Wednesday, 30 April 2014

April Favourites

Again another month has gone by in a flash! If it continues at this rate it'll be Christmas before we know it!

Here's my run down on the things I've been loving this month -

Lush King of Skin (Lush £5.50)
I first saw this little gem on one of Tanya Burr's vlogs. She pops into the store quite often and she always mentioned that this is one of her faves. With this mind I thought I'd try it out. I bought one while on my trip to Chester and I'm sooooo glad I did. After showering but while your still in there, rub this all over your body and then rinse. It will leave your skin feeling amazingly moisturised and smooth, hence the name - King of Skin!

Mac cream base in Pearl (Mac or Debenhams £15.00)
Another item I purchased while away in Chester. I thought I would splurge and try out a few items from the Mac counter in Debenhams. This was one of the things I decided to try. It's a lovely creamy shimmery (but not in a glittery way) base which you can use under foundation for a bit of "inner glow" or for some extra sparkle as a highlighter on your cheekbones. I love this product as it's not too over the top and it gives you a subtle healthy glow.

Mac blush in Peaches (Mac or Debenhams £18.00)
Another splurge item, I really wanted to find a nice peachy blush for summer which would be good for travelling and could double up as an eye-shadow. This one fits the bill perfectly. It's more of a "grown up" shade of peachy coral so it's not too in your face so your less likely to apply too much and look like a clown. Also looks fab as an eye-shadow, I use NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk as a base before patting on some of the blush on top - this makes the colour really stand out.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation (Boots £9.99)
I have been searching for a foundation which offers good coverage but without the pink-ness that most foundations have. I am more on the warm side colour wise and therefore most foundations look pink on me. So when I had seen various YouTubers talk about this foundation and thought I'd give it a try. It's got a good coverage which is buildable and definitely suits my colouring better than any other foundation that I've tried. This foundation comes in Warm, Cool and Neutral shades so you can match your foundation to your colouring - genius! It's also got an amazing shade range, offering 21 different shades on the Boots website. My perfect foundation would be the colouring of this mixed with the consistency and coverage of the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation and therefore I sometimes mix the two together.

Trèsemme Heat Defence Styling Spray 300ml (Boots £5.25)
I straighten my hair everyday without fail, if I didn't I would either look like a lion or that I've been dragged through a hedge backwards. On bad hair days I could look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards even I have straightened it! This spray is fab at protecting my hair against heat damage, especially when I'm going through blonder phases and need to look after my hair. It also smells amazing and comes in a handy travel size (60ml £1.50 from Superdrug).

Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush (Amazon £18.75)
Been eyeing up with brush for quite a while as it's mega popular amongst the beauty YouTuber community and now I know why. It's bloody amazing! And sooooooo soft and fluffy! When it first arrived I literally could not stop touching it and stroking it again my face. It's awesome at applying all different types of foundations and it gives you great coverage and really buffs the foundation into your skin so you don't look caked in the stuff. Definitely worth the price.

Elf Eyebrow Kit (Indulgence Skin & Body, Ramsey £5.50)
I'm now on my second one of these little kits seeing as I changed my hair colour. I have used the dark shade and now I'm using the ash shade. The colours are great and comes with a gel, a powder and a little brush. Also helpful that it contains a little mirror. And what's not to love about the price?! I mainly use the gel as I find that the powder can be quite chalky and it can go everywhere which you don't want.

Stila Smudge Stick in Turquoise (lookfantastic £13.00)
Another purchase made of the back of YouTube, it has a lot to answer for! I saw ThatGirlShaeXo use this in one of her Spring tutorials and I fell in love with the colour. I love minty turquoise colours in general anyway, there perfect for Spring but on the eyes it looks even better! I wear this on the waterline with a white/cream lid and brown crease. Love it!

Song of the Month : Kiesza - Hideaway
This song is so funky (sound really old I know) and it makes me wanna dance. I also want to learn the dance in the video. Check the video out here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESXgJ9-H-2U

Film of the Month : Frozen
I'm sure that this film does not need any introduction. Do you wanna build a snowman?

There you have it my favourites this month. Let me know whether you agree with any and whether anything takes your fancy.

Muchos love,

Leanne x

Sunday, 27 April 2014

Top 3 Drugstore Self Tans

Gone are the days of the streaky tan. Gone are the days when you have to go to a salon to get a tip top tan. Gone are the days that you have to pay an absolute fortune on high end tanning brands for now the drugstore has some hidden gems!

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs (Boots £9.99)

Don't be put off by the name, you can use this on every part of your body not just your legs. It's as it says on the tin, airbrush. It has amazing coverage and comes in a variety of shades. Comes off easily in the shower and doesn't streak but can have a tendency to run sometimes if too much is applied at once. Does have a smell so if you don't like the usual self tan smells stay clear but it's worth a try just for the coverage it gives, it's like make-up for your body. I've had many compliments on my natural looking tan while wearing this little gem.

Soap and Glory Glowgetter (Boots £10.50)

This is another spray airbrush style tan but is ever so slightly more expensive. Again this gives a really good natural looking tan but the down side is that it only comes in one shade. So if your super pale or dark I would stay clear from this one. The smell is similar to other S&G products so you'll smell lovely and fresh! It has a liquid to powder texture and doesn't run. Again comes off easily in the shower and doesn't streak. Soap and Glory have hit it on the head again with the packaging!

Rimmel Sunshimmer Instant Tan in Matte (Boots £6.99)

This is the cheapest of my Top 3 and one of the newest products out. New for 2014 this product comes in Light, Medium and Dark but also has a choice of matte shades or shimmer shades - genius! I picked mine up in Light Matte seeing as I wanted it to look natural and sun kissed rather than tango and glittery!

This does have a smell but it's not typical of your usual self tans - it's quite floral I guess. But beware this stains your hands!

So if your going to purchase some of this stuff ensure to invest in a bronzing mitt also! I got mine from Boots for £3.99 which again doesn't break the bank.

Soltan Self Tan Applicator Mit (Boots £3.99)

So there we have it my Top 3 Drugstore Self Tans! Obviously these are the ones I've tried and loved. I'm sure there are others out there which are just as great. Let me know either in the comments, my Facebook page or my twitter of your favourite self tanner!

Muchos love,

Leanne x

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Fave NYX Products

I first discovered NYX when I was watching ThatGirlShaeXo's beauty channel on YouTube.

I was intrigued as I hadn't heard of the brand before and they were really cheap and cheerful so I decided to check them out.

Originally you could only buy NYX products online in the UK at www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk but they've recently branched out into bigger Next stores throughout the UK.

Here's my list of my favourite tried and tested NYX products -

1. Love in Paris Palette £10.00

One of my purchases from the Next store in Chester. I was searching for a palette which could be used on a daily basis with some natural tones and this fit the bill.

The palette consists of nine shadows which are mostly shimmery and satin finishes.

2. Blush in Taupe £6.00

I had seen this on a few beauty guru channels across the YouTube community. However the girls were not using it as a blush but a bronzer. It's the perfect broIng colour for paler girls as it's got no shimmer and no red undertones so you don't end up looking like a oompa-lumper!

3. Black liquid liner £6.50

This was my first NYX purchase as ThatGirlShaeXo swore by it so I just had to have it! The application of this eye-liner is really easy to do and it's a good black consistency and the liner remains black unlike some other eye-liners which turn more grey and shiny.

4. Eyeshadow in Lime £5.00

This eye-shadow is perfect over the lime jumbo pencil I mentioned earlier. It's a really bright and vibrant like shade which I use either all of the lid or sometimes just as a pop of colour under the waterline.

5. Jumbo pencil in Milk £4.95

One of my all time favourite products, I use this everyday either as a base for a bright coloured eye-shadow and/or on my water line and inner corner to brighten up for eyes. The pencil also comes in a variety of other colours if white isn't your thang. I also have this in black and a lime green both great for eye-shadow bases.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my top NYX products. I obviously haven't tried everything that the brand have to offer so there's lots more to discover.

Until next time, muchos love

Leanne x

Review: Miss Elegant Touch Candy Dip

Miss Elegant Touch Candy Dip "Sweet treats for your nails" - Superdrug £4.95

When I was in my local Superdrug store I walked by a new stand advertising Miss Elegant Touch Candy Dip. I was intrigued and without a second thought I bought the purple kit in the colour Blueberry Crumble.

The kit contains a sheet of 18 double sided stickers,which you apply to your nails and file off the excess for a perfect fit to your nails. The kit also contains three glitter pots of different shades and sized glitters and an instruction leaflet.

On first impressions it does look like something made for teenagers but there's a young kid in all of us isn't there and who does not love glitter?!

The pots of glitter are of a good size and you'll get a lot of use out of them.

The line comes in four different sets - Blueberry Crumble (purple shades), Bumblegum (pink shades), Peppermint (blue shades) and Lemon Sherbert (neon yellow, orange and pink shades).

The instructions say to apply the stickers to your nails and file off the excess for the perfect fit. When I opened the pack I immediately saw that the adhesive nail stickers were going to be far to big for my small nails. And I wasn't wrong. They were also more than a bit tricky to apply and I couldn't get the sticker to stick down flat on the nail.

Next you have to dip your nails into the glitter pot you wish to use and shake off the the excess glitter. This step is obviously more than a little messy!

For longer lasting nails they suggest to apply a top coat (which is not included in the kit) - I didn't do this step as I didn't want my polish being covered in glitter!

So here's the end result -

In summary probably best left to a bit of fun for teenagers who love messing about with glitter.

Muchos love,

Leanne x

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Review: MUA Undressed Palettes

MUA palettes are incredibly affordable at a mear £4-6 from Superdrug or at www.muastore.co.uk.

The Undressed palettes are £4 each and are brilliant dupes for the Urban Decay Naked 1 & 2 palettes at a fraction of the price. The Urban Decay palettes will set you back £35 so you'd be saving a lot of those pennies for a rainy day if you went with the MUA version.

The palettes contain mostly shimmery - metallic shades however there are a few matte shades in each palette which are great for defining the crease.

So here's a few swatchy swatchy's of the two palettes compares to the shades in the Urban Decay Naked 1 & 2 palettes...

MUA Undressed Palette -

Urban Decay Naked Palettes -

MUA Undress Me Too Palette -

As you can see the shades are incredibly similar to those seen in the Urban Decay palette.

The pigmentation is amazing for a £4 palette although some of the shades can be quite chalky at times so be careful and ensure you pack the colour onto your kids rather than sweep!

No matter how many palettes and single eye-shadows I buy I always go back to these. They are just so handy to have in your make-up bag and are perfect for bringing on holiday with you.

MUA do have many other palettes which contain brighter shades if that's what floats your boat however I think these are slightly more expensive at £6 - still a remarkable price for what you get!

Overall I love these palettes, the pigmentation is great, you can create sooo many looks with the palette and at £4 you can't really do any better can you?!

I'm just waiting for MUA to come out with a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette now!

I hope you have enjoyed this review - please let me know whether you agree and whether your going to pick this up at your local store - trust me you won't be disappointed.

Muchos love

Leanne x

Quick Pick Summer Anthems

You know when it's summer when the charts are filled with dance anthems that just scream beach, sun and fun!

Here's my quick picks of the best summer anthems around at the moment -

Sigma - Nobody to Love

Kiesza - Hideaway

Duke Dumont feat Jax Jones - I Got You

Mr. Probs - Waves

Apologises for the short blog today I've been a tad busy with life. Promise it'll be business as normal on Sunday!

Muchos love,

Leanne

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Ultimate Drugstore Faves

Everyone has their favourite beauty products and you've seen some of mine during my monthly favourite posts however these can change month to month depending on what's new and the wonderful things I've bought during that month.

So with this in mind I thought I would compile a list together of those drugstore products that I keep repurchasing over and over again and that I can't live without!

Let's take a looksie...

1. Rimmel Stay Matte foundation (Boots £6.99)

The best foundation I've tried in a long time and therefore I have bought numerous tubes of the moussey stuff. Only downside is that it can look quite pinky on the skin which is not so good for warm shaded ladies.

2. Collection Lasting Perfection concealer (Boots £4.19)

Cannot tell you how many of these I've bought in the last few years - countless! They are a Beauty Blogger favorite for a reason - cheap, cheerful and good coverage!

3. NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk (www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk or selected Next stores £5.00)

Love love love this pencil! It's really creamy so acts as a fab base for your eye-shadows. I use this either as a base to make colourful colours appear more vibrant or on my waterline either alone or beneath my beloved Bourjois Metallise eye-liner. Comes in various other shades but Milk is my ultimate fave!

4. Avon Supershock Gel Eye-liner in Black (Avon £6.00)

Awesome eye-liner which stays put. Great for tide lining (your top lash line).

5. Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo & Conditioner (Boots Shampoo - £4.69 & Conditioner £5.99)

My favourite shampoo and conditioner of all times. Smells amazing and makes my locks feel nice and nourished. Is great on holiday! Before pool side fun, whack a load of the conditioner on your hair from roots to tip and tie in a bun or ponytail. It'll protect your hair from the heat and chlorine and once washed out your hair will feel amazing!

6. Garner Match Moisturiser (Boots £5.99)

Going to be honest, I first tried one of these moisturizers when they were on sale - it was the price that drew me in more than anything. However, I have found myself loving these little tubes of colourful moisturisationess (is that even a word?!). I have made my way through every colour and all of them are fab. They are specially formulated for different skin types but as I've said before my skins pretty much normal these days so I'm trying them all out. I'm currently using the mattifying one (Green).

7. Wilkinson Sword Intuition Naturals Sensitive Care Razor (Boots £6.49)

I am a lazy girl when it comes to hair removal - there's just too much faffing! So when I first found this gem I was amazed and I've bought that ever since! I do think they are a little on the pricey side (refills are even more expensive - cheaper to buy a full new one, work that one out!) but they are frequently on offer and I once received one in a Glossy Box. Basically the cream is set around the razor so there's no faffing with multiple razors and shaving foam! Hurrah!

8. MUA Undressed Palette (Superdrug £4)

This is definitely one of my favourite eye-shadow palettes of all time. It's a bloody bargain at £4 especially when your getting 12 shades which are all super duper pigmented! I will be doing a more indepth review of this palette and it's sister 'Undress Me Too' shortly so keep your eyes peeled for that!

9. Maybelline The Rocket Volum Mascara (Boots £7.99)

Fab mascara which separates your lashes as well as creating volume. Also holds a curl pretty well if you've used eye-lash curlers. I've purchased this in both the normal version and the waterproof and let me tell you girls - the waterproof one is actually waterproof! I went on many water rides in Florida with this on and it don't move once! Just fab!

So there you go my ultimate drugstore Favourites! Let me know whether you agree with any of them and what your ultimate bits and bobs are in the comments below.

Until next time...

Muchos love

Leanne x

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Beauty Wish List

It is a very tempting world out there in the beauty atmosphere, there are so many great products and brands coming out with new collections all the time, what is a girl to do?

Instead of spending an absolute fortune on all the products I would like to try I thought I'd put them in the Beauty Wish List so you can see what I've had my eye on and how much of a good girl I've been not buying them...

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette (Debenhams £45.00)