Monday, 2 September 2013

Vaseline Spray and Go in coco radiance

Hello beauts,

 

Ok so first thing first it’s been nearly a month since my last blog post, until then I had got into a really good system of posting once or twice a week  so I am sorry posts have not been as regular. The main reason for the lack of blogging is pure and simply because I have been so busy, my summer has been full of family visiting from abroad,family gatherings, (I had my sister over dor 6 weeks),weddings, one of which was one of my best friends and I was her bridesmaid, hen dos, motor bike racing (not me on the bike, my other half is a motor bike racer) study preperstion, birthdays,general socialising and working full time phewww, so generally life has taken over….and I am not going to lie I am exhausted after a summer where my dairy has been full to brim. I am not complaining at all because I have had a great summer with some amazing and special memories, but I am ready for a weekend where I do nothing other than sit in my onsie, watch Disney, blog and eat some chocolate.

Ok so long winded ramble over, today I thought I would share with you my thoughts on a recent purchase I made, the Vaseline Spray and Go body moisturiser in Coco radiant (£4.99 from Boots). Now I have heard lots of good things about this product but I hadn’t actually planned to purchase this moisturiser, but there I was waiting in line at boots waiting to pay for a rather large make up purchase and there it was on the shelf before you reach the check out, and well it just seemed to magically have jumped into my basket. Waiting in line is a dangerous position to be in, when your allowing yourself a little splurge.

The main reason this product caught my eye was the ‘Spray and go’ slogan, I won’t lie when it comes to moisturiser I am very impatient I am not one to sit around and wait for moisturiser to dry. I normally end getting irritated, putting my clothes on before the lotion has totally dried and end up with damp sticky clothes, never a good look! so this on the go product sounded like the perfect solution.

I have used this spray for the last two weeks and I am very impressed with this high street steal. This spray and go moisturiser is so easy to use, you spray, and rub in and about 2 minutes later you are ready to go. It applies very easily, not leaving any left over product residue, which I find some lotions and moisturisers do, and you don’t need much of the product at all to cover yourself. It leaves my skin feeling very soft and smooth, with a hint of a glow on the skin.  I adore the coco butter scent; it’s not overpowering but adds just a beautiful subtle chocolate aroma on the skin, leaving you smelling good enough to eat. The coco scent lasts really well, and as a self confessioned chocoholic this has quickly become on of my favourite smelling moisturisers in my beauty stash.  

So all in all I am very impressed with this lotion it’s affordable, easy to use, and smells incredible. So definitely one I would recommend for any fellow coco fans. Have you tried this product? What do you think of it? I love reading your comments so please comment below, however at the moment blogger won’t let me reply to any comments so I am not being ignorant just not sure what the problem is, if you can shed any light please let me know.

 

Thanks for reading lovelies, and hope you have a great week.

 






Thursday, 8 August 2013

Wake me up, stay matte....worth the hype?

 

Hello ladies (and gentlemen) I hope your all having a lovely week and looking forward to the weekend, I feel like I haven’t really stopped the last month, my dairy has been packed full to the brim and I have struggled to sit down properly and have a minute….and now I do have a minute I am bored so decided to blog instead.


Today’s post is all about Rimmel’s Wake me up foundation and the Stay Matte powder also by Rimmel. Now I have spoken about these two products a number of times on my blog, but over the spring and summer months I have found myself reaching for these two products daily so I felt they deserved their own post to gush about my love for them.  


Now I know there is blog posts everywhere about these products so I am a little late jumping on the bandwagon but both these products have been in my makeup bag ever since I purchased them , so just proves in my opinion the hype is deserved, so here goes….


The Wake me up foundation is without a doubt my all-time favourite drug store foundation, yes this is a bold statement but I really have never used a drugstore foundation as much as I love this one. The foundation has the small price tag of £8.99, I normally stock up on these when they have a Rimmel 3 for 2 sale so I save myself some money…well saving money in the grand scheme make up purchasing that it.


The Wake me up foundation is a medium coverage foundation but gives the skin a dewy and radiant glow, so literally does ‘Wake up’ my skin, cheesy I know but it does. I find its perfect for a natural, glowing look but can then be built up for a full evening coverage that still has an illuminating finish . I use a combination of my real techniques stippling and buffing brush to apply this foundation, I find the buffing brush just blends everything together nicely. I would imagine this foundation could be a good one if you like to use your hands/ fingers to apply foundation as it’s not too thich, but I am just not a fan of the hand and foundation combination and much prefer using a brush…it’s a germ thing I have slight OCD about it, (I am constantly washing brushes due to my germ phobia, but that’s a whole separate post). The foundation also has added SPG 15 so great to wear when the sun is shining.


My skin type is combination so I get the lovely mixture of oily and dry areas on my skin, the oily areas particularly surface around the T zone and often find half way through the day/ night my T zone is start to oil up. That is where the Stay Matte powder comes in; this again is my favourite drugstore powder I have used. It only costs £3.99 so it’s a complete bargain. I buy this powder in the shade translucent so it doesn’t have any colour, but I like that as I don’t like the over powdered look, there are coloured shades available in this powder though if you like a bit more coverage. This powder is very light weight but still keeps my skin incredibly matte for the day ahead and keeps all the nasty oils at bay. No matter what foundation I am using whether it is high end of drugstore I always finish my skin with this powder and it really finishes my face. So are these products worth the hype?......well if you haven't guessed, Yes! 


So have you tried either the wake me foundation or stay matte powder? I would love to hear your thoughts.  If you haven’t tried them, I urge you to go to your nearest boots (other stores are available: P) and purchase this foundation and powder, go and give it a try, or if you have a questions please comment away.

 

Thanks for reading lovlies.

 




Monday, 5 August 2013

Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea

Good evening lovely readers, tonight I am taking a side step from my usual beauty and fashion rumblings and going to blog about the mad hatters afternoon tea at Sanderson hotel in London........ 

Me and my sister had planned a weekend to London to do some sightseeing and theatre trips, so I thought it was also a great excuse to go for a really special afternoon tea.  Those who know me well will know I am obsessed with Disney and Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite fairy tales, I even hosted my very own mad hatter’s afternoon tea for my Birthday this year. So when I heard about a mad hatter’s themed afternoon tea at The Sanderson Hotel, I am sure you can imagine my excitement.  So I went ahead and booked it, I instantly received a confirmation email inviting me to ‘Tumble down the rabbit hole and enjoy the wonderful world of tea in the beautiful garden courtyard’, from that point onwards I was counting down the days.

I was so excited when we  finally did ‘Tumble down the rabbit hole’, our table set with unique crockery,  a charming musical jewellery box filled with lumps of sugar, an old fashioned leather bound book which had the afternoon menu placed inside and napkins with a riddle wrapped around them.










Then our lovely waitress (I can’t remember her name but she was great and very helpful) came over and brought us samples of the tea on offer, we had a good sniff and smell of the tea blends and aromas and decide on a pot of Strawberry and cream tea and mint chocolate chip, they were both very yummy, refreshing, sweet tasting teas.






Then our three tired cake tray was brought out, it was filled with a mixture of sweet and savory treats, which looked delightful and me my sister just sat, gazed and snapped away for a few minutes before we even tried anything. The bottom section was complete with an array of sandwiches, including smoked ham on tomato bread, cucumber and chive cream on spinach bread, smoked salmon and lemon butter on rye bread and finally egg mayonnaise on lemon bread, my favorite was definitely the smoked salmon. Then there was a selection of sweet and savory scones served with herb butter, fruit jam and clotted cream which were very tasty.  



Then we moved on to the drink me bottle, we advised by our waitress to drink this before starting on the cakes.  The drink me potion consisted of three layers, passion fruit jelly, coconut cream and banana puree, and although unlike Alice the little potion did not make me it taller  it was a real treat for the taste buds and great preparation for the sweet indulgence which was yet to come.




So we moved onto the cake tray where the fun really began, this was filled with three cakes, the first I tried was the Melting mango cheese cake with an outer layer of white chocolate, incredibly sweet and fruity but tasted like a dream. Then we tried the matcha green tea white chocolate mousse which was served in a edible chocolate tea cup complete with popping candy on the top, again this was very sweet and sickly but perfect for a chocolate lover like myself. Then finally we delved into the ‘tick tock’ Victoria sponge, which had been decorated to look like a little pocket clock, it almost looked too good to eat, but I still managed to munch my way through this lovely little cake which was definitely my favourite cake of the three.  Finally we hit the top layer and indulged over selves with the carrot meringue and strawberry and cream marshmallow mushrooms.





After all the eating and drinking me and Laura (my sister) left the Sanderson on a slight sugar high, full tummies and chatting all the way back to the hotel about what a fantastic time we had, and our favourite food and specifics from the afternoon tea.



As soon as we arrived at the beautiful outdoor Suka restaurant till the moment we left, I and Laura were wowed by our afternoon tea experience; they stuck to the Alice and wonderland theme perfectly with their enchanting and original touches, the attention to detail was immaculate and really made the day a stand out  part of our trip. So if you’re looking for a unique spin on traditional British afternoon tea I urge you to try the mad hatters afternoon tea, you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading lovelies.



















Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Mac Eye Shadow

So I have finished my two month spending ban...so how did I treat/ congratulate myself? With a Mac shopping spree of course, well I was in covent garden passing by the new Mac shop so it would have been rude not to go in and have a browse...and well browsing lead to spending, which leads to blogging. 

I got a couple of bits and bobs but tonight post is all about two new eyeshadows for my almost complete Mac palette. After much thought and swatching in store I decided to go for two shades, Brule and Wedge. My palette is mostly neutrals so these two shadows are the perfect addition. 

Wedge is a medium brown/ tan shade, the shadow is very pigmented and blends very easily on the lid. This tone is a perfect crease colour to define and extend the eyes. I find wedge is a ideal shade for an more natural smokey eye look.

Brule is a neutral beige shade. It's a great shadow for all over the lid as it is a matte finish without shimmer, it can also be used as a brow highlight or eyeshadow primer as it will even out the colour of the lids. I love this shade and thinks a great addition to my palette as its the ideal base colour for my skin tone. Now even at work I don't like to leave my eyes naked and I am finding these two shades combined are my current favourite double act for an everyday look, it gives my eyes depth and a subtle dramatic finish which isn't too over the top for a day time look. 

I only need three shadows and my palette will be complete, if you have any recommendations for my neutral palette please leave a comment below. 

Thanks for reading lovelies 
Emma Louise 





Saturday, 20 July 2013

I <3 Summer Tag

I heart summer tag

Hi everyone, I hope you have been enjoying and soaking up the sunshine, all this lovely weather had inspired me to do the 'I heart Summer' Tag...

1. Favourite bronzer for Summer?
I think I will go for my trusty Nars Laguna it's the perfect matte bronzer for my skin, it has minimal shimmer and isn't orange toned....love this bronzer.

2. Your relaxing in a hammock, on a tropical island, what are you sipping on? (Favourite Summer Drink)
Hmm I think I will go for a refreshing glass of Pimms this fruity mix is my favourite Summer time drink.

3. Favourite summer lip product?
Definitely my Nivea lip balm in honey and vanilla, the scent is amazing and keeps my lips soft and conditioned. 

4. Pool or beach 
I going to have to go with beach, yes sand in your toes is a pain in the bum. I grew up by the seaside, yes it was in the freezing cold Scottish weather but I love the sea and walking down the beach and even better when the sun is shining. 

5. Summer crazy hair, what's your must have styling product.
I have been having my hair wavy in the warmer weather, it's minimal effort and no heat styling needed, so dry shampoo has been a favourite product for giving my naturally limp hair a bit of an oomph. 

6. Sun bathing or fake tan
Don't get me wrong when the sun is shining I enjoy laying out in the sun, but my pale skin needs a very high factor to stop it burning and very rarely goes brown, so fake tan is much better and safer for giving me that desired glow. 

7. Favourite Summer nail varnish. 
I don't really have one particular favourite but have been loving the Barry M gelly varnishes especially the bright colours, which are perfect for Summer. 

8. Any summer traditions
My summer traditions is really just spending time with family my dad and sister live inDubai and over the summer months temperatures can hit 50 degrees over there, so they normally have a trip back to UK so my summer is filled with family time. 

9. Favourite Summer scent
I am loving my Juicy Couture viva la fleur perfume this summer, it's the perfect summer floral, fruity scent. 

10. Favourite BBQ food
Mmm I love BBQ food, well the smell more then anything, but my favourite is definitely a good old classic cheese burger. 

11 what's your favourite summer proof product. 
I have found my wake me up foundation has been the perfect summer proof foundation. It lasts all day on the skin and still leaves me looking glowing but with good coverage. 

12. Any summer vacation plans. 
I have already been to Dubai in May, got a trip to London with my sister coming up and might try fit in a few weekends away. Possibly look at another abroad holiday around October, after the motorbike racing season my fiancé is a semi professional motorbike racer, so I spend a lot of my summer at race tracks.

Thanks for reading lovelies, if you have don't this tag leave you link below and I will take a look, if you haven't I TAG you now so get blogging beauts.....  



Saturday, 13 July 2013

I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag




Hello beauts, I hope your all soaking up the sunshine and enjoying this lovely weather. Now I am still on my spending ban so I have been researching different tags to post and I was immediately attracted to the infamous 'I love drugstore make up TAG'. My own make up collection is a real mixture of high end luxuary products and drugstore, high street brands. I get so excited when I find a good drugstore product because obviously it will save my pennies. There are some real gems in the drugstore now, no matter what your budget, so I thought this tag is the perfect way to share my favourite and least favourite products with you.. 

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand overall?

First question and I already feel torn, my favourites are Rimmel, Revelon and Maybeline.......I think I will go for Rimmel, I love the wake me up range, the wake me up foundation is definitely my all time favourite drugstore foundation, I also love the stay matte powder, lipsticks, eye liners and apocalypse lip glosses. 

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?
Cheek
For cheek it has to be sleek, they have a great collection of blushes, there is a lovely array of colour selection, ranging  from shocking pink blushes to bright coral shades. The blushes are really pigmented and last all day on my cheeks. I also love the contour palette is the perfect hand bag essential for a day and night. The handy trio palette has a blush, bronzer and a lovely highlighter, which has the perfect amount of  glow and shimmer to it. 

Face
Seeing as I have already mentioned it, I am sure it will come as no surprise that my favourite face product is the Wake me up foundation from Rimmel. I love this foundation it is without a doubt my favourite drugstore foundation. This foundation gives is the perfect medium coverage formulation but still leaves my skin looking freash and glowy. I know there has been much debate about the retro bright orange packaging but I personally love the stand out packaging. If you haven't tried this foundation I urge you to give it a go. 

Lip 
This is an easy one without a doubt, Revlon lip butters I adore them and use them on a daily basis. The colour payout is amazing and they are the perfect combination of a balm with a glossy finish, I could rave about these little beauts all day, I also love the Revlon kissable balm stains for an easy everyday look. For gloss though I am also going to have to add the NYX mega shine gloss in Beige, it's not really a beige colour at all it's a pink toned mauve colour and I adore this shade. It's just the perfect everyday pink and its smells soo yummy, like sweeties. Ok so I cheated and mentioned three products, oops. 

3. Least favorite product?
Now this isn't aimed at any particular brand just the product in general but I just can't get on board with BB creams give me my light coverage Chanel vitalumiere aqua or Mac face and body foundation over a BB cream any day. I just don't get them, they don't last on my skin and slide off in a matter of hours...I'll just stick with foundation. 

4. What is the best makeup bargain? 
Ok i am cheating i have two, firstly Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, it is such a baragin at £3.99, it keeps my make up in place all day and is an amazing product. Secondly  my Nivea lip balm in milk and honey flavour is my favourite lip balm, and has the tiny price tag of £1.50. it smells amazing and i put this on everyday under my lipstick and gloss and keeps my lips nice and conditioned.  I know I cheated but love them both. 

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)
I am going to go with Maybeline dream lumi concealer. I love this product it's amazing for highlighting my face, it's a bargain at £6.99 and its a real dupe for the touché éclat by YSL. I actually prefer the dream lumi formula as I find it luminaries my face more the the YSL one, its one my favourite products so I am always surprised it doesn't get more credit. Don't worry little Lumi I love you. 

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?
Now is it just me or does any one else feel drug store mascara is getting pretty pricey. I really like thevL'Oreal telescopic mascara, but it's £10.99 which I do think is pretty steep for such a small amount of product, when I can get my foundation for £8.99. 

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!
I think the Maybeline colour tattoos are a great dupe/ cheaper alternative to the Mac paint pots which I love, but the colour tattoos are less then half the price of the paint pots, there is great colour range, they blend really well, they are really pigmented and they last all day on the lid. 

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?
Sorry Maybeline but its going to have to be your bouncy blush. On my trip to Las Vegas last year I was so excited about stocking up on some make up, and I was most excited about this little blush but I was left so disappointed :(. I found this product just left my cheeks looking greasy and shiny, and just slid off my skin, lasting only a matters of hours if that, so not a great product for me. However, I did enjoying touching the blush and watching it pop back up, so not a total loss in the fun department, but not a great product. 

Thanks for reading lovelies, if you have done this tag leave me your link so I can have a look at your favourite drugstore peices, and if you haven't done this tag I TAG all of you now. 






Monday, 1 July 2013

June favourites

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. So it’s the 1st of July and my news feed is full of my favourite monthly favourite posts, and I realised I have never actually done my own monthly favourite post, so I thought it was about time I typed up one and shared with you my favourite products throughout June. Now if you are a regular visitor to my blog you will know I am currently on a spending ban, and didn’t purchase a single product throughout June, I actually can’t believe I managed it. That does mean this post won’t have any new products I have fallen in love with, but I have rediscovered some old products from my collection which I have fallen in love with all over again and actually really enjoyed rummaging around my makeup collect and finding some forgotten gems.
My first favourite of the month is my Laura Mercierr Silk Crème foundation; this was probably the last beauty product I purchased. This foundation had been on my wish list for ages and I finally gave it to temptation and bought it around 8 weeks ago, and I am in love with this beauty. Now I won’t go on about this foundation too much as I have done a full review on my new favourite foundation,( you can take a look here if you are interested in seeing my thoughts) but, I adore this foundation it leaves my skin looking flawless but with a natural glow. The silk crème foundation has been in my make up since I purchased it and I am predicting it will be there for the foreseeable future. 
Next up is my favourite and most worn lip product of the month, my Revlon lip butter in pink lemonade. If you know me you will know I am big fan of the pink nude lip look and rarely step away from my signature look, so this has been the perfect summery pink shade for me, it has a subtle pink sheen and gives my lips the perfect creamy and glossy finish for the rare sunny days we get here in the UK.
My next favourite products are a combination of MAC eye shadows which I have really loved using. The three shades are naked lunch which I apply all over the lid, then Satin Taupe in the crease and outer corner and then finally Nylon as highlight in the inner corners. I have loved using this combination and find its great for every day and if I want to intensify the look for an evening I use a tiny bit of Smutt in the outer corner. I love MAC eye shadows, yes they are quite pricey and building my palette has cost me a small fortune, but I find the shadows blend and apply amazingly, are really well pigmented and have really good colour pay off.
Next on the favourites list is my Hoola bronzer by Benefit. I really like using this bronzer for contouring; it’s good a lovely matte finish bronzer and the shade is a really good colour for my skin tone as it not orange toned. I have been using my real techniques contour brush; I find this smaller contour brush is the perfect size for defining my cheek bones.
This month I have also loved my juicy couture perfume in Viva la Fleur. First off I have to mention the packaging, the bright pink and gold shades are so me and really brighten up my dresser. My dad bought me this for Christmas but I had a few Victoria Secret perfumes to finish off so it has been waiting patiently to be used. This perfume has a light, fresh and flowery scent with a subtle hint of berries, which is perfect combination for spring and summer. I adore this scent and have been spritzing it every morning this month.

Finally, ok it’s not a beauty product but I have loved my Peach Bellini candle I purchased from Bath and Body works on holiday in Dubai (pre spending ban), I did a full haul post on my bath and body works purchasing earlier this month if you would like to have a look. This candle smells so fruity and yummy and the scent really does leave my whole apartment smelling of sweet peaches. My only issue with this product is that Bath and Body works is not available in the UK which is so annoying, I am hoping they are seeing my constant tweets begging for a UK online store, but for now I just stock up when I go the my dad’s in Dubai.
So I think that’s everything, I am surprised how quickly a month of no spending has gone and I am going to keep it up this month because I have saved a lot of money. I think I’m  going to allow myself to purchase a few pieces of clothes ready for my trip to London with my sister at the end of the month but that’s it.
Thanks for reading beauts, if you have done your monthly favourites please leave me your link below and I will have a look as I really love reading these  posts.

Lots of Love