A Key Purchase

A Key Purchase

Sorry about the god awful title. I'm all out of inspiration today. So we're back on the topic of boobies and the next breast cancer treat is by one of my newly ressurected favourite brands, Clinique. They have supported breast cancer charities for as long as I can remember, and this year is no exception. They've launched this fab new key chain which contains three of their top selling lipglosses as well as a couple of cute charms.

The three glosses are varying shades of pink (what else) and are all very wearable/interchangeable as they come out quite nude. The formula is long-lasting and contains SPF15 meaning they'll hang around all day while protecting your lips. I love this key chain and think it makes a super cute pressie for your girlie mates - accessorising your keys with lipgloss is clearly the next big thing. This costs £15 and £2 from each sale will go towards breast cancer charities. You need one now.

Rubbish Picture.
But it shows the shades are nude!

Resurrect Your Style

Resurrect Your Style

As you all know, I had my hair chopped off a few weeks ago by the lovely people at Toni & Guy. I love my new style but it very much depends on having a large amount of volume so I can channel sex kitten rather than little boy. (Ok, it’s not that short, but it don’t look good!) It’s all well and good when I style my hair in the morning, but by lunchtime it’s lost most of its volume and zhuzh (technical term) my hair every five minutes. By the end of the day it’s lost the will to live completely and needs a hellovalorra hairspray to get it back on track. When I was getting my barnet sorted the lovely T&G ladies told me about a few of their products and this one caught my attention – Resurrection Style Dust. It literally expands in the little pot when you shake it which had me hooked.

The dust comes in a little pot with a ‘salt shaker’ top so you get a little out at a time. The texture of the dust is surprisingly tacky (I presumed it would be like dry shampoo) but I guess this is what helps it to stick around – excuse the choice of words! All you have to do is apply it to the root areas of your crown and anywhere else you want a bit of volume and zhuzh to your hearts content. It literally expands before your eyes, creating a really volumised look in seconds. Like I said, the formula is tacky so you need to wash your hands and be careful when you touch your hair so this may not be for everyone, but I love it. The best thing though is that to resurrect your style you simple zhuzh your hair again and it expands... simples. This lasts all day and only needs a little bit more to get you through all night too. It’s perfect for going from office to bar or for taking out on the town to sort your hair out at 3am (or 9am depending what you’ve been up to!)

Paul's Boutique Gets Bigger

Paul's Boutique Gets Bigger

I love a bit of arm candy – who doesn’t? But it’s not very often that arm candy turns into a bit of fragrance candy, excuse the bad choice of words. Paul’s Boutique is best known for his loud and proud bags which seem to adorn all the Topshop-loving ladies in London town. Paul’s now turned his hand to something new with the launch of his first fragrance, and in true homage to the bag charms that adorn his products this is something a little bit different.

The fragrance is entitled ‘24/7’ and comes in a cute box that opens out like a book – it’s always exciting to feel like you’re opening  a present! His brand ethos is really carried through to the opulent pink satin lining and gold colours of the perfume. Gordy this may be, but I think it’s super cute. The fragrance is more like a collection, coming in three different parts and three different perfumes – AM, PM and 24/7 – which are designed to suit your mood at different parts of the day.

The three perfumes come in 10ml dispensers and easily slip into the golden holder, which can be used alone or clipped onto your bag to take it with you for spritzing on the go. This should feel like a faff but the bottle is designed perfectly to make it a two second job, whilst keeping the fragrance safe and secure. For those of you that aren’t massive on the bling, this actually wouldn’t look out of place thanks to the simplicity of the perfume holder and the subtly engraved logo.

The fragrances themselves are all actually delicious and ones I would definitely wear myself. AM is a soft floral scent that reminds me of something I can’t quite put my finger on – it’s perfect for the daytime and even better for autumn/spring mornings. PM is a muskier, sexier scent which combines the best elements of my favourite perfumes, including Vintage by Kate Moss and the new Balenciaga I was raving about earlier in the week. 24/7 is their ‘signature’ scent which is fresh, without being too floral or musky – it kind of sits in the middle of AM and PM and so is pretty much perfect for anywhere, anytime.

I was really surprised to find I would wear all three of these without a problem... how many times do you buy a gift set and give half of it away? I would really use all of these throughout the year, especially because they’re perfect for taking away with you on weekends. This satisfies those Topshop lovers, while not being too gordy and pink and appealing to the masses. At £20 this is a bargain and will be available from Boots and all good fragrance shops this month. Well done Paul – can’t wait to see your next venture!

Parisienne Perfumer

Parisienne Perfumer

Your scent is such a personal thing that I don't like to write that many posts about fragrances. What I may like you may hate, what I may detest you may adore. But here we go... I was sent a bottle of the new fragrance from Balenciaga, the brand who we all know because of those bags Sienna Miller and The Olsen Twins were carrying around a few years ago. I don't know much about the brand, but what I do know is that it's classic, simple and elegant.

These qualities are definitely carried through to their fragrance, with the bottle and pack being extremely clean and fresh yet still very modern and obviously fashionable. This certainly looks well in-place sat on my perfume shelf (yes, I have a shelf completely full of perfume.) I love the detailing on the cap and the elegant clear bottle - this doesn't need any swings or roundabouts to sell it, the product sells itself. This is what they have to say themselves:  "This is a singular house. From Cristobal Balenciaga to Nicolas Ghesquière, the space is steeped in an atmosphere both rigorous and whimsical. Between the experimentation of couture and the morale of the cut. In the House of Balenciaga, there is the couturier who obeys the rules of style, but also the artist who embraces the realm of dreams… It is in this world that a new fragrance was born: BALENCIAGA PARIS"

It's all a bit fancy but I love it. The bottle even comes with its own black cover case so you can take it away with you without it getting damaged. Right, the scent... It immediately hits you as being fresh, woody and lightly floral without being overbearing. I adore it. It's one of those perfumes that would suit anybody of any age, lifestyle or background - a truly universal fragrance while making you feel exclusive and unique. The scent itself mixes with your skin quickly, but lasts the whole day - occasionally I catch a whiff of myself (oh er) and it brings a smile to my face. I would really suggest you all take a trip down to Harvey Nics and take a sniff for yourself. Beautiful.

Cherry Picking

Cherry Picking

It seems that the Autumn collections are coming at us from every crevis at the moment, giving us berries, berries and more berries. For those of you who prefer to spend your pennies saving up for the seasonal parties, ('which are like totally two months away' someone said to me the other day) then this collection from Boots own brand 17 is for you.

I love how 17 have managed to get rid of their cheapy-teenage image which haunted them for many years. I wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole for fear of my teenage cousin having the same makeup as me, but now I have loads of bits and bobs floating around in my makeup bag. Well, makeup suitcase. This latest collection features six nail varnishes and four eyeshadows, all of which are super on-trend and well worth the couple of quid they cost.

Let's start with the polish... I've done a few berry coloured posts recently, but I really like these polishes. The colours include a gemstone red (Ruby Gem), a deep irredescent purple-brown (Gemstone) and brighter purple-blue (Purple Jewel.) Can you spot a trend here? All the colours apply easily and give a good colour result after two coats. They do take a while to dry though so be careful and don't do it in a rush or you'll end up with smudged, manky fingers. These are a good guilt-free buy at only £2.99 each. I've been wearing Ruby Gem and it's lasted three days with only minimal chipping, easily fixed with a quic touch-up if you're lazy like me.

Now, the eyeshadows. I love, love, love these shades. Taking influence from the gem names of the varnishes, these fab little pots shimmer and shine their hearts out. Midnight Pearl, Rose Quartz, Gold Emerald and Violet Rock are all fabulous colours (although because my samples don't have names on I can't tell you which is which!) that I'll definitely be using. Three of the shades are metallic shimmers, ranging from a bronze to silver and grey, and really have a great pay-off. Normally with cheaper brands the result is poor, but these colours really transfer onto the skin well and would look even better with a primer. The fourth colour is a dusky mauve which could be used around the lash line to create a sexy Autumn smokey eye - they blend well and sit well even under and around your eye.

These are all super cheap (polish is £2.99 & eyeshadow £3.49) and are even on a 3 for 2 at the moment so there's no excuse not to grab the lot. It's basically your Autumn wardrobe in one reasonably-priced-package.

 

Skincare Sublime

Skincare Sublime

Skincare has become a top priority for me recently. As I get older I seem to really notice those long days, longer nights and never-ending weeks - so does my skin. I'm always up for trying something new and always moisturise religiously before I go to bed, but I have to say I don't really ever see a noticeable difference or improvement, despite my best efforts. I was sent a selection of RoC to try, and as a brand that I associate with older skin (i.e my mum) didn't think it would do much for me... how wrong I was.

RoC's latest innovation is RoC Sublime Energy: "It combines science with the pampering experience of luxurious skin care to bring new life to the look of your skin in a new 2-step process. It contains E-PULSE^™ for instantly softer, smoother and more even-looking skin, with even greater results in 1 to 4 weeks. It also contains broad spectrum UVA/UVB to help protect skin from premature aging."This two-step process contains a serum and moisturiser which when used together react to form an electrical reaction (sounds scary but it's not) to help your skin regenerate. 

I'm not a big believer in all of these fancy lotions and potions that cost an arm and a leg, but don't do anything more than your 99p tub of Boots own brand moisturiser. However, in this instance I've been proved wrong as I noticed an immediate difference in my skin. You apply the grey serum first which feels very silky and smooth on the skin, whilst having a thicker formula than normal serums. The moisturiser is a light formula that doesn't look any different from any other, but when it's applied you instantly get a slightly warm sensation on your skin. Now I don't know if this happens to everyone, but I definitely noticed it straight away!

I'm rubbish at using moisturisers in the morning as it takes forever to dry and I don't leave myself enough time to faff around before work. Because of this I always use day moisturiser at night and rarely use proper night cream because it's too rich for me. (Just setting the scene!) So when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the loo I already noticed how smooth my skin felt... it seemed a little too good to be true. The next day I had a proper prod and there was definitely an improvement. I've been using this for nearly two weeks now and I love how it makes my skin feel: refreshed, plumper, more radiant and definitely smooth.

I have been using this in conjunction with Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish but I can honestly say I account this responsible for 50% of the improvement. The creams even come in their own little holder so they stay together and look lovely on your shelf (you know how important that is.) At £29.99 for the day cream and £39.99 for the night cream they're not cheap, but I would expect they'd have an even better result on older skin. There's a fabulous 'before and after' shot on the back that I brushed aside with a 'yeah, right' before using this.... now I'm thinking the woman was just as pleased with the results as me.

Cleanse & Polish

Cleanse & Polish

Cleansing is the most important part of your skin routine. If you dont have a polished base to start with it makes the rest of your routine even more troublesome than trying to apply makeup to a face that was drinking cocktails and dancing on the bar a few hours before. I've invested in a lot of cleansers, some with little success and others with much better results. I'd heard great things about Liz Earle's skin care products, and after trying their new hair range and adoring it I was left with no choice but to give it a whirl.

I've been using Liz Earle's famous Cleanse & Polish system for a week now and had high hopes from the very start. After I reviewed her shampoo and conditioner a while back I was inundated with comments about how much people loved Cleanse & Polish. Now I understand why. The system is really simple and just consists of the cleanser and a muslin cloth. When I opened the little pale green case that it comes in I expected to find a selection of treasures and a complex process, but all that greeted me was a bottle of cream cleanser and two clothes with an instruction booklet. "Erm, how does this work magic?" I thought - but it does, it really does. 

All you need to do is massage the cream cleanser onto dry skin (even if you've still got your makeup on) focusing on your t-zone and around the eye area to massage away any tough goup. While you're doing this just run a sink full of hot water and leave the cloth to soak for a few minutes and then massage away the cleanser with the cloth. You do need to focus on one of your five areas at a time (forehead, chin, nose and two cheeks) rinsing the cloth as you go. The massaging movements and the texture of the cloth removes makeup, grime and dirt instantly leaving you with fresh, cleansed and smooth skin.

The lady herself.

You're supposed to use this morning and night, but I'm a 'face wash in the shower' kind of girl so I've replaced my usual 'before bed' routine with this. Just to put into context, I usually use a face wipe to remove the top layer of makeup and two cotton pads each of cleanser, toner and eye makeup remover. All of this can be completely replaced with this one easy ritual courtesy of Liz Earle. I really didn't believe it would remove all my layers so easily, so I tested it with a cotton pad of cleanser... there was practically nothing there. The only thing it doesn't completely remove is my 10 layers of mascara, but if you only put a little on it will even get rid of that.

After a week I've really noticed that my skin is clearer, fresher and more radiant, meaning my makeup sits better and stays put longer. My skin isn't as oily and generally looks a lot better. It also saves me about ten minutes and a hell of a lot of cotton wool before bed time. As you only need one squirt the bottle qill last forever. You even get a spare cloth so you can clean one and still be using the cleanser. This is certainly a winner in my book and a great investment for anyone who has always wished that their skin was a little bit clearer.

Lash Fertilizer

Lash Fertilizer

I love to have a full set of lashes and often wish I was a cartoon so I could flutter so hard it’d make a fellow cartoon character get blown away. Ok, that may be a little too much to ask but with the latest mascara from Revlon, Grow Luscious, you’ll be well on your way there. I’ve never used a mascara by Revlon before – well, not that I can remember anyway, which means it doesn’t count. I’d heard rave reviews about Double Twist but never got round to actually trying it myself. When I was sent one of these cute green tubes to try I was expecting something pretty good but it exceeded my expectations.

Grow Luscious claims to contain a lash enhancing formula which helps to improve their overall appearance and condition over time. Not only does it promise to give you longer and ‘lusher’ lashes, but it’ll make them grow?! Hell yeah, get me that tube stat. When I first opened the mascara I noticed the size of the wand – bloody huge. It’s at least 25% bigger than normal brushes so I did feel like a kid trying out their mum’s makeup and ended up getting it literally all over my face. (I thought I was being an idiot but a couple of fellow bloggers confirmed that they too had made this mistake!) As the brush is big and the formula quite dry it took a while to get used to, but after a few applications I had the knack.

My lashes. Excuse the bags... I was tired.

The giant brush enables you to cover a lot more of your lashes in one stroke, meaning it’s easier to ‘style’ them and basically curve them upwards so they’re more visible and ‘fluttery’. (Do you like my technical terms?) The thickness of the brush and minimal amount of formula on it also enables you to create a really natural look with absolutely no clumping. I love the result this gives because it gives me a fab look for the day without feeling like I’m overdone. I don’t know if I would wear this in the evening as I’m a massive fan of huge lashes and falsies, but this would definitely be a winner to wear from office to bar on a Friday night.

I love the green tube too – it makes it easy to find in my makeup bag at 7.30am and makes everything a little fresher and cleaner in my mind. I hated the gory pink and yellow tubes that other brands have done, so this is right up my street. As far as the ‘enhancing your natural growth cycle’ I don’t know if this is realistic... I haven’t been using it long enough to comment and honestly don’t know if I pay enough attention to even notice if my lashes did suddenly spurt. As a mascara on its own merits this is definitely a winner and one I’ll be repurchasing. (Faints.)

Nail Art

Nail Art

It's not very often that I see a wave of bloggers singing the praises of something and rush out to buy it. This is exactly what's happened with Barry M's Nail Effects after seeing lots of fellow blogger's pretty nails, and if you read multiple blogs you'll have seen the same. I don't have the patience (or the time) to sit down in a nail salon and have my talons made into pieces of art, but sometimes plain colours can get a bit monotonous. This is the perfect solution - quick, easy and looks flippin amazing.

This comes in only a black variety at the moment (although there are rumours that Barry is seeing how this goes and may launch a few more hues in the future) but it looks equally fab over a pale colour, bright shade or a deeper hue like I'm modelling at the moment. And the best thing is nobody can get this wrong... you just bung on one coat over the top of another shade without bothering to get it in the 'right' place, and as it dries it kind of 'cracks' and leaves a fab pattern. This is in short supply at the moment, but keep your eye out as there are stashes of the stuff arriving in store all the time.