Wednesday 30 April 2014

What's in my Makeup Bag - Casual out and about

I know that a lot of people do these ‘What’s in my handbag/makeup bag’ posts, but what I wanted to show you guys is the makeup that I take with me when I’m going out for the day with my family. This could be out shopping or for lunch - I’m talking casual occasions.

Being a mother, I don’t really have any time during the day for touch ups anymore. Especially when out with my family! In fact, it can be difficult to get through a meal without having to stop every two seconds to either pick up a dollop of food or a toy from the floor or to wipe little mans mouth. My food likes to go cold and then gets eaten quickly in the seconds that I have whilst little man is busy chewing his food before he demands his next spoonful.

Now if you can imagine that (and if you’re a mum I am sure you go through the same!), you can understand why makeup touch ups aren’t really high up on my list of priorities anymore. That is why I love products that last a long time and keep me feeling fresh and on point throughout the day without the use of touch ups.

However, if touch ups are required it means that for me, they have to be as quick and easy as possible. This is why I wanted to share this ‘What’s in my makeup bag’ post - for any mums out there and women who generally don’t have time to touch up, I’d love to compare out and about products!

Here is what I take with me, unceremoniously spread out onto my bed:



Makeup Bag

Sunday 27 April 2014

Avon Gel Finish Nail Enamel in Royal Vendetta review & comparison swatches to Barry M Gelly in Blue Grape

Avon’s Gel Finish Nail Enamel is a new range of varnish that contains 24 colours that provide a high-shine, gel-like finish that is a base coat, colour and top coat all in one.

A while back I wrote about this polish in shade Creme Brûlée and I raved about how much I loved it. Therefore, I had to buy myself another. I chose the shade Royal Vendetta and have decided to review it for you.



Avon Gel Finish Nail Enamel in Royal Vendetta



As with Creme Brûlée, I am going to compare this shade to another polish. Last time I compared Creme Brûlée to Barry M’s Lychee from the Gelly range which is also a gel-like finish polish in a very similar shade. To go along with this, I have chosen Barry M’s Blue Grape, also from the Gelly range, to compare against Royal Vendetta.


Avon Gel Finish Nail Enamel in Royal Vendetta and Barry M Gelly in Blue Grape

Friday 25 April 2014

Benefit Brow Bar Experience

The Benefit Brow Bar is a service that is available at certain Benefit Cosmetic counters that provides a list of treatments ranging from eyebrow waxing and tinting to chin and upper lip waxing. 


Benefit Brow Bar



Over the Easter bank holiday, myself and my sister made a visit to the Brow Bar for an eyebrow wax and tint and I have decided to write about the experience for anybody who is either considering going or who are looking for a fix for their eyebrows (like I was!).



Benefit Brow Bar



The benefits:

Having your eyebrows waxed and tinted means that you won’t only be walking away with AMAZING eyebrows, but you won’t have to spend your own time plucking, shaping or even filling in with an eyebrow pencil. The tint temporarily dyes your eyebrows meaning that the only thing you will need a pencil for is for filling in any last tiny bits. You can still use wax on top of them to hold them in place though!

Along with this, having your eyebrows professionally shaped means that you will have the best arch to suit your face shape and features. It is all worked around opening up your face and enhancing your eyes.


As an extra, having your ‘brows done at the Benefit Brow Bar in your local Debenhams will provide you with a loyalty card. Each visit you make will earn you a stamp and on particular visits you can earn free things! At the end of your card, you get a free deluxe gift from Benefit! You also receive a free wax for your birthday. Good times!


Wednesday 23 April 2014

The Body Shop Beautifying Oils - Uses and reviews

Beautifying Oils from The Body Shop are multi-purpose oils in a range of fragrances that can be used for a whole range of things from haircare to body oil.

Made up from a range of nut oils, the star of the show is really the marula oil. Marula oil is an anti-inflammatory oil that can reduce redness, hydrate, soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, soothe irritation and improve and restore skin elasticity amongst other benefits, too!





I recently mentioned these oils in my Top 10 Multitasking Beauty Products post and from that I have decided to explain some more about them. The best way that I felt I could do this was to discuss the different uses for these oils and give a summary of how well they work in each area that they claim to be useful.

As linked to in my previous post, I am going to try review a collection of tips suggested within the video that is posted on The Body Shop’s YouTube page.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Clinique Anti-Blemish All-Over Clearing Lotion.

Clinique's Anti-Blemish All-Over Clearing Lotion is a daily use, clearing, hydrating lotion for blemish-prone skin. It also helps to mattify the skin without drying it out.


Clinique - Anti-Blemish All-Over Clearing Lotion



First of all, I would like to apologise for the delay in this post. It was planned for yesterday but due to Airport issues on my Mac wreaking havoc on my Internet access, it didn't go to plan.

Today’s post is going to be half story and half review. Over Easter, I was thinking about going for an Easter theme, so I started coming up with ideas that would follow it. However, none of the ideas I came up with felt ‘right.’

Then, as I was going through my morning routine, I absentmindedly picked up a sample of Clinique’s Anti-Blemish All-Over Clearing Lotion to use and it came to me; resurrection.

That probably means nothing to you at this point, but allow me to explain. 


Friday 18 April 2014

O.P.I Brazil Collection review & swatches

O.P.I’s Brazil collection is the new spring/summer 2014 addition to their vast catalogue of nail polishes. It includes 12 nail polishes and 4 mini textured polishes all inspired by Brazil!


O.P.I Brazil Collection



To get you in the mood for this post, I’m going to start off by posting this video from O.P.I’s YouTube channel -









Now that we’re all in the mood to roll around in the sea read about nail polish, I’m going to be showing you the three shades that I own; AmazON AmazOFF, Live.Love.Carnaval and I Just Can’t Cope-acabana.



O.P.I Brazil Collection
Left to right: Live.Love.Carnaval, I Just Can't Cope-acabana and AmazON AmazOFF.

Thursday 17 April 2014

What's in my Birchbox - April 2014

Birchbox is a monthly beauty box that includes 5-6 deluxe samples of beauty and lifestyle products that are tailored to you.

You get to discover new products and test them out in the comfort of your own home with no pressure to buy the full product if you don’t like it! However, if you do enjoy it, you can purchase the full sizes from the Birchbox store with the most recent month’s brands being available with free delivery (min. £10 spend)! 



Birchbox April 2014


Also, you are able to earn yourself Birchbox points that you can use to spend in the store. Each month you can provide feedback on your samples in the form of survey’s and each one filled out earns you 5 Birchbox points. Every box and product purchased even earns you points, so when you have collected enough you can buy a full size product for nothing (you have to buy in blocks of £10)! How amazing!


So if you are interested to see what I received in my April 2014 Birchbox and what I think of the products, then here we are:

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Top 10: Multitasking Beauty Products





Multitasking products are fantastic to have around. Why? They save you money, space and time. What isn't fantastic about that?!

As a mum I especially find multitasking products a godsend. Every penny saved is another penny that I can spend on my son and every second saved is another I can spend with him rather than doing things like moisturising or makeup (which I wait to do later on or not at all if my son needs me, obviously!). Seeing him smile means far more to me than anything else! Alongside that though, some multitaskers that I have used have been better than products with singular usage.

From this, I have decided to write up a list of some of my favourite multitaskers. From skincare to makeup, I've tried to cover everything.

So without further ado, here they are! In no particular order...


Sunday 13 April 2014

Liebster Award nomination!



I have been nominated for a Liebster award! I was actually nominated twice, but as I was already in the middle of answering questions from my first nomination from Silk and Boots I decided to include those answers in this post. However, I also want to give a shout out to Ally's World for my second nomination! Please check both of them out! 

Now, if you aren't aware of what the Liebster award is, it is a way for you beautiful readers to discover new bloggers. Think of it a bit like a tag. Somebody nominates you for the award and provides eleven questions for you to answer. You need to answer the questions on your blog so new readers can learn a bit about you!

When you have answered the questions you need to nominate bloggers to do the same. For more info on the 'rules' of the Liebster award, check out this post by Wording Well.

Now, here are the questions from Silk and Boots along with my answers!

Thursday 10 April 2014

Barry M Nail Paint Aquarium Collection - Arabian review & swatches

Barry M’s new Aquarium nail paint collection features four two-tone polishes and two glitter top coats all created to provide an ‘under the sea’ effect. I bought myself a bottle of ‘Arabian’ which is a green and gold duochrome.




Barry M Aquarium collection - Arabian



Two nail polish posts this week!? I know, right!? But this polish was simply far too pretty for me to NOT tell you all about it! Following on from my review of Rebel by Zoya, I have another cool toned, shining shade for you!


Wednesday 9 April 2014

The Body Shop Tea Tree Range

The Body Shop Tea Tree range is a collection of products designed for use on oily, blemish prone skin. Containing organic tea tree oil to clear skin and tamanu oil extract for healing and renewal purposes, they’re great for freshening up your face and body!



The Body Shop - Tea Tree range



I have been using products from this range for years. Therefore, I felt that it was only fitting for me to write a post to discuss them with you! I’m going to talk about why I like them, how they work and why they’re good for busy women (or men, of course)!

The products that I’m going to share my thoughts with you about are the Skin Clearing Lotion, Toner, Facial Wash and Blemish Fade Night Lotion.



Monday 7 April 2014

Zoya - Awaken Collection Spring 2014 in Rebel review & swatches

Zoya nail polish in Rebel is a full-coverage sky blue shade with a shimmer of silver glitter that creates a cool, metallic look. It is part of Zoya’s Awaken collection that was released for Spring 2014.

Zoya - Awaken Collection Spring 2014 - Rebel
Zoya - Rebel



As with all Zoya polishes it is 5-free (not just 3-free) - no toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin or dibutyl phthalate. 




Zoya - Awaken Collection Spring 2014 - Rebel
The colour of the polish in this photo is slightly off - I had to edit it slightly so that you could see the writing.


Sunday 6 April 2014

Revlon ColorBurst Lacquer Balm in Demure review & swatches

The ColorBurst Lacquer Balm from Revlon is advertised as a high-shine, moisturising lip balm that comes in a range of ten colours. It contains shea, mango and coconut butters to keep lips soft whilst providing a lacquer finish.


Revlon ColorBurst Lacquer Balm in Demure




The lip balm comes packaged in a twist bottom pen that is reminiscent of other lip crayons such as Clinique’s Chubby Stick. To get more of the balm, you need to twist the bottom of the pen rather than sharpen it.

I chose to purchase the shade ‘Demure’ which is pale pink with a hint of glitter and is probably the tamest of the bunch.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Benefit Lemon Aid review

Benefit's Lemon Aid is a yellow-tinted colour correcting eyelid primer. It helps to reduce the look of reddy-purple dark circles around the eyes and can be used alone or under makeup as an eyeshadow and/or concealer primer.



Benefit - Lemon Aid



I suffer from dark circles. I'm a mother - sleep is a rare blessing! Any product that claims to help reduce the appearance of that tired, sleepless look is going to catch my attention. What better type of product to discuss on a blog that provides beauty reviews for mums and busy women?

So what's the claim?

Benefit say that this primer will “wake up your eyelids” and that “in a snap, eyes look refreshed, frisky and ready for fun.” 


Wednesday 2 April 2014

Spring perfumes

A couple of weeks back I wrote a list for Winter/Spring transitional fragrances. This time I am here with a list of spring perfumes within a wide price range to get you through the season! From low-in-price celebfumes (I just came up with that! Awesome, huh!? Yet again, someone may have already invented that word and if so then I apologise) to your high end designers, there should be a scent on this list suitable to everyone.




If you haven’t read my previous list then I highly recommend that you do. Any perfume marked with an ’S’ or ‘B’ are just as suitable as the ones listed on this list! I haven’t re-listed them because this way gives you more of a choice.

Let’s kick start the list!