May Favourites

Brace yourselves for a long one girls!!

There are a few products I've been LOVING this month!

Elie Saab perfume.

The top note opens on a sun-kissed, radiant orange blossom, as an ode to light.
The middle note develops into a jasmine absolute, a legendary flower in perfumery, imparting voluptuousness and elegance to the fragrance. It combines with a pure, modern patchouli heart.
The base note unfolds into a cedar woody accord adding character and a lingering trail, while the honey rose envelops the composition in a beautifully addictive note..

I have never smelt anything like this perfume before and I just can't get enough of it!

Body care products I have been enjoying this month are;

Exfoliating gloves - I use these in the shower and they are perfect for scrubbing away at any dead skin.

St Moriz Fake Tan - This month I tried fake tan for the first time and I think I'm hooked! and at £2.49 a pop it's not an addiction that will break the bank. 

Bliss Body Butter Vanilla & Bergamot - I received a sample sized bottle of this body butter in a glossybox and when I saw a set containing the body butter, body buff and shower gel in a charity shop for £5 I snapped it up straight away!

Bliss Body Buff Vanilla & Bergamot - this is such a great gentle exfoliator. And it smells amazing x

Bliss Body Butter - has such a gorgeous texture.

Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream. As I child I always used oilatum products as I suffered with eczema and when I saw this in boots I didn't think twice about giving it a try. It has been great for my dry sensitive skin and I use it everyday! 

This month I've been really keen on hair care and love these products.

Lush - Hair doctor, such a great hair mask!

John Frieda Frizz Ease Thermal Protect serum (read about this product here)

Pure Coconut Leave In Conditioner - this is a new addition to my hair care routine and I can see the improvement since using this after every wash.

And finally - My favourite make up of may.

Bare Minerals Original Foundation - I picked this up recently in a set from Debenhams. I use the shade Fairly light and love how it feels on my skin. It is not at all heavy and is great for these summer days.

Natural Collection Cream Blusher Rosy Pink - this is a great shade for summer skin! Its a slightly peachy toned blusher, and I love cream blusher in the summer as a multi purpose product.

Bourjois Bronzing powder - I use this bronzer everyday to contour. In summer bronzer is a must have for me! This works great and smells amazing. I have shade 51 and it works so well on light skin tones,

Mac 'Watch Me Simmer' - I can not get enough of this lipstick. If I had to pick one product out of all of my favourites which I like best, it's this one. The colour is just so summer appropriate! I've been wearing it so often this month!

Topshop Blusher 'Prime Time' - another cream blush I'm loving is this one by Topshop. It's the first piece of Topshop make up I have bought and I am so pleased with it. I love bright pink blush and this one doesn;t dissapoint.

Top: Mac Watch me Simmer

Middle: Topshop Prime Time

Bottom: Natural Collection Rosy Pink

My music favorite for may is John Mayer's new album 'Born and Raised'

It's only been released for a week but it has been on repeat in my car (and my boyfriend's) ever since I got my hands on it! It's such easy listening and I strongly recommend it!

What products have you been using regularly in May which you love?

x

Blog Makeover help wanted!

Be warned: This is a cry for help!

As of right now, I'm completely unsatisfied with the appearance of my blog. 

I try to publish posts that I am happy with and would really enjoy reading if someone else had posted them, but I'm just not happy with the way you guys see them!

 This is actually my 2nd attempt at a blog as I wa so unhappy with my 1st. I really did not like the whole style of my 1st blog, from the way it looked to the style I wrote in to the website I used to create it. I really love what I write now and my followers and who I follow so I do not want for this blog to end up the same way!

I'm not happy with the Blogger template I currently use and have a pretty good idea of how I want my blog to look. However I have been googling 'HTML for dummies' for almost 3 hours today, and honestly I have gotten no where. I have been trawling the net for the past 2 weeks for hints and tips but I just can not grasp it.

I know it comes easy to some people and that is why I am desperately asking for your help!

A few of my favourite bloggers have recently re-vamped their blogs and they look stunning (my favourite being Katie aka Lady Million) and 2 have recently changed their blog name.

If you have any kind of knowledge with HTML would you be kind enough to get in contact and offer some help? 

Really I'd be grateful for anything, weather its a quick tip or helping me write the code!

I want to take new pictures for my header (I can do that easy! just click a button!)

but I don't know how to put it onto the web how I want.

so here is my list of the things I want to work on right now:

A new header

New social media buttons

New widgets

A different 'pages' layout

A button

New colour scheme

I am also considering a name change as I feel my current Blog name doesn't do me or my posts justice. I want something more personal or beauty related.

What do you think of a name change?

Some may feel like I'm being lazy asking for help but honestly I don't know what to do! HTML just isn't my language!

Thanks for reading and thanks even more if you're able to help!

x

Bare Minerals

Since buying the No7 Mineral Blusher I have been looking for more mineral products.

I thought a good place to start was the bare minerals counter in Debenhams!

Whilst there I spotted this fantastic deal that was too good to pass up and had to share it with you!

This 9-piece starter Kit retails for £49.

Now I know if you don't have £50 readily available then its not cheap! But honestly it is so worth it!

In the box you will get:

2 shades of the original foundation 

Bronzer

Mineral Veil

Primer

3 Make up brushes

Instructional DVD

Now here is where you get the bargain. The girl at the counter told me that the brushes alone are worth £57!

There you go - more than your monies worth.

Right so what do we have?

The light kit comes with two foundations:

Original Foundation - Light W15

Original Foundation - Fairly Light N10

The purpose of this is so that in the summer when you tan you can still use Bare minerals foundation, just in the darker shade.

I love this idea as it means you don't have to purchase another foundation just for summer which might not even match your tan!

each product is 2g. 

The foundation retail sizes are 8g and £24 

The mineral veil retails in a 6g pot for £20

The bronzer however is 1.5g - which is what you get in the box - and retails for £19

And finally, the primer.

The retail size is 30ml and the size in the box is 15ml.

30ml retails for £19

So after doing some maths - you receive around £45 worth of product.

Add that to the £57 worth of brushes..

a saving of £53.

And on top of that you receive an instructional DVD and booklet!

Keep your eyes peeled for a review!

x

Tuesday Treats

This week I am participating in the Tuesday Treats Bloghop (by Frances at Spot of tea).

So this week I'm lusting after

Miu Miu Grey Glitter Sunglasses!

I love the look of these and with they weather we are currently experiencing, they are perfect for Tuesday Treats!

Mac Impassioned Lip Stick

Pink is my favourite lip colour and this is just such a traffic stopping colour which will look fantastic with all the bright colours of summer!

What are you lusting over this Tuesday?

Head over to Frances' Blog and join in the bloghop!

x

NYX Haul

For those of you who don't know (because I didn't until recently) NYX is a brand of make-up popular in the U.S. I don't know of any store which shops NYX and after seeing lots of blog posts and youtube videos I quickly  made a list of favourites and was getting ready to purchase them on line.

That is until I was doing a bit of shopping at the shopping center closest to my uni. In this shopping center there is a bunch of market stall type shops in the center and normally I walk straight past.

Today however a table heaving with make-up caught my eye!

and amongst it all was two huge baskets of NYX cosmetics!

They were super cheap as well at 3 for £5 (the price did flag up a little alarm bell in my head, but what the heck! I had to have these products!)

Recently my spending has gone out of control so I had to rope it in a bit and only spent £5.

Here's what I got.

Eyeshadow - Platinum Pink

Black Lace Lipstick - Italian Chic

                                          

Swatchy Swatchy

Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss - Fuchsia Sparkle

                                          

Another swatchy swatchy.

These two lip glosses look stunning together I couldn't resist trying them as soon as I got back to the car!

Here they are!

This is definitely a statement lip I will be wearing on a night out!

(in this photo I have a make-up free face but had done my eyebrows)

Do any of you girls own any NYX products that you love?

May Empties

This is my first empties post and I have to say I love the idea!

Knowing that I will be uploading this post at the end of the month gives me motivation to use up my products before buying more!

I have a range of hair care and body care products this month.

First up is make-up remover:

I love love love the L'oreal Dermo-expertise Gentle Eye Make Up Remover. It's a product I have repurchased and will continue to do so.

Garnier Simply Essentials 2-in-1 Make Up Remover is one I really did not like. It leaves an oily residue on the skin and took a while to remove make up. I will not be repurchasing this.

For Hair styling products:

John Frieda Frizz Ease Thermal Protection Serum. This is the first heat defence serum I have used and have re-purchased! It's so light weight and effective!

Wilko Dry Shampoo. I am not impressed by this dry shampoo at all! It leaves a lot of white in your hair no matter how hard you try to rub it in or brush it out. I also feel like it does noting to make my hair less greasy.

I love both of these Hair care products.

Charles Worthington Mineral Hair rescue - I use this every other time I wash my hair and it always makes my hair feel light and well conditioned.

Lush Hair Doctor - This intensive hair mask is great for every hair type and is something I have re-purchased.

And finally some body care products.

Bliss Body Butter - Blood Orange and White Pepper was a sample in a Glossy box. I find this body butter extremely moisturising and have bought the full size of it! (I loved it so much I even had to cut open the bottle just to get every last bit!

Nair Hair Remover for Sensitive skin is a great alternative to shaving. I much prefer using a hair removal cream as I find it much gentler on my skin and this one is great!

I love reading monthly empties posts! What are some of yours?

x

Summer Make up & FOTD

I like to keep my Make up very minimal when the sun is out and here are the products I've been using these past few days.

First up is my everyday essentials.

Oilatum natural repair face cream

Tesco Soleil face sun cream SPF 30

For my face I like to take my Mac 150 brush to sweep some bronzer all across my face.

17 Instant glow bronzing rocks gives a natural glow especially for pale skin.

Elf Facial Whip gives a nice glow on the cheek bone and is not too sticky on the skin.

For my eyes I curl my eyelashes and apply some Collection 2000 colour lash mascara in Brown.

I prefer to wear brown mascara in the summer as it looks more natural.

And finally for my lips I use Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub to buff the dead skin away from my lips.

Then I use Boots Soltan SPF 30 for lips (I hate having burnt lips)

And finally Sally Hansen Miracle care lip saver as it is such a moisturising lip gloss and perfect for hot days.

So here is my FOTD using all of the above products.

I'm very lucky that I have good skin (although it has seen better days recently) and it looks so much better in the sun!

What do you put on your face on hot days?

x

Lets talk about : Too fat for a bikini at the beach?

Ok, so who made the rules that only skinny girls can look fabulous?

No I am not hating on the girls who have less fat on their legs than I do on my little finger, but honestly why do we let weight rule our lives?

Recently Gabbi Gregg (writer for xojane.com) posted the following picture on the internet declaring that big girls can wear bikinis too!

Honestly, she looks amazing!

Confidence is the main reason!

I found this article which goes into much more detail but I just wanted to see what you thought of it and share my opinion.

Now I'm not going to say 'they all look hideous and should wear a tent to the beach' but also  wont say 'they all look amazing'

These women all look good because they are confident (but some could have chosen more flattering bikini's - but hey they still have more confidence than I do!).

Personally I wear a one-piece or a tank-ini to the beach or pool because I don't like the look of my stomach - I have a huge scar across my stomach (as well as on my back) and stretch marks too. I know that this wouldn't affect some people but I would rather keep it covered as I never show my belly in public so I prefer not to tan there. Also there's the fact that the skin around my scars is fragile and sensitive so the sun would do them no good what so ever.

However I do not feel the need to wrap my self in a sarong or wear a cover-up over my swimsuit.

This is me on my holidays last year in a swimsuit.

Its one of my favourite pictures of myself. Yes it's quite a flattering angle but I walked around like this for 70% of the holiday feeling confident and real life isn't always as flattering as a photo.

The point I am trying to make is I feel confident when I look fabulous!

Just because I'm a size 12, which is not fat but not skinny at the same time either, does not mean that I can't look good!

Yeah some days I feel disgusting and over weight, but others I feel amazing. Like today, when I dress well (OOTD coming soon!) I instantly have more confidence.

Bikini's turn heads on a beach weather you're big or small.

and hey, you're on holiday!

I'm really interested to hear how people feel about this. Even if you think your opinion might be a bit controversial please share it!

Summer Style Tips

Who is the most stylish woman in the world?

Lady Gaga?

Kim Kardashian?

Rihanna?

Well yes they are fashionable, but when talking about STYLE (and there is a difference) in my opinion, the tittle has to go to:

The Queen of England

Now you may think my brain has melted in the heat but bear with me.

She always looks elegant, poised and most importantly comfortable.

She may be in her 80's but the woman knows how to dress.

yes she has an army of style soldiers and all the money you could want but watch a few royalist documentaries and you would be surprised.

The Queen looks good in every colour. 

She knows how to dress for her age, shape, complexion and the occasion.

Today ladies, I am going to share with you her cheap as chips style tip.

Have you ever had a Marilyn moment?

You know? Dress goes up in the wind and your knickers are on show to everyone?

It may be one of the most iconic pictures ever but I prefer for my hemline to hang where it should be.

How does The Queen avoid such fashion faux pas?

Curtain weights.

Yes you read correctly.

Recently the Queen's courtier (stylist to you and I) revealed that the queen avoids these little slip ups by having curtain weights sewn into her hemline.

Not only does it avoid the wind carrying your skirt up to your ears but it helps your clothes to sit on your body in a nicer way.

1979 was the last time this happened for the Queen.

When was the last time it happened to you?

So ladies, head down to you local haberdasheries (or ebay) and spend a few pounds to spare your dignity!

Curtain weights come in a variety of sizes and are super easy just to sew onto your hem line.

Or if you're a bit nifty with a sewing machine why not pick up a weighted string (also for curtains) and sew that the entire way around your skirt?

Please let me know if you try this out as the days are getting warmer and the hem lines are getting shorter!

x

Summer Make-up Tips

Yay! we have sun here in England!

Today is forecast to hit 26c (79f) which is great, but how do you effectively wear make up in the heat?

Here are just a few tips that I use in the summer!

Keep Make Up to a minimum 

If you need coverage use more concealer and a lighter foundation.

I tend to wear tinted moisturiser (or mix my regular foundation with moisturiser) but this year its all about BB cream!

Use versatile products! 

 I like a pink lip in summer so I whip out my favourite pink lipstick, sweep it across my lips and then dab some on my cheeks! A blush and a lip product in one! 

Also if you apply the lipstick to your finger first, you can sweep it across your eyelid for something extra!

Cream products

Cream based products are much easier to control in the summer than liquid or powder based ones. The formula means it will stick around longer and should it crease or start looking sweaty, you can just blend it in again using your finger.

Use sunscreen

We might like the bronzed look but it is no good for your skin!

Fake tanners are so advanced right now so (at least for your face) slap on the SPF.

Face Mist

Even if it's just water in a spray bottle I find having a small bottle of face mist in my bag is a great help in summer for helping you freshen up!

Water!

Drink it! Keeping yourself hydrated will not only help your skin to look better but it will help you to feel much better in the heat!

Vaseline

If you're one of those people who sweats as soon as the sun comes out then sweat getting in your eyes and spoiling your make up can be a major pain! 

If you put vaseline on your eyebrows it will act as a barrier against the sweat dripping down.

Have you got any summer beauty tips? Please share as I would love to know!

x

No. 7 Mineral Perfection Blusher

No 7 vouchers are back!

Currently boots are handing out £5 off No 7 products.

I took full advantage and picked up the mineral blusher.

£9 (without £5 off voucher)

In the box is a small Kabuki brush as well.

I really don't rate this Kabuki. 

The bristles are really coarse and it sheds. But hey the brush was a bonus so it doesn't bother me too much!

I was a bit wary when I first swatched this product and saw that it had shimmer in! I have never used a blush with shimmer in.

I bought the shade Rose Pink and it looks amazing against my skin tone. It's not too bright but just pink enough! It's close to the natural rosy-ness of my cheeks but the mineralised finish and slight shimmer give such a radiant look!

I love this blush!

At £9 I feel that it is very reasonably priced for 4g of product. You hardly have to put any on the brush to get a good colour on your cheeks.

Even though I am not a fan of the Kabuki brush it was a freebee and I feel No7 would still charge £9 even if there was no brush included.

This is the first mineral product I tried and it has definitely given me the feel for more.

It looks so natural on the skin - despite having shimmer in. The shimmer just looks like such a natural glow.

It feels so light on the skin and does not look cakey at all.

The down side about this product is the colour range.

There are only two colour available:

Rose Pink and Damson.

On the website Damson looks like the more pink shade however in person and swatched it is slightly more mauve.

I love this blusher and it is rivalling my mac sheer tone blush for the number spot!

Do you use mineral skin products? Have you tried this one? Are there any mineral products you would recommend?

x

May Jolie Box

Last month I had massive issues with Glossybox! Everything from their lateness to their unproffesionalism just didn't sit right with me.

I didn't cancel Glossybox last month as May is their birthday month and I hope they pull something spectacular out of the bag! (But I will probably unsubscribe once it arrives)

So I went on the hunt for rival beauty boxes and came across Jolie Box (formally known as Boudoir Prive).

Joliebox was getting so much hype at a time where Glossybox was just getting unhappy customers!

I subscribed to Joliebox and am thrilled with my first box!

Joliemag comes with every issue and is a small glossy magazine with a bit of info on each product in your box and other beauty related things.

Joliebox is smaller in size than Glossybox but I love the black box.

There's no pretty bow or fuzzy filling paper inside (which is a plus for me! - less waste) just this super handy drawstring bag. This will come in so handy for travelling!

Inside:

Talika eye therapy patch

RMK Make-up base

Essemtial care Organic rose moisturiser

China Glaze Proffesional Nail Lacquer

Talika Eye Therapy Patch

This reusable patch for under the eye instantly smooth's the area using extracts of safflower, Avocado and Rosehip. 

This product came as an 'either or'. It was this or an eyelash growth product. I'm happy with the eye patch as I've really started to become more interested in skincare and I'm really looking forward to using these eye patches.

You get a pair (one for each eye) and they can be used a minimum of 3 times! Yes they're reusable!

RMK Make Up Base

This make up base primes the surface of the skin, adds moisture with Shea Butter and provides the perfect fit for foundation.

First I'll apologise for the poor picture! The camera just would not focus on the white writing! I was really excited to pull a make-up product out of the box! My first impressions of this product are good. It has a lovely light texture to so should be a perfect primer for summer!

Essential Care Organic Rose Moisturiser

A light-textured facial moisturiser with the rehydrating benefits of organic rose, for all skin types.

Another product I'm really excited about. I've used this once so far and I really like it! It defiantly is light so would work well for oily skin, but is hydrating, so perfect for dry and dehydrated skin!

Chine Glaze Professional Nail Laquer

Give your nails a burst of flower power with this long lasting, chip resistant and nail-hardening polish.

Definitely the product I'm most thrilled about! I was sent the shade 'Marry a Millionaire' which is a gorgeous purple glitter. I have been waiting so long for a high end nail polish to arrive in my Glossy box but I've always been dissapointed. Joliebox - you have done me well! I can't wait to use this nail polish!

And finally a Joliebox Make up Brush!

This brush is perfect for eye shadows or concealer and I love make up brushes!

I am so happy with the May Joliebox!

I can not wait to start using all of these products properly!

Do you subscribe to a beauty box? What do you think of them?

x