Beauty - Manicure Monday - Amethyst Velvet Goth

It's Monday again, so you get another Manicure Monday post. 

And this week its been all about this sparkly purple beauty! From Models Own Velvet Goth range, this is the Amethyst colour. It is actually a matt purple colour but with a heavy amount of sparkly glitter bits! It is really pretty although a bit of a pain to get on! As it is so thick it can be a little different to spread nicely across the whole nail, but once I managed it it looks great. Perfect for a party or a night out.

I picked this one up at the Clothes Show Live and hadn't realised it was a matt colour (or party of the velvet goth range at all actually) I just liked the sparkly colour in the bottle!

Beauty - Manicure Monday - Green Flash

Yep Monday will now (hopefully!) be dedicated to my nails! The one bit of beauty that I actually get and do on a regular basis.

This week I have been wearing this blingy green/gold colour from Models Own, it's called Green Flash! And I love it! Even my boss noticed it, and he's a bloke! It went on really smoothly, did need 2 coats though but that is normal these days. Staying power, even without a top coat was pretty good though! I picked this up whilst I was at the Clothes Show Live, the colour in the bottle really stood out!

Event - Japonesque Make-up Consult

So last week I got to have my first ever make-up consult, yes first ever! I may be 26, but makeup, as you know, has never been my strong point! So when I was invited to visit the new Japonesque counter in John Lewis to have an entire make over and consult with a makeup artist, I thought I might as well go for it. I had never heard of Japonesque so had no idea what to expect from their products, but I figured it could be a bit of fun.

So introducing the amazing makeup guy, Paul! I was lucky enough to have my consult together with Leanne from A Slice of my Life and Joanna from Just Joanna

 Me getting my makeup done by Paul, he said I have brilliant skin so didn't really need to use foundation, so only spotted it under my eyes and sides of my nose to even my skin tone out. He was really helpful and knowledgable to, so was giving me lots of info and helpful tips on my skin and makeup needs.

 This is the before and after, I was pretty pleased, they only thing he didn't do was my mascara as I already had my benefit one on. I loved the lip colour he used, originally it was a pinky one, but I asked if I could have a darker one instead, and he agreed I could take a bolder look!

So here are the girls getting their consults too!

 Jo's finished look, a bit bolder than mine as she is used to wearing makeup (unlike me)

 And Leanne's finished look with a bright red lip to match her dress!

 The counter looks amazing with all the pretty packaging! (photo borrowed from Leanne!)

 And we were all incredibly lucky to get a goodie bag at the end containing 2 full sized products. We each got the Velvet Touch Finishing Powder Palette which retails at £20. 

 What is cool about all their colour cosmetics range is the packaging is all unique. The place a gel on the surface and drop ink dye on it, then bake it. So every package has a slightly different pattern. They are really beautiful!

Then we each got a separate item - I was lucky enough to get this beautiful Pro Lip Lacquer which retails at £15. In a rich sparkly red colour you can see below! 

Have you heard of Japonesque before? Do you use it? Opinions please ladies!

Beauty Review / Mani of the Week - Crabtree and Evelyn Nail Varnish

A few weeks ago Crabtree and Evelyn launched their first line of Nail Varnishes and I was lucky enough to be sent a few to review. Retailing at £6 for 15ml they aren't too expensive, I was actually really surprised to see how big the bottles were when they arrived. I have noticed that nail polish bottles are getting smaller, yet the prices aren't changing! So £6 for a bottle that will last me ages isn't bad at all.
This 1st collection has 21 colours ranging through the entire colour spectrum! I was sent 3 different colours Blueberry; a very deep blue with a slight glitter shimmer to it, Avocado; a metallic looking rich green, and Wisteria; a pastel coloured light lilac.
Here is the first coat - I was surprised at how thin it was, but first coats can always be misleading. The blueberry is probably the worst effected, although it was thin, it was also just slightly sticky.

 And here is the second coat - much better, great all over coverage, nice and smooth, very little streaking. The blueberry became very dark so it almost looked black in some lights but it had this great shimmer to it when the light hit it right.

It was hard to get a photo of the shine all the varnishes actually have but you can kind of see what I mean in the photo below. The all have a slight glitter pigment to them.

  I think for £6 they are great value. Avocado is probably my favourite colour, I just love the metallic shine to it!
I think I may well purchase a few more! Plus they would make a great gift or stocking filler for ladies for Christmas (men take note!) These are the other colours I have my eye on:

Pomegranate

Copper

Eggplant

Mica
Has anyone else tried any of these new Crabtree varnishes? Any opinions?  Which colour do you like?

*I was sent these varnishes for review, but opinions are all truthful and my own.

Beauty Review / Mani of the Week - Revlon Moon Candy Nail Art in Meteor

I picked up the Revlon Moon Candy Nail Art Varnish after seeing one of the others in this new line on Georgina from Make-up Pixi3 at a recent event. The glittery top coat just looked so fun and shiny, without actually looking like a glitter. It is more like holographic flakes. Georgina had the navy blue - Galactic - version but I really loved this almost dirty earthy deep green - Meteor - version so I picked it up in Superdrug for £5.99 on offer, it is now back up to £7.99, sorry :-(

 Now I will say right off the bat I wasn't too impressed with how thick the base colour was, it was almost sticky in consistency. So I didn't find it applied that well, although coverage was good it didn't have a smooth finish, as you can see! 

 But the colour is really cool, a really deep earthy green just as I had hoped. It took a while to dry though, due to it's thickness. This is after 2 coats as I tried to even out the strokes and surface to make it smoother.

 Then you apply the flaky top coat and this is the final outcome! Again not that easy to apply as the flakes kinda clumped together to start with but after a bit of fiddling I eventually got them to spread nicely. And I was really please with the final look, the overall look changes depending on how the light hits the nails (hence the 2 ever so slightly different pictures above and below!) 

 On the durability front it actually lasted really well! I didn't put a top coat on, and didn't get a chip until about 3-4 days in, which is pretty good in my books. Warning though it is a bugger to get off! lol!

So there you have it, a little review and mani from last week. Have you tried any of these Moon Candy varnishes? What is your opinion?

Beauty Review - L'Occitane

I was lucky enough to be sent these two amazing items by L'Occitane last week so I could try them and review them for you guys on here. I was super happy to receive them as Cardiff has had a L'Occitane for ages, but I have never had the guts to fork out for any items as they are quite expensive and I really didn't know much about them. I am happy to pay a higher amount for an item as long as I know it is worth it (like my love of Crabtree & Evelyn Avocado Hand Cream!)

I (and my Mum) have spent the last few days trying these out and this is what I think

Almond Firming and Beautifying Milk Veil £28
Now this is an item that would usually be a little out of my budget, £28 for a body lotion is a lot for me, especially if I haven't tried the item before and don't know whether it is worth it, so I love that I got the chance to try this item. And I will tell you right now, I loved it! And once I have used every last tiny drop I can get out of the bottle I will be purchasing another!

The milk veil has a very thin consistence, so is quite runny when pumped out of the bottle unlike most other body creams I have used, but it absorbs well into the skin and it isn't too thin that it takes a lot, it actually spreads really well, so doesn't take much to do your whole body. It left my skin feeling very soft and smooth. The smell is totally yummy! All creamy and milky smelling (like you would expect!)

Now one of the main things about it, that you will either love or hate, is that it is extremely shimmery. It has tiny tiny grains of glitter to make your skin all shiny and reflective. I personally love the glittery look to it, but I know that this has been the main down point for some people who have reviewed it in the past.

I definitely think it is worth the cost as it left my skin so soft and I really liked the shimmery look it left me with, I just kept spotting bits of glitter on my hands and arms all through the day. I might not use it as my everyday lotion due to the price but I will use it regularly.

Almond Shower Oil £17.50

I love the smell of anything with almonds in, so when I received this I was so please about the rich almond scent it had. I was a little sceptical about the fact it was an oil rather than a gel, so wasn't convinced that it would lather like a regular shower wash. But I am happy to report it lathered just as well as any normal shower wash! And it only takes a really small amount to create enough lather to wash your whole body, so a little goes a long way! 

I can't say it had a huge effect on my skin, as in it didn't feel softer or anything, but I'm not sure many shower washes do, as long as they clean you and smell good nothing else really matters.

Overall I would say I really liked both the items I tried and I will be looking to buy and test a few more in the future.

Don't forget to enter my Bumper Beauty Giveaway

Note: although I was sent these items to try all thoughts and opinions are my own

Bumper Beauty Bundle Giveaway!

Good morning. At the start of my month off I promised you all 2 great giveaways, well one was held during my time off, so thank you for all those who entered, I hope Florrie and Taylor love their new books. 

I didn’t have time to get the second up whilst I was moving so here is giveaway number 2! I thought I would offer you all something a little different to my usual giveaways so here is a bumper beauty bundle giveaway I hope you will all love!

You will win all of these fun items!

Elf items - Eyebrow Kit, Contouring Blush and Bronzer Kit, Cream Eyeliner

Burts Bees Soap - Mango and Orange Energising Body Bar

Lush products - Popcorn Lip Scrub and Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter (I love both these products, they smell amazing!)
Over £28 of beauty goodies!

Open internationally, nice and simple to enter, just fill in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone!

Show Us Your Favourite...with C.S.I Beauty Blog

Hello! I'm L from Cosmetics, Shopping and Intoxication, (CSI) a blog I co-write with M. We write about everything from make up to cocktails, clothes to cakes so feel free to check us out and say hello! It took me a while to think up a favourite post, mainly because I have so many favourites that it was hard to condense them into something readable! Eventually I thought about the fact that I really do LOVE painting my nails, even filing and buffing them as I feel so much more 'done' when my nails are manicured and I find the process relaxes me after a long day or sets me up for a night out! So here is a post about my favourite nail products. My nails are one of my favourite things to do as it's so relaxing. I can do it whilst watching tv and choose to do something nude, glittery or more complicated by adding some nail art. I have a few favourites that help me out so I'm going to share them with you today! 

 1) I do love the Nails Inc files, they're durable and seem to last forever which is great as I've had mine for a good while from a manicure I had and its still going strong! My favourite block to buff and shine my nails is the one from Models Own. It starts its life looking so neon and bright which is what drew me to it initially which you can still see in the pictures but unfortunately fades a little with wear. My nails are easily buffed and feel super smooth after using this and sometimes after using the shine part I do leave my nails as they are without polish, it really is that good!  

 2) Revlon Post Trauma Nail Polish and Calcium Gel Nail Hardener. These products are my go-to polishes for base coats as the Post Trauma one actually sinks into your nails and heals some of the flaking problems. The Calcium Gel hardener helps to prevent nails from splitting and breaking off and the combination of these two products together stops the majority of nail breakages yet isn't too thick for a base coat.

   

 3) Essie nudes are very well known for being popular and it's no wonder when they have such a range! I love Sand Tropez, Fiji and Ballet Slippers. As for metallics my absolute favourite is Model's Own Champagne Gold, perfect for summer, winter, day and night, especially summer nights out on holiday! For neons there is no other colour for me apart from China Glaze, their neons actually glow on the nail and I absolutely love it! My favourites are Pool Party and Turned Up Turquoise! (shown below!)

   

 4) My favourite top coat is again by Essie. It dries really fast, leaves a smooth chip resistant coat and is really good value as it's not as expensive as the OPI or Seche Vite top coats.  

 5) Lastly I have jumped on the bandwagon of the Bourjois Magic Nail Polish remover pot. It took me a while as I just didn't believe it but eventually picked it up in a deal and couldn't believe how easy it was to remove nail polish! I'm forever carting a bag of stuff up and down the stairs when I want to do my nails whilst watching tv with my mum and this removes the need for me to bring cotton wool and risk getting remover over the leather sofa suite (eek!). Not only is it easy and pretty much risk free it doesn't smell too badly either which is a bonus! Hope you've enjoyed my 'Favourites' post. I could have gone on forever and included glitters, but I feel that's a whole other post as there's so many possibilities! Thanks to Chantele for having me and M guest post on here whilst she's busy setting up her company and moving, what a mammoth and brave task! If you liked what you've just read come and find me over on my blog, thanks for reading :)

 L xxx

@CSIBeautyBlog

Big thank you to L, I am totally off to find that nail varnish remover, sounds awesome!

Show Us Your Favourite...with One Little Vice

Just to let you know I have now moved home (hopefully successfully and without too much stress!) And am now more than likely delivery some of the 5000 leaflets we have had printed! So as I am still a bit busy say hello to Angelica of One Little Vice!!

Hello! I'm Angelica and I write a beauty blog called One Little Vice. Chantele has been kind enough to let me write a guest post for her this month and today I'm going to be sharing with you three of the best smelling products to use when you shower! Scent often drives me to purchase products I otherwise might ignore, and it definitely influences the products that I choose to repurchase. Each of the three products I'll be talking about today have been repurchased based not only on their scent (as mouth wateringly delicious as each one is) but also because they're lovely products all round. In descending order of preference (and, ironically, price) let us begin.

First on my list is L'Occitane's Almond Shower Oil. This is a product that has been much raved about and not without reason. It was my first foray into the shower oil world and quite honestly it has transformed my entire beauty regime. I suffer from dry skin, with the occasional bout of eczema, and as a result I have to moisturise very regularly which can feel particularly time consuming on my busier days. When I started using L'Occitane's Almond Shower Oil last November I found that it really helped keep my skin hydrated and I didn't need to moisturise as often. Couple this with the fact that it has the most delectable almond-y, verging on floral, scent which I can't get enough of, this shower oil has become Holy Grail status to me and I can't go a week without reaching for it. A 250ml bottle (as pictured) lasts me about four months which somewhat justifies the £17 price tag. All I can say is that you need to smell it before you knock it and if you have dry or sensitive skin then this is something that you should definitely give a try!

The second product to make it on my list is Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush Fresh & Foamy Body Wash. At £6.50 this is a much more affordable option but the scent and feel of the product is miles away from L'Occitane's Almond Shower Oil. Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush range smells like lime and sugar, intensely so. When I first stumbled across it (originally in the form of a body scrub) I couldn't believe how much I liked it as citrus scents are so not 'me'. But it is so moreish. I wanted to lather myself in this scent daily and when I discovered the Body Wash I had to have it so that I could realise this modest ambition. I'd definitely recommend trying it yourself as it is really wonderfully zesty and does a great job of waking one up in the morning or refreshing you before a return out into humid summer weather. Additionally, it doesn't dry out skin and that ticks another box on my checklist.

The last product that I want to share with you today is The Body Shop's Banana Conditioner. If you don't like banana then this may not be the product for you, but if you like honest to goodness fresh smelling bananas then this is something you'll want in your shower arsenal. I love it. I've used the shampoo in times gone by but I'm trying to avoid using SLS on my hair so now I only repurchase the conditioner. On top of having a really nice scent it is also a lovely product. It isn't too heavy so doesn't weigh hair down but offers a good level of conditioning that you can get away with using every time you wash your hair. My deepest conditioning treatments tend to take the form of hair oils that I use after my shower when my hair is still damp, so whilst in shower a medium level of conditioning (which this offers) is perfect. It leaves hair shiny and soft but, sadly, only with a waft of the banana scent, although this is probably for the best as on hot summer days that fruity scent might well become sickening if it lingered. Overall, a fantastic product that I thoroughly enjoy and would recommend, especially as it doesn't break the bank coming in at £4.50.

So there you have it, those are my three favourite smelling shower products. Each of them has much to recommend it as well as the scent but my goodness if you're led by your nose then you may just fall in love with these before you even use them!

Thank you to Angelica for that I also love Soap & Glory items as they smell amazing and are so good for your skin. I'll be back soon!!

Show Us Your Favourite...with C.S.I Beauty Blog

For all you beauty lovers out there I have a guest post today you are going to love! Say hello to M from C.S.I Beauty Blog and she is going to show us her favourite summer lipsticks. (Just a hint, I am swooning over her first pick as it is totally up my street and would be perfect with my 50's summer dresses)

Hi I'm M and I run a joint blog with one of my best friends called Cosmetics Shopping and Intoxication. We are primarily a beauty blog but write about a variety of things. As the weather seems to be brightening up a bit and hopefully summer will be here soon I thought I'd share my favourite lipsticks for summer! I'm a huge bright lip fan, I do occasionally wear a nude but I prefer brighter 

colours on my pale complexion. 

 

These are the lipsticks I grab most for during the summer months! Nothing like a bright colour!  

 First up is a lipstick from Bourjois. Is the Rouge Edition in shade 15 (Rouge Podium). This retails for £7.99. It's a really soft red lipstick. It can be built up for a stronger red lip but if you only use one coat it gives a really soft more natural hint of colour.
 

Next up is my current favourite bright pink. This is another Bourjois Rouge Edition in shade 07 (Fuchsia Graffiti). This is an amazing super pigmented blue toned pink so perfect for making the teeth appear whiter.

 

This is one of the nudes I have been reaching for lately. Mac Sheen Supreme is Fashion City. This retails for £14.50. This one is perfect for summer as it's a moisturising almost glossy finish lipstick. It's a great soft orange nude shade for anyone who is unsure of orange tones.

Mac Cremesheen in Fanfare is one of my favourite easy to wear lipsticks. This retails for £14. For me this is on of those your lips but better shades. It's a soft rose pink with slight yellow undertones to make it quite a warm shade. I tend to reach for this if I can't be bothered to think too much of what lipstick will go best with my eye make up. It's so easy to wear, it's also a great texture, very pigmented but glides on.

 

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in Shade 27 Rose Paris. This doesn't come across well on camera. It's a very bright coral shade with definite pink and orange tones to it. This looks amazing with a tan. I do find the colour is so strong I can't wear it through winter. Which when it costs £23.50 isn't ideal but the texture of this lipstick wins me over. It literally glides onto the lips and is completely opaque in one swipe. It's also not soft in the tube so can be a handbag lipstick. I also love the packaging!

The packaging has changed on these since I purchased mine. I personally prefer the bright blue packaging as it's easy to spot in my lipsticks but I do understand the change. This is the 17 mirror shine lipstick in Peace. In the tube it looks almost neon pink but when swatched and on the lips gives a gorgeous sheer wash of colour. I find this colour so wearable and gives a beautiful pink subtle wash to the lips. These retail for £4.79

 

Lastly is Kate Moss Matte Collection for Rimmel in the Shade 110. These retail for £5.49. The pigmentation and quality of this collection is amazing. The colour is so strong and while being a matte lipstick isn't overly drying on the lips. It has a texture to the lipstick which reminds me of the YSL Rouge Volupte. It's a coral red shade that really brightens up the look. So there are my favourite shades. 

What shades do you prefer in summer?

Love M xxx

@CSIBeautyBlog

So girls what is your opinion. Which lipstick are you loving right now? Are you a bit of gloss girls or more into the bright colours.