September favourites...

MUA blush in shade 04. I cannot tell you how much I love this blusher. It's amazing. Perfect. Really pigmented, blends beautifully and is just the right shade of warm glow. The fact that it cost me just £1 makes me love it all the more. 

Wild Curls mascara.. I wasn't sure about this to begin with, it was a little too wet for me to be using it regularly but after a few weeks it's great! I'm reaching for it over my L'Oreal telescopic mascara, something I never thought would happen! For a mascara that's £5.99 against the £9.99 of the L'Oreal one that's pretty impressive.

Skin so soft Signature Silk whipped body oil. Now that it's getting colder and the heating's on every now and again my skin is really suffering. Slathering this on after a shower goes quite a way to keeping my skin smoooooth and soft. 

  

Naked palette- Toasted is my favourite, along with Sin and Smog. Virgin and Naked together make a lovely highlight too. Naked and Buck also make great all over colours for lazy days. 

24/7 glide on eyeliner in Whiskey- I never thought there could be this much difference in an eyeliner. It goes on beautifully, gives you a few moments to smudge it in and then it sets totally. I have problems with my eyes running in the day and especially in the cold, and this doesn't budge even when I'm wiping my eyes which I didn't think any eyeliner could withstand!

No7 blending brush. I think this would be the closest to the one I have.... Mine came in a set that I got a few Christmases ago and I love it, it's absolutely perfect for blending and it's also great for all over colour. It's really soft, washes well with little shedding. 

Garnier mineral (with mineralite) 48 hour deodorant- while I will never understand the need for 48 hour deodorant (except for proving that it really will last you for 24 hours?!) this has impressed me. My body seems to do something weird and once I'm about a quarter to half a can of this size deodorant through, it stops working. Suddenly something that was keeping me all nice and dry becomes useless and I'm forced to find another. This one hasn't done that, and I'm nearly at the bottom of it. Garnier also claim that this allows skin to breathe which is always a bonus! Really fast to dry and not even a hint of white marks.

What have your September favourites been? Tried any of mine? 

x

The vast array of matte top coats.... WHICH ONE?!

Yes. I'm slow aboard this. Months ago when 17 started tempting us on their facebook page with their matte top coat I decided that I'd go for that one when it came out... Which at first they claimed would be in August, then September.. and now October. If it was a ploy to get me to hold off buying another matte top coat IT WORKED! However it's left me annoyed. (they even gave 2 away the other day. I am not lucky.)

Now I'm not overly happy with paying £8 or so for a matte top coat that I may or may not like. I'm also not particularly keen on the finish of ELF's mattifier (though imagine I will buy it!) so that leaves mid range like the Rimmel one... Of which I'm not a fan. (Getting a theme here? Fussy? ME?!) It just seems like it was an after thought, it wasn't advertised, and then suddenly it plonks itself down in Boots. 

Then after an ebay search I came across Nubar's V for men matte finish nail protector, a quick google led me to this page at All Lacquered Up where it looks like it does a pretty good job! This one is around £7 or so I think but as it's original job is a nail protector it's a 2 in 1 product I'm ok with that ;)

Same goes for OPI's nail envy, which I've been eyeing up ever since I saw it on Vaguely in Vogue at the beginning of the month. Then I remembered that when I was searching for cheap Nail Envy's on ebay I'd come across a matte version which I've now decided is the one! Next month I'll hopefully be going for this, a real 2 in 1 product that will hopefully bring my nails back from the dead (flaky, splitting.. GAH!) and mattify polishes tooo! Genius ;)

If you'd like to run screaming down the (aisle?!) at me to warn me of the horrors of any of the above, please do. 

Or if you've got recommendations and/or can convince me to spend more then that would be great too! I'm definitely more into the slightly-satin finish than the blackboard-style matte finish. 

x

In-between times...

The last couple of months have been so frustrating! Waiting for new autumn releases to come out that have been waved under our noses for months (I'm talking about you 17 matte top coat!) and have yet to materialise..

The weather's at it too, it seems totally undecided, one day a scarf and thick cardigan are too much, the next I'm cold! I am really looking forward to wearing boots and slouchy hats, but I hate covering up an outfit with a coat, it seems such a shame! Hot.... (I'd normally say chocolate here, but with that being out of bounds I've no idea!)... drinks in cosy cafes, pretty gloves and scarves and gorgeous coloured leaves. 

Maybe that's why I'm feeling a little in-betweeny on my blog at the moment too, it's now nearly 6 whole months old and I can't believe the time has flown by so fast! I feel a little lost though, still loving the beauty blog world, but struggling from time to time for posts. I do think that it's totally normal to feel like that sometimes, I love blogging, I just don't feel inspired all of the time. Those bloggers that do I think are amazing!

Are you feeling in-betweeny? 

x

More Body Shop offers...

The Body Shop have yet more offers!

To celebrate the release of their Smoke and Fire make up range they have free delivery on all orders until the 26th of September. PLUS a half price make up brush when you buy any make up item.

I recently got hold of this little cutie after seeing it over at Secret Beauty Blog..

At just £3 it's a bargain, especially with free delivery. It's great for exfoliating and gentle enough to be used daily while still leaving your skin soft and smooooth.

Have you got any recent beauty bargains?

x

Liz Earle Essentials range- Skin Repair Moisturiser

This is the last of the products that I was sent from the essentials range by Liz Earle. It took me a while to decide whether I liked it or not, and I think that was mainly down to one thing, application. This confused me slightly as I really didn't expect how I put this on to affect my opinion of it so much!

Basically, if I take a bit of this out of the pot and onto my fingers and then just massage it into my face I don't like it, it feels too heavy and greasy. The way to do it is to get a little out of the pot, and then rub it between my hands for a little bit to spread it out and warm it up, then I can massage it into my face and neck without feeling greasy or heavy.

This really is lovely, it's a very good moisturiser and I think that was part of why it took me a while to get used to it, I'm used to light day creams that are quite thin and not overly moisturising, whilst this is lovely and moisturising without being too heavy or taking too long to sink in (but it stays around long enough to leave me satisfied that it's working well!)

Liz Earle say:

"Light yet rich in naturally active skin nourishing ingredients including: borage oil a rich source of...GLA, echinacea, hops, avocado oil, panthenol... and vitamin E to replace lost moisture and protect your skin... Intensely moisturises, smoothes and protects"

I can quite happily use this before makeup without it rolling off, or my (mineral) makeup sticking to it in a patchy way. After leaving it to sink in for a few minutes it quite happily works as a base. The only area that sometimes needs a little help to prevent it becoming greasy over the course of the day is the area around my nose, but that's to be expected really as that's an area that for me, is either really dry or greasy.. It doesn't seem to have an in between ;)

Whilst the Cleanse and Polish does a really great job of ridding my face of random dry flaky patches, the one area that I still have a problem with is the creases round my nose (what else do you call them?!) that rebel and stay dry and rough pretty much all year round, which makes for difficult make up application, even with a primer. This moisturiser sorts this like none other has, leaving my nose smooth and soft and not turning into a flaky mess when I buff my foundation in.

I have the normal/combination one and you definitely definitely would not want this version if your skin is prone to any oiliness as it's a lot heavier than the light version.

I can't honestly say that I'd definitely repurchase this... I don't feel that my quest for the perfect moisturiser has reached it's end yet but this may well be one that I re-visit at a later date. 

The skin repair moisturiser retails for £17.25 for a 50ml jar from the Liz Earle website. I'd say that the pot should last you at least 4 months or so, I've not made much of a dent in it in the month I've been using it for and I've used it every day, once or twice a day. 

What's your favourite moisturiser?

x

£5 off Naked Bodycare!

It's Naked's 5th birthday and to celebrate they're offering £5 off any order of £10 or more...

You'll need to use code NK5BD. 

They also have free delivery on orders over £20 so well worth stocking up!

Naked don't use SLS, parabens or petrochemicals in any of their products and the ingredients are at least 97% natural (things like preservatives and emulsifiers are still used in some of their products). They also don't test on animals, ethically source their ingredients where possible and the bottles that their products are sold in are anywhere from 50-100% recycled! 

I've tried quite a few of their products and haven't come across any that I don't love.. The Angelica foam bath and their Coco De Mer foam bath in particular are amazing! A little goes a very long way, the scent fills the room and they feel wonderfully indulgent without the price tag (£3.99 for 300ml!) 

x

NOTD

I'm a multicoloured girlie, I love colour and these nails have meant many happy moments as I catch sight of them through the day!

I used ELF's white as a base and then the dots include: Diamond Cosmetics Oh Tiff, 17's Sherbet Lemon, Rimmel's Rose Libertine, Barry M's Berry Ice cream, Collection 2000's Hula, and 17's Caribbean Coral.

Please excuse any smudges, my Sally Hansen quick dry top coat has turned all gloopy and cloudy! (New, different one in the post!) 

x

Discounts, Freebies and Bargains!

This is quite a long list this time... Most of these have been gathered from the MoneySavingExpert website :)

Dorothy Perkins have 25% off until the 19th of September, either print this voucher to use instore or enter DPVIPE at the checkout to use this offer online.

There's a £5 off voucher for The Body Shop in this week's Sunday Telegraph (£1.90) which is valid until the 26th of September.

New Look £5 off £25 spend.. Instore only. Voucher is printable here. Valid for one day only, this Sunday- the 19th. 

20% off Boohoo until the 23rd of September! Code to use is MSE20.

Glamour magazine this month has 8 discount vouchers which are valid for varying periods from the 4th til the 10th of October.. These include:

20% off at Warehouse to use instore on the 4th of October.

20% off at Dorothy Perkins on the 5th of October, valid on any spend instore or on orders over £50 online. 

20% off at Mango on the 6th of October, valid online and instore. 20% off at Oasis on the 7th, online and instore. 

20% off at the Organic Pharmacy, valid from the 4th til the 10th, online and instore... 

...and more! 

20% off at La Senza with Best magazine.. 89p. Valid instore only, on full priced items til the 21st.

Enjoy! x

Naked palette....

... It's here and I love it! The shadows and soft, smooth and lovely, they glide on with wonderful amounts of pigmentation and the liners.. It's love! 

If you're interested in hearing/seeing more then let me know, otherwise I'll try and get some EOTD's up for you using it as I know I'm certainly all swatched out from the millions of blogs about this one :)

I do have one complaint, and that's not the palette itself, that would be Debenhams.. When my palette got here I discovered (after I'd swatched half baked myself) that 3 or 4 of the other shadows had been swatched themselves.. and not by me! Had this been anything else I would have sent it back but such was my desperation to try it out that I left it... I will be emailing Debenhams to let them know though.. Totally unacceptable!!

x

Bargain Benefit Powderflage!

Image credit: Asos

Half price perfumes have this Powderflage concealer set (concealer plus brush) for just £9.99! 

Asos and Benefit currently sell them for £19.50 so it's a huge saving of nearly 50%

You can find it here

I also thought I'd remind you of an offer that I've posted previously... The Urban Decay Best of Urban set that has an RRP of £30 which currently sells for £10 on the Half Price Perfumes site here 

x

OOTD- bargain dress!

This was a rather impressive bargain... Dress was £5 from George at Asda! It's unfortunately gone now in this colour, but is still available in black! I love it, really comfortable, flattering waistline, gorgeous detailing and perfect for winter with leggings/thick tights, boots and a chunky knit cardigan! 

x

Beauty Blog Link Love!

Rae ignites a bit of a lipstick craze with photos and swatches of her (current) favourite drugstore thrill -- http://ethicnote.blogspot.com/2010/09/picspam-review-revlon-mauvy-night.html">Revlon Mauvy Night!

Eyelining rounds up all of the Sleek iDivine palettes, both http://eyeliningobsessions.blogspot.com/2010/08/comprehensive-look-at-all-of-sleek.html”>permanent and http://eyeliningobsessions.blogspot.com/2010/08/comprehensive-look-at-sleek-ltd-edition.html”>limited edition!

Neutrals is her middle name! Maggie shares her http://makeuploveforever.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-favorite-everyday-eye-palettes.html">favorite neutral eyeshadow palettes over at The Polka-Dotted Apple.

Jen from A Beauty Junkie in London has a sneak peak at the new range of http://www.beautyjunkielondon.com/2010/09/accessorize-make-up-picture-heavy.html">make-up from Accessorize.

 

Phyrra shows you a cool http://phyrra.net/2010/09/candy-gothic-lolita-look.html">tutorial on how to do a Candy Gothic Lolita Look.

Take a little look at the *NEW* http://makeupwonderland.blogspot.com/2010/08/max-factor-makeup-brushes.html">Max Factor MakeUp Brushes! Sophie likes them a lot!

Jellyminx shows you how to create a subtle gold and plum http://jellyminxthinks.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-golden-plum-look.html">looka>.

Musicalhouses has http://musicalhouses.blogspot.com/2010/09/nars-pure-matte-lipstick-swatches.html">swatched the new NARS Pure Matte Lipsticks so you don't even have to check them out in person! Woohoo!

Glitter Geek is going on a self-imposed Chanel ban, and it's all because of http://www.glittergeek.ca/2010/09/the-reason-why-im-banned-from-the-chanel-counter-chanel-rose-temptation-joues-contraste-blush/">this beautiful blush.

The Lip Print puckers up to Etsy and goes a little crazy for http://the-lip-print.blogspot.com/2010/09/flourish-lip-balms-etsy-find.html">Flourish Lip Balms.

Jeweled Thumb takes a walk down memory lane and runs through the best and worst of the http://jeweledthumb.blogspot.com/2010/09/ulta-brand-best-worst.html">ULTA makeup line. 

Check out Pink Diva Beauty & support Tammerly http://pinkdivabeauty.blogspot.com/p/liptember.html">while she fundraises for Liptember and pledges to try 30 lip products in 30 days!

http://www.primebeautyblog.net/the-bold-the-beautiful-smashbox-masquerade-eye-shadow-palette/">The Smashbox Masquerade eye shadow palette for Fall is both both and beautiful. See pictures and swatches and learn how to get the look at Prime Beauty.

Emma discovers her http://birdsdecoratebranches.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-favourite-lipstick.html">new favourite lipsticks for only £2 a piece at Birds Decorate Branches!

Makeup Zombie is absolutely crazy over her most recent http://makeupzombie1.blogspot.com/2010/09/high-voltage-haulage.html">High Voltage Haul!

Hot Beauty Health shares 7 fun and easy http://www.hotbeautyhealth.com/hairstyles/7-braided-hairstyles-that-are-fun-easy">braided hairstyles!

Beautywoome.com  thinks the term http://www.beautywoome.com/beautyblog/beauty-op-ed-news-flash-real-women-come-in-all-sizes-not-jus.html">'real women' has been hijacked!

***

Over at The Glamorous Gleam, Mz. More is celebrating her first Blogiversary with a giveaway. http://www.theglamorousgleam.com/2010/09/the-glamorous-gleam-1st-blogiversary-giveaway-mac-viva-glam-gaga-cyndi-lipglasses.html">Enter for a chance to win MAC Viva Glam Gaga and Cyndi lipglasses!

IHeartCosmetics is holding a giveaway to win £46 worth ofhttp://www.iheartcosmetics.co.uk/2010/09/purity-organic-skincare-giveaway.html"> Purity Organic Skincare.

Liz Earle Essentials range- Instant Boost Skin Tonic

The second item in the essentials range is the Instant Boost Skin Tonic which Liz Earle say "revitalises, soothes and tones for instant radiance".

This is unlike lots of toners as instead of just stripping your skin the Vitamin E and Aloe Vera leave it feeling soft and smooth at the same time as giving that clean feeling that I love from a toner. It also smells absolutely amazing, as the skin tonic contains calendula, cucumber and rose scented geranium. 

I love the bottle design, the top twists up rather than twisting off, so it's much easier to control how much toner comes out at once and it's really secure once it's twisted down again, it even gives a reassuring click. Mine lives lying on it's side and I've had no leaks or anything.

As well as being a great toner it's also brilliant for setting make up. I have a little 30ml spritzer bottle that I pour the toner into to use to set my make up and leave my foundation looking fresh and without a hint of cakey-ness in sight. Even after my foundation being on for 7 hours a quick buff with a kabuki brush and a spritz of this and it was back to looking like it had when it was just on earlier in the day.

I love love love this, and will be repurchasing once this is finished.. Although that may be a while as I get through about 30ml of this a month, using it morning and evening as a toner and once or twice a day on my make up too, so the 200ml bottle should last me for about 6 months, and I use it pretty liberally! 

A 200ml bottle of the Instant Boost Skin Tonic costs £11.50 from the Liz Earle website. 

What is your favourite toner? Have you tried the skin tonic? Impressed? 

x

Debenhams release Naked palette online today!

Today Debenhams released the new Urban Decay palettes online, and thanks to the lovely (blogless!) Becca I found out yesterday that all Beauty online is 10% off plus they have free delivery, making the Naked palette just £24.30 including delivery! 

I've ordered mine.. Will you be going for it? 

ELF new polish releases..

Hidden amongst some gorgeous autumnal shades- some lovely deep reds, one with sparkle, and a beautiful looking purple, lots of perfect for christmas shades!- that have just been released by ELF is a matte top coat.. 

Something that they've managed to keep very quiet! At £1.50 it's well worth a try although I've no idea how long  it'll stay chip free and matte for...

The Facebook group is currently at 64,700 likes and with an offer of a free studio eye primer (normally with orders over £10) at 65,000 it may be worth waiting!

Oxford Jasmine has swatches here

If you get it, it'd be great if you could let me know what you think! 

x

This or That?

The lovely Kim over at Dottie K tagged me to do this post :)

Makeup

Lip gloss or lip stick - Lipstick

Blusher or bronzer - Blusher

Eye liner or mascara- Ahhh, decisions... Mascara.
Foundation or concealer - Foundation
Neutral or colour eye shadow - A bit of both! If I had to choose then it'd be neutral as total colour is too full on for me everyday.
Pressed or loose eye shadow - Pressed
Brushes or sponges - Brushes

Nails

OPI or China Glaze - I've actually never tried either! I think so far I prefer CG's colour choices, their holo's and glitter!
Long or short - In between!
Acrylic or natural - Natural
Brights or darks - Brights!

Body

Lotion or body butter - Body butter, my skin's so dry!

Perfume or body splash - I've actually no idea what body splash is, so I'll go for perfume ;)

Body wash or soap - Body wash
lush or other bath company - Mmm, for lack of other bath companies that I've come across, Lush.

Fashion

Jeans or sweat pants - Jeans
Long sleeve or short - Long

Dresses or skirts - Skirts
Stripes or plaid - Stripes

Flip flops or sandals - Flip flops
Scarves or hats - Scarves

Studs or dangly earrings - dangly earrings
Necklaces or bracelets - Can't choose ;) both!
Heels or flats - Flats
Cowboy boots or riding boots - urmm... cowboy boots?
Jacket or hoodie - Jacket

Hair

Curly or straight - Curly!
Bun or ponytail - Messy bun
Bobby pins or butterfly clips - bobby pins
Hair spray or gel - hair spray
Long or short - Both, I've currently got short hair but it used to be long, and I plan to go back to that at some point!
Light or dark - Dark

Side swept bangs or full bangs - Side swept
Up or down - down

Random

Rain or shine - shine

Summer or winter - Summer.
Fall or spring - Ooh that's difficult! Spring.
Chocolate or vanilla - Vanilla with chocolate ;)




I tag:


Eilidh

America
Jemma


and anyone else who wants to have a go! 


x

All image credits:  Weheartit.

September's wishlist!

This month is definitely a nail polish month! I've been looking at my current nail polish collection and lacking any inspiration or excitement so it's definitely time for some new ones (just don't tell the mother..!) 

Image credit: ELF

Elf's new polishes Passion Pink and Mango Madness plus Berry Pink from the existing line.. £1.50 each!

Image credit: Google Images

China Glaze's For Audrey.. I've seen Beauty Zone pop up on a couple of blogs recently and the prices are amazing! You'd pay £9.99 for this from any UK (and many US!) seller but this is less than £5, plus additional polishes are around the £3.50 mark including postage!

Image credit: Google images

China Glaze Sugar high is also looking rather appealing!

Nailene So Real nails as reviewed here.. Wanting a nice nail fix! 

Image credit: Soap and Glory

I'm intrigued by Soap and Glory's Hocus Focus.. It claims to be an illuminator and flaw softening lotion.. Interesting! £12.00

Oh yes, and a bikini top that fits. Seriously, I've been trying to find one for months, so far it's been disastrous! 

What have you got your eye on this September?

Rachel x

An overlooked colour in eyeliner world...

... Grey. 

I'd never really thought about grey eyeliner before. I've stuck with brown eyeliner pretty much everyday for the last few years (with the exception of the odd blue or green day) and decided recently that I needed an alternative. With black being (in my opinion, although maybe more experimentation is needed) slightly too harsh for my skintone grey was the next colour I came across. 

With trusty £5 off No7 voucher in hand I discovered this... A blue grey eyeliner which on first impressions looks slightly old fashioned, almost a lavender shade to the grey but ends up looking wonderfully smokey, subtle yet quite impressive... An unexpected result!

 It's wonderfully smooth yet not too smudgey that you create one giant mess if you so much as touch your eye and it stays put all day.

Layered this is a great alternative to black and perfect for daytime, plus at just £2.50 with the current voucher (valid till the19th of September, and given out with purchases of £5 or more till the 12th) it's a bargain! 

Amazingly smudge proof with impressive pigmentation I'd recommend you try it! 

HQ Hair Discount!

15% off at HQhair until Friday!