November Favourites

Sorry I have been neglecting the Favourites posts at late, but without further a do here are my favourites for November:-

MAC Lip Conditioner. I love this it has been my HG lip product for most of the month. The texture, smell and condition it makes my lips in is second to none.

Stila Onyx Kajal. This is very soft and blendable but lasts an extremely long amount of time with very minimal smudging.

Redken Glam Blonde Shampoo. I love this shampoo, it leaves my hair completely clean but without stripping it. It still feels soft after using.

Redken Pure Platinum Conditioner. I have been using this religiously after the Glam Blonde shampoo, to get rid of any brassiness and it works a treat. I have been using it right on my roots too and have experienced no greasiness and surprisingly my hair has become really thick and full of body!

MAC Creme d'Nude Lipstick. Loving this lipstick. It has the perfect consistency to cover my very pigmented lips but without being as drying as Myth.

MAC Honesty Eyeshadow. A nice warmer shade for the colder months. I have been using this more and more often, teamed with Satin Taupe in the crease.

Origins Never a Dull Moment Cleanser. I'm completely obsessed with Origins at the moment and this was one of the first products I purchased. It's a foaming gel cleanser that smells of mango's and guavas. It acts as an exfoliator but without any granules because it has fruit extracts that get rid of dead skin cells.

MAC 226 brush dupe

(Please click to enlarge).

It was my Birthday on Friday and so I had booked a day off from work to go to Bluewater for a day of shopping. Amongst other things I picked up a Laura Mercier Eye Crease brush from Space NK for £25.00.

The reason for me wanting this type of brush was because I had missed out on the 226 from MAC and the 224 and 217 just weren't cutting it for applying colour to the crease and I ended up with colour pretty much up to my brow, because the brushes were too large!

I had done a little research and had seen a comparable brush from NARS and also Space NK's own but having actually tested each brush the Laura Mercier one really was superior.

To me it is very similar to the pencil brush but bigger and more flexible and such good quality! Have you got any Laura Mercier brushes?

Product Rave : Olay Aqua Physics Serum

This review is going to be a major product rave! I had been noticing some fine lines on my forehead, probably due to me frowning and less to do with ageing (I hope!) as I am only 23 but either way, I wanted them gone. I popped into my local Boots to have a look at the Olay range and noticed their new Aqua Physics anti-aging range, so I thought I would give it a try.

A little about the product:-
This serum is devised with with marine fennel extract, and it sinks into your skin surprisingly quickly and hydrates as well as rid you of those pesky fine lines. It's recommended for ages 30 and over, but I don't see it as being a product restricted to that age group, as it's a serum it's incredibly light and therefore wouldn't interfere with a younger persons skincare regime, and just adds that extra layer of protection, especially for the Winter months. It's on sale at Boots for £11.99 for 50mls and comes in a pump container, it has a slight perfume to it but I actually like this.

What I think about the Product:-
Within about a week and a half the lines had completely disappeared and my skin glows with health and feels really firm and fresh. I had been using the serum both morning and evening (3 pumps) before my day/night moisturiser. It isn't greasy at all and I would even hazard a guess that if you had oily skin you could simply use this in place of a moisturiser as it provides a fabulous base for makeup.

Would I re-purchase:-
Absolutely! Boots currently have it on offer 2 for £12 so I have bought some backups, and I would also like to try some of the other products in this range like the eyecream. Also it is so reasonably priced, by purse is happy too!

Contains ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane, Aqua, Glycerin, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Butylene Glycol, Niacinamide, Propylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Panthenol, Laminaria Saccharina Extract, Glycosphingolipids, Bis-PEG/PPG-14/14 Dimethicone, PEG-10 Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Cetyl Ricinoleate, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Parfum, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Linalool, CI 42090

Feelin' Festive!

I was feeling Christmasy this morning and decided to paint my nails to match my mood! I chose OPI Red, which is a beautiful red tone which has the slightest hint of silver. I've only applied one coat in this picture - it's amazing!

Perfectly Peach and a Hair Question

I just wanted to quickly share something with you all that I have been loving this week. It's Revlons Matte Blusher in Perfectly Peach.

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It gives a really pretty flush to the cheeks and looks natural and very flattering. Plus Revlon have 3 for 2 on in Boots at the moment so it's worth checking out. Also the compact has a really cute mirror that pops out when you press a button :)

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By the way, I really hate my hair at the moment, another disaster at the salon and now I have had to go a much darker blonde which is a little too warm for my liking, what do you think?

Cloud Nine

I was lucky enough to be sent a pair of Cloud Nine hair straighteners to try out, and boy was I excited!

If you read my blog you will know that I have been trying to wash my hair every other day (which I am doing very well at I am pleased to report!) and generally improve the condition of my hair.

Like many GHD users, whilst I love the smoothness the irons give me, they can make my hair a little too straight and flat, especially as my hair is quite fine anyway. I was looking for something to smooth and eradicate frizzies but without compromising on body and volume, and also to help with the condition, also I am over the poker straight look.

Therefore I has quite high expectations with these irons. You can control the temperature of the irons depending on the look you want to achieve and texture of your hair. It ranges from 100 to 200 degrees, so to just smooth a blow dry you only need it set to 100 but it is still versatile enough to give you a very straight look on a higher heat setting.

I do like these irons, they are a lot more versatile than GHD's and you don't feel like your scorching your hair each time you use them. The finish they give is better than your high street iron but I don't personally feel that they are better than GHD's, they are pretty much on par but I do think that they snag the ends of the hair very slightly although they actually glide through the hair better than GHD's.

You can of course curl with these irons too, a look I am yet to have tried but the barrel of the iron is nice and smooth so I would imagine you would get a really great result.

Ultimately my thoughts on these are that I like them and they do the job, I like the versatility of controlling the temperature but I don't think I could part with my GHD's. I will continue to use these however, to help with getting my hair back in tip top condition and using the lower heat setting.

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You can check them out on the Cloud Nine website the rrp is around £129.00.

Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzer

Shock horror, I had never been a fan of bronzer. I am super pale (NC15) and I find that I just end up looking orange/pink/brown/red, you name it, anything but nice and sunkissed. I had tried all the techniques and different placements but still ended up looking muddy, until I took the plunge and purchased Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Bronzer in the shade Aruba.

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At £23.00 it isn't the cheapest of the cheap but it claims to give a sunkissed glow for light skin with golden undertones, which probably suits me perfectly. I have been using it consistently since I bought it about two weeks ago, using a flat topped bronzer brush from Crown, and I can truly say that I love it! It's not too shimmery sparkly, it just makes my skin glow.

It just warms up my skin tone ever so slightly and I love the way it contours my cheekbones. I would say that if you are pale and struggle to find a suitable bronzer then give this a try, or even if you love bronzer, this is super flattering.

Steel Her Heart

I am in love with this nail polish I picked up today from Boots. It's "Steel Her Heart" by Revlon and was around £6.00. I also bought some other shades because it was 3 for 2. The quality of this polish is great, really quick drying and shiny.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer

I am loving this product at the moment. I had been noticing that my under eyes had been getting quite dry during the last couple of weeks so I decided to go back to using Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer. Replacing my Studio Finish.

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You only need a tiny amount of product because it is very pigmented so don't go overboard! It covers really dark circles, without drying or sitting in fine lines.

You can buy the concealer with the yellow setting powder or alone. I have used all of the product in this form but as you can see there is plenty of powder left so I just re-purchased the concealer alone which is cheaper. You simply dust a small amount of the powder to set the product, I have to stress that you only need a small amount of the powder. I have been known to apply too much and then the dark circles reappear so be careful.

I have two colours, Ivory is for Winter and Warm Ivory for Summer. For reference I am NC15, very pale.

Stila Kitten and Kajal

I have always loves Stila makeup, and I was very sad to hear that they were withdrawing the sale of it here in the UK. However, I have found that Look Fantastic stock a wide range of the brand still.

I have been in love with the Stila Kajal in Onyx ever since it dropped through my letter box! It is the softest kohl pencil I have ever come across and it stays brilliantly well on the waterline. It is absolutely my HG eyeliner (move over MAC Feline!) and it comes in other colours too, obviously the one I have is black.

Kitten is Stila's most famous eyeshadow. It is a very shimmery neutral, not dissimilar to All That Glitters by MAC but again it is an amazingly soft consistency. I have had problems will fall out and smudging but once I began applying it having spritzed my brush with Fix+ that solved the problems (simply applying it wet will have the same effect). It lasts all day with no creasing and I have been wearing the same look pretty much all week.

As you can see Kitten is very shimmery but sometimes I don't want to be subtle!

Magic Mirth and Mischief

Here are a few goodies I ordered from MAC from their Holiday 2009 collection.

Firstly, I got the Smoke and Mirrors Eye Palette, which I love! It's really teeny but the colours are gorgeous. I may even go back to get the Sorceress and Devil May Dare palettes.

Next up were the Cremesheen Glasses, which I haven't tried before, I got all the colours in these. They are non glittery, just gloss and are reminiscent of the Cremesheen lipsticks.

I love all the colours, they are all really wearable. When I swatched them I noticed that Boy Bait was very similar to Creme d'Nude...

What do you think? Pretty good match if I do say so myself!

Whilst I love the texture of the Cremesheen Glasses, they aren't sticky and feel nice and moisturising, as you can see they do settle in the lines of your lips.


What are you thinking of getting from the Holiday Collections?