March Favourites!

This is my first ‘favourites’ post, and I’ve enjoyed looking back over the month and picking out what I have really enjoyed using and what may be new to my collection.

Here they are! We have -

Aussie Luscious Long Leave in Conditioner – I dread washing my hair because it takes so long to comb through and brush after, but with this stuff it takes half the time.  I just spritz it onto the ‘matted’ knot in my hair and after a few combs the know has disappeared.  I’ve also been using an Aussie Conditioner with this, and when I use them both together my hair is a lot easier to handle.

Clinique Instant Lift for Brows – I won this from a Beauty Junkie in London.  She was sent it by Clinique to review but her eyebrows were too light to use this as its the darkest shade, so she gave it away to another beauty blogger with dark eyebrows and I was very lucky to win it!  I will be sending her a review of this product to post on her blog by the end of the week so you’ll here about what I fully think of this product when that is posted.  But I’ll just say its very easy to use, and it is the perfect colour for my dark eyebrows!

The Body Shop Shimmer cubes #19 – You can tell just by looking back at the posts in my blog that I adore this eye shadow set, the colours are beautiful, they are a nice pigmented consistency and you can use them in so many ways – I defy someone to not love these!

Lipstick #57 – I have been wearing this a lot since I got a lot of good feedback from it on the swatch post I did - Link Here! I think it really suits my big lips and blonde hair and the colour is just gorgeous.  It lasts really well, I apply it once every 3 hours when I wear it and always get compliments when I wear it!

Blush #12 Apricot Shimmer – This is my favouritteeeeeee blusher EVER!  And I can’t believe I’ve only just started using it!  As you may have read, I am obsessed at the moment with coral and orange shades of make-up and ever since I bought this, I have been using it every day.  It is a perfect orangey-apricot-y shimmery blush.  It is very pigmented and you get the colour you see in the pan in a few sweeps on the cheek.  I will do a swatch of this soon so you can all see how beautiful it is.

No7 Speed Dry Nail Colour #39 Coral Kiss – Read my post below Here to see why I love this Colour!

MAC Pigment sample Softwash grey – I bought a sample of Softwash Grey, along with a few others, from Caroline’s Beauty Blog, and this is my favourite.  It is a perfect shimmery grey/silver for when I do my smokey looks.  I especially like using this along with MAC’s Nylon, in the inner corner of my eye!

Barry M Flamingo Pink #305 Nail Varnish (Not Pictured) – I haven’t got this on hand to photograph but you can see the pictures and why I love it in This Post!

Hope you enjoyed this post, I enjoyed doing it!! What is everyone else’s last months favs?

P.S I purchased all of these products with my own money apart from the Clinique eyebrow pencil which I won in a competition, and the TBS blush – which I was given as it was an old tester in my store.  All of my opinions are honest and I was not paid for these reviews!

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The Body Shop Define & Multiply Mascara Review

I’ll start off by saying, although I haven’t yet found my HG mascara, this is one of my favourites – I’m currently on my third tube of this!  I think I generally prefer mascaras with a comb like wand, as it helps me comb through my unruly yet invisible lashes.

I’ll show you the pictures and then tell you what I like/dislike about it.

No Mascara -

 

One Coat -

 

Its pretty obvious why I love this mascara, as using just one coat I get the most gorgeous, long, defined lashes that I could possibly achieve.  The colour is a perfect black, my lashes aren't clumpy, or spider like; the comb helps to reach every single lash and separate them.  One coat of this is usually enough for me – I’m not really a mascara girl to be honest – I used to always forget to put it on in the mornings before school, but I do rely on it to make my lashes look long and neat when using lots of eyeshadows.

Two Coats -

Firstly, don’t be put off with how clumpy they do look in these images – I will admit that I am due to buy a new one of these as the formula has become dry, making it looks extra clumpy.  So with two coats, you obviously get a more intense long lash effect.  If the tube was new, the second coat normally helps to comb through the lashes, but just adds an extra coating to volumize more. 

Conclusion – As I said at the beginning, this is one of my favourite mascaras.  I love how I can create long, defined lashes with just one coat of this stuff, I would recommend it to people who prefer comb–shaped mascara wands as its the best I’ve tried.  The packaging is pretty normal – a dark green tube with a silver top, making it nice and sleek to carry around with you.  This retails at £9.50 at all Body Shop stores.

Does anyone else use this mascara?  Are you impressed with the results of one coat?

X

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My new favourite Nail colours!

I have two new favourite nail colours which I have both purchased in the last month… I guess I should really put these in my ‘March Favourites’, but I’ll do a separate post for that!

Firstly we have

Barry M – 305 Pink Flamingo

I ADORE this colour, I do admit I have too many pink nail varnishes, but this is my new favourite.  It is a bright pink but with a peachy undertone (I think), which I am obsessed with at the moment.  It’s darker than the Barry M baby pink swatched here, and I love wearing this shade.  I picked this up in Boots where it was part of a ‘Buy two Barry M nail varnishes for £5’ - (There is now a 3 for 2 offer on Barry M items – so go check it out!). ( I will swatch the other colour I bought in this deal soon!)  I applied three coats of this shade and it started chipping within two days.

Secondly, we have

No7 Speed Dry Nail Colour – Coral Kiss 39 –

I bought this with the Boots £5 off No7 voucher, so this only cost me £1.25.  At first I just bought this as it was a bargin and I didn’t want to waste the voucher – But I am SO glad I did pick this up.  It is my perfect red!  I am wearing it right now and I feel ‘adult?’ aha, and sophisticated wearing this.  Again, it is more of an orangey red which I love.  This also does dry relatively quickly which I was impressed at.  I applied this three days ago and only the tips of my nails have started chipping, so it has good lasting power!  Also, I only needed two coats of this polish, as it is very pigmented, which saves time and product!

What did you guys purchase with your Boots £5 off No7 & Ruby Millie vouchers?  Has anyone tried these shades before?XX

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Rush Hair salon!

I had a haircut!! Arrggghhhhhh! I am so so scared of hairdressers, just because I always seem to blow so much money on a cut and style that I didn’t even ask for, its just never how I want it to end up. However, last week I went with my friend to Rush at Lakeside, to watch her have a hair transformation; she decided to try out red hair (from brunette) and to have a trim.  She looked gorgeous at the end, the hairdresser did the best job and I was jealous, her hair looked healthy, with a gorgeous cut and colour! So I booked my own last week.

I haven't had a hair cut in a year and my hair (before the cut) it was pretty much all the same length.  I loved it like this as I could plait it and no random hairs would fall out, and because it was all one length, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t wearing extensions as I think people assume that most girls with platinum blonde hair do wear falsies.  BUT, as I had no layers, my hair was completely flat and lacked volume and style, I did need a change. 

So these are my before and after pictures -

The Experience – Everyone in the store was lovely, very friendly.  The woman at the desk sat me down with some magazines, took my coat and offered me tea etc whilst my hairdresser was finishing off her last client.  I wasn’t waiting long when my hairdresser sat with me and we discussed what I wanted.  I asked for ‘More volume, I want some short layers so I can give my hair more style, I want to keep the length, but I don’t mind a small trim’. 

She was lovely and told me exactly what she was going to do with my hair; Wash it with some kerastase products to ensure its really conditioned, then whilst its wet she was going to trim the ends and add a few random layers all over, then she was going to dry my hair and cut a few shorter layers in.

The wash was lovely and relaxing, I think I had a work experience girl doing it though, but she knew what she was doing and did it well.  Then back in my seat, my hair was combed through… which was pretty agonizing and painful… My hair is dry, yes, but I can comb it through fine at home.  The brush and comb got full of my hair very quickly, which ended up in it making more knots in my hair, yet she didn’t empty the brush out… which I thought was odd.  Another thing which annoyed me was, she blow dried my fringe into a centre parting, when I told her I wanted to keep the side parting… so at the end when she styled my hair, it obviously kept falling back into a centre parting, which was very annoying and didn’t need to be like that. 

Over all I think I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes in the salon.  To be honest I wasn’t very happy with the end result, I always feel too shy to say anything like ‘can I have it shorter, can you change this please’, so I just kept quiet, which is probably always my downfall. 

In the second image above you can see how long the ‘shortest’ layer is… Not short at all, which I was quite disappointed with cause it hardly volumizes my hair, I wanted a lot shorter than that.  Also, quite a lot of length was taken off my ends which I wasn’t too happy about, along with the fact that its cut in a dead straight line, I’m more of a messy hair chick, not a dead straight line chick, if you get me!

I paid for everything myself, although I had a 50% off voucher from the friend who had her hair done before me (Recommend a Friend scheme).  So I ended up paying £22 for the cut, which without the discount would have been £44, which is extortionate. 

I’ve gotten used to the change now, and I do like it, it definitely needed some change and shape, which it now has.  I’ve since washed my hair, and to be honest it kind of does look exactly the same as it did before, no one has noticed the change, which, paying £22 for, I would want people to notice.

Conclusion – The staff were lovely, the salon itself was nice and clean and well laid out, but it is a bit over priced and I didn’t get exactly what I asked for, even though I made it clear at the beginning.  I enjoyed my experience there, although I wouldn’t go back unless I had another voucher.

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EOTD!

The clocks have gone forward and we are now officially in Spring!  As the sun is still shining brightly at 5pm, I’ve decided to use my favourite eye shadows at the moment and do a few tiny looks and examples of how you can wear them!

I’m using The Body Shop’s shimmer cubes in #19 .  Here are two other looks using the purple and teal colours, with the idea of lining the eye.

Teal -

 

The teal is my favourite colour in these cubes, it dazzles like a gem and is so flattering!

Purple -

 

The purple is a great way of using colour a little subtley.  The actual shadow is a lilac, but it really jumps out, or pops (haha!) on top of darker eye liners.

I already did a look using the blue cube a few pages back (Which you can find here), which looked like this -

 

So we have, The Body Shops Shimmer cubes #19

 

On each eye, I

• covered the whole eyelid in the golden seashell colour to give a nice base and took it up to the brow bone for a nice flattering high-lighted lift
• Lined the eye with a coloured eyeliner (for the teal and blue eye I used The Body Shop’s blue pencil eyeliner, and for the purple look I used their purple pencil eyeliner).
• With a small angled brush, I picked up some of the eyeshadow and then drew over the top of the eyeliner for an intense effect.  Just push the shadow on top and it should stay put longer.
• Finish off with lashings of mascara, I used the Body Shops super-volume mascara!
• Oh, and for added dimension, place a tad of the seashell gold or the other colour you used on the inside corner of your eye!

This look is easy and fun, and I love that you can use the colours to accessorize with your outfits, handbags or shoes! Here is a previous post on the shimmer cubes and the range it came out with!

I hope you enjoyed! If you try any of these looks out, I’d love to see your own versions! XX

p.s – i bought all of these products with my own money! X

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The Body Shop lipsticks part 3

Even more lipstick swatches for you on this lovely lazy Sunday!

52 – Rich Scarlet

I’ve already swatches this (here!), but this is a better picture.  A lovely red with orange undertones.

53 – Brilliant red

A gorgeous darker red with blue undertones.  Reminds me of Bond Girls, glamourous and sophisticated!

07 – Rose Pink

A flushed lip rose, coraly pink.  Has a nice shimmery frost to it, unlike the two previous.

 

21 – Soft Red

Described as a soft red, but I think its more of a bronze-brown-red.

Let me know if there's any thing in particular you would like me to do more of on this blog, such as swatches, tutorials, reviews etc and if there are any products in particular you would like to read about.  I hope you guys are enjoying reading my blog, I have a give-away coming up very shortly and I have some really nice prizes that I think you will like!!

XX

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My FAVOURITE nail-varnish EVER

All my close friends will know that I went NUTS when I first saw this nail polish on a few blogs because I adore and am obsessed with holographic-ness! I actually searched three different Superdrug stores to hunt this down and I finally found it.

549 - Holographic

Words can not describe how in love I am with this nail varnish. I’m so in love I bought two bottles at once as I didn’t want to ever not own this. I mean, come on, who can’t agree that this is just MAGICAL?

(with flash)

The formula, in my opinion, is perfect. Its applies in a really thin yet pigmented layer, which takes 30seconds max to dry, you can tell it is dry when its starts to shimmer amazingly in the light. I apply three coats when I use this product to build up the most beautiful colour ever. When you do use it however, do make sure that the coat before is dry before you pop another one on, as it does get very streaky otherwise. You also can’t really use a base coat with this as it streaks like crazy as well – its kind of hard to explain but if you’ve used it then you will know what I mean.

I took this picture two days after having put it on – as you can see it does chip really easily, which is a shame, but as it dries so quick you can always pop another coat on. This picture was taken when I was in the car on a sunny day – the sun just makes your nails goes crazy.

I’m not actually positive if this colour is still available? I haven't seen it around for a while, but I really hope it isn’t limited edition! If someone's in the know, please tell me if its still available or not!

I also have one of China Glaze’s holographic nail varnishes which I will swatch and review in comparison to this polish when I’m back at my other flat!

What does everyone think? Too much, or amazing?

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GOSH Lipstick swatches

How is everyone today!? I’ve been suffering with tonsillitis the past week which is so lame, its hurts to swallow and eat which I’m the most upset about! Haha.

There are two GOSH lippie swatches for you on this miserable rainy day (in London!)

43 – Tropical Pink

A bright vibrant pink which lots of shimmer.  This is probably the most shimmery pink I own and I wasn’t expecting it.  The formula is very moisturizing and creamy, but I don’t wear this much as I don’t think the shade suits me very well.

 

134 – Darling

Okay, I am going to be really honest, and some people are gonna hate me for saying this, but, I really really dislike Darling.  I know it is everyone’s ‘favourite’ and holy grail, but I disagree.  Maybe its just me, but when I put it on it just looks like I have smothered my lips in concealer and lip balm.  Don’t get me wrong, its a lovely creamy lipstick and has a perfect texture, but the colour on me is just disgusting.  I have never worn this out and probably never will, unless I want to look like a zombie on halloween.  I have seen a few beauty bloggers which is looks gorgeous on, their perfect nude, but not for me. 

I do want to keep experimenting with this, maybe applying it with a lip gloss or something, because I really WANT to love it, but I just don’t.

Conclusion: The packaging is sexy and sleek, the formula of both are very moisturizing and creamy, but I do think there needs to be a few more colours to choose from.

What does everyone else think about these lipsticks? Am I the only one who isn’t Darling’s biggest fan? X

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The Body Shop Lipsticks, part 2!

More Body Shop lipstick swatches!

54 – Pastel Rose

54 is a mega-frosted peach lipstick.  The colour is a nice peach nude, and the frost gives a beautiful shimmery dimension.

 

66 – Coral Splash

66 is a bright yet kinda dark coral orange.  I think this colour looks stunning on tanned and olive skin tones, a friend of mine wears it and just looks stunning. Coral oranges are very popular in lip and nail shades this spring. 

 

63 – Sunset Peach

Sunset peach is peachy pink lipstick which I think is very moisturizing.  The colour is beautiful, its almost a nude pink, but with more colour and pigmentation.  I think this is a lovely colour to wear day to day.

 

10 – Soft Heather

10 is a stunning purple shade, I don’t think I can wear this personally as I’m too pale, but a girl at work wears this and it compliments her tanned bronze skin perfectly, it almost looks like a nude on her.  Purples are also very ‘in’ this spring in the world of make-up and fashion!

 

14 – Pink Ginger

Pink Ginger is a wearable dark pink which is so pigmented and easy to apply, I can’t help but love it.  I think its quite similar to the new ‘Rougue coco’ Chanel lipstick modelled by Vanessa Paradis!  This lipstick would look gorgeous with a natural eye look with lots of mascara!

You can see my first post with Body Shop swatches in here - http://mesluxes.blogspot.com/2010/03/body-shop-lipsticks.html .  All of these lipsticks are very pigmented and moisturizing with the community traded marula oil and they are also very wearable day to day.

What ones do you like the look of? Have you tried any of these colours before?

I have 4 more body shop lippie swatches coming up in the next week! X

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Gosh Nail Lacquer

I have a selection of GOSH’s Nail varnishes which I will be posting swatches of over the next few weeks. 

562 – Magic Star

562 is a beautiful glitter varnish, which shimmers blue, green and yellow in the light.  It’s very pretty to look at and really does sparkle in certain positions.

02 – Pearl

02 is a white, pearly metallic shade.  With three coats you can build it up to a stunning white opaque metallic look, which is very pretty.  I bought this shade originally to layer with brighter colours to give my nails some dimension (I will do a tutorial for it soon!) but I’ve realised its actually quite unique and pretty on its own!

Conclusion - Both of these swatches have three coats of the varnish on so you can see their full potential.  The varnishes themselves take a while to dry – I always manage to smudge them.  I really do love GOSH’s nail varnish collection, the colours are always unique, they don’t stain my nails and last pretty long (for me!) – around 2 days before chipping!

I have another 6 GOSH shades which I will post soon!  Has anyone ever tried their nail varnishes before? What do you think of them?

XX

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Barry M lipstick swatches

I currently only own two Barry M lipsticks and I love them both so much! Here they are on my lips -

147 -

This is one of my favourite lipsticks, its so beautiful.  Its a gorgeous light peachy pinky coral and its just stunning, I haven't seen a lipstick like this colour and the pigmentation is great.  It can make your teeth look yellow if you put too much on though!

52 -

52 is a brave neon purplish pink, which has been quite fashionable the past year.  There was a week not long ago where I wore this everyday, I just love it.  It is daring and you need to be confident to pull it off.  I didn’t realise quite how bright and purple is was until I took pictures of this!

Conclusion - Barry M have the most beautiful and daring colour collections which is great for those wanting to be different.  The packaging is black and sleek (I’m sure you’ve all seen it!).  The only thing about these lipsticks is that they are quite drying.  They aren't really moisturizing at all, I always need to apply alot of lip balm before and after I use this, but this definitely wouldn’t put me off wearing them!

I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend! XX

Small note – All pictures included are mine, please ask me if you want to use them on your blogs/website and put a link back to my blog.

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My Barry M Swatches

I’ve been buying Barry M Dazzle Dust pigments since I was 17 and used to be addicted to them. I’d never before seen such a wide variety of colours and such good quality products for reasonable prices.

I decided today to swatch the ones I have for you and tell you what I like about them etc.

Top Row – L-R 64 (Fushcia), 74 (Purple), 34 (Cherry)

Bottom Row – L-R 29 (Yellow Gold), 44 (Bronze), 3 (Pink Gold)

64 – A vibrant pink, very bright, have only used this doing make-up for a theatre production.

74 – A nice deep redish purple, very charming, but again, would not wear this out unless blended smoothly with a black. Could wear this as an eyeliner though?

34 – I actually have two of this colour, and I have no idea why as I’m not too keen on it, it kinda looks like a bruised eye colour? Its a dark purple with blue speckles.

29 – A bright yellow, good for dramatic smoky brown eyes.

44 – The perfect bronze shade in my opinion. This is definitely one of the more wearable ones from my collection. I’m making a mental note to wear this shade more!

3 – The most adorable pink which shimmers gold in the light. So girly!

Top Row L-R – 14 (Khaki), 13 (Pale Green), 92 (Aqua Gold), 69 (Saphire)

Bottom Row L-R - (GLITTER DUST) 15 (Gold Iridescent), 4, 10 (Silver) (DAZZLE DUST)(Grey), 11 (Charcoal)

14 – This is a moody green pigment, very emerald and attractive.

13 – A cute pale green, very easy to blend.

92 – I’ve never worn this, again, it was for a theatre production of A Midsummer Nights Dream.

69 – Ugh, this colour is so gorgeous!! Its a blue which turns purple depending on the angle you look at it, its so pretty.

15 – A gorgeous shimmer which sparkles gold in different lights, I adore this colour and use it as a base on my eyelids, all the way up to the brow bone for definition on nights out. You could also use this as a cheek highlighter possibly? I will swatch it next to MAC’s vanilla pigment soon for comparison.

4 – A silver glitter dust, which in my opinion is toooo glittery. Literally chunks of glitter where everywhere after I used this. Its so pretty though, use for special occasions?

10 – Another one of my favourites, a gorgeous silvery grey, great for smoky looks. I like blending this over 15, with a touch of 11 on the edge for the perfect glamorous look.

11 – A dark dark black with a hint of white glitter shimmer, although not glittery at all and nice and easy to blend. Although it is very pigmented so you only need the tiniest amount!

Conclusion! - I only wear about three of these shades when going out at the most. Barry M are famous for having the loveliest colour collection and I’m so grateful that we have this choice on the high street, but obviously not all these shades are wearable on a day to day basis, but its good to have the choice. Slowly, make-up brands have been catching up with Barry M and creating new pigment shades (Gosh, for example), however Barry M’s cute packaging, originality and good pricing will always make them my favourite high street make-up brand.

I have a few of their lipsticks which I will be swatching for you all soon! XXX

P.S I was recently VERY lucky to win a competition by http://www.beautyjunkielondon.com/ to review clinques instant lift for brows – pencil. She wanted someone with dark eyebrows and a make-up blog to review it as her eyebrows are quite pale and I won through random generator! Once I get the product I will mail her the review and you will be able to see it on her site! Thanks Beauty Junkie!! XX

P.P.S – All the photographs are my own, please include a link to my blog if you are to use them anywhere else, and send me a link to where you’ve posted it. I bought all these products with my own money.

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