GlossyBox 1st Birthday Box | May 2012

GlossyBox £10 per month + £2.95 P&P*

This month GlossyBox are celebrating their first birthday. I can't believe a whole year has passed since they first came on the scene, it only feels like yesterday! I was quite chuffed with this box, not my favourite, but still some great products included which I can't wait to try. They also included two little extras as a Birthday treat.

Inside the box:

Pink Balloon - This needs no explanation, but what a cute thoughtful extra! It is sitting on my desk all pink and balloon-y.

GlossyBox Compact Mirror -  Every girl needs a compact mirror to keep on their bedside table, in their handbag or on their desk at work, so this was a nice extra surprise this month.

Noble Isle Summer Rising Bath and Shower Gel - I have to be honest, I now have a PILE of shower gels that I'm currently trying to battle my way through, so I wasn't enthralled when I saw this, however, it is amazing! Noble Isle is a new British bath and body brand inspired by the natural and cultural riches of the British Isles. It smells really nice and refreshing!

Lolita Lempicka L'eau en Blanc and Eau de Parfum - For a while now, I've been meaning to pick up some Lolita Lempicka perfume samples, as I've heard good things about the fragrances. I also love the name and the packaging! I love both of these scents. They are really light, soft and girly. Perfect for summer days. I think my favourite of the two is the Eau De Parfum, and I may even need to pick up the full size.

Apivita Express Beauty Masks - I haven't ever heard of this brand, but these masks sound a real treat. They exclude synthetic ingredients and replace water with green tea infusion to enhance the antioxidant action. These masks claim to be 90% natural, so i'm looking forward to giving these a try. I do love a good face mask

Osmo Berber Oil Hair Treatment - More recently, I've really been into hair oils and treatments, so I was pleased to find this buried in my shredded paper. It includes argan oil to help restore dry/damaged hair. It also claims to reduce drying time (something that takes a good while for me). It also contains UV filters to protect from the sun and styling tools. Really looking forward to putting this to the test, my hair could do with a bit of TLC after all the sunny weather we've been having.

HD Brows Grow Baby Grow - This also really stood out to me as a "winning box product". Although I'm fairly happy with my eyebrows as they are, I would love to fill out a few sparse gaps in between. This serum encourages rapid growth by increasing the blood circulation and provides essential nutrients. I will most certainly report back if this takes any effect!

What did you think of the Birthday box?
♥

Most recent purchases. More nude lipsticks?

Before the Barry M event last Wednesday i had an hour to spare before i had to meet with the girlies. So i went for a little stroll..right into Boots and Superdrug..uh ohh. *slaps wrist*

I was excited to see that in superdrug they had a Sleek display. I haven't ever managed to find Sleek anywhere near where i live so i took advantage of this and purchased a few things.

The first was an eyeshadow palette in "Storm"..

I love how pigmented these are. I had heard about these from Sam (Pixiwoo) & Laura (Lollipop26). They both said how they were of such quality for a cheap brand. I really wasn't expecting them to be AS GOOD as they are! There's a nice mixture of matte and shimmey shades and all are extremely wearable. If you have a sleek display in your local superdrug i would seriously reccommend you check these out. Especially if you don't have the money to splash out on high end brands. The quality is just as good in my honest opinion.

The next thing that caught my eye were the "Face and Body Highlighters" & i got "Bronze Baby"
There are 3 to choose from. One a lot more golden and another which had a much darker strip in it. I chose the inbetweeny shades. I wish i could remember how i much i paid for this, i know it wasn't more than £5. They are complete Bobbie Brown Shimmerbrick dupes! The colours are GORGEOUS and this was by far my favourite Sleek purchase. Again, they are really pigmented and have such a fab texture to them. I am seriously considering popping back to london to pick up the other 2! They leave such a gorgeous glow to the cheek bones & because this one has pinky tones in it, it really warms up my complexion...

This was experimenting with the brush (looks shoddy doesn't it?) & actually, it proved to be quite good..Bit of shedding & i probably wont use it, but like the benefit brushes, it was soft and in order to create the contour on my face i swiped it across the colours and it placed them effortlessly...the colour might seem a little harsh, but this was with no blending & no other makeup. eeeek.

The last thing from the Sleek range was this Inkpot Gel liner in"Purple Rain"I was in ore of this colour. It's gorgeous, & i actually had my eye on a similar shade from the Bobbi Brown Gel Liner range, but this was a hell of a lot cheaper! Think it was £2..something. It came with a little brush, which is pants! It's too small to have any precision with the line and far too fluffy. I have yet to try this out on my eyes, but with a better brush the line was really quite pigmented.

In Boots i noticed the makeup range called "Pure", i had never seen this before so decided to have a look. It's packaging was very Sleek (ha) & black. It's also all very square. If you think Nars lippies are quite square, these are sharp compared! I noticed a lippy in colour "nude" (oh..how very classic). The consistency of this lipstick is my absolute favourite kind.."moisturising" & this really is moisturising!! The lipstick was around £7 (i think..i throw away all my reciepts..soryy). I looove this lipstick, it's almost like a balm, and because i do suffer from dry lips this has been my staple lipstick for the last week! For all you nude lovers, i think you need to try this if you haven't already.


I then picked up "Nude Attitude" by revlon, and i have to say, besides the fact it leaves my lips pretty parched, with a gloss on top, it gives me the perfect nude lip & i love it.

On Saturday i accompanied a friend shopping (Had so much fun, shes not really into makeup but decided she wanted to spend lots of money on top quality stuff as she is bridesmaid at a wedding...so imagine my excitement in Mac when i was helping her buy everything) I didn't have any money but Estee Lauder was buy 2 and get free stuff. So with my beloved boots points i bought 2 lipsticks in Vanilla Truffle & Pink Sand. Both of these i absoloutley LOVE! especially pink sand and i wouldn't have picked this one out personally. I'm not a huge fan of the packaging on this one..it's quite classic and kindof reminds me of lipsticks my nan would have in her handbag, but the colour is to die for & is my current fave, think Mac Angel but 10x better. It's love.

[Left to Right: Pink Sand, Vanilla Truffle]

And look at the freebies i got with them...So technically i got all this for free! It includes 3 gorgeous makeup bags (one large, one medium and a brush bag (which is one of my fave items...so useful)) A lipstick in a coral/orange, The award winning night serum, double wear black mascara, an old lady scent (i think i will give this to my nan..not really a fan of that one), An eyeshadow quad & makeup remover. You get soo much. It's worth it just for the bags though!

Hope you all enjoyed, if you want any reviews, just ask :)
♥

I found my MOJO baby.

In the time I was away, I grew myself an impressive moustache. You like?

I was going to title this blogpost "An Apology" as I haven't blogged in a few months, but then I changed my mind, and I realised that in fact I don't need to apologise at all. I have been on somewhat of a blogging holiday, lost my blogging mojo & have been super busy living life with it's ups and downs & just haven't really felt like sitting down and doing it. I have no excuse, besides the fact that blogging is not my job, I don't get paid for it, it's a hobby, it's something I want to enjoy doing, something I want to sit down and really get into. I'm not going to do it if it feels like a chore.

I was actually quite disappointed by the fact that some of you got a little aggressive with me about it.

To quote one girl "Do you not think that being a bigger blogger means you have more responsibility to give your viewers exactly what they want".

There are so many things in this statement which make me want to pull my hair out. The term "Bigger Blogger" is a load of poppycock, I'm no bigger than anyone else. I am humble and down to earth, and NOTHING sets me apart from someone with 10 followers. I just blog about things I enjoy, and it makes me happy to know so many of you love reading it. It doesn't automatically mean I HAVE to blog more or change the way I'd do things naturally. So no, I don't have more responsibility to give my viewers what they want, I'm hoping you all follow my blog because you like what I choose to blog about, and the way I do it & not because I feel I have to.

Don't get me wrong, I also had a lot of nice positive comments from people simply saying they missed my blogposts & they hoped i'd return soon, and those I didn't mind at all, there was just a handful of people which gave me absolutely no motivation to want to get back into blogging whatsoever. Please don't nag at me if I don't blog enough in the space of a few months, I have a life too, and any spare time I have had, I've done a Youtube Video as I feel they are much easier to do sometimes.

That said, I can now say "I THINK I FOUND MY BLOGGING MOJO". Lets not all get too excited though, i'm still running low on juice, I'll need to do a few blogposts to get back into the swing of it. I have lots of reviews I want to do on things i've been loving though & obviously my nice new camera to take some spiffing photos with.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say HELLO to all the new followers I've gained even though I have been absent, and I hope you've enjoyed reading through my older blogposts.

Anyway, this blogpost was more of an update/mini rant to remind some of you that my official title is NOT "Blogger"and I will be updating more regularly from now on. Hoorah!

The Barry M V.I.P Event.

I'm not really expecting many of you to read this as i think i'm the last one to talk about it and you will most probably be bored with hearing it again but i'm going to anyway for those of you who may not have. (Although i'm guessing it's highly unlikely)

So as you may have all already seen (as i'm late with this post due to lack of camera equipment) around 30-40 youtubers and bloggers were invited to an exclusive V.I.P event in London, Soho. Initially it was all a surprise and nobody had any idea what was going to happen there. The venue was very well decked out in everything glam and camp. Balloons, Jars of sweets, Cocktail glasses with Dazzle Dusts in them, Amazing fairycakes and men with far better legs than me...sob..

The Event...

[Photos Courtesy of the lovely Ling (Moonbeamstarlight), Suzi (Suzit86) & Sirvinya]

We all got to meet Barry M himself and he is such a sweet old man, he gave us a little speach about the growth of Barry M.
After that they explained about the launch of the M club. Which is a concept which will enable us to easily communicate and share all our makeup knowledge in one place. It will be combining twitter, youtube, blogs etc. It's such a fab idea and everyone at the event will be able to set it up soon. For everyone else i think it will available from mid-july. I really haven't explained it very well, Lollipop26 (Laura) explained it amazingly as she'd recorded a little vid for us to watch. After this we all got to preview the new Barry M advert, which aired the following day (Thursday at around 6.43 - In the hollyoaks break) I have seen it a couple of times since then too. I think it's fab. What do you reckon?

Overall it was such a fantastic day, I must admit i was SO nervous to be meeting everyone as i'm initially quite a shy person but once you get talking to me i'm fine, but i had so much fun and felt completely at ease as everyone was so lovely. We were all there because of the same love of makeup and it just helped everyone gel together. I just wish there was more time as even though it was 3 hours, it went SO quickly and there just wasn't enough time to have a quality chat with everybody, which i'm sad i never managed to do!

So thankyou girlies for making it such an enjoyable afternoon, it was so lovely to meet you all & thankyou so much to Barry M for hosting such a fab event.

The Goody Bag...

Before we left we were handed this goody bag...can you imagine 30(ish) people travelling in convoy to covent garden with these..yes it turned a few heads. :)

[These are swatches of the 2 lipsticks i didn't already own - Can you tell the difference? The top is Cerise Pink and the bottom is Punky Pink. They come out almost identical.]

[The Dazzle Dusts - From Left to Right - 24, Toffee - 98, Petrol Black - 22, Black Gold - 96, Gold - 97, Dark Chocolate]
My favourites are Tofee, Petrol Black and Gold. GORGEOUS colours. If you look in the whol goody bag photo, you will see another dazzle dust with a pink lid. This was our V.I.P exclusive dazzle dust created for everyone at the event. There were 2 colours. A baby blue and baby purple. I got the blue one, although i haven't swatched it as i'm going to keep it as a collectable type thing :)

[Above = Flash - Below = No flash]

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of these goody bags. It certainly gave Me & Lydia

something to look at on train journey home (Lydia..did that lipstick come out of your top? lol)

And here is a geeky photo of me wearing the Barry M T-Shirt...love it!!
[Excuse the lack of makeup and overly contoured cheekbone...i was experimenting lol]

So as you can see we were all really lucky and were given some fab freebies. I can't wait to try it all out and review some of it. If there is anything in particular you would like a full review on, please let me know and i'll be happy to do it for you.

Check out my next post for a teeny pre-event haul (I arrived an hour early so had some time to spare...oops) & a few other things i picked up in the last week or so :)

Much love lovelies

♥

Topshop Makeup | Blush

Topshop Blush £6 

Next in the Topshop Makeup Series, I want to go over the blushers. These are not my favourite thing in the Topshop makeup range, although I know plenty of people who would say they were. I just want to start with the packaging, I absolutely love it, like all other Topshop makeup items, it has the adorable black sketching, in this case, polka dots. The only thing I will say, is that after a while, the white background becomes a little more cream, and then there's no going back to that lovely white crisp casing, dangnabbit. 

The consistency of these is what makes them a little different from anything else I own, and certainly anything else I have seen on the High Street. They apply as a cream blush, but dry with a more powdery finish. I actually find powder blush easier to apply, as you just apply it with a brush, however, I do like to use these for a much more subtle finish. I think because it applies as a cream and dries to a powder, it gives a much more natural flush than a powder would. I also don't find it that difficult to apply. I just use my fingers, and dot it on my cheekbones or the apples of my cheeks (depending on which mood i'm in) and then blend it out as much as desired. The colours can look a little scary in the pan, but they are very easy to blend, and you can also build up the colour if you want something a little more opaque. They also have quite good lasting power, I wouldn't say it's amazing, but for £6 you can't really expect miracles (plus, you don't want to look like Aunt Sally for over 24 hours).

The colours I own are Head Over Heels (pictured on the left in all photos) and Flush (pictured on the right). Head over heels is my favourite (as you can see it has been used a fair bit...and looks pretty grubby). It's a gorgeous coral pink and I find that this suits my skin tone a little more than Flush, which is a lot more pink. 

What do you think of Topshop blush? Do you own any?

♥

My Favourite Haircare.

I was introduced to S factor when it was first released a few years ago, and went to the launch at a hair salon. We were given goody bags of almost everything in the line. I can safely say, i have never experienced anything as good as this since i started using it. The scent of all these products is "Strawberries & Cream"..yumm. Obviously i can't afford to indulge in the shampoo and conditioner all the time, but when i feel my hair is lacking shine or condition i use this, or if i'm going out, or am feeling rubbish :).....

.....The styling products however, i use ALL the time.

[Left to right: Smoothing Lusterizer, Body Booster pumping spray, Smoothing Conditioner & Flat iron shine spray]

I'm going to do a mini review of some of the items i've tried in this range you definitely must try for yourselves (apologies..it is most of it)

Smoothing Shampoo & Conditioner: You know when salon shampoo makes your head feel fresh and kindof cold? haha. Well this is what this shampoo makes you feel. I suppose the feeling is actually just clean & refreshed. Leaves hair silky, and doesn't weigh it down. I have thick hair..but not much of it & my fringe is my problem. If i can't get my fringe right when ive washed my hair i'm instantly in a bad mood. Please tell me i'm not the only one? and i usually find that alot of shampoos/conditioners weigh my hair down..thus parting my fringe in the wrong places and making my hair SO flat...but this doesnt.

Smoothing Lusterizer: This is my Holy grail hair product. I use it every time i wash my hair. It Tames flyaways, gives amazing shine and defrizzes. Even continues to work well in the rain. (And i usually look like Fuzzy bear when i'm caught in drizzle) You apply this to damp hair before blow drying.

Body Booster: I only really use this when my hair is feeling particularly flat or i'm after a messy look because it certainly does what it says on the tube. I have never known a root booster like this one. I can actually feel my hair standing off my head... I was going to invest in the Bumble and Bumble thickening spray but to me this does the job i wanted. Really, really volumous. And i have really long hair and not alot of short layers, so i'd love to see the effect it has on shorter hair, it would look amazing!!

Flat Iron Shine Spray: This is also Leesha (Xsparkage's) favourite flat iron spray. It makes your hair soo incredibly soft. I am often really lazy and naughty and forget to spray before straightening my hair, but this stuff leaves your hair feeling gorgeous so it quickly became part of my routine. It is quite oily, so i would suggest if you have thin hair (or not alot of hair) to spray lightly. If you have thick, dry hair go crazy ;)

I also have the "Chic Shine Hairspray" (which i accidentally missed from the photo) It's a spritz rather than a spray and is quite liquidy. The hold lasts all day, and again is perfect for a messy do.

The last and my absolute favourite (Sorry, again no pictures, i have run out :(..sob) is the "Serious Conditioner" It has sunflower seed oil in it, and MY GOD, if you want silky soft strawberry smelling hair you need to invest in this. You need the tiniest amount to get maximum effect. After using this for the first time i'd never seen my hair looking and feeling quite so healthy. Most of the products in this range have also got tiny bits of finely milled glitter which adds shine to your hair, and u can really see it in photos on a night out.

I have also got the scarily large round, ceramic brush..that too..is awesome.

Has anyone else tried anything from this range?

Whats your favourite haircare line?

♥

Pastel Pug Manicure

Many weeks ago now, I was made aware of an Ebay shop called JanChristie by Heather who writes EffiesMakeupBox. Jan Christie sells adorable little nail transfers in various different designs at an extremely great price. Each sheet contains 24 stickers in varying sizes for different nails. I bought two sheets of Pugs (as they were my favourite), Foxes and Black Cats. She also threw in a free sheet of flowers as I'd purchased 4 (I'm not sure if she still offers this deal).  Each sheet is only £2.30 with free postage, which I think is a great price, especially if used sparingly like I have. It appears that she doesn't have any of the wildlife/zoo animals or flowers at the moment, although I do hope she restocks, as she had some great options. Currently there are plenty of different Cats and Dogs to choose from though.

RE-EDIT: Jan has just got in touch with me, and mentioned that she now has her own website! HOORAH. It's absolutely brimming with all kinds of different designs & are only £1.80 per sheet. I'm thrilled. I thought she was disappearing! So if you did want to grab yourselves something which wasn't available on her Ebay shop, head on over to:

www.janchristie.com

I decided when having my nails done, that I would opt for pastels as I prefer to wear pastel colours on my nails at the moment. I used Essie's "Mint Candy Apple" (a firm favourite for years now, although not a massive fan of the formula) on 4 of my nails, and then on the accent nail I used O.P.I's "Mod About You" which is also a firm favourite. Both were ordered from Ebay. 

Then came applying the little pug. I left the nail to dry (really important), and then peeled back the sticker to cut round the pugs. I did attempt to cut the pug out before peeling it off, but this was impossible and I couldn't do it, so peel and cut in that order seemed to work best. You then place the sticker on the nail, and press down. It sticks down very easily. Pop on the top coat and you are good to go! She advises topping up with top coat for a few days in order to make the sticker last a bit longer.

It took seconds and so far it's lasting well! Just added a little bit of fun to my manicure, and it makes me smile every time I catch a glimpse of the cheeky little pug on my nail! At just under 10p a sticker, you really can't go wrong. :)

♥

JolieBox UK | May 2012

JolieBox UK £10 monthly subscription + £2.95 P&P*

This months JolieBox was created to inject a little flower power and plant based products into your beauty routine. I'm just going to throw this out there and say that this is possibly my favourite JolieBox so far. It may only have 4 items as opposed to the normal 5, but I feel like the good choice of samples and the full size nail varnish thoroughly make up for it. I also wanted to mention how much I enjoy reading the JolieMag. This little 23 page magazine which has been edited by the oh so gorgeous Anna of ViviannaDoesMakeup, excites me just as much as the box of goodies. It's full of great content, including product reviews, interviews and helpful information. I like to read it in the bath as a wind down! This magazine has become a little bonus when receiving your JolieBox each month, and I think it's a wonderful idea. 

Products included in the box:

Talika Lipocils Expert 2ml - An eyelash growth product with extracts of natural nettle to stimulate the growth of short or frail eyelashes. This sample is quite small, i'm not overly sure how much 2ml of product is going to help stimulate my eyelashes. I'm certainly not expecting to wake up with long fluttering lashes after using it once but i'm intrigued to see if it does in fact do anything at all. I've not ever dabbled in eyelash growth serums before, so this is all new for me! 

Essential Care Organic Rose Moisturiser 15ml - Being quite the skincare junky I'm looking forward to trying this moisturiser. It has rehydrating, regenerative and toning benefits of organic rose and aloe juice. It's also suitable for vegans and they've not tested on animals, which I know is an important factor for many of you when making cosmetic choices. After checking out the ingredients, it also appears to be free of any nastiness too. Skincare is always best when it's kept as natural as possible so this look promising. 

RMK Make up Base 15ml - This makeup base claims to prime the surface of your skin, add moisture with shea butter and provide the perfect fit for foundation. I'm the sort of person who skips on priming before applying my makeup because sometimes I just prefer my face to have as little on it as possible, I always feel like priming just adds another layer, and I can't say i've ever really needed to do it. However, more recently, I have been trying out some different primers, and my eyes have been opened to the world of longer lasting makeup and a smoother, easier foundation application. This looks to be a very good primer, and I'm excited to give this a proper whirl. The cute little bottle will also be perfect for travelling. 

China Glaze Nail Lacquer Wicked Style (full size) - I was so happy to see this nail polish in my JolieBox this month, as China Glaze are one of my favourite nail brands. I find their polishes to be very long-lasting and just of excellent quality. I see them as O.P.I's main rival in the high end polish stakes. I'm not a massive fan of the pink, as I don't tend to wear pinks all that often, although that could all change once the sun comes out :) Saying that, pink is always my top choice for a pedicure!

What do you think of this months JolieBox? 

♥

Nostalgia | Baby Zoella & Retro Outfits

"Dribbling Sailor"

My Dad was searching through the attic a few days ago and he found some old photo albums covered in dust and very much un-loved. I went through some of them and found old baby & toddler photos of myself and my brother Joe. I thought some of them were worth sharing with you all, as they were too juicy not to. I post a lot of photos of me now, but I thought it would be interesting for you to see me before too. I always LOVE looking at friends' baby albums and seeing the similarities in both personality and facial features. Plus, who doesn't love babies? 

"Hello? Is it me you're looking for?"                        Not sure what tickled me so much here!

"Fatty little ankles, teeny feet & blonde curly hair"                         "Chillin' in the garden with my subtle hat"

"Oh hey, just chillin' in my retro dolls pram like a little victorian child..."

                     "Apparently I was being a spaceman"                                   "Someone vomitted 90's on me..."

"Funky sunglasses and the beginning of my collar obsession?" "I was a thumb sucker and I wore jumpsuits and flatcaps"

     

"This made me chuckle, Plus, Joe looks like a Mitchell brother - Eastenders watchers will know what I mean"

      "Spots and Stripes and another collar"                               "Crazy face, crazy hair and crazy bubbles"

"Holiday snap! Joe is a sailor and I am..well...I'm not sure, but I'd wear those shorts now..."

"Saved my favourite until last, this is one of me and Joe in the garden. It just makes me smile so much"

I felt so nostalgic and happy flicking through lot's of old photos, and it reminded me that we all take so many digital photos these days and leave them on our memory cards and laptops and never print any out! I love having them on there, don't get me wrong, but there is something a lot more special about a photograph when you can hold it in your hand and recover it years later. I'm definitely going to be printing lot's of my favourite photographs and putting them into albums and frames!

If you're a blogger, i'd love to see old photographs of you too. It's nice to see outfit of the days and know what we all look like now, but it's even more exciting to see what we used to look like and what we used to wear. Plus, this brought back so many happy memories for me! Get scanning your old snaps and reminisce the old days.

♥

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