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 - 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!

A month has flown by already!

So my month off is over! Hasn’t it flown by? I have barely had time to stop and think, so it was lucky that I had some amazing guest bloggers to keep you all entertained while I was away. Did you enjoy them? I hope you did! If you missed any in my Show Us Your Favourite…guest series here they all are again. 

Favourite Holiday with Forty Percent Fringe : Sixty Percent Face 

Favourite Lip Balm with Makeup Pixi3

Favourite Band with Diary of the Evans-Crittens

Favourite Places to see in New York with A Pretty Place to Play

Favourite Places to Shop in Chiang Mai with Antares:Alpha Scorpii

Favourite Book with Little Nomad

Favourite Lipstick with C.S.I Beauty Blog

Favourite Mascara with Missy In The Mirror

Favourite Shower Products with One Little Vice

Favourite Nail Polish with C.S.I Beauty Blog

Favourite Websites with Miki's Scrapbook

And I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped me out, you can find them all on their own blogs here. 

Helen, Georgina, Claire, Bethan, Maryna, Nina, Shruti, Angelica, L&M, Miki

The move went well, so thank you for all the encouragement and well wishes. We have now handed in the keys to our little flat in Cardiff and are almost sorted and settled back at my parents home in Neath. It will take a little time for us to get used to all the changes and get our lives into a new rhythm but I’m sure it will all settle down soon, at the moment it is just a case of trying to promote and market the new business, whilst keeping up with my writing work and commuting to my TIC job in Cardiff 3 days a week, but I am getting there!

So as it is my first post back I thought I would give you all a little catch-up as to what I have been up to…other than moving.

We managed to squeeze in a much anticipated shoot, which if you follow Cross-Jones Photography on Facebook or me on FB, Twitter or Instagram you will already have had a sneak peek of, if not here is a little selection, but you will find the rest on our new website www.crossjonesphotography.comwww.crossjonesphotography.com (please check out the site and let me know what you think of it too!). The adorable Lili-Rose, just 6 days old.

I was very lucky to have been invited to The Ladyboys of Bangkok Gala Night, which was brilliant and so funny! It is amazing how beautiful they all are, makes a women jealous!

I also went to a little Lush blogger event, hosted by the Cardiff store. We got to try some fun non-alcoholic cocktails and get a skin consultation. It was lovely to catch up with some of the ladies, and I have to confess I bought myself a few things for the very first time! I always seem to get bath bombs as gifts and only ever go in to buy gifts for others, so it was nice to finally treat myself to a few things.

 Stefanie of Cowbiscuits trying out the make-up range as hair tint

 All the fun fresh face masks

 Georgina of Makeup Pixi3 trying out the chocolate based face mask

Laura from What Laura Did getting an arm massage

I have been to the theatre not once, but twice! Lucky me, eh? First I went to see Noises Off with my sister and work colleagues, which was great fun. Then I went and saw the awesome Hairspray with my Mum, Sis and Mum’s friend Liz. It stared Mark Benson, Lucy Benjamin and Marcus Collins. I loved it!

The girlies before the show! Biz, me and Briony

Me and Briony ready for the show!!

 Briony and Liz ready for food before Hairspray

 Me and my mum before Hairspray! (yes I know we look very alike!)

And lastly, I was invited to a great little local business womens beauty event called Business, Beauty and Bubbles, held at the Maldron Cardiff. It was a networking kind of event for business women and local fashion/beauty businesses. I meet a few friendly blogging faces whilst I was there, and a few businesses ladies I knew too, it was a nice afternoon of chatting, drinking, eating and a bit of pampering (Thank you Zoe for my lovely nails!)

 Lovely Anne of Stella and Dot

Gemma from Fat Frocks, Mia from By Mimi and her friend (who I cannot remember the name of!!)

So that is a catch up of what I managed to get done, whilst moving, for the last week. Have you ladies done anything fun or exciting? Is there any major news I have missed out on?

Oh and I got a new iPhone with a much better camera! So expect to see some my Sunday Catch-up posts making a return!

Event - The CDF Meet Goody Bag and attendees!

I promise this is my last post about the South Wales Blogger Meet, just thought you all might like to see  what we had in our goody bags. It took a lot of asking nicely on our behalf, but between me and my fellow co-hosts we managed to get some really great items for the goody bags and I know all the girls were really excited and happy with what they received.

So here was what I had in my bag!

 The April Birchbox - I had never heard of these before (being a bit of a beauty novice!) but I am contemplating them now as I really like the idea of having fun beauty stuff delivered to me. 

 I was really excited by this Mirenesse lip and cheek pencil, it is something I would actually buy. Expect a review soon.

 Ollie & Nic gifted us these super cute clutch purses.

 Awesome Benefit They're Real Mascara, looking forward to trying this!

 Little Moose was kind enough to send me a huge box of their Doodllery earrings. I got this cute cloud pair!

 We got perfume samples and a lip gloss from Thomas Sabo

 Twisted Sista Hair Spray

 Escentual sent nail files and their Bioderm toner

 Elemis Shower Cream and Macadamia Hair Mask - looking forward to an evening of pampering with this

 Vero Moda Phones Case and Giles Eye Lashes from New Look

She Said Beauty sent these great little beauty goody bags

As you can see the bags were pretty impressive and I can't wait to make a start at sampling the fun items.

Thank you to these other companies too - St David's, Lush, Crabtree & Evelyn, White Stuff, Crafty Creatives, Annabelle's Wigs, Leia, Bright Colours, Vivienne Westwood and Stella & Dot.

And thank you to all the lovely ladies who came! 

Lea Lea, Liz, Rosie, Charli, Gemma, Mia & Laura, Leanne, Stacey, Kelsie, Amy-Louise, Jenny, Christina, Amy, Nia, Sam, Laura, Nina, Stefanie, Jess, Nokhuthula, Betti, Karen, Kamen