrug) they're really affordable too! Whats not to like?! And totally worth all the hype.

Hip Hop, a new fave! Ignore the gammy nails, and bruised hand :(

Walking into my local Boots store I noticed that the Maxfactor stand had a bit of an offer on that I couldn't leave sitting there..

If you spend £15 or more then you received a free gift (seeing as I'd gone in for a foundation it wasn't going to be too much more) So ill start with what I actually bought!

Seeing as I do suffer from more than my share of redness, I was looking for a foundation that would cover this but not be too heavy. A quick chat and the lovely MaxF lady suggested I try a serum foundation, I know it says ageless, but wrinkles are not a problem of mine yet! Anyway this blends really well and lasts all day without looking like I've used a trowel to apply it. At around £13 it's the most I've spent on foundation so far, but it is the best, most high end I've ventured.

To claim my gift it took a lot of umming and aahhing about what else I would buy(I'd probably end up with most of the stand) I settled on a cute little nail varnish in the end, although choosing a colour was a toughie!! But I settled on Fantasy Fire which is a deep purple with pink flecks in and it is soooo gorgeous!

On to the exciting stuff!

So the little box contained four little treats:

• A small sample of Masterpiece Max mascara, which is a great handbag size and a great quality mascara, it doesn't clump and gives you bigger fuller lashes. Ticks the boxes

• An eyeshadow single in Creme Champagne, which is a nice nude colour but doesn't really show up well on my skin tone. :(

• A full size Colour Elixir giant pen stick in Foxy Amber, this is a glossy nicely pigmented lip pen, in an orange-red shade, looks lovely worn and has good staying power, but not amazing. A great find and will probably buy another.

• And a full size nail polish in Deep Coral, which is currently my favourite summer colour and covers my nails and toes.

Swatches of the eyeshadow, just visible on the left, and the colour elixir pen stick, looks yummy :3

Overall a great freebie set and I'm totally impressed and won over on Maxfactors nail polish range.

As someone who suffers from quite bad eczema and dry skin I can find it difficult to find bath and body care stuff that does good for my skin but also smells lovely.

Most creams and bath oils that are considered suitable smell chemically or of nothing, and when I come out of the bath I enjoy feeling all girly and smelling of roses :)

From a personal experience I've never had any trouble or problems using Lush products with my skin, but it's pretty important to remember that everyone's skin differs and will react differently to different products.

One thing I find hard to resist from Lush are the bath bombs, because they make the bath feel so luxurious and special with the fizzing and the colours they turn the water. :) I picked up three today and they are the Sex Bomb, Dragons Egg and the less imaginatively named Blackberry Bath Bomb

First up ill start with the Dragons Egg.

From the outside it looks pretty plain just white with a few colours specks, however pop it in the bath and the centre oozes a golden orange froth (like treasure) which also contains glitter! Which leaves your bath a sort of yellowish orange with shimmery bits. (It's not the most flattering colour, almost like you've weed the bath but it smells nice!) The bomb also contains popping candy to add another dimension to your bath, although I didn't even notice it when I was in the bath :(

The bomb has a citrus lemon scent and also contains bergamot fragrance and jasmine extract

Overall it's a lovely bomb for a treat and smells lovely, but it doesn't really need the popping candy, or the glitter which lingers on your towel/bottom of the bath.

It is priced at £3.20 which is the same for the more special and exciting bath bombs :)

The Sex Bomb,

Now this bath bomb looks a little more exciting with its pink and purple colours and a little pink rose in the top. It has a jasmine and rose scent as well as an synthetic musk to make you smell amazing and that lil bit sexy :) I loved the smell so much and the pretty pinky purple colour it turns your bath water, although the rice paper rose doesn't dissolve very well and kinda floats and goes mushy around you.. (Ew)

The Sex Bomb is priced at £3.20 also.

The Blackberry Bath Bomb

I chose this one purely for the smell of it, and although it really doesn't look like much it is perfect for relaxing at the end of a hard day. The scents of frankincense and bergamot make a great combination for that wind down bath that you need after a stressful day. It doesn't contain any glitter, popping candy, rice paper or fancy bits, it's just a straight forward lovely smelling bath bomb.

It's priced at just £2.95 :)

Now the real reason I headed into Lush was to pick up a present for my friends birthday, and how could I chose anything other than Mr Bumble.

He's one of their new gift sets, which contains a Honey I Shrunk the Kids soap bar and a Honey Bee bath bomb, both of which smell absolutely amazing. If you smell one thing in Lush (impossible) you need to smell these! The soap is also so hydrating and lovely to the skin. They come wrapped up in the cutest little scarf thingy and at £7.95 how could I not get one for myself?! (Naughty I know)

That's all I got from Lush recently but I am a frequent buyer of the Dream Cream and the face masks and soaps, it is great that I can actually use some great smelling products despite my poor skin :(

I ventured into Primark today to see if I could find anything I actually liked, the last few times I've seen absolutely nothing my style. :(

And there's still not a great lot, unless you're into bright garish patterns and rucksacks.

But with my boyfriends graduation coming up, I was on the lookout for a smart, but casual dress for that, but one I could wear alot this summer. In amongst the huge range of maxi dresses (if only I was taller!) I found this cute little number

With my nude flats, or a pair of nude heels, I think I've got it covered. It's a skater style skirt on the bottom so it floats out a little, enough for me to feel proper girly :) and has that typical waist belt you get with every dress, to pull me in at the middle. I also love the colour, it's more peach/cream than the salmon kind of colour it looks here, so perfect for summer.

It cost £13.00. Which I think is pretty reasonable as the fabric feels good quality.

I also picked up a burgundy zip up hoodie, because my black one is beginning to die, and I fancied a change from the plain black ones I've had since I was about 14 and this still goes great under my leather jacket.

I don't have a picture cause its just a plain hoodie and it cost £8.00

Hitting the accessories, I saw a lot of rose gold items, which i love, but they all seemed to scream tacky :(

I did pick up a necklace, which will go well with my new dress and the green one I was wearing. It has a little Budda face, an eye symbol and all those kind of charms :)

It cost £2.50 which I feel is good for jewellery nowadays :)

Finally I found a new handbag as mine had decided to die, and there's only so many times you can sew the handle back on -.-

It's a bright (TARDIS) blue, and just a perfect size. Comes with two sized handles, so you can have it on your elbow or an adjustable shoulder strap. With a golden padlock on the front and golden zip details on each side. I love this bag because its perfect size for my everyday stuff and its a gorgeous colour! :D

That was everything that I bought from Primark today and I can't see myself going again until the cropped, horrible brightly coloured tops go away. It's just totally not me haha.