Review: Ambient Lighting Blush Palette



I'm a sucker for beautifully packaged makeup goodness. There, I said it. So you can imagine when I saw this lovely piece of kit making its rounds on blogs my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. By now you'll have seen some of the Hourglass goodies around - the single ambient lighting blushers and highlighters are a favourite amongst beauty bloggers. And why shouldn't they be? Have I mentioned how beautiful they are?

Besides the packaging, the colours are incredibly wearable (for all skin tones), are great for all year round wear and are very flattering. There are lighter colours for spring/summer, darker tones for autumn/winter. The shades are (from L to R) Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra and Mood Exposure. You can build these colours up for a more intense colour or be a bit less generous for a more subtle, natural look.

This is already becoming one of my most beloved pieces of make up. Unfortunately this palette is no longer up for sale from Space NK but you can still buy single shades from their website. They will set you back £38 but its worth it for a product that you know it won't just sit gathering dust at the back of the drawer.

Have you tried this palette? What did you think?

Review: Herbal Essences Dry Shampoo


I've never been a massive user of dry shampoos. On the odd occasion I've used it for a bit of volume on a night out but that's been about it. Any time I felt like my hair needed a little something between washes, I just pop a bit of baby powder on (the cheaper alternative!) and I'm good to go. But I was intrigued when I saw these on the shelf (packaging, again! I'm a sucker, right?).

This isn't a terrible product but I don't think it's one that I'd buy again in a hurry. It smells lovely, don't get me wrong. And it does give my hair a bit of volume but it doesn't serve it's primary function i.e soaking up the excess oils and, you know, being a dry shampoo. 

If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it for £2.99 from Superdrug.

Have you tried this product? Did you love it or hate it? 

Review: Vitamin E Sugar & Oil Body Scrub



As you may know by now, I was recently chosen to be a Superdrug Insider. This means that I am given the opportunity to review Superdrug products for you as honestly as I can.

This month the SD Insiders were sent a group of cleansing product goodies to review, and what a good looking mass of goodies they were. I'm a fan of Superdrug products because it's not often you get a good price partnered with an equally good product but that's exactly what they offer.

& the Vitamin E range is so good, you're going to want to keep reading.

My favourite from the bunch is the Vitamin E Sugar and Oil Body Scrub. It claims to have "Sugar, Sea Salt and Walnut Shell granules" that exfoliate your skin, mixed with "nourishing Sweet Almond and Grapeseed Oils" that will keep your skin feeling soft and smooth.

Let me tell you, I love this product. I knew from the first use it was a winner. I don't know about you but at this time of year, when the weather is super cold, my skin gets really dry really quickly. And I'm certainly not a fan of sitting around my room in a morning waiting for my moisturiser to soak in before I can put my jeans on without the greasy/sticky feeling. This product is great because not only does it exfoliate, it nourishes your skin too so moisturiser is no longer an absolute necessity.

If you do feel you still want a bit of extra moisture after using this product, try the Vitamin E Dry Oil. It'll make that super smooth and silky feeling last for days! Watch this space for a review on that coming soon.

Don't worry if you're not a fan of harsh scrubs either because the granules in this product are really fine so you can barely feel them at all when you're using it. Another win? I'm chalking that one up.

Have you tried this product yet? What did you think!?

Review: Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer



 I bought this on a whim a while ago when Rimmel was on two for £10  at Superdrug. I was on the hunt for a concealer that would cover the dark circles under my eyes on those mornings after I'd had a late night essay writing (read: stayed up late reading articles on BuzzFeed). 

love this concealer. It is by far one of the best I've ever used. It's lovely and thick without being too cakey so you can build up the coverage (depending on how many BuzzFeed articles were read..) I'm a long time lover of the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer but I think this one has it a beat by a fraction. 

The applicator is really easy to use. It demands a bit of a squeeze but the brush on the end makes it super easy to just dab it on under your eyes for blending with a brush, sponge or your ring finger (which has the softest touch so is best used under the eyes where the skin is thin).  The formula is good enough so that you can apply it over the top of your foundation through the day if you need a touch-up too. 

I wear mine in ivory but it comes in three shades: ivory, soft beige and classic beige. Based on the lack of variety in the shades you might struggle to find one that matches your skin tone which is the only issue I really have with this product. But give it a test next time you're shopping and see what you think!

You can buy this product at Superdrug for £5.99 and Rimmel is currently on buy one get your second half price!

Review: Sleek Flamingo Blush





Today I'm going to jump straight in and talk to you about some lovely little Sleek blushes. These are the first Sleek products I've ever tried. For a while Bourjois were my go-to for blushes but these little beauties may have changed my mind. 

Let's start with the packaging - I'm a massive fan of simple black packaging. I think it's classy and not too fussy and just sits well with my rest of my makeup collection. It's a small dainty little package that it perfect for travelling (if you can't decide on only one blush to take anywhere with you, like me). Another great thing about these blushes is that they come with a very decent sized mirror (unlike Bourjois blush pots, honestly I love you but nobody can see anything in those mirrors!) so you can easily touch up on the go! 

For £4.49 you can't really go wrong - great pigmentation, lovely colour selection, nice packaging. Who can say no? 

Have you tried any of the blushes from Sleek? Do you have any recommendations for my next Sleek purchase?

Lifestyle: Instagram Prints




Who doesn't love instagram, eh? A while ago I received a gift voucher from a lovely friend via Firebox for some Instagram prints because she couldn't be here to celebrate my birthday with me. If you haven't heard of Firebox, they're a company/website that sell quirky/personalised gifts and bits and bobs. A bit like Not On The Highstreet but quirkier. They sell some really cool stuff (bacon popcorn, um yes please!) including instagram prints! 

So Instagram prints I bought! I ordered 24 prints from my vast array of Instagram photos (it was hard choosing, let me tell you) for £14.99. You can buy 12 prints for £9.99 and you can also buy canvas and poster prints for £19.99. They took a week to arrive, true to their word, and I was so excited when the post man put them through my door! 

They're printed as little polaroids, and again, who doesn't love a good old-fashioned polaroid? You also get a free sharpie so you can add your own captions to the photos if you so wish - a great idea, I think, if you're wanting to give these to friends as gifts for birthdays/christmas/just for fun. Even the packaging is personalised with your photos and your instagram name, which I loved, it just gives it that extra bit of something special.

You can buy Instagram prints elsewhere for a bit cheaper but Firebox are so much fun to buy from, I genuinely looked forward to receiving emails from them because their quirky sense of humour made me chuckle every time. Anyone that refers to my postman as a 'Postie' with 'Jedi skills' is a winner in my book. They were a pleasure to buy from.

Firebox are definitely worth checking out! Whether you want some Instagram prints yourself or want to check out some of their other goods (they do sell lots of Breaking Bad goodies for all those out there, like me, who are in mourning of the program!)

Review: Clinique High-Length Mascara




I had to blog about this because I am so impressed with it. A while ago I had a massive splurge on the Clinique website (as a bit of retail therapy!) and bought a couple of Chubby Sticks and, as a result, received this little  gem of a mascara sample with my order. In the past I've always been a bit wary of Clinique products because of a liquid foundation sample I'd tried which left my skin feeling greasy and also left a horrible stain on my white school shirt. I do however love their lipsticks and moisturisers and am on my way to becoming a Clinique convert.

So, this mascara... It is Clinique High Lengths Mascara and I have mine in black but they also offer it in black/brown. It has a curved 'willow' wand which is perfect for coating all of your eyelashes in one go because it's made in the shape of the natural curve of your eye. It's a plastic brush, which I prefer as I don't like the thickness of the bristle brushes. I use only one coat but if you prefer voluminous lashes then you'd probably want to use more than one coat. I've found one coat to be sufficient to coat all my lashes from root to tip and it makes them look super long - what girl doesn't want that? It's quick and unbelievably easy to use!

My only issue with it is that it's not waterproof and as of right now they don't offer a waterproof alternative, so in any heat/humidity it won't hold up as well.

The retail price is £16 so a bit pricey but it's definitely worth the money! You can get it on the Clinque website or in Boots or bigger stores such as Debenhams.

Review: Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara

I saw this mascara at work a few weeks ago and because it was on offer (and I have absolutely no will power) I thought I'd give it a go. With argan oil being all the rage at the moment I was interested to see how it would work in a mascara formula. 




It is quite a creamy formula, the difference between this and an average mascara is noticeable straight away. So when I was chatting to a few girls at work about it, they were saying they didn't get on so well with it for that reason. I like that though, I do feel like it is conditioning my lashes as Rimmel claim. And as the formula is so creamy, the mascara doesn't dry and flake off my lashes through the day! Well done you, Rimmel. 

The brush is lovely too. I'm drawn to plastic brushes anyway, the bristle brushes hold far too much product for me. And I feel like I have more control over a plastic brush. Rimmel call it an "ultra-flex brush" but I haven't noticed anything particularly special about it in comparison to other similar mascara wands and I'm not too sure how a flexi brush would help anyway... surely that'd just make controlling where the mascara goes more difficult? Anyway, whatever you want to call the brush, it's lovely for coating all of your lushes with no clumps! 

On another, and not entirely unrelated, note I really like the packaging. It makes a change from the usual black tubes that are floating around in my handbag! So all in all, I'm a fan of this product. 

Have you tried it? What did you think?

Review: Superdrug Vitamin E Super Balm

First of all, let me apologise for the quality of these photos. My SLR went for a walk and yesterday (when I had enough time and daylight to take some good photos for my blog - typical!) and I couldn't find it! The inconvenient little so and so.

Anyway...




Today I bring you this little pot of goodness. If, like me, you're prone to dry skin then this is a handy little guy to have floating around in your bag, especially during the colder winter months. The Super Balm contains plenty of the nourishing stuff that our skin needs at this time of year - waxes, shea butter, and of course vitamin e. 

On first feel the product does appear quite difficult to handle, a bit grainy and hard. But that soon melts away once you've popped it on your skin. You can use it quite literally anywhere - hands, nails, elbows, face, legs, knees. It is super handy to have in your bag, it's the definition of a multi-purpose product.

My favourite way to use it is to warm it up a little bit and rub it into my nails and cuticles, particularly before I paint my nails or after I've taken some nail polish off. It just helps keep my nails lovely and nourished and cared for. It's also handy to have in my pocket at work so when I've finished ripping boxes open I can give my nails a little tlc.

For some great tips on how to make the most of this product, check out this post from Lady From A Tramp who offers some great alternative uses!

You can grab this Super Balm for £3.99 from Superdrug.

Have you tried this product? What did you think