Back with a bang!

Well I just noticed it's actually been 2 months today since I last blogged and I have a lot to catch up on. There's a lot of stuff sitting in my "waiting to review" box which are all the things I have purchased since my last reviewing session.

I will list them below so that I can take them all out of the box and actually find them a home!

• Elizabeth Arden - Bronze in Bloom
• Bare Minerals Get Started Complexion
• Smashbox Beauty To Go Photo Finish Foundation Primer Set
• YSL Touche Éclat (Radiant Touch)
• Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils (Luxurious Mascara For A False Lash Effect)
• Sleek Caribbean Collection Curaҫao Palette
• Sleek Primer Palette
• Sleek Mediterranean Collection Monaco Palette 
• Front Cover Go!Go!Go!
• BeneTint (free with Glamour)
• Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss in Grapefruit (free with Glamour)
• Boots Expert Sensitive Daily Defence Moisture Cream SPF 12
• The Body Shop Lip Scuff
• The Body Shop Lipstick in Soft Sienna
• The Body Shop Big & Curvy Mascara
• No.7 Exquisite Curl Mascara
• No.7 Beautifully Matte Foundation in Almond
• No.7 Eye Awakening Gel
• No.7 Spring 2011 Limited Edition Eye Palette
• No.7 Spring 2011 Limited Edition Lipstick in Grace
• No.7 Spring 2011 Limited Edition Eyeliner in Turquoise
• Max Factor Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation in Warm Almond
• 17 Natural Radiance Foundation in Caramel
• 17 Skin Perfecting Shine Free Foundation in Caramel
• L'oréal Infallible Make Up Long Lasting Perfecting Foundation in Vanilla
• No.7 Lift & Illuminate Foundation in Almond
• 17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Gold
• 17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Silver
• 17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Green
• 17 Metallic Eye Pencil in Bronze
• No.7 Beautiful Brows Pencil in Brown/Black
• Rimmel Professional Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Chocolate
• Models Own Eye Pencil in Neon Hot Pink
• Models Own Eye Pencil in Peacock Green
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Orangeade
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Hot Red
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Pale Jade
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Bright Grass 
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Emerald Green
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Bright Turquoise
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Purple Sky
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Gold
• Models Own Powder Eyeshadow in Brown & Gold Sparkle
• Models Own Nail Polish in Pastel Pink
• Models Own Nail Polish in Vintage Pink
• Models Own Nail Polish in Red Alert
• Models Own Nail Polish in Cherry Pie
• Models Own Nail Polish in Lime Green
• Models Own Nail Polish in Lilac Dream
• Models Own Nail Polish in Becca's Brown
• No.7 Speed Dry Nail Colour in Violetta
• Barry M Nail Effects in Black
• Barry M Nail Effects in White

Please let me know if there are any items you would like me to start reviewing first, otherwise I will slowly go through the list one by one. I won't be buying much in the next few months - or the next year as I have a wedding to save up for!!

I'm going to start reviewing my most recent purchase first because I was so excited when I saw them on the Sleek make up stand. I had hoped they were on 3 for 2 like the last time I bought my Sleek palettes, but no such luck!! So this week I will be reviewing my new Sleek palettes - Caribbean Collection Curaҫao, The Primer Palette & Mediterranean Collection Monaco.

No.7 Beside The Sea Stay Perfect Eyeshadow Palette

I realise this is really the wrong season to be reviewing a "beside the sea" eyeshadow trio but nevermind. I got it a few weeks ago with a Boots No.7 £5 off voucher of course so it was only a few pounds. It's normally £9.75 (click this link for the other 11 shades). I was really intrigued by these colours and more to be honest - but I'm trying to spend a bit less on make up these days - plus my birthday and christmas are ocming up so I'm hoping to get some goodies then! Onto the product.

It's relatively small, so perfect to carry around. However, it does contain 2g of eyeshadow, which is pretty good. It comes with a small brush - which I haven't actually used - it's the same general sponge applicator that comes with a lot of make up products. I love the choice of colours in this range - I'm definitely loving how bright these are too. I chose this palette because I'm a sucker for greens and blues, although lately I've been oh so tempted to be daring and get a vibrant red!

Anyway, I have swatched the colours above for you, the top row is the shadows on their own, then with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base, then using Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy as a base for the bottom row.

Hopefully the picture shows how much of a difference a great base can make, and how lovely these colours are. They're so pigmented that I only had to use two swipes to apply these to show you! This is my first No.7 eyeshadow and I doubt it will be my last. I've been really impressed with all the No.7 products since making the most of the £5 off vouchers.

I'm really hoping to get my hands on some more of these, they are so easy to work with and the colours chosen for each palette match perfectly! I really wanna try using Space Odessey - from the website it looks like it has a light grey, dark grey and orange/yellow colour...so much fun to be had!

Anyways I'm rambling now...so let me know what you think!

My New Haircare Routine

Hi all, as I showed you my new facial skincare routine last night, I thought I would also enlighten you with my new haircare routine. The reason I decided I needed a new routine is because I hadn't changed it since having all my hair cut off...

I had noticed that my scalp was getting very dry, perhaps from dying my hair over the summer... so with my Boots points I picked up these three "Boots Expert" products for dry scalp! The are around £3 each so I still had a few points spare.

I was once told it is best to alternate shampoos so that your hair doesn't get used to one, then it won't have as much effect, so I will continue alternating with my Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo & Conditioner, but I've also added a V05 hot oil treatment which I didn't used to do!

What products do you use on your hair - is it long or short? I'd be keen to know what works for others!! Thanks for reading :)

New Skincare Routine

Some of you may be aware that recently I have been purchasing quite a lot of the No.7 collection in Boots. Mainly because their products have never let me down, but also because some wonderful people have given me £5 off No.7 vouchers to spend!! I have bought nail polishes, blushers, liquid eye liner, mascara (shame I purchased my mascara before they started giving away the free gift!!), foundation, lipsticks, powder, and then I moved onto the skincare section after reading Sophie's blog.

I now own

• a cleanser, toner and moisturiser for morning (day)

• a make up remover, cleanser and moisturiser for evening (night)

• and an exfoliator and mud mask - not No.7 but part of my new skincare routine (weekly)

So far I am one week into my new routine and have noticed my face feeling a lot smoother, and although I am not always spotty, I can be prone to break outs and the odd blemish, but have not had any appearances yet!

I enjoy a good face mask so when the above mud therapy products were on special offer in Superdrug I couldn't resist, so I will be alternating them - tomorrow is time for Raspberry!!

I will continue to update you on my findings, but so far so good, as always with No.7. I also find that the hot cloth cleanser before bed definitely helps open my pores to let the night time moisturiser set into my skin.

What's your skincare routine? Have you got any of these products? What do you think of them??

No.7 Boots Haul - Payday

Ok, so long story cut short. I had 5 No.7 £5 off vouchers to use and bought 5 products in Boots. WIth my last purchase I got another voucher but thought I would save it til I had a bit more cash. Then I remembered that Abbey sent me a new bank card the other day - even though I thought I had closed my account - so as I had a day off, with not much to do, I popped in to see if there was any money in the account.

SCORE £52.93 - I went back to Boots to buy some more No.7. Overall I spent £52.13, about £45 on No.7. At the moment you get a free gift when you spend £22 on No.7, and because I was doing all my items in separate transactions I knew I wasn't entitled to this, however I was about to leave after my second purchase and the lady chucked the free gift into my bag!! SCORE!! I was so happy when I left I had to phone Dave - my fiancé - to tell him all about it!

Paid for:

With flash

Without flash

Freebies:

With flash

Without flash

Pretty good stash for £52 me thinks!!

I will be reviewing each of these items shortly. Thanks for reading!!

More No.7

One of my lovely colleagues left a "£5 off No.7" voucher on my desk so I wandered into town on my lunch break to use it! Boots are still giving them away when you spend over £5 so I thought now is the time to buy the new No.7 mascara, then I will get another voucher!!

Here are my purchases:

Exceptional Definition Mascara in Black, Stay Perfect Lipstick in Angel Kiss

On the website Boots says " The innovative three-in-one brush gives lashes exceptional definition and volume." The brush looks like this:

If you look closely, or enlarge the picture, you can see that the top bristles are shorter for application and ensuring there are no clumps. The longer bristles at the bottom are for combing through your lashes. Finally, the end of the brush has some bristles to enable you to get into the corner of your eye without getting mascara everywhere!

I can honestly say after just one coat it makes a huge improvement to my lashes. You can easily add several coats with this mascara due to the "combing" and "no clumping" bristles.

My second purchase was a lipstick. Of all the No.7 I own (my collection is quickly expanding) I have not yet tried a lipstick. I was tempted by the new Autumn limited edition plum shade, but I do already have a Rimmel plum lipstick which I love so I was more tempted to go for a nude shade. I looked at the Autumn LE nude but it was a bit too pink for me. So I started looking at the usual stand and found a few I liked. But this one caught my eye. Slightly nude, with a slight shimmer.

It's not too much to wear at work, but also the slight shimmer means you can wear it on a night out. Below are some pictures of how it looks once applied.

With flash

Without flash

I did find that after eating, the lipstick wore off a bit, so perhaps the staying power of this is not great, but I have only come across a few lipsticks that have worthwhile staying power. Seems ironic that this is in the "stay perfect" range though. I do however love how moisturised it makes my lips feel.

P.s. I was eating these whilst typing this blog and they are so moreish I've just finished the whole bag!! It was definitely not big enough to share...has anyone else tried these???

No.7 Heaven

Hi guys, I have been buying more make up!!

The fiancé was working on Sunday so I took a brief trip into town - he also got me pizza! But whilst chatting to him is fun I was tempted to check out the shops for make up. I went into Boots - and that's where it stopped really as I didn't have the cash to go anywhere afterwards!
 
I had 2x No.7 £5 off vouchers so I wanted to look at the No.7 stand first and found these goodies.

Almost immediately I saw a "Stay Perfect Matte Top Coat". I have been looking to get my hands on one of these cheaply for a while. £6.75 normally, £1.75 with the voucher. Excellent. I applied it on top of my Barry M manicure and I can really tell the difference. Hopefully it shows in the pic that the right hand is very shiny...?

  

The second item I chose was the Colour Rebellion Eye Palette, I was fixated on the colours - they're perfect for Autumn yet not dull at all. I tried it out quickly on Sunday, the colours go on smoothly and are also very pigmented. I used the green for my eyelid and the red in my crease. The red is more of a copper once blended and looked great! This also gave me another £5 off No.7 voucher as it was £5.50 after using the other voucher. The only thing I didn't like was the crocodile effect on each pot, but only because I didn't wanna ruin it!

I then decided to get a smoky eyeliner. I don't use liquid liner very often, and I'm only just getting used to it, but I thought this sounded like a very clever product. I used this with the palette when trying it out and wow was I shocked - in a good way. It's so easy to apply, it has a sponge applicator, but the best bit is because it's supposed to look smoky it doesn't matter if you don't get it perfect. Great for someone who is getting used to liquid liner. Only £4.50 when using a £5 off voucher.

The only other No.7 item I want is the new mascara...I should have really bought this before the smoky eyeliner as its £12 and would have been over £5 after using a voucher so I would have got another voucher - which I would have used to buy the eyeliner. Now I have to see if a kind friend has a voucher they want to give me so that I can get the mascara for £7 instead of £12!


Hope you've enjoyed this blog - it's a little bit longer than normal but I was just so excited about these products.

Summer sky nails

You all know my main enjoyment is painting nails. Anything goes! So as we had been having lots of sunshine in the UK I thought this blur would be the perfect summer colour. Boots had an offer on their 17 nail polishes at the time; 2 for £5. I decided now would be a good time to add to my collection.

Left to Right: Orange Soda, Catwalk Couture, Palma Violet, Royal Indigo

This manicure is the result of my new bright blue and a pale blue (also 17) which I bought a few months ago.

Stripe Neutral Nails

So I haven't bogged in a while due to lack of internet but I've just set up Blogger on my new mobile (htc desire-awesome!). I decided to do a simple nail design using layers. All 3 colours are by no.7, coconut ice, iced mocha and dreamy. I think all 3 colours blend very well together and u only did a thin layer so it didn't take long to dry either! I want to do a really bright nail design soon though, perhaps black, orange and pink, what colours do you like painting ur nails?

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May Favourite

Every month I will tell you what I have used almost every single day, and although I'm not a huge person for makeup everyday (I prefer to sleep longer before leaving for work) I do enjoy experimenting, so if something gets used often, it's normally pretty special!!

 In March I purchased this:

 
The main reason is because Boots were doing their "£5 off No.7" vouchers and I had bought all the nail polish shades I liked!! I also find that foundation tends to dry out my face a bit so I can't wear it everyday - therefore I save it for those special ocassions, or nights out.

I've never used a tinted moisturiser before but have always heard good things about it. I was quite glad that this had SPF15 as although I live in England we can get the odd sunny day in Summer - least I would be prepared!!

I find you don't need to use too much which is good as this would normally set you back £10.50 (I'm a bargain hunter so won't normally pay more than this). I find the colour matches my skin quite well, but they only had "fair" or "medium" so quite lucky really. I'm not sure if it would blend in well to eveyone's skin colour as I'm sure there are more than two colours of skin out there, right? Let me know if you've tried this and how it blended into your skin.

The moisturiser also gives a lovely healthy glow, which is a real bonus because if you don't have much time, you will just need this and perhaps one coat of mascara for a natural look. I've never had to reapply during the day, however I do normally wear No.7 loose powder over the top which helps the moisturiser stay put.

I will continue to use this product throughout June and we have had a few sunny days so I'm happy to know I am protecting my skin. Overall a great product, which I definitely won't mind paying full price for when it runs out.

9/10 A  MUST HAVE

Cookie Feet

No, I haven't gone crazy...yet. I was in Boots last weekend as I had two No.7 £5 off vouchers to spend. As these vouchers appear quite often in Boots I thought I would take a look at purchasing the limited edition items. Summer collection, and 75th anniversary collection.

I'm mad about No.7 nail varnishes, so I looked at those first and was in luck when I found they had "mini dress", creamy colour in stock (originally saw this online and loved it). The other one I saw was a medium brown, it's totally different, quite often you will find chocolate browns. I thought the brown would be good for summer (I'm hoping to get a tan at some point) and think it will go well with the brightly coloured clothing I'll be wearing.

I am always excited about using new nail polishes so couldn't decide which one to use first (and I had only just painted my fingernails) so I though I would put both onto my toenails!! Once applied it turned out much better than I had expected as my toes had a cookie look to it! Quite cute really. And I even wore open toed sandles to work today to show them off!!

Nails of the Week

I purchased a new "hot pink" nail varnish from Boots last weekend with my £5 off No.7 voucher and was dying to try it out but had only just painted them so it was left until today when I felt in need for a change!

In the picture the pink looks a lot paler than it does in real life, it is a lovely vibrant shade - perfect for summer!

The pink was my base colour and I decided to contrast it with my black fine line polish. The design was inspired by a look on youtube, someone did something similar with black and white.

I have made it slightly simpler as I try to minimise the time I spent on my nails to about an hour a week, this only took about 45 minutes and I did it whilst enjoying the sun we've had in the UK recently!


Thanks for reading!!

“17” Nail Varnishes - Boots Payday Trip

I first saw these nail varnishes on the internet when checking out the latest No.7 nail varnishes. They stood out so much and made me think of Spring straight away. Which is always great when there’s been so much snow in the UK this year!!

I wanted to have a look at them in person rather than just buy online. But as soon as I saw them I was under a spell, I could just imagine how my nails would look.

Left to Right: Fairy cake, Mint choc chip, Sherbet lemon

When I first applied the nail varnishes they were quite thin, but after two coats (which is probably quite normal for a nail varnish anyway) they were as smooth as you could wish for. The colours are so beautifully bright yet so subtle at the same time because they are pastel shades.

I really wanted to paint my nails again with the mint choc chip, but I settled that desire by painting my boyfriend’s toenails – hehe. The great thing about these nail varnishes is that they were already on my “wishlist” because I'd seen similar colours all over other people’s blogs and fell in love. I’m a sucker for new nail varnish colours!!

I actually want to buy the rest of the collection now…they were on 3 for 2 when I bought them so instead of being £2.99 each I paid £5.98 for 3, much better!! And how can I say no to the other great colours when they are such a super price!

Let me know what you think – or if you have any similar shades you would like to share!!