Off On Holiday!!!

I'm off on holiday for a week, but I'll have lots to talk about when I get back!! Have a great Easter, enjoy the Royal wedding!!.....If you're interested of course!! x x x

MorrocanOil

Also yesterday I had my hair done, just the usual half head highlights, cut and blow dry. Due to having the highlights every 8 weeks and straightening every day, my hair can get really dry if I don’t keep up with a hair mask once every week and I don’t always manage that!

So my hairdresser recommended MoroccanOil, a very close friend of mine swears by it so I knew I had to give it a go.  It claims to create instant shine and long term conditioning without leaving residue and halves drying time by sealing the cuticles.

It protects the hair against free radicals, UV damage and shields it from the environment, preventing frizzing from humidity, rain etc and really nourishes the hair due to being packed with vitamins!! After walking out of the hairdressers, my hair felt gorgeous and silky, I’m very excited about trying it out for myself!! Apparently all the celebs use it and was used backstage at the MTV awards, Golden Globes and the Grammys. I’ll go a little more in depth once I've tried it. It’s not cheap at £9.99 for 25ml and £29.99 for 100ml. So we’ll see!!

Lots Of Goodies!!

Ok, so I was really lucky to be given some products to try out. I was in Heaven when I was given the little bag with these goodies inside!!

                                              The Nail Polish isn't in the pic for some reason!

I got a Sienna X Express Yourself Tanning Mist, Payot Lift-Performance Firming Cream, Nailease Instant Manicure Strips, Nads Natural Facial Wand and a MissGuided Nail Polish in MissDemeanor  Fuschia. I’m  gonna trial all these gorgeous products over the next couple of weeks and I’ll let you know how I get on!!

Yesterday I saw a close friend of mine who had a gorgeous baby boy on Sunday.  Rather than do the normal gift of a cute little blue outfit, I thought I’d get her a few little bits so she can have a pamper  when she has 10 minutes to herself. I know all too well that after giving birth you feel emotional and not all that attractive. So I got her these goodies just to have a little fun with!!  A friend of mine did this for me when I had my daughter Poppy, I just loved opening the bag and seeing all these lovely products for me to try out!

So I got her, an N Spa Raspberry Milkshake Body Lotion, an N Spa Raspberry Milkshake shower and bath gel, a Collection 2000 Lipgloss in Candyfloss, a George nail polish in Trick and a Nivea Milk and honey lip balm. There’s a bit of a pink theme going on here, even though she had a baby boy, I just can’t help myself!! Lol . I hope she liked them!!

Volume Flash Is Fab!!

As promised, I’m updating you on Rimmel's  Volume Flash x10 mascara. I’m actually really happy with it, I didn’t have high hopes as I generally think with mascara you get what you pay for. I don’t mind spending a bit more on a mascara as it’s an important part of my make up routine. I think the lashes frame the eyes and in my opinion finishes the whole look. I feel more feminine, the longer and fuller my lashes are. Although I am not a fan of the clumpy, spidery look!

However, this mascara is fab, its very liquidy, so glides on easily, it stays put and doesn't run, I like the size of the brush, I don’t like brushes when they are so big that is difficult to get to the roots, I only needed one coat also so all round success!! Go get only, only £5.99!

Teeth Whitening!

Everybody wants white teeth, don’t they? Not everyone though has them, due to tea, coffee, red wine, smoking etc. There are some great products out there to try, I’ve never had any professional treatments done but I have tried a couple of cheaper alternatives that i think work great!

Crest White Strips are fantastic! They are massive in the US, as everybody wants that Hollywood smile!! You can’t get them in shops over here but you can get them online.

I went for the Classic ones to start with.  It’s a 14 day kit, you get 28 pouches containing 2 strips, one for your top set and one for your bottom set of teeth, do this twice a day for 30 mins and after around 3 days you’ll notice a visible difference. The strip is about 2 inches long, clear, with a gel coating (the whitening agent), peel back the protective layer of packaging, smooth onto your teeth, avoiding your gums, and fold into place, repeat on the top set. Leave them on for 30 mins, then just remove. You’re teeth may feel a little sensitive a few days in, but this isn’t harmful!! They say your teeth stay white for 1 year. Also you should only do this twice a year and no more. Prices for these can vary between around £20-£30 depending on where you get them. Well worth the money!!

The other product is White Glo, whitening tooth paste which comes with a White Glo Anti-Stain toothbrush and dental flosser toothpicks. It has an extra strength formula which lightens discolouration and yellowing on tooth enamel. Apparently it was originally developed for people in the film industry. So I think if it’s good enough for A-listers, it’s good enough for me!! I got the ‘Professional Choice’ , but they have a large range of toothpastes, including tea & coffee drinkers, smokers and herbal. I got this in Boots for £4, at the moment they are doing a 3 for 2 offer on all their dental range so I got some flossing sticks and mouth wash!! I want a Hollywood/Essex(lol) smile!!

Shellac V Artistic Colour Gloss

Ok girls, so Shellac V Artistic!! Artistic Colour Gloss wins for me!! It is fabulous!!  Reasons being, it claims to last for 21 days rather than Shellacs 14 days, there are more colours to choose from, it’s slightly thinner on the nails and it’s a quicker process.

The range has been created by Tom Bachik, celebrity manicurist to Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez and Hilary Swank to name a few.

I chose Diva Chic which is a deep red wine colour with a very subtle shimmer running through, I love it!! There are 38 colours in the complete range, I had 24 colours to chose from where I had mine done which was more than enough. Each layer is cured (set) with an LED lamp which was slightly quicker than with using a UV lamp. My nails are naturally quite weak but this has really strengthened them and they look so beautifully gloss. I’m hooked!!! (Sorry for the poor quality of the photo!!)

                                                

Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Shellac, I would happily have that again, but I think my first choice would be Artistic. The experience was a little more luxurious, the whole Chanel connection and even down to the touch sensitive, sexy looking black LED lamp! At a great price of £25 you can’t go wrong!!

Quick Update!!

I have made a few more purchases over the weekend, got loads to talk about. My latest nail update, great info about teeth whitening and a few more bits!! Will do a detailed update tomorrow!! Exciting! x x

Nails.........

I had a Shellac manicure done last week. Love it. It’s a nail varnish which lasts for 14 days. It goes on like a nail varnish, then every coat is set under a UV lamp. A base coat, two coats of colour then a top coat, just like a normal manicure.
It’s great, I had it done last Friday, so not quite a week yet but still no chips and it’s as glossy as it was when it was first applied. It’s removed with acetone in minutes and doesn't harm your nails at all. It cost me £20 at a local beauty salon, which I thought was a great price. I had the colour Hot Pop Pink.

I’m very lucky to have a friend who is a beauty therapist, journalist, tutor, blogger, haha the list goes on, anyway she is trying out a new gel called Artistic from Essie, so I’m lucky enough to be a model for her tomorrow. I’ll let you know how that goes!!
My Shellac would have only been on a week but I’m excited to try something new. I’m also having a Fake Bake spray tan!! Lovely!!

A Little Shopping Trip.....

I went on a little shopping trip today, wasn’t as successful as planned due to my kids really not haven’t the patients to let me have a browse around the shops. However, I did manage to get these beauties from Dorothy Perkins......

.......I love them and I think they will go with so much this summer, with jeans and pretty summer dresses!!!

I am almost out of mascara, which is one thing I really can’t do without.  Rather than go with my usuals I thought I’d try something different and cheaper!! So I went for Rimmel’s Volume Flash x10 in Black, I think it was £5.99 in Boots.  I’ll let you know how I get on with it!

Ok, I'm off to watch the rest of TOWIE!! x x

My Must Haves!!!!

I didn't title my first blog, good start!! Lol x

Ok so here goes, my first beauty blog. I’m starting with my ‘must haves’ . I apologise for the old, used bottles/containers etc, as this is a brand new blog I am literally showing you the stuff I use every day so it’s all well used!! The photos aren’t great either, maybe a new camera is needed. Anyway here goes.........

 I’ll start with what I use to cleanse with and a few of my favourite bits out of my make up bag.

I’ll start with my Neutrogena 2 in 1 face wash/mask.  I think the RRP is around £3.50. I love this stuff, it works amazingly for me. It feels so fresh on the skin, it really feels like you’re getting a good cleanse out of it. With other face washes I’ve felt like they don’t really give you a deep cleanse, you’re just skimming the surface.  Using  this my skin feels so fresh after!

When I use this as a mask rather than use the same product twice, I’ll use a good exfoliator to cleanse with. I’ll talk about which one next.

The other face wash that I love equally to this is Origins Checks and Balances, absolutely love this one too. It has a delicate hint of mint to it which smells so fresh and clean. This one is around £15 so a little more pricey! Worth it though!!

As for an exfoliator it has to be Origins Never a dull moment, this smells divine from the crushed Papaya. It claims to dissolve lacklustre skin cells and leaves your skin feeling radiant. I really believe it does. If you feel your skin needs a bit of a pick me up, feels a bit dull then give this a go. Gorgeous! At £23 it’s not cheap but you won’t be using it as often a cleanser and a little goes a long way!  

Ok so on to the makeup, my favourite part!!  My all time favourite foundation is MAC studio Fix, I would say it’s a medium coverage, it gives me a flawless finish without looking caked on.  At the moment I have shade NW25, although I should have gone with my usual shade of NW20, I was being a little optimistic thinking I could get away with a darker shade, although I am a fair, natural redhead!! Lol!! So I only use it when I’m out for a night out as I can get away with it, which I’ll do this weekend out with the girls!! The RRP is around £19.50. I have the studio Fix powder too which I like however for what it does I think you can get away with a cheaper brand as I just use it lightly to set the foundation.

For Bronzer I use MAC bronzing powder in Medium, I love this as it give a natural sunkissed look, its not an orangey colour. It doesn’t look fake.

As for my all time fave eye shadow its MAC pink Freeze (RRP £9), its a pearlised soft pink, I just love it as its a fresh summery colour (although I do tend to wear it all year round lol). Anyway colour is totally person choice for your colouring etc, but Mac eyeshadows in general are fantastic, very little is needed to be applied, a couple of sweeps of the brush and you have more than enough to cover the lid and the colour lasts all day without creasing. Some shadows I’ve  used, just haven’t had the pigment and don’t last. I’ll go into that a bit more when I mention products I didn’t feel worked for me.

Ok for the lips it has to be Mac’s Dervish lipliner, RRP £10.50 and my all time favourite lipgloss (ever) is Dazzle Glass in Babysparks, RRP £14.50. LOVE it!!! I’m very much a pink girl, Dervish is a nude natural pink/brown, Baby Sparks is a very glossy beautiful natural soft pink with very subtle violet glitter running through it. May sound a bit much but it’s fine for day time, it just looks very glossy and plumps the lips. I wouldn’t say it last any longer than any other lipgloss, it’s purely the colour and gloss factor for me!! Oh and the lips must be primed with Cherry Carmex lip balm!! (Eeekk I couldn’t find my Dervish liner for a photo, I think my baby girl may have been through my bag again!!)

Ok for not wanting to sound like I have shares in MAC and royalties for every time I mention them, I shall divert away!! I’m not so keen on their mascaras so for me it’s YSL Faux Cils in Black which is around £17 or L’oreal’s Volume Million Lashes also in black, around £8. For me it’s gotta be volume over length and these are perfect!! Love them!

We’ll that’s it for the moment I think. I have plenty more but I don’t want to bore you on my first post!! Next I’ll be talking hair and teeth!!

My First Post!!!

Hi there!! Ok so I'm new at this so you really have to bare with me. I will start soon by blogging about my absolute must have products, the ones I can't live without!!
However before then I'm off to take my two kids (Teddy & Poppy) to the creche so I can get to the gym and have a good old think about what I'm going to write about here!!!
See you soon x x x x