Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream

I've found the best eye cream ever! I've tried many eye creams and apart from prevage and this one I have never had an eye cream that has made a difference to my moisture levels or dark circles. I first sampled a mini pot of this after I had auditioned for benefit in 2011 (and that's a whoooole other story). I see a difference immediately in my dark circles and I can say it really does feel moisturising under my eyes. It's also very rich and a little goes a long way. I can't comment on the effect on under eye bags/puffiness and I don't have them (at least yet, fingers crossed).

The leaflet that came with it says: "It's potent! Eye Cream fades dark circles, helps smooth fine lines and hydrates the eye area for brighter, younger looking eyes. This potent yet gentle eye cream contains burnet, an ancient chinese remedy to help soothe the skin, and a blend of hydrating botanical extracts. Contains apple extract, known to help boost collagen, and a loquat extract, known to help protect the skin from free radical damage. Includes a peptide complex known to help restore elasticity and firmness to the skin. Contains sodium hyaluronate, a powerful hydrating agent capable of holding up to 1000 times it's weight in water." 

Damn that's a lot of stuff. I will certainly re-purchase this (when I can afford it) and I recommend it to YOU! I got it for £22.05 with 10% discount at Debenhams. I think you get a lot in it though- 14.2g.

BOBBI BROWN vitamin enriched face base

I finally caved and bought this product. I've wanted it for ages and I finally had the money to buy it, plus it was 10% off and free delivery, it was meant to be. This product is categorised as a moisturiser with built in primers. It contains shea butter and vitamins C and E. It has no spf but I don't mind that so much while the weather has been crap. This product is very rich and soaks into my skin without leaving a greasy residue. I have found that my make up has lasted longer compared to when i use seperate moisturisers with a primer on top. I've also had longer staying power with this and havn't had to re-powder as much. It does have a kind of dul orange scent to it but I don't mind it.

The packaging sais: "Rich in feel, but never greasy. This unique moisturizer creates the perfect base for flawless make up application. Shea butter provides daily moisture and softens skin, while vitamins C and E help protect against environmental damage. With daily use, makes skin look and feel it's best."

I can't say that my skin looks any better but it does feel better (Just after I've put it on). You can use this product at night too because of how rich it is. I'm so glad I bought it. The only down side is the size (50ml) and price which I think was originally £36-£38? but I paid £33 with discount.

Soap&Glory Sugar Crush range

Everyone loves soap&glory right?! Well be prepared to love them even more. Their new range sugar crush has a sweet lime fragrance. It reminds me a bit of Lush. There are three products in the range (so far?) A body wash, body scrub and body buttercream. This isn't the first time I've raved about soap&glory body products. They just smell divine!The products vary a little in what ingredients they have. The body wash has lime oil, coolcapsule x?, kiwi juice water and skin softening omega-rich veggie oil. The body scrub has smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains. The body buttercream has shea and cocoa nut balm, lime and almond oils and kiwi juice water.  I love using all of these in a row and smelling it on my clothes or pajamas. I got these from boots, they were on a 3 for 2 offer. The scent is mouthwatering!

L'OCCITANE firming and smoothing milk concentrate with milk concentrate

THIS PRODUCT IS AMAZING! I first tried a sample of this a few months ago.. after i had lost it.... and found it again.. It's a body cream and it smells like almonds and vanilla and sweet goodness. It leaves my skin feeling velvety and i love that it's in a big glass jar. I refuse to store it out of the box because I love the packaging too. It isssss a little expensive.... at £35.00 but it's worth it I swear! You get 200ml. I've given this a rest for a while as I want to use it during autumn/winter time. Soon my pretty, soon.

"Enriched with almond oil and almond milk, this body cream helps to nourish and soften the skin. The blend of silicium and almond proteins, which are similar to collagen, effectively helps to fight skin slackening by restoring skins support tissue. The light, creamy and silky texture melts into the skin without leaving a greasy residue. Skin feels satiny-smooth and is enveloped with a subtle and mouthwatering scent of fresh almonds."

Maybelline Fit me anti-shine stick

I was really excited by this product because i love the concept of foundation sticks. I have one by Bobbi Brown which I love but it doesn't love me back bcause I have oily skin. So when this was advertised as an anti-shine product I thought.. great! In terms of pro's, this goes on super smooth and it's really easy to blend. It's great for when I'm in a rush because it obviously doesnt take as much time to blend and for it to set compared to a liquid foundation. Mine is in the shade 115 Ivory and it's a good match. The con, which is really annoying is that it turns extremely shiny on me even sooner than if i were using a foundation not designed to be matte/shine free! It is great for a quick application but beware you oily skinned ladies! Also, the coverage is light/medium and is buildable.

Maybelline Babylips

Yaaaaaay! They're finally here! I've been waiting ages for these babies to come to the UK and then I waited ages for them to come to my town! So the hype about these has been worth it. These are classed as lip balms, but they are very opaque?/have an intense colour for a lip balm. The shades I have are Peach kiss and Pink punch. I'll let you guess which is which in the pictures. My swatch was done in natural light and even then it's still pretty weak. The pay off is really good and I've been wearing pink punch regularly and not bothering to take extra lip products in my hand bag. These also smell really nice too and the packaging is so cute!They are a must have! hmmm they do say for adult use only.

My first NYX products

So, this is a review of the first NYX products I've ever tried. I was a bit of a risk getting these online because there's no guarantee that you're going to get exactly what you expect. NYX is available in the UK (apparently), allthough I have never found it in any shop near me. It was mainly through watching youtube-er's make up collections that really made me want to try the brand.  I did like that the products were delivered the next day and that the delivery was free (for a limited time). So i googled swatches of the products I was interested in, as well as youtuber's reviews on the products and this is what i went for: HD studio foundation in 01 Nude, HD photogenic concealer in 01 Porcelain, HD studio finishing powder in 01, powder blushes in 07 Natural and 03 Angel and Love in Florence eye shadow palette in 04 Ciao Bella.

So this is a swatch of the foundation that's been blended on my hand and there's also some unblended product. For what is usually considered a drugstore brand this foundation was quite pricey at £14.00. I have never tried HD products before so I'm assuming they don't usually come cheap! I'm a little dissapointed in this product, mainly because of the coverage. I need/prefer medium to full coverage and this is light for sure! It's slightly buildable... It feels like a bb cream or even a moisturiser. It did however cover my pores nicely and make my skin appear softer and smoother. I have found that it works best when mixed with another foundation that has a heavier coverage to it. Unless you've got perfect skin or don't like to wear a lot of make up then it may work for you.

On to concealer.... This was a little better than the foundation. I probably could have got a shade darker as it is incredibly pale but i like that as i prefer to use my concealer as a highlighter on my face.My swatch show the product blended out a little on my hand and then some random streaky bits (I didn't know what i was doing with it!). This provided good coverage and wasn't too bad for £6.00. I'd recommend it.

Now the powder......is.....interestinggg. I didn't quite know how to use it. When i took the lid off, powder went everywhere! So I didn't want to stick a brush in it as the same thing would happen and i didn't want to waste any of this £9.00 powder. I don't know how to describe how it feels. It feels kind of velvety but also rough. If i put this on my hand and rub over it, it makes a very loud scratchy noise, it almost doesn't feel like make up. A little bit of this goes a long way and it's great for covering my pores and keeping me matte. I did feel that it was really noticeably white under my eyes so I don't know how well this would translate in pictures. I'm hoping to test it on my sister as i may be doing her wedding make up. When the time comes I'll take pictures with the flash on and will post them on here (if she let's me).

Annnnd here's a swatch. Do you see what i mean about the white?

The powder blushes are  little better than the rest of the products. They're nice colours and nice finishes. The pink one is natural and the peachier one is angel. I did expect them to be lighter from the images they display on the website. The only down side i had with these was the staying power. I had better staying power. Angel lasted the longest but I found I had to keep re-applying natural. I would purchase the blushes again though. They're £6.00 each.

And lastly there's the eye palette. As you can see from the swatches the colour pay off isn't that great (apart from the black shade). I got more pay off from using the sponge applicator in the pack than with m favourite mac brush! My swatch has come off better than it does on my eye lids. The brighter pink shade comes off the same colour as the lighter pink shade. The grey eyeshadow has the best pay off and the light brown one is just solid and so difficult to get anything out of it.

So overall, I guess like most brands they have their hits and misses. And maybe I just happened to get most of the misses? I'm still going to use the products but in time they will probably find a new home with someone else. :/

My make-up collection

Here's a crappy photo of my make-up vanity! I finally tidied it up. It'll just be a brief description of what i have where.

 The top left of my vanity table; a pretty pink cup and saucer! A small organiser with glosses, eyebrow stuff and random things.

 The right hand side; my brushes and palettes stored in things from paperchase.

Inside le left hand draw; foundations and concealers at the front, powders and primers behind. Lipsticks at the front with pencils and more face powder behind.

Le right draw; closest are liners and mascara's. The front of the draw are some mac eye products, other eyeshadows etc. Behind that are blushes, mainly mac, benefit and dior as well as bronzers. Then behind that are small eye shadow palettes and some singles. Behind that is a small bag of blushes and a pair of false lashes.

And there's more! All the stuff in the draws is what i use most often (if at all). All this stuff is the rest of my make-up that hasn't really found a home and will occasionally see the sun. I use art boxes for storage and then i have smaller bags for all my 'leftovers'. And then i have a bag of samples. I like to keep stuff to try out or have it ready incase i stay away from home.

And finally, i just had to share my mac lipsticks as they are SO PRETTY!!!!!

Something new....

 La roche posay! This is a new to my night time cleansing routine. I have already used up my clarins cleansing water and wanted to try another that was a little kinder on my purse. La roche posay is a french brand that you can find in selected boots stores. I think i am liking it more than the clarins one as it did make me break out a little. And it's £11 for 200ml. This one is for sensitive skin, use with cotton pads. If you really concentrate on the smell, it's like sweets. Yummers.

Another new, i have finished my book. I actually really enjoyed it and it was really girly and i could relate to it and when i finished it i found out there's going to be a sequel soon! I've also been enjoying my candied ginger body butter from the body shop. This was a limited edition one i got way over a year ago but it smells great and i still feel in a festive mood and am craving spicy and sweet. And finally i bought a new face mask. It's super facialist by Una Brennan. This one is rose hydrate, intense moisture mask. It smells wonderful and feels really refreshing on my skin, it stays moist which is always a plus. I hate it when masks dry and crack. It was £8 and just as good as masks i have paid £20+ for.

Also, i need to sort through my make-up vanity. Would you just look at this mess!? I will be cleaning/re-organising this mess soon and will show you my collllllection :)

Feeling fruity!

Hooray for weeks off of work! I love painting my nails and since we're not allowed to wear nail varnish at work i decided to go a bit mad now i have the time. I've always loved chunky nail accessories and i've never seen anything like this before so i bought into it. I bought some fimo sticks from ebay, which is what these bad boys are on my nails. You can buy them already sliced or slice them yourself (which i decided to do as they can be as chunky as you like). I have these fruity ones and i bought one with the chanel logo on it! I only own one chanel nail varnish but what the heck.

These fruity one's look great with a red/orange base. I thought black would make them stand out more. They look better in person...... promise! x

What's in my make-up bag

 I'm not bragging, but i have a lot more make-up than this. This is the make-up i carry in my bag for touch ups during the day. I bought this bag from accessorize on sale for £7. It's actually a wash bag but i love that it's quite big and has cuuuute owls on it. I purposely chose this one because of it's material being easy to clean inside and out. I will likely be doing a few of these as i change what goes in it everyday according the the look i go for/make-up i use. This was today's..... (sorry the pics are so dark).

So i have Dior's nude compact powder, Mac blush in peaches, Clinique's airbrush concealer, Revlon's photoready 3d mascara, a Barbara Daily angled blush brush, a white eyeliner (brand unknown), M&S eyebrow pencil in walnut, No7 lip liner in nude, Mac lipstick in patisserie and curly lip silicone in shade 506. I thought i would share this with the nosy people like myself who like looking at other people's make-up :P

OPI Chocolate Shake-Speare

Oh haiiiiiii y'all. Just sharing my latest choice in nail varnish. I like to switch it up :) This is OPI's chocolate shake-speare. It's a brown with pink undertones, making it look kind of caramel. Which to me feels appropriate for the season and i think it's cute. And below is the same nail varnish with my new book, Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler. You may know them as Allthatglitters21 and juicystar07. I have become absolutely obsessed with Elle's videos so i just had to buy their book! I'm about half way through and so far i am enjoying it. I've also ended up buying a few book's Elle recommended from her other channel ellesglittergossip. Oh Elle, why can't i be you?

The Breakfast Scrub

As expected, I'm sharing a product i am loving <3! Welcome Soap and Glory's The Breakfast Scrub. If you've used their other scrub (something about scaly legs?) then you should like this! .... if you like the smell of maple. So this has oats, shea butter, sugar body smoother, organic cupuacu bio scrubs, bananas, almond and honey extracts and it smells delightful! I use this about 2/3 times a week in the shower and it makes me smooooth... and a little hungry. There's something so satisfying about using lovely smellies. SCRUB A DUB DUB!

Clarins daily energizer cream-gel

Hey guys! I bought this moisturiser just after christmas after using up a sample of this lovely stuff. This product is a cream/gel, which is really great for my oily skin and designed more for young people. Allthough I'm only 23 I have been using products for older skin that are anti-ageing etc. It was explained to me that I should be taking care of my skin now instead of using products to combat issues i don't have yet. I have been really enjoying this because my complexion looks so much more radiant and it works really well with my skin. The only down side is that it doesn't have any spf, but i can always layer a product over it that does have spf :) It's about £20 for 30ml. I think i am getting closer to finding the products that work for me.

Time for Bed

Hello to any readers! I wanted to share my night time routine :) I'm trying to be more organised this year with most aspects of my life and i have often neglected my skin when it comes to the removal of my make-up. So what you see on my bed side table are the products i am currently using before bed. Plus, there's nothing better than a good pamper sesh :)

I've been taking off my face make-up with Clarins Water Purify One-Step cleanser (with mint essential water, combination or oily skin). Then i remove my eye make-up with Simple's eye make-up remover. I use cotton pads for both of these products. I always use a serum under any moisturiser and the latest is Clinique's repairwear laser focus. To moisturise I've been using Dermalogica's super rich repair, for eyes i use Loreal revitalift anti-wrinkle and firming eye cream. And to finish off i use soap and glory's dr. spot on any pimples and a body shop lip balm.

On the nights i remember to/have time/can be bothered i have been moisturising my body, hands and feet. Soap and glory's righteous body butter has a great smell and absorbs really easily, as does their heel genius foot cream (which is kind of cooling too). I've been using garniers intensive hand cream, it's got a really great peachy smell and i wake up with soft hands. Using all of these products before bed makes me feel really luxurious and helps me to wind down. It's better than my old routine of having multiple packs of face wipes laying around the house. 

And finally, i like to read something good or just look at pictures in my Bobbi Brown books :) .... with a cup of tea of course.