The Body Shop’s New Shimmer Cubes!

I totally did not know The Body Shop were bringing out new Shimmer Cubes until I trotted in to work one day and saw them staring at me looking all beautiful.  I couldn’t help but bring my camera in before my next shift to take some photographs of the swatches for you girls!  

TBS have only had two permanent shimmer cubes for the past few years (the brown one and the silver and purple one) and although they brought out a couple of limited edition ones in the meantime, new additions to the permanent line were well over due.  So here we are -

On every image below I’ve done one swatch of each colour with a dry eye shadow brush, and another swatch of each shade with a wet eye shadow brush.  These shimmer cubes are best used when wet (they still blend well when wet) and they dry as normal after each use.  To do this you literally just wet the brush, dab off excess dripping water and create a paste with the cube you want to use. 

Shimmer Cubes palette #23 (purple)

A nice selection of purples – looks great when used together to create a smokey eye.  I did a smokey purple eye on a customer using this palette and if I do say so myself it looked AMAZING.  (However this cube has the most fall-out  out of all the palettes in this post, but nothing a sweep of a brush can’t sort out!)

Shimmer Cubes palette # 20 (blue)

My favourite of the bunch (I think)!  TBS did a very similar shimmer cube to this two years ago although one of the colours was slightly different (the black I think) and I’m so glad they’ve re-launched & updated it.  If you could see these swatches up close I think you’d faint with how beautiful they are – literally so shimmery and beautiful.  The sparkling black, dark navy blue and silvers look absolutely stunning together.  I LOVE this!

Shimmer Cubes palette # 22 (green)

Greeeeeennnn!!  This reminds me of mermaids and I think its so beautiful.  The colours used dry are actually pretty similar when used wet which is excellent.  I love the grey green in this as well as the teal blue. 

What I think – I adore these new cubes, I love the packaging and the fact that you can remove individual cubes (so if you have all palettes you can create your own!) and I love how deep each cube is – they last forever!  At £16 a palette they are quite pricey but if you think about the fact that individual eye shadows at TBS are around £8 (and slim, not much product) then you’re actually getting a bargain for four big ‘uns.  There is also a deal on in store that if you buy one shimmer cube you can get another half price which is pretty good, but I’m not sure how long the offer will last for.

TBS have also bought out little leaflets to go with each shimmer cube with an impressive (and beautiful) smokey eye using the shades.  Inside the leaflet are instructions to follow at home on how to recreate the look – this is such a good idea and the diagrams are really easy to follow so you can copy these looks at home by your self!  (Terrible pictures below, but its the best I could do!).

Have you got your hands on any of the new shimmer cubes yet?  Which is your favourite?

xxxx

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Serenata Flowers & Giveaway! Now Closed!

I don’t know about you, but one thing that ALWAYS cheers up my day or makes me smile is receiving a bunch of flowers, or waking up to see them in a vase in my bedroom.  I also adore giving flowers to friends and family – for birthdays, house warming parties and I find myself giving flowers most often to say sorry (that’s terrible isn’t it, haha!).

If I was to send a surprise bouquet to someone, right now it’d be my parents!  I graduated last week and it was a very emotional day (for me!) – the end of an era and I know that I wouldn’t have made it that far without my parents support through out.  I’d send them a bouquet as a massive thank you and I know for a fact that when its delivered, the surprise would make my mums day!

Serenata Flowers is an online website where you can organize to send flowers directly to someone’s door as a surprise, which I think is an adorable idea (we have family in Australia who sends us flowers as surprises and we are always so excited when they come in the post!).  

I have picked out my personal favourites at the moment, below!

Top Row L-R - White Roses, Red Roses, Narnian Dreams (unicorn-white Pompeii lilies, Avalanche roses and ermine-elegant lisianthus with tiny snowdrops of gypsophila).
Bottom Row L-R - Blue Cloud (white roses, gerbera daisies, purple statice & green froggy buttons), Golden Promise (golden roses and scented white freesia) and Scarlet OHara (a bunch of Pink & Red Roses).

GIVEAWAY:

Now Serenata have kindly offered to hold a giveaway on my blog.  One of you can win a bouquet prize order (any bouquet of flowers delivered to your door with the value of the prize being up to £30 plus p&p). 

T&C

• To enter you must comment on this post saying enter me with your email address so I can contact you if you win.
• Competition closes 9th August.
• Although Serenata can organize for delivery outside of the UK, this competition is open to UK residents only and the winner’s delivery address must be in the UK.
• Winner will be chosen at random on 9th August.

You can view Serenata’s website here - http://www.serenataflowers.com to browse their gorgeous collections of flowers and gifts!

What are your favourite flowers?

(Please note: this is a sponsored post!)

GIVEAWAY WINNER: BRITTANY LOVE.

Congrats Brittany, I’ll be sending you an email shortly!! XX

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Hair HELP!

I have a major dilemma that I need your help with.  I have been platinum, bleach blonde for seven years now and I feel like its time for a change!  I’m about to graduate from university, I’m going to be looking for a job and I feel like I would get taken more seriously and feel more confident if I change my hair colour to a more natural blonde.

I’m thinking surfer chick, beach blonde like Shakira, Olsen Twins, Ivy from 90210, Catherine from The Pierces.

What do you think?  The thing is, I can’t keep bleaching my hair forever, I just can’t, I’ll have to go natural one day so why not now? 

PROS Get treated more seriously Hair will be in better condition I’ll be able to define my eyebrows more!

CONS Expensive to do roots at a salon every month (I don’t have the money) I won’t look like ‘me’ anymore Hair won’t stand out as much

I’m thinking that in early August after my 23rd birthday I’m going to go to a salon and get my hair dyed a natural blonde, so then I can either grow it out completely after that or so I just get natural highlights on my roots every few months.  I’m also going to get an inch or two cut off because its tooooo long. 
You can see my hair timeline in this post here and below is a picture of my hair as it is now.  As you can see its almost touching my bottom.  I love the length but its getting unmanageable.

I need your opinions, please be honest and let me know if there are any salons you recommend for a ‘natural’ look. 

What do you think?  Help me!

XXX

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Sleek ‘Oh So Special’ palette!

I have been dreaming of this palette since the Sleek ‘Destination S’ event earlier this year when I saw a sneak preview of it and I am so glad I finally own it!  Originally this was only going to be released in Sephora stores in Europe, but for some reason its now available here in Superdrug stores so I’m super happy we’ve got a chance to get this as well.

As you can see the colours are stunning, a perfect mix of matt browns and shimmers for day and night.  My favourite colours are Gift Basket, Glitz, Gateau and Celebrate (basically all the shimmery ones).

The pigmentation of the eye shadows are superb as are all of the shades in the Sleek palettes, the packaging is still great (slim and classic) and it is great value for money.  You can never ever go wrong with the Sleek Makeup palettes and this one lives up to my expectations of how great they are!

What’s your favourite Sleek Makeup palette?  Have you managed to get your hands on this one?

XXX

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Festival DIY SOS Kit!

With all the festivals that are hitting England this summer I thought I’d create my own little ‘Festival SOS Kit’ which includes everything to keep you safe and happy whilst you party!

1) The Body Shop’s Aloe Moisture SPF Lotion – a good, fragrance free day cream with an SPF 15.  This is the perfect size for your handbag and is great for all skin types (it hasn’t irritated my sensitive, blemish prone skin at all).  You’ll be out in the sun a lot (hopefully!) so this is super important.

2) Alfresco Anti Bug Bite Lotion & Insect Repellent Spray – Not something you’d initially think to take with you but this has been a lifesaver for me for the past few months.  I have only had ONE gnat bite this year so far because of this stuff, where as the rest of my family are itching like crazy (we keep our doors open in the heat so we get a lot of mosquitoes around the house).  This insect repellent comes in a lotion and a spray format; both smell the same, a bit like talcum/baby powder mixed with essential oils (it is a bit strong and stinky but not unbearable).  There’s not much else I can say apart from it works!  I’m off to Marrakech next week and I’ll be taking this to test out there as well.

3) The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Oil Blotting Pads – I get really oily in the summer so I always carry these around with me for emergency touch ups.  In the heat I don’t like applying too much makeup e.g. powder and concealer to control the oil, so these pads are perfect.

4) Secret’s Braided Head Band – cute, festival chic headbands to make your locks look effortlessly cool.  Perfect for sweeping your hair back if its getting dirty and unmanageable.  These ones unfortunately don’t match the colour of my hair but I *might* be going ‘natural’ soon, so I’m keeping this for then!

5) Batiste Dry Shampoo – Every girls best friend for any occasion!  Batiste will help keep your locks looking freshly washed and with volume all weekend.  I use Batiste every day and don’t know what I’d do without it.  I’ll be taking two cans on holiday with me!

6) Optrex Sparkling Eye Drops – Okay, so picture this; lots of late nights, alcohol, dusty/muddy air and pollen, your eyes can definitely suffer during a festival and can give away tell tale signs of late nights, so a few drops of Optrex in each eye will keep them hydrated and looking awake.  You can also get ‘brightening’ drops which make the whites of your eyes more white which would also be perfect for festivals!

7) Clinique SPF 35 Stick – This is perrrfeeectttt for keeping in your pocket to re-apply sunscreen throughout the day, and its also perfect for applying to tattoo’s to keep them protected for the sun (which obviously makes them fade quicker).  This is fragrance free, has an SPF of 35 and is allergy tested.

8) Sun Shots SPF 25 Sun Protection Sachets – MORE SPF!!  Haha I’m really obsessed with sun protection as you can tell!  These are very handy as you can carry the little sachets are very useful as it means you don’t need to carry around a heavy bottle of sun cream.  I went to a park for a picnic last weekend and used this whilst out there; one little pouch was enough to cover my back, face, arms and legs, as well as my friends back and arms.  This stuff smells gorgeous, protects against both UVA and UVB rays and was light and non greasy. 

9) Carex Aloe Vera Hand Gel – This is a MUST all year round in my opinion.  Obviously you’re going to need to sanitize your mitts at festivals as a sink and soap will not always be available so your best bet is to carry around a hand sanitizer gel.  This Carex one is my favourite because it smells lovely (not like the usual cucumber stench you get with most of these gels) and it sinks in really well, leaving you feeling clean, fresh and not sticky.

What’s in your festival SOS kit?   Are you off to any festivals this summer?

XXX

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Bourjois event & Intense eye shadows!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to Bourjois HQ to have a look at some of their new products being launched.  I have always been a fan of Bourjois, I love their colour ranges and packaging and I remember stealing my mum’s Bourjois eye shadows when growing up, so I was very excited to see their new collections!



We were introduced to the new So Laque Ultra Shine & 10 day anti chip nail polishes, their new bronzing range (all of which will feature in a separate post), as well as the new little round pot ‘Intense’ eye shadows .  We were able to play around with the new products and get our nails ‘WAH-ed’ whilst snacking on marshmallows accompanied by a rather delicious chocolate fountain!



I picked up three eye shadows to take home with me; 05 (a blue/green teal), 08 (chocolate brown) and 01 (gold shimmer).  They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I am in love with them. 
You all know that I prefer shimmer eye shadows to matte so I obviously picked up the most shimmery-est (ha!) yet surprisingly the formula is smooth, with no bits of chunky glitter in sight.  There is hardly any fall out when using the shadows and they are just as pigmented on the skin as they are in the pot. 
These shadows are also made from 87% mineral pigments, they are hypoallergenic and also paraben and fragrance free.

I used all three of the shadows in the EOTD above – the gold all over the lid up to the brow bone, the teal on the outer corner and in the crease of my eye, and the brown underneath my lower lash line. 


 
There is a good variety of other shades available, from a smokey black and grey to an intense purple and peach and they retail at £6.99 in Boots & Superdrug.

What are your favourite Bourjois products?  Have you tried anything from their new ranges yet?

XXX

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Nail Art (first attempts) with No7!

I have never been one to experiment with nail art – for one I don’t have a very steady hand, secondly I hate waiting for nails to dry and thrice because I wouldn’t know what to do! But after having attended an event with No7 for their new nail polishes I have been inspired!

At the event we were taught by Jamie Nunn, who is a nail artist to celebrities; he does the nails for the stars of the X Factor! We were given a nail wheel, some sponges, thin nail brushes, diamantes and polishes to experiment with and were taught how to do an antique marble like effect, basic stripes, how to achieve a matt effect with a topcoat (by basically using a sponge to apply the topcoat instead of the brush!) etc.

Once home I decided to experiment with a few of the polishes and this is what I created!

I’m so proud of myself! I decided to use the polish ‘So Simple’ which is a gorgeous nude all over the nail, paint the tips in a gorgeous gold shade called ‘Hot to trot’, and then on my ring finger I painted a leopard skin design! I love the colour scheme, the nude and gold work really well together. So Simple is now my favourite nude nail polish, I’ve been wearing it non stop.

Event Photographs

Before the event Jamie Nunn created some simple designs so we were able to see some examples of the styles and effects we could create. I photographed all of them for you guys, below!

I absolutely love nails covered in jewels, they look divine.

What’s your favourite nail art to do? Have you got any tips or examples to show me?

P.S I have a massive post coming soon with swatches of some of the new No7 nail polishes, keep an eye out!

XX

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