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Thursday 28 June 2012

Empties #2

I feel vaguely ashamed by this post due to the plethora of finished products I am about the reveal to you all. Just so you know! A lot of these products I have been using for over a year (slash two...maybe three?!) and I finished these all within the last two months so although it looks like a lot, it is not that bad I assure you!

1. John Frieda Colour Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo
I have been using this for a few years, whenever my hair is dyed blonde I like to use a purple/silver shampoo to correct any brassiness. This one is pretty good I think!

2. Mitchum Advanced Control Deodorant
GLAMOROUS HUH! Basically this is the only deodorant I use. Just thought you should know.

3. Batiste Dry Shampoo (Tropical)
Awful. I will not be repurchasing this. It just makes me look like I have dandruff.

4. The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel 
I have been using this for over a year! It has taken forever to die. I really love the smell of the grapefruit range from The Body Shop but I like to change my shower gels pretty often so I can't see myself repurchasing this anytime soon.

5. After The Rain Moisturising Bath Essence from Arran Aromatics
This was pretty nice but I just used it as a shower gel so I don't think I did it any justice.

6. Palmer's Cocoa Body Scrub
I have spoken about this before in THIS post.
I am completely obsessed with this scrub and bought a new one before finishing this pot.

7. The Body Shop Cocoa Body Butter
This is my favourite body butter because it really helps to smooth out my skin, it is really moisturising and I love nutty, warm smells.

8. The Body Shop Shea Body Butter
This has a fairly neutral smell which is great if I want my perfume to do all the talking.

9. The Body Shop Spiced Vanilla Body Butter
This is a Christmas edition body butter and I really enjoyed this one because of the really indulgent vanilla smell.

10. Garnier Fresh Essentials Refreshing Toner
This toner is actually for normal to combination skin, which I don't think is my skin type but it is incredibly refreshing and smells like grapes! I won't be buying this anytime soon just because it's not for my skin type but it is really nice and affordable too.

11. John Frieda Go Blonder Lightening Spray
This works really well on bits of my hair that are already blonde but when used on my natural mousey hair colour it just goes orange. I do really like this for the ends of my hair though.

12. Clarins HydraQuench Cream
This is for normal to dry skin which is what I have so it's pretty suitable. I QUITE enjoyed this cream but I have nothing to rave about. The smell does nothing for me (it smells like dampness?!) and I have never noticed it work any miracles for my skin.

13. Bioderma Crealine H2O
This is brilliant, I use it all the time as my everyday make-up remover. I find this is great for my sensitive eyes as it doesn't sting or irritate them. I cannot recommend this enough!

14. Pro:voke Touch of Silver Daily Nourish Conditioner
I think this is my favourite brand of silver/purple shampoos because all the products really seem to make a difference to the tone of my blonde hair so I am really impressed by Pro:voke and all their Touch of Silver products.

15. The Body Shop Hemp Hand Cream
This is a good hand cream but I have been using it for so long that I have gotten kind of bored of it and fallen out of love. It is a sad story.

16. The Body Shop Foot Protector
This is really amazing for dry, cracked (eek) feet. It pretty much works miracles in moisturising and repairing dry feet!

17. Natural Collection CoverUp Stick
This is a really average, fairly creamy concealer that I will not be repurchasing again simply because I have tried better concealers in my time.

18. Lancome ArtLiner
This is one of my favourite liquid eyeliners, just because the width of the tip of the liner is perfect and it is VERY black but not shiny.

19. Vaseline Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy
I will not be repurchasing this because I find that Vaseline does nothing but dry my lips out, which is a shame because I love the smell and texture of this.

20. Benefit Kabuki Brush (?)
I don't think Benefit sell this brush anymore, but I have had it for years and decided I hate it because it is made from goat hairs and sheds like a mofo. I think this was my first ever make-up brush so it's time to say goodbye. (Hardly an empty but I had to include it!)


And that is all! I wish I had gotten around to doing an empties post last month so that this did not look quite so shocking but there you have it! :)



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Tuesday 26 June 2012

NYX Blush in Taupe - Review!

Is this the perfect contour colour for pale girls?

I have heard Essie and Deniz (two of my faves!) talk about this before but it has taken me months to actually buy it for some reason.
But I am glad I finally did!


Ohhhhh my.
It looks like dirt. It really does.

BUT the colour is actually PERFECT for contouring (on my pale skin anyway) because it is the same colour of the shadows in the hollows of my cheeks so it looks really natural. 
It's a really dusty, non-orangey taupe colour.

The texture is really silky soft which is impressive because this ain't expensive stuff.
That is probably why the packaging is so tacky but I kind of like it. (eek)


This how it looked at the end of the day!

I got this on ebay (from the US) and it cost about £7 with postage.
NYX do have a UK website for postage is £5 which is pretty steep if you're only ordering one thing that is worth about £5.

Verdict: I would definitely recommend this product for anyone with pale-ish skin. This gets a 9/10 from me!

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Sunday 24 June 2012

Lush - The Sacred Truth Face Mask Review!


I was recommended this last time I went into Lush but I will only by one Lush face mask at a time because they contain fresh ingredients and have to be used within a fairly short period of time.

It costs £5.75, and you get 75g.


 This is my second Lush face mask. 
I did a post on Oatifix, which if you want to read click here.

This is the papaya one so I kind of expected it to smell fruity & delicious, but no. No, no, no.
It smells like grass.
It really should smell better considering this contains perfume in it, but oh well.

However I can see past that (Or SMELL past that, haaa. No. That was lame) because it is a really nice face mask.
Unlike the Oatifix face mask, this does not have huge clumpy exfoliating bits; the particles are a bit more refined so they don't fall off your face and you don't look like someone just threw up on you.
However, you still get some pretty decent exfoliating action when you take this off.

I am a fan of this face mask, it makes my skin feel super smooth and soft after using it.
I actually prefer to use this on in the morning before cleansing and putting my make up on because of how well it smoothes out my skin. My skin is pretty dry so it needs to be properly moisturised before applying make up, and this helps to keep it moisturised.

VERDICT: I would buy again, so it gets a nice 7.5/10 from me.


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Sunday 17 June 2012

Current Obsession: Palmer's

I actually had never owned anything from Palmer's before I got this lot. I only recently started loving the smell of cocoa so I thought I would try some of their stuff.

The first thing I bought is the scrub (I have used up another tub of this already!) and although I know you can make your own scrubs and stuff like that, I like a gentle scrub that isn't sugar/salt based. 

So that is where my Palmer's obsession began.


Cocoa Body Scrub
'Exfoliates, Refines, Polishes, Moisturizes & Smoothes'
This smells...like heaven. I definitely use far too much of it whenever I take a shower (this sounds like it is an unfrequent affair but I promise I do shower regularly). It really helps with any rough, chicken-like skin I get on my arms and leaves my skin SO SUPER SOFT.
It feels like butter and is really creamy so it's not for anyone who likes a really rough scrub.
Basically, I iz obsessed.

Moisturizing Body Oil
'Lightly scented, fast absorbing, leaves skin silky soft'
You can use this IN the shower/bath but I haven't tried that yet.
I slap this on after I have quickly towel dried my skin after a shower and I TELL YOU WHAT, a little goes a long way. I have used this about 7 times now (all over my body) and I have tons left.
Creams tend to coagulate on my skin even though it is really dry, so using a light oil like this is really nice and it sinks in pretty fast.
I also like this because it helps layer that delicious cocoa smell so I definitely smell like a cocoa bean by the time I'm done.

Body Lotion (spf 15 & UVA/UVB Protection)
'Smoothes marks, tones skin'
I love that this has an spf in it, so I don't have to FREAK OUT if a rainy day in England turns hot and I haven't put on any sunscreen.
Like the other products, it smells like heaven and moisturises my skin nicely.

Hands/Elbows/Knees/Feet Concentrated Cream
'Softens & relieves rough, dry skin'
I have basically been using this as a hand cream for in my handbag but it's great for any dry/itchy bits of skin.
My boyfriend always says I smell like Weetabix when I've just applied this on my hands but it definitely smells like cocoa butter to me. 
I like this just as much as The Body Shop hemp hand cream, I think it does an equally good job at moisturising and keeping my hands soft.

5 Reason Why I Love Palmer's: 
1. They are a 'cruelty-free' brand and are against animal testing.
2. My stretch marks have definitely become less visible! 
3. My skin is a lot smoother and softer.
4. It does not coagulate on my skin.
5. My skin is definitely more moisturised/less dry since I have started using Palmer's.


I do still like a good fruity body cream but for now I have mainly been using this while trying to get my body SOFT & SUMMER READY (vom).

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Thursday 7 June 2012

Essie Fifth Avenue

This is my second Essie polish (my mum got me a couple more but they're at home in France...).

My first one was Sugar Daddy which I love, because it's a sheer pink so you can't really tell if it gets chipped which I like because that makes it a really easy to wear colour. Especially for when I'm at work because I have to open a lot of boxes and so my nails chip non-stop.

This one is a bit different. It's really opaque I would say, I didn't need more than one coat but my nails are pretty broken and screwed so they kept chipping at the end so I ended up putting on two. (WAS THAT STORY NECESSARY?!)

My sister has this so I had tried it before and surprisingly really liked it, because I'm not a red kind of girl.

                         

This is a true red/coral colour.
It's not blood red, it's not period red (cringe) and it's not old, sophisticated woman red.
I would say it's a lighthearted summery red but I feel like that would only make sense to me.

What Essie polishes do I need in my life?


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Wednesday 6 June 2012

L'Oréal Rouge Caresse in 202 Impulsive Fuchsia




I bought a couple of these, I also have one in Tempting Lilac but I haven't tried that out on my lips yet. However I do have a feeling that I am going to love it.

Monday 4 June 2012

New Hair!

before: brassy

This is a super short post just to inform you all that I have gone (back) to blonde.
I think it suits me better and I definitely prefer being blonde in the summer months, that's for sure.

My hair was starting to go a strange orangey colour due to hair dye build-up/fading/blablabla and it really didn't look good on me!

I also got an inch cut off because I get really bad split ends...

I hope you are all well & celebrating if you've just finished exams like me!

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