First off I am a big fan of the fact this comes in an easy to carry (and travel with) 50ml tube, hygienic, practical and fresh looking makes it a winner on the packaging front. I love that with the tube you can be in control of how much you are getting out, and the click close lid is properly sturdy so there should be no mishaps in your make up bags.

When blended in it gives a gorgeous golden shimmer glow- without gathering in my crater pores, as you can see from the snap it does have a really golden shine which you can mix down with some moisturiser like I do for day time, or wear on its own under your base for a night time look. I have been using it for a while now and am really happy with the finish, It absorbs into the skin quickly and doesn’t feel overly greasy whilst still giving that golden glow I like. I think this is going to be great for summer time as you could easily wear this alone on tanned skin to get that healthy look, and it would also look fab on the collar bones, or up the front of bare legs to make them look longer. Right now for winter is definitely doing to job of perking up my dull looking skin, those light reflecting particles are amazing.

I am in love with it because it also has SPF 15 in it, which is something I like to look for. I haven’t experienced any flash back while wearing it for photos which is a must know for beauty bloggers Overall I am thrilled with this little find, a totally inexpensive but versatile product that performs well.

I really want to try the Vitamin E face oil next, I have heard some excellent things about it! I noticed on Superdrugs Website today that it is 2 for £3.99 on the Vitamin E range so now might be the time to try it out.

Bx

Being the lovely company they are they didn’t leave me bereft but sent me a bunch of make up to help me along.

The first goodie in my envelope was the MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 2 Honeycomb which went perfectly with my skin tone and ladies you may need to sit down when I tell you the price…£2!

The foundation went on well, gave very good coverage and a little of it went a long way. I always advise girls to stick to their tried and tested foundation as it is the one piece of make up I don’t like to mess with; one mistake and we get break out central. However the super duper cheap price and the good results from MUA means it’s worth giving it a try and finding out whether or not the foundation is for you.

Then for the eyes, I used a blue eye shadow from a pre existing palette I own. It’s nothing special and to be honest any other base colour would have done just as well. The thing that really set it apart was the 2 True Eyeshadow Dazzlers (£1.99) which I applied liberally to give me a sparkle-tastic effect on the lids.

I then popped on some NYC natural eyelashes (£1.99). I don’t like wearing the whole shebang when it comes to lashes and just cut a little portion of the lash and apply to the outer part of my eyelid. I find this gives a much more natural final look.

And then finally I applied the Collection 2000 Hot Looks Polish in Lemon Soda (£1.79) for a brilliant yellow nail look. The polish was rather hard to apply, a little bit streaky but after some patience and three or four coats later I was rewarded with a fab pop of colour.

And finally I finished off the lips with a bit of vaseline and a maroon lip liner I had in my bag; again any lip liner/ stick or gloss would have done.

And so there you have it, my high fashion look for the grand total of £7.77!

Studio London nail kit with nail file, 7 nail polishes & 2 special effects

With the last days of summer behind us, I’m preparing my wardrobe for Autumn/Winter and this includes my nails!  Studio London Nail Kit has come out in perfect time for the change in weather…

Dramatic, glamorous and sophisticated are the nail trends to be worn this Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 and Studio London has them all!  Created in collaboration with celebrity make-up artist Joanna Bernacka and photography by fashion photographer sorted.tv, Studio London is a complete make-up range that uses high quality baked and strong pigments suitable for any professional make-up artist or non expert in my case!

The kit comes with a curved nail file, two special effect top coats and seven different nail polishes in colours such as iridescent, silver flake, orchid, shadow and vamp. With tips how to achieve the perfect statement nails, you can’t go wrong.

Some of my favourites! (l-r) iridescent, willow, orchid, poppy, silver flake and jade

Go glamorous with gold, silver and bright metallic colours that look great on nails for eveningwear and parties.  Want a dramatic look? Choose Poppy in a vampy red to accentuate your ladylike charm like I did or if you prefer a more neutral shade, go a matte nail colour like Greige, a cross between grey, brown and beige.

Nail varnish in red "Poppy"

It even comes with a clear top coat, which I always forget to buy, a necessity to avoid the paint chipping and to make your nails last longer!  Packaged in a cute little box about the size of an A5 booklet, this would make the ideal Christmas gift for anyone who is a fan of nail polishes!

Whilst each nail was wet they were individually bejewelled with Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Gemstones [around 20 each nail] to give a glamorous, eye catching finish.

Below you can see the application – the girls did amazingly to get all 11 models done in such a short space of time.

Serious attention to detail! It fully paid off though, they made such a statement and brought an added edge to the hair and make up styling.

Poppy Delevigne having her nails worked on by the Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique girls

Below – The wonderful nails team (from left) Steph, Sophie and Yanna

www.andreafulerton.com

In my years of wearing make up I must have tried every remover on the market and so I was more than happy to try the new Naked Skin Blinking Lovely remover. After reading that the product is 97% natural and for sensitive skin I was excited to try it as despite all my eye make up love I have very sensitive skin around that area and am very picky over the products that I use.

After a week of use I’ve decided that I really really like it. I like the ethos of the company and the fact that there is no animal testing behind the scenes. The one downfall is perhaps the amount of product required to completely take off all my make up. I found that I needed to use at least 4 cotton pads soaked with Naked to completely remove all trace of my make up but that’s not really such a big problem as it comes in a 200ml bottle and is quite affordable, retailing at £4.49.

In addition to the make up remover I was also lucky enough to be able to try the Soothing Eye Gel from Naked which you have to dab around the eye area. It is cooling and does feel rather refreshing. The instructions do state to avoid getting it into the eyes but clumsy I did and I was terrified my eyes would water and sting but thank goodness they didn’t and although I wouldn’t advise getting it into your eyes I was relieved I didn’t crumble into a burning heap of pain.

Superdrug also sent me the Rimmel Glameyes Day 2 Night mascara which is a rather intriguing mascara with two brushes, one for volume and one for length. I normally use both brushes, one after the other and I like the final result; long thick lashes!

And finally I was asked to try the Rimmel Glameyes liquid eyeliner and with the thin brush tip and the jet black colour first impressions were good. However as I said my eyes are very sensitive and I have always had a problem with liquid eye liner as more often than not the product produces a stinging sensation and this time it was no different. I don’t want to blame the liquid liner as this is generally the rule for me with all liquid liners so I don’t want to judge the Rimmel liner too harshly.

All in all I was pretty happy with most of my eye products and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to all my fellow eye make up enthusiasts out there!

It’s no secret these creams have gone down a storm in the beauty industry, first in East and Southeast Asia and now even here.

These creams are meant to be all things to all ladies, a moisturizer, a sun block and a light foundation all rolled into one. In fact this cream gets rid of a significant portion of the products on our vanity table.

But is it any good?

Well when I was asked to give the latest Garnier BB cream a go by Superdrug I found out.

The product packaging is nifty and pretty and the cream itself smells amazing; light and fresh.

The cream is the colour of foundation and currently there are two available shades; light and medium which is a bit of a shame as it is always nice to have an exact colour match rather than falling into a broad spectrum however Garnier has just begun making these creams and I suspect if they are popular enough and demand is high enough we’ll soon be seeing a various number of shades on the shelves.

I initially began to use the BB cream as a replacement to my usual moisturizer and while I can’t complain about the coverage during the day I can’t say that I noticed the reduction of blemishes, but that may be because I haven’t used the product for long enough. The cream did tend to leave my face feeling dry after a while as I do have skin prone to dryness; I had to “top up” my face with a little of my regular moisturizer from time to time.

However all that being said I do believe that Garnier are onto a good thing. I don’t think I’ll throw out my moisturizer anytime soon but my foundation may have had its day! The cream is perfect to use in the day time for light coverage and the sun block element of the product is a huge plus point.

All in all I’d say BB creams are a welcome addition to our skin care regimes.

B.B  stands for Blemish Balm and are cult products in East and South West Asia.  Originally designed by dermatologists for use in Laser Surgery Patients they are now  raved about because of their amazing combination of skin care healing properites, moisturiser, SPF and tinted foundation base. It is an all in one cream designed to limit the need for lots of other products on the face and provide an even tone for your skin.

So there you go- to sum it all up, BB creams sound like little tubes of magic! Garnier are one of the first companies to jump on the BB Band Wago ( try saying that with your mouth full!) and have brought it to the UK market.

Introducing the Garnier All in One B.B Cream Miracle Skin Perfector! Described as the all in one solution is promises to unify, illuminate, hydrate  and help protect skin with SPF 15.

Available in two shades and retailing at £9.99 I have been putting this cream through its paces.  The formula is creamy and easily applied with your fingers or a flat topped brush, it is not too thick and adds a decent amount of coverage to cover up redness and spots while not making me look cakey or like I am wearing a lot of foundation. The cream does leave you with a gorgeous glowy glow, which is how I prefer the finish but for any one with an incredibly oily skin I am not sure if this product would help.

The problem I have with this particular BB cream is in the shade range.-I have tried out the shade light and on me it is still too dark. Now with BB creams being so blendable this is not as much an issue that with a pure foundation as the colour blends in more, but I am not even the lightest of skinned people so I can see this one being too dark for some people which is a shame as it is great product. It is ok for me in Summer with a very slight tan, but on my winter skin I don’t know if it will work.

Overall if the colours work for you I would definately recommend trying this new cream out. I think it is perfect for summer skin when you dont want to piling lots of products on but still looking for nice even skin with a healthy dewy glow.

Will you be next on the BB Bandwagon?

Bx

PS sorry for the lack of snaps, I haven’t got my camera right now! I will upload some pics very soon!

Max factor recently set us insiders a task to re-create a colour boom look created exclusively for Superdrug by Caroline Barnes & I gathered all the make up applying knowledge I’ve accumulated from the tender age of 12 to valiantly rise to the challenge

This is the look:

This is my re-creation:

What do you think?

Okay, so here’s how I did it…

The Eyes:

To get the brilliant blue colour on the eye lids I applied the light blue end of the Max factor Smoky Eye Effect Blue Tempest which gave me a light blue shimmer and on top of that I applied the darker blue.

The pointed end of the darker shade allowed me to re-create the shape that the model sports on her lids. I really wanted to match the vibrancy of the colour the model has on her lids so I pretty much went to town with the darker shade until I got the colour I wanted.

Afterward I lined my waterline with the Max factor Liquid Effect eyeliner in Black Fire. Normally I tend to do a rather large flick but this time I toned it down to balance out the drama of the blue eye.

I just want to take a moment here to rave about the eyeliner because it actually does give the effect of black liquid eyeliner and I should know because that is a staple of my every day make up. The colour is intense and this is the only eye pencil I’ve found in recent times that I’ve been pleased with so virtual hi-five to Max factor.

I finished off the eye make up by applying a generous coat of Max factor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara.

The Cheeks:

For the cheeks I applied the Max factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush in soft pink.

I adore cream blushes as the traditional blushes tend to break me out for some reason. This blush went on smoothly and after application I immediately had a healthy glow. Between you and me I think I knocked a couple of years off me.

The Lips:

I liked that the lips are so natural in comparison to the eyes and there really wasn’t a lot for me to do there except apply a slick of Max factor effect lip gloss in diva pink.

And finally the Nails:

Now this was my favourite! Colourful nails this summer has been a must and all season I’ve been sporting greens, hot pinks and vibrant blues on my nails and to add to my collection I get this brilliant orange.

The Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish 25 Bright Orange comes in a tiny bottle and is super cute. Fact is one will only wear orange for a season so the small amount goes a long way.

And that ladies (and the odd gentleman) is my little story of my re-creation. Hope you LOVED it. Yep, LOVED it, I’m not settling for anything less! x

When I was offered the chance to try out a new Argan Oil hair treatment I jumped at the chance. As someone who dyes there hair quite a lot and doesn’t condition that often I thought it was time I gave it some TLC. I usually shy away from hair treatments due to my hairs ability to go greasy even at the sight of a hair product, but after hearing of the power of Argan Oil I knew this could be something really exciting!

Argan Oil is well known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties, it can be used in many forms such as an intensive night moisturiser, for strengthening broken or weak nails, improve firmness of the skin and in the way I have tried out- for providing hair with a remarkable shine and helping mend split ends.

Sounds magical! But how did it actually perform?

They Say:

Argan Oil treatment is a unique formula based on the long known benefits of the oil from the fruit of the Argan Tree. Argan oil Treatment is enriched with Vitamin E, a natural anti- oxidant. Formulated to nourish and rejuvenate dry and damaged hair. This concentrated oil formula will help smooth frizz giving protection and shine to all hair types while reducing drying time by up to 50%

Before

I Say:

I have been very pleasantly surprised by this oil, I genuinely thought that this product would just make my hair a bit of an oil slick but it has in fact given it a long needed boost. After towel drying my hair I put 3 to 4 drops of this oil on my fingertips and spread it through my hair. I was really impressed at how far these little drops went so you would get a lot of use out of one 100ml bottle. The oil has a lovely clean smell, not too noticeable or overpowering just a subtle fresh  citrus scent that smells ‘expensive’, kind of like something I am used to getting put on my hair in a salon!

After!

My Argan Oil hair!

I then grabbed my hair dryer and gave it my usual rough attack, I was amazed that is really did take less time to dry thanks to this stuff. As a lover of all things volumising I was worried this would just weigh my hair down but it didn’t at all, my hair was left feeling incredibly soft but not coated in anyway. It made my mane feel really manageable and I can run my fingers right through it which I love, I can’t stop touching it! It has definitely made my hair looks noticeably  healthier and the shine I am getting from using it is incredible.

The very scientific hair tossing experiment to show the shine!

So there you have it , I have shown you it works great even on a greasy prone brunette like me, so I can only imagine the magic it would work on curly, frizzy, dry and sun damaged locks- I thoroughly recommend getting some Argan Oil in your life this summer!

Bx